Old Guard Games: A Destination for Tabletop Gaming

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Photo by Ben Slowey

Old Guard Games welcome sign

Old Guard Games welcome sign

Gamers of all guilds, leagues and alliances are welcome at Old Guard Games, a premier destination for all things tabletop gaming on Milwaukee’s East Side at 3132 N. Downer Ave. Opened in 2024, Old Guard Games functions as both a store and social space, featuring a vast collection of hobby supplies and miniatures to accommodate its immersive game selection while hosting game-specific events week by week. Old Guard Games is open Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

From fantasy games to ancient games to historical games, or role-play games to collectible card games, the store has it all. Recent acquisitions include Exploding Pigeon, HeroQuest: First Light, South Park Monopoly and Dogman: Attack of the Fleas. “Everyone can be in the store at the same time,” owner Ben Checota says. The store’s miniatures come from all over the world. “We’ve got a guy from Italy who makes Renaissance figures in his garage, and another guy from England who loves making Viking stuff,” Checota adds. Auxiliary items for gaming like dice, paint, basing sand and resin are for sale as well.

Bolt Action Tournaments

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Photo by Ben Slowey

Old Guard Games private gaming room in basement

Old Guard Games' private gaming room in basement

Different nights of the week at Old Guard Games host casual play and tournaments for specific games, including Magic: The Gathering, SaGa, CookieRun, Gundam, Necromunda, Commander, and One Piece. One-off and recurring tournaments for games like Bolt Action, Trench Crusade and Warhammer 40K have also taken place. “Any given night you walk in here, you might see four or five different games being played by large groups,” Chechota mentions. Guests can hang out and play checkers, chess, cribbage, backgammon or any other game the store has in-house. Fully furnished rooms downstairs are available to rent for private gaming sessions.

Old Guard Games also hosts meetups for different groups, including the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation for weekly demonstrations, Dragon’s Sandbox for monthly beginner Dungeons & Dragons sessions, and Milwaukee Time Lords, a Doctor Who fan club, for monthly reruns of the classic science fiction show. View the full Old Guard Games events calendar on its Linktree.

At five years old, Checota remembers going to the miniatures store next to his father’s office. “They’d have very crude designs of Lord of the Rings figures, and every week I’d take my allowance and buy some miniatures or brushes or paints,” he recalls. “I went from there to collecting historical and fantasy miniatures … space miniatures … and then in grade school, there was a group of us who played Dungeons & Dragons on the bus.”

Gaming Sanctum

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Photo by Ben Slowey

Old Guard Games store interior

Old Guard Games' interior

When he was a preteen, Checota was enamored by a game store called Napoleon’s, which ultimately inspired his vision for Old Guard Games. “For me, it set the standard for game stores,” he continues. “It was owned by a guy named Fritz Buchholz, who became a good friend over the years and passed away a few years ago. His store had occult things, stuff from his concert days, armor, statues … so in my mind, I wanted to create the kind of sanctum people want to go to.”

As such, Old Guard Games is decorated with lots of themed artwork, statues, armor and weaponry. Checota notes how some believed game stores would not be able to exist as the Internet’s influence on society grew. He observes, however, that people from all walks of life find acceptance with game stores. “I really love that sense of community, where everyone has this in common. If you’re going to do a game store, it’s got to be on a grand scale—somewhere that has something for everything.”