RIP 'Ardboyz

[Bigred]

Just got word,

Games workshop has cancelled the annual 'Ardboyz tournament.

It was a mixed polarizing tournament from the start, with its no comp, no painting requirement, WAAC ethos - the very opposite of the Throne of Skulls events. It certainly brought out a certain type of player, but as the prize support and multi-tiered finals began to fray, it began to lose the support of the very players it was designed to appeal to.

Goodbye 'Ardboyz, we hardly even knew ya...

[BHound1981]

Pwned.

[trygonprime]

This sucks cause this was one of the few tournaments that i had a chance of winning. I gone to it for two years and never ran in to the WAAC people you all clamor about. I don’t have the money to pay out 50 + dollars to go to some of the bigger tourney or to have a army painted for I get top score in painting. On top of that my painting is average at best. To lose to a painting score seam unfair, if I have the best win / lose record. Nit 9th place or less, as I have seen happen in some tournaments.

[Emerald Rose Widow]

While I have never been much of a competitive player, I thought this tournament was fun. It was nice to have that type of tournament for those who didn't wanna worry about paintscore.



for the record, what is WAAC?

[Night System]

for the record, what is WAAC?

Win At All Costs

[DarkLink]

Awww, I liked any tournament that I could just show up to and play for free.

[Igmar]

Sad panda... well I'm just glad I got to win 1st @ second round last year and got my RIDICULOUS amount of Orks out of them before they cancled it. Makes me wonder what the "real" reason is for them canceling the tournament...

It will be missed.

[Kaika87]

I....kind of wish I had gotten to play in one, since I started 40k last year? But at the same time I don't. 2500 is an "overkill" point level. There's not a lot of skill in building a list with that much wiggle room, heck a lot of things can fit in 2000 anyway.

Can't say I'm really sad it's gone, but I hope that it's not indicative of some sort of trend where GW wants to further pretend they're a model company. What would be nice is if the funding for this went towards supporting the tournaments more people care about, establishing relationships with the community. But now I'm being hopefully and bright-eyed.

[celestialatc]

It's because of 'Ard Boyz I have meet some of my favorite 40k opponents. Had my bad moments but it was a lot of fun. Sorry to see it go.....

I placed 2rd in round 1 last year and was hoping to try it again this year and try for first....oh well.

[Chris Copeland]

I shan't particularly miss it. I played in it a few years and found it to be dominated by unpainted net-lists... not my cup of tea... Copeland

[Osiris]

Wow, that's pretty disappointing. Shame I couldn't ever seem to quite get into the finals, I got 4th in the semi-finals the last two years :( . Oh well, maybe this will make room for more/better prize support from GW for tournaments with an emphasis on painting and sportsmanship.

[elmo.a69]

Awww, I liked any tournament that I could just show up to and play for free.

I have to agree. I liked the fact that it gave newbies a chance to play a real tourny without haveing to shell out a lot of cash. They may be unpainted but they are at least trying out. Some people don't have the time to paint a whole army for the tourny. I threw 6 homemade thunderwolves on the field last year. Just those 6 models took me over 6 months to convert and paint because that was all the time I had.

[Chuck777]

I have a few friends that will be super bummed about this.

I never participated. I don't like WAAC players.

[bfmusashi]

That's a pity. While the WAAC kid was annoying it was a great way to meet people, especially if your LGS doesn't do their own tournaments.

[sverigesson]

Man, that would have been my first tournament... Just started, and the only tourny my FLGS (which focuses more on heroclix) holds every year was the first round of 'Ard Boyz. And I just finished up my IG army for it, too.

[Suffokate]

Its just like any other Games Workshop driven event, initially it starts out great but over a set amount of time little attention is paid to it, then one day it just randomly stops.


'Ard Boys met the same fate as Mordhiem.

[Dalleron]

It seems to me that 'Ardboyz did nothing to promote the hobby when you think about it. Which is what GW is all about aren't they, getting bodies into the hobby.

[FltMedic]

Well that just about sucks. I was just building a new GK army in hopes of playing ard boyz this year....

[eldargal]

Aw, no more 'Ard Boy puns.:(

[Diagnosis Ninja]

Shame to see a tournament go, but like others have said, was it the best environment? The only times I've seen it mentioned on sites was usually someone moaning about whoever won.

[juliusb]

Aw, no more 'Ard Boy puns.:(

I know! And what am I going to do with all this extra Viagra?!?!

[Paul]

To be quite honest, I'm glad to see it go.

At the very least now people will stop posting articles about 'Ard Boys everywhere :P.

[Big Jim]

I actually had a blast the 2 times I went to 'Ardboys. So I will miss it a little, but it going away is probably for the best.

[Render Noir]

I actually had a blast the 2 times I went to 'Ardboys. So I will miss it a little, but it going away is probably for the best.

It definitely need some fixing but to be done away with is pretty harsh.

I see many local FGS losing out since this was a low maintenance tournament with GW backing to get people to come into their stores.

[Meowcenary]

I'm not suprised they cut 'Ardboyz. Seemed like a mistake to cater to a tiny percentage of players, most of whom were most likely the worst of the worst in terms of fair-play, rules-lawyering and poor-sportsmanship.

[Lady Fenris]

I wish I could have played in one, but considering the mixed things I've heard, I don't know.

It is still sad to lose a tournament though.

[Gorfang]

Won't be missed. Games Workshop should stick with what it does best: Promote the hobby as a whole rather than have its biggest event go towards promoting only one aspect.

[Jampire]

Seconded. Didn't care too much about the lists typically used, but EVERY army I've seen at them was unpainted. Soooo ugly. Good riddance 'Ard Boyz, you were pretty lame.

[Brother Cruorem]

I know this is kind of old news, but it sucks. I was really hopping to finally be a part of that.

[Ryar]

Yay! another win for the hobbyists !

[Narceron]

No more Waaagh! I enjoy this tournament, but it was kind of hard to finish the games.

[Hogleg]

I had fun preparing for it last year, but had a bad game two. The end result still had me looking forward to this one. Oh well, here's hoping some new beast rises up to take it's place.

Maybe a gamesday tournament.

[bubblehearthz]

hopefully 6th edition will help to facilitate a more standardized form of competition. No buts about it, there are a lot of people who want to clash their plastic men together for cash and prizes.

[billytwix]

Sadly i shall not miss it. I played one ardboyz what seems like a long time ago. Didnt get past round one. And i was glad. Everyone wreaked of stench at the store i played in...

[Senger285]

well at least I made it to the finals once... to bad its gone, always found it as a fun touney.

[bobdole4]

Too bad seemed like a fun tournament.

[Xar]

I hope the locals pick up the slack.

[Akela99]

I am glad it's gone. I feel like it brought out the worst in some gamers.

[ArchonPhelps]

Shame for sure.

[marsdonut]

Heres hoping 6th is tournament and casual friendly! ( I wonder if there will be narrative/campaign driven tournaments ?)

[sorienor]

Too bad, I liked playing in it. Don't get to do so many points very often.

[WH40kgamer]

I actually think they decided to cancel it due to 6th edition coming out. New rules and not enough time to get the new FAQs out in time for the tourney. Expect a new tourney type to start back up for 2013. GW has been ramping up with more new stores opening, new paints, models, rules, etc. This is an exciting time to get into the hobby! First post too!

[spagunk]

Always wanted to attend when I got good enough (hint: probably won't happen). Sad to see it go.

[harveydent]

it's pretty sad that this tournament series is gone. it was truly competitive (well, almost), and did a lot for the game.

[sukigod]

I have to agree. I liked the fact that it gave newbies a chance to play a real tourny without haveing to shell out a lot of cash. ...

I realize they may be saving cash by not having to paint or pay an entry fee but now they have to field 3500 points in models instead of 1850-2K? That's not a "savings" in any book, really.

I have to agree with WH40KGamer, it's most likely tied to the 5th Ed release. 'Ard Boys was a big draw to field a huge amount of points in a regular tournament instead of going Apoc. That means you got to purchase that many more models to make your army bigger for 'Ard Boys - and you didn't have to paint them!

That's a pretty good incentive on both sides of the fence (GW and the gamer) if you ask me.

[harveydent]

i'm not sure ard boyz goal was to sell more models - i think it was just something that they dreamed up as a promotion. as a tournament series, it was neat, but since the GW staff doesn't normally put a huge emphasis on competition, ard boyz was very much out of character for them. it actually contradicts the GW norm, and so i think it was somewhat ill-conceived.

[Filthy Sanchez]

Terrible idea. I LOVE the sheer beardiness that 'ard boyz always brought out. Even the most timid of players showed up with a mean-on.

[faeslayer]

While I hate to see any part of the hobby dry up, I remember seeing photos of duct-tape balls with Tyranid bits glued all over them to represent Tyranid monsters at a 'ard boyz. If no one ever has to look at stuff like that again, it's a silver lining at least.

[Mr_E]

I can't say I'm personally sad to see 'ardboyz go. Granted, I'm not a Spike. WAAC isn't how I play, and I have mixed feelings about a tournament designed to sell models to people who already have 'enough.' I'm also not a big fan of 'grey' armies and unpainted kits in tournament play. Needless to say, this tournament wasn't for me and so again, I'm not sad to see it go.

What certainly does piss me right off is the fact that this is yet another way for GW to give it's very loyal fans the finger, something it's been doing for quite some time now. This hobby is kept afloat by the amazing playerbase and the fans and every time I manage to forget that GW is basically the retarded kid in the model industry, they do their damnedest to remind me.

If gaming companies were women, I'd be married to GW unhappily, and flirting with the new girl at work (Privateer Press) and passively-agressively hopes that either she'd sleep with me, or my 'wife' would take the hint.

[tau4eva]

I am fortunate enough to have a great FLGS near me that runs monthly 40k tournaments. While prize support does often turn out some really competitive players/armies, I have mostly just played "for fun" and to "meet new people" in my area.

Even though Ard Boyz wasn't the best format, there were people I only saw in the store during that time. It was their once-a-year tournament game where they could bring and play all their toys at once. I have only played in the prelims, but I can say that I've had fun both years. People were just playing what they wanted, there were no super net-lists stomping everybody. Heck, we talked more about model conversions than list building.

The point is, it was social and fun. I hope something else replaces it that brings in new players.

[Xar]

I don't understand "it began to lose the support of the very players it was designed to appeal to", when there's more and more people involved every year. It was only meant for a certain group of people, but now there are more participants, the people who matter don't play anymore?

[Komosunder]

my best matches came from ard' boyz. it will be missed.

[Speed Freek]

I will miss it. It was nice that GW was actually supporting a tournament and provided good prize support. I enjoyed all my games but the people that I was playing were not that hard core win at all costs. Made for enjoyable games. Also enjoyed taking an over the top large army. The last one I took 120+ sisters of battle (old codex) did not do so well but really concerned my opponents facing so many 3+ saves.

[Jerseyboy381]

I live in the middle of the GW desert despite being in one of the most densly populated regions on the planet and ard boys was the only GW event we had. Hell it's the only gaming event we have beyond the local tournaments. And no one runs Fantasy tournaments anymore.

[Zuul]

I'm not a fan of tournamnet play personally but it is unortunate to see another GW sponsored event go. My optimistic side is hoping we may see another worldwide campaign crop up along side 6th ed's release.