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Hey folks!

I live in nowhere, North Carolina. I have a game stores within a couple hours drive of me east or west, but nothing in the same town that I can go find a pick up game. The stores don't do much in the way of tournaments, mostly because of poor attendance, which itself is an issue of advertising, regularity, and....maybe interest; hard to say.

I was visiting with one of the FLGS owners in Greenville, NC today and talking about how to kickstart 40k in the area, and try getting interest. I hosted a Thanksgiving weekend tournament there with a battleforce box as 1st place, and did crazy advertising, e-mails, phone calls....but probably in large part to the weekend that it took place, there wasn't much attendance - we had 6 people competing for a $90 first place prize.

We had an idea today and I wanted to explore it, and get input from any TOs out there. The store is called the Game Shack. Its in Greenville, NC, which is a college town - Eastern Carolina University is there - there are college aged gamers and adults as well, and a total of three gaming stores in town; one of them is brand new. North and south of Greenville - Virginia and South Carolina aren't so far away (along with their gamers). Given the lack of GTs on the east coast compared to the West Coast (especially given that the big ones are gone now) we'd like to host an event that would turn into a yearly event, and eventually reach GT proportions.

The store itself can hold 12 tables comfortably, maybe squeezing in 1-2 more. The owner can also rent out the American Legion building for a couple hundred bucks and get in 50+ people for a GT, but I imagine that the first year one is held is probably too soon to be called a GT.

Here's what we know / are thinking so far:

1. We want to host a 40k tournament and pull people in from hours away, not just from Greenville.
2. We'd like to get 30 or so people to participate.
3. The store owner has a Reaver Titan that we'd post up for 1st place - unpainted, in the box.
4. I have a still-shrinkwrapped 3rd edition Space Hulk box ($125?) that I'd pony up for second place.
5. A conversation with GW is probably in order to ask about their willingness to provide any kind of prize support.
6. We'd probably want some pre-registration / payment to better judge what kind of attendance - thinking about something in late July, and making sure it doesn't conflict with any GTs / 'Ard Boyz rounds.
7. Given the store name (Game Shack) we're thinking of calling it "Slaughter at the Shack" or something.

Any thoughts on those things are welcome.

Additionally, there's much that would still need to be sorted out; whether it was battle points only, or had painting and comp scoring and sportsmanship, or any combination of those things is still undiscussed. Obviously a rules packet would need to be announced, or INAT used....I'd probably hijack missions from other events that have been held.

The intent is to have a first event that will draw in a nice crowd, and set the stage for a yearly event that will grow into a full-fledged GT. We're thinking about $25 entry per person - I mean, where else is first place a frikkin' Reaver Titan?

Any thoughts, criticisms, etc welcome.

Hey, I game in Raleigh and think this is a good idea. I would love to attend. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help promote. I am always up for spreading 40k. Especially in NC, where the Scene is not the great for tournaments.

I think that is a great idea. All it takes to get a community going is a few enthusiastic people and before you know it you have an entire club that is up and running.

A league is a good place to go after you get some interest as it gets people involved in a regular gaming night, which leads to a sense of belonging to a group and solidarity.

I think you should go for it! I started a group 4 years ago which is still going strong and Ozzymandias started a club I am in many years ago (CCMG) that has grown to a good size and hosts tournaments and such, and it is in an area with a low population, so it is totally doable.

Good luck with it.

I started small with my group. 500 pt tournament, 5 dollar entry fee, and just went out and talked to people. In the past, tournaments just didn't draw that many people.

I knew we had the people, from both talking to the owner, and seeing the guys buy stuff, it's just that there were three or four "groups" and most of them didn't play in the store. At my first tournament, I expected 4 people or so, and had 12 show up! Given, we don't have that big of a group here, but I was shocked.

After that, we've had a steady attendance of 8-12 people, and I run events pretty much every Saturday, and we have a painting class/hang out night on Fridays. On Saturdays, I run a league one weekend, with some sort of mini tournament(Dreadnought or Tank arena, for example) and escalation tournaments on the other weekends(we start with 500 pts and end with 1750)

Reecius has it spot on. Get people interested in the game, not just for one big event, because that doesn't do a lot for you in the long run, but weekly/bi monthly events, and some sort of open gaming night, or run painting classes, something of that sort (although our "painting classes" have been painting up the massive amount of terrain needed for 'ard Boyz!)

Biggest thing, be visible! Talk to people that are interested in the game, make your presence known! Encourage new gamers to play in the tournaments, hold painting competitions, and organize Apoc games! We created a local forum, and posted flyers with tear off tabs (mogs.47.forumer.com if you want to check it out) Get people talking to each other, and all of a sudden your two or three groups becomes one large group, and the big events kind of just happen by themselves!

Its worth noting a couple things.

1. I don't work for the store; I just like gaming there and am sort of volunteering to help.
2. While the intent is certainly to increase regular gaming at the store, I'm hoping that this first event will pull in gamers from NC, SC, and VA - I want people coming from everywhere fighting to win themselves a TITAN. Or other cool stuff. I'd like the local gamers to see what an awesome and huge event can be held locally, and for this tournament to be the staging ground for revitalizing local 40k around a central hub. While a league is probably a good idea and I'll pass it onto the store owner, I'm trying to inspire something that will grow into a regional GT.

Fightin' for a titan... that's quite a first prize.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:Fightin' for a titan... that's quite a first prize.

Hrm....that's an interesting name. Better than "Slaughter in the Shack?"

Hell, I know I WOULD FIGHT FOR A TITAN!!!

I live just north of Charlotte, but I'm looking to move to Raleigh at the end of May; I'd like to come so I'll keep an eye on this as it develops.

Fightin' for a Titan will catch people's attention. It has a certain ring to it as well.

That is a killer name, but unless you have a Titan every year to give out, it would be misleading in years to come.

Sounds like the first thing you need to do is some market research. Think local, to start out with...figure out how many players are local, and why they aren't playing in tournaments. Talk to them...find out what they'd want to play in.

Create a tournament that will entice them to come...it might mean starting out without a painting requirement, or it might mean doing something like a combat patrol tourney, or whatever.

It also helps to build up the local hobby scene in general. I know tons of people who will play in tournaments if they know other people who are planning to play in them, but just don't want to deal with random gamers from BFE.

You might find it easier to start with a league. more flexibility, get people playing regularly, etc.

Holiday weekends are a tough time for tournaments - a lot of players will have family commitments.

You seem to be focused on the prizes - most people don't care what the give away is. A nice certificate or creative trophy will go a long ways. Having the event in the games store makes prizes easy, just return the entry fees as store credit prizes.

What I think you need to focus on is logistics - tables, terrain, rule set, registration system .... If you can fill 12 tables at the local store, then you'll be ready to move up to 30 tables at the Legion hall.

If you can get people fired up, there should be no reason why you can't pull 24 players every three months, then set up for the big event a year from now. Not only will a series of smaller tournaments build up momentum for the "big one" but you'll need to recruit a few people to help you run it.

I have, and recently, run ~30 man tournaments, successfully I think so.

I am currently in the process of helping another of my club members run another tournament this size. (which is a good size and I would refer to as a RTT, Rogue Trader Tournament, opposed to a GT, which I think should be reserved for 50+ players)

In order for a tournament to be successful I would make the following suggestions:

-assemble a crew to run it. You need:

a Headman/Spokesperson: This is the guy who answers all the final questions, is the contact person, facilitates all the other workers jobs.
a Head Rules Judge: you may be tempted to combine these two. Don't. A "roving" rules judge keeps the flow going in a tournament this size, the headman will have enough other duties
a Scorekeeper: again, keeping score is too much to do that trying to do more than one of these jobs is a recipe for trouble. As headman I help collect score cards and double check, but I have a dedicated data entry person

then you would need other jobs dependent on what areas of the hobby/type of event you want to run. I have a food czar cause we offer more than just a pizza lunch. I have a photo guy who is also the painting judge. I have a registration guy as well, who happens to be our webmaster, too.

Next, have your tables ready and up to snuff. Don't plan on making them the night before. 40K terrain is very important and having solid (not amazing) terrain is what keeps bring people back. Lots of guys have 4x6 plywood with green felt and a few pieces of terrain in their basement. "Real" 40K tables take a lot of time and effort.

Finally, do a rules packet that includes the missions, scoring sheets, houses rules and/or FAQs. I strongly suggest using the INAT because its a third party document that all the particpants have access to. It may not be the perfect document and some people may not like it, but its common ground and really good for bringing larger groups of separate gamers together. Putting out the missions and any scoring criteria add credibility to the event and give gamers something in hand. Gamers are a strange subculture. We are generally smarter than the average Joe, but we have more personality quirks, and being a touch OCD is usually one of them.

Then get your website up and going. Splatter the forums and gaming stores. Reach out to club leadership. (up in Mass we have 4+ significant 40K gaming groups that play across the state) Be quick and public with your responses.

Its a lot of work but if done right you get great feedback and can set up a series of regular events with just needing to change the missions and such, the first one is the hardest.

Man, for a Reaver I would probably travel to a smallish tournament. I think you would be starting too big of a prize, but if the store owner wants to do it, go for it.

Dash, I'd be more than happy to chat with you more about my event and get you the stuff I used, if you're interested PM me and we can link up.

-Drool

As someone who is 1 of 5 main parts of the crew that runs a GT (Warmaster's Challenge in Ontario, Canada) here is the advice I can offer:

1) Prize Support - Use stages to unlock prize levels. This will insulate you and the store from poor turn out and a massive money loss.
- (i.e. if we get 10 players...then prize support is a battle force for 1st place, if we get 11-20 players...all the prizes for 10 players, plus additional prizes)
- Hold on to that Reaver for the future. You (and/or the store who is fronting the costs) would like to be able to recoup the cost and break even on every event.
- Spread the love around. Not everyone who enjoys a tournament is in a position to compete for Overall. Having multiple smaller categories and even some draw prizes will ensure people feel like they still have a chance to win a little something.

2) Player Support - Tournaments grow from the inside out. That is, if your local community supports it strongly, then it will grow by gaining their good reviews to fellow players further away.
- In 3 years we have grown considerably, and have sold out (45 Doubles Teams for Day 1 and 65 Singles for Day 2) for the last Fantasy and 40k even we had.
- The super competitive people will jump on the opportunity but it will take time to build a reputation as an enjoyable event for casual gamers as well.

3) Communication - You need a communication policy established up front of when the critical dates are.
- We announce 4 months out exact date, location and format. Players guide (includes scoring and allowed armies) and Playtest scenarios go up 3 months out. Final versions 1 month out. We do this through a number of methods. 1) Posters a LGS in the area, 2) Website, 3) Email news letter
- If players are confused about what you are offering they will simply not put forth the effort to find out in a lot of cases. Especially if they have to travel, cause travel plans take time to make and commit too.

4) Environment - As the Organizer/Head Judge, it is your job to set the tone for the event. You want to let everyone know that it is a place to have fun first and competing second. It's hard sometimes to confront the trouble makers, but you need deal with something fairly and firmly with all your players enjoyment in mind. Listing those expectations of your players in advance will help.
- Keeping things running on time will help a lot! (Allowing some players extra time to finish a turn can seem unfair to players who followed the rules and did dice down on time)
- Make sure you have a Ringer available incase actual attendance ends up odd numbers. Having someone take a bye means they instantly lose the enjoyment of the day cause they have 90+ minutes to kill.

5) Deliver what you commit to - If you say 4 rounds, play 4 rounds. If you pick a scoring system don't change it (future events will allow you the chance to fix the flaws and warts you find). Only advertise prizes you know you can deliver. As with most events its a matter of if you meet or exceed your customers expectations. If you set a clear expectation and deliver on what you set, then the players will know what they are getting into when they sign up and end up with at least what they knew about before hand.

If you are interested in some materials to help you get started PM me (I have a scoring spreadsheet created) and/or check out our website at www.warmasterschallenge.com


Later,
WR

I appreciate all the input so far!

Capture and Control has a cool article up about preping for the Ard Boyz if you are a TO, while it doesn't answer every question you have I would suggest giving it a read if you have a chance. It is rather informative. Capture and Control: Preparing for ‘Ard Boyz – An Organizer’s Perspective

jaweyermuller wrote:Capture and Control has a cool article up about preping for the Ard Boyz if you are a TO, while it doesn't answer every question you have I would suggest giving it a read if you have a chance. It is rather informative. Capture and Control: Preparing for ‘Ard Boyz – An Organizer’s Perspective

Good article, would have came in handy when I first started!

When I lived in the Raleigh area a friend and I were able to regularly pull in 20-30 gamers for RTTs. People would come from as far away as Virginia Beach & the Charlotte area to play. We actually ran these events in a home and it worked out very well. Basically it is a big boon to have a network in place to communicate with gamers and let them know what you are doing.

When it comes to a GT you are dealing with a two day event and people from outside the local area will have to include the cost of a motel/hotel plus it's a much bigger commitment for anyone who has a family and will be away for a couple of days. I have been running a GT the past two years in Raleigh, while we just reached the 30 player level last year I think it's appropriate to use the term GT if you can draw 20+ players over the course of a weekend. Greenville is out of the way for many people while Raleigh is centrally located and not that far from either the Tidewater area of Virginia or the top of South Carolina.

If I were you I'd start small with an RTT and build up your local base. You can start a club to help draw in gamers. While there a lot of people who play 40k in NC it always seems quite the task to get them to come out & play in a tournament. At the end of the day it just takes a lot of time & commitment.

This might all be for naught; turns out that I'm getting promoted, and my job is going to take me back to Florida - my territory will be Ft. Stewart down to Jacksonville, and all military bases between them - need to figure out where to move to.

Congrats on the promotion, Dash.

well even if your not running an event dash (grats btw, general yet? ) this has been a great source for people looking to start their own RTT and getting them larger or up to GT sizes. Woudnt hurt if any other TO's and people who help run or organize GT's want to keep posting some more tips or information on how they grew their tournaments or run GT's.

Dashofpepper wrote:This might all be for naught; turns out that I'm getting promoted, and my job is going to take me back to Florida - my territory will be Ft. Stewart down to Jacksonville, and all military bases between them - need to figure out where to move to.

What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

So it sounds like we'll finally have hte opportunity to roll some dice.

G

Not in the military anymore; was in for just under 10 years.

I'm in sales with IKON now - we're the distributor for Ricoh in the U.S; I'm moving into federal sales so that I can exploit my background and West Point prestige to gain traction on bases.

You'll be closer to Atlanta.

G

Dashofpepper wrote:Not in the military anymore; was in for just under 10 years.

I'm in sales with IKON now - we're the distributor for Ricoh in the U.S; I'm moving into federal sales so that I can exploit my background and West Point prestige to gain traction on bases.

That's cool, I thought about sticking around when I got out, and getting on with GD, but I decided to go back home and go to school. Landed a job working on guitar amps and other assorted musical gear, so I can't really complain.

If you're ever in the Ft. Hood area, send me a shout, I'll try to make it down, it's about a 5 hour drive from here, but I generally go down there once a month.

Congrats on the promotion. Does that mean you're not giving away a titan anymore? :(