To nobodies surprise, this was a 40K dominated event. Sure fantasy was in full force, with much smaller entry pools and other companies made a mark (Warmachine and FoW)- 40K was king. And the king is alive and well. The main hall was always packed and full of a buzz that only comes with hundreds of players discussing action on the table. And as to be expected, such an event brought out the best in painted armies. This isn't the place to go into the tournaments in detail, plenty of other sites are doing that, but I'll just say my experience in the main hall showed that the Adepticon staff did a great job moving all of the events along. This is a well oiled machine when it comes to administering a tournament- at this scale.
The only event I played in was the 40K Team Tournament on Saturday. We were a relatively late addition to the party, only have about three months to plan. I know, it sounds silly. The room full of all sorts of ridiculously awesome armies, themes, and players. And yes the rumor is true, if you weren't playing Air Guard, you were in the minority. Ok perhaps it wasn't that bad, but well over a third of the armies were air guard. At least Vendettas look awesome! But that is ok, there were lots of other cool things to see.
Community? Lets put it this way, the team that won 'Best Spirit' gave away press-on mustaches to all participants and their army list was a magazine! Above all this tournament celebrated all that the 40K hobby is right now- theme, enthusiasm, teamwork, community, and a great time. The scenarios were detailed and complicated, but my personal thought was that they were balanced and fun to play.
Our team didn't do well (top of bottom-third), but since I am a community/friendly player, it didn't matter much. Our opponents were good fun. Finished 2-2 with one bad loss, one strong win, and two close matches that came down to the details. More to come later.
The other thing that was going on was the classes. In fact, a friend of mine did nothing but take classes. Most of them were about the hobby aspect- painting, modeling, etc. The teachers were a who's who of White Dwarf, Golden Demon, and bad-ass artist/painters that we have heard of. The best part was being able to touch (and in some instances fondle) models that had only previously appeared in glossy form. Every class provided tons of information that I'll use to be a better painter.
Lastly, it was a joy to see friends I didn't expect to be there. Guys I played with years ago all over the country poured out of holes I didn't know existed. It was totally awesome! In addition it was great to talk to and hang out with the 40K radio crowd - Spencer/Chipley/Edlanesh/Krayola Smoker/Doctor Snake you guys are awesome, it was fun talking 40K to like-minded hobby nuts. I hope that your finger hickey heals up Spencer. :)
If you haven't gone to Adepticon before- go next year. Don't' think about it, just do it! I'll see you there next year.
Our team didn't do well (top of bottom-third), but since I am a community/friendly player, it didn't matter much. Our opponents were good fun. Finished 2-2 with one bad loss, one strong win, and two close matches that came down to the details. More to come later.
The other thing that was going on was the classes. In fact, a friend of mine did nothing but take classes. Most of them were about the hobby aspect- painting, modeling, etc. The teachers were a who's who of White Dwarf, Golden Demon, and bad-ass artist/painters that we have heard of. The best part was being able to touch (and in some instances fondle) models that had only previously appeared in glossy form. Every class provided tons of information that I'll use to be a better painter.
Lastly, it was a joy to see friends I didn't expect to be there. Guys I played with years ago all over the country poured out of holes I didn't know existed. It was totally awesome! In addition it was great to talk to and hang out with the 40K radio crowd - Spencer/Chipley/Edlanesh/Krayola Smoker/Doctor Snake you guys are awesome, it was fun talking 40K to like-minded hobby nuts. I hope that your finger hickey heals up Spencer. :)
If you haven't gone to Adepticon before- go next year. Don't' think about it, just do it! I'll see you there next year.
Oh, and one last thing. Props out to the hotel- The Westin in Lombard. Sometime Saturday night, my car was broken into. Nothing was gone except my el' chepo GPS system. The hotel staff took great care of us: calling the police, helping clean out the car, giving us material to patch up the window for the ride come, and just providing a shoulder to cry on while we got ready to leave. Thanks for being top notch. I'll remember this next time I am choosing a hotel. And the car? No biggie, it'll be fixed tomorrow and its all my fault for leaving the GPS in plain view in a garage. I just wanted to say Thanks to the fine folks at the Westin for being total top class with their customers.
