Tag Archives: Toronto

Looking for Wargames in Toronto? (Part 2)

Looking for Wargames in Toronto? (Part 1)

I visited the “remaining” of the 4 Toronto game stores today (Hairy Tarantula @ Gerrard & Yonge’s closed).

Hairy Tarantula North

This is the right place.  Take the door to the right.

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.. and this is what you will see on your right ..

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… further down the stairs ..

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The shop itself is a cavernous (big & dark) basement, focused primarily in comics and games like Dungeons & Dragons, Magic etc.  However, if you turn left and go all the way to the back of the store, there are a line of racks with some wargames.  Years ago I found a couple of Operation Watchtower here.  Today there are less than 5 copies of GMT games (There’s a dusty copy of Nightfighter stacked up top.).  The folks there thought they have a couple of ASL magazines but I think he’s confusing other games with ASL.

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Starbucks nearby.

Looking for Wargames in Toronto? (Part 1)

Looking for Wargames in Toronto? (Part 1)

I know of four game stores in Toronto

I visited two of them today.

401 Games



This is a big store.  They have a second level that offers gaming space and game rentals.  Unfortunately they don’t have too many wargames – a medium size bookshelf of GMT games and that’s it.  No ASL.

Then I took a walk from 401 Games to Meeplemart.

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@Kinka Izakaya

Meeplemart

Meeplemart is hard to spot from the street, you got to watch the street numbers (247 Spadina) or you will walk right by.

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You want to stop at the set of office building doors right beside the first “TD” sign.  It is an office building but if it’s “247 Spadina Avenue”, this is the place.  Immediately after you walk through the glass doors, you will see a set of staircases on your left leading down.

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Go down those stairs, it’s okay.

Folks there will greet you and asked that you check your bags at the counter.  They will clip half of a poker card to your bag and give you the other half.

(I should check what companies are in this building and whether they are looking to hire…)

If you walk down the left around the counter and up ahead, you will see a couple of tall shelves with a sign saying “Wargames”.

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They carry mostly GMT & Compass games but they also carry MMP, Avalanche and other lines as well.  There are definitely more here (about two/three big shelves) than 401 Games.  I also found some boxes sitting the floor and filed under “ASL” I found 3 x ASL Journal 2 and 1 x Turning the Tide.  The guy behind the counter said “That’s because ASL sells out the quickest.”.

So here we are, I hope this allows you to find these shops quicker the next time you are in town.

By the way, on my way back home my bus passed by Hairy Tarantula North.

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Looking for Wargames in Toronto?  (Part 2) – I went to Hairy Tarantula North the next day.