Store Opening Dispatch — May 2026

Building the Bunker

Harry Wright  ·  HW Wargames  ·  Hobby Build Log

I'm building this store from the ground up — and that means getting my hands dirty before a single customer walks through the door. Here's a look at the hobby builds going into the space: a full 40K demo board, a Thunder Hammer, and a Boltgun, all taking shape on the workbench right now.

Opening a wargaming store isn't just about stocking shelves. It's about building an atmosphere — a place where you walk in and immediately feel the pull of the hobby. Every great game store has that moment when you look up from the display case and see something on the wall or across the floor that makes you think: I want to play that.

That's what I'm chasing. So before we worry about grand opening dates or stock orders, we're building the things that will make the space feel like ours.

There will be a series of demo tables for me to teach anyone wanting to learn how to play the games. The first I'm building is the Warhammer 40,000 demo table — and I knew from day one that I wanted a theme with weight to it. Something with history. Something that tells a story the moment you look at it.

I landed on Armageddon — the war-torn industrial hellscape that has defined some of the most iconic battles in the 40K universe. Blood Angels and Orks, locked in brutal urban combat over bombed-out ruins. The ash wastes, the rusted manufactorums, the desperate street-by-street fighting. Perfect.

Right now the board is in its sketch phase. I've laid out the terrain footprint and printed some walls of a ruined building to get the layout blocked in. The objective of this skirmish is still to be decided — but it will be something both forces desperately want. Those crumbling structures are going to be hotly contested real estate once the dice start rolling.

Demo board layout sketch — printed ruin buildings placed, pre-paint stage

The printed ruins are doing exactly what I needed them to do at this stage: letting me test sight lines, check that there's enough cover for both armies without creating dead zones, and make sure the table plays as well as it looks. Everything gets adjusted before a drop of paint touches it.

Once the layout is locked in, the real terrain work begins — texture, rubble, battle damage, and eventually paint. The finished board will be a permanent fixture on our gaming floor and double as our go-to demo setup for anyone wanting to learn the game.

I wanted the walls of the store to do some work. Not just posters — actual hobby builds, mounted and displayed, that show what this hobby is capable of. The first wall piece is a Thunder Hammer, built oversized as a display prop.

There's something deeply satisfying about a thunder hammer as a symbol for this kind of store. It's a weapon of purpose. Blunt, powerful, and completely unambiguous about what it does — and it suits the aesthetic I'm going for.

Thunder Hammer wall display — unpainted build complete, pre-undercoat. Note the aquila relief on the hammerhead.

The build is done — that aquila etched into the head of the hammer is a nice touch that'll really pop once paint goes on. It's sitting there needing gap fills and a coat of primer. Once it's painted up, it goes straight on the wall. A statement piece that says something about how I want the store to look without needing a caption.

The second wall piece is the weapon that defines the setting: a Boltgun. If the thunder hammer is raw power, the boltgun is identity. Every Space Marine carries one. Every 40K player knows it. It is, in the most genuine sense, the most iconic weapon in the hobby.

I went for a display-scale build — designed to read from across the room. It's built to be seen. The silhouette alone is unmistakeable, and that's exactly what I want from a wall piece: instant recognition from anyone who's spent five minutes in the hobby.

Boltgun wall display — unpainted build complete, pre-undercoat. Display-scale, built to read from across the room.

Like the hammer, it's currently in the unpainted stage. Both wall pieces will get the full treatment together — coordinated colour approach so they read as a pair. The goal is something you'd see in a Black Library illustration, transplanted onto the wall of a Houston hobby store.

Here's where all three builds stand heading into the next phase:

The demo board gets terrain detailing next — rubble piles, battle damage, static grass once the structure is set. The wall pieces go to primer together, then I'll document the full paint process and share it here.

I'll keep posting updates as each build progresses. If you're in Houston and want to come see the process in person once we're open — keep an eye on this blog and our socials.

The Armageddon is coming. The Blood Angels are ready. The Orks are massing. Are you?