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I believe I'm going to attend Warmachine Weekend at Springfield next month--and it looks to be pretty good size. I plan on playing in the casual tournaments to start--outside of the Steamroller tips (bring templates, etc)--any further advice from experienced Steamroller players? For example;

I'm assuming they provide the time clocks?
Last I checked--AB wasn't up to date--are simple Excel file print outs acceptable? PDF..?
If you bring two lists--exactly when do you need to decide on your list? (Oh, I'm playing Cygnar--so I'll take my deny shooting list--or..)


Thanks!

1) Time clocks are provided.
2) Typically there's an army list section on your tournament entry form. As long as you fill it out correctly you're fine.
3) As stated in the Steam Roller doc, you get to look at both of the opponent's lists. Then you both choose a list, place it face down, and reveal them simultaneously.

Laughing Man wrote:1) Time clocks are provided.
2) Typically there's an army list section on your tournament entry form. As long as you fill it out correctly you're fine.
3) As stated in the Steam Roller doc, you get to look at both of the opponent's lists. Then you both choose a list, place it face down, and reveal them simultaneously.

Ahh, ok. Looks like my Steamroller read was a bit more cursory than I thought.

RE: #3---how does this normally end up? Do people bring two archetype style lists (This list denies shooting, this list handles melee centric armies)--then just guess? Or..?

Depends. I typically bring my eButcher doomspam list to deal with casty-centric lists, and an eSorscha all-comers list. If I expect that Rahn or similar are coming out of the bag (or just don't see a lot of ranged weaponry in my future), I field the Reavers.

It's very player dependent. The good players may have a list that deals well with heavies, and a list that deals well with troops. Or one that Is heavies, and one that's troops, ect.

Also, a big tip is to practice playing games with a timer, and be aware that most big tournaments will used a turn timer a couple minutes shorter than the normal official turn length so you'll want to practice that.

Also, bring money for Steak `N Shake. It's practically the official food break location for WMW.

Also, strip joints.

Aw. Now I'm sad I can't make it out to WMW!

Edit: Still. Bring an extra pair of socks or three.

When playing under timed turns I've usually found it best to play casters that I have been practising with recently. Keeps the 'How do I deal with this' thinking to a minimum. As for picking the two lists it depends on the tournament type as sometimes they'll ask you to use each list only once, a minimum of once or just a free choice. I've seen people only have one list with them but fill up the second list space with some crazy big threat to freak out their opponent.

When building lists, work out how they'll deal with high armour, high defence and high amounts of infantry. The most common way I've seen with two lists is to build one and use the second one to cover its weaknesses. There is also the anti-warmachine/anti-hordes pair of lists. Or if you have a problem faction that you hate to face with a normal list you could use an anti-(problem)/vs-everything-else pairing (normally that problem is cryx/legion).

The tips above are great I would also recommend that if this is your first Steamroller experience and you are not used to the clock or you take your turns slowly to try to keep the numbers of models in your lists down. If you have a very troop heavy list and are not used to the clock you can really hurt yourself by not moving everything in the time alloted or rush and then screw up your activation order.

Also... make sure your lists have something to deal with upkeep. Something I need to do more often!

shintaibane wrote:The tips above are great I would also recommend that if this is your first Steamroller experience and you are not used to the clock or you take your turns slowly to try to keep the numbers of models in your lists down. If you have a very troop heavy list and are not used to the clock you can really hurt yourself by not moving everything in the time alloted or rush and then screw up your activation order.

Also... make sure your lists have something to deal with upkeep. Something I need to do more often!

Sometimes I think about including epic Eiryss. But I always end up saying, "Ah, whatever."

I'm kind of lazy about competition.

malfred wrote:Aw. Now I'm sad I can't make it out to WMW!

Edit: Still. Bring an extra pair of socks or three.

For the strip joints?

Thanks all for the advice, going to reserve my room tonight. Is the hotel where it's hosted nice? The rates are very reasonable (80 bucks a night after tax/surcharge usually buys a roach motel!)

I'm taking my Gators--which means it's not like I have a big list of options anyways for the second list. I might bring Calaban's Theme as one list--and just a straight beat down with Barnabas for the other. Debating on making a small display board---is it like Adepticon in that regard--where you actually have time to display your army?

/I'll bring extra socks since you'll be there in spirit Malfred
//And dollar bills for the strippe...I mean for the vending machines

Most Warmachine events have downtime where you can
display your army, but there is no army on parade time set
aside unless they specifically warn you ahead of time.

That being said, I didn't go to wmw, so I don't know the
culture there.

1. Know your stats
2. Know your stats (all of them including str to save time)
3. Practice, esp. turn 1 to minimize time moving mini's and efficiently moving miniatures...esp. if you have a high model count or an army with alot of multiple attacks.
4. Keep dice handy on opponent's turn if you have tough.
5. Think about your next turn during opponent's to save some time.
6. Know your stats.

I'm going to be at WMW as well and it too will be my 1st larger tournament. From what I'm told the Hotel is fairly nice, not sure if anyone answered that yet. My non-gaming pro-tip bring drinks with you, I'm going to have a case of water in my room.

Hope to see you there

You might look into the convention discount on the hotel, for some reason I thought when I was looking the rate was supposed to be something like 60 a night for WMW attendees.

malfred wrote:Most Warmachine events have downtime where you can
display your army, but there is no army on parade time set
aside unless they specifically warn you ahead of time.

That being said, I didn't go to wmw, so I don't know the
culture there.

Hell with it, I'll make a small display to carry around my gators on. Then I'll have it ready for Adepticon!

Sanctjud wrote:1. Know your stats
2. Know your stats (all of them including str to save time)
3. Practice, esp. turn 1 to minimize time moving mini's and efficiently moving miniatures...esp. if you have a high model count or an army with alot of multiple attacks.
4. Keep dice handy on opponent's turn if you have tough.
5. Think about your next turn during opponent's to save some time.
6. Know your stats.

Good advice I'm sure--I plan on playing the same army every week/weekend up until the tournament.

Sparks wrote:I'm going to be at WMW as well and it too will be my 1st larger tournament. From what I'm told the Hotel is fairly nice, not sure if anyone answered that yet. My non-gaming pro-tip bring drinks with you, I'm going to have a case of water in my room.

Hope to see you there

Hey, absolutely. I'll probably be wearing my Adepticon team tournament shirt--which has my Dakka nick on there. Be sure to say hi if you see me.

derek wrote:You might look into the convention discount on the hotel, for some reason I thought when I was looking the rate was supposed to be something like 60 a night for WMW attendees.

Yeah, it's 60/night--but after taxes/charges it ran about 80 a night.



Rooms reserved, badge purchased. Time to take my gators to Springfield and...get my gator teeth kicked in.

AgeOfEgos wrote:

derek wrote:You might look into the convention discount on the hotel, for some reason I thought when I was looking the rate was supposed to be something like 60 a night for WMW attendees.

Yeah, it's 60/night--but after taxes/charges it ran about 80 a night.



Rooms reserved, badge purchased. Time to take my gators to Springfield and...get my gator teeth kicked in.

Death to taxes? And even if you're getting your teeth kicked in, you'll still have some of the best looking Gators there, that's something.

It's okay. Alligators regrow their teeth all the time.

About average as far as hotels go. It's not the fanciest floor I've slept on by any means but I was not aware of any roaches sharing it with me.

And there was no dedicated time to show off armies or figs. They just wander around and look at your stuff while you're using it.

derek wrote:
Death to taxes? And even if you're getting your teeth kicked in, you'll still have some of the best looking Gators there, that's something.

No doubt about the taxes! Thanks for the comment on my gators--I actually enjoyed painting those more than any other WM model so far.

malfred wrote:It's okay. Alligators regrow their teeth all the time.

Hah. I'm actually more concerned with ruining someone's game due to my inexperience (not having all the stats memorized, etc)--but hopefully the casual tournament will be just that.

Aduro wrote:About average as far as hotels go. It's not the fanciest floor I've slept on by any means but I was not aware of any roaches sharing it with me.

And there was no dedicated time to show off armies or figs. They just wander around and look at your stuff while you're using it.

I can take average--the price just surprised me a bit (Pleasantly so).


Still going to make a display board--if anything just to get me motivated to have it ready for Adepticon. I'm thinking a mini-swamp like my table...

How big are the springfield tournies compared to at KC ?

First, I'm glad to hear those of you can make it to WMW! Be sure to say "Hello" to me (I am PG_Feeple on the official boards,) and I'm more than willing to greet you.

WMW is about having a great time. If that means casual games, they have you covered. If that means top-notch tournaments, they have you covered. If that means playing while drinking more liquor than an entire Spring Break, well, they won't cover that, but some of us do that anyway.

Prepping for events just comes down to practice, truth be told. Yes, you need to know your stuff forwards and backwards, and yes, knowing what your opponent can do is defintely a plus. However, take it easy, do the best you can, and have some fun!

If you haven't done it before, I recommend practicing some games with timed turns just to get a feel for it. It's much less daunting than you'd think.

Spyder68 wrote:How big are the springfield tournies compared to at KC ?

I don't know to be honest--from the screenshots on their site, WMW looks pretty good sized.

Stunami wrote:First, I'm glad to hear those of you can make it to WMW! Be sure to say "Hello" to me (I am PG_Feeple on the official boards,) and I'm more than willing to greet you.

WMW is about having a great time. If that means casual games, they have you covered. If that means top-notch tournaments, they have you covered. If that means playing while drinking more liquor than an entire Spring Break, well, they won't cover that, but some of us do that anyway.

Prepping for events just comes down to practice, truth be told. Yes, you need to know your stuff forwards and backwards, and yes, knowing what your opponent can do is defintely a plus. However, take it easy, do the best you can, and have some fun!

Hey, thanks! I'll be sure to say hello to you (provided I identify you). Again, I'll be playing some Gators and likely have my Adepticon Team Tournament shirt with my Dakka nick on it.

Player-A wrote:If you haven't done it before, I recommend practicing some games with timed turns just to get a feel for it. It's much less daunting than you'd think.

Yeah, we actually did timed turns a couple of weekends ago---and found it actually helped us memorize units/game effects. If you know you'll have time to look it up (again), you aren't so tuned in when you read/hear it the first time---however when you know you have 10 minutes for your turn--you tend to remember things.

Even if you don't do a display board, just having some kind of board to transport between tables/games is a big plus.