This is the first year of this event in New Orleans at the Airport Hilton. It began as a one day event making fun of noted introvert and terrible Warhammer player Paul, but has now become a major GT in its own right.
The Basics-
Years Active: 1 (I have attended one year)
Format: 5 games, 2500 points, Limited End Times Rules
Comp System: None, but bad game votes can be given for abusive comp
Sports System: Best Game Vote and Bad Game Vote options
Painting System: Checklist system, some oddities
Battle System: 20-nil
Venue-
The New Orleans Airport Hilton is a pretty solid hotel and the room is located in the central hall. There is ample space and the room itself is locked over night, letting you leave your army there. New Orleans itself is interesting to see, but its a matter of personal preference on whether or not you will enjoy sight seeing there. Its kind of dirty and smelly, but the seafood is excellent and there are a number of historic places to check out.
Tables-
Pretty much your typical GT standard terrain, though LOS pieces were a bit lacking. The influence of the Masters can be seen here with the preset charts for placing terrain on the tables.
Swag-
None. Awards were these awesome rooster trophies with random GW product tossed in.
Scenarios-
Some good ideas here with 800 bonus points tied into using banner bearing core units. Where it fell apart was in allowing dwarf armies to use copters, scouts, and ambushers to score with. Combined with the sparse LOS blocking terrain, this event was a dwarf players dream in many ways. Basically, a dwarf player could run their gunline army to castle in a corner and then use their copters to poach objectives at the end. The Scenarios conceptually were a great idea to keep end times stuff in check, but the execution basically put Dwarves in the driver seat this entire tournament.
Crowd-
Some serious reservations here. Paul was hilarious and awesome to hang out with. The Texans were top notch guys to play and party with. The Bijou Rats were great people. But, there were some seriously bad sports and known cheaters in the room that soured the event in a lot of ways. The lack of comp of any kind combined with the scenario design led to some very ugly lists and playstyles being used, particularly with Dwarves. There was also some serious issues with one guy the organizers knew was going to be a problem ahead of time, but did not pre-emptively address. Those sorts of things keep guys who fly from returning.
Boozing-
The hotel bar was within walking distance of the event room, but aside from that it was BYOB. New Orleans itself had many places to check out for booze, including breweries and the like.
Competition-
The Texans are all amazing players and aside from a newer guy in round one, all my games were against solid competition. The lack of comp makes he room even tougher and the South Region does love them some gunline, so if you want a tough game you came to the right place.
Judging-
I normally don't discuss this because it generally is always done very well at these events, leaving only minor things that can sound like sour grapes when you bring them up. But.... this event had some problems in a couple areas. First, if you have read my GT recap, you will know that there was a known cheater who falsified his army. The issue here is the TOs knew this guy had done this (and other things) in the past and often, but made little to no effort to monitor his behavior. Second, pairings were very strange. Twice I played people who were no where near me in Battle and this did not occur in the first two rounds. There were a lot of people who were experiencing the same thing with no real explanation of why. Third, the paint judging was very hit and miss. I made a point of inspecting the other Wood Elf armies out there. As can be seen here, my army is pretty solidly painted and has numerous conversions, yet another wood elf army that had simple three color base coating and incomplete basing scored higher than mine did, while another virtually identical looking army scored significantly lower than mine. Last, and most serious in my mind, Bad Game votes were overturned by the organizers with no discussion with the voting parties. In my case, I bad game voted a dwarf player based on the comp criteria in the packet (nice guy, asshole army list) and it was overturned without any discussion with me about it. He gave me a bad game vote (not sure why, my first ever that I can recall in five years) and it stood. All that put together left a really negative taste in my mouth and I was not alone in my experiences. The fact that no one was allowed to see a score sheet or painting score sheet at the end of the event was a pretty big red flag for me. Its a shame, because this event has potential, but the desire to make this kind of a trip just gets squashed when things like this happen.
Overall-
The games were mostly fun and hanging with the Texans is always a treat, but the inconsistent pairings and judging pretty much sunk this one for me. If you want to see New Orleans and see the mythical legend that is Paul, it is worth a look and the wife and I do not regret going on that basis. But we will not be returning to this event. I knew being a TO is tough from personal experience and the crew running this one are good guys, but nothing kills an event faster than scoring issues. Its the one thing that you have to be transparent and accurate with at all times. Every other problem is forgivable and correctable, but when scoring and pairing seem fishy (even if they are not) it can kill an event outright.
6.11.2015
Event Review- Broadside Bash
The Bash is the third oldest event in SoCal, behind SAWS and QCR, with a fairly long history behind it. It is run by Bama these days, but the former Pacific Marauders guys who founded it are still involved in the running of the event.
The Basics-
Years Active: 8 (I have attended five)
Format: 5 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish modified
Sports System: 5 point player rated system
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges with a cap for overall
Battle System: W/L/D with bonus points
Venue-
Broadside has moved around over the years, but the last three it has been at Kingdom Con in San Diego, at the Crown Plaza Suite. This is a weekend gaming convention that also started three years ago, with lots of cool vendors and an ok sushi bar. The room is a large hall, typical of these convention events, with other tournaments also going on in the same room. The major bummer here is that you pretty much have to cart your army back and forth to the room each night, unlike many GTs.
Tables-
Solid quality with a fair amount of terrain, the tables are basically good solid GT standard tables, though they did borrow Fred's mats this past year. There is a bit of a lack of LOS blocking terrain on the tables, but there are a decent amount of other pieces at each one.
Swag-
There is no included swag, but they do sell T-shirts fairly cheap for the event.
Scenarios-
A bit wonky, but that's normal with any first time TO. Plus, the Broadside has always been known for doing odd things with the scenarios. If you don't mind wackiness, they are a lot of fun.
Crowd-
This is somewhat of a mixed bag, but mostly a nice bunch. This is sort of the cool down event from WCGT where the LA clubs all come and play, but it has also been known for being a bit more filthy over the years. Bama more or less cracked down on the rough lists a bit and the sportsmanship has been mostly superb of late as well. The event is somewhat smaller than others, typically drawing in 30ish, but it is still big enough to get a diverse lineup of games.
Boozing-
Its pretty much BYOB here, though you can go to the bar between rounds for pricey cocktails and snacks. Roll in a cooler with your favorite poison and you are good to go.
Competition-
There are two big clubs (Capri and Chupacabras) that attend this in force, plus a few smaller ones that turn up. Pretty much all of the best painters and players in the LA and San Diego area turn up here, so there are some good tough games to be had.
Overall-
This is and always has been a good solid local event. Its not one I would suggest as part of an out of state trip (see QCR or WCGT for that), unless your family wants to check out Sea World.
The Basics-
Years Active: 8 (I have attended five)
Format: 5 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish modified
Sports System: 5 point player rated system
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges with a cap for overall
Battle System: W/L/D with bonus points
Venue-
Broadside has moved around over the years, but the last three it has been at Kingdom Con in San Diego, at the Crown Plaza Suite. This is a weekend gaming convention that also started three years ago, with lots of cool vendors and an ok sushi bar. The room is a large hall, typical of these convention events, with other tournaments also going on in the same room. The major bummer here is that you pretty much have to cart your army back and forth to the room each night, unlike many GTs.
Tables-
Solid quality with a fair amount of terrain, the tables are basically good solid GT standard tables, though they did borrow Fred's mats this past year. There is a bit of a lack of LOS blocking terrain on the tables, but there are a decent amount of other pieces at each one.
Swag-
There is no included swag, but they do sell T-shirts fairly cheap for the event.
Scenarios-
A bit wonky, but that's normal with any first time TO. Plus, the Broadside has always been known for doing odd things with the scenarios. If you don't mind wackiness, they are a lot of fun.
Crowd-
This is somewhat of a mixed bag, but mostly a nice bunch. This is sort of the cool down event from WCGT where the LA clubs all come and play, but it has also been known for being a bit more filthy over the years. Bama more or less cracked down on the rough lists a bit and the sportsmanship has been mostly superb of late as well. The event is somewhat smaller than others, typically drawing in 30ish, but it is still big enough to get a diverse lineup of games.
Boozing-
Its pretty much BYOB here, though you can go to the bar between rounds for pricey cocktails and snacks. Roll in a cooler with your favorite poison and you are good to go.
Competition-
There are two big clubs (Capri and Chupacabras) that attend this in force, plus a few smaller ones that turn up. Pretty much all of the best painters and players in the LA and San Diego area turn up here, so there are some good tough games to be had.
Overall-
This is and always has been a good solid local event. Its not one I would suggest as part of an out of state trip (see QCR or WCGT for that), unless your family wants to check out Sea World.
Event Review- West Coast GT
The West Coast GT was started by Fred Whitney and Bill Curry, who run the West Coast Hammertime Podcast. It is fairly reflective of both the general SoCal Warhammer scene and somewhat influenced by their interest in the US Masters. The event has grown to be the second largest Warhammer event in the entire state, drawing over 80 participants last year.
The Basics-
Years Active: 3 (I have attended them all)
Format: 5 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish modified
Sports System: basic thumbs up or down system
Painting System: Checklist with two judges
Battle System: 20-nil
Venue-
The Basics-
Years Active: 3 (I have attended them all)
Format: 5 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish modified
Sports System: basic thumbs up or down system
Painting System: Checklist with two judges
Battle System: 20-nil
Venue-
The Elks Club of Mission Viejo has hosted this event all three years. They are amazing hosts and provide access to their club bar and plenty of cheap food over the course of the weekend. There is also a Friday Night Karaoke thing at their club that everyone participates in during the setup. As venues go, this one is tied with Waughpaca for the best in the country, save for the lack of a close hotel but with superior drinking options.
Tables-
Tables-
In the past Fred used my old leagues tables, but he has since switched to the Front Line gaming mats which are far superior. The terrain is mostly from our old events and is very sturdy, ample, well maintained, and generally top notch. Aside from removing the setup space, this event has the best and most balanced terrain of any event in the nation. Fred and Bill have done a great job of keeping it that way. Honestly, no other event comes close to the quality in this department.
Swag-
Swag-
This has varied from year to year, but there has always been a little something to take home. Last year, it was custom Mickey Mouse blast templates.
Scenarios-
Scenarios-
Somewhat wonky and overly complex, the scenarios are at least interesting. Their scenario design guy has been refining them from year to year. They basically remain constant and some of them involve using special models in your units, for which they have conversion contests.
Crowd-
Crowd-
This event has one of the best and most diverse crowds of any GT, easily on par with both QCR and Waughpaca. There is a wide mix of armies, builds, player types, and playstyles present in this event. Arguably, this is the main draw for this event, as the other major club in SoCal (Leadership2) actually plays in this event (a lot are busy running QCR) as do a good chunk of the Texans. The room is honestly even more diverse than Paca. It is much more competitive in tone than Paca, however.
Boozing-
Boozing-
If the crowd were not a good enough reason to go, this would be the clincher. The Elks let people open tabs and serve people all weekend. The booze is inexpensive for California and they do not wimp out on the strength of the cocktails. If you are somehow still standing after a full game of drinking like a fish, there is a beer party at a nearby bowling alley every Saturday. Really, only Alamo and Paca edge this one out and even then only by the barest of margins.
Competition-
Competition-
The three largest and most successful clubs in California play here, including the mighty Leadership 2 and Club Capri. Several other respected clubs come up for this event from San Diego and Texas, making this arguably one of the most skilled rooms in the entire Western Timezone. The players are all generally fair and fun, as well. It does not get up to the whole Serious Business level that the Masters does, but in my experience this is the event with the toughest path to victory in the west, but that's mainly because a couple key people from LD2 do not play in their own event.
Overall-
In three years, I have had some of the best experiences of any GT at this event and it keeps getting better every year. It is the equal of Paca in a lot of ways, but I am biased a little since its the one GT where I get to sleep in my own bed at home every year. While it is not the best in any category (other than terrain), it is excellent in every area. This is really, along with Paca, one of the best well rounded fun GT experiences that anyone can have. If you want to try an event on the West Coast, this is the one to attend.
Overall-
In three years, I have had some of the best experiences of any GT at this event and it keeps getting better every year. It is the equal of Paca in a lot of ways, but I am biased a little since its the one GT where I get to sleep in my own bed at home every year. While it is not the best in any category (other than terrain), it is excellent in every area. This is really, along with Paca, one of the best well rounded fun GT experiences that anyone can have. If you want to try an event on the West Coast, this is the one to attend.
6.03.2015
Event Review- Masters
I have some mixed opinions on the entire Masters event and system, but that's an entirely different topic. This is mostly dealing with the event itself. A lot of this is going to be repeats from Grail Quest, since it is a lot of the same crowd and the exact same venue, but there are some differences.
The Basics-
Years Active: 2 (I have attended one year)
Format: 6 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish
Sports System: Best Game Votes only, but not for top award
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges, but not for top award.
Battle System: 20-nil
Venue-
This event takes place at Atomic Empire in Raleigh North Carolina. The rows are crowded and it shares space with other events going on in the store. The game store is an excellent place to buy stuff and has a beer only bar inside.
Tables-
They are packed tight with somewhat sparse terrain. The LOS blocking pieces are small and all of the terrain is in so-so condition. The tables themselves are modular pieces, but serviceable. It is basically a standard game store table experience.
Swag-
T-Shirts and some Meirce Source Books. Awards are nice trophies and some random GW kits.
Scenarios-
There are bonus points each round, determined by selecting a card from your hand secretly. You can use each card once and only on day one. I liked the concept, but it needs a little more fine tuning.
Crowd-
These are the top dogs of each region of the country and they reflect the general preference of that region and its selection criteria. Mostly, its a room full of best general winners with a few hobby guys tossed in. While cases of outright open rudeness are rare, they do occur and the level of the competition tends to make the entire event very tense.
Boozing-
Yeah, outside of some cheap beer at the in store bar, not much of that. You can open a tab and have some local brews, but that's about it due to local laws.
Competition-
The best generals in the nation are here playing no frills 20nil battle lines for six games in a row. The playstyle and crowd reflect that and the fierce competition over the team title means everyone is playing heavy point denial and evasion. It is quite simply, the roughest room you will play in.
Overall-
My personal issues with the format and tone aside, this is a very well run and efficient event. While I have no interest in going again, even when it relocates to Vegas next year, I recommend anyone who is capable of qualifying to give it a go at least once. Its worth it just to network with all the really good players who attend.
The Basics-
Years Active: 2 (I have attended one year)
Format: 6 games, 2500 points, standard limitations and no special characters
Comp System: Swedish
Sports System: Best Game Votes only, but not for top award
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges, but not for top award.
Battle System: 20-nil
Venue-
This event takes place at Atomic Empire in Raleigh North Carolina. The rows are crowded and it shares space with other events going on in the store. The game store is an excellent place to buy stuff and has a beer only bar inside.
Tables-
They are packed tight with somewhat sparse terrain. The LOS blocking pieces are small and all of the terrain is in so-so condition. The tables themselves are modular pieces, but serviceable. It is basically a standard game store table experience.
Swag-
T-Shirts and some Meirce Source Books. Awards are nice trophies and some random GW kits.
Scenarios-
There are bonus points each round, determined by selecting a card from your hand secretly. You can use each card once and only on day one. I liked the concept, but it needs a little more fine tuning.
Crowd-
These are the top dogs of each region of the country and they reflect the general preference of that region and its selection criteria. Mostly, its a room full of best general winners with a few hobby guys tossed in. While cases of outright open rudeness are rare, they do occur and the level of the competition tends to make the entire event very tense.
Boozing-
Yeah, outside of some cheap beer at the in store bar, not much of that. You can open a tab and have some local brews, but that's about it due to local laws.
Competition-
The best generals in the nation are here playing no frills 20nil battle lines for six games in a row. The playstyle and crowd reflect that and the fierce competition over the team title means everyone is playing heavy point denial and evasion. It is quite simply, the roughest room you will play in.
Overall-
My personal issues with the format and tone aside, this is a very well run and efficient event. While I have no interest in going again, even when it relocates to Vegas next year, I recommend anyone who is capable of qualifying to give it a go at least once. Its worth it just to network with all the really good players who attend.
Event Review- Grail Quest
The Basics-
Years Active: Unknown (I have attended one year)
Format: 6 games, 2500 points, up to 500 can be monsters
Comp System: Swedish
Sports System: Best Game Votes only
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges
Battle System: 20-nil with bonus points
Venue-
This event takes place at Atomic Empire in Raleigh North Carolina. The rows are crowded and it shares space with other events going on in the store. The game store is an excellent place to buy stuff and has a beer only bar inside.
Tables-
They are packed tight with somewhat sparse terrain. The LOS blocking pieces are small and all of the terrain is in so-so condition. The tables themselves are modular pieces, but serviceable. It is basically a standard game store table experience.
Swag-
None. Awards are nice trophies and some random GW kits.
Scenarios-
There are bonus points each round, but no scenarios as such. Like most East Coast events, the focus is on efficiency with the Battle Lines scenario. The upside is that the 500 point monster allowance adds a few fun new wrinkles to the mix.
Crowd-
The crowd varies. Most of the mid-Atlantic guys are fun to play and good to chat with, Eoin Whelan, Eric Lodal, and Jerry Parsley being major standouts. But there are also some very competitive alpha nerds that are a part of the scene. There are no side activities to engage in at this event and even if there were the exhausting six game schedule would discourage going to them.
Boozing-
Yeah, outside of some cheap beer at the in store bar, not much of that. You can open a tab and have some local brews, but that's about it due to local laws.
Competition-
A lot of strong players come to this, in particular enthusiasts of European styles of the game. While not my personal cup of tea, the strongest people in the country at this style of play can be found here.
Overall-
If you like this style of Warhammer, this is a good event and a friendly one. The scoring is fair and efficient. The TO is very attentive and impartial. It is also decent sized. If you want to sample something in the eastern time zone, this is a good one to check out.
Years Active: Unknown (I have attended one year)
Format: 6 games, 2500 points, up to 500 can be monsters
Comp System: Swedish
Sports System: Best Game Votes only
Painting System: Tiered Checklist with two judges
Battle System: 20-nil with bonus points
Venue-
This event takes place at Atomic Empire in Raleigh North Carolina. The rows are crowded and it shares space with other events going on in the store. The game store is an excellent place to buy stuff and has a beer only bar inside.
Tables-
They are packed tight with somewhat sparse terrain. The LOS blocking pieces are small and all of the terrain is in so-so condition. The tables themselves are modular pieces, but serviceable. It is basically a standard game store table experience.
Swag-
None. Awards are nice trophies and some random GW kits.
Scenarios-
There are bonus points each round, but no scenarios as such. Like most East Coast events, the focus is on efficiency with the Battle Lines scenario. The upside is that the 500 point monster allowance adds a few fun new wrinkles to the mix.
Crowd-
The crowd varies. Most of the mid-Atlantic guys are fun to play and good to chat with, Eoin Whelan, Eric Lodal, and Jerry Parsley being major standouts. But there are also some very competitive alpha nerds that are a part of the scene. There are no side activities to engage in at this event and even if there were the exhausting six game schedule would discourage going to them.
Boozing-
Yeah, outside of some cheap beer at the in store bar, not much of that. You can open a tab and have some local brews, but that's about it due to local laws.
Competition-
A lot of strong players come to this, in particular enthusiasts of European styles of the game. While not my personal cup of tea, the strongest people in the country at this style of play can be found here.
Overall-
If you like this style of Warhammer, this is a good event and a friendly one. The scoring is fair and efficient. The TO is very attentive and impartial. It is also decent sized. If you want to sample something in the eastern time zone, this is a good one to check out.
Event Review- Waughpaca
Waaughpaca is a long running GT held in the dead of winter in Wisconsin every year, roughly 30 miles from where I grew up as a kid.
The Basics-
Years Active: 6 years (I have attended the last three)
Format: 5 games, 2000 points, generally standard style
Comp System: None (see below)
Sports System: None (see below)
Painting System: Checklist with three judges conferring
Battle System: Win/Loss/Draw with Bonus Points
Venue-
This event is held at the Waupaca Ale House. You are isolated out in the north woods in the middle of winter, but that is ok. The venue is a giant wedding reception hall with an attached bar and supper club, where you can get great meals between rounds and open up a tab for really cheap booze. The hotel is very nice and affordable and sits a mere 30 foot walk from the bar entrance. This venue is, for my money, tied with WCGT for the best in the nation for Fantasy GTs.
Tables-
These are a bit more hit and miss, with a variety of custom tables which some people may not like due to excessive amounts of terrain types on some tables. There decent setup room on the tables and the terrain is all of good quality. Terrain charts at each table tell you exactly what every piece does, which is a nice amenity.
Swag-
This has varied from year to year, but the one constant is the reroll dice. The glasses and T-Shirts from prior years are missed, but hopefully they are back next year. The trophies are custom made warhammer equipment and weapons, which puts them above everyone else.
Scenarios-
The scenarios are fairly odd, but well mixed. In three years going, they have not seemed to favor any particular army type, aside from punishing people who min/max. They also handled End Times better than any event I have seen tackle it. This event is tied with QCR for the best around, in this department. There is enough variety to make people behave with army selection, but simple enough that you can be drunk as hell and still know what you are doing.
Crowd-
This is the best crowd to play with in all of the nation that I have ever been. Despite the lack of soft scores of any kind, nearly everyone runs completely reasonable and tame armies, even in the year End Times was allowed. In three years I have never had a negative gaming experience here. There are Mustache Contests, Strength Contest, Raffles, and rampant drunken revelry. This is everything a GT should be.
Boozing-
You can open a tab at the bar and get cheap booze all weekend. The wait staff are excellent and friendly and you can take your drinks and snacks right into the hall, if you want. This one is tied with Alamo for boozing and second only to WCGT.
Competition-
A lot of the best Bay Area guys are regulars here and the best of the Midwest hang out here. The skill level of the room runs the full range with a fairly even distribution. If you are looking for a challenging game, you will eventually get your turn with Ryan Nichol or Mike G, if not one of the top dog L2 crowd. Even though the tone of the event is not super competitive, there are good hard games to be had.
Overall-
This is obviously my favorite event of the entire year and I am not alone in this view, though some of that is personal since this is also a trip back home for me. If you like good compy events with a lot of fun sideshow antics and a great crowd, this one is the one to go to. It sells out its 100 man capacity in under a day each year for good reason. If you like QCR or WCGT, this one is probably right up your alley. If you are a serious business kind of guy, its still worth it for the chance to square off against the toughest players in the Midwest.
The Basics-
Years Active: 6 years (I have attended the last three)
Format: 5 games, 2000 points, generally standard style
Comp System: None (see below)
Sports System: None (see below)
Painting System: Checklist with three judges conferring
Battle System: Win/Loss/Draw with Bonus Points
Venue-
This event is held at the Waupaca Ale House. You are isolated out in the north woods in the middle of winter, but that is ok. The venue is a giant wedding reception hall with an attached bar and supper club, where you can get great meals between rounds and open up a tab for really cheap booze. The hotel is very nice and affordable and sits a mere 30 foot walk from the bar entrance. This venue is, for my money, tied with WCGT for the best in the nation for Fantasy GTs.
Tables-
These are a bit more hit and miss, with a variety of custom tables which some people may not like due to excessive amounts of terrain types on some tables. There decent setup room on the tables and the terrain is all of good quality. Terrain charts at each table tell you exactly what every piece does, which is a nice amenity.
Swag-
This has varied from year to year, but the one constant is the reroll dice. The glasses and T-Shirts from prior years are missed, but hopefully they are back next year. The trophies are custom made warhammer equipment and weapons, which puts them above everyone else.
Scenarios-
The scenarios are fairly odd, but well mixed. In three years going, they have not seemed to favor any particular army type, aside from punishing people who min/max. They also handled End Times better than any event I have seen tackle it. This event is tied with QCR for the best around, in this department. There is enough variety to make people behave with army selection, but simple enough that you can be drunk as hell and still know what you are doing.
Crowd-
This is the best crowd to play with in all of the nation that I have ever been. Despite the lack of soft scores of any kind, nearly everyone runs completely reasonable and tame armies, even in the year End Times was allowed. In three years I have never had a negative gaming experience here. There are Mustache Contests, Strength Contest, Raffles, and rampant drunken revelry. This is everything a GT should be.
Boozing-
You can open a tab at the bar and get cheap booze all weekend. The wait staff are excellent and friendly and you can take your drinks and snacks right into the hall, if you want. This one is tied with Alamo for boozing and second only to WCGT.
Competition-
A lot of the best Bay Area guys are regulars here and the best of the Midwest hang out here. The skill level of the room runs the full range with a fairly even distribution. If you are looking for a challenging game, you will eventually get your turn with Ryan Nichol or Mike G, if not one of the top dog L2 crowd. Even though the tone of the event is not super competitive, there are good hard games to be had.
Overall-
This is obviously my favorite event of the entire year and I am not alone in this view, though some of that is personal since this is also a trip back home for me. If you like good compy events with a lot of fun sideshow antics and a great crowd, this one is the one to go to. It sells out its 100 man capacity in under a day each year for good reason. If you like QCR or WCGT, this one is probably right up your alley. If you are a serious business kind of guy, its still worth it for the chance to square off against the toughest players in the Midwest.
Reflecting on CoC
After a couple weeks to decompress and barely escape the Texas flooding, I figured I would update this with my general thoughts about Paul's CoC. Most of what I have to say about this event has more to do with the event itself, rather than my personal experiences in the games. As such I think I am going to do a series of posts talking about individual events I have attended over the last couple years and their various pros and cons. This post will instead talk about my personal experiences in the games at the event. It is sufficive to say that several things are going to relate to the quirks of this event and some of the brief battle recaps are going to talk about some things that are really event related. This is somewhat unavoidable. Most of it will be confined to the game three discussion.
Our Friday was spent with the Texans, getting drunk at breweries all afternoon and going out to eat at some place that was basically a shack with fried shrimp for sale. The wife got to see enough of the French Quarter to satisfy her curiosity and we opted to get a decent nights rest to counter the jet lag.
Game 1- John Klauk w Tomb Kings
John's list was basically Settra with some chariots and a couple blocks and casket to bolster him. The scenario involved capturing tokens with core banner units, which I was ready for. Short version of this game is that John was a nice guy with a well painted themed army, but was just not ready for how fast I was all over him. He also had some horrendous luck, culminating in Settra being physically beaten down by Eternal Guard in the Venom Thicket. The eagle was surprisingly clutch in this game, blocking the mega chariot unit until Orion could deal with it in combat. Other than some really bad rolls on charges, this game was pretty much just me swarm charging things.
So, 20-0 win for me. Elsewhere, my wife used her no magic nurgle daemon army to dismantle a poor unsuspecting dark elf player with similar results.
Game 2- A Dwarf Player, who's name escapes me
Ok, dwarves are an army I hate to face but this was by far the tamest dwarf army I had ever seen. He had no war machines beyond a pair of plain jane organ guns, which I deleted almost immediately. His copters ended up getting chased down by my Sisters. His main block with the super killy Lord on a trash can lid ended up eating a combined charge from Orion, my BSB, and the Eternal Guard. Much to his dismay, I put the BSB up against his General in the challenge, which negated most of his tricks (no S8 D6MW, no 3+ ward) and chewed him up in two rounds of combat. This freed up Orion to mow down 10+ stunties a round on his own and secured me the win.
Another 20-0 win! Elsewhere, my wife managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by throwing six dice at her one spell and losing her Papa Nurgle against a mixed god DoC army, losing 9-11.
Game 3- Cheaty McCheaterson w Lizardmen
I am not going to dignify this game by describing what happened, beyond that it mostly involved me shooting up skinks and Orion skunking a knight bus while all the other guy did was 6 dice Kroaks spell from flying skink delivery systems all game long. What I am going to mention is how 6 different people _including the TO_ came up to warn me that this guy was a known cheater. Knowing this in advance, I watched his dice rolls and basically let him get away with minor stuff and only called him on things when it mattered, mostly because I was having a good day one and did not want to spoil it by having a giant argument with some guy who obviously cared more about winning than I did. What I did not catch was that he had provided me with no copy of his army and had taken it upon himself to add extra models to all his units, most critically his Cold One Rider bus, which Orion would have decimated early enough to finish tabling him if it had contained the correct number of models. I also would have not had to spend extra rounds mopping up skink units that magically doubled in size.
Now, this was the TO's first major event, so I do not want to bag on him. We all make errors running these things and stuff happens. Having said that, if you have a known cheater playing an out of town guy, maybe someone should verify he is not doing the same cheats in this game that he had already been busted for in prior events, if you are even going to let him into the tournament. Worse still, I never should have been paired against this guy in the first place as he entered the round with 20 BP and I had the full 40. Worse than that, had this guy not dropped (he got wind he was about to be busted for the extra models thing by someone else) out after our game, he was about to be paired up with someone with 48 BP in that round where he would have only had 28. I am not sure how the pairings were being done, but post round 2 is should have been raw BP and most assuredly so by round 4. The pairings thing would continue to be.... odd... all weekend.
Anyhow, despite rampant cheating and all that other jazz, I pulled a 12-8 win out of my butt. My wife had similar luck and score defeating a wood elf player running a pretty much stock net list. I guess all the beatings she put on my woodies paid off.
Saturday Night-
We went en masse to a nicer restaurant and talked nerd and warhammer. The slipped disk and general jet lag meant getting to bed early, though. Over dinner, Julian (the French Texan) gave me the rundown on the list cheating thing and we talked about how the pairings were wonky. I resolved myself that I had a decent shot at doing well, as long as I didn't pull any of the Dwarf Juggernaughts that were all sitting near perfect (due to the scenario designs).
Game 4- Peter Reese w 40k Dwarves
Shit. Well, lets see.... two cannons and two organ guns that reroll everything and mostly hit on 2s... the unkillable lord... 3 copters for objective claiming and denial.. and one whole hill to hide behind. Yeah, I am screwed. With the tournament letting copters score and every models that could have a gun in its hands being equipped with one, this was a no holds barred ass whooping with zero chance of pulling anything out of it. The game was effectively sealed when Orion poked his head out to try and pick off a chopper only to eat the dirt from a single cannon ball. There was just no way I was going to win against this army and my normal strategy of playing for the draw was rendered pointless due to the gyros being able to claim table corners.
I salvaged one BP out of this debacle, which is one more than I expected. I think Peter was antsy about me hiding all game because he bad game voted me for some reason, which is the first one I can ever recall getting in a GT. Interestingly, my bad game vote of him (for comp which the packet said reflected on those votes, Peter was a perfectly nice guy to play) got overturned by the TO when scores were finalized without them ever even discussing it with me. Finally, this is another pairing head scratcher, because I entered this game with 52 BP and Peter came in with a perfect score. My spidey sense was tingling a bit at this point.. Elsewhere, the wife fought to a bloody draw against a skaven army.
Game 5- Richard Vogt w Undead Legions (aka Marching Tomb Kings with some Ghouls)
Three big blocks, some war machines, and a little chaff. At least our BP were close this time and Richard was a really great guy to play. I jumped out early, dusting off his war machines but over exposing one of my archer units as a result. While my wild riders were able to destroy his ghoul unit and the escape to safety, I was unable to get real pressure on his main Tomb Guard unit early enough with Orion to be as aggressive as I wanted. Richard played tough and pulled what looked like an early route into a narrow loss for himself. He was by far the best game I had all weekend and I felt like our armies were well matched.
I walked away with a 12-8 win and gave Richard a well deserved best game vote. My wife ate another narrow loss to a Night Goblin gunline running billions of great weapon heroes, which she was not familiar with facing, so while I ended on a major positive, she ended on a tad of a downer.
Results-
To no one's surprise, the Texans cleaned house with Julian taking overall and Justin nabbing Best General. Despite decent painting and a 4-1 record, I ended up a disappointing 15th, from a combination of the one bad game vote and some odd paint scoring (more on that in the event review post later) and my wife came in a few places back. I did the best on Battle Points of all the wood elves, in a field rife with Dwarf Gunlines, while rocking Orion, so I am pretty happy with how I did. I was just a little salty about playing a known cheater I never should have been paired against and likely being paired up against the toughest army in the room the round following. The scoring and pairing oddities added to that non-plussed feeling. The Texans were awesome to hang out with and I in no way regret going to this event, but its not one I will be coming back to for a variety of reasons.
Unit by Unit Breakdown-
Eagle-
Strangely, this guy was more productive than he normally is, but that may have been due to all of the other fast threats in my army and not needing him very often. He ended up basically winning the first game for me and the worst game he had was dying to copters while cowering behind a building in game four. I think his appearance helps my painting score, so I guess I will try and keep him for now.
Wild Riders-
Another day at the office. The charged, stuff died. I don't think they let me down at all this weekend.
Sisters of the Thorn-
Amazingly enough, I did not miss having extra magic and my phases were productive with just these two units. They also did well in their combat role, engaging isolated chaff and monsters in multiple games. I forgot how much fun these five packs are.
Eternal Guard-
Again, they did what was expected. That is to say, sat in a Venom Thicket and secured objectives. Their major moment of glory was punking Settra in game one, but they did their task dependably all weekend.
Glade Guard-
Despite the guy plopping almost 20 extra skinks on the table beyond what he should have, they still erased an entire skink cloud in two and a half turns. They also ganked war machines fairly quickly, aside from the game 4 guy with the ward banner. Very solid performance against less than ideal targets all weekend.
Glade Riders-
I brought them to help with objectives and they did just that. Aside from that one task, they were pretty much a non factor but people did over react to their ambush potential. Unless an event goes nuts with the objectives again, there is not a lot of chance I will use these guys very often, though.
Stag BSB-
I threw her away needlessly a couple games, but when I didn't she really came through for me. She tied down a giant skeleton block, beat down a dwarf lord, and killed some salamanders, among other things. Very solid weekend from her.
Orion-
I brought him to fight with, but often I was stuck just shooting with him for various reasons. Sometimes people just did not want to engage him. Sometimes, the deathstar was just to big to engage late game. Sometimes they had more guns than the entire state of Texas and he had to hide. When he did fight, he was effective and decisive, but he was not as fun or versatile as the Dragon Lord. I probably could and should have been more aggressive with him.
Our Friday was spent with the Texans, getting drunk at breweries all afternoon and going out to eat at some place that was basically a shack with fried shrimp for sale. The wife got to see enough of the French Quarter to satisfy her curiosity and we opted to get a decent nights rest to counter the jet lag.
Game 1- John Klauk w Tomb Kings
John's list was basically Settra with some chariots and a couple blocks and casket to bolster him. The scenario involved capturing tokens with core banner units, which I was ready for. Short version of this game is that John was a nice guy with a well painted themed army, but was just not ready for how fast I was all over him. He also had some horrendous luck, culminating in Settra being physically beaten down by Eternal Guard in the Venom Thicket. The eagle was surprisingly clutch in this game, blocking the mega chariot unit until Orion could deal with it in combat. Other than some really bad rolls on charges, this game was pretty much just me swarm charging things.
So, 20-0 win for me. Elsewhere, my wife used her no magic nurgle daemon army to dismantle a poor unsuspecting dark elf player with similar results.
Game 2- A Dwarf Player, who's name escapes me
Ok, dwarves are an army I hate to face but this was by far the tamest dwarf army I had ever seen. He had no war machines beyond a pair of plain jane organ guns, which I deleted almost immediately. His copters ended up getting chased down by my Sisters. His main block with the super killy Lord on a trash can lid ended up eating a combined charge from Orion, my BSB, and the Eternal Guard. Much to his dismay, I put the BSB up against his General in the challenge, which negated most of his tricks (no S8 D6MW, no 3+ ward) and chewed him up in two rounds of combat. This freed up Orion to mow down 10+ stunties a round on his own and secured me the win.
Another 20-0 win! Elsewhere, my wife managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by throwing six dice at her one spell and losing her Papa Nurgle against a mixed god DoC army, losing 9-11.
Game 3- Cheaty McCheaterson w Lizardmen
I am not going to dignify this game by describing what happened, beyond that it mostly involved me shooting up skinks and Orion skunking a knight bus while all the other guy did was 6 dice Kroaks spell from flying skink delivery systems all game long. What I am going to mention is how 6 different people _including the TO_ came up to warn me that this guy was a known cheater. Knowing this in advance, I watched his dice rolls and basically let him get away with minor stuff and only called him on things when it mattered, mostly because I was having a good day one and did not want to spoil it by having a giant argument with some guy who obviously cared more about winning than I did. What I did not catch was that he had provided me with no copy of his army and had taken it upon himself to add extra models to all his units, most critically his Cold One Rider bus, which Orion would have decimated early enough to finish tabling him if it had contained the correct number of models. I also would have not had to spend extra rounds mopping up skink units that magically doubled in size.
Now, this was the TO's first major event, so I do not want to bag on him. We all make errors running these things and stuff happens. Having said that, if you have a known cheater playing an out of town guy, maybe someone should verify he is not doing the same cheats in this game that he had already been busted for in prior events, if you are even going to let him into the tournament. Worse still, I never should have been paired against this guy in the first place as he entered the round with 20 BP and I had the full 40. Worse than that, had this guy not dropped (he got wind he was about to be busted for the extra models thing by someone else) out after our game, he was about to be paired up with someone with 48 BP in that round where he would have only had 28. I am not sure how the pairings were being done, but post round 2 is should have been raw BP and most assuredly so by round 4. The pairings thing would continue to be.... odd... all weekend.
Anyhow, despite rampant cheating and all that other jazz, I pulled a 12-8 win out of my butt. My wife had similar luck and score defeating a wood elf player running a pretty much stock net list. I guess all the beatings she put on my woodies paid off.
Saturday Night-
We went en masse to a nicer restaurant and talked nerd and warhammer. The slipped disk and general jet lag meant getting to bed early, though. Over dinner, Julian (the French Texan) gave me the rundown on the list cheating thing and we talked about how the pairings were wonky. I resolved myself that I had a decent shot at doing well, as long as I didn't pull any of the Dwarf Juggernaughts that were all sitting near perfect (due to the scenario designs).
Game 4- Peter Reese w 40k Dwarves
Shit. Well, lets see.... two cannons and two organ guns that reroll everything and mostly hit on 2s... the unkillable lord... 3 copters for objective claiming and denial.. and one whole hill to hide behind. Yeah, I am screwed. With the tournament letting copters score and every models that could have a gun in its hands being equipped with one, this was a no holds barred ass whooping with zero chance of pulling anything out of it. The game was effectively sealed when Orion poked his head out to try and pick off a chopper only to eat the dirt from a single cannon ball. There was just no way I was going to win against this army and my normal strategy of playing for the draw was rendered pointless due to the gyros being able to claim table corners.
I salvaged one BP out of this debacle, which is one more than I expected. I think Peter was antsy about me hiding all game because he bad game voted me for some reason, which is the first one I can ever recall getting in a GT. Interestingly, my bad game vote of him (for comp which the packet said reflected on those votes, Peter was a perfectly nice guy to play) got overturned by the TO when scores were finalized without them ever even discussing it with me. Finally, this is another pairing head scratcher, because I entered this game with 52 BP and Peter came in with a perfect score. My spidey sense was tingling a bit at this point.. Elsewhere, the wife fought to a bloody draw against a skaven army.
Game 5- Richard Vogt w Undead Legions (aka Marching Tomb Kings with some Ghouls)
Three big blocks, some war machines, and a little chaff. At least our BP were close this time and Richard was a really great guy to play. I jumped out early, dusting off his war machines but over exposing one of my archer units as a result. While my wild riders were able to destroy his ghoul unit and the escape to safety, I was unable to get real pressure on his main Tomb Guard unit early enough with Orion to be as aggressive as I wanted. Richard played tough and pulled what looked like an early route into a narrow loss for himself. He was by far the best game I had all weekend and I felt like our armies were well matched.
I walked away with a 12-8 win and gave Richard a well deserved best game vote. My wife ate another narrow loss to a Night Goblin gunline running billions of great weapon heroes, which she was not familiar with facing, so while I ended on a major positive, she ended on a tad of a downer.
Results-
To no one's surprise, the Texans cleaned house with Julian taking overall and Justin nabbing Best General. Despite decent painting and a 4-1 record, I ended up a disappointing 15th, from a combination of the one bad game vote and some odd paint scoring (more on that in the event review post later) and my wife came in a few places back. I did the best on Battle Points of all the wood elves, in a field rife with Dwarf Gunlines, while rocking Orion, so I am pretty happy with how I did. I was just a little salty about playing a known cheater I never should have been paired against and likely being paired up against the toughest army in the room the round following. The scoring and pairing oddities added to that non-plussed feeling. The Texans were awesome to hang out with and I in no way regret going to this event, but its not one I will be coming back to for a variety of reasons.
Unit by Unit Breakdown-
Eagle-
Strangely, this guy was more productive than he normally is, but that may have been due to all of the other fast threats in my army and not needing him very often. He ended up basically winning the first game for me and the worst game he had was dying to copters while cowering behind a building in game four. I think his appearance helps my painting score, so I guess I will try and keep him for now.
Wild Riders-
Another day at the office. The charged, stuff died. I don't think they let me down at all this weekend.
Sisters of the Thorn-
Amazingly enough, I did not miss having extra magic and my phases were productive with just these two units. They also did well in their combat role, engaging isolated chaff and monsters in multiple games. I forgot how much fun these five packs are.
Eternal Guard-
Again, they did what was expected. That is to say, sat in a Venom Thicket and secured objectives. Their major moment of glory was punking Settra in game one, but they did their task dependably all weekend.
Glade Guard-
Despite the guy plopping almost 20 extra skinks on the table beyond what he should have, they still erased an entire skink cloud in two and a half turns. They also ganked war machines fairly quickly, aside from the game 4 guy with the ward banner. Very solid performance against less than ideal targets all weekend.
Glade Riders-
I brought them to help with objectives and they did just that. Aside from that one task, they were pretty much a non factor but people did over react to their ambush potential. Unless an event goes nuts with the objectives again, there is not a lot of chance I will use these guys very often, though.
Stag BSB-
I threw her away needlessly a couple games, but when I didn't she really came through for me. She tied down a giant skeleton block, beat down a dwarf lord, and killed some salamanders, among other things. Very solid weekend from her.
Orion-
I brought him to fight with, but often I was stuck just shooting with him for various reasons. Sometimes people just did not want to engage him. Sometimes, the deathstar was just to big to engage late game. Sometimes they had more guns than the entire state of Texas and he had to hide. When he did fight, he was effective and decisive, but he was not as fun or versatile as the Dragon Lord. I probably could and should have been more aggressive with him.
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