Tin Soldiers - in conclusion...

Awesome. Best. Tournament. Ever.

I enjoyed the experience FAR more than any 40k tourney I've played in. It was relaxed but still competitive. I played 5 different armies in 5 games! 5! That just doesn't happen in 40k! It's always "Oh... neat... Eldar, Space Marines, Eldar, Space Marines..." etc. Maybe that's changing with the release of Orks, but the imminent release of 5th Ed 40k and the release of a new Space Marines Codex (lol, almost wrote Army Book there... hehe) I'm not willing to find out.

I am officially converted to this fantastic game.

Being involved in the event gave me a subjective view about how a Fantasy tournament should be run (that'll come in handy around mid-September...), the mechanics of scoring, some of the intricacies of Overlord (although I'll probably still need Pete's help with it at Fields :p).

The atmosphere is... difficult to describe, because it's something I've not experienced at a 40k event. As someone said to me over the weekend, "You've got to be grown up to play Warhammer". I dunno about that - but it certainly felt more grown up! It felt way less "hard out", less sulky, less pedantic and picky (could have been my opponents but there didn't appear to be any serious rules issues or even a dice-off to decide an argument). And that's just so great!

The venue was tops. I didn't personally drink (my focus and ability is hindered enough as it is) but I could have and that's nice. Dinner on Saturday night and the trash-talk and conversation was cool. I can at least envisage what it would be like to travel to a tournament to play (Call to Arms in August for example...) and will looking into this much more seriously in future. It's a fantastic social experience, which is exactly what I was looking for.

I met new people (including some of the big boys!), made new friends, strengthened the friendships I currently have, learnt HEAPS about my new favourite game.

In fact I would have to say I can't think of a single negative of the whole experience. I;m not burnt out, not sick of playing.

I just want to play MORE Warhammer!


Excellent.