Worst/Best out of town tournament experiences

[rle68]

i was wondering how many of you travel to attend some events and what kind of experiences you have had good or bad.

i have 2 bad ones

1. Tournament was scheduled well in advance and my friends and i had scheduled ourselves to attend. 2 weeks before the event we all got emails asking us to send in our lists ahead of time for verification...first red flag there

2. didnt think much about it at first but something was gnawing at me.. arrived at the event paid for day etc.etc.. lol i found out all 4 of us were paired against locals who had the exact counters to our armies...now 4 locals each having the exact match to our armies.. the odds cant be that easy...i tabled my opp on turn 3 he couldnt hit water if he fell out of a boat, my 3 friends got 2 draw and a loss i ended up winning the event... i knew we had been had as i talked to some other out of town guys and they hadnt had to send in their lists.. so when i was presented my prize i asked the gamers now how many of you were sent emails asking you for your army lists..

when the 4 of us were the only ones raising their hands we knew the fix was in.. my 3 friends got full refunds.. and that store closed about a year later

i will never send in my army list for an out of town event ever again

second event happened in Raleigh NC.

3 of my friends and i went to Raleigh to play in an event where the top prize was SUPPOSED TO BE A PAINTED CHAOS DEMON ARMY... well day of event the models werent all painted and we found out after, they didnt have all the models... my friend won top place beat me by a single point i think maybe it was 2, i got second...

took him like 2 months to get his prize i never did get mine.. should have got store credit and got what i wanted

whats the best or worst things you have experienced?

[Flammenwerfer13]

I'm from the Fort Bragg/Fayetteville area and I'm wondering which two tournaments/stores you went too. Might be able to explain anything as I know all the stores in the Raleigh area and my firends and I right now (well I'm deployed at the moment lol) typically clean house at all the local tournaments in Raleigh.

[DarkLink]

On a side note, it's not particularly unusual for reasonably large tournaments to require you to submit lists beforehand, so the TOs can check to make sure the lists are legal. That in and of itself is no reason for concern.

[rle68]

On a side note, it's not particularly unusual for reasonably large tournaments to require you to submit lists beforehand, so the TOs can check to make sure the lists are legal. That in and of itself is no reason for concern.

I had that same opinion till it was obvious it was a set up...one bad experience tho can cast a bad light for everyone

[rle68]

I'm from the Fort Bragg/Fayetteville area and I'm wondering which two tournaments/stores you went too. Might be able to explain anything as I know all the stores in the Raleigh area and my firends and I right now (well I'm deployed at the moment lol) typically clean house at all the local tournaments in Raleigh.

the one event in Raleigh was at : Game Theory, Raleigh, North Carolina they moved locations right after that event dont know where they are now the owner was not running this event so dont blame him or the store

[Toyz n the Hood]

My worst experienced was when I won the first ever 40k Throne of Skulls at Warhammer World and they took it back three days later!

[Kaiserdean]

I haven't gone to many out of town events but the few I have have been pretty good. I went twice to 'ard Boyz at The Game Shoppe in Omaha Nebraska and had a good time. I played one guy who was pretty cocky, but that wasn't the store's fault and the rest of the gamers were good sports. I also played at WargamesCon in Austin this year and had a nice time.

The one bad experience I've had was a tussle between two other gaming groups. I showed up at one store for a tournament only to find out that a rival group rented space nearby and offered free entry and prizes just to draw players away and spite the other store. It was a dick move so I didn't end up playing any Warhammer that weekend.

[rle68]

I haven't gone to many out of town events but the few I have have been pretty good. I went twice to 'ard Boyz at The Game Shoppe in Omaha Nebraska and had a good time. I played one guy who was pretty cocky, but that wasn't the store's fault and the rest of the gamers were good sports. I also played at WargamesCon in Austin this year and had a nice time.

The one bad experience I've had was a tussle between two other gaming groups. I showed up at one store for a tournament only to find out that a rival group rented space nearby and offered free entry and prizes just to draw players away and spite the other store. It was a dick move so I didn't end up playing any Warhammer that weekend.

i would have played at the stores event and not given the poachers the time of day

[Kaiserdean]

i would have played at the stores event and not given the poachers the time of day

The two other guys who traveled with me were the only players. We went to Dave and Busters instead.

[chicop76]

I don't play many tournaments due to hurricanes and other crap thanks to being in the national guard. Once I retire which is not too long from now I figure I will have the time to particpate in more events. Also since some tournament happen to be when I go to drill it kills my tournament time.

The last two Ard boy tournaments I had to let someone take my place in round two both times. I came in 1st the first time and 3rd the second time. Lesson learned in the second tournament stalling wins tournaments.

Now having an army that takes for ever to play and does well in the first two turns I learned is best to play in tournaments. Even if it takes 10 mins to do your turn, if it takes your opponent 1hour or more per turn it doesn't matter, or when it's his turn he can make 1hr into 5 min so he doesn't lose.

The timed thing I don't agree with. Especally when out of tournament I can destroy them due to no time limit. I think if their is a time limit it should be on the players turn. Like say a tournament have 3 hr game limit with 6 turn limit, usually 5 turn. That would make each players turn 15 min long. That way the other player is not penalized if their opponent purposly eats the clock.

[DarkLink]

You have to have time limits at tournaments. There's no other way to fit in 3-4 games in a day, with a lunch break. Timed turns would be nice as well (especially since I usually play armies like Draigowing, with super-low model counts), but chess clocks are actually really expensive, like $40-50 each. It's really just a practical issue for most tournaments.

[magickbk]

I ran a regional qualifier tournament when I was a GW staff member, maybe 11-12 years ago, and we tried to enforce a player turn time limit. It was difficult enough to enforce for a 24 player tournament, I can't even imagine trying to enforce for a hundred when it is so difficult to get players to stop their games on time.

[chicop76]

You have to have time limits at tournaments. There's no other way to fit in 3-4 games in a day, with a lunch break. Timed turns would be nice as well (especially since I usually play armies like Draigowing, with super-low model counts), but chess clocks are actually really expensive, like $40-50 each. It's really just a practical issue for most tournaments.

Actually that's not a bad ideal. If the game is 2 hours long set the clock up so each player have 1 hour to win the game. If one side flags they lose. I think it would be fair and end game a lot sooner as well. You migh have to do pregames set up as a turn as well. Due to armies like daemons. I think it will be fair and stops people who are duche players that are not even good from winning.

I haven't played speed chess in awhile. It forces you to play faster and to end your turn quicker. I remember winning by ironically stalling and making quick moves to prevent losing. My opponent would lose due to having time up.

I would say for the game the player wouldn't lose, but the game would be over even though it ended quicker than 2 hrs. Or example if one player use 10 min while the other ate 1hr. That would mean you stopped the game 50 min early.

If you using chess clocks I don't see why keeping track would be a problem. I played in chess tournaments that had hundreds of players and it wasn't a problem. The clock would ring and the loser would be red flagged by the clock. The only problems I ever sen is people forgetting to hit the clock.

[DarkLink]

I ran a regional qualifier tournament when I was a GW staff member, maybe 11-12 years ago, and we tried to enforce a player turn time limit. It was difficult enough to enforce for a 24 player tournament, I can't even imagine trying to enforce for a hundred when it is so difficult to get players to stop their games on time.

The only reasonable way to do it is the time clocks Warmachine uses (they usually have timed turns), but like I said, those are expensive, so you'd be stuck spending thousands of dollars to supply them to a large tournament. Tabletop gaming isn't lucrative enough to fund that.

[chicop76]

The only reasonable way to do it is the time clocks Warmachine uses (they usually have timed turns), but like I said, those are expensive, so you'd be stuck spending thousands of dollars to supply them to a large tournament. Tabletop gaming isn't lucrative enough to fund that.

Never knew warmachine did that. Yes chess clocks are not cheap, but it's a one time buy till you eventually have your supply. 6 clocks will cover 12 games. Also I wouldn't be surprised you can hopefully get a sponser or a dicounted rate for a event, or possibly rent one.

[DarkLink]

I happen to know several TO's, and I know none of them think that it would be a reasonable barrier to overcome. Small warmachine tournaments can do it, but all but the smallest flgs tournaments draw too many players to make it affordable, both for the store and for the player. Being a one-time buy doesn't help if you either can't afford it in the first place, or have to jack up ticket prices so high that no one will come.

[T-ORK-amada]

We use kitchen timers instead of Chess clocks at our LGS. They work just as well. Easy to start and stop and relatively cheap to boot!
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/digital-timer-clock/s524506?a=1552

[chicop76]

It's cheap, but that means you need 1 clock per person. Also there is no physical indication that you are done or flaged.