At the end of the day Adepticon offers an opportunity for a gaming experience unlike any other. Guys who go every year or live in larger cities with many large events every year with a large player base don’t have an appreciation for how lucky they are. The largest tournament I had been to was only twenty six people, the best I ever placed in a tournament was second. The large majority of us play consistently in smaller venues with a much smaller crowd of local players we consistently see. Adepticon brings in a huge crowd of players with tons of different ability levels, you will see guys who flew in from Sweden and play on the Swedish ETC team, guys with multiple other Grand Tournament wins and even local guys who come because it’s right down the road.
This setting will quickly show you that there really is a very large talent pond out there and more likely than not, you are a small fish in that pond. If you are planning on playing in the GT you need to build an all comers list that is very balanced. Putting together a list that does very well against your 'local meta' will not suit you well. Remember that you are playing on a national level and there will be almost every conceivable meta represented there. Guys that do well here will generally do well anywhere. Bringing your mechanized Eldar because they really tear up the guy down the street probably won't get you very far. So read blogs and check out army lists on other forums, see what works for other people and develop a list that suits you while still maintaining flexibility.
Adepticon is basically a giant gaming buffet, you will find something there to suit any taste. The grand tournament, iron arena, game demos in the hall and even card games are all going on simultaneously. There are even classes and seminars occurring throughout the day. Throw in vendor hall and cool mini or not displays for the crystal brush and you have the gamer equivalent of sensory overload. The best advice is to take it all in with small bites. Pick one or two events you are really interested in and go to those. Leave time open on your schedule to walk around and gawk at things. Believe me, you will appreciate the time to just peruse the vendor hall and see what other great mini's are out there or venture into the land of Warmachine to see what great displays they have going.
I would absolutely suggest that anyone who has the means to get to Adepticon do so. It will open your eyes to a very large world of gaming outside the local scene that you are used to. Another thing it will do is give you ideas to bring back and make your own gaming scene even better. Terrain ideas, mission formats, displays and scoring techniques that can all be integrated in one way or another into your local scene. In biological terms this could be referred to as 'cross pollination' - bringing little tidbits of local scenes from across the country and exposing them to each other and seeing what pops out.
Great stuff.
still practicing_
Tallarn
This setting will quickly show you that there really is a very large talent pond out there and more likely than not, you are a small fish in that pond. If you are planning on playing in the GT you need to build an all comers list that is very balanced. Putting together a list that does very well against your 'local meta' will not suit you well. Remember that you are playing on a national level and there will be almost every conceivable meta represented there. Guys that do well here will generally do well anywhere. Bringing your mechanized Eldar because they really tear up the guy down the street probably won't get you very far. So read blogs and check out army lists on other forums, see what works for other people and develop a list that suits you while still maintaining flexibility.
Adepticon is basically a giant gaming buffet, you will find something there to suit any taste. The grand tournament, iron arena, game demos in the hall and even card games are all going on simultaneously. There are even classes and seminars occurring throughout the day. Throw in vendor hall and cool mini or not displays for the crystal brush and you have the gamer equivalent of sensory overload. The best advice is to take it all in with small bites. Pick one or two events you are really interested in and go to those. Leave time open on your schedule to walk around and gawk at things. Believe me, you will appreciate the time to just peruse the vendor hall and see what other great mini's are out there or venture into the land of Warmachine to see what great displays they have going.
I would absolutely suggest that anyone who has the means to get to Adepticon do so. It will open your eyes to a very large world of gaming outside the local scene that you are used to. Another thing it will do is give you ideas to bring back and make your own gaming scene even better. Terrain ideas, mission formats, displays and scoring techniques that can all be integrated in one way or another into your local scene. In biological terms this could be referred to as 'cross pollination' - bringing little tidbits of local scenes from across the country and exposing them to each other and seeing what pops out.
Great stuff.
still practicing_
Tallarn