Welcome back! Last week, we toured my hobby space, so let’s take a walk through the gaming space/art gallery.
Before we get there though, we’ll stop in the entryway to the space, which is the hall between the two rooms.
There’s a wall-mounted display case that holds most of my Necromunda minis and a lot of the Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition stuff I’ve painted.
I have some art and another display case here, including a print of Adepta Sororitas by John Blanche, the 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy cover art and a giant silkscreen poster by Skinner.
In the Detolf, there’s some random Imperial stuff, Forgeworld Orks, Knights and my Armorcast Reaver Titan. On top of that case are some ephemera and cloches containing the modern assassins, a converted Forgeworld Sentinel Powerlifter and an amazingly thoughtful present from my good friend SRM. The trophies are from annual events I host with my local crew that were returned by the 2019 winners as it’s about time to get the gang back together and find them new homes for the next year.
Hanging on the wall is a small display case that holds the 2 larger scale marines I’ve painted, Funko and Forgeworld, with purity seals that I’ve collected from tournaments and leagues nearly a decade ago.
Alright, enough out there, into the gaming room. Greeting you is an old store open/closed sign that I just adore.
Dominating the room is the gaming table. This is the table that I built for my last gaming space, which was disassembled and moved. The focus for its plan was function. It’s not the prettiest thing, it’s very sturdy as it’s framed out of 2x4s, but it does all the things. At 4×8 feet in size, it has loads of storage underneath, enough height to store my Necromunda walls (22 inches of space) and loads of other terrain. The top of the table is something on my list to update as the sheet of masonite I used has warped over the years. It’s not the biggest issue as I have a very strong and very lightweight table top that my brother built about 15 years ago on top. On this we set up all our games and my Necromunda terrain can sit on top as well. I have plans to update this board, making a new one that’s double sided, one with a fresh grass mat and the other with a desert treatment. One of my favorite things is the fact you can set up a full game and still have space on the ends for your armies, dice, drinks etc…
On the wall behind the table sits a row of storage racks and display cases. The racks hold a large portion of my terrain while the cases hold tons of minis. Necromunda, 40k and Fantasy terrain are all represented with some long suffering WIP pieces sitting on the shelves.
Above the racks and cases, and wrapping around to all the other walls, is the rest of my art collection. This is a mix of prints and original pieces, from GW illustrators David Gallagher, Des Hanley, Kev Walker, Tony Auckland, and Tough Hough and modern illustrators Nerdgore and Mustafa Bekir. Taking center stage is a poster of the 1995 release Necromunda box art by Geoff Taylor. This was a store poster and it is truly massive. I’ve never seen another one of these for sale and this one is in pretty amazing condition. I also have a limited edition Mark Gibbons (signed) print of an Interrogator Chaplain and a non-numbered print of the Wayne England Ork boy. Above the windows are a bunch of prints that came with a special edition of the Ork codex back in 6th edition and a couple store promos.
My Des Hanley originals are some of my favorites. The Stormtrooper and Apothecary are from the 2nd edition Imperial Guard and Space Marine codecii, 2 pieces are from the work he did on Gorkamorka, and the illustration of the hand flamer from the 90s release of Necromunda.
The Kev Walker is very old and uses a very interesting method of forced perspective where the marines in the foreground are very detailed, the titans in the mid-ground are detailed, but softer and the background is just and expression of what’s back there. The marines in the foreground are clearly drawn from the metal minis available at the time, you match the sculpts to the art.
The one original, color piece I have, is my David Gallagher and it’s an early version of an ork cover piece that wasn’t used. It’s so cool. My absolute favorite thing about these original art works is getting up close and seeing how the artist worked and applied their mediums.
The Tony Hough pieces are amazing and they’re a product of when the background of 40k wasn’t fully fleshed out. The artist would get a brief and be able to explore what the universe could be pretty openly. The Ork piece I have is “The Drops”, and is featured in the Freebooters book from Rogue Trader. The other three pieces explore other aspects of the universe. Orks in void ships, Imperial medical adepts and an Ork Gargant. The Tony Auckland piece, in the corner, above the 2 Tony Houghs, is from a WFRP book, of a wizard knocking down a castle tower.
Tucked among all the art is a small brass colored shelf with some terrain and objectives in it and a John Blanche image cut from a GW art book. Makes a suitably gothic reliquary to store some stuff in a thematic way.
I’ve recently added some wood-block prints from Galapolo. His work is a refreshing interpretation of Warhammer stuff and I love how he creates his prints and finishes some of them with watercolors. I have a couple more of his pieces still to frame. Pinned up here is a vintage map of the Warhammer Old World. Lower on the wall is another Nerdgore piece, this a silkscreen print, art created for the Corehammer podcast.
In this same corner sits a cabinet and within lives my Warhammer Fantasy, now Age of Sigmar, armies. Dwarfs, Undead and Chaos, the last two are works in progress and needing additions. On top sits a pair of players choice trophies from a tournament I’d attend annually in Maine. Next to them is my Demon lamp, which was designed by Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl, Gorillaz) which my wife bought for me and had shipped from England many moons ago.
Under the Giant Imperial flag lives a bookcase with most of my active rulebooks, my Aeronatica Imperialis boxes (need an organizer for that shelf) and on top, my growing collection of GW dice sets and other gaming tools. I found an old cash drawer and in it lives other dice and gaming aids.
Next to the door sits another Detolf case. I just got some extra shelves for it) with a smattering of things in it, fantasy stuff, a Necromunda train from Imperial Terrain, Aeronautica Imperials planes, Rogue Trader Ork and Space Marine vehicles, a heavily customized, and still-WIP Stompa and an open shelf for a future (large?) project. On top sits a Games Workshop store prop Space Marine Helmet that I intend to one day repaint.
Like the other room, this one has a massive closet in it, which holds many, many minis, blisters, boxes, and bits for future projects (trains….?). And a newly acquired GW staff shirt that’s just cool (I will point out – I never was GW staff).
So that’s my hobby space wrapped up, nicknamed the Hambarn, in all it’s glory. I have electricians coming soon and it’s just little improvements and enjoying the space with friends from here on out.
That wraps up our look at Dylan’s space but keep an eye out for more Gaming Spaces articles in the future. And if you have any questions, shoot us an email at contact@goonhammer.com.
