Accidentalcon - 2015

I have always wanted to attend Adepticon, but it just has not worked out in the past.  Both my daughters were born in March over the last two years and before that I was a poor graduate student.  This year looked to be more of the same and I was targeting 2016 to make the trip out.

As luck would have it, I had a business trip the week of Adepticon anyway, and I connected through Chicago O'Hare.  It was around 6:00 pm on Friday when I learned my flight home was cancelled.  I then learned that there were no other flights available until Sunday at 7:00 pm...

I have to admit, I was pretty upset at the airline for the inconvenience.  However, when I realized what day it was (Adepticon weekend) I decided to make the best of it and started making phone calls.  I took a number of pictures of the event, played in a combat patrol with a borrowed army and had a chance to see the highs and lows of GT play.  First, though, the pictures (taken on a cell phone, you have been warned).

Fun with Daemonette formations - this is Game 6 of the team tournament.

Two Morkanauts in the team tournament!  I have never seen one of these played, let alone two.

Impressive checkerboarding on the tanks - I wish my colors looked that good.

 

Techmarine and Horrors have a staring contest.

Guardian flood defends the craftworld.

Another killer display board.

This lesser known Tyranid monster (Hausperex maybe?) precision shot and ate the squads apothecary.  Medic?

Skull bases for this army look great and I love the wings on the Drones.

Bulbous bug but for a Nurgle grinder.

Beautiful freedhand.

Local entry into Crystal Brush.

The whole team was dressed to the part - awesome team spirit.

not a big deal until you realize these are each 2'-3' tall.

The venue - large with concrete floors.  My legs were killing me by the end and I wasn't even playing.

More bits than you can shake a sprue at.

Impressions

The scope and scale of Adepticon is a bit overwhelming.  The fact that I could go around and find pickup games in multiple systems and mini tournaments were running around the clock was impressive.  Even a bad day from a W/L/D perspective here can turn into a fund day running other events.

The vendor presence was also incredible, with Forge World setup there (I bought some Assault Marines and Lorgar, my first Forge World purchases ever) and a bit swap that had great deals of a ton of models.

From a tournament play standpoint, I noticed ALOT of either deliberate or accidental cheating.  This especially came from Daemon players - it might be that I just know the Daemon rules really well - but there were a lot of oversights.  I saw this at top, bottom and middle tables - to some extent this might be differences in interpretations or between groups.  However, there were a few instances that I believe were absolutely deliberate that changed the game outcome.  In general, the judges were on top of things when called and observed a few games that were particularly egregious.

In spite of the rules...abuse?...the vast majority of the players were fun, interesting people who brought sometimes stereotypical min/max but also a lot of interesting, seldom seen units.  As an event, I am excited about the chance to attend next year on purpose.  My purchasing was, maybe luckily, limited to the carry on baggage I had for my eventual flight home, but if you are looking for great Warhammer 40k games, interesting people, a couple dozen gin and tonics and some top notch competitors, then Adepticon is for you.