I present to you, our Team after the event, the Last minute men!
How was it?
So, the WTC for this year is over, as the saying goes, „after the event is before the event“ so, i am already working on my List for the 2024 Edition.
Not that i do not like Orgoth, but to be honest, i got my core boxes from the very first Production run, and those where so brittle, 3 models broke just by regular handling, so i am not to keen to take them out for a long Journey, plus event, again.
But no need to worry, the newer batches are far better in quality, the problems of the first Batch are a problem of the past.
now lets Talk the event itself:
The Venue:
I have to say, the Venue itself was quite nice, having the Hotel and the gaming Area in the same Building was very nice, especially because the Weather was rather bad during the first Days. so being able to stay inside all the time, was appreciated.
The Gaming hall itself was large enough to accommodate all Tables, with enough free space to the sides, to store the Bags / Cases for minis.
Given there was a Bar right next to the hall, it was easy to grab some snacks and refreshments over the day.
I have to especially appreciate that the service Team did clean up the tables regularly, so no collections of empty glasses or bottles gathering dust.
The Hall Itself had 3 big Screens opposite of the entrance, which showed different impressions of the Hall, or, when new rounds started, projected the Mission at hand, which was very nice.
I think it would have been interesting, if we could have gotten impressions from especially outstanding games on those, so the players could have watched games from the top tables while waiting. But that is really a minor thing.
About the Hotel rooms, i cant really say much, as i was in the neighboring Hotel, for the one Night i stayed.
The Food:
I would like to give this a special mention, even thought i only took 3 meals (Saturday Dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch)
Personally, and this topic is very much a subjective one, if there ever was one, i was not impressed. It was not bad, but i for sure will not miss it either. Dinner was basically bread and a rather small selection of cheese and salmon, and while the quality was not to bad, for me, it was missing the mark by a mile, i am just used to a more „meaty“ diet. But again, personal taste.
Breakfast was a way better selection, and i have to sa, the coffee was really good.
Lunch on Sunday, was…. strange for me, to say the least, different (cold) bowls, either with chicken, shrimps, or vegan, which is, as selection, absolutely fine, Lunch being cold was, confusing, especially given that it was more like a salad with some chicken on top.
Breakfast was a way better selection, and i have to sa, the coffee was really good.
Lunch on Sunday, was…. strange for me, to say the least, different (cold) bowls, either with chicken, shrimps, or vegan, which is, as selection, absolutely fine, Lunch being cold was, confusing, especially given that it was more like a salad with some chicken on top.
All in all, i would definitely not come back for the (included) food.
Bonus Mention:
One thing which really stood out for me, was the direct, in House connection to the Airport.
It was possible, to just walk from the venue into the Airport, plus, there was technically a SPA in the Hotel(s), which sadly was only open during the gaming Hours, so i missed that one.
The Tables:
The tables had been the classic 2D Terrain Warmachine players have known and used for many years now.
I Admit, from an pure Audience perspective, 3D Terrain would most likely look better and leave a more lasting impression.
Yet, from a gameplay perspective, 2D is the better Pick, especially when you add that there is always a clock running, measring over / Trought
3D Terrain would just cost a lot of time and get inaccurate quite fast. Beside, the Terrain did fit the Tables quite well, so the overall look was still good.
The Matches:
Ok, lets get to the games, shall we? I wont do a Batrep, as i missed on the opportunity to take Pictures, and, at the end of the day, i basically played one full game.
The thing is, given i was, weather related quite late (i arrived in time for the last game day 1), and i was extremely tired, it basically went like this:
I Arrived at the table.
Sorted Myself.
Picked my Kishtaar List.
Set it up like i would have my Horrushk list.
Lost super quickly after, because with that setup, the List was nearly unplayable and i was more asleep than anything else.
But hey, it happens! And i got to trade Shirts with my First WTC Opponent ever, which is something by itself!
Sunday, games 2 and 3.
Game two, i got paired into an bye, our opponents Team was 2 players down, due to health / personal reasons,
i have to admit, i did feel a bit sorry about it.
Game 3 we went against one of the German teams, with awesome Team Togas, Team A38, which was a reference to some Asterix comic,
i liked it a lot.
One of the must hilarious moments for me, was when their Team discussed plans in German, in earshot of me, until one of them realized, that i
did understand them quite well, guess it happens, right?
I got matched into their Retribution player, surprise, he did bring his Thyron list for the Match.
I played Kishtarr against it, and the game did bring up some interesting Situations, even if it was very clear, that it would end as a loss, i tried to at least score, and maybe, even if only by dumb luck, find a way to win.
My opponent even said hes sorry about how the Match went, or better, how hard it was to play into Thyrus.
Yet, as much as i appreciated it as a gesture, i think, pulling punches during tournaments is not really in the spirit of the event (one of the reasons why i never do take backs, or „go back and do X because i forgot“ during tournaments, remembering things you need to do and executing things in order, is part of the hobby Skill set, if i forget, or miss something, that’s a simple lack of skill with the army on my part, and it is fine.)
It should be mentioned, that during this game, i at least could pull off my „And then i started blasting anyway“ plan.
Basically, i had to go second, which is for Orgoth, especially my Kishtaar List, a bit of a problem (it is not an „auto loss“ i just makes things vers tricky) The thing is, my Jacks got jammed up by Elves turn 2, i can tell you, its a mess to get all the elvish parts out of the joints… really you find pieces of them weeks after the battle, stuck in the strangest places… ok, back to the topic right?
So turn 2 my only real option was to pull the Feat, try to remove as much of the infantry jamming up the Jacks, so i could free them to fire at the second wave.
The thing is, it worked okay ish, i could not clear enough sadly, so lost Top of 3 by scenario, still, the Match, and this turn especially, proved to be very interesting, and kinda intense, or in short, a nice experience, and a very cool Match!
The Community
I have to start with, my experience with the warmachine community is a positive one from the word go, i wrote a bit how i got into it in my Journeyman travel Diary, if you are interested. In general, the community is welcoming, trying to get you into the game at your pace, nobody really minds playing low point intro games, or helping you out with deployment questions or tactical tips. Fun games tend to be exactly that, playing for the sake of playing, and while i often got told, how my opponent could have beaten me already, (in a tutoring way, not in an „i am way better than you“ way) he just played different moves, so we could go on for a turn or two more.
But that aside, the Community at the WTC was awesome ! Everybody was nice, helpful, and it felt like i was a part of the event really, not some guy „ho got drafted late and nobody cared about“.
The tone during the event, and during the games, was always positive and productive, with short game reviews an suggestions what to do differently in the future (so, the best kind of feedback) and gifts where given plenty between teams (beside i got to trade one of my team shirts with the first person i played at the WTC, which makes it a really cool takeaway from the whole show).
All in all, i can only say, if you like cool people to share hobby time with, give the Warmachine community a try! After all, you get to play an awesome game on top!
The Organisation
Ok, first things first, take my opinion here with a grain of salt. Or better, two.
Yes, i do have event and project organization experience, but not at this magnitude, so my view is very much subjective, without any real idea how easy it is to miss some things, as usually critique comes easy, right?
Lets start with the positive things, payment and payment processing for everything was easy and smooth, which is already something.
Most information’s where rather easy to access, the play area was well prepared, so far so good.
What i would have wished for:
An more accurate idea about what „Advanced painting standard“ means, here we had the problem, the Tournament player pack referred to another document, which does not include anything about „Advanced painting standards“, so it was kinda an gambit on my side, what would go, or not go, as „Advanced“.
An earlier note about room distribution, basically, i got an mail in the week leading to the WTC, that we get more information about room distribution later the week.
I never got any Information about which room i would have.
On the first day (Friday) my team informed me, that i would share a room with another team member, good thing.
Later the Hotel figured out, there was an error, and seemingly i was supposed to share rooms with an member of an different team,
finally, as far as i could follow, i was supposed to end up in one of the 8 bed rooms.
Not knowing anything about accommodation, beside „This hotel“ in advance, is not really a good way to start into such an event.
The terrain pack.
Basically the most confusing thing about the event, was the terrain.
i got 3 explanations about what the „Ruined houses“ where supposed to be, switching between „houses“ to „Hills“ and ending up as „Rubble“
The „Revised terrain pack“ Document was mentioned during the last game of the event.
I would not say, that the terrain confusion did lead to any of my losses, for sure not! It just creates an awkward feeling, when you, during an event
of „World class level“ have to guess about what the terrain is supposed to be.
Although at the end of the day, the positives outweighed the negatives by far!
So, lets look forward to the next WTC! 2024, held in Germany, Düsseldorf!
