Well, we’ve put another great event on the books this year. While everyone else talks about the lists and tactics that took that big dogs to the top of the heap, I’d like to talk about WHY going to these events is so much fun.
A lot of folks on the interwebz like to poo poo on tournaments, tournament players, tournament lists, kittens, rainbows and orphans.
Perhaps not so much the last three, but definitely the first three. That always cracks me up. On the one hand I do understand the common perception that some folks have of what it means to go to a tournament. Perhaps at a local event they played a rude person, or perhaps they’ve read it a number of times online and believe that they will meet a rude or unfun person. Perhaps they think it will be all broken lists and will get curb stomped every game, etc. etc. etc.
Who knows, but I have met a lot of folks with that perception both online and in person and they simply choose not to go. Fair enough, it is a choice and I respect that. But as an individual that has gotten so many new and sincere friendships, fun and memories out of these silly toy tournaments, I would be doing you all a disservice by not sharing my thoughts on it.
If you aren’t coming to the big events, you are seriously missing out on a ton of fun. Forget the actual playing of minis games competitively. Even if you think that is lame, there is SO much more going on. Ask nearly anyone who goes to big tournaments on a regular basis why they go and they will probably say the same thing: they get to see friends they only see at these events and have fun.
Tournaments are growing rapidly all over the world and not because the number of douchey WAAC jobs has somehow increased, but because the sense of community we get hanging out with friends who share a common love is awesome and those who go, come back next year and bring friends. It’s why we do this and not play video game tournaments.
You get to go, play some fun games against challenging opponents, see BEAUTIFUL armies from all over the place, and go out after for dinner, beers, and memories with like minded people. Trading war stories of those clutch moments where you won or lost the game after the fact is as much fun as when you are actually doing it! As you go to more events, and do this with folks year after year, real friendships begin to form. You put faces to the screen names you engage with or read about online all the time and see they’re just nerds that love war games just like you.
Not going to these events because of a negative preconception is biting your nose to spite your face. Truly, it is. Going to big events means you get to go out into the broader community, make friends and expand your knowledge of the game and ideas on what this hobby can be. You get to see new painting and modeling techniques and talk to the people that use them. You get to play new games, see new company’s products, etc. It is a total blast and worth the time, money and energy to get there.
Even when things don’t go as planned, you can still have a great time. For example this year, I lost my very first game in the 40K championships, knocking myself out of the event! Haha, all that preparation getting my Nids painted and I was out from the word go. Oh well! I still played 3 great games after that and my last game against Paul Murphy (yes, I drew him third year in a row!) was an absolute riot. We went through a bottle of Whiskey and the better part of a 30 pack, only got through 4 turns in 3 1/2 hours because of an impromptu shirts off dance off, and general outrageousness of the game. We decided to call it a draw when we couldn’t remember how many wounds Swarmlord had after a 30 minute, hilarious drunken debate on the topic! It ended up being the most fun game of 40K I have played in a long time despite the fact that neither one of us could go to the finals.
Since I wasn’t playing the rest of the time, I got to try a bunch of games I’ve been meaning to play like Drop Zone Commander, Deep Wars, Infinity (tried it, but great to play it again), Firestorm Armada, X-Wing, and check out a bunch of new vendors and products. It was great! I had just as much fun demoing the new games as I did playing 40K and now I have a working knowledge of and enthusiasm for some new games to bring home to my friends locally and to sell in our store.
In short, do yourself a favor and open your mind to large events. People fly all over the country and the world to attend these cons because they are FUN! If you are willing to stop trolling the comments section of BoLS long enough to go out and try playing with new people you may just be surprised at just how much more rewarding this hobby can be.
See you out there my fellow nerds! Reecius out
Well done for capturing the REAL essence of the tournament scene.
Hope to someday be the one sharing that bottle of whiskey 🙂
Yeah, folks lose sight of what it is really about for all the internet bitching and moaning. It’s about playing games with friends!
Thanks Reecius,
It’s great to get a genuine bit of perspective to all the anti tournement hype in some of the forums.
I love playing in tournements and as you say it’s a chance to emerse your self in like minded company which sure beats sitting behind a screen complaining.
Like you Reecius I too have a player I always seem to draw at one of my local events, it’s turned into a great rivalry between the two of us and even though my results over all are usually better I always seem to have a hard time against him which gives him great satisfaction. I’ve declared war this year though and the TO usually allows grudge matches for the first round so this year he’s going down!
Yeah, I love those rivalries, too! In good spirit, there is nothing better than a friendly rivalry. People who think that its only jerks at tournies totally miss out on that, which is a shame.
First saw this article on BoLS. Something about the comments section over there made me decide I’d rather post my thoughts here.
I’ve never been lucky enough to make it out to a major tournament, but this article seriously makes me want to. The internet kind of brain washer me into thinking that it would be nothing but WAAC players.
It seriously isn’t all WAAC dudes at all. And, only a small percentage of people even have so-called “Net-Lists.” The vast majority of people just bring what they have painted!
Love, love LOVE this article Reece. That last paragraph is gold.The reactions in the BOLS comments section were either incredibly post modern, or some people over there have troll-tourettes.
Hahaha, they never fail to stay consistent over there! I don’t even bother commenting on my own articles any more. It’s just the same people spitting bile. The funniest part about it is that it is people who don’t go to tournaments talking about them the most!
I enjoyed my tournament experience. I just dont have time or funds to really get the table time needed to be super competitive so i have learned to say screw it and just enjoy playing. Stress free carnage and let the blood flow. Amazing that people automatically label people WAAC for using heldrakes. The amazing thing to me is that “casual” players dont load up with flak missiles and sub optimal flyers to counter them since they dont care about optimal. Hi my name is Steven. I play warhammer 40k and i dont care what you want to use
That is a great attitude. I don’t try to control what you use, if it is legal, it is good to go.
I totally understand about not having funds to go to all the events or even some. Money is the only thing that limits me from going to all of them! haha
I like my Blood thirster, Flying prince, fleshhounds and bloodcrushers. Cascading deep strikes and berserkers rushing forward with spawn and heldrake yet somehow i am WAAC because i hit you hard and fast. Most unsporting of me lol
My buddy plays Tyranids and holy crap they are nasty.
Dude, if you use Berzerkers, you are auto not cheesy! haha
Great post and the crux of why I love tournaments. I wish I had more time and money to go to the big ones like Adepticon, but I content myself with the local 40k big events.
Yeah, money is the biggest limiting factor for me, too. Time as well, but even more so for those of us with kids.
Mostly just getting involved with the larger community is what benefits people.
Absolutely, I love meeting and chatting with new people. I enjoyed meeting you and Alan at TSHFT. Even though we didn’t get to play, at least we had some cool conversations.
My money situation is going to be more stabilized now that I’ve built a list I think is good for 6th and can now spend my game money on tournaments and travel rather than models.
It was very nice meeting you as well!
And that exact reason you mentioned is one of the primary reasons I advocate for a standardized tournament format. It makes it easier to travel to events.
It was a blast meeting you at Adepticon Reece. For all of you who didn’t manage to go to Adepticon, go next year. Was my first big tournament in USA and it was such a blast. Hope to see you there next year again!
//The Giant Swede 😉
Thanks, it was great to meet you, too, Felix!
Oh, and you to Franky (if you read this) ^^
I love that people who seriously wanted to also be positive or make a valid point actually left BoLS to come to this site rather than respond where the trolls of BoLS hang out.
I missed the 40k tournament due to getting stuck in the snow in Wyoming for 2 days but I had just as much fun (and much less stress due to not having to make a time crunch). I definitely had a better time this year and got to play some great demos and just really enjoy the scene.
Haha, right? I don’t even comment on my own articles there anymore. The Trolls infest that site, it used to bug me now I just laugh about it. For folks that claim to hate tournaments, they read and comment on EVERY SINGLE tournament article!
I had a blast trying out the new games! We already ordered some Deep Wars stuff for the store, too! haha
Yea? Awesome. Tell us how you like it after a while.
Most def!
Perhaps if the cards made a nice rattling sound when I slaeppd them down?Seriously though, I do appreciate your thoughts on all this. The outside input is helping my creative juices flow a little more freely. I keep thinking my ideas are drifting towards an old game which saw humans in massive armor fighting four armed aliens in derelict space ships . only I’d be using d10. Maybe I’m subconciously trying to re-invent the wheel?The problem with you, Jake, is you make a good case for the things you like. You even make cards sound like a good idea!Regardless, all this goes on hold during the holidays I’ll have a shiny new Dreadball game to sort out by then!
I was one of those guys who had a negative perception of tourney and Tourney players that you speak of. I meet a few that where just no fun to play against, where generally critical of everything i did and just put me down for my army choice.
But when i went to the BOA doubles i had a swift kick to the head about how wrong I was. Just speaking to people and looking at the great armies made my realise on what i was missing out on in my little circle.
So now i plan to go to 2-3 tournaments a year because i had so much fun. I dont care that i will get stomped over and over, I got into this to have fun and socialize.
That makes me happy to hear! I am glad you enjoy the events now and I can’t tell you how often that happens. People try it and find out they really like it!
Yes. Just yes. So many great points made. The internet can be a terrible place sometimes (most times) and just getting out and meeting new people is half the fun.
Couldn’t agree more. Glad you liked it!
I only got into the tournament scene recently (last year was my 1st GT) and I must say they are so much fun. I’ve already expanded my horizons by going to the BAO this year. Who knows, maybe next year, I may travel out of state and go to Adepticon or Nova as well. For those who haven’t gone, you are missing out on a great time (as long as your goal isn’t to win the tournament but to have fun!).
I was hoping to read a little about who you played and what armies. What were the rest of your games like during champions?
I will write up a battle report with descriptions of the rest of the tournament.