Kansas, USA

[Warsmith Aznable]

Because I thought there was a thread about Kansas but it's either disappeared or I was mistaken in the first place, here's another thread about gaming in the state of Kansas, which is a completely different state than Arkansas.

I live in northeast Kansas, in the Kansas City metro area. If anybody around there wants a pick-up game drop me a line. If you're moving to the area or are new to the hobby, or even just passing through, the following are places I know of to play:

Table Top Games in Overland Park - Monday night is 40k night. There is also a forum to arrange games locally, offsite but based in the TT community. TT has a HUGE gaming room and lots of terrain to borrow, with friendly staff and owners. It has a strong community of players, mostly adults, many of them former military. Also cool: they have a video commercial on their Yelp page, which I am in.

31st Century Games, which is in the KC Metro, but way in the Southland of Johnson County on 151st. Not as big a facility as Table Top, but has several gaming tables and terrain. I can tell you the owner is friendly, but I don't know anyone in the player community there.

Gator's Video is in downtown Leavenworth. As the name suggests, they were originally just a VHS rental store. They have diversified to include, among other things, a decently sized hobby room and a separate RPG room. They sell a small selection of 40k products, and I've seen people playing 40k in their game room so I imagine there is a community of some kind, even if I don't know any of them (I live in Leavenworth but play at Table Top instead).

Gatekeeper Hobbies is the big gaming store in Topeka. They include 40k gaming and tournaments and all that whatnot. I haven't been there myself in ages.

Hero Complex Games and Entertainment is in Wichita, Kansas. I don't know anything about them other than what I've seen on their FB page. Adverts show they stock GW games and models, and photos show a large room with many tables and some people playing 40k. If anybody has first hand experience of gaming at Hero Complex let me know and I'll add that information here.

Collector's Cache is in Lenexa, Kansas, in the strip mall at College and Pflumm. Mostly a CCG oriented store, it has a 40k area sublet. There is a local competitive-oriented group that holds tournaments and tournament training events (where veteran players field challenges from newer players). The store also has a tournament league which plays on Tuesday night, with 20 to 30 players. There is one Realm of Battle table with a small amount of terrain available on display with more terrain available in the back, plus lots of smaller tables you can play on.

The Geekery is in Shawnee, Kansas. It's a nice, mid-sized store with high quality tables and terrain, maybe even the best in town. There are fewer tables to play on than Tabletop or 31st Century, but boy are they nice. The owner is a very accommodating fellow, eager to please his customers. The selection of merchandise isn't as wide, but they carry essentials. The 40k community there doesn't look as deep, though I haven't played there in several months so I can't say for certain. I would definitely recommend this as a place to play if for no other reason than the super nice tables and terrain.

 

Goblin Games is in Manhattan, Kansas. According to Sword Brother Ryan they have playing space and 40k players have been seen active there, and their FB page lists wargames as a sales and play activity. I have personally never visited and can't say anything else about them yet.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Warsmith Aznable

[Siege40k]

I am in Kansas as well!! Me and my friends typically haunt the Gatekeeper which is our FLGS here.

 

Gatekeeper has been a great place for us to game in the past 13 years we have been gaming, and if anyone is in the area and wants a game, or better yet, a painting contest, hit me up!!!

[egon1six]

Hey my post disappeared! I am located in the fort riley area. kc is a little bit of a hike for me but i definitely want to get into some games! I am considering checking out the topeka area based off the suggestion from a fellow member. Thanks again for all the input guys!

[S Knabe]

Heh, always gamers in the Army. I'm also at Riley, and in Manhattan, KS is the Patch and Crow's Nest, right next to the KSU campus. i have heard that friday is the day, with insane numbers of players. The place is small, but as you have said, Topeka is a drive just to game due to the gas prices.

[S Knabe]

sorry for the double post Edited July 10, 2011 by S Knabe

[egon1six]

I must correct you. I am a MARINE. I have been blessed with watching over my un-educated half-brothers in the Army and properly train them in how to get the job done right! But no hard feelings. I will have to check out the crows nest on fri. I stopped by there the other day and i saw their operationg hours and I think they are only open most days only two hours. :tu: . But again I appreciate the advice and maybe i will see you there sometime.

[egon1six]

Had my first game at the patch and crow's in manhattan, ks tonight. As s knabe said it is great! So here is a shout out to all fellow gamers in the Flint hill Region. BTW tomorrow start FOB! Come one, come all starts at 0930. 2000 pt lists. Have copies and painting is a factor but not a requirement.

[Thantoes]

I will have to revisit this thread in about 6 weeks when I relocate from the UK to Kansas with my wife. Of course I wont have my army for about 3-6 weeks after that as they cross the ocean :P

[Siege40k]

Which part of KS if you don't mind me asking?

[Thantoes]

Which part of KS if you don't mind me asking?

 

Kansas City at the moment though that could change if she gets a job out of the city.

[FreebootaXIII]

No players in the lower region of Kansas by Wichita? Im a bit south of Wichita but thats closest store near me.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Apparently the Patch and Crow's Nest in Manhattan, Kansas went out of business. Their Facebook page recommends gamers turn to a place called Game Hounds, which is a video game store that is attempting to serve the P&P and TT gamers adrift after the closing. They have a website with a forum that has a 40k subforum, but there isn't much there. It's just a tad out of casual driving range, so I don't know what else the Manhattan/Ft Riley area gamers have got going, but I'm going to update the directory in the OP to reflect Patch and Crow's Nest closing. If anybody in the Manhattan/Ft Riley area has any new information about where locals are playing, let me know and I'll add it.

[Papasmerv]

Game Hounds does have some terrain but I never paid that much attention. I would feel guilty leaving my wife home alone with the kids on the weekend so I do almost all of my gaming at home so I have never played at Game Hounds. Staff seemed friendly enough.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Update: I added Papasmerv's information about Game Hounds terrain, and also added an entry for Wichita gamers, Hero Complex Games and Entertainment. I never get down to Wichita, so the entry for gaming there is gleaned entirely from a FB account for the store which appears to be current. If anybody here has first hand experience with Hero Complex let me know and I'll update the OP with it.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Update: I added the information on Collector's Cache in Lenexa. It felt like a "Pokemon Daycare Center", but they do have a small selection of 40k merchandise and a table I imagine you could play on. If anyone has ever played there, let us know.

[Pbenner]

Max,

 

I don't believe you fully understand the Dynamics of Collector's Cache.  

 

My name is Paul and I am a member of FRAG, which is the premier local wargaming group.  We're the people that put on yearly GT and the like in these parts.

 

Collector's Cache is the newest store to pick up 40K, and that part of the store is sub-let to another gentleman that does the 40K stuff.  The primary focus is CCGs, as that is how the owner makes his money, but there is a very strong Wargaming community there, albeit newer players.

 

The Challenge system was instituted to give newer players an opportunity to set the odds in their favor in regards to playing in a tournament setting.  The Event is called "The Road to the Massacre" as the MW massacre is our yearly fall GT and we wanted to get these players up to speed in case they wanted to attend this year.  The people who are fielding challenges are the Veteran players of the local community, those with Tournament experience, and as part of that setup, we do an end of game recap to highlight strengths and weaknesses.  

 

I hope this helps.

 

Paul

[Warsmith Aznable]

Max,

 

I don't believe you fully understand the Dynamics of Collector's Cache.  

 

My name is Paul and I am a member of FRAG, which is the premier local wargaming group.  We're the people that put on yearly GT and the like in these parts.

 

Collector's Cache is the newest store to pick up 40K, and that part of the store is sub-let to another gentleman that does the 40K stuff.  The primary focus is CCGs, as that is how the owner makes his money, but there is a very strong Wargaming community there, albeit newer players.

 

The Challenge system was instituted to give newer players an opportunity to set the odds in their favor in regards to playing in a tournament setting.  The Event is called "The Road to the Massacre" as the MW massacre is our yearly fall GT and we wanted to get these players up to speed in case they wanted to attend this year.  The people who are fielding challenges are the Veteran players of the local community, those with Tournament experience, and as part of that setup, we do an end of game recap to highlight strengths and weaknesses.  

 

I hope this helps.

 

Paul

 

Updated the entry with this information; I appreciate the input.

 

Most of these places I have never played at, so I just relate my first impressions on walking in and list what gaming support like tables and terrain I see. I had heard second hand about the challenge thing, but thought it was worth mentioning even though I did not really know anything solid about it. I'm passingly familiar with the Frost Reaver group having chatted with a couple members in stores (and maybe at the Recruits convention), but I don't play in tournaments or keep up with that scene enough to know much about which groups are doing what.

 

I also updated the information about Game Hounds in Manhattan. I don't get out that way much anymore, but a friend of mine got married out there last January, and I took the opportunity to drop in and have a look at the place with my own eyes.

[Pbenner]

Additional information for Collector's Cache;

 

Tuesday night is League Night, we run (2) concurrent leagues, one is locked at 1850, the other is an escalation league (which varies from league to league) and they all run for about 6-8 weeks.  League play is $5/night (You can not pay this) and if you play for the full league, you get most/all of this back as store credit.  Also, the owner puts additional credit into this for top players in each league.  

 

The store runs an all the time 15% off 40K in stock, and 20% off anything he doesn't have and needs to order in.  

 

League night sees generally between 20-30 players, so there are LOTS of active people on Tuesdays, veterans and newbies alike, you can always find a game.  

 

There is terrain available, but it's kept put away as most card players don't take care of wargaming stuff, especially with the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-oh crowd.  

 

Anything else I can do let me know, or, if you'd like to catch a game sometime, I'm more than happy to bring down the might of the Deathwing upon Traitorous Marines  ^_^  

 

Also, www.frostreaver.net is where information about the Midwest Massacre GT and our other tournaments we support.  

 

The Challenge System is paid, but the back side of that is at the end of every league we have a raffle, you get tickets based on varying factors in the challenges and the like, and other events generate tickets for the players.  

 

Best,

 

Paul

[Warsmith Aznable]

Added Bulldog Games and Comics in Baldwin City to the list of places to buy and play 40k in Kansas. Not really a lot there right now, but they had a 40k display and the owner talked about getting more stuff in and wanting to develop the gaming scene there more. It's a pretty small town, but it's not far from the Southland or Lawrence. Good luck to them and to anybody who is into 40k out there.

[Grand Master Caloth]

Hello all, I'm stationed in Ft Riley and generally open to games. Working on getting my table set up in the basement (just moved... lol) and still starting to build up my terrain collection, but am willing to meet at Game Hounds in Manhattan, and occasionally venture to Gatekeepers (Topeka) and Tabletop Games (Overland Park). If interested, lets set up some games!

[Warsmith Aznable]

Welcome to the Kansas corner of the B+C! I can vouch for the good player base at Table Top if you want to drive that far.

[Grand Master Caloth]

Have played in a tournament there, and I whole-heartedly AGREE!!! When I open my own shop (hopefully after a long, successful military career... 11 more years), they are actually the template I want to base my shop off of.

[Azekellon]

There's ONE game shop in Salina, but it isn't worth  . 

[Warsmith Aznable]

There's ONE game shop in Salina, but it isn't worth .

Does it have a game room or any tables/terrain at all?

[Azekellon]

 

There's ONE game shop in Salina, but it isn't worth .

Does it have a game room or any tables/terrain at all?

 

Feh, nope. Jut perfectly good tables being used for MTG and yugioh. they have all of.... four boxes of models, maybe?