Ok so show of hands what would you all like to see for a indy GT in boston? I have the facility that I could use for free so thats one big thing out of my way, but I want feedback before I make the plans out finally for this to have it kicked off in may or june? I feel the East coast doesnt get as much love as the west coast on this so I want to bring a few more conventions here.

Edited:
Basic info
Where: At the Cambridge Armory in Mass.
When: the weekend of May 15th and 16th 2010

Details: Entry is $50.00 U.S until may 1st, $60.00 after that. and can be submitted through paypal or by personal or certified check.
There is 60 spots for Warhammer 40k and 40 for Warhammer Fantasy.
40k is 2000 pts, fantasy 2250 pts.
Sunday will also hold A Rogue Demon with 3 categories with 1st, 2nd, 3rd places in each.

For information Please contact Alexander Akers @ Boston_Brawl at yahoo.com. or check out the website for details at http://bostonbrawl.com/
We will have door prizes as well as some great trophies for the winners!


General News & Updates
1/18:
The Boston Brawl 2010 is proud to announce multi golden demon winner, and amazing sculptor Joe Orteza as our VIP. Joe will be there to answer your questions, help with the painting judging for the painting competition, and if we are lucky maybe throw down some dice.

1/20:
I am extremely excited to announce our website has gone live yes LIVE!!!!! Thanks to the volunteer and tireless work from Brian J. the boston brawl now has a website. We will be adding in the payment option here extremely soon so stay sharp on this as I know we will fill up fast. Also I will be updating you all as we move closer to our date!

P.S would help if I post the website http://bostonbrawl.com/

1/27:
ALSO the winner of the 40k will win a FREE yes FREE ticket to MECHANICON curtousy of Tony and the Mechanicon crew. This is in addition to all the other kick but prizes they will get!!! Also people I have spoken with Mikhalia and thewinner from his Saint Valentines day massacre will get a free ticket to our 40k!!!! (I accredit Tony with the idea and I love it).

2/18:
Since I have recieved a number of email I have decided to up the fantasy que to 60. This is to allow people more opportunities to play different opponents, and hopefully bring in more people to the event to roll some dice, and have some fun. Look forward to seeing you all there and don't forget to sign up at bostonbrawl.com/ .


Payment
1/25:
The registration list is up on bostonbrawl.com/ in the Vis Bostonia foums. We should be fully up and running ready for payments by this weekend. Once you pay via pay pal you will leave in the note weather you are playing fantasy or 40k. It can take up to 24 hours to be posted on the registatrion list so please be patient.

1/27:
For those of you itching to sign up are paypal is full up and running. If you wish to wait we will have a link soon just not sure when, but if you want to get on the list you can send paypal to Boston_brawl@yahoo.com. obviously I added the dot after com so ya don't have that in. Also please leave in a note if you are playing fantasy or 40k. I will confirm from paypal payment recieved and post your name on the list in via bostonia forum. Also you will recieve a email notifaction from me personally confirming everything Look forward to seeing you all their.



Scoring
2/3:
Yes to comp I have decided but it will not play into parings initially that will be random first round. It will add to your scores but never taken away so free points right Painting will fall into overall scores and players who have commissioned I have decided will not recieve zero, but will be judged normally just cannot max paint points. So instead of 10 they would get a 6 or an 8 also they are not eligable to win best painted but they can get players choice(I have no say in that). Sportsmanship will be checklist with 6 viable points per round.

2/19:
The score breakdown is (from Empchild):

Battle=55% overall
Paint= 20% overall
Sports=20% overall
Comp =2.5% overall
Theme=2.5% (judges award yep I said it not players) may be pub quiz not sure yet on this one.

3/8:
Here is the Tenative breakdown in just the basic form of points. More to follow, but this is just the 40k.
Points Spread for Warhammer 40k
Battle Points: Possible max of 100 battle points
Win: 20pts
Lose: 5pts
Tie: 10 pts

Sportsman ship: Possible max of 20 points.
0 pts: The opponent was rude and argues every move. I hope to never play them again in my life.
1 pt: We argued a lot and the match was not fun, but we didn’t need a judge every round.
2 pts: The match was average, but nothing better then I would have with my friends at home.
3 pts: The match was more fun then most of the ones I am used too.
4 pts: The match was the best I have ever had.

Painting: Possible of 20 point
I will post the painting sheet later on this.

Theme: Possible of 5 points to be awarded by the judges.
Composition: Possibility of 5 points being awarded by the judges.

Sponsors
1/28:
Thats rights one and all Romeo and the crew from Battlefoam have offered to sponcer our event. We here at the Boston Brawl thank them for this and are glad we can welcome another amazing sponcer to this event. Battlefoam will be sending some great prizes that I am sure will make the winners the talk of their FLGS! If you want to pick up some of their amazing products check them out here at their site http://www.battlefoam.com/ .

3/3:
Well I am proud to announce a new sponsor in our growing collection for our event set in May. After several emails the Boston Brawl is happy to announce Troll Forged Minatures in the growing list of great companies supporting our event. Just so you all know we don't ask just anyone I personally get product from these companies check them out before I request if they would like to join our team. I have to give a BIG shout out to the Troll forged team as they have started rolling out some great models, and I have to say they are the cleanest molds I have ever worked with. So check them out and hey even throw a couple of them in the painting competition if you want because you will not be disappointed
http://trollforged.com/

We talking fantasy? I could definitely be in, Bton is only 3 hours east of here ... Could probably convince some dudes in my club to make the trip too, budgets willing.

- Salvage

I personally believe indoing both fantasy and 40k.

I would be down as would many others at the local FLGS.

Yes! I'd be in. Waaaaay in. And I know of others as well.

I probably cannot make it in May or June but feel free to email for advice.

Also, send me an email if you did not get your package yet.

Got it yesterday evening when I got home thanks so much. Was wayyyy more then I expected so was a pleasant suprise I would love to do it march /april except three reasons.
1.) Just bought a house out here in mass so busy doing the move in what have you(Tons of room for gaming got the go ahead from the Miss's for the basesment YES)
2.) Busy doing the final touches on my wedding in march which will be in chicago.
3.) the weekend after my wedding is adepticon, and my fiance told me I should go to it. With that I was very happy to listen to her and say "yes dear"

So those three things divert my overall attention sadly:(

Whereabouts in Boston? I'd be interested in going, even if tournaments aren't exactly my bag.

Having ample terrain, prizes, and an affordable entry fee is important. It's also good to have some rules clarifications for the tournament, like 'Ardboyz has. Just to keep rules problems from slowing things down or causing too much trouble.

Well here's how I am currently looking at it for location. I have multiple options to keep it free for me, and have moer then ample space to conduct it all. I could go Cambridge at the armory there, or Hudson which is about 30 minutes outside boston but garunteed free, and has a great hotel 5 minutes fromwhere I could hold it. As a full time gaurdsmen and the fact that I know the people who run those buildings very well makes my costs for renting it very low and thus giving that savings back to the players on a whole. Often I have heard from friends who ahve done 100+ people events before have told me renting the venue is the most expensive part. Thus you keep that part cheap to whereyou just rent tables and chairs for around $1000.00 and a truck to move it, and then you can take all the extra and put it into prizes such as tropheys and door prizes and such. By saving on the venue you can keep tickets to $50.00 a person. This way more goes into the event itself I have always believe a tourney should never make money. I believe in getting people good quality gaming and fun. Always held true to this when I owned a store in Oregon.

the hardest aspect of an tourny is the terrain. Fantasy is less difficult to tackle due to smaller and more "generic" terrain needed, but how would you look to handle 40K? I don't know many people/groups that can feature 20ish tables. And then moving that much stuff is a serious issue.

That's my experience of running large events. (60 plus gamers)

Dainty Twerp wrote:the hardest aspect of an tourny is the terrain. Fantasy is less difficult to tackle due to smaller and more "generic" terrain needed, but how would you look to handle 40K? I don't know many people/groups that can feature 20ish tables. And then moving that much stuff is a serious issue.

That's my experience of running large events. (60 plus gamers)

mmk you raise a solid point. For the easiest of the answers moving it would be by Uhaul truck as these are comparitivly inexpensive overall for a weekend. Storage of terrain well I have a HUGE basement that is furnished so that is easy to store in a good dry no humidity place. As for all of the terrain their are a multiple of choices .
-The first is my gamming group for several years ran battle for seattle. To accomplish the terrain we formed together the local stores and they donated so many tables worth.
-The second is tons of building by myself and my mates all of us formerly worked at GW so we have great foundation for terrain building. This takes a long time but worth it overall.

These are just a few ideas but I like you bringing up the point for me to address.

Well, IMO, making 10+ tables that are decent enough to play on is the major hurdle regarding hosting an Indy GT. There are other answers, some people who own a ton of tables lease them out, but its a costly proposition.

Another method to get other gaming groups involved, but the logistics would be a major headache. Reaching out to LGS is another method, but more headache.

In the end, the gaming group I belong to doesn't run major events for one reason, and one reason alone. We don't have enough decent terrain to host larger event.

no matter what I would end up making a ton of terrain with the mates what have you. Yes all of this is a major hassel and at times im sure it will be annoying, but I am wanting to do this as a way to reach out to the hobby community here in New england and try much like Mechanicon did to bring some more great events to the North East as well we deserve more too That said what ideas would you like to see, as please stop focusing on the negative as these things have already been thought out long ago, just never implemented till well now.

offer a prize for best table, and have people sign up to bring terrain. make sure every table has enough to play on, otherwise its fun for nobody.

Horst wrote:offer a prize for best table, and have people sign up to bring terrain. make sure every table has enough to play on, otherwise its fun for nobody.

I like your thinking good sir

@Empchild

not trying to be negative just for the sake of being negative. If you put together a large event I'm confident I would come and so would a lot of players. I was shocked when I ran my own event how quickly we got up to our max of 60 players. (we are in the Watertown/Waltham area)

I am just trying to inform you about the absolute hardest part of this kind of project, and I would long before get my hands wrapped around this task (getting the terrain) before I started thinking about where to host it, what kinda rules and a date for it all to take place.

I wish you the best of luck, our area needs events like this to foster and grow the game, we all know that we've lost all our LGS for the most part....

I am in, hopefully June so I can be sure to be back from college...

Dainty Twerp wrote:@Empchild

not trying to be negative just for the sake of being negative. If you put together a large event I'm confident I would come and so would a lot of players. I was shocked when I ran my own event how quickly we got up to our max of 60 players. (we are in the Watertown/Waltham area)

I am just trying to inform you about the absolute hardest part of this kind of project, and I would long before get my hands wrapped around this task (getting the terrain) before I started thinking about where to host it, what kinda rules and a date for it all to take place.

I wish you the best of luck, our area needs events like this to foster and grow the game, we all know that we've lost all our LGS for the most part....

the internet never conveys our actual meanings(not yet atleast until the machines take over) I gotcha though and always appriate insite. Thankfully I have some experience doing this just not in a newer area but I feel confident it will work out well. Im gonna hammer down some solid dates over this next week and get a web site up over the next two weeks.

+1 to going in Boston. I live in Maine and everything else is too far away

This next week im gonna hammer down a date and location. Ill post updates on here as they come in

Emp- Quick post, I'm taking a 2 minute break before starting up our big auction).

-Check out all the dates on the current list, and doublecheck for other real world conflicts.

-If you have solid info (date, venue, etc.) talk to Ed Spettigue or John Schaeffer in GW promotions. They are the guys in charge of the Indy GT circuit.

-If it looks like things are coming together, give me a call at my shop 610 891 9229. Ask for Mike. There's a chance that if you lack tabletops for the Tourney, we might be able to help out somehow.

Off to yell, scream, and sell off one man's garbage/treasure to someone else.

will do appriate the advice. Ill get to you later this week probably as im so busy today getting caught up on commission. Their is no rest for the wicked

I'd be interested in this

Ok so I have been pouring over my calendars at work(not really I looked at them over coffee) and matching up dates what have you, and have found June is out of the question. Why you ask well I am in th enational gaurd, and it's annual training darn it:( But I have come up with a list of other dates in may and july I am trying to narrow in on. Last two weekends in July are open and not stepping on any toes, making it two weeks after the ICGT in baltimore, and the last three weeks in may as well being 2 weeks after astronomicon toronto(which I will be at cough cough plan on it). Now all that sad I am waiting for a call back from the heads of the armouries I am looking at as well as I need a name for the event people. Give me your ideas, and the one I like the most wins a prize of a blister or something like that. So that sad lets hear them.

This is something I would be interested in doing.

I would not schedule it in September (because of Warmasters) and October (Because of DaBoyz GT). We had about 10 people come down from the Boston area this past October.

Jay_Daboyz wrote:This is something I would be interested in doing.

I would not schedule it in September (because of Warmasters) and October (Because of DaBoyz GT). We had about 10 people come down from the Boston area this past October.

agreed may or july since I printed out the list work best with my shedule as well as the GTS going on elsewhere. Looking at I I said ok whats east of the mississippi and on whats dates. Then I said ok now what dates arent within a week or two of other east coast GT's. Then I crossed out what weekends I have military obligations. Now I am waiting on word from the quote un quote owners of the buildings to discuss which weekends are open, and then I have several guests I am talking to already of notable fame in the gaming world(but they remain under wraps for now).

Empchild wrote:Ok so I have been pouring over my calendars at work(not really I looked at them over coffee) and matching up dates what have you, and have found June is out of the question. Why you ask well I am in th enational gaurd, and it's annual training darn it:( But I have come up with a list of other dates in may and july I am trying to narrow in on. Last two weekends in July are open and not stepping on any toes, making it two weeks after the ICGT in baltimore, and the last three weeks in may as well being 2 weeks after astronomicon toronto(which I will be at cough cough plan on it). Now all that sad I am waiting for a call back from the heads of the armouries I am looking at as well as I need a name for the event people. Give me your ideas, and the one I like the most wins a prize of a blister or something like that. So that sad lets hear them.

The ICGT in Baltimore may be a bust, and that date open. This was to be held at Historicon, which is having a large, dramafilled meltdown, with a gooey center of financial troubles, and BOD oustings.

July 24th (or thereabouts, don't have calendar handy) is a GT circuit event in Philly that didn't make it onto the schedule before it went up. It's Fantasy not 40k, so conflicts less though.

OOO historicon completely forgot about that one:( I love it too. I will mark down the possible for the 24th as I really dont want to step on other toes so much. If I have to I will but I am trying to avoid this so as to give all possible options to gamers.

Ugh Tournaments. No Thanks.

but good luck I guess.

Alright looks like I have a location hammered downI will know once I gt a call back this afternoon or tomorrow, but im looking at mid to late may atm. That said what im also gonna do is post the tropheys for you all so you can see what im thinking for them.

1.) Overall
2.) Best Sportsmen
3.) Best Appearance(this combines paint and theme)
4.) Players Choice
5.) Best table
6.) Codicier (pub quiz winner)
7.) Best Mini 1st,2nd,3rd this is for fantasy and 40k combined and our special guest would be the judge for this. This is a format much like demon in that you enter 1 model of your choosing into this seperately from the game play.

I am looking at 2 full days of event 5 games plus pub quiz. If this all goes well then we can do more next year.

Now the first four would be for both fantasy and 40k the last one would encompass both

Sounds good. I talked to some of the boyz down here. Quite a few would be up for the trip.

EXCELLENT!!!!

Sounds great!

I have a good number of folks I could advise of this, and I'm on good terms with the owners of the three stores along the Rt 93 corridor in Southern NH. LMK if/when you start getting flyers or posters or other materials they could post in stores.

Alrighty one and all I have an update. I am turning in all of the paperwork tomorrow mourning for the venue hall, but after several hours on the phone I have been able to book us the national gaurd armory in Cambridge , Ma. This was chosen for the open space in their gym, the excellent parking they contain in the city, and the distance from logan airport, amongst the fact it is near harvard and lots of restaurants. The dates are Saturday May 15th and Sunday May 16th of 2010. More to follow such as website and what not to come in the following weeks. Admissions are looking at $50.00 with all profits from this event going to charity!!!! I am not doing this to make any money and in these hard times I felt we gamers could give something back to the community as well as have our fun.
-Alex

Very nice. I really hope that I'll be back from school in time!

Sounds great.

Maybe I'll play you for once, Mannahnin. I always seemed to miss you at the DP tourneys.

pfft, all profits should go to prizes, to hell with charity!

Horst wrote:pfft, all profits should go to prizes, to hell with charity!

Their will be lots of prizes believe me.

Great news! I'll be spreading the word as well.

bah, I can't make it. just checked... thats the weekend before finals week at school. I need that time to cram!

tinfoil wrote:Great news! I'll be spreading the word as well.

Excellent!!!!!!!!

Alrighty with the venue booked I am moving forward with two different parts of the event. The first is I have looked over everything and found after chatting with people that $50.00 for the ticket for the weekend is a fair price. So tickets will be $50.00 set and what that gets you is entry into either the 40k or the fantasy tourney as well as entry into the painting comp.

The next part is working on getting a website up and running. I currently working on this as website design is by no means a strong point of mine. This will have links to the paypal, and updates as to what will be going on. If anyone is great at website design let me know, and we can check some of your work out, and maybe figure something out. Also for the tropheys I will be doing best table, and depending on what happens maybe something even for the stores contributing(if they do you know).

Quick tid bit: I have already booked a special guest for the tourney, and though I am not releasing that persons name atm I will say that they have many golden demons, as well are an amazing sculptor, and I am very thankfull that they are willing to hop on board for this. Once announced all of you will recognize the name for sure. They will be announced in late January, or early Feb.
-Alex

Cool. Really excited for this.

May 15th and May 16th!

Painting deadline for 2010 vows, now firmly established!

This should be fun!

Hey I just wanted to say that I am a member of a good sized gaming club in fall river (about an hour south of boston). I know that many of our members (myself included) would be really interested in coming up for this.

Our website for the curious is www.snegaming.org

Oo, I think I can make this.

May 15th and 16th, eh? Gonna be tight:

May 13th - last final paper due
May 14th - Kinetik Festival Phase 3 in Montreal
May 15th - Boston Indy GT
May 16th - & More Carnage
May 17th - Sleeping Forever

- Salvage

Alrighty all well I have finally got a basic website up and running and have been busy talking with people to sponcer this great event. As astated before I have booked one VIP already that I will announce on January 15th 2010 when tickets go on sale, as well as several great sponcers lined up to give you all the players some cool loot. Anyways here is the website as promised, remember it is a little basic atm as I am organizing from work atm, but should get a great design up on it over the holidays. If you have any questions email them to Boston_Brawl@yahoo.com . Look forward to hearing from you all.

http://bostonbrawl.wetpaint.com/

-Alex

P.S Can a mod move this into shedule a game please, since it is now going to happen thank you.

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:Maybe I'll play you for once, Mannahnin. I always seemed to miss you at the DP tourneys.

Sounds good! The Game Castle also usually has tournaments every month, which don't have as nice terrain at DP, but are pretty well attended. There were 24 in this last Saturday's 2k tournament.

Empchild- are you planning to get flyers to distribute to stores? I'll be happy to pass word on to Myriad Games, the Game Castle, and Collectibles Unlimited here in Southern NH- I know the owners of all of those reasonably well.

Mannahnin wrote:

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:Maybe I'll play you for once, Mannahnin. I always seemed to miss you at the DP tourneys.

Sounds good! The Game Castle also usually has tournaments every month, which don't have as nice terrain at DP, but are pretty well attended. There were 24 in this last Saturday's 2k tournament.

Empchild- are you planning to get flyers to distribute to stores? I'll be happy to pass word on to Myriad Games, the Game Castle, and Collectibles Unlimited here in Southern NH- I know the owners of all of those reasonably well.

Actually yes Mannahnin, I am hoping by january 2nd or third to have all those mailed around to be passed out. As well as this weekend I plan on announceing points values for the tourney and what nots. ATM im trying to figure out a symbol for the event so if anyone has any ideas please speak up. If I like it then maybe you could get a prize.

You may find a few things you can use and ignore in this rant -Cheers


How To Run a Great Convention Game
I love game conventions. The atmosphere, the excitement, the buzz in the air, the dealers' room, the flea market, the sights, the sounds, the smells (OK, not the smells so much), and of course, the games.

Over the years that I have attended conventions, I have played, run, and observed countless games. Unfortunately, I have experienced many more bad games than good ones (which probably is one reason why a good game is so memorable). Happily, I've learned from all those mistakes, both my own and others'. The purpose of this essay is to share those lessons. Whether you are a rookie game referee or an old hand, I hope you will find something insightful and useful here.
My philosophy in a nutshell is this: people who come to a convention and show up at your game have paid money to be there, and they deserve to get something worthwhile in exchange. Giving them a boring, unbalanced, or poorly designed game is no different from selling them a broken-down car. It's a rip-off.

These are my 20 tips for setting up a game that will excite the players and keep observers interested on the sidelines.
1. Deliver a game, not a lecture.
2. Start on time.
3. Be realistic about how much time the game needs.
4. Treat scenario design seriously.
5. Use simple rules.
6. Use rules that have a name.
7. Give the players everything they need to play.
8. Keep the table neat.
9. Give every player a significant command.
10. Keep everyone busy.
11. Allow only as many players as you are equipped to handle.
12. Make one player on each side the commander-in-chief.
13. Assign victory conditions, and make sure players understand them.
14. Limit the potential for stupid mistakes.
15. Put a muzzle on jerks.
16. Plan how you will handle one or two extra players.
17. Pause occasionally to explain what's happening.
18. Bring everything you need.
19. Playtest.
20. Put on a good show.

Deliver a game, not a lecture.
The people who gather at your table came to play a game. If they wanted to hear a lecture, chances are they would be sitting in a seminar room. I have been bored nearly to distraction by nitwits who wasted a half-hour or more of precious playing time with a rambling, half-baked soliloquy of misinformation. A good game requires some introduction, but keep it to a minimum. Four or five minutes of introduction and background per hour of scheduled game time is a good rule-of-thumb maximum. If you need more time than that to explain what's going on and get things organized, then the situation is too complicated for the time allotted.
Start on Time
This is obvious, but it is a rule that gets broken a lot, for two reasons.
The first is that judges just arrive late. That's rude. Arrive on time. And remember, "on time" may mean 45 minutes or an hour before your game starts, if it takes that long to set up.
The second is that judges arrive unorganized. They can't remember which box the village is in, they have to unpack the terrain box completely before doing anything else because the items needed first are in the bottom, or the boxes with the figures are all unlabeled and no one knows where the lancers are.
Here's how to avoid disorganization. Set up the game at home. Keep track of how long it takes. Then pack it away in your traveling boxes, starting with the items you set up last and working your way back to the beginning. That way, the items you need first will be at the tops of the boxes, and vice versa. The military calls it "hot packing." Then, when you set up at the show, whatever you need next will be the next thing in the box.
Be realistic about how much time the game needs.
Few things at a game convention are more annoying or more disappointing than spending six hours maneuvering and skirmishing only to have the allotted time run out just as the two main bodies are about to come into contact. Then the referee passes his hairy eyeball over the table and announces, "It looks to me like the guys in blue would have won. Congratulations, blue team!"
Most players would much rather have the game end an hour early in a clear victory, rather than run the full time and end with a judgement call.

The more players you put in the game, the longer it will take. A game that you playtested in four hours with two friends will take much longer when played by six strangers. Do not assume that you can push them along, either. Convention games get played at a leisurely pace. There are interruptions to answer questions, players disappear to get drinks right before their turns or wander off for a quick peek at the game next door. Err on the side of allowing too much time.

Treat scenario design seriously.
This is big, possibly the biggest item on the list.
When preparing for a game session, it is best to think about what you are doing not in terms of creating a scenario, but of designing a game. It is very easy to fall into this trap: "I know that the rules I'm using are good, so if I come up with an equally good Order of Battle and table layout, everything else will fall into place."
Unfortunately, it just is not true. A good OB and good terrain analysis are only the beginning. You must turn those OBs and maps into an exciting game. Many things need to be considered, such as:
* Movement rates vis-à-vis the distance troops need to travel. Can reinforcements arrive at the battle area in time to make a difference? If troops need to exit the battlefield in order to win, how long will it take them to reach the table edge under expected conditions? If there is a time limit to get from point A to point B, how much can the moving force be delayed and still beat the deadline? How many turns will it take the opposing forces to move from their start positions into contact? Sometimes it is best to set up the battle with troops not in their historical starting positions, but in their positions just before the real fighting began. This both saves time and prevents unwanted, screwy things from happening during the approach.

* The number of figures in play needs to be manageable. There are many obvious reasons for this, but here is one that's not so obvious. In many battles, victory will go to the side that has the last reserve. If so many figures are in play that each side has a huge reserve, the end will be a long time coming. The game needs to be tense, with the outcome uncertain for as long as possible. Ideally, you want everyone to feel that they are on the verge of collapse almost all the time. Every move should be an act of desperation to stave off defeat. That is possible only when you give players not quite enough figures to do everything; give the defenders not quite enough figures to defend adequately, and give the attackers not quite enough figures to attack properly. When everyone feels stretched to the breaking point, they are having a good time.

* Armies need room to maneuver on the flanks and/or in the backfield. Lining the table with figures from one side to the other might impress people with the size of your figure collection, but it won't impress them with your ability to design a game. Such a setup limits players to simply charging straight ahead and hoping that the enemy across the table is weak. There is no decision-making, very little tension, and hardly any fun. Likewise, armies need enough room in their backfields to rout, recover, reorganize, and move back into the fight. If the battle line is too close to the table edge, units will rout off the table and be lost prematurely.
* If you want to have a multi-player game, then avoid certain types of scenarios (i.e., river crossings). Any game where all the activity focuses down on a single point will leave one player with all the fun activity and everyone else watching in idle envy.
* Special rules spice things up. Every situation is different. Game rules are designed with the "standard situation" in mind. Try to incorporate at least one or two nonstandard elements or random events into each battle. It keeps the players on their toes and gives them something to think (or worry) about.

Use simple rules.
It is unlikely that everyone in your game will be familiar with the rules you are using, even if it is a common, popular set of rules. If the rules are complex, the game slows down. Simple rules still have to be taught to the people who don't know them, but hey, they're simple!
If you must use complex rules, then hide them as much as possible from the players. Here's how: When a player tells you what he wants to accomplish, instead of explaining how the rules restrict him, tell him what to do. For example, you (the referee) ask a player what he wants his units to do. He says, "I want my tanks to get into a hull-down position on this hill where they can fire down the length of the bridge." Instead of explaining all the game rules that are involved in making that happen, you simply tell the player what to do: "The tanks need to be parked on the military crest, so you'll need to move up to this contour. When you get there, roll a die and show it to me and I'll tell you whether you found a hull-down position." Now the player is concerned only with measuring and moving figures, not with a lot of complicated rules.
I have actually used this method for introducing complete rookies to Advanced Squad Leader with miniatures. All the players need to do is formulate a plan and explain it to me. Then, each turn, I tell them what to do in order to get closer to completing that plan. You aren't making decisions for them, you're just acting as an interface between their orders and the game rules.
Use rules that have a name.
This is a personal rule, but it's a good one. I tend to avoid convention events that list "home rules" as the rules used. I have been burned too many times by people foisting their notes and half-baked ideas off as rules. If you want people to come to your event, and you want to use your own rules, then polish them up so they are presentable and give them a name. They will still be home rules, but they will make a much better initial impression. I once wrote up a very brief set of skirmish rules for the 30 Years War two days before a convention, but they were listed in the program as "One-Page Skirmish." At the game, I had copies to hand out to all the players. No one knew those rules had not even existed when the program book was printed (until now).

Give the players everything they need to play.
This means two things. The first is obvious: bring along some rulers and dice, because players might not have their own.
But it also means, do as much prep work as possible ahead of time to eliminate work during the game.
Here's an example of what I mean, again using ASL (this same situation applies to many rules). ASL rates tank guns by their caliber and barrel length. When a tank fires, you first look up its gun type, then look up that gun type on a table, then factor in various modifiers that are found on another table. That's a lot of steps, and the tables are confusing by themselves. Before running an ASL game with tanks, I convert the generic gunnery table into a specific table for each type of tank. Instead of handing the player a roster sheet that lists the type of gun mounted on his tank and a copy of the gun tables, I hand him a roster sheet that has a customized gun table showing only the final numbers that apply to his tank's gun. All the modifiers for model variations, ammo types, etc., are already worked into each table. All the player needs to do is measure the range, look it up on the table, and roll the dice. He never sees the raw table.
Here's a second example. When I run an ASL game set in North Africa where blowing dust is a problem, the rules call for rolling a third die, dividing by two, and rounding down. Instead, I make up "dust dice" numbered 0-1-1-2-2-3 (normal dice with some pips painted out, then lightly spray painted a dust color to set them apart from the other dice). Players roll a dust die along with the other dice and add it up just like everything else; no special thought required.
And a third, and final, example. The "One-Page Skirmish" rules mentioned earlier divide figures into novices, trained soldiers, and veterans. Each type rolls a different die when shooting or fighting: d8 for novices, d10 for trained, and d12 for veterans. To make things simpler for the players, I paint a dot of color on the back of each figure's base to indicate its experience: green for novices, blue for trained, and red for veterans. Then I make sure that all my d8s are green, all the d10s blue, and all the d12s red. In the heat of the game (and the whole idea is to make things move as fast as possible), all a player needs to do is glance at the dot on the figure's base and grab a die of the same color.
Those simple measures take a few hours to prepare ahead of time, but they save a tremendous amount of time during play. I don't have to explain the tank firing charts or the visibility reduction rules a dozen times during the game, and I don't have players constantly referring to roster sheets and then asking which is the d10. I've hidden the rule from the players and allowed them to see only its effect.
Keep the table neat.
The easiest thing you can do to improve your game's presentation is to insist that players keep the table neat, and then do the same yourself. When specifying a table size on the event registration form, ask for a table that's slightly larger than your playing area. A six- to twelve-inch empty shelf all around the terrain is ideal. Ask players to keep all the roster sheets, charts, rulers, dice, and drinks in that dead space. The only things that belong on the terrain are figures and game markers that are in play.
Give every player a significant command.
I once saw a game where the players commanding the reserve were reading paperbacks to avoid boredom, and that was two hours into the game. Once every 20 minutes or so, they got to push their units another 12 inches down the road. They had no reason to be there.
In another game, the player who commanded the armored gunboat spent three hours waiting for it to arrive. When it did, it was so powerful that the enemy scattered like cockroaches and the game ended. That poor sucker had waited three hours for a fifteen minute anticlimax.
Make sure everyone has something to do right off the bat, either commanding figures that begin on the table or that arrive within the first two turns. Then, split up the reinforcements between all the players, too, so if someone's on-board force gets wiped out, they still have something to look forward to. Don't put someone in charge of the baggage mules unless the enemy has some incentive to try looting them.
Keep everyone busy.
Now that you have given everyone a significant command, you must allow him or her to use it.
This is really a function of the turn sequence. The Sword & the Flame is one of my favorite sets of rules, but I have learned that it's not a good choice for games with more than six players, and four is an even better limit. Why? Because in TS&TF, units are activated to move and shoot one at a time. Consequently, at any given time, only one player is doing anything. Everyone else is watching. If there are lots of players, someone might wait a long time before getting a chance to do something. For big multi-player games, rules that allow everyone on a side to act at the same time are best. If you must use a system like TS&TF for a large game, then consider modifying the rules so more than one player gets to move per card.
Allow only as many players as you are equipped to handle.
The temptation to run a huge gaming spectacle is strong. The temptation to get as many people as possible into the game is also strong. Sometimes, you must resist.
You have too many players if any of these points apply:
* The number of units assigned to each player is too few to hold interest.
* No matter how many figures are involved, a player should command at least two, and preferably three or more, units. This both gives the player some flexibility in his own operations and gives him some staying power, should one of those units meet with unexpected disaster. Avoid the temptation to accommodate more players by subdividing the logical command structure. You are spending all of your time racing from one end of the table to the other answering questions and the game is not progressing.
* Big games need more than one judge. Recruit enough friends to keep things moving. Make each judge fully responsible for something, whether it is an area of the table, or cavalry operations, or keeping track of reinforcements and casualties. You won't speed things up at all if subordinate judges have to get your clearance for all of their decisions. Players at one end of the table don't know what is happening at the other end, and don't care.
If this is the case, then the best thing to do is break the game into multiple smaller games, each with its own table and judge. You could even run them simultaneously and allow some limited capacity for events on one table to affect another. But it is absolutely true that three small games will run faster and smoother than one monster game.
Make one player on each side the commander-in-chief.
This applies primarily in games with three or more players on a side. An army needs direction from the top, not just a gaggle of generals each acting independently. One player should be named the commander-in-chief. It should be someone who wants the job; it should be someone who knows something about the tactics of the period; and it should be someone who will actually do the job.
The C-in-C's job is to make the final decision about deployment and the battle plan. In practice, most players will be democratic about this, but if disagreements arise, the C-in-C has the final say. It is the C-in-C who relays team information to the judge. Once the battle begins, players are free to ignore orders from their C-in-C, but they should understand that insubordination will enter into the final victory assessment.
Assign victory conditions, and make sure players understand them.

A game will be a lot more fun if players have an objective beyond kicking the enemy's butt. The battle should have a goal, a reason for being fought. That may be to seize the crossroads, to delay the enemy's advance, to hold the village, or even to inflict casualties. Players will make better plans, and you will get a better game, if the operations are oriented toward a realistic goal.
Giving each player (or each subcommand) customized victory conditions helps to clarify the overall objective, speeds up the deployment and planning stage, and allows individual players to feel that even if their team lost, at least they achieved their objective. For example, if the team's objective is to clear a gap through an enemy cordon and link up with the table edge, then one player's objective could be to prevent the enemy's tanks from reaching the critical point, another could be assigned to guard the supply trucks and guarantee that they get through the gap, and a third could be charged with running a feint attack to draw off reserves. If you go to this extent, then you have siphoned off much of the C-in-C's responsibility, but in complex games that is often necessary to get things up and running in a reasonable amount of time.

Limit the potential for stupid mistakes.
History is full of boneheaded generals who threw away battles and their soldiers' lives, but those incidents don't make very good games. One bonehead can spoil seven people's fun. Your job is making sure that does not happen.
Whether it is through stupidity, misunderstanding, or mischief, one player always shows up ready to throw a monkey wrench into your carefully designed scenario. While players need to be allowed freedom of choice, they have no right to ruin the game with their foolish plans.
Generals don't operate in a vacuum. They have a staff to advise them. As the game ref, you are also the general's staff. If there are obvious courses of action in the situation at hand, outline them for the players. If keeping a reserve is crucial under your rules, tell that to the players. If the troops are exhausted and at the breaking point, be sure the generals are aware. Don't tell them what to do; a good staff lays out alternatives and lets the general pick a course of action. But do supply them with at least two or three good alternatives, just in case they can't come up with any of their own.

Put a muzzle on jerks.
We've all seen it happen. Someone shows up at the game and all he does is complain: the terrain is wrong for this battle, these rules are awful, there's no way our side can win, this was done much better at AnalRetentiCon. If it happens to you, take the player to the side and explain that if he is not having fun, then it would be best for everyone if he finds a different game that is more to his liking. If a ticket was involved, offer to escort the player back to the registration desk and help him get a refund or a replacement because the game was not what he expected. Make it clear that if he stays to play, he needs to be polite and enjoy himself. Don't let one jerk ruin everybody else's fun.

Plan how you will handle one or two extra players.
It very often happens that when people sign up for your game, one person gets in and his best friend does not. Or someone arrives with a generic ticket and pleads that this is the one game he really wanted to play and it was filled up.
I hate to turn those people away. To avoid having to, I always arrange my games so that I can handle one or two extra players, if any show up. They won't get full commands like everyone else, but they will get to play.
Two methods will allow you to do this.
* When dividing the commands initially, there always seem to be a few odd troops that do not really belong anywhere. I split them up among all the players on that side. If an extra player shows up, I reassign those free-floating elements. The original player still has his core command, and the newcomer has something small to manage.
* Alternately, I sometimes bring along a few extra troops in the box that can be added to the mix without altering the balance noticeably: skirmishers, scouts, and the battered remnants of yesterday's fight work well in this manner.
Pause occasionally to explain what's happening.

This benefits both players and observers. Add some drama to your descriptions. Don't make them long, make them interesting.
Also, pause occasionally for officially sanctioned bathroom and refreshment breaks. Otherwise, people will drift off on their own at inopportune times. Do not leave the table alone, because having figures wander off on their own can ruin the show for you.
I ask that people who eat during the game refrain from handling greasy food like pizza because I don't want their cheesy fingerprints all over my miniatures. If everyone breaks and eats at the same time, you can all wash your hands before returning to the game. In this regard, don't be afraid to occasionally treat your players like children; as gamers, we're all a bit childlike anyway.

Bring everything you need.
I keep a convention box perpetually packed with paper, pencils, dice, rulers, tape, scissors, index cards, post-it notes, poker chips, magic markers, super glue, and white glue. These are all the things that I occasionally need at a moment's notice at a show, but otherwise would forget to bring. With this stuff I can make up signs advertising a pick-up game, repair damaged figures or terrain, quickly make up rosters or event cards, stick notes to the bottoms of figures, and generally keep things going when they otherwise might break down.

Playtest.
Good cooks never serve a new dish to company the first time they make it. Good game moderators should follow the same philosophy. Never run a game for paying customers that you have not tested beforehand. In your first play-through, you will find all sorts of little things that detract from enjoyment, and those little things add up. Play the game at home with your friends, work out the kinks, and then bring it to the show. Judges who do this are easy to spot; their games are popular, their players are smiling and happy.

Put on a good show.
Bring nice figures that are correct for your battle. They don't need to be works of art, but unpainted (or dipped) figures belong at home. Likewise, substituting renaissance knights for confederate cavalry is fine in your basement, but annoying at a convention.
Use attractive terrain. Masking tape makes an OK road, but a much less satisfactory hill. Terrain does not need to be expensive or extensive. A piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting draped over some books looks just dandy as gently rolling hills. A bare wooden table, however, does not resemble the desert, even if both are brown. Most people come to a show expecting to see something better.
If you can do that, and follow the previous 19 points, you can't help but put on a good show.

..........lots of time on your hands huh....JK I always welcome advice from others because even though I may have done these on the west coast their is always something more that can be added, and something that may have been overlooked. So cheers to that, and that you for the advice. I printed it out at home to have on hand.

This sounds cool.

HOLY F'ING GAK!
I lived less than a mile away from that Armory 2 months ago.

Sadly I will not have a 'legal' army by that time :(

But good luck to all.

Could a mod please move this to Shedule a game please. Also if you are interested in flier please email me so I can get it out to you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Could a mod please move this to Shedule a game please. Also if you are interested in flier please email me so I can get it out to you.

Where: At the Cambridge Armory in Mass.
When: the weekend of May 15th and 16th 2010

Details: Entry is $50.00 U.S and can be submitted through paypal or by personal of certified check.
There is 60 spots for Warhammer 40k and 40 for Warhammer Fantasy.
40k is 2000 pts, fantasy 2250 pts.
Sunday will also hold A Rogue Demon with 3 categories with 1st, 2nd, 3rd places in each.

For information Please contact Alexander Akers @ Boston_Brawl at yahoo.com. or check out the website for details at http://bostonbrawl.wetpaint.com/
We will have door prizes as well as some great trophies for the winners!

Hey Empchild, this sounds like a great idea. I wish I saw this post earlier. My name is Shawn I'm the Prez of the Arvard Ardboyz in Cambridge. We actually ran an event like this last year with the Dorka Morka club in Waltham, the Boston Massacre. We unfortunately did not run one this year , but we will be running it again in 2010, looks like at a later date now

I see you got the armory in Cambridge, I've actually have run some events there before for some other things. I'm a fire fighter in Cambridge so I usually get pretty good deals in cambridge and was also in the service so I also usually get good deals at armories.

I'm gonna PM you with my number and when you have a chance give me a call, I would like to chat with you about a couple of things. Again great job with what you have done so far and I look forward to chatting with you. I posted this on our forums, I'm sure a lot of people will attend this.
Shawn

perturabo wrote:Hey Empchild, this sounds like a great idea. I wish I saw this post earlier. My name is Shawn I'm the Prez of the Arvard Ardboyz in Cambridge. We actually ran an event like this last year with the Dorka Morka club in Waltham, the Boston Massacre. We unfortunately did not run one this year , but we will be running it again in 2010, looks like at a later date now

I see you got the armory in Cambridge, I've actually have run some events there before for some other things. I'm a fire fighter in Cambridge so I usually get pretty good deals in cambridge and was also in the service so I also usually get good deals at armories.

I'm gonna PM you with my number and when you have a chance give me a call, I would like to chat with you about a couple of things. Again great job with what you have done so far and I look forward to chatting with you. I posted this on our forums, I'm sure a lot of people will attend this.
Shawn

Ahhh just read this after I replied to the pm so disregarde the pm. I will definately get in touch with you this upcomming week. I picked cambridge for a number of reason honestly, being that well my armory in Hudson can't support this kind of event, also several friends run the cambridge armory which made the price much cheaper. On a side note thanks to you all who have been sending me pm's offering your support. Believe me it may take me a few weeks to get back to you as well holidays, work, my wedding the usual but rest asure I will get back to you all and see if you are still interested in offering help. Please people feel free to contact me through pm or Boston_Brawl at yahoo.com .
-alex

To represent for the 'Arvard 'Ardboyz again, you could be looking at double-digit attendance from our club alone, and we're only one of three established wargaming clubs right in the Boston area. You're probably going to have a lot of local interest in this, just so you know - there's a considerable support structure out here for you already. Certainly a lot of help with terrain - I'm sure the Prez will cover all that with you and more.

Just another nudge of encouragement, mate.

Moved as requested. Looking forward to seeing the flyers, et al!

Nice!

I'm a member of The 131 in Western Mass, 50+ members playing 40K and Fantasy. We'll be there.

I run the Events part of things for the club, please let me know if you need any help. We have some terrain, and we are working on a bunch more now. We also have a few stores around here, notably Off the Wall Games and Base Camp that you could contact to get some promotional help locally.

Hahahh, it's starting to sound more and more like musical chairs in terms of open seats.

Dez wrote:Nice!

I'm a member of The 131 in Western Mass, 50+ members playing 40K and Fantasy. We'll be there.

I run the Events part of things for the club, please let me know if you need any help. We have some terrain, and we are working on a bunch more now. We also have a few stores around here, notably Off the Wall Games and Base Camp that you could contact to get some promotional help locally.

Funny you mention that as I did and the numbers I got off GW Base camp was the only one that worked.

Haha, I'm not surprised You should be able to get the number from Off the Walls website, they are open 10-10.

Count me in!

Alrighty thanks to you great volunteers a better website should be launched before the event. All help is appriciated.

I just wanted to put out their I am pushing back the sale of the tickets a to the end of Jan, since a better functioning website is inthe works atm. I will however be announcing our VIP on the 15th though as planned, as well as some of our sponsers.

Who all is planning on going for the WFB games?

Ok wanted to shoot you all a MAJOR update. I am happy to announce that a newer and better (professional) website is being worked on as we speak by a volunteer. Also I though I would announce the VIP for the event.

The Boston Brawl 2010 is proud to announce multi golden demon winner, and amazing sculptor Joe Orteza as our VIP. Joe will be there to answer your questions, help with the painting judging for the painting competition, and if we are lucky maybe throw down some dice.

I am estatic to announce that our New website will be going LIVEyes LIVE within 48 hours. I will post a link to it when this happens, but once it does the tickets will be going on sale for the event. With 60 spots for 40k and 40 spots for fantasy I think it will go fast people.

Can't wait!

I'll be signing up as soon as I can.

Joe Orteza - he'll be nice to chat up, I'm sure!

Does he still work for GW?

No joe was an art teacher for a number of years in the great cough cough state of IL (my home state). He left teaching though to raise his kids as his wife in a doctor and wanted to go back to work. All around funny dude who was extremely excited at the idea of a trip to boston.

Cool. I'm going to be signing up ASAP as well

@Alph - you planning on going 40k or WFB?

40K for me...

Truescale Alpha Legion baby!

Plus, it is the only army I could even have a hope of getting painted up in time!

Hrm - Can I paint up and Magnetize all my High Elves by then?....Dilemmas, dilemmas.

Great news about Orteza! Well done, Empchild. I'm starting to get pretty excited about this.

tinfoil wrote:Great news about Orteza! Well done, Empchild. I'm starting to get pretty excited about this.

Makes two of us. I honestly can say it would not have been possible without the help of my website designer. He has been a HUGE and I mean HUGE help in all of this.

Let us now when the site is live - I want to make sure I reserve a spot!

Alpharius wrote:Let us now when the site is live - I want to make sure I reserve a spot!

Most definately.. on a side note one of my adepticon teammates dropped out today. SO anyone want to join a team?

I think its great there will be a GT in Boston! There is a pretty large 40k community here I think you'll get a lot more than 60 people trying to sign up. I applaud you for organizing it!

Now the bad news, the ard boys preliminary round is May 15th as well, http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&categoryId=400002a§ion=community&aId=500011a

Really sucks we'll have to choose between the two, perhaps a coin flip....

Well, I wan't planning on doing 'Ard Boyz anyway...so I get to go to a great GT instead of sitting at home

Spacecurves wrote:I think its great there will be a GT in Boston! There is a pretty large 40k community here I think you'll get a lot more than 60 people trying to sign up. I applaud you for organizing it!

Now the bad news, the ard boys preliminary round is May 15th as well, http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&categoryId=400002a§ion=community&aId=500011a

Really sucks we'll have to choose between the two, perhaps a coin flip....

That might be bad news, but...

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:Well, I wan't planning on doing 'Ard Boyz anyway...so I get to go to a great GT instead of sitting at home

I wasn't planning on any 'ard Boyz tournaments either.

Hopefully this will mean that everyone who wants to get into this tournament can, and maybe it will present a slightly (!) more relaxed atmosphere too?

I spoke with Ed spettigue(hope I got that right) and I was informed of this, though odd since I printed out the GW web page and compared dates but oo well. This year we will not be on the tourney maincircuit that is feeding into Vegas, BUT their is strong promise for 2011. Also the Boston Brawl is becomming and LLC, and as such I do plan on this being annual and have been chatting with a few people who are helping heavily this year about joining the "company". If you are interested let me know as I will be taking on 3-5 peple max for 2011.

Sounds like this is coming together pretty well, Empchild. I'll definitely be trying to attend.

Empchild wrote:This year we will not be on the tourney maincircuit that is feeding into Vegas, BUT their is strong promise for 2011.

Ahh, it's still gonna be great.

Alpharius wrote:Hopefully this will mean that everyone who wants to get into this tournament can, and maybe it will present a slightly (!) more relaxed atmosphere too?

You've obviously never played me

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:

Empchild wrote:This year we will not be on the tourney maincircuit that is feeding into Vegas, BUT their is strong promise for 2011.

Ahh, it's still gonna be great.

Alpharius wrote:Hopefully this will mean that everyone who wants to get into this tournament can, and maybe it will present a slightly (!) more relaxed atmosphere too?

You've obviously never played me

Er, OK?

If you're joking, I look forward to playing you!

If you're not, I look forward to not playing you!

scarab wrote:Sounds like this is coming together pretty well, Empchild. I'll definitely be trying to attend.

Hope so

Alpharius: I jest, I jest...

Empchild, few questions:

1) You said earlier in the thread that points for 40K would be 2000. Is this still the case?

2) Will the INAT FAQ be used?

3) If no (or in the unlikely event that it's not covered) how do Furious Charge and Counter Attack work for all us non-SW players?

4) Will there be comp scoring? If yes, will it be player-scored or judge-scored? If judge-scored, who will be scoring comp? How?

5) Will there be sportsmanship scoring? If yes, will it be player-scored or judge-scored? If judge-scored, who will be scoring sportsmanship? How?

6) Will painting scoring contribute to final placement or be a cool aside? If your army is painted by someone else, will you lose points out of your overall score or just be ineligible for best painted (obviously, you'll have to disclose this before paint judging anyway)?

7) How will initial pairings be decided?

I am extremely excited to announce our website has gone live yes LIVE!!!!! Thanks to the volunteer and tireless work from Brian J. the boston brawl now has a website. We will be adding in the payment option here extremely soon so stay sharp on this as I know we will fill up fast. Also I will be updating you all as we move closer to our date!
-Alex

P.S would help if I post the website http://bostonbrawl.com/

Empchild wrote:I am extremely excited to announce our website has gone live yes LIVE!!!!! Thanks to the volunteer and tireless work from Brian J. the boston brawl now has a website. We will be adding in the payment option here extremely soon so stay sharp on this as I know we will fill up fast. Also I will be updating you all as we move closer to our date!
-Alex

P.S would help if I post the website http://bostonbrawl.com/

I'm the guy to yell at, for website issues. You can PM me here.

--Brian

PS: Scoring/judging is still being worked upon, but don't be surprised if it leans towards Adepticon-stylings. Pairings will probably be utterly random, first round.

Thanks to Brian for the website (and answer ).

Any status updates on this yet?

Ya were busy just setting up the payment stuff, and I have been busy working on the insurance I miss having a team of people doing this onstead of just 2 Will be very soon I promise.

Can't wait, I know the Arvard Ardboyz are very interested.

The registration list is up on bostonbrawl.com/ in the Vis Bostonia foums. We should be fully up and running ready for payments by this weekend. Once you pay via pay pal you will leave in the note weather you are playing fantasy or 40k. It can take up to 24 hours to be posted on the registatrion list so please be patient.

Your website... it is kinda wonky.

Anyway, once the payment option is set up, I'll be signing up!

Alpharius wrote:Your website... it is kinda wonky.

Anyway, once the payment option is set up, I'll be signing up!

mm remember all bugs are still being worked out with stuff added. Within a few months I would say all bugs worked out, leading to next years being smooth sailing. first year for any event can be the hardest.

For those of you itching to sign up are paypal is full up and running. If you wish to wait we will have a link soon just not sure when, but if you want to get on the list you can send paypal to Boston_brawl@yahoo.com. obviously I added the dot after com so ya don't have that in. Also please leave in a note if you are playing fantasy or 40k. I will confirm from paypal payment recieved and post your name on the list in via bostonia forum. Also you will recieve a email notifaction from me personally confirming everything Look forward to seeing you all their.

Signed up for the 40K tourney.

confirmation sent Grats on being the first!

$50, correct?

Yep.

$50.00 until may 1st the $60.00 after that.

Thats rights one and all Romeo and the crew from Battlefoam have offered to sponcer our event. We here at the Boston Brawl thank them for this and are glad we can welcome another amazing sponcer to this event. Battlefoam will be sending some great prizes that I am sure will make the winners the talk of their FLGS! If you want to pick up some of their amazing products check them out here at their site http://www.battlefoam.com/ .


Also initial sales have been suprising for me. so hopefully this keeps up. If we fill up semi quickly I will open up 20 more spots max.

For your convience you can now pay through the site!!!!

nice! this will be on the circuit right?

Is there composition scoring?

Is sportsmanship done by rubric?

I have a decent LCD projector I can make available for this event if needed.

Is painting a rubric?

frgsinwntr wrote:nice! this will be on the circuit right?

Is there composition scoring?

Is sportsmanship done by rubric?

I have a decent LCD projector I can make available for this event if needed.

Is painting a rubric?

This year we will not be on the circuit, but thanks to Mike at Shocasecomics we will be next year. Comp I still haven't decided on but everything else will be counted in .

::crosses fingers:: Please.... no comp :(

I will be there next year for the circuit : )

Unfortunately I will not be able to make this event but will be providing whatever help I can from afar.

We started The MechaniCon last year knowing what the current National Circuit would bring. We also had many folks bail last year because we were not on the circuit - and that was the old one BEFORE the info about Las Vegas championships. Try to support them this year so they will prosper and be even better next year!

It takes a ton of time, money and hard work to put something like this together. We are very thankful for all the generous support from our sponsors and attendees who helped our event get started and we plan to do everything we can to help others get started running great events.

What does "on the circuit" vs "off the circuit" mean?

@frgsimwntr: Having no composition score encourages min/max lists, or WAAC variants. I'm headed to my first GT this month, and from what was explained to me, composition helps pair super power lists against each other.

"on the circuit" means our top two winners go to vegas. "off the circuit" means that this year they will not be, but the better we do this year will allow for a bigger event next year. I am blessed in that the Organizers of Mechanicon, and Saint Valentines day massacre are helping me out here, and I fully intend to return the favor to them. Starting one of these up from scratch is a hard venture especially being we want to donate the profits, but thats fine as I know in time with the help from others those of us doing tourneys on the east coast will really grow. Heck I read Mechanicons and saw all the cool things they have for their 2nd annual and am hoping I will be able to head on over too it. Also I agree and Comp will be judged, sorry but it helps keeps things on the fun side.

How will comp be judged?

Will it be used only to set up pairings, or will it affect scores?

Will painting be part of the overall score? For players that had their armies commissioned, will they take a hit?

To reiterate frgsnwntr's question:

Will sportsmanship be checklist-style? (Preferably)

Me and my buddy will be showing up. Payment will be made sometime this week most likely.

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:How will comp be judged?

Will it be used only to set up pairings, or will it affect scores?

Will painting be part of the overall score? For players that had their armies commissioned, will they take a hit?

To reiterate frgsnwntr's question:

Will sportsmanship be checklist-style? (Preferably)

Yes to comp I have decided but it will not play into parings initially that will be random first round. It will add to your scores but never taken away so free points right Painting will fall into overall scores and players who have commissioned I have decided will not recieve zero, but will be judged normally just cannot max paint points. So instead of 10 they would get a 6 or an 8 also they are not eligable to win best painted but they can get players choice(I have no say in that). Sportsmanship will be checklist with 6 viable points per round.

ALSO the winner of the 40k will win a FREE yes FREE ticket to MECHANICON curtousy of Tony and the Mechanicon crew. This is in addition to all the other kick but prizes they will get!!! Also people I have spoken with Mikhalia and the winner from his Saint Valentines day massacre will get a free ticket to our 40k!!!! (I accredit Tony with the idea and I love it).

Thanks for the answers-very helpful.

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:Thanks for the answers-very helpful.

np

Hey don't forget about the south. Your right about the west coast does get all the attention and there no love for the east, but it the same for the south. I would love to see some big 40k and Fantasy.

mrblacksunshine_1978 wrote:Hey don't forget about the south. Your right about the west coast does get all the attention and there no love for the east, but it the same for the south. I would love to see some big 40k and Fantasy.

Then do what Empchild did, stop whining on the internet and start organizing.

I agree start organizing one. The first year is always the hardest, but the second year is the most fun because you know what to fix I think_

Since I have recieved a number of email I have decided to up the fantasy que to 60. This is to allow people more opportunities to play different opponents, and hopefully bring in more people to the event to roll some dice, and have some fun. Look forward to seeing you all there and don't forget to sign up at bostonbrawl.com/ .

Well, I can't sign up because I fully intend to win the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. =p

What's the breakdown for battlepoints, painting, sportsmanship, and comp?

I'm attending the Saint Valentine's day Massacre in part because its about playing in a tournament. I just heard some horror stories about the Broadside Bash out West; it was 50% battlepoints, 50% soft scores; I don't think I'd want to go. =p

The score breakdown is (from Empchild):

Battle=55% overall
Paint= 20% overall
Sports=20% overall
Comp =2.5% overall
Theme=2.5% (judges award yep I said it not players) may be pub quiz not sure yet on this one.

Am I thrilled at these? No, I'd personally like to see 10% sports and 10% paint at max and no comp or theme (pub quiz is fine ).

That said, I'm going to have fun and help support the event so that maybe it'll turn into something I like the idea of even more than I do now in years to come.

As Iron posted the way I did the break down for 40k makes it so If you win a lot but have 3 basics on paint,a nd aren't a total prick on the table you can win the tourney. This is as oppossed to a heavier inclining towards soft scores. So say you win allllllll your games and you are a great painter but you put a little effort into it, and hey people scored you average on sports..BAMPH your in a great running to win. Fantasy is a little different as it is highly on comp then 40k.

I like the breakdown. Knowing this makes it easier to pay out the $$ to register. I am in it to see awesome armies and possibly meet new friends, not just push my models around the table more successfully than my opponent... for 12+ hours. I believe the balance in scoring is what you need.

And I don't begrudge people for having a different take, if people get what we want out of the hobby its a win-win.

Remember folks; the total percentages of points which can be earned have very little meaning.

It's the actual SPREAD of points within a category that determines how large a role it plays.

For example, if painting is a theoretical 1-20, but any half-decent three color minimum army gets a 10, then there's really only a 10pt spread for painting's impact on the overall.

Well I am proud to announce a new sponsor in our growing collection for our event set in May. After several emails the Boston Brawl is happy to announce Troll Forged Minatures in the growing list of great companies supporting our event. Just so you all know we don't ask just anyone I personally get product from these companies check them out before I request if they would like to join our team. I have to give a BIG shout out to the Troll forged team as they have started rolling out some great models, and I have to say they are the cleanest molds I have ever worked with. So check them out and hey even throw a couple of them in the painting competition if you want because you will not be diapointed
http://trollforged.com/

As long as there are still open slots me and some of my friends will be there, hopefully.

Comrade Amadayeus wrote:As long as there are still open slots me and some of my friends will be there, hopefully.

oo ya tickets are on sale with plenty to go around Head over to the website and check it all out.

I'm rather interested, but I need to know the parameters and policies. Your site is very empty.

Ostrakon wrote:I'm rather interested, but I need to know the parameters and policies. Your site is very empty.

ATM it is just two of us adding everything so what are your question feel free to P.M me.


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Here is the Tenative breakdown in just the basic form of points. More to follow, but this is just the 40k.
Points Spread for Warhammer 40k
Battle Points: Possible max of 100 battle points
Win: 20pts
Lose: 5pts
Tie: 10 pts

Sportsman ship: Possible max of 20 points.
0 pts: The opponent was rude and argues every move. I hope to never play them again in my life.
1 pt: We argued a lot and the match was not fun, but we didn’t need a judge every round.
2 pts: The match was average, but nothing better then I would have with my friends at home.
3 pts: The match was more fun then most of the ones I am used too.
4 pts: The match was the best I have ever had.

Painting: Possible of 20 point
I will post the painting sheet later on this.

Theme: Possible of 5 points to be awarded by the judges.
Composition: Possibility of 5 points being awarded by the judges.

Since I have recieved soooo many pleasant email regarding the event I have finally decided on senerios, and the points spread for it. The fantasy points spread will be posted at the latest tomorrow. http://bostonbrawl.com/

Edited more details from subsequest posts into original posts. I've gotten some questions and realized that it might help to have more data up front.

Boston Brawl is only 1 month away now and ticket sales are picking up. We have a couple thousand dollars worth of donated prizes people and I think everyone will enjoy the fun, prizes, and all arond atmosphere of the first ever Boston Brawl. Sign up now while theirs still time, and remember players lists are due in via email by the 5th of May for the comp consul to judge.

Quick question on the comp judging. Are the people on the comp council playing in the tournament?

And is the deadline for lists definitely 5th May? It was May 1st not so long ago...

Ahh, heard a nasty rumor from someone actually in boston that the 40k side of the Boston Brawl has been CANCELLED.

Can anyone else confirm or deny this, been trying to find out for a day or so????

Would be nice to see some 40K rules and/or scenarios as well, if the event is not cancelled.

Howdy, trying to get back into the game, just found this site. What are the rules on painted armies? What counts as "painted"? Basecoat and two colors? I've got an old ~40-50% painted deamonhunters army I'd love to use in this. Never finished it because college happened! I'm admitting I am a total neophyte after being away from the hobby for several years, but gotta start somewhere right? Also, where do you guys play your games for fun? I'm starting a Space Wolves army and would love to find a place to regularly get together and throw some dice with some cool kats....

Cheers,

L


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and by "site" I meant this thread regarding the Boston Brawl. And one more question, do we have to pay/register to show up as a spectator?

TheRhino wrote:Would be nice to see some 40K rules and/or scenarios as well, if the event is not cancelled.

Ok the event is not cancled, and I am not sure as to why people are saying that. The rumor mill loves to rear its head sometimes. The rules and scenarios are posted on the site, so please go look as we are borrowing from adepticon, and have said so on multiple ocassions. People no matter what we are going forward. I know the numbers for the 40k are a little lacking as GW announced after the fact of the ard boyz, and their is just no way I can pull off doing an ard boyz with the event, as without the ticket sales we can't affoard the hall or the insurance for the extra time there.

As per the lists all people have between the first and the fifth of may to turn them in otherwise they will be docked points to their overall score. The first of may though is when ticket sales close. If you have any further question email me at boston_brawl@yahoo.com and please understand I am away in arkansas atm for work till friday so I may be a bit slow on the response.

If your army isn't fully painted email me and we will chat, and no you donot have to pay to be a spectator.

oo and no the comp consul are not playing they are selected from certain stores, and the judges.
-alex

8 days remaining to register before we close ticket sales!!!

Empchild wrote:8 days remaining to register before we close ticket sales!!!

how many people do you have signed up on the 40K side?

Dainty Twerp wrote:

Empchild wrote:8 days remaining to register before we close ticket sales!!!

how many people do you have signed up on the 40K side?

11 ATM but you could just go look at the registration list on our webpage.

It is important to note that you cannot read the registration list without first becoming a member of the BB site...

Yeah, worst site ever. No information about the event at all which is why there's only 11 people signed up for 40K.

Aside from my quibbles with the site I'm still vacillating on whether or not to attend and just wondering what the comp scores will be picking out. I play tyranids and focus primarily on anti-tank because it is their glaring weakness. Even with comp scoring there may still be a lot of armor on the table and if I can't load up on certain slots then I may as well not play. My heavy support choices are all MCs except for the awful biovore and I'm hoping the comp focuses on redundancy rather than particular choices. A tyrannofex is really just a tank and costs as much as a land raider. I'd hate to take a shot from comp for having my one decent long range anti-tank platform. If an IG player or marine player can still take 10 tanks than why can't I have 4 MCs? Will we also be docked for ICs and SCs? I'd like to point out that my HQ selection is all ICs or SCs except for two (the tervigon and hive tyrant) which also happen to be MCs. So there's one slot taken already. Then if I want something that can kill a land raider I have to take a tyrannofex. So right there my MC allotment has been exhausted. See how these comp scores can also pigeonhole an army?

On the other hand a marine or IG player may select an obnoxious amount of tanks, focus fire on my 2 MCs and kill them. Then there's nothing left to help deal with vendetta and leman russ spam, lascannon platforms, S10 barrage blasts, cowards shooting multi-melta and las from inside transports and so on and so forth. This is why comp scoring is so damn tricky. It has to be army specific, not thrown about blindly.

Are special characters allowed on the 40k side??

Yes.

Yes they are, and please remember the comp is judged by a randomly selected comp consul who is not involved in the event. Ten people will grade it out of 20 points and the average of their scores will be taken. I am on the 40k comp consul but not on the fantasy. The site is a little difficult I hear and we are compiling th efeedback to improve it for next year. The only way to improve well anything is to get good solid feedback besides... Yep it sucks.


BTW ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER BEFORE WE CLOSE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
-alex

thats right tomorrow is the last day for registration for the Boston Brawl. We still have plenty of room so don't miss out on some great fun and amazing prizes!!

List submitted.

Submitted list last night

Excellent, most of the lists are turned in minus a few. We have a pretty solid turn out for a first year so I am rather excited. Things are comming together and I am busy working overtime to get all of the admin together. A couple of shout outs for those who have helps a lot in just the admin side of it all. Brian Johnston, Allan Mcnab and the Harvard Ard'Boyz I great appriciate ALL of your roles in helping this come to fruition. Also thank you to all of the gamers who showed us that they want a event like this in Boston. With you guys we can take from this and continue to grow upon it for the next few years to come. Cheers, to all of you and our sponsors because without them I would have been broke making sure you all got the some killer prizes!
-alex

How many did we get in the end?

I think 47 or 48 between the two... funny thing is people are now more interested and since we closed we are having to either turn away or up the rates.

How many for 40K?

19 for 40K, 28 for WHFB.

I say turn away the late-comers. I find their lack of faith...disturbing.

Or... accept a random one more for 40K to even it out... 20 people going at it is IMO better than some guy with bye.

If he didn’t have an even number I’m sure he’d be using a ringer/fill-in player. Byes are for the birds. Folks are paying for five games, not four.

Five games with only 20 players is actually kind of an exciting prospect. It’s not perhaps as big as you’d like a GT to be, but there’s certainly no chance of multiple people with all-win records at the end. And our chances at the prizes are that much bigger. And we can still hang out & drink with the square-basers, so there’s enough guys for the social side of a GT event.

Looking forward to it!

Mr Manaheim is correct. If we have one more customer interested in 40k we will swing it if not I feel I will have to lay some plastic smack down upon you all______. OO also the warstore was able to get a hold of a box of sanguinary gaurd with their other prizes.. cogh cough I mean they didn't send anything nope nadda nothing!!!

So far We have Dragonforge prizes, Trollforged prizes, Battlefoam BIG PRIZES, Thewarstore.com sent some kickin loot, I know Mike from Showcase said his was in route. Only thing I am waiting on is GW and Chapterhouse so ya exciting stuff. We have Thomas Wynn making the trophies and every person is going to get in their swag bag 4 objective markers/ tokkens amongst SOOOOOO much other stuff. Prizes are pretty solid all around so I for one am really exicted.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I just stocked up on objectives at Adepticon, but I can always use some more! They're like bling for 40k players!

Agreeing w/ Ragnar. Fantastic. I'm really getting excited for this!

I heard the final 40K count went way past 20 - true?

Do we have a final head count for each system?

Final head count was/is 30 for WHFB, and 19+ringer for 40K.
You can see the final list of people in the Brawl forum, unde Vis Bostonia section.

I thought a couple of extra attendees might have snuck in right at the wire. Cool either way.

Mannahnin wrote:I thought a couple of extra attendees might have snuck in right at the wire. Cool either way.

From what i can tell, there were two drops at the last minute. I think it was a couple folks who didn't get their lists in on time and took the 5-point penalty. Not sure, though.

Their were two drops saddly at the last moment. Only one of them didn't get his list in on time but it was a work thing.

So does that mean there are still 20 or did it go down to 18?

Grimwulfe wrote:So does that mean there are still 20 or did it go down to 18?

18 atm but I still will ahve a ringer on hand just in case.

Soooo excited! Getting up at 4am for the drive will be brutal, though.

Good Luck to all involved.
I'll be there only to take pics.

Sanctjud wrote:Good Luck to all involved.
I'll be there only to take pics.

Bummer. I was hoping to trade Marine Biker stories with you!

Heh, if you really want to play against riderless bikers, horses, and bloodcrushers...wait wut?



Nah, my army is far from done for it, and I didn't really want to roll with my 30 terminator based plague marines...legal in 4th ed, not consent (which I got) in 5th ed...but I anticipated some grumbles. Oh yea, and scratch build 'true-scale' dimensioned rhinos...

Yea...not really something fair to the other players in terms of a modeled army (not to be confused with modelling for advantedge ).

Yup, the bikers roll out some other time.
_____________________________

I look forward to seeing all the lovely armies and I'm hoping for lots of carnage.
I swear I'm a good luck charm Though talkative, so I"ll have to try and keep it shut.

Ya its busy here at my home and the other organisers as we are doing the final prep on packets. When it's all said and done something between 500-600 sheets of paper for the 50 people... Crazy I tell ya.

Photos from Fantasy & 40k on Saturday. I just dropped in for about a half hour just to check things out so I don't know anything else; what round this was or anything, but enjoy these. Tons of beautiful armies that these photos give little justice to.

The Armory:



Prizes:




Painting contest: (I think these are only the models that people were not running on tables)



Trophies:









Fantasy first, 40k after photo #45 or so:







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If any MOD needs to delete photos because this becomes too many, feel free.









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40k photos begin now:

Friendliest player I met (Sorry forgot your name):













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These rhinos were lit from the interior.

It is almost 7pm...

...do we know the winners yet?

Friendliest player is Troy, and he is such a likeable fella!

40k
Winner Wyatt Traina(was on team pink shirt for those of you at adepticon.. pleasant fella)
Best Sportsman: Alex Fennell
Best Painted: Todd Boluc
Players Choice:Leland Smith (had a lovely deathwing army)
Best General: Terry Smith(the look on his face of shock was priceless)

Fantasy
Overall: Andy Small
Best Sportsman:Ronen Yair
Best Painted: John Leblanc
Players Choice: Luke Weissman(orges should win something every now and then )
Best General: Jarrett Messing

Painting Comp
Fantasy:
Gold:John Leblanc(wow arely discribes it)
silver: Lenny Caira
Bronze: Brian Mcmillan

40k:
Gold: I will have to look back as the name escapes me
Silver: Leland Smith
Bronze: Wyatt Traina

Empchild wrote:40k
Best Painted: Todd Boluc

Bolduc, actually. My handwriting is atrocius.


It was a really great first year event. I drove down from Maine for it, and was not disappointed. I faced some really great armies, both in list construction, and modelling/painting. I ran the Ultramarines featured in one of the 40Kpics taken by InquisitorMack, the shot with allthe Assault Marines bunched up between the Rhinos.

Some very very close games that were decided on the final turn, or on the roll of one or two dice. Made for awesome drama at the end of a game, win or lose. Personal favorite moment forme was the final turn of my final game, where I had one Assault Marine Sergeant sitting in the open after his whole squad had been blown up by ordnance and Vendetta lascannons. A Russ Demolisher opened up on him, and I had him go to ground to avoid giving up a killpoint. I needed that 6+ save...and I made it! Huzzah!

I placed 6th out of 20 entrants, and took the Best Painted award for 40K (by default, because I think better armies took higher awards, especially Wyatt Traina.)


Many thanks to Empchild and his helpers/cohorts for putting on the event. Overall, it was a very positive experience, and not because I was a winner taking home a trophy.
My one minor suggestion for next year would be to rent or borrow some sort of audio device, be it a PA system or a bullhorn, for making announcements.
Also, I took down the handwritten overall 40K placement list and forgot to hand it to you, Alex. If you want it, let me know and I'll email or PM its contents to you.

Is there a link to all the scoring and results?

I'm dying to know how my friend Jim did with his Dark Elves!

Yup thats me with the crazy beard. Thanks for the compliment. Had allot of fun hope everyone else did as well.

WHFB was posted separately from 40K, so I'm not sure on the overall points there. Iknow the WHFB organizer will be posting the scores someplace soon.

Alpharius wrote:Is there a link to all the scoring and results?

I'm dying to know how my friend Jim did with his Dark Elves!

You mean the: ROFL LOL I shoot alot D.(ouche) Elves? Just joking.
But if we are talking about the same person, then he was the general winner I believe, even with a poor army comp.

-Sanct

Allan posted the WH results over on the Warmonger forums. Here they are:

Oo I will work on getting the results for 40k posted tonight. As it stands I just got home from a 11 hour day at work, and still have to pack up some stuff for the guys who left their personal belongings.

Sanctjud wrote:

Alpharius wrote:Is there a link to all the scoring and results?

I'm dying to know how my friend Jim did with his Dark Elves!

You mean the: ROFL LOL I shoot alot D.(ouche) Elves? Just joking.
But if we are talking about the same person, then he was the general winner I believe, even with a poor army comp.

-Sanct

Huh!

I don't see his name on that list!

Maybe he didn't make it over?

Must investigate...

Still, congratulations on a well run event!

I haven't seen a single drama thread about it yet, so that's got to count for something, right?

Jim Wilson I believe was the only no show for the fantasy. Had 2 for the 40k,