Gripping Beast, the makers of Saga, have sponsored some Grand Melees across the pond, but this was the first one in the States. They gave all players a really cool tournament blister pack that included a special Warlord figure, event-exclusive fatigue markers, and a special kite-shield decal.We also received an incredibly swanky event shirt and event pub glass, which they even filled with beer for us. What's not to love?
I opted to take Casey's Vikings instead of my own Bretons for purely practical reasons- they're a much smaller army. His 6 points of Vikings takes up about a quarter of the space my fully mounted Breton army does. I'm sorry my boys had to stay home, but because I flew out to Chicago, space was a serious issue.
It also wasn't heart breaking because I've fallen out of love with my Bretons. I never really got into their play-style. Now with the changes in Crescent and Cross to mounted figures, they take a fatigue if they end their move in terrain, they're even less appealing. Several scenarios are terrain-related, and they can't go into buildings either, so it's just not an ideal tournament army.
The Vikings didn't do as well as their Space Viking counterparts, but I had a blast playing with them. I went 1-2 for the tournament. I took a Valkyrie as my Walord, 2 points of Warriors, 3 points of Hearthguard, and 1 point of Berserkers. Those guys can really jam, too. I enjoyed their play style so much that I am seriously considering starting a Viking army.
The terrain they had was amazing. Lots of pieces by 4Ground, which have some fantastic thatched roof huts and the like, but also some custom made pieces. The terrain was largely put together by Eric Hagen who was one of the organizers of the event. He made this piece which I thought was particularly lovely.
He also put together this one absolutely stunning Great Hall table, just for fun, and had his own army hanging out on it.
The organizers definitely put a ton of time and thought into the event, and they did a fantastic job. We had some fun scenarios, and they added in one from Crescent and Cross, too, which was new to me. I haven't played any of those scenarios yet, save for the one in the final round of the event.
I wish I had been able to play both days of the tournament, it was on Friday and Saturday with 3 games on each. But the 40k Friendly took up my whole Friday. Everyone I played was a lot of fun, and I'd love to have doubled that enjoyment.
Lastly I'd like to mention how fantastic the prize support was. First, that big great hall in the last photo? One of those was a raffle prize. It's humungous. I also won a raffle prize, which was a lovely set of acrylic measuring sticks for a Crusaders army.
I have been talking about doing a Crusaders army, too, so I think this is probably a kick in the pants to get to it! But the call of the Vikings may be too strong.
This is Part 4. Also see:
Part 1: Adepticon 2015 Recap
Part 2: Hobby Seminars
Part 3: 40k Friendly