E-mail to Dave at Hobby Town

Hey guys, I haven't sent this e-mail off yet, but I wrote this up to send to Dave to hopefully get some more activity going for 40k in the area. I wanted to submit it to you guys to see if I got everything right here, and make sure the ideas are cool with you. Let me know what you think!


Hi Dave,

This is Brandon Watts, I've been in the store a few times recently about playing WH40k and such, first came in when you got the new paints in and all.

First, sorry we didn't make it Wednesday. John had some family things going on, so wasn't able to come in. We did get 10:00AM next Wednesday (8/22) set though, so unless something comes up we'll be in then!

I wanted to say though that I would like to help promote the hobby at your store, which hopefully will also promote more future sales! I had a few ideas to help with this.

1) Probably one of the easiest would be just setting up a simple informational flyer. Something along the lines of "Interested in playing or finding out more about Warhammer 40k? Contact Brandon at DrWatticus@gmail.com to get the basic rundown, or even schedule a time for a demonstration game here at the store!"

2) Currently, as far as I know, John is the only one with a proper board and terrain set up for the game. Great, except it means if John isn't available, the look and quality of the games we'd play goes down a lot. I'd like to see if we can work out something with you to get some boards and terrain pieces that would stay at the store, that way anyone who has an army, even a small one just starting out, can go there to play with friends. I'm sure we could work out something where maybe we the players put a bit towards it, and the store can maybe invest a little towards it as well (since it would stay at the store anyway), and that would go a long way. If the first set up is successful, then hopefully we could work out something to get a few more as well in order to have different settings (forests, cities, wastelands, etc.)

3) This is a bit later on, but it would be great to get some table top events going later as well. The easiest I know of is a league. Everyone pays the league membership cost at the beginning of a league season (I've seen these range from $5-$20). Rules are set up for how the league progresses. The idea would be that every set number of weeks, you'd be encouraged to play a certain number of games for points, under certain special league rules. At the end of the league season (could be 3 or 4 months for instance), the person with the overall highest performance in the league wins some prize related to the hobby, or to their army in particular. Could be something simple like a gift card, White Dwarf subscription, or even a custom model for their army ordered from Games Workshop's Forge World. The advantage of a league over a tournament is that its ongoing for one, not just a single day, and with players able to play at any time it gets more games going on throughout the week as opposed to concentrated all at one time. This also means you don't need as much space and as many tables and terrain set ups to pull it off.

If we get to where we've done idea 3, and it was a success, then idea 4:
4) An actual tournament day. Depending on the number of players it could either be done on a Saturday or over the Weekend. These events can be advertised throughout the area, which draws in players from all over the region. And with registration fees it can hopefully earn a little for the store while allowing for some cool prizes to be handed out. Where I think it would really help is that it could be advertised locally for people to come and see several games at once, watching various armies and people going through the different stages of the game. Painting contests are always a part of this as well, which allows the non-gameplay side of the hobby to get shown off.

The tournament of course would require a lot of other things to go well. but I would like you to know that its something I'd love to see happen, and will do what I can to pull people in.
Getting a board and terrain pieces set up would help because I do have 3 or 4 friends in the area that are familiar with 40k and would like to play, but work during the Wednesday mornings John is available. If we had what we needed at the shop, then it'd be no problem to go there on a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon to play a game or two.
And the contact info I just wouldn't mind having there in order to allow people to have a chance to find out more. I wouldn't mind setting up demonstration days every so often too if there was enough interest, where I can bring in my different armies as well as my hobby equipment, and just show off the building, painting, and playing aspects of the hobby, and teaching people the basic rules. I could also help people pick out the army that is right for them, and get them started with the proper supplies.

I know there's a lot here. Points 1 and 2 are the ones I'd like to look at doing in the near future at least, and 3 and 4 would be more long term ideas.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, or just think of anything else I can do to help promote the hobby, let me know. I'd be up for volunteering some time and effort towards attracting new players (which makes the hobby more enjoyable for me and the others!) and giving Lakeland a Warhammer 40k headquarters out of your shop (which hopefully leads to a good boost in business for you!)

Blessings,
~Brandon Watts