Wargames stores, South East England – excluding GW

I visited Brighton yesterday.  It is a lovely city on the coast and we always enjoy going there when we visit the UK.  The weather really turned it on for us, it was quite sunny and warm in the morning and the afternoon was perfect.

As part of my quest to check out the wargames stores in the region, I visited Wargames Heaven, which is in the Imperial Arcade, Brighton.  It is a very large store, which features mainly SF and Fantasy games and miniatures.  There was a section with Flames of War, Wargames Foundry and Warlord Games products, but the selection was limited.  The guys there seemed really friendly and I’m sure if I was staying in the area, I might become a regular and encourage them to increase their historical section.

Unfortunately, the Gamers Guild in Redhill is no longer there.  Redhill has suffered a little bit from the Global Financial Crisis and there are quite a few empty shops in the main shopping area.  When I first visited the store in 2007, it was just starting up and the store wasn’t anything to write home about back then, so I guess that’s what other people thought as well.

I think that perhaps these stores try to be something to every-gamer, instead of really concerntrating on one genre, whether it be SF and Fantasy, or historical, but I also guess that with the ease of online purchasing, it has made business even more difficult for them to survive.  I know I purchase most of my miniatures directly from the makers.