I have setup open vpn on my router and can access the unraid gui via its in address from a public network...how do I access the shares as I would see them on a Windows PC. 

VPN should act just like you are actually on your home network. Have you tried accessing the shares like you do at home?

They would normally show up in 'my network' on my computer, I tried //warptower or was it \\warptower, either way I tried both

There could be an issue with name resolution.    You might want to try \\ip_address instead (assuming you know the IP address of the unRAID server).