The NOVA Open is back for 2011, bigger and better than last year, expanded and better suited to cover and cater to EVERY PLAYER TYPE. If you are just a painter and converter, we'll have competitions and events for you. If you're a casual gamer, our GT's and TT will fit you just right. If you're a hardcore competitor, this is the place for you. If you just want to hang out, get some swag, meet some great gamers, and have a great weekend, this is the place for you.


Registration is now fully open for the Warhammer 40,000 Elements of the 2011 NOVA Open.
Weekend Badge purchase is now fully open for all attendees of the 2011 NOVA Open.
Go to http://novaopen.com and click on "Registration" to purchase your tickets.

Venue and Dates
The NOVA Open begins with a social in one of the hotel bars at 4:00PM on Thursday, August 25, 2011.
Open gaming (which will be 24 hours a day throughout the weekend) begins along with our traditional Whiskey Challenges and live podcasting at 6:00PM Thursday.

The NOVA Open will occur entirely within the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, in Arlington, VA, deep in the heart of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.
Rooms at the Hyatt Regency in our block are locked in at a HIGHLY affordable $109/night. The hotel offers a free shuttle to and from Reagan National Airport (DCA) and the DC Metro System. Attendees whose name is locked in past the cancellation deadline will be entered into a raffle for FREE hotel accommodation over the weekend.
Rooms can be reserved at: https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_gi_new&groupID=3217963

Warhammer 40,000 PRIMER PACKET: http://novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Primer-2011-GT-Missions-v3.pdf
Warhammer 40,000 is our headline event, after the success of last year's inaugural tournament. We updated our formats and missions, and added a Team Tournament and Invitational. There is a HARD CAP of 256 tickets for the NOVA Open GT. More than HALF of these sold by 1/18/11, within 2 weeks of opening registration to pre-registrants. Purchase a ticket now, if you are certain you will be attending. Our format and space considerations will not permit us to open any spots beyond the 256 offered for the 40k GT. Additionally, the first 400 Weekend Badge purchases are guaranteed a full Swag Bag, each of which contained over $35 in products in our first year alone.

Warhammer 40,000 Events and Initial Schedule
Thursday, August 25, 2011
6:00 - 10:00PM: Whiskey Challenges (Celebrity Deathmatch, Open Game Pairing Service ... small prizes for all), Earlybird Registration

Friday, August 26, 2011
Registration for the Team Tournament and Invitational begins at 6:30AM, with first rounds kicking off at 8:00AM
Schedules thereafter diverge ...
Invitational - 5 Rounds running from 8:00AM - 8:30PM, with a 1 hour break for lunch and 30 minutes between rounds; 2 x $1,000 cash prizes for the Best Overall and Best General finishers; live feed video casting of the final Best General match

Team Tournament - 3 Rounds, 7 Games per Team, 8:00AM - 5:00PM
Time intentionally left to relax before the GT, head out on the town in Washington, DC, open game with people from around the world, or watch the Invitational finals

Saturday, August 27 - Sunday, August 28, 2011
8 Round, 256 Player NOVA Open GT
Unique bracketing system on Day 2 structures it so that ALL PLAYER SKILL LEVELS are rewarded and have a shot at an undefeated second day with a best general prize and reward. More information on this can be found here:
Relevant Article 1: http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2010/12/creative-and-incidental-comp-at-nova.html
Relevant Article 2: http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/01/nova-open-is-better-for-casual-gamers.html

Warhammer Fantasy GT
Saturday and Sunday, with possible events for Friday
96 Player Warhammer Fantasy GT
Details still in works, to ensure the best possible product - brought to you in conjunction with Mike C from Showcase Comics, and Scooter Walters from the Inner Circle Gaming Club. Registration soon.

Warmachine / Hordes
There will be Warmachine and Hordes competitive and casual events all weekend long, starting on Thursday night. Brought to you by Pressgangers from the DC region, final details are being organized and registration will begin soon.

Malifaux
32 Player Malifaux Tournament on Friday, August 26. Possibly more events forthcoming. Registration soon.

Painting
Golden NOVA Painting Competition, and Iron Painters Speed Painting Competition for the artistically minded out there. Our appearance crew are hard at work preparing the details of these, and working on more terrain for main and special events, including a scale battlefield-ready replica of the National Mall in Washington, DC!

The NOVA Open is a player-driven event, whose formats and styles are all derived from the input of a global player base. In response to global input and review, our 40k format (for example) has undergone extensive revision and improvement to its missions, scoring, and pairing systems. You are ALL peers, and your input and constructive criticism is always welcome. Post it here, on the Whiskey 40k blog in relevant articles, on our WhiskeyNOVA forums (http://nova.tlsconline.com), or by e-mailing event staff at novaopen@gmail.com or mvbrandt@gmail.com

More information will be forthcoming regularly, so keep your eyes peeled here!

Older / Original Text:
Hello Dakka,

Due to anticipated demand for the NOVA Open 40k GT in 2011, I've opened e-mail pre-registration for slots in JUST THAT EVENT for next year's Open Convention Weekend.
In order to pre-register, e-mail me at mvbrandt@gmail.com and include at least NOVA Open 2011 in your subject line.

We'll have additional team 40k events, Fantasy events, Malifaux events, Warmachine events, and MORE, plus a full on Golden NOVA painting competition, speed painting competitions, seminars, etc. This pre-registration alert is JUST for the 40k GT.

We are finalizing our date and venue for the Open. While still subject to change, anticipate:
The weekend of 8/26-8/28/2011
AT
This Venue: HERE

AS far as rates are concerned, that's still in the works, but anticipate something of a badge + event approach, where your weekend badge will cover access, 24 hour a day open gaming, some minor events and swag bag for somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-40, and where each individual event is available at various lower rates. This should come out well under $100 / person for one "major" event and your badge, in a gorgeous resort-style hotel.

We've also negotiated room blocks that should come in between $100-110/night, which is SUBSTANTIALLY low for the area, in a nice / gorgeous hotel with multiple bars and restaurants, a short free shuttle from Reagan National Airport and located on the metro into Washington, DC.

Additionally, expect us to improve upon our offerings from last year substantially, with vendors, prizes and swag bags all exceeding the past. We gave away over $8,000 in prizes and swag last year for a tournament field of 128 players across 40k and Fantasy. We'll be increasing that this year, including the contents of swag bags ... for $50 in registration fee, last year's attendees received over $35 in prize value in the swag bag alone, with almost every single person also walking out of the door with additional random draw and won prizes.

This will be a swank, full on GT for a reasonable rate in a stellar hotel ALSO offering reasonable room rates.

A couple of quick hits on the format ...

This will be the further revised and improved follow-on to the NOVA Open 2010 GT, where the increasingly popular "NOVA Style" format was christened. If you're not familiar with it, the NOVA "Style" essentially runs two parallel events within the same tournament - the Renaissance Man and Tournament Champion tracks.

Renaissance Man is our "Best Overall." It EQUALLY weights competitive performance with sportsmanship and appearance score, as opposed to the more traditional Best Overall scores that typically weigh Battle Points as closer to 70% of your total.

Tournament Champion is our "Best General" equivalent. The tournament is structured so that the Tournament Champion is literally the sole undefeated at the end of 2 days of gaming, "battle points" being only relevant for establishing seeding and match-ups in each subsequent round.

The pairing of these two styles ensures that attendees experience the more "traditional" air of a battle points + appearance + sports scored tournament in parallel (playing within the same exact field) with a knock-out style bracketed competitive tournament. The best of both worlds, as it were.

Our further revisions in this regard are numerous, including the application of a Kill Points variant (no worries, not one that eschews the visible effect of KP like nominate-5, expect more of a "win-by-x" KP mission that's otherwise just as the rulebook) in some capacity to our tiered goal/mission format, and gaming in ALL ROUNDS for ALL PLAYERS.

Space limitations and budget restrictions prevented us from being able to afford the space for all attendees to game in all rounds this past year; in 2011 all 40k GT players will participate in all rounds; furthermore, the first day of gaming (4 rounds) will be considered "Bracketing Heats." Everyone's record will be zero'ed out at the end of the first day, with all players re-bracketed with opponents who are as close as possible to their performance from the first day. While the undefeated bracket on the 2nd day will be what competes for the Tournament Champion award, ALL brackets will remain in competition for Renaissance Man, and for Bracket Winner prizes. So, even going 0-4 on the first day could yield high caliber prizes and trophies on the 2nd day.

Our initial space offering for the 40k GT is 128 slots. Since opening pre-registration via the Open's affiliated blog, http://whiskey40k.com ... we've received over 40 pre-registrations. Those who pre-register for the 40k side will have a window of time prior to open registration in which to purchase their spot, once registration begins.

Pre registration ensures you a shot at the initial 128 spots we'll offer for the 40k GT at the Open next year. While we may be able to open up more spots, it will require the development of a substantial wait list, so don't miss a shot. There's no commitment to the pre-registration, but it's a wise move.

Finally, please let me know if you are a member or officer of a GAMING CLUB or similar organization. We will be offering substantial discounts to clubs who bring larger numbers of players, scaling up based upon the number of players you register.

Thanks for the read, and let me know if you have any questions,
- Mike B., NOVA Open Founder, 40k GT Organizer
- http://novaopen.com
- http://whiskey40k.com


EDIT 1/3/11
Bump, will edit initial post as well.

I wanted to give people a heads up that NOVA Open GT Registration will begin within a couple of weeks.

Pre-Registrants will receive an e-mail giving them first shots at registering spots.

We have a very small # of spots available still for Pre-Registrants - something I recommend you take advantage of if you intend to attend; most or all of our spots may sell very quickly after opening up.


In other news, the NOVA Invitational is shaping up better, and I wanted to highlight upcoming events that can earn you a spot:

The Invitational will be an intense, 5 round small tournament of 32 happening on the Friday before the 40k GT - itself 8 rounds over 2 days and 256 players.
The Best Overall / Renaissance Man for the Invitational (50% competitive rating, 50% appearance rating) will earn a $1,000 cash prize.
The Best General / Tournament Champion for the Invitational (single 5-0 finisher) will earn a $1,000 cash prize.
Rounds will be proactively refereed, with live and recorded podcasting covering top tables.

For the Invitational, here's the list at present: http://nova.tlsconline.com/showthread.php?t=11
You'll be able to go here and see who has earned an invite so far, and where you can earn the remaining ~20 invites.

There are a couple of spots left, for tournaments that wish to have them. Feel free to let me know and make the case if you're one of those.

New additions to the Invitational list are The Conflict GT and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

Additional updates =

The 256 person GT has what we are calling "Incidental Comp."
Effectively, at the end of Day 1's 4 rounds we will split the field into 16 brackets of 16, who will play only amongst each other for the remaining 4 rounds on Sunday.

The result of this is as follows:
Of the 16 people who go 0-4 on Day 1, 1 is guaranteed to go 4-0 on Day 2, and win a Best General prize for his bracket.
Of the 16 people who go 4-0 on Day 1, 1 is guaranteed to go 0-4 on Day 2.

The single person who goes 8-0 will win the Best General/Tournament Champion overall prize.
The single person who goes 0-8 (bummer) will probably win something special.
EVERY bracket of 16 will yield a single 4-0 performance on Day 2 (regardless of Day 1 record), and thus each bracket will earn a Tournament Ace / Bracket Best General award/prize.

Most importantly, you'll be as close as we can get to guaranteed to be playing amongst a bracket of list and skill PEERS on the 2nd day - instead of someone finally eeking out a tough win against a similar opponent after going 0-4 on Day 1 only to be smashed down again ... he'll continue to play amongst PEERS. This ensures that while the integrity of the solo 8-0/Best General track is maintained, EVERYONE has an opportunity to be competitively successful on the 2nd day amongst players with the same combination of skill level and list level.

Finally, this improves everyone's opportunity to recover from a poorer performance on the first day and combine a stronger 2nd day with good painting and sportsmanship to win the Renaissance Man - our Best Overall - on Day 2; an award that is achievable even with a .500 or lower win%.

There's a LOT in the works for the Open next year. We're adding a 40k TT on Friday, our WM/Hordes folks are working hard on their presentation, as is our Malifaux crew. We'll have a larger Fantasy tournament, put on by a veteran crew of Fantasy TO's and Gamers. Finally, we're adding a full on painting competition - both Golden Demon styled and a speed painting competition (Golden NOVA and Iron Painters).

We've also added Forums for some basic topics of interest to us (i.e. Tournament Theory, Appearance Competitions), and also for questions relevant to the Open. Shoutbox and Arcade with Tournament functionality of its own compliments of the house.
http://nova.tlsconline.com

More to come, but I wanted to update everything here.

Bump - Close to 100 pre-registrations for an initial offering of 128 slots already.

While not all pre-registrants will actually pay/register when the time comes, they'll have "first shot" at the registration button.

As long as you got mine I'm good. Sent it via email a few days ago See ya in August Mike!

I got yours.

We're likely bumping to 256. We have 188 pre-registrations at the moment, for an event 9+ months out ...

Wow! An 8 Round Tournament....It's gonna be CRAZY! How are you going to fit in the Invitational if you move up the number of games on Saturday/Sunday? Since your looking at a 5 round ish Invitational?

I can't wait for this year! I'm tweaking and tuning a couple different armies

We're working on that, Brad.

It'll be a full weekend of gaming either way. We'll either

a) Put the Invitational first round Thursday PM, with the final 4 rounds on Friday, then have the Open GT on Sat/Sun, OR we'll

b) have the Invitational on a separate weekend, but that's harder on those traveling to make both ... and I certainly don't want 32 of the best players in the country NOT in the Open.

That said, quite the hardcore/ironman approach for those "bests" ... can YOU handle 13 games of 40k in 4 days?

Plus up to 4 more if you participate also in the Team Campaign/tournament (NOVACALYPSE) we're planning for the Evenings.

I love it! I'm already super stoked for this event and it's still 9 months out. I've said it a few times already but this was the best tournament experience I've had in a very, very long time and I can't wait to head back, meet more people, and hang with some of the people I met on while out there last time.

Definitely looking forward to your return, Brad.

Interestingly, in some other thread I saw some guy say you were terrible for the hobby.

What I can't understand is how someone with a great attitude, who scores almost always high on sportsmanship, who heavily converts and paints his armies to a high standard, who builds strong but still tailored-to-self lists, and who plays well can be anything other than what any "complete" hobbyist would try to be, and can at all be "bad" for the hobby.

Regardless, we should have something for EVERYONE next year, the complete hobbyists who try their best to master every aspect of our hobby ... the folks focused on artistry first ... the folks focused on competition first .... and everyone in between.

I didn't see anything on the site or here, but we don't have to preregister for Fantasy, do we?

No, you do not.

Fantasy will be chiefly run this year by Scooter from the ICGC, working in close conjunction with me and other key personnel in NOVA's "Whiskey Crew" staff. I anticipate we'll have up to 96 slots set aside for Fantasy, but we don't *anticipate* a need for pre-registration at this time.

We'll also have Malifaux and Warmachine, and possibly others (i.e. FOW).

Excellent, thanks. Just wanted to double check. This has a high chance of being my first tourney ever (unless another local one comes up before then that I'm interested in), didn't want to miss out.

Ah don;t worry about what Espa said about Brad or myself, he was mad because he felt like he was attacked. Neither I nor Brad took any of that stuff to heart and I highly doubt anyone else did either.

Looking forward to this event! I was bummed I missed it last time but starting a business ain't cheap.

This year though, it's on!

Once I get the format for the tournament down I'll be posting everything up. It won’t be too much longer 9 months and counting.

Awwww, Mike you says the nicest things bout me

In all seriousness though it's always nice to see that the people who have actually met or played me think good things about me.

@Reece

Split a room if my wife doesn't come?

@Hulk
Yeah, for sure, that would be great.

MVBrandt wrote:No, you do not.

Fantasy will be chiefly run this year by Scooter from the ICGC, working in close conjunction with me and other key personnel in NOVA's "Whiskey Crew" staff. I anticipate we'll have up to 96 slots set aside for Fantasy, but we don't *anticipate* a need for pre-registration at this time.

We'll also have Malifaux and Warmachine, and possibly others (i.e. FOW).

scooters a good guy! I enjoyed my one game vs him at the team event in media... we got to play them first round while he was using his tau.

Sounds like a blast.

spireland wrote:Sounds like a blast.

It was last year, and it looks even better this year. 8 rounds? I think MVB is trying to kill us.

Indeed

It's also almost guaranteed at this point to be 256 players, which will put it at least "tied" with Adepticon for the largest 40k GT in the country. Pre-register while you can, folks.

Mike,

I'll be shooting you an e-mail for pre-registration for my brother and I. Hope to see some of that terrain put to use!

This Nova will be huge in multipul game syestems. It's turning out to be a lot of fun even thou I can't play in it this year.

Last year's Fantasy Nova Open was a blast. My only hope is that its even larger this year.

Our initial plan is to look for up to 96 attendees for the 2011 NOVA Fantasy ... Scooter will be the guy spearheading it, as a veteran tournament organizer (who already runs two GT's on the Indy Circuit, in MD), and veteran successful Fantasy tournament player.

I just gotta work on his spelling

I never said I was perfect at least I mean well!!!

Looks like I am going to go too. With people like Hulk and Reecius going I am sure it will be a fun event... or should I have said in spite of?

BA-Zing!

Bump, will edit initial post as well.

I wanted to give people a heads up that NOVA Open GT Registration will begin within a couple of weeks.

Pre-Registrants will receive an e-mail giving them first shots at registering spots.

We have a very small # of spots available still for Pre-Registrants - something I recommend you take advantage of if you intend to attend; most or all of our spots may sell very quickly after opening up.


In other news, the NOVA Invitational is shaping up better, and I wanted to highlight upcoming events that can earn you a spot:

The Invitational will be an intense, 5 round small tournament of 32 happening on the Friday before the 40k GT - itself 8 rounds over 2 days and 256 players.
The Best Overall / Renaissance Man for the Invitational (50% competitive rating, 50% appearance rating) will earn a $1,000 cash prize.
The Best General / Tournament Champion for the Invitational (single 5-0 finisher) will earn a $1,000 cash prize.
Rounds will be proactively refereed, with live and recorded podcasting covering top tables.

For the Invitational, here's the list at present: http://nova.tlsconline.com/showthread.php?t=11
You'll be able to go here and see who has earned an invite so far, and where you can earn the remaining ~20 invites.

There are a couple of spots left, for tournaments that wish to have them. Feel free to let me know and make the case if you're one of those.

New additions to the Invitational list are The Conflict GT and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

Additional updates =

The 256 person GT has what we are calling "Incidental Comp."
Effectively, at the end of Day 1's 4 rounds we will split the field into 16 brackets of 16, who will play only amongst each other for the remaining 4 rounds on Sunday.

The result of this is as follows:
Of the 16 people who go 0-4 on Day 1, 1 is guaranteed to go 4-0 on Day 2, and win a Best General prize for his bracket.
Of the 16 people who go 4-0 on Day 1, 1 is guaranteed to go 0-4 on Day 2.

The single person who goes 8-0 will win the Best General/Tournament Champion overall prize.
The single person who goes 0-8 (bummer) will probably win something special.
EVERY bracket of 16 will yield a single 4-0 performance on Day 2 (regardless of Day 1 record), and thus each bracket will earn a Tournament Ace / Bracket Best General award/prize.

Most importantly, you'll be as close as we can get to guaranteed to be playing amongst a bracket of list and skill PEERS on the 2nd day - instead of someone finally eeking out a tough win against a similar opponent after going 0-4 on Day 1 only to be smashed down again ... he'll continue to play amongst PEERS. This ensures that while the integrity of the solo 8-0/Best General track is maintained, EVERYONE has an opportunity to be competitively successful on the 2nd day amongst players with the same combination of skill level and list level.

Finally, this improves everyone's opportunity to recover from a poorer performance on the first day and combine a stronger 2nd day with good painting and sportsmanship to win the Renaissance Man - our Best Overall - on Day 2; an award that is achievable even with a .500 or lower win%.

There's a LOT in the works for the Open next year. We're adding a 40k TT on Friday, our WM/Hordes folks are working hard on their presentation, as is our Malifaux crew. We'll have a larger Fantasy tournament, put on by a veteran crew of Fantasy TO's and Gamers. Finally, we're adding a full on painting competition - both Golden Demon styled and a speed painting competition (Golden NOVA and Iron Painters).


We've also added Forums for some basic topics of interest to us (i.e. Tournament Theory, Appearance Competitions), and also for questions relevant to the Open. Shoutbox and Arcade with Tournament functionality of its own compliments of the house.
http://nova.tlsconline.com

More to come, but I wanted to update everything here.

AbsoluteBlue wrote:Looks like I am going to go too. With people like Hulk and Reecius going I am sure it will be a fun event... or should I have said in spite of?

Burn!

Awesome... I will probably be coming for for the WarmaHordes (assuming hordes armies are allowed!) event, although I think I will need to choose between that and the fantasy tourney.

Mike, this is shaping up to be a smoker! I am very excited to attend. You have a really great thing going here.

Maybe; I believe the Warmahordes stuff will be going on all weekend - ThursPM through Sun, and so there may be the opportunity to play in the Fantasy GT on Sat, WM/H midnight and Friday/Thurs events, and then basically the finals as appropriate for one or the other on Sun.

I bumped into some of last year's staff at the Bizarre Bazaar last Saturday, and they were as excited as I was, which tells you something.

I can't wait. I'll have to kill someone to get an invite to the Invitational, though.

Valhallan42nd wrote:I bumped into some of last year's staff at the Bizarre Bazaar last Saturday, and they were as excited as I was, which tells you something.

I can't wait. I'll have to kill someone to get an invite to the Invitational, though.

Next chance is up here in Philly in late February. Doubt if you'll have to kill everyone. Do good in a couple of games, kill the top dozen or so, and I bet the rest let you have the invite.)

If you kill anybody, you aren't getting into the Invitational. Stupid laws ...

Valhallan42nd wrote:I bumped into some of last year's staff at the Bizarre Bazaar last Saturday, and they were as excited as I was, which tells you something.

I can't wait. I'll have to kill someone to get an invite to the Invitational, though.

Wait... this means I must have seen you at the Bizarre Bazaar (in Owings Mills?) unless I was there at a different time (only stayed for an hour or so). What were you hawking?

I must have missed the Nova Open talk, but I'm pretty pumped for it, too!! Especially with all the Dakka posters that seem to be attending

Yes, I was at Owings Mills. I arrived at about twoish, so it's likely I missed you. It was sparsely attended, sadly, though I made off well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

MVBrandt wrote:If you kill anybody, you aren't getting into the Invitational. Stupid laws ...

Is that RAW or RAI?

Valhallan42nd wrote:Yes, I was at Owings Mills. I arrived at about twoish, so it's likely I missed you. It was sparsely attended, sadly, though I made off well.

I think that was exactly when I was there! I saw two guys buy a person's ork army, and then two other people came in with large bags full of skeletons and termagaunts.

I was in the corner on the table all the way into the store against the end wall, with a very small offering (some boar boyz, a spellsinger on unicorn, a tyrant for ogres unassembled). Your saying you made off well makes me wonder if you're one of the people who bought the orks...

The only thing I bought was 2 Ral Partha dwarves riding goats circa 1994, off of the manager of the store no less

Edit: Whoops, meant to send this as a PM Back to talking about the Nova Open...

RiTides wrote:

Valhallan42nd wrote:Yes, I was at Owings Mills. I arrived at about twoish, so it's likely I missed you. It was sparsely attended, sadly, though I made off well.

I think that was exactly when I was there! I saw two guys buy a person's ork army, and then two other people came in with large bags full of skeletons and termagaunts.

I was in the corner on the table all the way into the store against the end wall, with a very small offering (some boar boyz, a spellsinger on unicorn, a tyrant for ogres unassembled). Your saying you made off well makes me wonder if you're one of the people who bought the orks...

The only thing I bought was 2 Ral Partha dwarves riding goats circa 1994, off of the manager of the store no less

Edit: Whoops, meant to send this as a PM Back to talking about the Nova Open...

but... you're the swap shop mod! you're not allowed to swap outside of dakka... it's like cheating on a wife or something?!? kidding.

Technically speaking, I was picking something up to send to another Dakka member... does that make it OK? I also head up to mikhaila's store auctions when I can...

Anyone else on Dakka planning to come to the WarmaHordes events at Nova? There's a bunch on the MD google group, but it'd be cool to see some Dakka members going

RiTides wrote:Anyone else on Dakka planning to come to the WarmaHordes events at Nova? There's a bunch on the MD google group, but it'd be cool to see some Dakka members going

Better get those woodelves in shape. I expect to see you playing in the WFB tournament. I'll be down to help out Mr. Scooter.

Well, I may in fact make this my first fantasy GT... would give me a great goal to shoot for! But it'd be my trolls that would be taking the table, unless there's no special characters allowed.

mikhaila wrote:

Valhallan42nd wrote:I bumped into some of last year's staff at the Bizarre Bazaar last Saturday, and they were as excited as I was, which tells you something.

I can't wait. I'll have to kill someone to get an invite to the Invitational, though.

Next chance is up here in Philly in late February. Doubt if you'll have to kill everyone. Do good in a couple of games, kill the top dozen or so, and I bet the rest let you have the invite.)

I heard a little rumor that there is another chance... a possibility that Aaron at conflict my also have this opening up : )

But no confirmation. Conflict is in a week and a half

It's confirmed - The Conflict GT has 2 invitational tickets.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just to reiterate, in upcoming months you can get invitational tickets at:

Conflict GT - 2
St. Valentine's Day Massacre - 2
Bolter Beach II - 2
Adepticon - 4
WargamesCon - 4
July Event at Showcase Comics - 1
Sprue Posse Grand Prix - 1
Probably additionally at least one each from the Bugeater GT and the Battle for Blob's Park

If ya'll haven't figured it out, the goal here is not so much to have some fancy dancy championship, but to get everyone going to all these different awesome events AND the Open

Well since I should be hitting up 3 of those, if not 4, i might just be able to drag my ticket down

Which ones, Brad? Gotta see if I'll be meeting you to buy you a brew, or ... maybe get you to buy me brews in exchange for an at-large invite?


Kidding!

Lol, I'll be at Adepticon for sure, The Bugeater, and WargamesCon and I'm toying with the idea of making it the SVDM The SVDM depends on the work situation but the other 3 are definites along w/Nova in August.

Since I know you'll be at Adepticon we can hoist a few

Excellent...I don't have to compete with your daemons to a large degree for my invitational passes.

I'll be attending Conflict & SVDM, as well as Battle for Blob's park (I'll be there whether it gets added or not, barring work conflicts) and the showcase July event sounds interesting, but I haven't heard about it, what's the deal on that one?

Not many deets yet - suffice to say it'll use the NOVA Format and 40k Primers for the 2011 GT, and be 32 players. Told Mike I'd run it for him, at his request.

targetawg wrote:Excellent...I don't have to compete with your daemons to a large degree for my invitational passes.

I'll be attending Conflict & SVDM, as well as Battle for Blob's park (I'll be there whether it gets added or not, barring work conflicts) and the showcase July event sounds interesting, but I haven't heard about it, what's the deal on that one?

We've held a GT in July for the last couple of years that grew out of discussions between a lot of clubs in the Northeast wanting a tournament with larger than average WFB armies. It got nicknamed The BIG SHOW!, and it stuck. First year was 2999 WFB, which was large at the time for 7th edtion armies, second year was 2999 WFB and we added on a one day 40k event.

Dates for this year are July 10 and 11. Once I get missions and final rules pack up for SVDM, I'll get registration set up for TBS.

Attention -

Anyone still wishing to should pre-register now; formal ticket purchases for pre-registrants will begin within the week.

Does it still hold true that those invited to the invitational also have free weekend passes to the main event? Or am I just imagining things?

Invitational attendees get their Weekend Badges free ($35). You'll still have to purchase tickets to the Invitational, and to the GT / Main event. The Weekend Badge also covers all of the specials, casual/side events, big ole honking swag bag, whiskey challenges, etc.


For general population heads up - the Weekend Badge + GT Ticket adds up to $100 on the nose, averaging to the same rate / game we charged last year. You're guaranteed 8 rounds, and we can afford to hold the event without my personal savings taking a hit! ... plus you'll get more swag and more events and more activities than last year to boot.

So if we pay the $100 (which I'll be paying the minute you open up registration) and we manage to lock down an Invitational spot will you be refunding the $35? Or just buying me $35 in booze at the event? Just curious

I'll create a unique coupon code that will discount your Invitational ticket by the $35.


Also, Hulk, check your e-mail.

This goes to ANYONE who has pre-registered; check your e-mail in the next day or so.

Will do once I get home. No access to yahoo or google from work

And for the record. I would have been cool with the beer

Just signed up. This may lead to me having to finagle my way out of a mandatory meeting/field excursion that occurs that weekend every year...

*cough* make it a week earlier *cough*

*cough agree with target cough*

Although on a more serious note, I realize that moving it might be a total clusterF on your end, but my reason may coincide with a lot of other peoples.

That's the weekend before classes start for colleges, which may affect a fair amount of attendees. But, I'll be finding a way to go, although I'll probably catch heck for a while afterwards...oh well!

It's tricky no matter what you do; rest assured, we thought long and hard on this one, trying to have it as close to "still Summer" as possible while removing it from sponsor/vendor/attendance-harming Gencon, and further from WargamesCon (who moved theirs closer to June coincidentally).

I'm glad you guys are attending anyway, and that our pre-registration #'s are so high, just wish there was that "perfect" weekend for all.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Registration is open for pre-registrants.

If you pre-registered, and have not received an e-mail, you should let me know.

Open registration will begin in the next couple of weeks.

I am suited and booted!

All paid up and ready to rumble. Jeez, I just registered my Ragnar Relay team this morning, too. Haven't even had breakfast yet and already dropped $1,300 out of the bank account! Haha, I need to get some cheaper hobbies.

Looking forward to the event!

Brandt, I'm a bit confused. You have a pre-registrant ticket for the 2011 40k GT and a registration ticket for the GT. Which am I supposed to purchase? I did email you about a pre-registration slot and you responded back I have a space. Have I missed my chance to offically pay for a spot?

Sarge - send me an e-mail. Pre-registrants were all sent e-mails today, so either I don't have yours properly, or the e-mail to you got caught in a filter or something.

N/M

Mine is set for payment tonight. Wife stole the comp last night so I just barely read the email this morning before work. Honestly after last year the cost is a steal for the amount of gaming and quality of the event.

Brandt, I'm blind. I just saw the email now. Came in just before 10am. Disregard the email I just sent you.

I'm signed up: looking forward to going again- had a great time last year.

I'm signed up! My first big tournament!

Looking forward to meeting some more east coast Dakkites! One of the best parts of tournaments is meeting new people and seeing old friends.

Looking forward to it!

Well I'm paid up and in. I'll see you all there. Looking forward to more faces and a bunch of great games

So, we formally have paid attendees from Scotland ... and some of the people who pre-registered haven't taken advantage of their earlybird yet ... should; 40k GT will probably sell out.

Fully open registration begins in one week for all systems.

Judging on how early the Adepticon one sold out and the fact that your starting so early I'd heartily recommend grabbing your spot fast. This was one of the best tournaments I've been to in years and can't wait for this year!

I took the advice, paid homage to the powers that be (wife) and signed up. I look forward to meeting as many new folks as possible and having some great games.

See you in August (or maybe some of you sooner at the SVDM if I bribe the wife with pandora charms)

I'll be in attendance.

And hopefully this is a motivator for the Whiskey Challenge: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/340531.page

I just paid. I can't wait.

Team Tournament and Open GT registration will open today.

Team Tournament details in brief (will update the main post shortly with everything):

Friday, August 26, 2011
3-Player Teams, 3 Rounds, 7 Games

Each team's players must bring the following all from the same Codex:
1,500 Point Army (and all required models)
2,000 Point Army List (and all required models)
1,000 Point Split FOC List (1 HQ, 1-3 Troop, 0-1 Elite/Fast/Heavy) (and all required models)

Presuming Players A, B, and C on a team, here is how the rounds will work:

Round 1:
Player A(1,000 point)/B(1,000 point) T1 vs. Player A(1,000 point)/B(1,000 point) T2
Player C (1,500 point) T1 vs. Player C (1,500 point) T2

Round 2:
Player A (2,000 point) T1 vs. Player A (2,000 point) T2
Player B (2,000 point) T1 vs. Player B (2,000 point) T2
Player C (2,000 point) T1 vs. Player C (2,000 point) T2

Round 3:
As Round 1

The pairings won't necessarily be fixed at A vs A, AB vs AB, etc.; ther'ell be a selections and choice process to it, but we're tweaking. TT prices should come in at $70 for a team, $25 for an Individual, and we'll trio up Individuals.

I was just looking at the registration page- is there a typo on the 40k pre-registrant entry, where it's listed as $265 (rather than $65?).

http://novaopen.com/?page_id=11

Also, do you know when the fantasy registration will likely begin?

The pre-registration rate is coupon coded, to ensure pre-registrants only could sign up. They all received a coupon code discounting it $200.

Regular registration will open today, at the printed rate.

Fantasy registration is coming; the Fantasy organizers are still squaring away all their details to ensure the best possible product quality.

RiTides wrote:I was just looking at the registration page- is there a typo on the 40k pre-registrant entry, where it's listed as $265 (rather than $65?).

http://novaopen.com/?page_id=11

Also, do you know when the fantasy registration will likely begin?

That price is just for you.

New Information in Original Post.
Registration is now OPEN for all.

Like My buddy Andrew G, I plan on getting into that NOVA invite :p

How many more events have qualifiers? I saw a lot of TBDs

I've signed up for the GT and paid

I'm pretty sure you'll land yourself one before long Rich, Conflict was grueling with a lot of solid players and armies.

The ones I was looking at attending in the near future with invites:

SVDM
The Big Show (I think this is the name of the event happening in July)

I'm guessing there are others on the horizon that might get invites as well in our locality, such as Battle for Blob's park

Were Colonial or Crossroads possibilities?

I'm at the registration page looking stuff over and have some questions.

1. Do I need to buy a weekend pass? Am I automatically in due to previous exploits?

2. The 40k invitational: Do I need to buy a ticket to that, or do I automatically get a ticket due to qualifying events?

3. Is there a cost associated with the Whiskey Challenge?

I was expecting 50-60, and I see $150 in registration fees ahead of me. ><

From what I understand Justin your just paying for the actual 2-day GT cost. Your weekend pass and Invitational are covered. As there is no cost for the invitational and the weekend pass is free for invitational holders. Mike mentioned that earlier when I asked about the what if I pull and invite do I get a refund for the pass or just $35 in beer. He told me the refund and I was sad

And...I bought my tickets.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Hulksmash wrote:From what I understand Justin your just paying for the actual 2-day GT cost. Your weekend pass and Invitational are covered. As there is no cost for the invitational and the weekend pass is free for invitational holders. Mike mentioned that earlier when I asked about the what if I pull and invite do I get a refund for the pass or just $35 in beer. He told me the refund and I was sad

I just talked to him on the phone - being a qualifier means that I don't have to buy the weekend pass, but I still had to buy the invitational ticket and the GT ticket. In order to use the invitational ticket, you have to qualify for the invitational though.

So if I'm not sure if I can make it should I totally buy my ticket now and then decide if I'm actually going later?

I'm only partially joking.

Well, I can't easily manage refunds (save for emergencies/family issues/etc.), but if we sell out (and it looks as if we will), you could probably sell your ticket to the next fella on the wait list with little issue.

It would be exceptional to have you there ... but it's probably a daunting trip to plan so far out.

yakface wrote:
So if I'm not sure if I can make it should I totally buy my ticket now and then decide if I'm actually going later?

I'm only partially joking.

Yak, it was great last year, and this year looks to topple that one easily.

It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't.

First Malifaux info at: http://nova.tlsconline.com/showthread.php?t=65

Pre-registered and then finalized everything yesterday. Looking forward to this as it will be my first major tourney with my wolves fully painted. Kart went last year and had nothing but good things to say.

With this and Adepticon selling out so far in advance I hope other people take notice and add another well run major event for this year or the next. Looking forward to playing some of the top players in the East.

See you guys this summer.

Kaotik wrote:Pre-registered and then finalized everything yesterday. Looking forward to this as it will be my first major tourney with my wolves fully painted. Kart went last year and had nothing but good things to say.

With this and Adepticon selling out so far in advance I hope other people take notice and add another well run major event for this year or the next. Looking forward to playing some of the top players in the East.

See you guys this summer.

Well, with Adepticon, we've got a mid-America event, NoVA has the east... It sounds like either the Left Coast (or VEGAS) has to step up.

I prefer Vegas.

Officially registered. Looking forward to meeting all the people I get into online fights with when I get there!

Fearspect wrote:Officially registered. Looking forward to meeting all the people I get into online fights with when I get there!

Hey, what you looking at?...ya you punk

Grimgob wrote:

Fearspect wrote:Officially registered. Looking forward to meeting all the people I get into online fights with when I get there!

Hey, what you looking at?...ya you punk

If you're trying to pick a fight with Fearspect, can I volunteer to be his champion against you? =D

I'll have to remember to bring you a favour to wear, scented with my... perfume.

Fearspect wrote:I'll have to remember to bring you a favour to wear, scented with my... perfume.

OH, SNAP! gak just got... creepy? Like, really creepy? Ew.

Valhallan42nd wrote:

Kaotik wrote:Pre-registered and then finalized everything yesterday. Looking forward to this as it will be my first major tourney with my wolves fully painted. Kart went last year and had nothing but good things to say.

With this and Adepticon selling out so far in advance I hope other people take notice and add another well run major event for this year or the next. Looking forward to playing some of the top players in the East.

See you guys this summer.

Well, with Adepticon, we've got a mid-America event, NoVA has the east... It sounds like either the Left Coast (or VEGAS) has to step up.

I prefer Vegas.

Working on that. It won't be the size of NOVA or Adepticon. I need to crawl before walking here. But it will be one of the larger GT's on the west coast and I guarantee it will be the most competitive. I'm meeting with the venue people tomorrow. Stay tuned.

How many slots are left? If you dont mind me asking.

Dashofpepper wrote:

Grimgob wrote:

Fearspect wrote:Officially registered. Looking forward to meeting all the people I get into online fights with when I get there!

Hey, what you looking at?...ya you punk

If you're trying to pick a fight with Fearspect, can I volunteer to be his champion against you? =D

Oh Dash... Your my hero
On that note, I have secured my place in the Nova Invitational and already started making travel plans... Perhaps we will get our grudge match there Mr.Pepper

@Fearspect, Only a jest, I too am looking forward to meeting all the Dakkites on the other side of the country (even the ones I get into fights with on the interwebs )

Plenty of spots left, just selling quite quickly for 8 months out.

Recently registered and looking forward to the tourney!

I really wish I had the cash to attend this. I heard such good things about the event last year and one of these years I will attend. Does registration always start so early?

Registration started early to help us plan and figure out whether to expect 128 or 256 for the 40k GT. While we do expect to sell out, and are well on our way, I anticipate at least some spots being available well into the Summer.

There's also the TT. There are some folks attending from Cali, as well, quite a few in fact. Certainly humbling to me!

You guys did a great job last year. I certainly wasn't shy about how I felt about it either after attending. Positive feedback online and in person goes a long long way. And the community is responding positively

Quality events get the attendance they deserve. And don't sell yourself short Mike. You've been a huge driving force for your event. And done a hell of a job working with the community to build a great event. Don't be so humble

32 player Friday (8/26) Malifaux tourney is now open for registration on the site; look for blog postery on it at Whiskey40k.com soon from the organizer.

How many 40k GT spots left? I have some other interested Canadians.

We've sold around 180 40kGT tickets so far; there's a large number of those still out to pre-registrants who have e-mailed that they need to wait a little longer to finalize travel plans, yatta yatta, so I expect another spike over the next month, and then more of a "selling" period for the last 30-50 or so.

When funds and development allow (probably 2012), we'll be trying to get a higher quality shopping cart up there that will better track # of spots left and such for ya'll.

So, as of now we have about 80 x 40k GT spots left, and a little under 7 months to go.

Team Tourney has started to book slots as well; I expect that to flush out from attendees once we get a little closer.

Update, over 190 of our 256 40k GT spots are sold.

Additionally, http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/02/hot...en-lodging.html

Could you explain what the 40k invitational is? Would that be a separate event for qualifiers, or something?

Is the team tournament on the weekend at the same time, or is it on the Friday before the 40k gt?

The Team Tournament is the Friday before, parallel with the Invitational.


The Invitational is a 32-person, 5-round single day tournament whose points value is almost set by now at 1750 (we're still discussing and playtesting the feasibility of 2,000 and 1,500 for a variety of reasons).

The Invitational is qualified for at several events around the CONUS (http://nova.tlsconline.com/showthread.php?t=11)

It will award a $1,000 cash prize to the Best Overall (50/50 aristic/competitive) and a $1,000 cash prize to the Best General (solo 5-0).



The overall prize value at the NOVA Open GT will be quite a bit higher than this, and we'll be awarding the same value in cash prizes to people who stay at the Hyatt via a hotel raffle, but that's the gist of the Invitational. Qualifiers for the 2011 Invitational kicked off with the 2010 NOVA and the Battle for Salvation, and have included Mechanicon, DaBoyz GT, and the Conflict. Upcoming qualifiers include the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Adepticon, and Wargamescon, among others (like the Bugeater GT).

The Team Tournament can be signed up for individually (we'll pair you with as balanced a team as we can from among all individuals), or as a Team (for a slight discount).

Signed and paid for. Now to figure out what to bring.

Nidz or GK's!!!!!!! At least that's what I'm bringing. 4 months aught to be enough time for me to tweak a GK list till it screams

I'm bringing an all Necrow Warrior Necron army.

100 warriors and a lord with veil and Orb.

Going to be legendary.

Reecius wrote:I'm bringing an all Necrow Warrior Necron army.

100 warriors and a lord with veil and Orb.

Going to be legendary.

LOL

OH MY GAWD BROKEN!

EVERY MODEL IN YOUR ARMY CAN KILL EVERY MODEL IN THE GAME!

yermom wrote:OH MY GAWD BROKEN!

EVERY MODEL IN YOUR ARMY CAN KILL EVERY MODEL IN THE GAME!

Except, oddly enough, a Monolith...

Well played, good sir.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Invitational list updated: http://nova.tlsconline.com/showthread.php?t=11


Automatically Appended Next Post:
40k GT Primer Packet: http://novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Primer-2011-GT-Missions-v3.pdf

Registered for the Open.

Now if I could just get one of them thar Invitational tickets...

Help me, Grey Knights, you're my only hope! :-)

Kill points missions: Deathwing win before deployment

@Fearspect

I'm not sold on that I think the win by 3 thing will allow for KP mismatches to be turned into draws by good players. I'm just glad he's included them as it really clears up the single issue most people saw the event as having last year.

@MVB

I think making the KP one the DoW deployment helps mitigate the first turn strike that could create a massive lead quite well. I like them and thanks for listening to the feedback of the community

The nice thing about including the Win-By-3 KP Mission, in practice so far, is that even more than last year - any build style can compete in any round against any opponent, as long as the list is well-rounded and well-played.

To wit, if you bring a KP-denial list that's ACTUALLY functional and balanced, you can try to force draws in EVERY round, and focus on the KP-by-3 mission ... obviously that kind of a tactic carries drawbacks and risks, but hopefully you've got a situation now where the canny-enough player can persistently play to his list's strengths, instead of facing certain missions where the match-up screws him right off the bat.

Additionally, as usual, the lack of battle points or margin of victory means nobody is meaningfully punished for pulling off tight wins against the match-up odds.

Having won a game by 5 vps last year, I appreciate that...

Just placed order for my ticket... I can't make adepticon this year so NOVA OPEN it is!

Now it is just a matter of what Ork list to bring!

Reecius wrote:I'm bringing an all Necrow Warrior Necron army.

100 warriors and a lord with veil and Orb.

Going to be legendary.

How epic would that be if you made them themed off their classic disco pose? Give all of them big 'fros and make the lord's Orb a disco ball for good measure.

Events paid for, hotel room booked, which just leaves plane tickets to settle.

I just realized that even if I won the Invitational, I wouldn't make enough money to make up the cost of attending. =p

We play for love, not money.

Mannahnin wrote:We play for love, not money.

Heh, it is a true story that it's a hard hobby to really reimburse yourself with. Not only do our armies often cost thousands of bucks, but traveling to various events do too!

Us poor TO's just try to break even while making the event as appealing as possible


Gotta give love to my buddy Jawaballs for this article, though:
http://warhammer40kbloodangels.blogspot.com/2011/03/nova-open.html

Mannahnin wrote:We play for love, not money.

Speak for yourself.

I play for the chicks.

"Dash don't love no hoes!"

Mannahnin wrote:"Dash don't love no hoes!"

Psssh. Being a 40k internet celebrity and all, when I go places, the chicks are just falling all over me. My wife has to fend them off with a broom.

Because she's a witch!

I doubt Dash's wife is is a witch; otherwise she'd have done something to remove the curse from his dice (unless of course she cursed them in the first place)

Anyway, I registered last night and got confirmation that I was order 392 ... not many goodie bags left to claim

What's the best way to get ideas on how specifc rules will be judged on for NOVA?

It kinda impacts what units I may bring within my army and If it is a hot debate ropic in the rules realm, I would like to know how NOVA plans to handle it before I show up with an illegal list or try a tactic that may or may not work depending on the ruling.

nkelsch wrote:What's the best way to get ideas on how specifc rules will be judged on for NOVA?

It kinda impacts what units I may bring within my army and If it is a hot debate ropic in the rules realm, I would like to know how NOVA plans to handle it before I show up with an illegal list or try a tactic that may or may not work depending on the ruling.

You should ask Mike.

I sent him like 50 questions last year. Some of which I don't think he thought about prior to my asking : )

frgsinwntr wrote:You should ask Mike.

I sent him like 50 questions last year. Some of which I don't think he thought about prior to my asking : )

Cool, I will need to compile a list

I have a cool MadDok model I want to use so I am interested in all of his special rules and the questionable ways he can be ised like Ambushing Mad Dok and Cyborked Kanz.

Like Grotsnik?

Questions to me over email. I'll reply directly and via the next version of the FAQ.

Fearspect wrote:

Reecius wrote:I'm bringing an all Necrow Warrior Necron army.

100 warriors and a lord with veil and Orb.

Going to be legendary.

How epic would that be if you made them themed off their classic disco pose? Give all of them big 'fros and make the lord's Orb a disco ball for good measure.

Epic!

Dashofpepper wrote:

Mannahnin wrote:"Dash don't love no hoes!"

Psssh. Being a 40k internet celebrity and all, when I go places, the chicks are just falling all over me. My wife has to fend them off with a broom.

Yes but was your wife termed "the Token Blonde" by "Dirty" Steve Fuller at a GT? Mine was hehehe.....

nkelsch wrote: and Cyborked Kanz.

I luled.

*edit* And I luled because the wargear "Cybork Bodies" says that it is applied to Orks....which kans are not. =p

If I was to purchase a ticket and then at a later date decide I want to take part in the tournament could I add that on to my ticket or would I have to buy it all at once?

Dashofpepper wrote:

nkelsch wrote: and Cyborked Kanz.

I luled.

*edit* And I luled because the wargear "Cybork Bodies" says that it is applied to Orks....which kans are not. =p

No it doesn't...

"Any unit in an army including Grotsnik may upgrade its members to have cybork bodies for +5 points per model." PG 96 And the FAQ says gretchen are explicitly allowed to be cyborked.

Go check the threads in YMDC on this... There are some pretty convincing arguments which I think fly for a 'ardboy style tourney. Not sure I would try it at a respectable event like NOVA but DE opened the door to invun saves for all vehicles.

wee-dub wrote:If I was to purchase a ticket and then at a later date decide I want to take part in the tournament could I add that on to my ticket or would I have to buy it all at once?

You do not need to purchase your ticket at the same time as your weekend badge. Just keep in mind that the 40k GT tickets ARE well on their way to selling out.

Mike

nkelsch wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:

nkelsch wrote: and Cyborked Kanz.

I luled.

*edit* And I luled because the wargear "Cybork Bodies" says that it is applied to Orks....which kans are not. =p

No it doesn't...

"Any unit in an army including Grotsnik may upgrade its members to have cybork bodies for +5 points per model." PG 96 And the FAQ says gretchen are explicitly allowed to be cyborked.

Go check the threads in YMDC on this... There are some pretty convincing arguments which I think fly for a 'ardboy style tourney. Not sure I would try it at a respectable event like NOVA but DE opened the door to invun saves for all vehicles.

The Ork FAQ has a Q&A which makes clear that only non-vehicle models can get the Cybork upgrade.

Manna has it there. Also, while we tend to rule RAW, some of the more bizarre rules lawyering does not typically fly, like trying to prevent a vehicle from moving at all by ramming it in the side.

Looking and looking.....how many points is an army for the GT?


I just reged.

2000 for the 40k GT.

MVB whats the story with spectator tickets?
Same price as a full one? Is there an option to attend one/all of the days as a spectator?

If you purchase a weekend badge, you'll gain full access, open gaming, your swag bag, etc. There isn't anything lesser than that, and it's $35, but that'll cover everything EXCEPT the big tournaments. Hell, you can even submit a model for Golden NOVA if you want.



Will you be traveling from Ireland / in the country already? That's actually relevant. We have over a dozen Scots, Irish, English, Welsh coming already (paid / reserved rooms / etc.).

If its possible to attend I'd be travelling from Ireland.
Logistically it would be a nightmare to ship my armies despite the best efforts of our carry-case friends :p but would very much ike to spectate and put some faces to the forum names.
Do you think it feasible to get some sort of "last minute ticket" or even pay at the door as a spectator, its a few months away as yet and summer plans are sketchy.
Thanks for the info.

Weekend Badges will be purchaseable until the last minute, though we may sell out of swag bags (first 400 are guaranteed swag bags, and we've sold well over 200 badges now).


Also, if there happens to be GT ticketage available, or if you get in off wait list and want to participate, you could always see if any of the 256 40k players attending want to loan you a spare army

Only half serious there, of course

Let me know if I can help at all with travel plans and what-not; DC has a million and one things to do!

NOVA 2011 looks to be shaping up to a very good time.

Ratius wrote:If its possible to attend I'd be travelling from Ireland.
Logistically it would be a nightmare to ship my armies despite the best efforts of our carry-case friends :p

If you're looking to bring a 2000pt army, I always find that mine fits comfortably within an army case which fits airline carry-on luggage size restrictions. I always fly with my army in carry-on. The Sabol Army Transport fits exactly within the required dimensions. I believe the Battlefoam equivalent also does (maybe a touch smaller, but with more efficient tray layout). And of course, a regular GW case also does, if you have a particularly compact army which can fit in one of those. Of course, if you've just got DE full of Raiders or something, even the larger cases probably won't quite do it.

Mannahnin wrote:

Ratius wrote:If its possible to attend I'd be travelling from Ireland.
Logistically it would be a nightmare to ship my armies despite the best efforts of our carry-case friends :p

If you're looking to bring a 2000pt army, I always find that mine fits comfortably within an army case which fits airline carry-on luggage size restrictions. I always fly with my army in carry-on. The Sabol Army Transport fits exactly within the required dimensions. I believe the Battlefoam equivalent also does (maybe a touch smaller, but with more efficient tray layout). And of course, a regular GW case also does, if you have a particularly compact army which can fit in one of those. Of course, if you've just got DE full of Raiders or something, even the larger cases probably won't quite do it.

I am still researching how exactly I am going to cram 3 Vendettas and a bunch of tanks (and ~60 infantry) into airline carryon lugguage. You should see some of the diagrams I have been working on trying to maximize those two bags you can take! I am so jealous of Deathwing armies right now...

Fearspect wrote:I am still researching how exactly I am going to cram 3 Vendettas and a bunch of tanks (and ~60 infantry) into airline carryon lugguage. You should see some of the diagrams I have been working on trying to maximize those two bags you can take! I am so jealous of Deathwing armies right now...

Hahaha, who would have thought travel and 'carry on luggage' would have been a form of army comp to prevent leafblowers

Has anyone ever tried shipping their army via fedex to your hotel or something? We do it all the time for business travel, I assume if you ship yourself a package at the hotel you are staying at they can hold it for you until you arrive.

I believe the Hyatt has this service like most hotels do; I also believe Dash of Pepper is looking into doing it with them.

It's actually a pretty legit idea, for those who are flying (which I recommend if you can get a good flight, since the hotel has shuttle service to DCA and the Metro, and everything is on site or within a short walk to any of the billion bars near there).


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/03/warmachine-and-hordes-nova-open.html

Warmachine / Hordes announcement for the Open

People do that for Adepticon every year, especially for bigger army displays for the team tourney. Works great.

FYI, Warmachine / Hordes priced set appropriately within the next 5 to $20 for the weekend's events (+35 for the badge).

Full Details coming soon, but sign up for your Hyatt reservations if you haven't yet.

A couple of notes here -

First, you can reserve your room by following this link, and/or calling the Hyatt.
https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_gi_new&groupID=3217963

Second, sign up for a free Hyatt Gold Member Card at the Hyatt website if you haven't - it'll get you a few free nice perks, I use it and love it personally when traveling. It's similar to most other major hotel chain "cards."

Third, do please reserve a room at the Hyatt - it saves you a lot of time and energy, situates you near where everything is going down, and helps the con - in case you weren't aware, all of the major GT's that operate in hotels work off a room sales contract of some sort ... the more rooms we rent, the more prize support we can generate, the less cash it costs the organizers to run it, and thus the higher likelihood we can afford to keep running them!


Finally, and most importantly, we'll be holding a raffle on Sunday afternoon of the GT. Anyone who reserves and actually stays in hotel rooms will get a number of raffle tickets directly proportional to the # of nights they stay, and how far in advance they reserve. Reserving is free, so do it sooner than later. The raffle will include up to a $1,000 cash prize, simply for staying at the Hyatt during the GT.

Invitational Points size set at 1,750
Malifaux events added throughout the weekend for same rate
"Etc."

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/04/nova-updates-new-website-incoming-as.html

MVBrandt wrote:

I was pretty pumped, until I saw it was a Warhammer 4000 event.

/sad panda


---

Aside from that, I'm trying to pull some strings so I can go.

Warhammer 40,000, Fantasy, Malifaux, Warmahordes, to be precise.

He was goofing on your banner which has a typo!

Man, I was going to go, but I don't want to buy a whole new army and learn a whole new game system.

lol i never saw that... warahmmer 4000.... only preheresy armies please

It's the best game ever. I have to give credit to DaBoyz forum, for catching this first. I have to give criticism to myself for not doing two things subsequently:

1) Replacing the image with the new and accurate one everywhere!
2) Not getting zee joke.

frgsinwntr wrote:lol i never saw that... warahmmer 4000.... only preheresy armies please

New strategy for my Nova 2011 run: DQ opponents on not being wysiwyg.

"It's the year 4,000 bucko, they didn't have your fancy modern power armor yet. Change it."

Now I have the futurama song stuck in my head...

In the year 105-105,

If man is still alive,

If robots can survive,

They may find...

I guess the question is now.... do all of my things that had the logo on it last year have 4000 on them or 40000?

They have 40,000 on them! Haha, oh typos, how I hate thee.

targetawg wrote:

frgsinwntr wrote:lol i never saw that... warahmmer 4000.... only preheresy armies please

New strategy for my Nova 2011 run: DQ opponents on not being wysiwyg.

"It's the year 4,000 bucko, they didn't have your fancy modern power armor yet. Change it."

And then you run into my RT models IG army..................

The NOVA's website will be updated this week, primer packets for Team Tournament will FOR REAL be out.

We still have approximately 40 spots left in the singles 40k event due to up/down fluctuation.

Cool news, that I can't talk more about yet, but a certain well-known author from across the pond is increasingly likely to be in attendance and involved all convention long, as well as potentially some southern developers of high repute.

What happened to your normal handle Mike? All in all sounds like good stuff though. Now if I could focus long enough to pick an army I'd be good

I guess I have two handles on Dakka and simply didn't realize it.

*question answered*

Went hunting again and found the post with the link about the reservation raffle. I was just checking to see how it would be handled but noticed the link mentioned you were still working it out. Registering tomorrow so I will keep checking to see if anything additional needs to be done before arrival.

The raffle is *almost* finished in terms of nuance, but you're looking at some random items, 4 x $250 cash, 1 x $1,000 cash, and your # of tickets = the # of nights you stay factored by how far in advance you reserve.

So, if you're coming to / attending the NOVA, reserve a hotel room, is basically how it goes. Link to reservation is on frontpage of the site, and will still be there when the new site is rolled out in the next day or so.

Let me know if I can help out w/ reg questions, should you have any.

New website now live, content going live over the next day or so; purchasing of tickets still available, still have tickets for the 40k GT, though are starting to look scarce.

Fantasy will be 2,500 points; NOVA bracketing approach, initial offering of 32 spots, 5 rounds Sat/Sun; will be open for sale by Monday.

MVBrandt wrote:Fantasy will be 2,500 points; NOVA bracketing approach, initial offering of 32 spots, 5 rounds Sat/Sun; will be open for sale by Monday.

The IFL still has some fantasy players, I'm going to cross reference this on our forum.

MVBrandt wrote:
So, if you're coming to / attending the NOVA, reserve a hotel room, is basically how it goes. Link to reservation is on frontpage of the site, and will still be there when the new site is rolled out in the next day or so.

Let me know if I can help out w/ reg questions, should you have any.

I might be dense, but I go to the link:
https://resweb.passkey.com/ux/LodgingselectPageAction_ux.do

And I don't seem to be able to find any rooms for the 26-28, are they all reserved?

nkelsch wrote:

MVBrandt wrote:
So, if you're coming to / attending the NOVA, reserve a hotel room, is basically how it goes. Link to reservation is on frontpage of the site, and will still be there when the new site is rolled out in the next day or so.

Let me know if I can help out w/ reg questions, should you have any.

I might be dense, but I go to the link:
https://resweb.passkey.com/ux/LodgingselectPageAction_ux.do

And I don't seem to be able to find any rooms for the 26-28, are they all reserved?

I just gave it a shot myself (I've already reserved) to check it out, this is the link off the novaopen page

https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=3099951&utm_source=10336&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3957408

Select "attendee" then your days, and you should get rooms. I only saw king bed rooms (109.00 a night, still great deal for the area), + some other more expensive swank rooms, but I know there were (and may still be) rooms with two double beds. Have to wait for MVB for that portion

targetawg wrote:

nkelsch wrote:

MVBrandt wrote:
So, if you're coming to / attending the NOVA, reserve a hotel room, is basically how it goes. Link to reservation is on frontpage of the site, and will still be there when the new site is rolled out in the next day or so.

Let me know if I can help out w/ reg questions, should you have any.

I might be dense, but I go to the link:
https://resweb.passkey.com/ux/LodgingselectPageAction_ux.do

And I don't seem to be able to find any rooms for the 26-28, are they all reserved?

I just gave it a shot myself (I've already reserved) to check it out, this is the link off the novaopen page

https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=3099951&utm_source=10336&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3957408

Select "attendee" then your days, and you should get rooms. I only saw king bed rooms (109.00 a night, still great deal for the area), + some other more expensive swank rooms, but I know there were (and may still be) rooms with two double beds. Have to wait for MVB for that portion

Doh, you are correct, I was having IE9 compatability issues! It hides some key aspects of the page from loading.

Thanks!

Speaking of the hotel:
http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Hotel-Raffle-Flyer.pdf

Just to formalize

Ok so fully willing to accept that I'm blind/not the good special and just missing it but I cannot find any rules/setup for the team tournament anywhere on the site. Still waiting to register until I know everything I'll be doing and I've been waiting for the Team Tournament information.

You are correct; primer packet will go up today or tomorrow, and rules on the site.

Here's the basic rundown for you:

NOVA standard missions for the TT with some appropriate wrinkles

No restrictions on Spec Chars and the like, but 0 army interaction (still being bandied about and playtested for the format)

3 army lists per player, each player is codex-restricted, but teams can have 3 different codices between them if they want

1,000 points (1 HQ, 1-3 Troop, 0-1 Elite/Fast/Heavy, no Floaters or anything)
1,500 points (standard force org)
2,000 points (standard force org)

There'll be 7 games played per team in 3 rounds, on Friday before the main GT.

Currently, we're going with randomized assignment, but we're also playtesting varieties of captain's choice pairing; the Team Tourney is meant to be a simple, fun thing to do on Friday prior to the evening, where we have a variety of fun Friday evening events (ranging the full gambit from DC bar crawls to narrative gaming).

Round 1 will be 2 players per team going 1k+1k vs 1k+1k, and the third player per team going 1v1 with 2k

Round 2 will be all 3 players going head to head in 1v1's with 1,500

Round 3 will be akin to Round 1, but with different pairings

Final details are being hammered out for the primer packet, but the above is not like to change much (input/feedback from here or elsewhere is as always welcome; our formats are based upon wide community input, not organizer whimsy).

Are we getting our entry tickets mailed to us, or do you just have our names down for entry on the day of the event?

There will not be physical tickets sent out; you'll receive your weekend badge and swag bag upon registration at the actual event.

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/05/nova-open-trios-team-tournament-draft.html

Mike--I emailed you a while back but maybe you missed it. Is the invitational still open for registration? It doesn't seem to be appearing on the new site. I signed up for the regular one, but want to make sure I'm in for the invitational as well.

Danny, I'll reply to you individually, but the Invitational tickets should show up properly now on the NOVA website.

FANTASY - 2500 points, no restrictions, 32 player initial offering (expandable to 64); 5 rounds 2 days (3/2), NOVA pairing and styling (overall heavily weighted by soft score, general simply w/l), but with margin of victory (no draws) and battle points for the Overall Component.

GT tickets for Fantasy are $35, in addition to your weekend badge (compare to $65 for the 8 round 40k GT). TICKETS UP BY END OF DAY. Lots of Fantasy interest has been expressed while we've been preparing; please purchase your tickets quickly; we cannot open to 64 unless we get strong filling and waitlisting over 32.

DRAFT PRIMER PACKET for review / input / critique / etc.
http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NOVA-OPEN-2011-Packet-fantasy.pdf

Event is put on and brought to you by the Inner Circle Gaming Club, operating primarily out of Maryland. http://www.innercirclegamingclub.com/

First two players packs for Malifaux are published. Check out the broader descriptions here:

Whiskey & 40K Blog

Registration is beginning to roll quickly now, with only 3 months left. Grab your hotel rooms and your Malifaux passes!!!

Fantasy Restrictions to army builds added:

Players will comprise a list using any standard Games-workshop Warhammer Fantasy Army book using Warhammer Fantasy 8th Ed rule set. Special/Named Characters are allowed with the exception of Teclis, Thorek Ironbrow, Karos Fateweaver, and The Masque of Slaanesh. Powscroll type items must meet the casting value in order to trigger. Please consult the forums for further questions and/or comments.

I haven't caught up with all the pages but when should we start emailing our army lists?

You can e-mail me your army lists as soon as they are SET, but you do not have to YET.


ugh, that wasn't supposed to rhyme ...

Getting into final push range here; polishing off the remainder of our terrain and table plans and builds, and digging into the nitty gritty of final schedules and details.

Those who haven't signed up for your hotel rooms yet, stop being lazy! You're costing yourselves raffle tickets, and it's free to reserve.

We still have some 40k GT spots left, but the remainder has started to sell more quickly after a month or so lull. So, if you've been unsure but now CAN attend ,we DO still have a few spots! Snag 'em!

How are spots for the team tournament looking? Still trying to work out some logistics with some people so while I have my 40K GT already I haven't grabbed the team tickets yet.

The team tournament will not likely sell out - we'll have the 128 x 40k tables set up, and not everyone is playing in it, so you shouldn't sweat that too much.

Do keep in mind we will be assembling teams for individuals who can't quite get one together on their own, hence the Individual ticket. It's a good opportunity for warming up to the NOVA missions and the tables as we'll have them set, so if you're going to be there it's a good thing to take advantage of either way.

Sold 8 of our remaining 40k spots yesterday alone, dropping us to around 30 left; if you're on the fence, please let me know ASAP or purchase your tickets ASAP.

Half of Fantasy is sold after only a couple weeks open.

Tons of stuff in zee works, so join in before we're outta spots!

For the Invitational, the ticket I received says "You have also received $80 in store credit and a ticket to the NOVA Invitational"

This simply means I have a spot, and I still must purchase a ticket, correct?

You also get a free weekend badge. The tickets for the Invitational themselves cover a fair bit of the cash prize support, plus $400 out of my pocket.

So, basically, if all you participate in is the Invitational, your cost is $50, covering 5 rounds on Friday, August 26, at 1750 points.

If you also participate in the GT, your cost is a net $115 for 13 rounds between Friday and Sunday, August 26-28. MOST of the Invitational participants are "biting the bullet" and doing a full bore intense 13 game weekend of 40k.

Long story short, you're getting your weekend badge (And thus your swag bag / side events / etc) for free.

Ok, I have already bought a weekend badge. Do I get a refund? And yes, I'm playing in the Open as well. All 13 rounds in 3 days. Already bought that ticket. Sure to be fun.

When do I need to buy the Invitational ticket by? I'm a little short on cash right now.

Send me an e-mail, for starters; instead of a refund, you'll get a $35 discount on your Invitational ticket, and I have a code just for you.

There is not nearly any pressure on purchasing your Invitational ticket, so long as you do so you know ... not super late. Your spot is secured.

I have come so close to buying a pass and setting up airfare and hotel accommodations but then keep chickening out at the last moment. I am having trouble rationalizing spending the money to fly across the country to compete in an event with Necron. I need a pep talk.

skrewpa wrote:I have come so close to buying a pass and setting up airfare and hotel accommodations but then keep chickening out at the last moment. I am having trouble rationalizing spending the money to fly across the country to compete in an event with Necron. I need a pep talk.

I've played with hamstrung Eldar and Old IG (a last chancers list!) in GT's, and had just as much fun as being at the top tables with a tough-as-nails army. Most of the experience is about meeting guys and having good games, not about winning/losing. Add to that the bar crawls and general shenanigans, and it's just an all around good time.

On a gaming standpoint: remember, the first 4 days are seeding only, so if you do end up going 2-2, 1-3, or 0-4, you'll be competing in a bracket the next day against people who did similarly, and each of those brackets will have prizes/awards. My guess is that those brackets will have more of the "just here for a good time!" folks, and people who want to play their favorite army, which may not be a top codex at the moment. As such, this is probably the best event you could bring something like necrons to, since the seeding format separates out the really hard from the more for fun/show/other reason.

Thats my 0.02! Hope you can make it!

That's a pretty decent pep talk.

Truth about the NOVA 2011 is that anyone attending with the sole purpose of taking names and WINNING it all is ... well, regardless of format, cray cray. 256 players is a heck of a field to attend "hoping" for a win at ...

BUT what we've done with the format is, and I'll reiterate it for the average troller -

At the end of Day 1, you'll have a set # of players at each record level - 0-4, 1-3, 2-2, 3-1, 4-0 ... we'll split these into brackets of 16, and reset record, keeping people as close to their score and record level as possible; if we have 256 no last minute no-shows beyond our wait list's capacity (THOUGH DON'T READ THIS AS "SOLD OUT" YET, STILL HAVE TIX YA'LL CAN BUY), this will be a very neat and tidy 16 x 0-4 for example.

So you start Day 2's 4 rounds at 0-0 again, in a fixed bracket of 16, with a seed based upon your standing in COMPARISON to the other 15, and you'll play in a seeded bracket for the next 4 rounds. This means if you're in a bracket with 16 0-4 players, you will spend all of Day 2 playing ONLY people who went 0-4 on Day 1, and one of you will go 4-0, and win a small prize for being best general among your peers.

What this means is that instead of getting crushed b/c you don't bring a flawlessly hardcore list and/or b/c you aren't a flawless genius of 40k strategy ... well, you take your lumps on Day 1, and get to play increasingly "well-matched" games against your relative peers on Day 2. The scaling down of prizes and risk of losing even a single game on day 2 to drop "somewhere into a bracket" helps dissuade people intentionally tanking.

As a Necron player, then, you are fairly likely to wind up in a bracket you can evenly compete against on Day 2, and even if you don't win all your games, you'll find your skill level increasingly tightly matched, which couples w/ the nature of the NOVA missions to yield closer and closer games (for most people, this = "more fun") ... and ever against people more and more ... well, right where you're at mentally/competitively/placement-wise for the event.

The point here is that everyone has something to play for on Day 2, and you don't need to bring a hardcore list to compete and to have fun at the NOVA ... you just bring your FAVE list, your best paint jobs, and your best attitude ... and have a blast. Those who wish to compete for 8-0 are going to bring lists and mindsets for it, and they'll be playing against THEIR peers on Day 2 as well ... an even better thing, b/c they won't lose Round 5 and tank into a mix with a bunch of other people who'd already lost and chilled a little ... they'll be playing only the other Day 1 4-0's who also lost early on Day 2.


Besides the format and bracketing style, you've got a huge 40k and general wargaming assembly, the Trios Team Tourney on Friday - we'll pair you up with a team if you don't have one, just purchase an individual ticket; the organizer assisted Open Gaming and Whiskey Challenge matches on Thursday; the 24-7 open gaming and achievement system over the course of the weekend (yup, gaming hall open with tournament caliber terrain to play on from 6PM Thursday August 25 through 9PM Sunday August 28); our DC Bar Crawl on Friday night, August 26, which may be led in unison with some very special guests. There's just a TON to do, and our focus is on social and fun first and foremost.

This is an opportunity for me to hit on something that is often mistaken about the NOVA as an event - our PRIORITY beyond all other things is providing a format and environment that caters to the widest possible group of players. If you're a hardcore competitor, and you don't care about painting beyond the minimum requirement, and want to be the BEST GENERAL POSSIBLE ... well, you can here, b/c we don't grade margin of victory, we don't have ties, and we enable someone to compete and be the ONLY 8-0 (or if we have less than 256 due to last second drops, the highest 7-1 by virtue of winning the Kevin Bacon game of tournament "who beat who"). If you want to bring a fun, unique list that you know isn't the best and can't necessarily compete with all, but totally reflects who you are, and still want to really compete for some generalship rewards ... well, you CAN here ... b/c you'll inherently find yourself in about the right bracket on Day 2, where you can go 3-1 or 4-0 against your peers. If you want a shot at BEST OVERALL without having to crack heads in while also having a kinda pretty army ... well, our Best Overall is 50% appearance and 50% competitive, one of the softest in the nation.

If you want to have a fun time, and see a ton of great armies and meet a ton of people from literally all around the world who play and love the same games as you ... well, you can - over 40 US states and numerous countries (across Europe and North America) are already paid up and attending. If you want to play other games like Warmachine and Malifaux and Fantasy ALONG with 40k ... you can even do that; we've taken pains to have events for all at different times. The list of "you can" goes on ... but it's what we're working for here, so I think "Necrons" are the least of your barriers.

What I will say is this - you shouldn't go broke over a hobby. If you can't afford to attend the Open, don't pressure yourself to ... traveling across country to game is a tough sell for some people, and I get that. We've charged as little as we can to keep from going into the red while securing as low a hotel room rate as we could without contracting too high an obligation .... if I make any profit over $0.00 it's going to Breast Cancer, or storage of our terrain/tables for 2012. BUT I can't do anything to cheapen Airfare beyond what it is.

So, tons to do and it'll be a BLAST ... even if you don't play a hardcore army, BUT don't kill yourself or your pocket book making it. Make the choice that'll be comfy enough for you to actually enjoy your experience.

$.02

The combination of decent airfare (less than $400 non-stop round trip from LAX after tax), the bracketing system, and the pub crawl sold me. Signed up.

Excellent ... I look forward to meeting you, and meet you I shall - you'll see me amidst the crowd for the majority of the weekend; I'm very much not able to be the "behind the scenes" type.

As an aside, for people attempting to sign up today, Network Solutions (our web host) is experiencing a service-wide "denial of service" attack (I do not know what this means), and it's affecting their performance and speed on most hosting packages. Hence, the NOVA Open site is very slow today, but should speed up sooner than later. Just be patient!

HEADS UP - THE HOTEL ITSELF SOLD OUT, OUTSIDE OF THE BLOCK; PLEASE RESERVE YOUR ROOM BLOCK SPOTS NOW - IT'S FREE TO DO SO - OR YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STAY AT THE HYATT AT ALL!

For the location, the price and convenience are both nearly unbeatable; you save at most a handful of bucks for staying at the cheapest hotel there, and have to lug your stuff about to do so, in an urban environment.

I had to double check my reservation after the post before this since I made it so long ago. The price really is ridiculous for the local area. Totally not worth the hassle of staying somewhere else.

Hulksmash wrote:I had to double check my reservation after the post before this since I made it so long ago. The price really is ridiculous for the local area. Totally not worth the hassle of staying somewhere else.

It really is an amazing price. I am a DC local and the price is cheap enough to save me the hassle of a 30 minute drive in and lugging my crap.

nkelsch wrote:

Hulksmash wrote:I had to double check my reservation after the post before this since I made it so long ago. The price really is ridiculous for the local area. Totally not worth the hassle of staying somewhere else.

It really is an amazing price. I am a DC local and the price is cheap enough to save me the hassle of a 30 minute drive in and lugging my crap.

ditto, I'm coming from college park MD (20 miles) and am doing it since I have some early starts.

Plus, the event is way more fun if you stay at the hotel! (Evening shenanigans!)

Yeh the hotel prices arent bad especially if you arent in the area and are flying in or whatever Im still trying to work out the logistics involed in getting there unlikly thow good luck to all who attend however.

If you require any assistance with getting there, logistics, finding a roommate once here (there's a Southern Virginia gentleman looking for a Fri/Sat night roommate, for instance), let me know ... I'm happy to help.

Well I just purchased my ticket today, and I'm excited. This is going to be my first grand tournament ever, so I'm glad it's the NOVA, especially with all the positive feedback it gets. I also have an older brother that lives 10 minutes away from the hotel so that's another good thing.

Can't wait. Now if only it was legal for me to drink for those evening shenanigans....

Yeh thing is that gives me two months to paint an entire 2k point army ,while trying to find a job for the entrance fee and gas for mom to drive me up or a train plus the hotel room for a few nights . it may be only 2 hours away but 2 hours away when you cant drive is far. it adds up quick when you think about it. but Id love to go again as last years nova was my first tournament and had a 6 great games and got to meet some great friends who are helping me even now (dash hulk and target)

Finally got my ticket, looking forward to the end of August!

Do we know what version of sisters will be legal for NOVA? I want to plan my army, but am unsure if the old codex will be used or the new.

I do not believe the new sisters will be released in time; we'll stick with a typical 1 month rule - if the entire sisters WD codex is not "codified" by August 1, it'll be "old" witchhunters for the NOVA.

I'd personally love to see the new dex make it, but my understanding is that just the fluff/bestiary is going to be released in time, with the rest not coming until late August or early September.

When do army lists need to be submitted for the Invitational and the Open?

Edit: Also, I noticed that the primer packet says "If you eliminate all your opponent's units prior to the end of the game, continue to play! When the actual game ends, tally up the score at the end as if your opponent were still on the board."

So if I'm playing Draigowing for example, which has only 5 Kill Points. If we're playing a Kill Point mission, and I get 8 Kill Points, then get tabled...does that mean I win?

Haha, a good catch, and one made by several - it will be remedied in the final packet; suffice to say tabling someone wins the KP mission regardless of actual KP tally.

Army lists will not need to be submitted yet; at the earliest, it will be by August 1, and possibly MUCH later.

I vote for much later regarding the invitational. 1,750 is a weird point value for me so I needs time to constantly distract myself

Also are we sending in our lists for the standard GT early this year? If so I'd recommend at most 2 weeks out but that's again because I've got the attention span of a gnat

Hulksmash wrote:I vote for much later regarding the invitational. 1,750 is a weird point value for me so I needs time to constantly distract myself

I agree. I would've preferred 1500 or 2000, 1750 is just...awkward.

DarkCorsair wrote:

Hulksmash wrote:I vote for much later regarding the invitational. 1,750 is a weird point value for me so I needs time to constantly distract myself

I agree. I would've preferred 1500 or 2000, 1750 is just...awkward.

Lies! 1750 is ma favoritest points level.

@Targetawg

That's cause your just not cool enough to play with the other kids at reasonable point values

**editted because I spells real good!**

And because you won your ticket at a baby GT which was 1750, not a big kid tournament with a real points value

I prefer smaller point values. Large point values just lead to spammy units and less tactical play.

But that's just my opinion.

@Heffling

It's ok to be wrong Heff, happens to all of us. I've actually found the opposite to be true, in the 1850-2k range people have the ability to branch out past the bare minimum and this allows for more flexibility. But that's just my....fact! (see what I did, I wons an internet argument before it stated!)

@Hulksmash

You're welcome to your opinion, no matter how wrong it is! =p

Also, please stop bring your logic into my reality.

Invitaitonal = 5 rounds, 1 day. So, 1750!

Plus, with $2k cash on the line and all of you winning or placing highly in tough events to qualify, a little "outside your comfort zone" list building at a less-commonly-played mid-ground level (Between 1500 and 2000) is part of the point.

Also, what Hulk said tends to be the case for most list builders. The lower the points, often the more efficiently and min-maxed you have to build your list if you really want to be "ultra competitive." That said, not everyone wants to be ultra competitive

I'm just giving you a hard time Mike I just can't wait for this. I've got 2 months to build, paint, and practice up a 1,750pt list so we'll see how it all goes

yermom wrote:And because you won your ticket at a baby GT which was 1750, not a big kid tournament with a real points value

I 'won' the second one that got passed down since I was already in at an 1850, whats yer point?

GK versus GK whiskey challenge little man, lets dance*!

*awkwardly

OOOOOOOO!!!!!! DANCE OFF!!!!!!

But seriously, do it, we'll see if it can be awkward enough to get it on Tosh.0

Oh man I'm getting called out!

But if it's a contest I have now won 1 real invitational ticket and 2 alternate tickets both of which I have given away. That's like 3 real tickets. What now!?!?!

If you want to play against a real gk army which actually uses grey knights and not some silly "imperial guard army with dreadnaughts, razorbacks, and fortitude" I'd be happy to kick your butt.

yermom wrote:Oh man I'm getting called out!

But if it's a contest I have now won 1 real invitational ticket and 2 alternate tickets both of which I have given away. That's like 3 real tickets. What now!?!?!

If you want to play against a real gk army which actually uses grey knights and not some silly "imperial guard army with dreadnaughts, razorbacks, and fortitude" I'd be happy to kick your butt.

I think this needs to happen, I just remembered we played a warmup before SVDM and you beat me. Must...obtain...redemption!

yermom wrote:Oh man I'm getting called out!

But if it's a contest I have now won 1 real invitational ticket and 2 alternate tickets both of which I have given away. That's like 3 real tickets. What now!?!?!

If you want to play against a real gk army which actually uses grey knights and not some silly "imperial guard army with dreadnaughts, razorbacks, and fortitude" I'd be happy to kick your butt.

Psh, you call that "real" grey knights? A "true" grey knights list has only 15 models in it. And who needs transports or razorspam?

"Vendors who will be present" list is growing, to now include Battlefoam, Black Library, SpikeyBitz/FTW, and likely more ...

With gas prices as they are, I'll be "present" to "vend" my "services" for "money."

/" "

Sponsorships are being finished up and/or finalized this week something fierce ... bringing our tally of participating vendors and sponsors as of this moment up to ...

Battlefoam, Spikey Bitz/FTW, Games Workshop, Bitz Box, Black Library, Wyrd Miniatures, Privateer Press, Portable Warfare, War Cast Studios, Back2Base-IX, Amazing Magnets, Warstore, and more, with numerous others finalizing.

Also, Gav Thorpe will be there for the weekend (to include our DC Bar Crawl on Fri Night), and there will be a certain number of advance copies of his new Eldar book available at the NOVA as well.

Also, we've been feverishly building appropriately LOS blocking area terrain to supplement the event, a WIP sample of which is:
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7190/img1087f.jpg

Looks like this is shaping up to be even better than last year's event, can't wait!

Mike, will these hills be able to hide a DE Raider?

I can't wait either. Wouldn't mind getting in some games on open gaming really could use the warm up.

Yeah really looking forward to this. Should be a good time.

Purchased my invitational ticket. Would prefer it to be a true nova event and 2k points rather than book missions and 1750. Brandt pid on a god event though so I'll wait for the event t happen before I pass judgement.

It's NOVA missions, just 1750 instead of 2k.

Very excited to hear that Brandt. I thought I had read on post you wrote on here that it would be similar to book missions. Glad I was wrong.

For the Dakka community at large's input:

Been pondering various options for game length (we're at 2:15 plus 30 minutes of buffer for 2k, which tends to work, but is still tight).

Last year we did 6/7 for RGL, taking out 5/6/7.

This year, here are the options we're all pondering, and they have merits each ... so I'm not looking for "the others are badddd," so much as "this one I chose is good!" So, positive commentary and choice to any reader caring to participate on which of these options you think would be best for a tournament environment at a not-changing (for this year at least) 2,000 points and 2:15 + 30 buffer per round.

1) 6/7 RGL 4+ to go to 7, a la NOVA 2010
2) 5/6/7 RGL per book for every round and deployment
3) 6/7 for Dawn of War, 5/6 for Spear/Pitched
4) 5/6/7 for Spear/Pitched, 6/7 for Dawn of War

Preference + Positive-spun Rationale please

#1 is my favorite cause I like more turns. And I'm big on making late game moves.

#4 is the closest change honestly I think most people would be overall comfortable with regarding changing of the core mechanics. DoW is brutal on non-meched lists and some armies dont' have the choice to Mech up which slants their competitive ability even further.

Those be my opinions!

#2, though I can see an argument for #4. I generally suggest modifying the core rules as little as possible, and this sort of change is huge.

#1 I think was a great thing last year. Taking the overall random factor out of the equation is a great thing especially in a W/L style of play. Playing and planning for 6 rounds with the potential of a 7th allows for more strategic play late in the game and allows more contention and harder fights.

In a W/L tourny I think these 2 aspects lend greatly to the format.

My vote is for #1

I like the option, esp. in dawn of war or reserve games, to have more turns to play to come up with a more decisive victory. Having the random 7 still makes generalship come into play with not being sure of when the end is.

Regardless, I think it's better as well because if there's time left in a round, I want to play the game out, not get caught with a random stoppage at 5. And if there isn't time left, then it won't matter whether #1 or 2 is chosen.

Grimwulfe wrote:#1 I think was a great thing last year. Taking the overall random factor out of the equation is a great thing especially in a W/L style of play. Playing and planning for 6 rounds with the potential of a 7th allows for more strategic play late in the game and allows more contention and harder fights.

In a W/L tourny I think these 2 aspects lend greatly to the format.

+1 for #1

I don't like random game turns at all, but barring that, I'd go for the least randomness.

My vote is for #2 with #4 being my second choice.

Last year you did not have the Dark Eldar codex. Dark Eldar struggle to finish their games in a tournament format, and so they will generally know when the game will end. That means that they can fly all over the board to contest objectives on the last turn.

If you have a chance at the game ending on turn #5 (and you have time for a 6th turn) this will cause them some problems. Otherwise they will be hard to beat.

My vote is also #2 first choice #4 second (if you really feel you need to change the randomness)

Having the game potentially end in turn 5 is a huge strategic factor in play. As Allen mentioned, if you're the type of army that relies on a last-turn-land-grab and/or violence a 33% chance of game ending in 5 is a huge leveller in favour of armies that can't play keep-away.

I vote #4, or, failing that, #2.

RGL is VITAL to making second turn closer to value with going first- absent a RGL, there's no incentive for shooty, mech lists to do anything other than shoot until the last turn.

On the other hand, DoW missions are HELL on footsloggers-- RGL is still important, but making sure a type of list (foot) is still at least playable (if not necessarily competitive) is nice if you're going to make any changes.

I like option 1. It allows for more turns with less randomness but keeps the random turn 7 to keep people guessing.

I'd Vote for 2. RGL was put in there as a way of making turn 2 not as powerful to have in objective based games.

The game possibly ending on turn 5 with RGL leads to shorter rounds.

Sure... you have to play the game for a 5th turn win... but also have to plan for a 6th/7th turn!

I like #1 the best. More turns=better. But that's just me. #2 would be my second choice.

Option 4 (prefered) or Option 2. Mechanized lists, especially of the MSU variety, already have alot of advantages. Reducing the number of turns in which they must last-minute contest objectives just gives them even more advantage, especially against slower armies such as footdar, kan walls, and other non-mechanized armies.

#1

So, excitement is really starting to build at this point for me as an organizer ... and we've started seeing that final rush for tickets.

Check the NOVA Open website for all relevant updates; thousands in prizes from sponsors, 4 vendors (Battle Foam, Spikey Bits, The War Store, Black Library), tons of wargaming, hundreds of fellow gamers from around the world, social events like a Bar Crawl in Washington, DC., and more await attendees.

We are almost under 20 remaining 40k spots.

Get on over to the NOVA

Only 4 Fantasy Spots left, less than 20 40k spots left.

"The War Store"

that changes things for me

MVBrandt: I saw that the reserved block at the hotel sold out, can I still get rooms?

Also, how late do festivities run sunday night?

Well, I'm booked at the hotel and signed up for the GT, and as an individual for the trio.

Polonius a quick hint if the block sold out best thig to do is call the hotel and see if they have room.

I'm pretty sure the block isn't sold out, it's more likely a gliche, I'd harass mvb a bit before booking elsewhere

The block is not sold out yet, though it is well on its way.

The one catch is people who are being lazy on it really should reserve their rooms; we have over 100 40k attendees who have not reserved a room yet and are not coming from Virginia/DC, yet there are only about 90 room-nights left in the initial room block ... with most people staying Fri/Sat/Sun or Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun nights, that's really not many rooms (each night stayed is one "room-night"!

We may be able to add to the block, but I can't guarantee that due to the fact that OUTSIDE the block the hotel has sold a lot of rooms to regular DC visitors. In short, reserve your room now ... it's free to hold the rooms, after all, and you get more raffle tix toward up to $1,000 cash if you do!

- Mike

I'm signed up, but I'll leave sunday evening. I figure I'll either iron man back to Cleveland, or grab a motel on the way out.

DC Bars are starting to come on board for the Bar Crawl on Friday night.

More full information will be forthcoming, but some of the best bars and eateries in DC will be on board for drink specials and good times as part of a city-wide crawl for NOVA Open attendees. Wargaming aplenty, but also a great guided trip custom-designed by city natives through the amazing night scene of our nation's capital.

I would totally spring for one of the last 4 fantasy slots... but I just found out that this is the same weekend as my 10-year high school reunion.

I already pledged to go to that... so this is no dice :-/

2:15 per round makes me sad. Wargamescon was a clear sign, a huge chunk of players (50%+?) weren't finishing 2k games in 2 hours. 2:30 for 2k is much more attractive. Or, forbid non-mechanized armies, along with any armies with 20+ KP to encourage people to bring armies that *can* finish a 2k game in 2 hours.

In addition to most of last year's games finishing in 2:15 + buffer for turn finish, and in addition to the extensive playtesting we do with a huge variety of armies, 2:15 with 30 minutes of buffer to finish the final turn fairly is about the best we can do schedule wise.

We're also in at least some capacity going to Random Game Length 5/6/7 instead of last year's 6/7. So, even more of the games than last year should finish up "on time" or ahead of time.

"If it ain't broke ..."

I think that's the big difference. They are slotting in specific time for the final round where most tournaments don't really do that. They are calling finish your current turn @2:15 which should be more than fine. It's not a hard dice down rule. I think it should be fine but I generally play relatively fast.

It's more like we call finish current turn at 2:00 or 2:05 or so, but still the point Hulk makes is my general point. As soon as every win or loss is plugged into our system this year, we'll have the next round pairings ... no lagtime in between final w/l entry and next round pairings.

Mike - how much time do you plan to allow between the calling of pairings and the start of the 2hour and 15 minute timer? I've been frustrated a number of times by opponents who don't show up at the table until 10 or more minutes after the clock has started because there was too little time between games and they needed a smoke, restroom break or snack. On the otherhand, if you give too much time you'll a scenerio where some pairings played longer because both players got to their tables quickly while others play for the allotted 2 hours and 15 minutes because one (perhaps intentionally) or both players came to the table late. I've never played in a tournamant of this size before and am not sure what to expect

Basically, when the round starts there are 2:15 formally in the round, and a :30 or 1:00 break in between (1:00 for lunch). Our turn-around time on next-round pairings is VERY fast this year with changes to our scoring system and processing approach. As a result, instead of needing those 0:30 to process all the scores in and generate a next-round pairing sheet, the primary function is to give people an opportunity for a snack / bio break, lunch break, and to finish games that in some capacity were either started late, went a little too long, someone tried to slow play, etc.

The one thing that's critical here is that even with a 15+ person judging staff managing the field of players, there are a LOT of people and games to watch; that's about 8.5 games/judge. It's incumbent upon you as a player to make sure you alert staff if someone is materially late showing up to the start of a game, or you believe they are slow-playing, etc.

Best advice I can give you on preparing is via our newsletter #2 and also summarized as such: PRACTICE. The more familiar you are with your list and the missions, the more effectively and efficiently you will play, the more fun you'll have, and the more you'll enjoy the event. Familiarity breeds confidence and speed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
We continue to draw sponsors for this year, ranging from awesome game events like The Battle for Salvation to product sponsors such as Battle Foam.

Our Sponsors & Donors page has the full listing:

http://www.novaopen.com/sponsors-donors/

We're up to TWENTY different sponsors and still growing, and appreciation goes out to all of them.

We've also strived to have more and more of this year's prizes and sponsorship frontloaded to random raffles and your swag bags, so the proverbial "love" is being shared with a higher % of the average player. Winners will still receive trophies and prizes and attention, but the NOVA is about every one of our attendees.

Very few 40k GT spots remain before we'll be hitting wait list ... snag it while you can.

In addition to "appended" new info above, we've also now got even more bar sponsorships for the bar crawl, and are now including HOTEL WEEKENDS at various US destinations in our raffles.

Sooo, anyone looking for a teammate for trios...

We also have individual registration possible, Clauss, if you're feeling like makin' new friends

I've signed up for the trio tournament as an individual, so maybe you'll get stuck with me!

Bah! friends?! get that junk out of here...
Polonius, i would probably have fun going and joining a random team, but I dunno, I kinda wanna make some hilarious combinations with my daemons and some other 2 people, on purpose. But maybe I will get to join you!

Must the models submitted for best painted and/or best converted come from the army you are playing?

Clauss wrote: I kinda wanna make some hilarious combinations with my daemons and some other 2 people, on purpose.

Fateweaver + Deathwing = epic win.

Or, forbid non-mechanized armies, along with any armies with 20+ KP to encourage people to bring armies that *can* finish a 2k game in 2 hours.

(picks self up from floor)


It takes two to play a game and two people to make it go slow. I'll be finishing games with my foot guard army in plenty of time...

The Everliving wrote:

Or, forbid non-mechanized armies, along with any armies with 20+ KP to encourage people to bring armies that *can* finish a 2k game in 2 hours.

(picks self up from floor)


It takes two to play a game and two people to make it go slow. I'll be finishing games with my foot guard army in plenty of time...

Alex I love you.


What he said, is super relevant. Slow players play slow. If you know your list and want to finish a game, you can 99.9% of the time.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and for this year you'll have to submit miniatures from the army you are playing. Starting next year, we'll be working in more of an open format full on painting competition, a la "Golden NOVA" or thereabouts.

PSA - FINAL MISSION PACKETS FOR 40K AND NOVA FAQ V3 RELEASING BY END OF DAY TODAY

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-1-packet-day.html

Just bought my weekend badge. Looks to be amazing tournament/weekend of 40k and fun.
Sorry to pester you with question Mike, but I was curious if you have a set date by when the invitational list will be decided. If not, I understand as you have to contact a lot of people!

Final 40k Missno Packet / NOVA FAQ v3 ... for real this time

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/08/warhammer-40000-final-mission-packet.html

My wife is probably coming down with me for the weekend. Any suggestions for things for her to do for the weekend?

Will you be looking for lists in advance or checking them all during the gaming?

Mike, Is there a place for pre-submission of lists?

E-Mail me re: things for your wife to do during the weekend - can suggest a TON.

Place for list pre-submission will be novaopen@gmail.com ... will release protocol and details on list submission, presubmission, legality, and penalties in final newsletter, due next week.

We are less than 3 weeks away. Ugh.


Over 350 paid attendees, btw.

Mike, unless I'm totally reading the Missions packet wrong for the 40k gt, you need to update the 2nd page of each mission. The pri/sec/ter goals don't match up with what the mission is (or is that intended?)

Read mission packet carefully. Intended.

Finally purchased my invitational ticket....

Less than 3 weeks away and I've finally decided what army I'm going to bring

Daemons, do it.

Clauss wrote:Daemons, do it.

Would love too, but the whole army is converted, and I would prefer to have no chance of getting into modeling issues.

Edit: actually, I've sent an email to Mike about it. The daemons may be a possibility!

More NOVA terrain, PSA on upcoming posts this week on Whiskey.

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/08/ruins-and-upcoming-posts.html

NOVA Final Appearance Scoring Rubric and Explanation

Another terrain shot

http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2011/08/appearance-scoring-explanation-and.html

Quick question:

For the team tourney, is the 2000 point list that is to be used in the 1V1 game, an extension (i.e. escalation style) of the 1000pt. list that will be used in pairs games??....or can they be entirely different?....thanks everyone...

Each player must pick the 2 armies he uses from the same codex, but the entire team may use up to 3 different codices between them, and the 2000 point lists are not escalated from the 1000 point lists.

This more is about the players' ability to effectively craft a list not only for the TT, but for individual play, both within the same dex.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Swag is rolling in, mass project stuffing the bags tomorrow ... sorry for photo quality, it's a crappy 'old' Droid.

NOVA Swag Bags (reusable goodness): http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_20110819_150100.jpg

New objective (left) next to last year's objective (Right) ... collect 'em each year ... Loser of Game 8 gets 2, Winner gets 3, there'll be 5 on every table (and we have backups in case of shenanigans, natch): http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_20110819_152256.jpg

Partly sponsored by Warstore, double-LED + laser pointer all metal keychains (these are sweet, and way cooler even than last year's long-lived pointers): http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_20110819_161425.jpg

SpikeyBitz / NOVA logo shot glasses: http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_20110819_123911.jpg



There is a TON more in every swag bag ... scenic bases and magnets and snacks and tons of bitz and all manner of goodness. Don't want to give EVERYTHING away.

Up for a spontaneous trip? A small handful of 40k GT spots left due to last minute drops, plus there's the trios team tournament, malifaux, warmachine (Each with just a couple spots left), and just a ton of open gaming and fun stuff to do!

Looking forward to NOVA, only a few more days!