Nova Open Recap: Masters

After I failed to qualify for Masters (or the Championship, whatever you want to call it) after the Team tournament I threw caution to the wind and did the Deathrace tournament that started somewhat after midnight.  I'll do a tiny bit on it later, but for now the important bit is that I got into bed around 3.  After checking out and meeting up with NGF for breakfast (and to leave my non-gaming baggage with him) I made my way back to the Warmachine room trying to figure out how to make a list without knowing who my caster would be.

Nova Open Recap: Team

All for one and one for all and all that. 

Going into the Open the team tournament was a big question mark for me.  I didn't try to find a team before the event as conventional wisdom said it would be good to have some non-event time at a con.  With Iron Arena going, and a total lack of details before the Open began, I figured I could either get in Iron Arena games, nap, tour the con, or fill out someone's squad.  There was a bit of chatter about finding people on Thursday which grew in intensity through Friday and into Saturday.  I knew I could find a place to play if I wanted to, but the question of whether I wanted to or not was still undecided after the close of the morning's Steam Roller.  After three tournaments in a day and a half what I wanted most was to have a leisurely meal so I strolled over to the Bozzelli's that had spurned my breakfasty advances that morning to get a big, greasy meal that I could lord over like a dragon and its hoard.

Nova Open Recap: Steam Roller

The lead-up to Saturday morning's SR event could have been better.  The tier tournament ran a little late (1:45 instead of midnight), it took me far too long to fall asleep, and the place I'd spotted for breakfast (Bozzelli's) didn't open until 10 on Saturdays.  Most places around the hotel were closed, so I soldiered on with nuts and trail mix before I got back to the tables.

It was eventually decided that this event was Divide & Conquer, which I was happy about.  There's lots of talk about picking complimentary lists, good/bad matchups, and getting "locked in" to a particular list on the podcasts I listen to, so I was eager to see how the format played out.  I've since tinkered with the existing lists instead of making new ones, as is my custom, so these may be slightly off, but this is what I ran:

Nova Open Recap: Tier

Tiers not as tasty as these. 

Going into the Open I had circled the Tier tournament as one I expected to do well in.  I've had a lot of success with Absylonia's tier list, which includes everything that I want (beasts and fury management) and gives some nice benefits (cheaper, faster beasts).  Aby is a pretty straight-forward caster, one of a small group (which might only include pVlad) that I feel comfortable playing competitively with no warmups or practice games.  My list was as such:

Absylonia, Terror of Everblight  +5 points
* Angelius  8 points
* Scythean  8 points
* 3x Shredder  2 points each
* Typhon  11 points

Shepherd  1 point
3x The Forsaken  2 points each

All the lessers get AD, all the heavies get to Advance Move, I get an extra Forsaken, what's not to like?  Oh, and all the heavies will have Reach.  The only real weakness is a lack of magic weapons/attacks, but that's common to many tier lists.  I would have liked another heavy, but the points just don't mesh at 35.  Enough rambling, on to the meat.

Nova Open Recap: Hardcore

Where I spent my long, long, loooooooong weekend. 

Starting at the beginning of the Open may not be the best idea as my recollection gets hazier the further back I go, but I am no more capable of reporting outside chronological order than I am setting up non-symmetrical terrain.  We all have crosses to bear in life.

To really start at the beginning, I arrived Thursday night.  There weren't any events scheduled and Iron Arena wasn't running yet, so it was pretty quiet.  There were a pair of games running when I poked my head in for the first time.  After taking a lap of the 40k hall and future vendor area I returned to the Warmahordes room and got in a friendly with James, who I hear is a PG in training over at Huzzah. A very relaxed start to the chaos that would follow.

New feature, Nova Open coverage to come

Behold my newest creation! 

I've finally added a local events page to the blog.  This has been on the to do list for quite a while, and at long last I can take it off.  Part of the feet dragging was due to the nigh-identical list over at Anything But a One, but a quick glance will show the depth of dust that has settled there.  I do sweeps of my "local" stores periodically, trawl the forums a bit less frequently, and am on two local mailing lists so I hope to catch all the events and keep the list current.  It's possible, perhaps likely, that I'll miss stuff or slack on updating, so if you my modest cloud of readers see something I've missed be sure to let me know.  I'm restricting the list to single day events currently, so leagues won't show up as they're not the sort of thing I'd travel for.  Greater coherency in the DMV Warmahordes scene is something I'd love to see and keep bugging PGs about, but there's no reason I can't chip in even if my contribution is modest.

In other blog news, I'm putting together a Nova Open recap.  Things are a bit fuzzy so it's taking longer than expected, but considering the lack of Open coverage, or more precisely Warmahordes Open coverage, I'm more inclined than usual to ramble on about an event.  The plan now is to break it up by day.  Hopefully I can get Friday up today and get the whole recap done this week.

Last(?) bit before the Nova Open

Shamelessly plundered from the PP forums.

Once again I slacked on going out to Huzzah.  On the one hand it's unfortunate as I haven't been there in a while and won't have a chance to hit Game Parlor on Thursday before heading to the Nova Open, so this was my last chance to test lists pre-con.  On the other hand I assembled the rest of the pieces for those lists today, so it's not like I just sat on the couch eating truffles and watching Oprah.  What did I get built?  Just this:

• Strider UA
• Totem Hunter
• Naga Nightlurker
• Nephilim Bolt Thrower
• Rhyas

Rhyas was more bonus than anything as I wanted to assemble another caster and she looked easier to deal with than eVayl and her huge, floaty cloak.  I may prime this latest batch if the opportunity presents itself tomorrow, but I'm content with my collection as it stands and don't feel compelled to do anything else to get ready for the Open.

Between now and Thursday I'll need to pack a suitcase, which is boring, and also pack the new bag that just showed up today, which is exciting.  I got some purpose made Legion and Khador foam to fit the problem pieces (warnouns and MoW) and am looking forward to splitting my collection later tonight.  The one issue I foresee is gaming accessories: dice, markers, tape measure, that sort of thing.  Perhaps I'll look into a small shaving kit sort of bag to keep all those bits in so I'm not fishing things out of one bag and plopping them in another.  Fortunately there aren't many, if any, models that work for both Khador and Legion so I won't have to worry about which bag a model is in.

This is probably the last post until I get back as I don't have anything exciting to do between now and then, but you never know.  I keep hearing about this Twitter that all the kids are going on about, and it seems the Open is using it to make announcements and the like.  It's possible, though highly unlikely, that I'll be Twittering during the Open.  If that sounds interesting my handle there is demitra_kmnb.  I have no idea how to link it, or where to link it to, or really much of anything about twits in general.  Just in case I've missed the mark, let me stress again that there will likely be nothing happening there.  With that, I'm vacating this particular part of the intertubes.  For now...

Tournament Mode: Soft to the Core

A different kind of softcore. 

This will be lackluster when compared with my other tournament recaps.  Hardcore timing does not encourage in-game photography.

Yesterday there was a Softcore event at my FLGS.  Perhaps you've seen murmurings about it on this very blog?  There was a good turn out, 14 in all I think, with a decent spread of factions.  There was uncertainty as to the turn out, in terms of both numbers and geography.  There was only one non-regular contender. of whom I'll speak in a bit, with the rest being part of the cast you'd likely see on any given Thursday at Game Parlor.  While I always like playing against different people, in a way it was nice to face familiar opponents as it removed one variable from the equation while testing a new(ish) list and format.  The previous post is about the list I ran and my rationale behind it, so if you've stumbled across this post and want some context just hop back one.  This post will wait until you get back, it's patient.

Nova Open: this is costing me how much?

Wish I'd gone when it was in my backyard... 

Lots of considering the Nova Open today.  It didn't take a lot of convincing to swallow the $60 price tag for the weekend (35 for the con itself, 25 for the Warmahordes component) as it covers up to 7 non-overlapping tournaments, plus open gaming (with prizes!) in the form of the Iron Arena, plus free loot via a swag bag.  Not much convincing at all.

Now that I'm looking at lodging and associated costs, the outlook is less rosy.

Been a while

Long time, no post.  There hasn't been much painting going on, which means no pictures waiting to be posted, which means no words to go with the pictures to make posts out of.  Things are cyclical and this is a down cycle.