A Triumphant Return

Its been a while.

I very much wanted to write something up before I left for NOVA, but it just wasn’t going to be. Between packing and verifying everything I would need to make sure WM and Hordes ran smoothly all weekend, I was unable to really get any solid train of thought rolling. I also knew I needed to get some sleep to buffer out the lack I was going to encounter shortly thereafter.

How did it all go? Well, keep reading! I’ll list all the winners at the bottom!

Thursday I stayed at home for dinner and bed time with my wife and little one before I headed down to DC for three days of intense judging. I left after 8pm, and arrived onsite around 10, well into the team tournament. 15 teams, some 45 people, showed up. It was a pleasing sight, and I greeted a ton of friends as I walked in. Right away, I was immersed in the Con atmosphere, and I just soaked it up. I helped out for a bit but had a game planned with a friend of mine we I get to see once or twice a year. His minions, My Cryx.

Sadly, this wen’t poorly. This became involved.

It was not my best night. Butterscotch and Orange Creamsicle are some sweet flavors, but the ‘Shine will knock you on your ass.

I’ll get you next year, Joe Brawn!

Friday, nice and early, I got up and prepared to judge for the majority of the day. Two masters heats, Champions, and Iron Feast were all scheduled for that day. The Team Tournament, thankfully, had ended in 4 rounds or less, so the finals didn’t need to be played during Champions.

Both rounds of the masters – Three round qualifiers which advanced the top 8 to the finals on Sunday, went extremely well. Nearly 60 players played between the two heats. With the Qualifiers out of the way, Champions started a little late, with a large turnout – enough to guarantee 4 rounds, but maybe hit that 5th if the pair down wasn’t defeated. We couldn’t fit the 5th round in that day, so if it happened, it was going to be on Saturday.

Fortunately, Mike Malorowski, much to the detriment of our local friend and player, beat the pair down and became the Savior of Champions. after 4 rounds, the Tournament ended, with a sigh of relief from all but one. I really wish I had pics of the Best Painted Army.

Simultaneously with the Champions Tournament, we ran our first ever Iron Feast event.

In Iron Feast (I’d love a better name…)  You start by picking three casters. Then, you get 150 + the combined Warjack/Warbeast points with which to create your detachment. A detachment follows the same FA as a single army with a single warcaster.  Each round, both you and your opponent will declare what warcaster you will be using, and then, like the gauntlet rounds in Iron Gauntlet, you build your army.

However, any model/unit selected for that army is consumed from the detachment, and cannot be used again. This happens on round 2 and then again in round 3. Once all warcasters have been used, the detachment resets and you can start all over.

This was a pretty solid hit with the people who played it, one went so far as to tell me that it was easier to play, by far, than to explain, and if it was offered next year, he would definitely play in it again. Good praise, I think.

I made no judgement errors this evening, and Instead, simply went to bed when the time came. The next day held IG and I needed to be semi sharp.

The next morning was easy, as Iron Gauntlet was just excellent to watch and Judge. Watching Tom Guan play a newly devised Wormwood list, nonstop, through all 5 rounds, including the gauntlet rounds,  and still come out undefeated was pretty sweet.

Spelldraft, modified to fit the new edition, and speed machine, were also played late into the night. I, however, took a little bit of time to relax and play the awesome Anthony Acosta of Frozen Kommander. I’ll be dropping a battle report Wednesday, and he should drop one later in the week. It was a blast of a game, and it was the only one I remember. I tried to get in 2 out of 3 games I aimed for, so thats good, right?

Finally, the weekend ended with a spot on 16 man, 4 round masters tournament. With the help of some amazing PG’s we were able to turn around that 4 round tournament in almost exactly 9 hours, which I think may be a personal best. At the end of it all, Mike Ireland walked away the NOVA champion, one week after taking templecon. Back to Back Championships for Mike is great for me, as he is part of the Greater Northeast Meta, and I love seeing my “locals” do good  – Local being from Northern Virginia to NYC.

All in all, it was a great weekend. It went smoothly, the players were awesome, the staff was exemplary, and aside from a missing bag (If anyone finds a PACK 720 w/ Aiakos Pin… ) everything was legendary.

Now, I know there is more to do and lessons to be learned so that we can make next year even better, but let me bask in the glow of a job I feel is well done.

Take a look at the Games and Lists I took pictures of on my Facebook Page

Any comments or Criticisms, let me know. We are always ready for feedback from the players.

I would like to just take a moment and thank the people who helped make the WM and Hordes side of NOVA run so smoothly, whether it was through technical Support, Hours of IA or Judge assistance, it was all needed. Thanks so much to the whole crew

Jason Houser
Brendon Caulkins
Dan Schwenke
Joe Efinger
Devon Maher
Dan Paddock
Jared Fisher
Stephen Williams
Chris Tanzos
Bryan Jimenez

 

Results!

Team tournament:
1 – 2nd Place Corner
2 – Three Beers of Playtesting
3 – Raging Tacos

Champions
Champion: Anthony Gibbs
Slayer: Anthony Gibbs
Master Craftsman – Mike Wilcomb
Dominator – Chris Frka

Iron Feast
1 Alex James
2 Jamie Desmoines
3 Henry Vanblake

Iron Gauntlet
1 Tom Guan
2 Harrison Hare
3 Mike Ireland

Speedmachine
1 Frank Scibek
2 – Ryan Babcock
3 – Bruno Del Alamo

SpellDraft
1 – Anthony Faciane
2 – James Lesko
3 – Robert Faciane

Who’s the boss
1 James Lesko
2 Andy Kirsch

Masters
1. Mike Ireland
2. Trevor Attridge
3. Liam Piver