Showcase.

We made it two years running! So, after games 1-3, we got the invite to set up from 8:30-11:30PM in the corridor to the event hall with the other displays. It's great to talk with hobbyists over techniques and all their current projects. Notably, the lighting is much dimmer than in the convention hall for the team tournament. So, flame effects show much better. 

I wore the Krieg uniform for quite a while, but eventually it was just too hot and I’d been on my feet since 5 am, with it now being 10pm+. Amusingly people kept telling me to put it back on, but I’d ordered fast food. Apparently there’s a bit of a faux pas in getting out of character to eat greasy cheeseburgers. It’s my first ‘cosplay,’ leave me alone :). The French Canadians were right next to us. Actually we were in between two Canadian teams. Canadians man, they slaughter us every year. 

Also amusing is we made it on the Spikey bits round up for great displays… but they missed the giant blimp in the photo. Apparently the camouflage worked too well. 

Awards.

Ah, we got beat! We were 5 overall, and 3rd in hobby. But the showcase is a real honor still. I suppose you could say we were finalists? There’s only a few displays from Age of Sigmar and 40k that make it. And the winners couldn’t be a nicer group of guys. I think they were from Montreal. Really cool and friendly group. Great display. They even helped me with my French (I’m trying to figure out some battle cries/phrases to write on the side of my tanks – that don’t sound like an American trying to speak French and failing. du panache ou la mort I think). Notably there were two French Canadian teams in the top running, both with astounding displays. The winner was a krieg/trench display. The other was a giant cathedral with a warlord titan sitting on actual stained glass, illuminated from underneath. We were very lucky to make it into the showcase with the likes of that competition! 

After Action Review: Positives and Negatives

+Actually brought all my units this time... usually forget a commander or plasma gunner, or heavy bolter... 

+ We came together and worked hard in the end as a team to put the finishing touches on. Mark painted up lots of casualties (krieg proxies), and the cavern scene. JJ took on a whole lot of painting the exterior black and setting in the basswood sheets on the front facing. I was too far behind and couldn't have finished without them. 

+ In games we went 6-4 (I'm fairly sure). And I think overall this was our best showing at Adepticon). We lost to some really good players. The Hottakes team (I think won battle points in the tourney) was composed of a  Vanguard Tactics coach and the guy that won the singles. These guys are legit and wayyyy outside our weight class. But somehow our teammates pulled off a win on their other team members. Despite the competitive setting, these guys were very fun and gracious opponents. They knew the guard codex even better than me! Notably their move-shoot-move with LOS blocking terrain tau were essentially impervious to anything I had. It was a complete route. We lost before the game even started. Looking back I don't think a deathstrike or manticore would have mattered - some mortals, sure, but nothing meaningful. I could have structured a better list accounting for such a scenario - maybe keep in mind a Rogal Dorn to put in reserves, just in case.  Blitz division as a regiment means we might have gotten a dorn too close for comfort. But, it'd be a really expensive trade, probably not killing everything we'd like. I mean I'd love to have BORN SOLDIERS, but there are times where a focus on killpower only creates a really bad failure in a game--it's a great bonus, but not balanced to shortcomings. Also structurally in our list, the banesword or whatever it was is just too big to move and place terrain effectively. All this said, I'm not saying we'd have won with a little luck. These guys are pros and it was only ever going to go one way, but we might have put up a better fight. 

- I don't like myself in competition. I want to be aware of it and call it out (speak the demon's name to control it). Lots of stress. Agony over every move. Short tempers on the table top. Cutthroat play. I often had more fun last year (going like 3-7 or so). That said, I had a lot of fun opponents. It's not about awards or winning. It's important not to get carried away. Managing expectations is huge. 

-Huge misstep on our part in building a 3x2 board. Apparently the separate 3x2' traditional base, technical base, and structural 5x3' categories were eliminated. Well, they eliminated the award, not the categories. This change not being explained or noted in the rules section caused a bit of bad feelings. We'd signed up for a category without an award. Last year we won the technical base category. We figured we'd go for that again as I can't really transport a 15 square foot board in my truck with all my gear. My truck looked like the Beverly Hillbillies already. We'll have to figure out a 15sqft board... I mean, to some extent with 2 levels we have 12sqft right now (plus the zeppelin). 

-But, I don't want to sound like sour grapes. Boo hoo we lost. It's still really cool to be a part of the showcase. Other bases really showed technical prowess that ours lacked. 100+ hours in the final month is too little too late. It's not just building the base hours - it's extra 100 hours into the models. We really need to up our game to compete. Lots of rust, grass, downed trees, spend ammo casings, etc. Details matter. The zeppelin also needed more story to tie it to the board, not just spotlights. The ritual/cavern section was fairly plain on the walls. I think the biggest issue was doing a trench scene two years in a row. Even though a trench base actually won the the thing. I think we needed to branch out. Despite our failings we still came very close. 

+ Didn't quit when the fake fire didn't work. My whole plan failed to work. We very nearly had no display here. The display was supposed to have fake fire coming up around all edges. So the plan was nearly abandoned. Then, mini-fake fire misters went on sale for $10 a piece on Amazon. Boom. We're back in business. 

+Man, if you could see that Angron and bloodletters in person... we really pulled off something wild here with the lights and fog. In my defense I actually did a decent paint job on Angron. However, wrapped in light and smoke meant you'd never know. I look forward to seeing what other teams do with fake fire misters next year - I could see the gears turning in their minds looking at it. We even gave a few demon displays a run for their money this year! I will say I really liked one that had that black crackle paint effect over an underlit orange transparency.

Future Concerns.

I'll have to think about how we can compete. I already have ideas for the next display (not really at all dissuaded by our loss). But, it's a lot of time and effort. So ok, small rant. Displays and dioramas are my favorite part of the hobby and I absolutely love seeing other projects and bringing my own to life. Talking with others about their work is just great - the passion they have for the project. But, it’d be great to see more support for it. I know full well certain competitive 40k scenes despise paint and display scoring combined with the game mechanic scoring. Gameplay being the only true metric of the 'real game.' Goonhammer even did an article lambasting combined display and gaming scores (and at Adepticon specifically). I get everyone’s points, and don’t want to diminish their opinions. Some points are very valid. I love most all the material they put out. But I've been in the hobby since 1996. No one opinion, including my own, encompasses the right way to play the game.

And I want to see displays encouraged – however it makes sense. If display scores and awards are eliminated or scoring marginalized, I see less incentive to put that much work into it. Why not just call a display board good with some texture paint on a flat army tray? Why not just play TTS instead of a physical game? Yes, yes, I know I'm being dramatic, but really if game mechanics are the only worthwhile metric, online play is far easier and more practical (easier to stay up to date on rules, don't have to waste time painting, less entry cost - no models, terrain, game matts, no scheduling event centers). The future of 'competitive play' makes more sense as an e-sport. I await next years' rules rubric with a great amount of trepidation that the organizers will cave to outsized internet opinions. Bring the hobby back. There's plenty of room in the hobby for tournaments that value more than sterilized game metrics. There's room for beer and pretzels friendly tourneys, and for painting competitions. Anyway, I love Adepticon, the judges, organizers, and other players. Everybody was really great to us. I Just wanted to voice my concern. 

Going Forward. 

The present problem is I should start the next board now. Like right now. Starting it two months prior to the team tournament is just a terrible idea. But we won't know how any scoring or rules work until like December. I hate to say it, but this year might be our last board. In some sense perhaps I should just build displays for single player - that size is doable. At the same time, far and away most tournaments barely give a cursory or perfunctory nod to displays. Occasionally I see some neat ones. 

Well, for now I think I want to bring this board to some GTs to round out the year... Dress her up a bit. Add some more details. Fix it. Meanwhile I can still design and plan a new board without cutting, gluing, flocking, or buying materials. In fact I could've done well to plan much more before diving in the last two years running. Lots of visions, dreams, and thoughts don't work beyond paper (i.e. the rail gun project I never figured out last year). Also, when ideas just float in my head I often run into Decision paralysis. Maybe starting year round is possible this time? Maybe check in once a week instead of a 40k Feast or Famine?