The Crucible Hub

We are changing our name, or at least the sub title slightly, and with that, we have a lot of plans going forward.

 

Our current aim is, by May 2026, to have several core things in place.

 

First is the change from a Constituted Community Group to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO)*. This decision was made to further our continuing dedication to helping to improve Mental Health, Inclusivity and Social Interactions among the local community.

 

Second is our relocation to our own premises in Saltcoats Town Centre, at the old Landsborough and Trinity Church in Dockhead Street. This extra space and freedom of time will allow the Group to expand in several exciting new ways in order to involve evermore members of the local areas.

 

Our overall intent is to bring together people of all backgrounds, types and ages in a way that we all interact on the level. We believe games are a great way of doing that, and no-one should feel that they can't take part.

 

Read on to see what we have in store.

 

*We gained Registered Charity status on 17th February 2026

West Coast Crucible

 

The group that started it all!

Thursday Nights will still be the West Coast Crucible wargaming night.

 

Over 3 booths, there will be a total of 9 full size tables that will be permanently set up. These tables will be custom made and stand about 900mm tall, so hopefully it'll be less painful on the backs of us oldies, being taller tables. The tables will have a small shelf underneath to help keep your stuff safer and not kicking about the floor.

 

Two of the tables will be set up with WTC compliant terrain layouts  for anyone who would prefer playing on competitive tables. (This could change with 11th when it's fully understood).

 

As we say, Thursdays will still be the Crucible club night and the matchmaking will still operate in the same way though the Discord or Facebook. The smaller tables will still be available and will be set up in the Event space across from the main booths.

 

Any of the tables can be re-set for any other game system that people want to play, like Konflict 49, Battletech and Trench Crusade. Branching out into these systems is ideal with this extra space.

Crucible Cafe, Nook
and Sit & Play

The backbone of our new venture will be the opening of a small cafe to service the community. We aim to offer an affordable service to those who visit us.

 

The Cafe will also cater to providing refreshments to our Club Days/Nights that will be running over the course of the week.


We will have soft drinks, tea and coffee (from an actual barista machine!), cakes, crisps as well as more filling options like Paninis, Loaded Fries and more. Things to keep you all fuelled up for your games. Of course, you don't have to play anything if you don't want to. Just sit and chill with a coffee if you like.

 

The Sit & Play area will offer everyone access to our shelves of general games for a nominal fee. They will all be labelled for number of players, length of play time, and difficulty so it's easier to make a choice that suits you. Then you can sit down with a friend, have a cuppa and a snack, and play a game with them to pass the time.

 

The games will include a wide range from niche games you may never have heard of, all the way down to classics like Chess and Dominoes.


If you are in by yourself and you spot something that you'd like to play, ask one of our staff, there will always be someone on who will be happy to engage in a game with you.

The Nook is a small area in the back left next to the cafe counter that will have some comfy armchairs, a bookshelf to browse from, and a few tables. This is intended for getting away from the main busy parts to offer a quieter space for any older patrons to sit in comfort. They can still choose to play a game, or they can pick up a book to read while they have a tea.

 

As part of our community based aims, we are also currently exploring several options to best allow us to do our part in fighting local food poverty.

Crucible Decks

Wednesdays


Collectible Card Games and Deck Builder Games have been dominating the gaming industry for some time now. We have several members who have asked if we have any plans to begin some of these games. Yes, we are!

 

We are planning to run Magic the Gathering, YuGiOh!, Pokemon, One Piece,  Dominion, Star Realms and others.

 

If you play any of these, we'd love to see you, as we'll need experienced players in the mix.

Crucible of Heroes

Saturdays

 

A dedicated booth will be permanently set up for Roleplaying games. We have a massive heavy wooden 7ft table with 8 chairs. This will be set up at all times for anyone who wants to run or play whatever RPG they wish.

 

We have access to a multitude of resources for Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Deadlands, Warhammer FRP, Call of Cthulhu, amongst others, and it will all be available for everyone to use.

 

As well as running our own one-shots and campaigns, we are more than happy for anyone to bring in their own stuff too and run their own games and campaigns.

 

There will be a small fee per person to play, however the DM will play for free

Tabletop Crucible

Fridays

 

Everyone has played a tabletop game. There are thousands of them, some dating back thousands of years!

 

As well as anyone being able to sit and play while having something from the cafe, we will also have a dedicated day to play anything tabletop. Come along and join in a game with others, or bring along a friend and try out a new game that catches your interest.

 

We already have quite a selection of games, with more on the way to give us a good starting point. Everything from the Settlers of Catan through to the timeworn classic, Chess. Have a game you want to introduce others to? Bring that along too!

Event Space

In the middle of the building is a larger space for general use and Event space. Each day we're open, this area will be used for one of our weekly clubs or drop-in sessions.

 

Wednesdays
The Event space will be set up for playing CCG's, deck builders and other card games. There will be a large central table and several smaller tables for this. The area has quite a big following for these kinds of game, so it should be fun seeing how this develops.

 

Thursdays
The area will be use small tables for the wargaming clubs smaller scale games; 1k games, Blood Bowl, Kill Team, or any other game that people want to play, or try out.

Fridays
A general tabletop board game club will be played here, so any game from our extensive collection will be available to play. Blood Bowl? Sure... Catan? Go for it.... Ticket to ride? Yup... Chess? No problem. Anything goes on Fridays! Well, within reason...

 

Saturdays
A few extra tables will be set up to hold a day of RPGs along with our RPG booth, so there will be several tables running different games for people to get involved with.

 

Sundays
We will be holding our own Mental Health Wellbeing group, Check In. Anyone is welcome to come along, have a chat if you feel like it, and a cuppa to just chill and decompress.

 

Bookings
This space will also be used for any number of community led things when booked. Small hobby craft fayres, a grotto at Christmas, mental health drop ins. If there is a need for it, we hope we can accommodate it. Any booking enquiries can be sent to us here.

Hobby Studio

To begin with, this area will be fairly light on resources. We'll have table space enough for people to come along to build, craft, paint or whatever else they wish to do. Paints and basic hobby tools will be available to use at any time for anyone who does not have access to their own.

 

Given time, we will eventually have a spray booth for an airbrush and a photo booth for you to take cool pictures of your works of art! Easels will be available for anyone who is looking to use the space for canvas painting. Our selection of paint will be acrylic, but if demand requires it, we will invest in oils and watercolours too.

 

We will run tutorials on basic painting and techniques periodically for anyone that wants to learn or update their painting knowledge.