Edwin Molina

Review of Atomic Empire

Amazing! I have been in many stores, in many towns...

Amazing! I have been in many stores, in many towns, in many diffetent states; Atomic Empire looks & feels like that mystical local store that you hear and read about in far away places... but it is right here, in your own backyard! I'm new in town, and I stopped by with my kids just to browse and hope that they knew what 40k and D&D was. Ohhh, was I surprised! First, the store is HUGE. Rather than the usually cramped, dark and/or smelly retail space, you are greated with a spacious, clean and bright area. They have lots of board games, books, miniatures, paints & supply on stock... the diverse selection may overwhelm noobs, but will satisfy the vets. Enter the next point... the Staff. I was welcomed by two staff members, but they had no interest in any pressure sales. They waited for me to approach with questions, and help me get oriented... how refreshing! As common in places of high caliber, we started talking about what I was interested, and what they had to offer. While the stock is not absolute (I don't blame them... who wants to have shelves full of slow moving inventory) they can take special orders for speedy delivery.

The Staff is composed of friendly hardcore geeks (Ha, a triple oximoron!) They not only know about the games, but have experience and pride about their hobby. They were running two major events that Saturday and they invited me to mingle and ask around. Which leads me to my third point... the playing area.

Sweet Baby Emperor! The area is three times bigger than retail... there was 30 players in the 40k tourney (that is amazing all by itself), 20 players in the Star Wars Armada tourney and like 30 other people playing Magic and few board games. The space is so big, it felt like I was back on the floor of GW's Games Day. Most of the gaming tables were definitely decent game-quality (some simple mats with few terrain pieces), few were still on early stages (pink foam world, anyone?)... but considering that they were running 25 tables... to quote Lord Vader, "Most impressive!"

I'm fairly sure they have some rooms for role-playing groups (I could not check them out myself). They have a snack bar (emphasis on bar) where they serve local brews. While I didn't sampled anything, lots of people were gathering drinks and obviously having a good time.

The Staff seemed welcoming, knowledgeable and helpful. The community of gamers is well supported and enormous. I will be checking out they calendar of events and hopefully join them. My advice to you? Stop by the store and check it out. Your first thought will be one of amazement regarding the size, soon to be replaced by a burning desire to make Atomic Empire your new gaming home.