yup here is the email Wherever you are in the world right now, we hope you’re all well and staying safe. Last month we let you know that, owing to the COVID-19 situation, Games Workshop sites around the world would be closed until at least April 14th. Since then, we have been closely monitoring the situation and continuing to follow advice from the authorities here in the UK and overseas. We are committed to only opening when we are certain it's safe to do so and in line with the government’s full guidelines. Regrettably, this means Games Workshop sites won’t be re-opening on April 14th and will remain closed until further notice. While we know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear, the health and safety of all of you, and all of Games Workshop’s staff, remains our number one priority. Rest assured, however, good news is right around the corner. There’s a dedicated team working their socks off to make sure that as soon as we can, we’ll be up and running again able to ship you that pot of Nuln Oil you’re desperate for. For now though, for all of us, the mission remains the same – bunker down, and stay safe!
GW is now receiving orders from retail, but their warehouses aren't even open yet, nor do they have a date. Orders will just auto ship to any store that has placed them upon opening. That signals to me that they are trying to gage inventory demand to resupply their logistics centers. It would also suggest that it is at minimum 2 weeks away from a reopening.
The UK lockdown was extended for 3 weeks - and has at least another 2 weeks to go now. I would be very surprised indeed if there was any change in stance from GW in the UK until restrictions are eased. As that covers the large majority of their manufacturing and warehousing that means that even in countries where they can have stores open there will be a lack of stock.
US stores ship out of Memphis. Not sure where the Memphis supply chain originates though. Seeing as some Southern States are already lifting movement restrictions guidelines we could changes shortly. I assume GW will make their own risk assessments about when to open if they feel the local municipality is being premature though.
Stores will only work in a limited capacity anyways, even if GW resumes production and shipping with a reduced workforce in a few weeks. No gaming, no painting, no hanging out. Get in, buy some stuff that's in stock, get out. Until the vaccine is available and distributed worldwide, our hobby will remain a ghost town. Best estimate for that would be Q4 2021. So strap in, it's going to be a while. Guess I am really going to pick up Tabletop Simulator.
Most of the manufacturing is in Nottingham, which is shut down for now. Some of the scenery is manufactured in China, I have no idea what the status of any of that would be. I expect GW are using the government furlough scheme for their manufacturing staff so would be able to get back up and running pretty fast once the restrictions are eased.
Q4 2021 seems a little pessimistic, but i guess no one really knows. I think we'll start to see things opening up a little and getting some semblance of normalcy back towards the second half of this year. Obviously no one can see the future, but NOVA still hasn't formally canceled so i dont think there's any reason to assume we're 18+ months away from getting back into our hobby. Regardless i can't recommend online play enough. Whether through TTS or any of the other similarish programs (i've been using Universal Battle a little bit, super simple and ugly but it works for me) it's really scratched that gaming itch... at least for now.
I sincerely disagree. but have no desire to devolve into a vaccine/politics debate lol. there are stores that are already allowing players to play, one game, first come first serve, so long as the store capacity is under ten people total including workers.
meh, seems a bit difficult though, you need to get quite close to eachother & you're constantly touching the same mini's. Seems like the type of thing that should be blocked for the near future. It's not like say MTG where you can just put a big table in between and guarantee the distance that way.
I also don't see any tournaments happening in the near future. I am currently operating under the assumption that I will need to request refunds on the various aos event tickets I have bought for the year.
yeah, but it's not a thing that you decide. If the government decides that the game shops are that kind of shops that need to stay closed, they will. If GW decides that in official GW stores you can purchase minis but for the moment you cannot play in, then you won't be able to play, gloves or not.
Sure, but you're not the one deciding the rules And anyways, given the amount of crap my sister and girlfriend have to wear to not get infected gloves are probably a bit optimistic. Also, do take into consideration this'l turn the shop into a relativly high traffic area, making it a hotspot. Which doesn't speak in it's favour either. I would be surprised if it'd be allowed as long as stuff like sports and cafe's aren't allowed to open either.
I have a few that were postponed to June/July that I imagine will get postponed again or canceled entirely. I'm holding out that NOVA works out, but its probably unlikely :/ I can't imagine government issued shutdowns/quarantine last that far into summer (considering theres already been so much talk of opening up now) but I imagine event organizers and individuals will probably carry some of those practices forward for quite a while.
oktoberfest got canceled in germany Any and all events and festivals got cancelled till september at the very least in the netherlands. I wouldn't count on any major events like the big tournaments getting back any time soon. Small local tournaments might start up again during the summer I guess though.