Road to Templecon 2012: Masters Review

So Templecon 2012 is over and was the best one yet.  While some might not have respected Templecon as a "major event" in the past, this year should have blown all of those perceptions out of the water with (my estimate) over 300 people playing casual games alone - let alone the multiple tournaments throughout the weekend.  Even the 40k and Fantasy crowds grew and the old ballroom, where the event was held last year, wouldn't even hold half of the tables that were present this year.  So where does that leave us?

Road to Templecon 2012: 72 Hour Painting Log [final update]

"Holy crap, I have to paint how many models?  By Friday?!  Hoo boy."

We've all been there.  There's some event in the future where you need (or want) fully-painted models, and everything seems to happen all at once and you don't have the time you thought you'd have to get those models painted.  This is the situation I'm in right now.  In all of my preparation for Templecon 2012 I forgot that I wanted to have my team tournament list fully painted.  I had an initial list planned and prepared but when I changed my mind a couple of week ago, I forgot that it meant that I would have to paint more models than I had initially anticipated.  The worst part is that the models that I need to have painted are some of the more detailed models in the range for Circle Orboros, so how do I plan on approaching it?  A 72-hour countdown of binge painting.  Instead of my planned articles on boring tournament preparation, I will instead update this article with my progress in my painting binge as an example of why no one should do this ever.  I can at least hope that my pain[t] and suffering will bring you some enjoyment.

Road to Templecon 2012: Display Board

One of the project that has been lurking in the back of my apartment is putting together a tournament Display Board for my Circle army.  I gathered the materials for this project way back in October, but at various points since then I have either been distracted by other things (DAMN YOU SKYRIM!) or I was missing something that I needed to get to the next step.  Well I have good news for you all: I have finished my display board!

Road to Templecon 2012 - Standard Issue Tournament

Lately I've been really busy with work (hooray real world) and so I haven't devoted as much time as I should to coming up with effective lists for Templecon.  While I've already discussed my team tournament lists here, I'm faced with a different challenge when it comes to the Standard Issue tournament which takes place Saturday afternoon into the evening.  While I have no allusions of being a a top tournament player, I want to try my best and my goal is to at least make it into the top 25%.  While I had some success over the summer at the NETT, I need to focus my lists more than I did for this tournament.

Road to Templecon 2012: Final Team Tournament Lists

So the Regular Team has gone from being super exciting to super dull for me.  Mostly it's because where I am makes it very difficult for me to play games of Warmachine/Hordes at all, let alone at a tournament standard.  The few games I got in were good and I've been getting better with timing my turns appropriately, but I'm not nearly as confident as I should be.  Oh and Skyrim eats away at my soul.  Seriously, for someone who's obsessed with completing every little quest like myself, this game is destroying every minute of my free time.

That makes me laugh every time.
I digress.  I have my lists finalized for the team tournament, and seeing as I'm not terribly confident with my abilities anyway, it's not like I lose much by posting them up on the internet for global scrutiny.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table: Updated Rules!

The Templecon 2012 Scenario Table has been finished for a few weeks now.  It has been living at The Whiz Store back in MA (my "local" game store) so that the usual crowd there could playtest the scenario and offer feedback while I'm in another state.  When I initially dropped off the table, I observed some games and made some tweaks to the rules, but after a few weeks of testing, I have released version 1.2 of the rules.  Here are the major changes and the justifications for them, as well as some observations that I've made regarding the scenario itself.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Rules [Updated]

While the table is finally finished, there is one last thing that needs to be done with it before it's ready for Templecon: playtesting!  Any good scenario should be tested to make sure that any rules questions are resolved in advance so that players can focus on having fun instead of arguing or asking questions.  Today I will be transporting the table to the LGS where it will undergo some vigorous testing and I will sift through some questions and thoughts on the table.  While I know it looks great, I want it to be fun too!  Therefore, I have created a beta for the rules here that you may sift through them for any questions/comments!  The most up-to-date rules can be found here.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Finished!

 It's taken some time, but it's finally finished!  The scenario table is done!  All that is left to do is some final touch-ups and it will be ready for playtesting.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves, as the girlfriend and I are very pleased with how it looks.  See for yourself!

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Painting

I apologize for the lack of an update yesterday.  The work on the table has been constant and productive and I lost track time.  I do have some more pictures today of the table, and we should be finished in time for the Thursday deadline, at which point I will bring the table to the LGS so that people can play the scenario. For now, here are the photos of some of the painted pieces to hopefully get you as excited as I am!  I apologize for the pictures, as I don't have my usual software here to fix up the photos better.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Structures!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, and I hope all of you Jewish folk enjoy the rest of Hannukah.  Personally, I had a great Christmas, as my girlfriend gave me a Vallejo 72-color paint set with case (!).  Meanwhile, at SPG we've been busy at work on the scenario table for Templecon 2012!  The graveyard (as of yet unnamed) has been progressing nicely and today I have some teaser pictures to share with you about our progress thus far.  The current deadline is Thursday this week, so that it can be transported to the LGS for playtesting, and it looks like we are following along according to schedule.  Take a look!

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Genesis

In the beginning there was nothing.  The foam was shapeless and void, lacking in any detail or meaning.

Work on the scenario table for Templecon 2012 has begun!  My girflriend and I have begun work on what is being tentatively called the "Graverobbers" scenario table.  Most of all of the materials have finally been gathered and work began in earnest last evening with the purchase of the foam necessary to create the surface onto which the rest of the details will be placed.  I have some pictures to show you all of how the project is progressing but first let's list the materials used in this project so you can follow along:

Road to Templecon 2012: List Building

So if you have not had the opportunity to read my two articles on List Building, you should check them out in the Learning Center (the links towards the top left of my blog).  In those articles I discuss what kinds of things you should be considering when designing a good list.  While having fun is first and foremost, the best way to have fun is to make sure that you aren't screwed by a particular playstyle of something that you "totally forgot about."  It happens to the best of us, and bad match-ups will always be a part of the game, but this is why multiple-list tournaments are so popular.

Today I will be discussing a couple lists that I have been considering bringing to Templecon 2012 this year, to play in the team tournament (also mentioned in my last Road to Templecon article here).  I have four lists on the chopping block, and I'm only allowed to bring two.  I already have a good idea of which ones I want to bring, but I won't tell you, so that I can keep the surprise ;-)

Road to Templecon 2012: Team Building

I'm so excited for Templecon this year!  I wrote about Templecon already here, and how I was excited to be not only attending this year, but participating in a couple of the tournaments.  When I attended last year I played exclusively for fun, playing only on scenario tables in the Iron Arena.  One of the tournaments I'm most excited for is the team tournament, so now let's discuss my adventures in finding a good team for the Templecon Team Tournament.

Templecon is coming!

I'm now starting a series for the next couple of months on the Road to Templecon (2012), chronicling my preparations for what is bound to be an epic convention of gaming.  Templecon is historically one of the biggest conventions for Warmachine/Hordes games and I plan on entering with my team into the Team Tournament this year.  Part of my preparation includes list building, playtesting, and lots of painting.  Let's first start with the history behind this decision (Pictures from Templecon 2011 were taken by my awesome girlfriend).

So Templecon is nearly upon us!  What is Templecon?  Well it's one of the biggest (if not the biggest) Steampunk convention in the US and it takes place in Warwick RI.  This year the convention will take place Feb. 3rd-5th and it is sure to be EPIC this year since last year there were over 250 people playing in the Iron Arena alone!!!  This year the convention is taking over the Grand Ballroom and it's certain to be a much bigger event than last year.