Brunel Knights takes place in The Crossing, Swindon Town Centre on the first Wednesday of the month, from 6pm onwards. The next event will be on Wednesday 3 July 2019.
The team behind the initiative are Brunel-based retailers Troy Loveday and Jonathan Wayne-Brown from The Incredible Comic Shop, Matt Scarrott from Warhammer plus Lewis Fagence from The Brunel Centre. All keen gamers themselves they decided to set up Brunel Knights to make use of The Crossing’s spacious interior and convenient food offering. The first event was held in May and attracted around 50 people, June saw over 70 join in and the expectation is that July’s numbers will increase further.
With 100+ games available people are being encouraged to come along and join in. It’s totally free and everyone is welcome. Matt Scarrott from Warhammer said: “This is a great opportunity for Warhammer hobbyists to meet-up and enjoy building, painting and playing together. It’s a chance for established hobbyists to interact alongside people just starting out. Everyone is welcome; we have a huge space to accommodate large games like Warhammer 40k and have cosy booths for smaller games like Kill Team”
Lewis Fagence is the Occupier Relationship Manager at The Brunel and is delighted to see Brunel Knights going from strength to strength. Lewis said: “We have a great resource here in The Crossing. There are plenty of chairs and tables and lots of space to spread out. We are excited to announce Altro-Orbis, a local Virtual Reality business, will also be joining us at the next event on 3 July. Three of our food retailers are already involved so those coming along can have food from Indys Vegan Kitchen, Fillerz and Broccoli, Pizza Pasta.”
The games nights are attracting a wide range of people. Some people come on their own, others with friends or family. Donna Kelly from Swindon attends with her family including her young son who enjoys Pokémon. Donna said: “We will all be there on 3 July. It’s great to know there are places to eat and plenty of choice and it saves me cooking that night. We really enjoyed the last games night and I really love the fact it’s a great environment for all the family. I hope it takes off and it is a successful venture for everyone involved.”
Jonathan Wayne-Brown from Incredible Comic Shop has noticed that already some regulars are emerging as games masters. Jonathan said: “Some people are extremely good at the games they enjoy and want to share their knowledge with others. It’s a great way for others to learn. And for those who want to be the Dungeon Master, Ambassador or Narrator the opportunity is there.”
The tills at Warhammer and Incredible Comic Shop stay open during the event so people can make purchases too. Troy Loveday has noticed an upturn in business since Brunel Knights started. Troy said: “At Incredible Comic Shop we regularly host games events and lots of our existing customers come to Brunel Knights now. We’ve also started to see new faces coming in store since Brunel Knights started. It’s great to be working alongside Warhammer. Retailers need to work together – this is a wonderful example of businesses helping each other to create a sense of community and fun.”
Brunel Knights takes place in the food hub at The Crossing. People arrive from 4pm onwards, and carry on until around 11pm or until they have had enough. There are over 100 board games to try including (but not limited to) Pokémon League/Friendlies, Yu-gi-oh, Warhammer: Age Of Sigmar, Warhammer 40k, Lord of The Rings, Keyforge, Dragonball Z. There are bookable Dungeons & Dragons sessions or space for your own D&D sessions.
For more information contact Warhammer or Incredible Comic Shop, both are on the first floor of Brunel Plaza, opposite Waterstones. Or join the “Brunel Knights” group on Facebook via The Brunel’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/
