Adepticon 2017. I went, and this is what happened to me

JEM wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: Great report! This is front page material!

I swore off the tape measure too but I realized that I don't mind AS LONG AS everyone is casual about it. When you get folks upset over 1/16th of an inch differences...when I play with folks now, I'm upfront about it- "I'm very loose about measurement so let me know if that is a problem". When we play at home, it's a lot of "close enough".

I snapped the aerial off one of my ork buggies in a game once because my opponent claimed his las-cannon could see it behind cover. People looked for original Rhinos because they were low riders.

The predominance of this kind if shit is why I said "fuck it" to 40k. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.

The reason I won't ever play 40K anymore was due to them releasing the GW brand laser pointer, so you could prove you could see that tiny bit of a miniature poking out.

In the 40k games at my FLGS, I have yet to see anyone question any LOS or measurement of an opposing player. The player checking LOS or measurement has always been the active player and I have yet to see any shenanigans regarding exact distance or LOS arguments. It's pretty loose even during the tournaments with prize support, when there is actually something on the line.

There apparently have been contentious games at the FLGS, but I have not seen them. One of the recent Kill Team tournaments had a disclaimer at the beginning (caused by some blowout argument the week before during the league) that we were playing with small dolls that we decorate and should just calm down. Neither player involved in the argument was in attendance, though many people commented that one of the involved players has that type of reputation so they were not surprised about the incident.

Yep, same here. I'd put 40k minis on hex/grid board any time. But measurement tape can go to hell. Back in the day, range guestimation was also a "skill", fuck that too. And then that cannon rules...

I love bunch of dice though.

Oh, I've seen some knock-down, drag-outs over LOS and range. I had this 45-50 year old woman just about flip the table over a dispute targeting a Chaos Defiler. She could see, quite comically, part of a spike and insisted that was LOS. Myself and the outrider we had at the time said no go. She actually threatened to sue the store. Grabbed all of her shit (Eldar, FWIW) and stormed out. We laughed for quite a while over that.

I also had a kid, maybe 15 or 16, that had shall we say a loose interpretation of what means to not bump models around or pick them up in the middle of a game to "check something"...I thought these two other guys were going to take him out back and beat him.

And of course, I've seen tournaments grind to a halt as players flip furiously through rule books, codices and FAQs to win an argument.

Ugh. Talk about fun murder!

I'll say this about the gw hobby, in their defense.

When you invest so much time/money/effort in playing a game, its hard not to take it more.serious than you should.

That said, these are fucking dollies. That you are playing around on a table full of Dollie houses. Making pew pew noises in the land of make believe.

This is why I so utterly appreciated the ethos behind flipping over whfb into AoS and just giving you a few rules while saying "play what you think is cool" because if your opponent brings stupid WAAC crap to the table, its time to find new opponents. Or a new fucking hobby.

The 40k rules don't help this since there is so much to grok nowadays in order to play. Yet most dont realize how utterly shit the system is compared to other designs. So they stick it out, defending blatant tripe.

I love me some 40k dollies and background, but haven't touched it in nearly 8 years and am glad for it.

I have zero desire to play a miniatures game with strangers. Not a chance in hell.

hotseatgames wrote: I have zero desire to play a miniatures game with strangers. Not a chance in hell.

Same, with the one notable exception being Heroscape. I live 15 minutes from Schaumburg though, and I have some favorite restaurants there. If anyone comes next year and wants to eat and then throw down a few games, I'm interested. Superfly came up for Adepticon one year and we got some steaks (his choice and buy) and then we played Space Hulk. Last year, or maybe the year before, I took a friend to Yu's Mandarin, one of my favorite chinese restaurants outside of chinatown in the city.

Jexik,
It's certainly not for everyone, but I did go to the Weber Grill. I was tired, I saw the larger-than-life grill outside, and thought, "They'll give me a discount because I'm a proud Weber Grill owner."

They did not.

However, they did give me a tour of their grill station and one of the best burgers I've ever devoured.

You east coasters and your fancy conventions!

FRIDAY
A day with DreadBall. Five rounds. 9am - 5pm, with an hour lunch. I fielded a well tested DIY 'Frankenstein' team called the Mutants. My league has done very well with this faction. I've taken my licks from them before, and I've dealt a few myself. I won my regional with the team, and I thought it was only proper to have them compete in the finals.
My first match was my most dreaded. It's like the TO knew this too. He paired me against a friend with a tough-as-nails team, the Convicts. Essentially, tough prisoners with shock collars. Those fucking collars can explode, taking players off the pitch. I had strategies against most teams, but the convicts are another beast all together. I was so spooked by this possibility, I asked two league members to help me practice over the previous month. I worked on tactics if given the worst case scenario. Sure enough, I was dealt the worse scenario. And it paid off! I won a hard match agains these lawbreakers.
Matches 2-5 were close and nail biting and nerve wracking. And I won them all.
I know you'll all sleep better tonight having read this: I'm your 2017 North American DreadBall champ.
I won a cool medal, an even cooler dugout, and some swag from Mantic.

You should put your title in your signature, because it is awesome. You are the King of North America, over this one specific kingdom. THE BEST IN A NATION OF 300 MILLION PEOPLE.

Also, that shock collar thing makes me want to play Dreadball.