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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 ..."