Looks like my hopes for a GT in Minneapolis came true, or did they?
Minneapolis is getting it's own GT! I should be happy, right? I'm torn, with this tournament. There are good, and bad things, and questions I do not have answers too yet.
What is it? The Dark Star GT is 5 games over 2 days. It looks to be scored on battle points but favors sportsmanship and painting more than battle points from games. The tournament can accommodate up to 80 players with 10 people already signed up.
Pros.
1. I have been wanting a GT in the area to go to. Driving to Minneapolis is easy and very feasible.
2. Only 2 games on Sunday means getting back will be less stressful.
3. It is not competing with the Bugeater GT for a time slot. Gt's in February and June are about as spread out and perfect as possible.
4. 1850 points is a good level and 2.5 hours is very generous for time. I would have liked to see 2000 at that time limit but 1850 is ok.
5. Facility looks good in pictures. Looks like plenty of space.
Cons.
1. Scoring.
Battle Points = 75
Sportsmanship Points = 50
Army Appearance Points = 45
Dark Star points = 15
Yeah the breakdown really is favoring painting and sportsmanship. 50 points for sportsmanship is alot of room for chipmunking. No painting rubric yet so no opinion yet on how they are scoring it.
Sportsmanship Points = 50
Army Appearance Points = 45
Dark Star points = 15
Yeah the breakdown really is favoring painting and sportsmanship. 50 points for sportsmanship is alot of room for chipmunking. No painting rubric yet so no opinion yet on how they are scoring it.
2. It is the week before Con of the North. My wife and I like going to the CotN, and the RTT there is one of the best. This is also a bad time of the year to drive to Minneapolis. It always snows.
3. $60 entry fee vs $25 for con of the north. Money is tight and the Bugeater was only $45.
4. Adepticon is in April. If I am to go then a February trip is probably off the table.
Unknown...
1. Painting rubric and sportsmanship scoring. More info may push my opinions on this in either direction.
2. Terrain. They say they have the best terrain, but I have only seen pictures of Fantasy terrain. Looks good to start but Con of the North terrain is really had to compete with. Come on, who uses a Thunderhawk gunship for terrain?
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| Con of the North 2010 RTT. |
3. Rooms. I did not see anything about discount rooms. The GT is in a hotel so I would expect getting a room would be easy. A discount would have been nice.
4. Prise support. I'm a little spoiled after the Bugeater GT. Looks like they have the standard GW GT support and some home made trophies? While "stuff" is not the end all be all, it is nice. I loved the BGt objective markers in the swag bag. If you are a GT, I feel you really need to step everything up to the big leagues.
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| Love me some BLING! |
Stay tuned, I will be putting more up on this GT as I find it. This is just my 2 cents on it for now.
Minneapolis in Feb. What a terrible idea. Looks like another GT that is actually just a local event for the most part.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are Dark Star points?
ReplyDelete...and you're right, the potential for chipmunking sports scores is hideous. People should all vote for their favorite opponent at the end, unrelated to overall score. /sigh
Looks like I won't be going, though was that ever in doubt? Driving 14+ hours to an event in MN in the winter seems like a quick road to frustration :-p
Looks like they give points for getting army list sent in in time. DS points for turning in score sheets within 10 min of time called.
ReplyDeleteWinter in Minni is bad. We went last year about the same time and got hit with a snow storm. My friends up there joke that we always bring the snow.
Hulksmash is thinking about going and I do have a sister I could crash at. It's only 3.5 hours for me though. I was looking at feast of blades too. Nebraska is just so fricken huge.
I'm going, already signed up and such. Dont really care about points just looking for a fun time.
ReplyDelete@ jULIAN. I agree it would be fun, It's looking like I have to choose between Con of the North or Dark Star GT.
ReplyDeleteMy wife goes with me to the Con to play board games and driving up 3 hours from Iowa in Februaury is bad enough for one weekend, let alone two in a row.
I'm keeping my options open and need to look to see when the Super Bowl is too.
I'm definitely considering this. I've wanted to play in a GT for a while, but I have no intention to drive more than a few hours, since I have a family. Minneapolis is about as far as I'd reasonably go.
ReplyDeleteThe February time is definitely a bit suspect, and I'd hate to pay just to end up stuck at home due to a storm.