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.