The forums moved on March 1, 2021. Please read this page for more information.

Interested in Tactics Tournament at Who's Yer Con?

53 posts / 0 new
Last post
arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011
Interested in Tactics Tournament at Who's Yer Con?

Please let me know if you would be interested in playing in or helping to run a Sentinel Tactics Tournament at Who's Yer Con in Indianapolis, April 17-19.

 

This would be a small and informal tournament. No cash prize, not streamed, no invite to later tournaments, etc. -- just for fun. 

 

I envision a maxium of eight teams and quite likely only a single elimination tournament. Draft/ban w/ timed play, likely playing on the same map as was used for the inaugural tournament, though that's open to discussion. Running two games at a time w/ single elimination should require no more than four hour-long timeslots.

 

Again, please let me know what your interest will be, and quickly. I'm not looking for firm commitments, just an idea of whether or not I should start pursuing this seriously.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

I'm interested in helping out, if I can be useful, and I'm currently available.


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Pydro
Pydro's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: May 19, 2012

I saw the video. You were great handing out the characters people picked!


Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"

Silverleaf
Silverleaf's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 11 months ago
PlaytesterBolster Allies
Joined: Apr 10, 2013

I've just realised that the con name is a pun!

That's awesome. :)


Just assume I'm always doing that.

Damn it, Ronway!

jffdougan
jffdougan's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 09, 2013

You're forgiven for not getting the pun since you don't have a reason to know the nicknames for all the various US states. :)

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Pydro wrote:

I saw the video. You were great handing out the characters people picked!

Thanks - glad it looked good. There were definitely things that could have gone / I could have done better / differently. Hopefully most of that didn't show and/or wasn't distractingly noticable.


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

dpt
dpt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 06, 2013

I'm interested!

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Rabit wrote:

I'm interested in helping out, if I can be useful, and I'm currently available.

Sweet.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

dpt
dpt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 06, 2013

Oh, I'm also interested in helping organizing/moderating/etc.

Silverleaf
Silverleaf's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 11 months ago
PlaytesterBolster Allies
Joined: Apr 10, 2013

jffdougan wrote:

You're forgiven for not getting the pun since you don't have a reason to know the nicknames for all the various US states. :)

I did know that nickname though, but I hadn't realised the pun because I hadn't said the con name out loud. They look very different in print so it didn't occur to me until I said it in my head. 


Just assume I'm always doing that.

Damn it, Ronway!

dshields
dshields's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Dec 04, 2014

Silverleaf wrote:

 

so it didn't occur to me until I said it in my head. 

 

Are you sure you said it or was it one of the other voices in your head???

Matchstickman
Matchstickman's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Apr 10, 2012

dshields wrote:
Are you sure you said it or was it one of the other voices in your head???

Well I didn't say anything so I guess it must have been Silverleaf.


Stop lurking, it makes you look like a villain target
When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all

Temporary image until an H emoticon is added!

Paul
Paul's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 5 months ago
Admin
Joined: Jul 27, 2011

I would be interested in supplying a set of painted miniatures to be used as a prize for this tournament, as well as official rules and brackets, if you are interested.


“Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” ~Obi-Wan Kenobi

Silverleaf
Silverleaf's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 11 months ago
PlaytesterBolster Allies
Joined: Apr 10, 2013

Matchstickman wrote:
dshields wrote:
Are you sure you said it or was it one of the other voices in your head???

Well I didn't say anything so I guess it must have been Silverleaf.

It could have been the other voice, but I haven't seen her around for ages.


Just assume I'm always doing that.

Damn it, Ronway!

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Paul wrote:

I would be interested in supplying a set of painted miniatures to be used as a prize for this tournament, as well as official rules and brackets, if you are interested.

That would be amazing. I will let you know if/when it becomes a real thing.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

arenson9 wrote:

 

Paul wrote:
I would be interested in supplying a set of painted miniatures to be used as a prize for this tournament, as well as official rules and brackets, if you are interested.

 

That would be amazing. I will let you know if/when it becomes a real thing.

 

Paul, is that offer still good if we do a single elimination tournament rather than double elimnation?


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Russ and others interested in helping organize/run games -- I'd like to get your opinions on how to organize this.

 

For a single elimination tournament with eight teams, running two games at a time, I figure we could do this in four timeslots:

Time 1: Teams A,B,C,D play

Time 2: Teams E,F,G,H play

Time 3: All four winners play in the semi-finals

Time 4: Finalists play

 

I think it would be good to have a team of three organizers for this -- Two people to be judges for each of the concurrent games in each timeslot, and one person to do anything else that needs doing. Could probably get by with two people, if need be. In a pinch I think I might be able to do it by myself.

 

I envision running demos of the game Fri night, looking to drum up interest in the tournament, doing the first three timeslots Sat, then doing the finals on Sun.

 

A double elimination tournament with eight teams, running two games at a time, would require either eight or nine timeslots. 

Time 1: Teams A,B,C,D play

Time 2: Teams E,F,G,H play

Time 3: Two games in secondary bracket

Time 4: Two games in primary bracket -- first two semifinalists determined

Time 5: Two games in secondary bracket -- last two semifinalists determined

Time 6: Two semi-finals game

Time 7: One or two more semi-finals games, if secondary bracket semi-finalists win

Time 8: First finals game

Time 9: Second finals game, if necessary

Time 10: Third finals game, if necessary (note, it's not possible to have games in both Time 7 and Time 10)

 

This seems like too much to try to do for a small group of organizers, but if we went the double-elimination route, I expect we'd do the first five rounds in the afternoon on Sat, the semi-finals in the evening on Sat, and then the finals in the afternoon on Sun.

 


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Sounds great, Andy.

Since we're talking about a free event (as everything at Who's Yer Con is free), I don't see any reason to go double-elimination. It's (mostly) for fun, so folks will be forgiving on that account. Also, if it's a double-elimination event, that will likely turn off folks at a small con like this as it will take up too much time.

I'm assuming there are ways to let folks know this is happening before the con? Maybe drum up some interest before we even get there?


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Paul
Paul's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 5 months ago
Admin
Joined: Jul 27, 2011

The offer totally stands if you do single elim, or round robin, or whatever format works for you.


“Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” ~Obi-Wan Kenobi

TheJayMann
TheJayMann's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 6 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 07, 2011

I'm in.  I need to redeem myself from the first tournament.


Do good, I? No! Evil anon I deliver, I maim nine more hero men in Miami, sanitary sword a-tuck, carol I. Lo! Rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero men in Saginaw. Reviled I, Nona, live on. I do... o, God!

dpt
dpt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 06, 2013

10 time slots does seem pretty excessive. A single-elimination format would be much shorter:

Time 1: Teams A,B,C,D play

Time 2: Teams E,F,G,H play

Time 3: Two semi-final games

Time 4: Finals

That's really much shorter. The two semi-finals could be split up, as well.

 
metlarcturus
metlarcturus's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 2 months ago
Joined: Sep 19, 2013

Is this intended for players who already own sets of Tactics? I would love to get into the game, but I was intending to wait until Gencon to buy it direct from G>G.


"To such simple minds, my advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

metlarcturus wrote:

Is this intended for players who already own sets of Tactics? I would love to get into the game, but I was intending to wait until Gencon to buy it direct from G>G.

Intended for anyone. Hopefully we'd be able to do some demos before the tournament so people could learn the game before playing.

 

I've just returned from 8 days out of town, so don't have any new news, but am looking forward to getting this organized. More to come ...

Russ, idea about advertising the putative tournament noted. Beyond here, through demos at the con, and possibly something the con itself sends out, were you thinking of anything else?


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

arenson9 wrote:

Russ, idea about advertising the putative tournament noted. Beyond here, through demos at the con, and possibly something the con itself sends out, were you thinking of anything else?

Providing info in anything the con is doing around information shared with participants, like their site, con brochure (or whatever), etc.


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

I'm learning more about how Who's Yer Con handles events and event registration. I still plan to get hold of someone and discuss the logistics of a tournament and hopefully some PR for the tournament.

 

In the meantime, I've learned that events are generally scheduled in 90 minute blocks, so I'm thinking of the following schedule and would love to get feedback:

 

Fri: Demo games (presumably Blade scenario 1) at 6pm, 7:30pm, 9pm, and 10:30pm

Sat: Demo games at 10:30 am, maybe noon, and 1:30pm

Sat: First round games at 3pm and 4:30pm, followed by semi-finals at 7:30pm (leaves time for dinner)

Sun: Finals at 10:30am

 

That's a LOT of slots for demo games. Not sure we'd get that much interest or have enough people to cover them all. 

Also not sure about whether or not to push the finals to Sun or not. Might be good to do the whole tournament on Sat. Alternate schedule might be to have first round games at 1:30 and 3pm, semis at 4:30, break for dinner, than have finals at 7:30pm. I'm just concerned that if we start the tournament too early on Sat we'll miss a fair bet of potential players who only show up on Sat.

 

Thoughts?


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Pydro
Pydro's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: May 19, 2012

If you plan on demoing for the tourney, would it be better to demo a skirmish than a scenario?


Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Paul, we're definitely going to do this. Please send me any and all materials/prizes. Should I expect one or both of the painted mini pacs? It only matters because I'd like to advertise the retail value of the prize.

 

dpt, please send me an email at and we can start coordinating who will do what.

 

Pydro, agreed on skirmishes rather than Blade scenario, particularly after hearing that that's how it's been done at the more recent cons.

 

Russ (or others), any comment on whether to do the whole tournament Sat versus have the finals on Sun? I'm leaning towards getting it all done on Sat.

 

 


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

The Who's Yer Con 2015 Sentinel Tactics Tournament schedule is set. Event registration is not yet open. When it is, I will post a link for how to do so.

http://whosyergamers.org/wyc.php

 

Eight team, single-elimination tournament. Prize for Champion: Set of 36 painted miniatures

First Rounds: Sat, Apr 18th 1:30 and 3pm

Semi-Finals: Sat 4:30pm

Finals: Sat 7:30pm

 

We will also be running demo games Fri night and Sat morning.

If you are interested in helping, please let me know. 


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

metlarcturus
metlarcturus's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 2 months ago
Joined: Sep 19, 2013

So, I would need to find two team mates to compete?


"To such simple minds, my advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

metlarcturus wrote:

So, I would need to find two team mates to compete?

Ideally, but if you don't, we'll try to match you with other competitors.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Event registration is open.

http://whosyergamers.org/wyc.php

 

You need to first create an account, then log in, then click on the 'Registered' green button to access a pull down menu that has an option for registering for events. If anyone has trouble doing this, please let me know.

 

We have judges and a couple assistants lined up but could still use an assistant for Fri night/Sat morning. I'd rather you played than assisted if you're interested in both.

 

MORAL SUPPORT is also appreciated! If you're going to be at the con, please come by and say hello.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

So far there are four (out of 60) people signed up for demos and two (out of 24) signed up for the tournament. I won't be too surprised if registration is light. I expect to coral people into the demos and then, when that gets them excited they'll sign up for the tournament.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

metlarcturus
metlarcturus's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 2 months ago
Joined: Sep 19, 2013

I know that when I went to WYC, I didn't end up registering for any events; I just showed up and joined whatever looked fun. That's actually where I played SotM for the first time! I registered for the Tactics tournament, but I'll probably be hanging out by the demos quite a bit as well.


"To such simple minds, my advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

tarsonas
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jul 06, 2013

Why do I have to live so far from all the good cons. I never get any cool stuff or get to compete. 

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Friendly reminder that this tournament is occuring:

 

Who's Yer Con 2015 (admission is free, though a $25 membership in the nonprofit Who's Yer Gamers will be solicited)

Indiananapolis, April 17-19

Demos Fri night and Sat morning. Tournament is Sat afternoon and evening. Winning team gets a set of 36 painted minis donated from Greater Than Games.

 

http://whosyergamers.org/wyc.php

 

 

Anyone planning on playing?


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

metlarcturus wrote:

I know that when I went to WYC, I didn't end up registering for any events; I just showed up and joined whatever looked fun. That's actually where I played SotM for the first time! I registered for the Tactics tournament, but I'll probably be hanging out by the demos quite a bit as well.

Looking forward to meeting you in person! If you're interested in helping out, it would be great if you encouraged attendees you see to play a demo and sign up for the tournament. No hard sell or anything, but if you see people looking for a game to play, maybe encourage them to try a demo, and if you see people watching a demo being run, maybe encourage them to sign up for a demo or even try signing up for the tournament.

 

We're running demos on Fri at 6, 7:30, and 9pm and on Sat at 9am and 10:30am.

Tournament 1st round is Sat at 1:30pm and 3pm. Semis are at 4:30pm. Finals are at 7:30pm.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Just saw that Who's Yer Con is going to have a bunch of cool, new things: two free TRUE DUNGEON rooms, a dedicated Artemis room, and a some non-gaming related events (crafts, yoga, etc.)


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Just a couple days away now. Anyone who's at the con, we would love to have your help encouraging people to play the demos Fri night and Sat morning and to play in the tournament Sat afternoon.

 

We will be in the room closest to the front door, if I understand the map I've seen properly.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

We had capacity for 36 players in our demos tonight, and ended up with 18 individuals across 4 games. A couple people played more than once. Fewer people than I would have liked, but more than I feared. I'll be surprised if we get more than four teams tomorrow.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Doing demos at 9am and 10:30am tomorrow. Kinda doubt there will be many early risers, but we'll see.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

arenson9 wrote:

We had capacity for 36 players in our demos tonight, and ended up with 18 individuals across 4 games. A couple people played more than once. Fewer people than I would have liked, but more than I feared. I'll be surprised if we get more than four teams tomorrow.

I was pleasantly surprised, actually. Given the location (it's virtually impossible to just find folks and talk to them about it), I feared (as did you) that we'd see far fewer. It turned out to be about what I hoped: We had at least one game running at all times.


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Glad to hear you are having a decent turn out.   


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
metlarcturus
metlarcturus's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 2 months ago
Joined: Sep 19, 2013

Well, despite not being able to muster enough players for a full 8-team bracket, the WYC tourney went off quite well! A number of folks who participated in the demos had already scheduled themselves out of the tournament, but the first round of play saw two 2-player teams pitted against two 3-player teams. 

In the first battle, Team Serenity used Baron Blade, Beacon, and Bunker, while Team Hawaiian Wolverine picked Ambuscade, the Wraith, and the Operative. The Operative dashed forward to poison Beacon, but got blitzed by a Fission Blaster shot and went down fast.  Despite some brutal melee attacks from the revived Operative, Team Wolverine couldn't bring their strengths into play effectively and lost 2-3 after 35 minutes. 

At the other table, Team Overwhelming Force used a Dawn/Summer combo to put down their opponents, hunting down Ra for the third incap near the time limit. 

During the second time slot of the preliminary round, one player battled through a demo game and was allowed to join the 2-man Team Serenity for the final match. 

In the final, Team Serenity won the toss and chose first pick. Tachyon and Baron Blade were banned. Serenity picked Citizen Dawn, Bunker, and Ra,  while Overwhelming Force took Legacy, Beacon, and the Wraith. 

The game started slow, with Serenity assuming positions around Citizen Truth while Overwhelming Force built up tokens. Poor rolls by the Wraith badly hindered attempts to bring Truth down; two crushing attacks by Paul and Pauline finally incapped him, but the damage had been done. Overwhelming Force's tokens had been spent, and Serenity had time to launch several waves of heavy attacks without reprisal. 

Overwhelming Force brought the fight to close quarters and scored, but Citizens Hack & Slash incapped Legacy for Serenity's final point about 10 minutes before the round's end. 

Many thanks to arenson9 and Rabit for hosting the demo games and tournament this weekend,  as well as donating prizes for the two finalist teams! I hope we can bring similar events to other small cons in the future. Also a big thanks to GtG, who donated a set of painted minis for the first place team! The Ra player who received the minis immediately headed to the dealer hall to pick up Flame of Freedom and Uprising. 

 


"To such simple minds, my advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

Silverleaf
Silverleaf's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 11 months ago
PlaytesterBolster Allies
Joined: Apr 10, 2013

Sounds exciting! Nice work, guys!


Just assume I'm always doing that.

Damn it, Ronway!

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Thanks for the write-up, metlarcturus! I was really great to meet you.

We had a fun time and I'm glad you did, also. 

I also want to thank GtG for donating the minis. That was really awesome of them!


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Thanks for that great writeup, metlarcturus!

 

Thanks again to GtG for providing the painted minis. I think having a really great prize like that really focused the competition. Thanks, too, to Rabit for providing the unpainted minis as a prize.

 

I didn't get a final number on how many people participated in demo games. We had scheduled events in the morning and Rabit ran a few more more on Saturday. I'd guess the total over the two days was about thirty people. As mentioned above we had 11 people for the tournament in four teams. Since we were doing single elimination, that meant just three games -- two first round games with the winners meeting for the final.

 

Game 1: Serenity vs. Team Hawaiian Wolverine -- Not sure who won the coin toss

  • First Ban (Team Hawaiian Wolverine): Citizen Dawn
  • Second Ban: Tachyon
  • First Draft (Serenity): Baron Blade, Bunker, Beacon
  • Second Draft: Ambuscade, Wraith, Operative
  • Winner: Serenity, 3-2

 

Game 2: Earth, Wind, and Fire vs. Overwhelming Force -- If I remember correctly, Overwhelming Force won the coin toss and chose to draft first

  • First Ban (Earth, Wind, and Fire): Tachyon
  • Second Ban: Baron Blade
  • First Draft (Overwhelming Force): Citizen Dawn, Legacy, Unity
  • Second Draft: Bunker, Wraith, Ra
  • Winner: Overwhelming Force, (Not sure, but I think 3-2)

 

Finals: Serenity vs Overwhelming Force -- If I remember correctly, Serenity won the coin toss and chose to draft first

  • First Ban (Overwhelming Force): Tachyon
  • Second Ban: Baron Blade
  • First Draft (Serenity): Citizen Dawn, Bunker, Ra
  • Second Draft: Legacy, Beacon, Wraith
  • Winner: Serenity, (Not sure, but I think 3-1)

 

Stats

  • Banned Characters: (3 times) Tachyon; (2 times) Baron Blade; (1 time) Citizen Dawn
  • Drafted Characters: (3 times) Wraith, Bunker; (2 times) Citizen Dawn, Bunker, Legacy, Ra, Beacon; (1 time) Unity, Baron Blade, Ambuscade, Operative
  • Total bans & drafts: (3 times) Tachyon, Baron Blade, Citizen Dawn, Wraith, Bunker; (2 times) Legacy, Ra, Beacon; (1 time) Unity, Ambuscade, Operative; (0 times) Absolute Zero, Omnitron, Proletariat, Visionary
  • Note: The first three characters banned or drafted in every match were Tachyon, Baron Blade, and Citizen Dawn

 

Weighted Picks. This is a measure of how early in the ban/draft each character is taken. The first ban is worth 8 points. The second ban is worth 7 points. This continues until the last pick, which is worth 1 point. Here are the average weights across the three matches:

  • Tachyon: 7.67
  • Baron Blade: 6.67
  • Citizen Dawn: 6.67
  • Bunker: 4.33
  • Legacy: 3.00
  • Wraith: 2.33
  • Beacon: 1.67
  • Ambuscade; 1.67
  • Ra: 1.00
  • Unity: 0.67
  • Operative: 0.33
  • Absolutze Zero: 0.00
  • Omnitron: 0.00
  • Proletariat: 0.00
  • Visionary: 0.00

 


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

arenson9
arenson9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Some reflections on organizing the demos and tournament:

 

I arrived hours early on Friday to get oriented and make sure the setup of tables and chairs would work. Sure glad I did. I'd asked for three tables and 16 chairs. What I got was three SETs of three tables and 16 chairs. Each set was arranged with the three tables pushed together to make one massive square with the 16 chairs around it. While ridiculous looking, I'd certainly rather have more than we need than less. Once we got rid of the excess, we were left with a comfortably large space, electing to keep a fourth table. This allowed us to have a 'support' table for each game table. That was particularly helpful during the tournament games as we could array all of the character panels, cards, and minis for a game on their own table.

 

Who's Yer Con continues to grow every year and this year they'd outgrown the previous hotel and moved into a larger one. Unfortunately, unlike past years, all of the gaming wasn't down the same hall. We ended up, sadly, away from a lot of the other action and, in particular, away from the open gaming area, the game library, and the dealer hall. This meant very little foot traffic and greatly reduced abilities to find people looking for a game to invite into the demos. Even so we were able to find a few people. We had a number of demo games that went from being a single person to being five or six because we were able to encourage some people to play. I was also quite pleased to see a number of people show up from having found Sentinel Tactics in the program.

 

Our games were allocated to one of the smaller rooms, so we took up about a third of the space in there. I'm not sure if that was a blessing or a curse. From a sound standpoint we were often doing quite well, but we occassionally were competing with a Pandemic tournament or other games that got very loud. Unfortunately, the loudest times corresponded to some of our tournament time.

 

Since I knew we could only judge two games at a time, I'd scheduled two Round 1 events -- one at 1:30 on Saturday and the other at 3 on Saturday. Since we had ten people come to the first event and only one to the second, it's tempting to conclude that the best way to handle this would have been to find a way to make sure we knew before the tournament started exactly how many people wanted to play, so we could organize teams and first round events all at once. Doing so, though, causes some problems. If we say that round 1 is from 1:30-4:30, there may well be people who think that a game will last that long, or unable to commit all of that time. Still, I think it would have been better to have found some way to determine all of the teams before announcing the first round games.

 

I also wonder if we should have maybe called an audible, given that we only had four teams, and changed the tournament to a round robin or double-elimination tournament. We couldn't really do that during the first round 1 timeslot because we didn't know how many people would show up for the second one. Not sure whether or not it would have occured to me to do so if we'd determined we only had four teams total. Also not sure Rabit and I had the energy and motivation after all those demo games to run more tournament games than we needed to.

 

I found, to my annoyance, that after I'd judged a game I had virtually no idea of what had actually happened in the game! I'd been so focused moment to moment on making sure that all of the rules were being followed that I hadn't been tracking any of the drama or story of the match! That's why I can't recall for the stats above who won the coin toss, for instance. Frankly, I'm not actually sure what the final scores were -- even for the games I judged. The results above are pretty confident guesses, but guesses nonetheless. We kept a list of which characters were banned and drafted, but not who won the coin toss and not what the final score was.

 

For this tournament, we used copies of the tournament map from the inaugural tournament last year at the GtG warehouse. Rabit and I had attended that and GtG had graciously allowed us to take a map each, since they weren't planning to use them again. We used gaffer's tape to secure them to the tableclothes on the game tables. Sadly, when that tape came off they ripped up the edges of the map. Rabit's fared better -- he used less tape and carefully folded the tape under the map rather than ripping it off. I could probably still use my map, I'd just need to be careful to tape offer all the discolored sections if I didn't want it to look ugly.

 

Rabit brought a whiteboard and easel with him on the second day and set that up outside our room with a message that we were doing Sentinel Tactics demos and a tournament. That helped attract a few people. 

 

If you're running a tournament, I'd recommend  preparing the following in advance:

  • A signup sheet with spots for team name and each player's name
  • A bracket and/or round robin sheet where you can record who is playing whom and what the results are
  • A stats sheet where you can record who was banned and picked (and who won the coin toss!)

 

We found that instead of using a coin toss we liked rolling a die to see who would get the choice of first ban/first draft. For one thing you don't have to figure out which of the teams gets to make the call on the coin flip. For another, this is a dice game. Use dice!

 

If you can swing it, I highly recommend having at least one assistant to help out the people judging. We didn't NEED one, but it would have been nice to have someone else who could encourage people to play demos, find a pen when the ink ran out, help clean up/set up games, take stats during a game, etc. We'd tried to arrange that for this tournament, but were foiled by a whole variety of circumstances. 

 

Whew. Glad I did it, but also glad to have some time to decompress today.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

TheJayMann
TheJayMann's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 6 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 07, 2011

I'm not sure how, but, apparently out team ended up being called Team Hawaiian Wolverine.


Do good, I? No! Evil anon I deliver, I maim nine more hero men in Miami, sanitary sword a-tuck, carol I. Lo! Rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero men in Saginaw. Reviled I, Nona, live on. I do... o, God!

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

TheJayMann wrote:

I'm not sure how, but, apparently out team ended up being called Team Hawaiian Wolverine.

By the time I realized Andy hadn't gotten a team name for you, I couldn't find any of you to ask for a name, so I left it blank. I don't know where that one came from, though...


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

metlarcturus
metlarcturus's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 2 months ago
Joined: Sep 19, 2013

One of your team members was wearing a Hawaiian - type shirt with Wolverine on it that day, and I didn't want to just call you guys "that other team."  What would you have called yourselves? 


"To such simple minds, my advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

TheJayMann
TheJayMann's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 6 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 07, 2011

I'm not sure what we would go with. I don't think there is any problem with that name, just thought it weird that suddenly we had a name. However, I'm now going to have to call my friend the Hawaiian Wolverine Guy.


Do good, I? No! Evil anon I deliver, I maim nine more hero men in Miami, sanitary sword a-tuck, carol I. Lo! Rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero men in Saginaw. Reviled I, Nona, live on. I do... o, God!

Pages