It's that
NOVA Open time of year again, folks!
1/19 Update - NOVA Open was selected by FFG to host its Star Wars National Championships for 2017. For more information, see: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/1/19/2017-us-nationals-at-the-nova-open/
Registration opens at 7PM US EST on Wednesday, February 1, 2017. This will be the primary info and QA thread for Dakka, which is often a major site for such things.
Our site = http://www.novaopen.com
Book your hotel rooms EARLY, they will sell out: https://aws.passkey.com/go/NovaOpen2017
Convention Overview and Information -
The
NOVA Open is a Washington,
DC area Tabletop Wargaming Convention with a strong focus on organized play, charity, hobby seminars, and social connection. Over 1,300 gamers and hobbyists attended in 2016.
2017 will be the 8th year of the
NOVA Open, whose origins lie in a 32-person outdoor charity BBQ tournament held in 2009 in Springfield, VA.
The
NOVA's legacy events include a 256-slot Warhammer 40,000
GT, 256-player X-Wing championship, Warmachine, Malifaux, and large organized play tracks in numerous other game systems.
NOVA hosts some of the world's best hobby instructors - Roman Lappatt of Massive Voodoo, James Wappel of James Wappel Miniature Painting, Caleb Wissenback of CK Studios, and many more. Seminars are offered all day, every day of the con, and include new 4-hour hands-on workshops as of 2016.
NOVA partners with a sister organization, a formal 501(c)(3) charitable foundation known as the
NOVA Open Charitable Foundation, to raise funds and awareness in fighting critical causes around the world. We especially focus on leveraging the compassion of fellow wargamers and hobbyists to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Fisher House Foundation. We primarily achieve this through an international consortium of brilliant miniature figure artists who collaborate to create world-class pieces of miniature art, including full armies, display boards, and individual show pieces. These are raffled and auctioned off through a combination of world-wide online raffles and at-
NOVA raffles and silent auctions. Entering its 5th year, the NOCF raised over $100,000 for charity to date.
Interested attendees, partners, and vendors with questions should contact
partnerships@novaopen.com
Attendees should send any questions, comments, recommendations, or concerns to
customerservice@novaopen.com
For all events overviewed below, check out novaopen.com for event primers containing detailed information, schedules, and more.
Event-Specific Overview Information
Warhammer 40,000 -
NOVA offers numerous distinct events for Warhammer 40,000 players and enthusiasts. We host a 256-slot, 8-round Warhammer
40K GT; a 30-team "Trios" team tournament pitting 3-man teams in alternating 1v1 and 2v2 games vs. opponents in a very casual and laid back setting; a 32-player Invitational for a $1,000 cash prize; a weekend-long Narrative that combines world-class gaming and terrain with social, team-building wargaming both on and beyond the tabletop (think war councils, planning sessions, and the like in places like our charity bar and lounge). We also offer a "Nightfighter" track for those who spend the day in other activities to join in on some of the Narrative battles at night, ala carte registration (albeit limited in quantity) for specific games on the Narrative schedule, Powered Play Gaming's famous Glowpocalypse fully-lit nighttime Apocalypse battles, and a full suite of Recon Squad Kill-Team sized events.
For 2017, we're also partnering more closely with the ITC, including further revised missions now featured at both
NOVA and within the formal ITC mission catalog, plus the likely incorporation of a select number of ITC missions within
NOVA's mission set.
Perhaps most excitingly,
GAMES WORKSHOP IS JOINING US FOR 2017! The
GW Community Team and more will be on site, participating in live streaming, seminars, lectures, demos, and more. Additionally, we'll see more awesome
GW support in the SuperNOVA and Swag Bags.
Warhammer 30,000 / Horus Heresy - Led by some of the same personnel who've brought acclaimed Heresy era events to AdeptiCon in recent time,
NOVA is proud to present a full suite of Heresy-era organized play opportunities throughout the
NOVA weekend, inclusive of an escalation tournament, multiple campaign-style opportunities, and multiple mega-battle styled opportunities. Last year saw our entry of 30K events to the
NOVA events catalog, and they blew the doors off the place, twice requiring increased spaces, and three times selling out. We're back even bigger, more exciting, and stronger than ever before, with more room for players and more awesome terrain, missions, camaraderie, and miniatures.
Star Wars Gaming @ NOVA - Star Wars Gaming is fast becoming the biggest thing to do at
NOVA Open. 2017 will see championship-level events and numerous side track events for all of Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars offerings, including X-Wing, Armada, Imperial Assault, Destiny, and the Star Wars
TCG.
NOVA's Star Wars hall is dominated by an 11.5 foot long Imperial Star Destroyer, built to scale with X-Wing's "Big Ship" scale. It's insane. Check out novaopen.com for more information, but there's no two ways about it -
NOVA is one of the best places in the USA to enjoy
FFG/Star Wars gaming. Incredible leads, atmosphere, attendees, perks, and tons of face time with
FFG staff and game
devs!
Warmachine/Hordes -
NOVA hosted over 100 Warmachine players in 2016, participating in 9 distinct events (besides iron arena / open play). We expect that to increase substantially this year, due to increased demand and popular feedback.
Malifaux -
NOVA proudly hosts Wyrd's North American National Championship for Malifaux. This will be our fourth consecutive year offering expanding Malifaux events, and the 3rd year of the National Champs. Last year's initial offering of 54 slots sold out, and we expect the same to happen this year. We've also added a more diverse array of other Malifaux gaming opportunities, including a weekend-long semi-adhoc Shifting Loyalties campaign.
Age of Sigmar - Age of Sigmar will be in Year 3 at
NOVA, including both narrative/casual and organized/competitive gaming opportunities throughout the weekend. In response to massively increasing enthusiasm in the game system and Games Workshop attendance, we're opening up a full 100 spots for the Age of Sigmar
GT. It's gonna be Sigmawesome!
Infinity - Infinity is one of our most comprehensive event offerings on an annual basis, though space is always limited and in high demand. This year we're also seeing a reinvigorated staff and an expanded interest and involvement from
CB!
Lord of the Rings -
NOVA has the best Lord of the Rings terrain anywhere on the planet, including
GW HQ. Seriously. It also hosts one of the larger
LOTR GTs Stateside, attended last year by players from as far away as London and Quebec. We host a full range of
LOTR events at
NOVA, with over 70 unique
LOTR players in 2016. This year promises some special guests as well, though we can't quite share who yet!
Steamforged Games - We added a very well-received Guild Ball event to the
NOVA Open in 2016, and it certainly seemed to catch Steamforged's attention! They're coming in force to
NOVA Open 2017, including SFG staff and event support, and a full weekend of exciting event offerings and activities. Check out novaopen.com for more detail and make sure to get in early to snag spots in the highest demand events!
Blood Bowl - About 14 people came to play Blood Bowl in 2014, and nearly 30 different players participated in BB events in 2015! It grew even more in 2016, and with the release of the refreshed Blood Bowl game and miniatures by Games Workshop, we look to grow yet again, with our fourth annual exciting year of Blood Bowl ahead.
Dark Age & Wrath of Kings - Cool Mini or Not is bringing its booth, demos, and more back to
NOVA in 2017. Along with this, they'll be running another series of events for Dark Age and Wrath of Kings. SuperNOVA bags are also likely to once again include some pretty swanky goodies, courtesy of CMON.
Capital Palette - The
NOVA Open's incredible juried miniature figure art competition and exhibition was revamped last year, moving to an Open Forum format (each Category wins a Best in Category, but there are unlimited #'s of potential Gold, Silver, and Bronze finishers in each category). There will still only be a single mini to win the coveted Best in Show and its accompanying Crystal Monument. This year's event is being directly organized, judged, and run by none other than Dave Taylor, Roman Lapatt, and James Wappel! It is their and
NOVA's paint competition for 2017!
Seminars & Lectures - The list of seminars and lectures offered at
NOVA this year is exhaustive, highlighted by courses from Roman, James, Caleb,
GW, and many more. Check the website for exhaustive details as we put them up, and don't miss out! Many seminars sold out last year - these teachers are in extremely high demand, and it looks like
NOVA is likely to be one of the only places you can take courses taught by Roman in the US!
The NOVA Open Charitable Foundation Lounge - In addition to charitable activities with miniature figure art, armies, and more, the NOCF also converts an awesome set of suites at the Hyatt Regency into a Bar and Lounge, with all proceeds benefitting the charitable causes supported by the NOCF. Discount beverages and snacks are available all weekend long amidst a highly energetic, fun, social environment. Every night in the lounge is a night to remember, full of some of the biggest and brightest stars of the hobby having a beer or a cocktail (or just a soda, water, or coffee) with you and talking about whatever suits you. Last year also saw the addition of live music to the bar, and we're looking to expand that as well in 2017. It's one of the coolest places to be in our hobby, and everything you do is not only cheaper than most bars and restaurants ... it benefits great causes! Room 1850 in the Hyatt, all weekend long, through the end of the con on Sunday night after the award and closing ceremony. We're also in talks with the Hyatt about potentially adding more space for the Charity Lounge, perhaps their swanky rooftop venue with a 360 degree view of the US Capital Area. More info to come, but this is one of those fun adds to
NOVA that you get just by showing up!
Vendors - We can already confirm some of our best vendors are returning for 2017, and we're hard at work locking the rest and more in. Already good to return are:
The Toledo Game Room ("That Bits Guy" you always see in the halls at AdeptiCon)
Atlantis Comics and Games
Cool Mini or Not
Grex Airbrush
Broken Egg Games
Greenman Designs
Tectonic Craft Studios
Stiff Neck Studios
and more!
Get ready to sign up at 7PM on Monday, February 1
Let us know here or elsewhere if you have any questions