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.