Disclaimer: I started playing 40k when right when 5th edition came out. Each of my friends picked an army, and I picked with zero knowledge of how the game played, or what armies were competitive. I picked Orks (best choice ever, no seriously, I love the models and always have fun playing them.). Since then I picked up Black Templars (I'm great at picking armies). And picked up about 1500 points of Battle Sisters off Craigslist (remember about my awesome picking luck?), so all my experience is from the beginning of 5th onwards.
Disclaimer 2: Probably going to post some or all of this to my blog too later :).
My friends picked...
Chaos Daemons
Chaos Space Marines
Ultramarines
Tau
Eldar
Dark Eldar
Tyranids
Necrons
Space Wolves
Blood Angels
Imperial Guard
So pretty wide spread of armies and play style. Anyway, long story short, this was my first actual tournament event. I read an article over at FrontLine Gaming and it put me in the right mindset to give it a shot.
So, 40k. There were four main 40k tournaments going on at Nova Open.
40k Trios: Play with your buddies and drink.
40k Invitational: Crush all hope of making friends (your opponent is there to die!)
40k Narrative: Have super fun fluffy games and drink till all hours.
40k GT: Mix of crushing people and having super fun games.
I first met up with Todd and the FTGT crew. Fantastic guys. Really easy going, with great armies. They were playing in Trios as the "The Good, The Bad, and The Hungry" (Eldar, Necrons, and Nids). The way trios works is as follows: Each round (three total rounds) one person plays 2000 points (1v1), and the other two play 1000 points and 1000 points (2v2). Then on the next round, one of them switches to 2k points, and then to 1k/1k. So each player has at least one round at full strength.
These games were really great. It was obvious from the get go that they were meant to be fun and entertaining exchanges. The atmosphere was light, the beer was flowing, and the armies were wildly different, and even had FW and crazy Lords of War showing up (eldar falcon, transcendent ctans, revenant titan). Looked really enjoyable, and would highly recommend it to everyone. The only issue I had with it was the lack of breaks. They needed about 45 minute breaks between the rounds so people could get some snacks and such.
At the same time there was a 40k "Invitational"...I didn't get an invitation. The atmosphere over there was very different. Definitely super competitive, with a mix mash of painted and semi painted armies. Definitely play first, paint second. I don't think I'll ever get an invitation, so I'll just call it "not greggles' scene" for now.
Later in the evening there was the Narrative tournament. This was frigging awesome...it starts late, and goes to basically midnight, so lots of drinking and fun. The armies were wild and amazing, and there was tons of variety, and super epic battles. (Horus died!). Met John, who has an amaaaaazing 30K army, and who is a great guy [Same guy I was pleasuring myself to over his Imperial Knight -BC]. I think he was playing for the good guys. Basically, each battle took place in different sections, and they battled each other for supremacy. Highly recommend this group to anyone wanting to play. All sorts of crazy lists, lords of war, and fun times.
I also submitted a miniature to the capital painting competition. I didn't think I would place, but other blogs told me I should submit anything for the experience. I am so glad I did. I learned more in a few days of classes and talking to other artists than I have in the past few years trying to figure stuff out on my own. GO, submit! Learn!
Day 2-4
Start of the GT. Oh, my god. I was not prepared for both the amount of, and quality of people and armies. Here is the start of the GT Round One.
I attached a few images to let everyone have a looksie. I'll be posting them all week at my blog (self plug!) Feed Your Nerd, as I have over 900 to go through!
The variety of army, and army configuration was great. You had everything from skyblight nids, to ork green tides, to IG tank lines, to flying circus, to straight up dark eldar, to allied groups, to 100% terminator armies. If you could imagine it, it was there. The bracketing system was so setup, so that if you lost, you were immediately setup with someone who also just lost, so you could bond over how crappy your dice were. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Because I didn't play directly, I spent a really long time walking around and taking photos. I pretty much got a shot of every army at Nova, (or at least I hoped so).
Today I also had a weathering class with misterjustin of Secret Weapon. I greatly enjoyed myself, and highly recommend having a class with him. He loves demoing and teaching, and I learned an absolute ton. (Took airbrush and weathering courses).
Watching the GT games, there were definitely two groups playing. One was no holds barred (wave serpent spam, 5 knights, admantium lance formation, riptide spam etc), the other was more of a mixed army list. The bracketing helped separate these two groups, but depending on how your random assignments went, you could have a VERY short game. (tabled by end of turn 2 short). As the rounds went on, it was less and less likely you'd be paired with the super group, and end up being paired with a player with a similar mindset. Either way, the two groups were really fun. From my walking around, most everyone was having a great time. There were a few disputes (as the days went on and people got more and more exhausted), but generally there were very few players who seemed to feel they were cheated out of a win. (most common complaint was how the game would end...sometimes a player would not want to continue playing due to lack of time...which also means they could secure a win if they exposed).
Playing the GT though, was a lot. Eight rounds of play. (three hours a round). That's a lot of 40k...I love 40k, but that might be even too much for me!
In the evenings, the narrative was played, which I wish I stuck around a bit more for. Everyone seemed to have a super great time playing the narrative. It's going to definitely be my go to tourney for next year (especially because of the morning/evening games, it meant you had free time for classes and checking out the GT). That is my little write up. I'll have more as time progresses, and will try to answer any questions you may have!
Thanks for reading!
-Greggles
As guest DJ for KHOP, Greggles goes with Ghost Beach "Moon Over Japan"
