UK tournament at WW! Help me organise one

[antique_nova]

There is another thread like this, but i cant edit it atm. So what date do you think this tournament should be? What dates do you think will wield the highest number of entrants?

What price tag do you see as most reasonable?

Hopefully it will be up to the standards of the nova open in the us but on a smaller scale off course.

 

thanks

antique_nova

[calgar101]

I would say around the late Spring early Summer time would be good for people, leaves them with plenty of time to arrange days off etcetera; however to work out an exact date you'd first need to find out how many people would be interested and could actually make it. You'd also have to find a venue that would be suitable enough for an event and then work out the cost, keeping ticket prices to a minimum is the best idea as some people may incur other costs e.g. travel. Events such as NOVA can be very successful but they require an awful lot of support by both organisers and attendee's.

[Bartali]

Have you run a tournament before ? If not, first suggestion would be to keep it small for the first one. Scale it up for next year if it's a success. Maybe try organising a small 10 person local event under your chosen format (and the Nova format seems the best) to get a handle on running a tournament ?

[antique_nova]

i am at the coventry uni atm. we don't have enough guys and its not a very good store for a tournament. i am thinking of maybe 16 people and have 3 people running it? Because if i am organising it i want to play it too! It's to hard to find someone who is willing to run the tournament for the entire day and not play games.

 

probably a one day event. i am thinking of 4-5 games in one each 1 and a half hours long. from 10am with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 min break between each game.

 

good idea? or too big for first time? maybe it's best if there were 12 people, but 10 seems a bit too small in my mind.

 

thanks

antique_nova

[MVBrandt]

In a nice way, organizers should never play in their own tournaments, just for what it's worth.

[antique_nova]

i kinda got that feeling. but i really cant see myself hosting a tournament then. maybe i can discuss it with people willing to run it? i help organise it and let someone else be the official host or similar and play in the tourney. that would be acceptable wouldn't it?

thanks

antique_nova

[Bartali]

If you've had any hand at all in organising it, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to play in it. You don't want any bad feeling towards the event if judges decisions went your way etc.

[Gaz Taylor]

There is another thread like this, but i cant edit it atm. So what date do you think this tournament should be? What dates do you think will wield the highest number of entrants?

 

I've sent you a PM with a list of dates I look after on another forum. I've sent the mods here the list and hopefully they will appear on the Calendar.

 

What price tag do you see as most reasonable?

 

It depends on the venue and the package you are offering to be honest. While people moan about the cost of the GW one, you do get to play in a fantastic hall without needing to bring scenary and you get three meals. A lot of the indie events tend to do something simular and around the £30-35 mark for a weekend and around £15-20 for a one day event

 

Hopefully it will be up to the standards of the nova open in the us but on a smaller scale off course.

 

I don't want to sound snobbish, but the UK has been running events for years at least at the standards of the Nova ;)

 

probably a one day event. i am thinking of 4-5 games in one each 1 and a half hours long. from 10am with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 min break between each game.

 

good idea? or too big for first time? maybe it's best if there were 12 people, but 10 seems a bit too small in my mind.

 

If this is your first time running an event, think small. I would go for one day and three games. It makes it easy for you to run and keeps players happy as they can play a load of games and get home for tea depending on where they have to travel to.

 

If you need a free venue, try Maelstrom games but it's in Mansfield and they would prefer you do your catering through them. They have great tables and scenary.

[antique_nova]

i really appreciate the help and info!

[Bartali]

I don't want to sound snobbish, but the UK has been running events for years at least at the standards of the Nova :lol:

 

I'm sure most of the UK events organisation is top notch, but I feel the Nova rules and format are superior in that it allows both proper competitive gaming whilst also catering for the hobby gamer.

[Gaz Taylor]

I don't want to sound snobbish, but the UK has been running events for years at least at the standards of the Nova B)

 

I'm sure most of the UK events organisation is top notch, but I feel the Nova rules and format are superior in that it allows both proper competitive gaming whilst also catering for the hobby gamer.

 

I've never been to the Nova but looking at the rules pack and the coverage of the event last year (even the fallout about the Winner being a few points over in his list), I'm fairly sure most UK events are at least the same.

[Bartali]

Looking at the 40k Masters rules pack, for example, it uses Victory Points in determining best general whereas Nova just uses W/L.

 

Not a fan of Victory Points as it incourages baby seal clubbing lists.

[Gaz Taylor]

Looking at the 40k Masters rules pack, for example, it uses Victory Points in determining best general whereas Nova just uses W/L.

 

Not a fan of Victory Points as it incourages baby seal clubbing lists.

 

But that's for the Masters where you have the top 16 players facing each other so it's a very competitive enviroment. There are plenty of other events in the UK that have different scoring systems.

 

Failing that, pinch the Nova pack and run your own event if you fancy something more like that. As I mentioned Maelstrom is free and I'm sure you'll get players. The WFB tournament scene exploded over the last couple of years, and 40K is starting to catch up in the UK with the same intensity of events over a year

[antique_nova]

if we had as many 40k players in the uk as the usa................ i would call on a horus heresy 2!

[Gaz Taylor]

if we had as many 40k players in the uk as the usa................

 

Too be honest, I think proportion wise it's not far off each other. I think you will find that UK gamers are less likely to venture out from their gaming groups, whilst guys in the US are (mainly as the guys in the US have to travel hours for a game anyway!). The UK has a very hardcore tournament crowd who tend to go to most events (there is usually one event each month).

 

So any more news about your event?

[antique_nova]

Towards the end of june, before the summer Throne of skulls in july 16/17th. as a warm up tourney for people. school finished a week or two before then. so some uni guys can get in. 18th/19 of june or 25/26th of june. how about it? it's not too far from tourney and not too close so people who are going to tourney may not be playing with final lists a month before the main tourney. so they don't need to worry about others knowing how they will play at the tourney.

thanks

antique_nova

[Gaz Taylor]

Towards the end of june, before the summer Throne of skulls in july 16/17th. as a warm up tourney for people. school finished a week or two before then. so some uni guys can get in. 18th/19 of june or 25/26th of june. how about it? it's not too far from tourney and not too close so people who are going to tourney may not be playing with final lists a month before the main tourney. so they don't need to worry about others knowing how they will play at the tourney.

thanks

antique_nova

 

Sounds like a good date, although I think you are mental running a two day event if you have little experiance running events. Try a couple of one day events and take it from there. Also have you finalised a venue yet?

[antique_nova]

lol. then i will do a mid-late February one day event then to start it off. gonna see what maelstrom can do. 4 game tourny for 8 people. possibly £5 entry to help pay for my traveling and the prize money. plus individual small cheap gifts for silly prize categories :P. 12/13th i am thinking

thanks

antique_nova

[waaanial00]

My advice is to stay away from Summer as much as possible. Most people who will attend tournaments regularly have families and will be stuck in Summer Holiday Hell! Trust me on this as I am a chairman of a gaming group and its always hardest around Summer time.

 

Get in touch with the Gaming Club Network, they might help you pimp your tournament or at least give you the contact details of some nearby clubs. From there you should be able to get some details out. Trust word of mouth over internet in this, a phone call with a club organiser or a face to face will probably get better results.

 

Other than that, start slow and build up! Have a plan and a timetable and stick to it! Allow PLENTY of time to finish all the games. Make sure you have help setting up and taking down. Have a scoring system that is easy to understand and simple to calculate. Either check lists before hand or dont bother, you wont have time to check lists on the day.

 

I would start off by running a tournament with simple prize support and build up. Best to make the prizes look better as the tournament grows rather than starting off big and seemingly less generous as the player pool increases.

 

Hope you know what your getting yourself into.

[antique_nova]

ok my first event will be at maelstrom on february the 19th saturday or 20th sunday from 10pm to 6pm. this is in mansfield for those who don't know maelstrom. i need to know which weekend day is more suitable.

 

rules are:

 

Kids under 16 MUST be accompanied by an adult.

 

You need to provide me with your final lists a week before the event.

 

Armies must be built and have three colours, base coat can be included as this will not be too strict a tourney on painting as it is a small tourney.

 

WYSIWYG queries will go through me and needs to be resolved a week before the tourney.

 

tickets are £5 and need to be paid for 2 weeks before tourney.

 

You can't bring your own food or drinks and it's a cold finger buffet for £7.50 per head. Vegetarians are catered for as a matter of course, and if known in advance, we can cater for all dietary needs and allergies. They do allow you to bring takeaway food in - McDonalds, Burger King etc.,

 

A cold finger buffet means cold foods which are eaten by hand - sandwiches, quiche, sausage rolls etc. That kind of stuff.

 

now is anyone interested?

 

thanks

antique_nova

[Gaz Taylor]

ok my first event will be at maelstrom on february the 12th saturday or 13th sunday from 10pm to 6pm. this is in nottingham for those who don't know maelstrom.

 

Just a couple of things...

 

1.) You really need to pick a date. I could make a comment about it being Valentines weekend but I think you will still get people going.

2.) Maelstrom is in Mansfield, which is about 30 minutes from Nottingham :P

 

You can bring your own food (i think) or go for a cold finger buffet for £7.50 per head. Vegetarians are catered for as a matter of course, and if known in advance, we can cater for all dietary needs and allergies.

 

I've been to the venue and the cold finger buffet is nice and very filling! But I imagine that there may be a minimum order so you may need to factor that into your ticket price. Alternatively get pizza but make sure that you get Tim and Gary one (if they are in) and they may look the other way! :D

[antique_nova]

£7.50 is a lot for a uni student. is it for the whole day? or just a buffet for one meal? what day do you think is better? saturday or Sunday?

i made some corrections :D.

thanks

antique_nova

[skcuzzlebumm]

Wow I haven't posted in years! Trust discussion about running tournaments to get me to stop lurking.

 

Ok I have been running tournaments ranging from small 16 player 1 day events, to big 200+ multi-system weekends in the UK and Sweden for over 10 years. Over that time I have learnt a few things, I only say this so you know I am not just making stuff up.

 

The most important thing for any tournament is organisation, this is what makes or in a lot of cases breaks an event. You need to have everything ready, in place and triple checked well in advance. Leave anything to the last minute and it will go wrong. This means having players signed and paid up well in advance, you will HAVE to chase people for money that is a fact. Have tournament software to run the event on, don't try to do it by hand there are plenty of free programs about that do it for you, and practice using it so you know what to do on the day.

 

You need an venue that is suitable for your event, and by suitable you need to factor in costs, terrain, location etc.

 

Then you need a clear and concise rules pack and FAQ. That way everyone knows before they even buy a ticket exactly what is going to happen, what to expect, and how the event is going to run.

 

Next up is pricing, look at what other events that are of the same size, number of games, format etc charge and also what they include in that price. This will help ensure you offer what people obviously want and are willing to pay for at the price that is competitive.

 

Once you have got all that in place you need to get advertising the event to as many people as possible, this means targeting the right internet forums which will be frequented by your target audience, including club forums that are local to the venue, and even approaching blogs that are popular with the people you wish to attract.

 

Do all this properly and you will have a great event.

 

To give you an idea of how much work it would take to organise a big Nova Open style event I am head organiser for both the UK 40K GT (120 40k gamers over 2 days) and Battle of the Chumps (BotC) (120 gamers from 5 different systems over 2 days). These are big tournaments by UK standards. BotC started out 6 years ago as a 20 gamer 1 day event, because it was well run, good value for money and above all fun (achieved by doing the things I mentioned above) it has grown into one of the most popular events in the country with 120 gamers playing in 5 different systems which sells out in days, the 40k side in hours. That has taken time to build up in size as you find that a lot of tournament players are apprehensive about new events due to many often failing to deliver upon expectations, value and fun. Like I said it has taken time and A LOT of work, the result now is that I have a bit of a reputation as a good Tournament Organiser, so when I started getting the UK 40K GT organised with some other guys and put tickets on sale it sold out all 120 tickets in less than 48 hours; that is exceptional for a first time event.

 

I say all that just to maybe give you some expectations of what to expect numbers wise.

 

Now when I say I put a lot of work in, I really do mean a LOT!

 

For the UK 40K GT for example, planning for the event. That is finding a venue and agreeing a date, price etc with them was done in June. The UK 40K GT is in March. That means I started working towards it 10 months before the event itself. This is because it takes time to get everything right and the more time you give yourself the closer it will be to perfect.

 

Over the summer; June, July and August, the 8 man strong organising committee (big event requires lots of workers) worked on the rules pack; setting the missions, points values, scoring etc. We looked at a lot that was out there to see what people liked and didn't like by seeing what events where popular in the UK, then based our choices upon that. We also started work on an FAQ dealing with those issues that we knew came up in tournaments and debated answers to create an FAQ document; this is important as it lets people know in advance what way things GW don't deal with will be ruled. Transparency and consistency are always important.

 

Then in September we hit every single 40k forum that is popular in the UK with advertisement for the event; stating what it was about, when, how much, what was included in the price, what the format of the event was, and links to the rules pack and FAQ, and VERY important when tickets would go on sale and where you could buy them. We also posted on every single UK Wargaming Club forum we could find that had section for 40k (we are talking close to 100 forums that we posted on). We also approached blogs written by guys in the UK who go to 40k tournaments and asked them to post something up for us. We even talked to a number of podcasts and did interviews to spread the word.

 

What that all did was generate a massive amount of interest and expectation, so when tickets went on sale at the start of October we sold all 120 tickets in under 48 hours and ended up with over 20 people on a reserve list (always good to have as people WILL pull out due to unforeseen circumstances).

 

We have then continued to work throughout October, November, December and January constantly answering and updating the FAQ, whilst also sourcing trophies that reflect how awesome the event is going to be. This work is going to continue right up until the weekend itself. Then on the Friday of the event we are going to arrive early at Maelstrom to set everything up, check everything is in place and working so all we have to do is show up Saturday morning and start running the event. I would also recommend that for every 20 gamers you have at least someone working and dealing with rules issues, collecting results etc. That is why with 120 gamers we have 6 committee members, all experienced tournament organisers who are used to this size of event.

 

As you can see it is a LOT of hard and sometimes thankless work but you have to be totally committed if you want it to be a success. Is it worth it? Well we don't make any money for ourselves beyond covering travel and accommodation costs, and if you consider the amount of work put in you would have to have a significant profit margin to make it worth while for all those hours of work. BUT it is great fun to run and event, you meat lots of people, make lots of friends, and have a laugh doing it, and hopefully someday you can turn it over to someone else and play yourself.

 

Sorry that this is long winded, and please don't take it as a criticism or me being smug, I am a big tournament player and want to see more events in the UK. BUT I want to see well run, fun and successful events, hence my advice and rambling on.

 

Neil

[antique_nova]

sound advice.

[Bartali]

I think you're rushing things a bit for your first tournament Antique_Nova. Before you start thinking about dates and a venue, I'd get the rules pack sorted out first. I think that's something most players will look to first before commiting to come.