Adepticon 2014 Recap

What a whirlwind of a week it's been! This was my first Adepticon, and I had an absolute blast. There was so much to see and do, I hardly know where to start.

Calm before the Warp Storm.

 I played Necromunda, Lord of the Rings, and Saga- one each day. It seemed like a bit of a leisurely pace, but it wasn't exactly. I was pretty disappointed that the event didn't really take off until Friday. I had left most of Thursday open to do demos and spend all my money, but neither really got started until Thursday night- right when I had to get to Necromunda.

My favorite terrain all weekend.

 I had a lot of fun with each of my tournaments but Saga was definitely the most fun. I had four really fun games and they were all laid back. I lost three and won one. I always enjoy playing new people. I got a lot of nice comments about my Bretons, too. Apparently, they aren't a very popular army so people were excited to play them and see how they work. More specifically about my games will come in another post.

I did two seminars, they were all I could manage before they all filled up! I took an Object Source Lighting class done by Victoria Lamb. She was fantastic. We started off with some images of some miniatures featuring OSL and a bit of the theory and technique behind it. Then we each got a mini and got to try it out for ourselves. If it hadn't started at 10pm, I think I might have gotten more out of it, but now I know better for next year.

Sunday was my "chill" day, all I did was ogle the Crystal Brush entries, take a Photographing Minis seminar with Thomas Wynn, and try some demos. The seminar was great, just a few of us, and I learned a lot about how to take better pictures (and how to do it cheap).


Over the weekend, I demoed a ton of games, including Deep Wars (which I spent a bunch of money on), Wreck Age, and Wild West Exodus. Deep Wars came out as my #1 favorite. I loved just about everything about it- but I was especially drawn to the setting. Underwater game? SOLD. I picked up some blisters for the game at the event and Casey just ordered one of each faction and the rulebook for us.

The swag bags were nice- I got the "full" swag bag, whereas Casey only got the partial. Apparently, only the first 1,000 people to buy their weekend badge got the full deal. The two best parts of it were the special Adepticon mini done by Victoria Miniatures and the Wild West Exodus mercenary figure. I actually made it a point to go over to the Wild West Exodus booth specifically because I was so impressed with that figure.

I got exposed to so many new and exciting things that an amazing thing has happened- no hobby burn out! Usually after a big even like this, I want nothing to do with miniatures for two weeks at least. Instead, I feel invigorated. So far, I've put together all my Deep Wars figures, assembled most of a box of Terradon Riders, and started putting together my Fulgrim. So productive!

Driving the 12 hours there and back again wasn't as bad as I expected. It was nice getting that extra hour on the way in (from the time zone change) although I think it was more hurtful on the way back. I'm still not back into my normal sleep routine. I'd certainly do a few things differently next year (like staying at the Westin) but driving was definitely the right call. We saved a lot of money, which we then could (and did) spend on minis.

I came home with so much loot. I can't believe we could still fit everything in the car. In addition to Deep Wars and the swag bag, I also hit up Forgeworld for Calas Typhon and the event-only Davinte Lodge Priest models. I also ended up with a half price Mumak (score!) and tons of random minis.

This was by far my favorite event that I've been to so far. It has a lot of elements to it that I've felt NOVA has been lacking, though they are running demos this year. When tickets go for sale for next year's Adepticon, I will definitely consider going again.