The tournament has come and past and I had a great time. I think everyone involved had a great time. This is not my final report, just a quick post to capture my thoughts while I can still feel the afterglow. I did poorly, scoring points only in my last game against Philippe Le Clerc, Dream Pod 9′s sculptor. He was playing to bring the player count up to 8, so that no-one had to sit out any rounds, but wasn’t going to include his final points in the final ranking. While he still won, he was very patient and took the time to explain some of the game’s tactics to me in a way which I found very agreeable. It was a little obvious that he was trying not to roll over me, which I found funny.
A shot of my deployment for the second game. At first I kept things counter-light, but eventually I realized that I liked being able to easily see what the status of my units were.
Most people don’t believe me when I say that I rarely win at most games. They think I’m being negative or am exaggerating the situation. Truly, I really don’t do well at miniature wargames. For me, it’s a fact and I don’t get upset when I lose, as long as I can understand why. In one game I was up against an opponent who outnumbered me in combat groups and seemed to have units which, individually, were stronger than mine. It felt like I had brought a 750TV army to a tournament for 1500TV. After Philippe’s tutelage I understood that I had mishandled my Gears, making them very, very easy to destroy.
All my opponents were great sports and easy to play with. I had felt very self-conscious not having played yet, but everyone was so friendly that when it came time to play I felt very comfortable. It helped that I wasn’t the only Blitz! rookie at the tournament.
When the smoke settled we had each played three games and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Dream Pod 9 surprised me (this is my first ever tournament) by having prizes. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but everyone there had been so nice and friendly it felt more like playing with a bunch of friends than a high-stress tournament with prizes on the line. First place received two Squad Boxes of their choice, plus two packs of the new Fighting Piranha decals. Second place received one Squad Box and one pack of decals. All participants received a pack of decals, even last place, held by yours truly.
My tournament winnings. I was thinking of picking some up, being sick of hand-painting the numbers on my Gears, so was happy to win some.
There was also a prize for best painted army. Fortunately for most participants, Mason hadn’t finished his army although he did take 1st and 3rd in the Cangames painting contest. Ahhh, the dangers of painting every Gear like a miniature work of art. To compound the problem, his army was a single squad. With Mason not qualifying I was rewarded with the Best Painted Army title and a Squad Box and decal pack. So, despite my rush-job I guess they turned out pretty good. I may have to write a painting article, but it isn’t likely to end up here. The article will first go to Battlegames, although I’m not very confident that Mr. Hyde is looking for any sci-fi painting articles in his predominantly but not exclusively historical-focused magazine. However, I’ll make the query none-the-less. Failing that, the article would go to Aurora. One might argue that it should go there first. In my opinion, there’s more publicity having an article in an independent magazine than a free, in-house PDF publication. That, and Battlegames pays. Call me a mercenary.
This post has gone unexpectedly long. It was just supposed to be a quick note before a more detailed write-up next month. I’ll end here so that I’ll still having something to say. In the meantime, look for a little intermission next week as I paint the last 6 miniatures from my first 1812 battalion. Although Thursday I swore off painting for the next few weeks, the sense of accomplishment of having a full painted army at Cangames has put my mind to what my next painting would be. With some new, free miniatures courtesy of Dream Pod 9 I’m also in the mood to paint more Gears, even though I was feeling pretty sick of them as I was putting the finishing touches on my Cangames army.
Tyler
Great report, Coyote! Love the setup pic and can’t wait to see more pics from the event.