Some of you might remember me trying to do a website awhile back called Seattle Wargaming Union. Well just for giggles I entered a couple of searches into Google and have discovered that my site is now in the top five Google sites relating to wargaming in the Seattle area. I kind of figured it would be by now as the content I placed upon it was tailored to get that kind of a ranking although it might just have happened without my help.
Anyway I am seriously thinking about turning this site into a battle report and tactical site for the Games Workshop series of games which are the only wargames I play. Some of the other board games like Warmachine and the like are interesting but most of my cash has always gone into GW so that is what I am going to stick with for a while at least. I am really going to put thought into the forum but it is not going to be a big forum at all. I am not going to spend a ton of time setting it up because the last forum I created I did that and I was not pleased with the results.
I really do like the idea of having a battle report type of site with occasional features on tactics and other parts of the hobby mixed in. I will link this blog to the site and might end up linking this to a subdomain of Seattle Wargaming Union or vise versa. I really like the fact that it is ranking so high on the Google page right now.
As for what I am doing in the hobby right now...I played at Fire and Sword last Friday and had a great game with Wadmore and am looking forward to playing again this Friday with an old friend if he wants to throw down and have some fun. I am currently painting my second land raider and a vindicator and hope to have a Predator started by the end of the week. I already have a Whirlwind built and I hope to get that painted up sometime along with the top parts of a Razorback. I need to get a couple more Rhino shells eventually for all of this.
I am thinking about painting up the Black Reach marines that I have as Sternguard and creating two ten man squads of those fellas. I don't know how I would use them yet in my army but I don't think I am going to have a hard time figuring that out at this point. The list I am running is becoming more comfortable to me now and I am starting to understand the things that my army can and can't do well. I have been trying to create a balanced army with this list but I think if I had to face guard of the new list coming out in May (reserve your copy at Fire and Sword today!) I think I might get creamed.
That's about all I can come up with for this post and I have to go back to work in a few minutes. I am going to post some pictures again tomorrow of the paint job on my land raiders to this point. I think they look good and the army as a whole looks really nice to me under the lights at Fire and Sword. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thoughts on organized tournaments
Today I decided to do a post on what I think the ideal tournament atmosphere would be like so that is what I am going to try to do. I don't know a lot about the gaming business or the tournament business so all of this is going to be shooting from the cuff but it comes from a customer willing to shell out 50+ dollars to play in a tournament environment that he enjoys.
As some of you know I have been to a TSHFT tournament, the 40K brand to be exact, and I had a great time. I met many new players and had some fun and exciting 40k games in the process even though I did not win any of them. While I was there I noticed one thing that I think a tournament needs to have, great players with great attitudes about the game they are playing regardless of what that game is. TSHFT certainly had a lot of cool players and the vast majority of the players that attended the show recieved perfect sportsmanship scores. A great group of players can do nothing but spread good news about the tournament and how much fun they had playing in it. Word of mouth is crucial in this type of environment and the only way you get that is to give the players what they want from the tourney.
There are things that go beyond having a great group of players however. You need to have a core group of players that are very loyal to the store in order to start the word of mouth process along. These players need to be welcoming to any prospective players within that stores community. This kind of warm reception and good cheer makes the store a tournament is based out of a better attraction for players that might not be a major part of the store's community. This is something I look for when I go to a store or attend any event of this type. I like to find out more about the people that really support the events that my dollars go to. The friendlier the core unit of players surrounding the tournament is the better chance the tournament has to grow and expand in the future.
Another thing that I think would make an ideal tournament for me would be atmosphere. When I go to a tournament I want it to be more than a gaming tournament eventually. Eventually I want the tournament to grow into something bigger. A real showcase of the hobby in it's own right. The tables that the players play on should be really special, there should be painting competitions, seminars on gaming and the hobby, showcases of upcoming product that makes the gamer excited to be around the hobby and even shows or skits depicting major events in the hobby mythos. Things like this can turn an event that someone might go to into something that becomes a must be there type of show.
These are just a couple of the things that I really think a tournament that plans on sticking around and growing should aspire to. There is a lot of competition out there for this kind of event and in the end the events that stick around are going to get bigger and more elaborate with emphasis on giving the gamer the most bang for his buck that he can possibly get. Thanks for reading. I'll post goblin pics tomorrow if I can. Thanks again.
As some of you know I have been to a TSHFT tournament, the 40K brand to be exact, and I had a great time. I met many new players and had some fun and exciting 40k games in the process even though I did not win any of them. While I was there I noticed one thing that I think a tournament needs to have, great players with great attitudes about the game they are playing regardless of what that game is. TSHFT certainly had a lot of cool players and the vast majority of the players that attended the show recieved perfect sportsmanship scores. A great group of players can do nothing but spread good news about the tournament and how much fun they had playing in it. Word of mouth is crucial in this type of environment and the only way you get that is to give the players what they want from the tourney.
There are things that go beyond having a great group of players however. You need to have a core group of players that are very loyal to the store in order to start the word of mouth process along. These players need to be welcoming to any prospective players within that stores community. This kind of warm reception and good cheer makes the store a tournament is based out of a better attraction for players that might not be a major part of the store's community. This is something I look for when I go to a store or attend any event of this type. I like to find out more about the people that really support the events that my dollars go to. The friendlier the core unit of players surrounding the tournament is the better chance the tournament has to grow and expand in the future.
Another thing that I think would make an ideal tournament for me would be atmosphere. When I go to a tournament I want it to be more than a gaming tournament eventually. Eventually I want the tournament to grow into something bigger. A real showcase of the hobby in it's own right. The tables that the players play on should be really special, there should be painting competitions, seminars on gaming and the hobby, showcases of upcoming product that makes the gamer excited to be around the hobby and even shows or skits depicting major events in the hobby mythos. Things like this can turn an event that someone might go to into something that becomes a must be there type of show.
These are just a couple of the things that I really think a tournament that plans on sticking around and growing should aspire to. There is a lot of competition out there for this kind of event and in the end the events that stick around are going to get bigger and more elaborate with emphasis on giving the gamer the most bang for his buck that he can possibly get. Thanks for reading. I'll post goblin pics tomorrow if I can. Thanks again.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Well I haven't posted for a while but I thought it was time to get back to it so I am writing this one up today. Over the weekend I went to the TSHFT tournament held by the folks at Fire and Sword. It was a blast and there was a great turnout for the show. The armies that came to the tournament I saw were Eldar, Tyranids, Orks, Chaos, and Imperial Gaurd. I don't remember seeing any other type of army. I played five games and lost all five along with winning the prize for lowest battle points out of the 33 players that came to the tournament. I walked away with a full Battle for Skull Pass box set and was as happy to be dead last as anyone could be.
As a result of the tournament however I have dug into my 40K codexes and begun to really look at how to best use the army and models I have in a game. I have the codex for Orks, Tyranids, Eldar, Daemonhunters, and Witchunters so I have plenty to study from. I am currently building a force that I am designing to take on the Nids more effectively. I played them twice at TSHFT and was smacked around pretty hard both times. I am hoping to change that this weekend when I head on over to Fire and Sword in an attempt to get a game in.
TSHFT is happening again in May and I have all of these fantasy orcs and goblins sitting at home now so I think I am going to build myself a fantasy list, get in a few games and possibly make an appearance at that tournament. My financial situation is crap right now but I am trying to improve it everyday and I hope by that time that will be a bit better off than I am now and won't have to be so budget tight at the next show.
On an unrelated note I now have a bunch of fancy software that a co-worker gave to me that I am eventually going to use to build a website relating to wargaming. The site I had before was geared towards something that is already being done more than adequately by Ordo Fanaticus so this one is going to take a different approach. I have not figured out the approach it's going to take yet but I am thinking about a fan fiction kind of site with graphics and stories relating to wargaming and maybe even actual history.
Well I have lots of plans and little time so I am signing off for now.
P.S. forgot to bring the camera for TSHFT so I have no pics...duh. Later.
As a result of the tournament however I have dug into my 40K codexes and begun to really look at how to best use the army and models I have in a game. I have the codex for Orks, Tyranids, Eldar, Daemonhunters, and Witchunters so I have plenty to study from. I am currently building a force that I am designing to take on the Nids more effectively. I played them twice at TSHFT and was smacked around pretty hard both times. I am hoping to change that this weekend when I head on over to Fire and Sword in an attempt to get a game in.
TSHFT is happening again in May and I have all of these fantasy orcs and goblins sitting at home now so I think I am going to build myself a fantasy list, get in a few games and possibly make an appearance at that tournament. My financial situation is crap right now but I am trying to improve it everyday and I hope by that time that will be a bit better off than I am now and won't have to be so budget tight at the next show.
On an unrelated note I now have a bunch of fancy software that a co-worker gave to me that I am eventually going to use to build a website relating to wargaming. The site I had before was geared towards something that is already being done more than adequately by Ordo Fanaticus so this one is going to take a different approach. I have not figured out the approach it's going to take yet but I am thinking about a fan fiction kind of site with graphics and stories relating to wargaming and maybe even actual history.
Well I have lots of plans and little time so I am signing off for now.
P.S. forgot to bring the camera for TSHFT so I have no pics...duh. Later.
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