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MALIFAUX events

It looks like Malifaux is coming back in a VERY big way, thanks to the drive of our leads especially. Most of the events will follow the Gaining Grounds guidelines.

Malifaux at NOVA will kick off with a Story Encounter event on Thursday afternoon after registration opens, and the first of a set of every-evening Enforcer Brawls and Hardcore Modes.

Friday will host four rounds of the 54-slot Singles GT, with Finals on Sunday AM. Saturday will host a four round Doubles Tournament, with Finals on Sunday PM.

A full Malifaux primer will be up on the 15th along with our mid-February newsletter.

NOVA Registration saw more reg in the first weekend of February than in all of February last year, with our SuperNOVA bags not even lasting 24 hours. Further, the 40K GT is already around 1/3 sold out, eclipsing last year's eventual sell-out pace substantially.

Blood Bowl is coming to the NOVA as well in the form of the BaWsh Bowl (Baltimore-Washington Bowl, as the lead likes to call it) at the NOVA Open. The Blood Bowl tourney at NOVA will be a Saturday day event, facilitating easy participation in many other activities, seminars, tournaments, etc., while also getting your hits in on the NOVA's Blood Bowl pitches.

The Narrative event is selling at a clipper pace, and please check out our blog post here to help us playtest and "break" our Narrative Supplements to the base 40K codices:
http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-challenge-to-competitive-list.html

Last but definitely not least, the Fantasy GT is heavily revamped and coming on strong for 2014, with some incredible terrain already being produced and a substantial # of early registrations.

Veteran tourney organizer Steve Gant will be running the event, and has full control over its outcome. He's making specific changes and designs based upon the great feedback we received from 2013 attendees in our survey, and is looking to fill as many as 64 seats for the Fantasy GT.

Moreover, Fantasy is finally adding more than just a GT to the schedule, with a Doubles event for Friday before the GT. Primers for the Fantasy GT and Doubles event will release along with Blood Bowl and Malifaux primers with the 2/15 Newsletter and on the NOVA Open website.

Registration for Fantasy Doubles, Malifaux Events and the BaWSH Bowl at NOVA Open will begin on MARCH FIRST (3/1/14), so keep your eyes peeled.

The primers are up and available to read for the fantasy events. Hopefully we get a great turn out again this year. A much more simplified scoring system and a straight forward event provides better games with faster round turnover.

We will have more appropriate terrain for the event and awesome prizes.

The doubles event gives those who are coming for the fantasy tourny a reason to come down earlier and see more of the convention and gives an extra day of gaming

If you sign up for the doubles event but you dont have a partner we can pair you up with others of the same.

Hope to see a lot of new faces this year making it bigger and better than ever and we can grow it to a larger event for next year!!!

Updated terrain layouts for this year's 40K events. We're open to feedback, and will be demo'ing these updated layouts at the Torrent of Fire Invitational next week.

For Dawn of War and Vanguard (based on the day):


For Hammer and Anvil and Vanguard (based on the day):



To achieve this, this year's terrain build includes doubling our large center blockers. We have a TON of terrain, but the intent is to allow us to field the alternate layout in a more fair and balanced way than last year, and also to enable more effective LOS blockage in tune with the edition. We're also replacing a number of our older terrain sets with newer ones that are both aligned with the format and tuned to the Narrative events, giving a larger # of themed tables that are still tactically balanced.

By having the terrain change from day to day during the event, we also continue the trend of making it much more difficult to game the system, as you will not be able to count on the same layout in every round / with every possible matchup. This combines with the diverse format enabling success and victory via 50/50 overall, w/l generalship, or margin based battle points; brackets to ensure meaningful games against peers; win-path pairing to enable superior sportsmanship; and the influences of the new globally collaborative mission catalog for asymmetrical missions tailorable to your opponent.

This should be one of the most dynamic GTs hosted to date, where fun and hobbying combine with a better balance of tactical thought and list-building for a diverse and interesting experience for all attendees.

Registration wise, we're WAY ahead of schedule from last year, and we did sell out most of our events last year. Make sure you register early to save on the eventual access pass bump, and also make sure you reserve your hotel rooms to both guarantee the room you want, lock in the really low rate for the DC area ($89/night), and ensure the max # of raffle tickets for the $2,000 "you stayed in the hotel" cash raffle. Most of the 40K events *WILL SELL OUT* (i.e., Trios with its own dedicated day on the schedule is already at the # of teams we had in total last year), and the hotel already has as many room nights reserved as we had by MAY of 2013.

Is forgeworld units allowed? I called myself searching but all I got was information about a survey.

 CKO wrote:
Is forgeworld units allowed? I called myself searching but all I got was information about a survey.

Forgeworld units of all kinds are allowed in the Team and Narrative events. We are currently leaning against their inclusion for the GT and Invitational, but are considering a 0-1 limit as well.

MVBrandt wrote:
Updated terrain layouts for this year's 40K events. We're open to feedback, and will be demo'ing these updated layouts at the Torrent of Fire Invitational next week.

For Dawn of War and Vanguard (based on the day):


To achieve this, this year's terrain build includes doubling our large center blockers. We have a TON of terrain, but the intent is to allow us to field the alternate layout in a more fair and balanced way than last year, and also to enable more effective LOS blockage in tune with the edition. We're also replacing a number of our older terrain sets with newer ones that are both aligned with the format and tuned to the Narrative events, giving a larger # of themed tables that are still tactically balanced.

Center LOS blockers have very little impact on the game and only hurt armies that you do not want to hurt.

If you look at the top armies of 6th edition they are all fast shooting armies (Look at the top armies of the LVO and see if LOS center blockers would have any impact on them) that are able to move and still bring all of their firepower to bear. That is why Tau players have mostly moved away from Broadsides and have gone with O'Vesa stars, Farsight Bombs, and Skyrays.The only impact large center blockers have on the game is 5th edition static shooting codexes like Space Wolves and IG, That is why they are never seen anymore and they do not do well in tournaments.

What you need is LOS blocking terrain in deployment zones to help mitigate damage from Alpha strike armies, and to create balance so that going first is not such a huge advantage.

 Blackmoor wrote:

MVBrandt wrote:
Updated terrain layouts for this year's 40K events. We're open to feedback, and will be demo'ing these updated layouts at the Torrent of Fire Invitational next week.

For Dawn of War and Vanguard (based on the day):


To achieve this, this year's terrain build includes doubling our large center blockers. We have a TON of terrain, but the intent is to allow us to field the alternate layout in a more fair and balanced way than last year, and also to enable more effective LOS blockage in tune with the edition. We're also replacing a number of our older terrain sets with newer ones that are both aligned with the format and tuned to the Narrative events, giving a larger # of themed tables that are still tactically balanced.

Center LOS blockers have very little impact on the game and only hurt armies that you do not want to hurt.

If you look at the top armies of 6th edition they are all fast shooting armies (Look at the top armies of the LVO and see if LOS center blockers would have any impact on them) that are able to move and still bring all of their firepower to bear. That is why Tau players have mostly moved away from Broadsides and have gone with O'Vesa stars, Farsight Bombs, and Skyrays.The only impact large center blockers have on the game is 5th edition static shooting codexes like Space Wolves and IG, That is why they are never seen anymore and they do not do well in tournaments.

What you need is LOS blocking terrain in deployment zones to help mitigate damage from Alpha strike armies, and to create balance so that going first is not such a huge advantage.

We're not deleting or shrinking the size of our large LOS blocking hills, which you always available for taking advantage of.

MVBrandt wrote:


We're not deleting or shrinking the size of our large LOS blocking hills, which you always available for taking advantage of.

What I am saying is that there needs to be LOS blocking terrain in deployment zones to have any impact on the game.

 Blackmoor wrote:

MVBrandt wrote:


We're not deleting or shrinking the size of our large LOS blocking hills, which you always available for taking advantage of.

What I am saying is that there needs to be LOS blocking terrain in deployment zones to have any impact on the game.

I'm agreeing with you in referencing that we have giant LOS blockers in deployment zones.

Think it would be cool to allow 0-1 FW in the GT. Limits the nonsense such as thud guns but lets people bring flavor.

Thing is how do you handle the nonsense like Seth and Marine tactics

The terrain looks good. For the Vanguard/Hammer & Anvil deployment I would like to see one other terrain feature in the deployment zones either to the left or right of the hill. Right now in hammer and anvil you get one hill to take advantage of but nothing else.

LOS blockers are key. The las vegas open terrain was excellent and there was always room to hide models from Alpha strikes.

(Blackmoor may not remember it but he did a pretty good job of minimizing the fire he would have to suffer from me in the first turn, even with my mobile shooting ability )

 The Everliving wrote:


(Blackmoor may not remember it but he did a pretty good job of minimizing the fire he would have to suffer from me in the first turn, even with my mobile shooting ability )

The Everliving might not remember it but I was only able to hide my Hive Tyrants from him is because:
#1. It was Vanguard Strike Deployment
#2. I brought a bastion to hide behind.

Otherwise they would be dead.

Please feel free to share opinions on the new Knights Codex.

Formations will likely be allowed, taking up the Allied Detachment section of the army list.

As one of the Malifaux leads, I'm pretty excited to bring you all a full schedule of events.

Our Story Encounter will center on a tale of Malifaux's future, when Nicodem finally has filled his last grave and finally has enough raw material to begin his assault of the Governor's palace. Who will fall, the Governor or the Lord of Death?

Do you like Gladiator movies? Then the Enforcer Brawl is an arena of death you don't want to miss. Bring your favorite enforcer model, and see who crawls out of the arena last, bloody, broken, but victorious!

The Hardcore. The only strategy: Turf War. The only Scheme: Assassinate. 4 models. 20 Soulstones. 20 minute rounds. It's a race against time and death awaits you in the center of the board. Who will come out on top?

These are in addition to our 54 person/50 Soulstone Singles GT and our 16 team/70 Soulstone Doubles GT.

And, in addition to that, we'll have our weekend long Achievement League, which you can play in even if you're just playing Malifaux as a pick-up game that weekend.

If you want to know more, head on over to www.novaopen.com, or listen to this informative Fool's Daily interview.

If you have a proxy, and have a question about whether it would be accepted, please contact me via PM here.

The NOVA now has its first Middle Eastern attendee, coming to play X-Wing this year all the way from Kuwait.

We also are excited to have someone traveling from Australia to play Malifaux all weekend.

The 40K GT already also has attendees from all over Europe, including Russia again. It appears a substantial % of the Australian team may be attending as well.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for international travelers!

As an update, since it was asked, the 40K GT is approaching 50% sold out ... which is tremendously ahead of historical pace. We've also already booked about as many hotel rooms as took until May last year ... so use 'em or lose 'em, it's hard to beat $89 anywhere in DC, much less at a nice hotel where the event is actually being hosted.

How is it for driving in each day? Since I live just north of DC, that'd be my plan... is it best to park in the actual hotel parking lot?

Ri they have a Valet service at the hotel. I know you get a special rate for being a NOVA attendee. I do not know the traffic patterns though. I will be driving in but I do not think I will need my truck until Monday after NOVA.

By the Way Mike, I know it has not been out long, but do you have any idea if Knights will be allowed for the GT?
Personally I vote yes. If you were wondering.
I am gathering supply's and bits and other assorted goodies to build an new army using a Knight. So it would be nice to know asap if I can actually use it.

One heads up about driving in (on a daily basis) is that I have seen the lot fill up once or twice. There are other garages in the area so it's not like you can't find parking, but if you're packing light and don't mind a 10-20 minute walk (depending on how fast you walk) the metro is a fairly sane option for locals and semi-locals.

Yah I feel like lat year every time I tried to get in on the valet lot they were full, super annoying ;p. there are 2 lots within walking distance but they cost twice as much as the valet one.

Lansiril/etc, there's also a free shuttle from the metro to the Hyatt.

MVBrandt wrote:
Lansiril/etc, there's also a free shuttle from the metro to the Hyatt.

That sounds like it may be the best option for me, then! Do you have a link to info on that?

Cheers

 RiTides wrote:

MVBrandt wrote:
Lansiril/etc, there's also a free shuttle from the metro to the Hyatt.

That sounds like it may be the best option for me, then! Do you have a link to info on that?

Cheers

Not really, mostly b/c it's super simple. Go to Crystal City metro, wait outside entrance. Hyatt shuttle shows up every 15 minutes. No charge.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
PS - For those flying in, you fly to Reagan National Airport, and take a free shuttle from the Hyatt just outside baggage claim, right to the hotel (it's a couple minutes, literally).

If you end up coming into BWI or IAD, you'll want to get to the metro line the most expedient way possible and follow the same metro advice above.

The event is more or less "in" DC, being in city proper just on the other side of the potomac, and on the public transit lines. It's a matter of minutes from the Crystal City metro (literally) to most if not all of the best things to see and do in Washington, DC.

Update - We are strongly considering formalizing a "2-Source" rule for army build to keep things simple, thus legalizing Knights, Formations, etc., but to a degree limiting the variety of things you might encounter (i.e., brostars + knights).

Any input from prospective attendees is most welcome on the subject; we've received a great deal so far, but we're always open to more in order to ensure we're making the best possible decisions and have looked at every angle.


ALSO, get your CONVENTION ACCESS PASSES NOW. We're nearly out of the first 400, which are the ones guaranteed swag bags. The swag bags are a major hit and cooler every year. Last year with the early start to the 40K GT, even people who signed up quite late ended up "yoinking" swag bags from people in Fantasy and other events who signed up well in advance.

Well, we corrected that this year, and swag is guaranteed to the first 400 chronological registrants, not show-ups. Get yours now before they're gone, so you don't miss out on the annual shot glasses, laser pointers, radical swag from our sponsors, etc.

Not a fan of the 2-source rule. But that's because it feels like a kick in the pants to imperial armies since you're basically trying to exclude additional use of C:Inq, C:LotD, and less so C:Knights. Not to mention that if you wanted Belakor or Cypher you now can't take allies (assuming it applies to Dataslates).

If formations are the issue then having them take an allied slot makes sense. Or (and I prefer this) institute a 3 source rule which wouldn't hurt Imperial Armies or people who wanna use dataslates and would allow Tyranids some flexibility while limiting them from going 100% crazy and basically only using formations. Granted, I'm of the opinion that the Tau Formation (whichi s what most people object to) isn't actually that bad and most "Formations" are pretty meh.

Just my thoughts.

 Hulksmash wrote:
Not a fan of the 2-source rule. But that's because it feels like a kick in the pants to imperial armies since you're basically trying to exclude additional use of C:Inq, C:LotD, and less so C:Knights. Not to mention that if you wanted Belakor or Cypher you now can't take allies (assuming it applies to Dataslates).

If formations are the issue then having them take an allied slot makes sense. Or (and I prefer this) institute a 3 source rule which wouldn't hurt Imperial Armies or people who wanna use dataslates and would allow Tyranids some flexibility while limiting them from going 100% crazy and basically only using formations. Granted, I'm of the opinion that the Tau Formation (whichi s what most people object to) isn't actually that bad and most "Formations" are pretty meh.

Just my thoughts.

It would not apply to character dataslates.

If implemented, it would certainly impact the ability of Imperial armies to add further bros in the form of inquisitors to their stars. It would also prevent jet, seer, cent, tau, etc. stars from adding knights on. Also, it would prevent most armies from adding on an inquisitorial servoskull complement to an otherwise unchanged army.

A three source rule was what we talked about originally, but people brought up the good point that it may be even less fun for all to see knights+brostars than to just see a tournament full of knights *or* brostars.

Good feedback, Brad, appreciate your inputs.

I don't really see where people are going to be able to bring "brostars" and multiple knights. One knight sure. But multiples means giving up to much of the rest of the list that makes makes it function. In fact, people should already be less inclined to use deathstars if you're making Knights legal anyway so the problem essentially solves itself. I just think limiting Imperial Armies so that people don't see Tau + Knights or Eldar + Knights is a little hamfisted. It's not like Imperials need to be toned down.

Just a thought:

Standard Stars point costs & minimum troops:

Beaststar: 802 (25 Kymera, 5 Warriors, 2x3 Jetbikes)

Seer Council: 992

Ovesa: 1094 (Ovesa, Buffmander, Riptide, Farsight, 2x10 Kroots, 3 Flamer Suits)

Centurion: 870 (No allies, 4 Centurions, Tanky CM, Tiggy, 2x5 Scouts)

Just my thoughts for constructive criticism. I'll work within any format you guys decide to throw up but I'd like the option of more variety. Plus 3 lets nids take 2 formations which is nice.

I'm a fan of 2-source... so far, I haven't been able to make a nid list that really uses multiple formations, anyway.

Edit: Just to make sure I've got the prices right, to play in the GT I need to buy a $40 convention access pass, then the $70 ticket, right? Do you know when the $40 pass will be going up to $50, since it is listed as "on sale" atm?

I hadn't planned on the pass, ouch (not that it's not reasonable to have one, I just forgot it was required). However, if I'm not worried about the swag, I could buy the GT ticket now and get the pass later, right, as long as it's before the event?

 RiTides wrote:
I'm a fan of 2-source... so far, I haven't been able to make a nid list that really uses multiple formations, anyway.

Edit: Just to make sure I've got the prices right, to play in the GT I need to buy a $40 convention access pass, then the $70 ticket, right? Do you know when the $40 pass will be going up to $50, since it is listed as "on sale" atm?

I hadn't planned on the pass, ouch (not that it's not reasonable to have one, I just forgot it was required). However, if I'm not worried about the swag, I could buy the GT ticket now and get the pass later, right, as long as it's before the event?

You've got the prices right - the pass cost remains whether you get swag or not, and since the swag is shweet, I'd recommend earlier! That said, yes you could do that - the passes don't sell out (we expect as many as 1,000 attendees this year, in line with past growth and everything we've yet again added, but we won't cap the # of potential attendees).

I believe the pass cost goes up in May or June ... it should say on the site, let me check (I should know this, shouldn't I? ... the downside, and one of the only downsides, of expanding NOVA Operations to a proper executive board and staff, instead of a one man shop and a can of wd-40). Edit - Pass goes up in rate on 6/15

I like the two-source rule. It cuts down on the craziness of having four armies rolled into one. Moreover, it also counters the fact that almost all of these new ally-breaking additions help Imperial armies. I do think you have to allow formations, as certain ones (Skyblight) make armies like Nids actually viable. I haven't played against Imperial Knights yet, but they don't seem like they are going to fundamentally alter the game all that much. They do put a bit of fear into Seers etc., so I'm happy to see them out and about.

 JGrand wrote:
It cuts down on the craziness of having four armies rolled into one.

So does a 3 source rule

But seriously, even with access to lots of options are any Imperial armies running away with the prize or is it still primarily Eldar & Tau and their ally shennnigans?

I'd just hate to miss out on being able to make crazy fun and silly armies due to a 2-source rule. Of course I'm pretty much in favor of open season less the Escalation and Stronghold expansions (and yes, I view them as expansions!) so I'm a little biased. I'm greatly enjoying the modeling opportunities that 6th has given me.