After sadly missing out on a slaughter ticket last night due to being stuck at work I thought I would make a post about the other tourneys I fancy going to next year and why and also what I think of the tournament scene in general. I am really sad to not be attending slaughter as it's is probably my favourite event after meltdown. If they would let me buy 5 tickets for the next 5 years to guarantee me a place then I would.
It does start to get very expensive this tournament lark...4
single player events, 1 doubles event, a team event and a one off for
some unusual comp could set you back around £700 for the year on
tickets, travel and hotels alone and thats before you even start
drinking and betting on dice games...not forgetting the piece of shit
miniatures themselves.
The question is....is it worth it? Why do we actually bother? Personally I go to see the other people I have met over the last few years and roll some dice and complain about my luck. If it wasn't for the tournaments then I think I would find it hard to meet up with some of my old chums as we all now live all over the UK. Wfb is a great way to stay in touch and the hobby in general is pretty cheap when you compare it to a season ticket at Arsenal or a shit tone of cocaine. People can have a bad experience at a tournament by ending up playing against 3 or 4 really gamey horrible players...I have been a bit gamey in the past but generally I do it because I get sick of power players walking all over me and you have to make a stand sometimes...I have also taken 4 Treemen and 66 Eternal Guard which didn't end as badly as I thought it would. Don't let the thought of playing against good players put you off though 80% of the players are usually really decent blokes and 30% of those guys are absolute legends who you would let your missus give a crafty hand shank. My main advice if you are going for the first time is to pick something reasonably local and with a comp pack that looks friendly or punishes players who take filth. Pick one that will have 50 players or more an one that has best in race awards then there's always something to play for even if you take Wood Elves or Beastmen. Get on twitter and start talking about the event to people, you might find someone to share a hotel or car with.
The minimum 4 that I fancy going to in 2014 are as follows:
AGOM Stockport
Merseyside Meltdown Liverpool
The Maul Sheffield
Tides of Chaos Reading
Anyway first up is AGOM (a gathering of might) I was unsure whether to give this one a try out what with Slaughter just round the corner and possibly meltdown around the same time. What I LOVE LOVE LOVE about this tournament is that for a mere £30-£35 you get 20 dice and 1 large turn dice which you have to use throughout the event which stops people using bent dice and stops people using infamous dice that roll a high % of sixes (yes I'm talking about Applefords gay pink dice) I also like the idea of it only being 1500pts as that means there is more space on the board and it can be more tactical especially with the scenarios.
Mersey Meltdown I would love to go to again, the comp was excellent with certain units adding a bonus to our TP for the end of the weekend. It's held at the best venue out of all the tournaments I've been to (Adelphi hotel Liverpool) as it's so conveniently located and you can have a banging night out and still walk home. It's very smoothly run and the atmosphere was the most friendly I have experienced so far.
The Maul I try to go to every year as it's 2999pts and gives you a good opportunity to fit all the models you own on the table along with the opportunity to fit loads of monsters in if you wish. I love the doubles game on the Saturday night and I love the fancy dress Idea. Games can be a bit long with the points limit being so high but the fact it's run so well helps to keep the game times in check. It's a shame they got rid of the dirty dozen and fluffy dozen idea though, this was where players voted for the lists they thought were the most filthy and the lists they thought were the most fluffy, then in game one these people played off against eachother. It has been replaced this year with each player marking their opponent a score of 1-5 based on how filthy you think their army may be. The tournament is meant to be a good spirited game with people taking "friendly" lists, I took fluff last year so have gone for semi filth this year.
Tides of Chaos was so well run last year and in such a good convenient location that there is no way I will miss it this time round, the comp was good for all races and I honestly think this is one of the best tournaments on the scene. Very friendly but yet still competitive with some great lists. This is an underrated tournament and I really hope it sells out this year and stays strong.
They are the 4 main tournaments for me this year, I will probably go to another 2-4 based on what my friends are going to and based on the comp for Wood Elves. The other ones I fancy are Downfall as it's late in the year compared to the others I want to go to, Clash of Swords because I really wanted to go this year but missed out due to family stuff and felt a bit sad not to have been to a Cardiff event since stormydd tan. I would consider the EDGT if they managed to get 60 players, it's a tough decision though as it's so far away and I don't want to go all the way up there just to end up playing gamey bastards like Gill, Sweeting, Pash, Peckdog and John "shit in my kilt" Pugh. Blood and Glory and Winter incursion would be contenders as I haven't been to them but I heard great things about them. I don't fancy SCGT very much purely for the fact that I think 80 players is about the limit for me in a geeky games room and it's too far for my northern mates to travel, however I have heard great things about it so won't rule it. Finally I would love to get in one or two doubles/team tournaments but I really have no clue which are the best so if anyone wants to give me a push in the right direction I'd be grateful for that.
That's it...this was meant to be a 5 minute post listing my favourite events...I got carried away.
Jay
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