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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.