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In the train back home I found some time and the energy to blog a bit about the Warhammer 40k tournament I organised at the end of November.

Before going into the story of that tournament. Let's begin with some context information.


I started Wharhammer in 2008 following my brother who was playing it since 10 years and has become N°1 in , being a very good player an painter, gaining number of painting prizes (at Wharhammer, paint points are added to victory points to select the winner).

I grew a strong passion for this game, even creating my own team in 2008. I had good success with it ending 3 times 2nd at the team championship, behind the national team (I'm good when you don't need skil ).

I part of a club near where I live, witch is the biggest of the Parisian region (50 persons).

I also have taken the head of one of the 2 big 40K yearly tournaments of the club since 2009.

In 2008, it was organized by a senior member of the club who left after to go make an MBA in London. So with 2 friends we have taken the tournament organization. It's called The Maelstrom.

In 2008 it was quite well organized in the usual place where it takes place : Boulogne-Billancourt Town Hall. There were about 40 participants.

For 2009, first problem, the Major changed and the new one didn't want us anymore in the Town Hall. We had to find a new place to go. We finally went to another club hall at the beginning of 2010 (instead of 2009). We had no clear leader between the 3 of us, we were too undermanned and unexperienced. It's also a very special tournament with 1000 army points format (smaller armies than the standard 1500 to 2000), a bigger tournament (60 people), a 3 person team tournament and one with very special scenarios. So even if people were quite happy with the tournament, for me it was a failure because we had so many problems, so many things that were not well done. I promised myself to make a good tournament to my own standard, and show a perfect organization.

First step I proposed my mates to take the leadership of the tournament and they agreed. I asked the place to the major office 10 month before the tournament itself, prepared all the scenarios well in advance and forced the club guys to play it again and again and make feedback to test it. I played those scenarios for 10 month too to test them again and again. I opened the tournaments subscriptions 8 month in advance and make it a 78 person tournament. I recruited number of person for the club for the organization, from correcting the lists to preparing the hall the day before the beginning.

At last it took place in first week-end of December 2010 and it was a huuuge success. People were saying it was their best tournament ever and I was very satisfied with i too. I was happy to have redeemed myself from the 2009 edition disappointing performance and have made the better Maelstrom of its history.

Then I launched 2011 edition last march. But once the job done for 2010, I had lost a bit of my passion having put too much of myself in the 2010 one. And then I discovered that I had done a crazy job that year (nearly as Nirvana-crazy) and without as much passion and with far more real job work, it was very hard to match it. Fortunately, as the 2010 edition was good, I only had to tweak what I have done the first time and only have to do the part I loved, advertising the tournament, creating atmosphere on the thread of the tournament, luring people I wanted in the tournament to come etc. I pre-opened the tournament to the teams that has already participated the year before and a few people I wanted to add because I knew they were going to be great addition to the tournament. The tournament was already full (24 3-person teams) even before the official subscription opening, 7 months before the tournament.

I had a very tedious jod to do, too, one month before the event, it's verification of all the army list of the players and their "composition". Composition is a system where you're encouraging people who come with less efficient units so we don't see all the same armies in the tournament. For example, it's as if you were making voluntarily a bad army mix in TvP, having Battle Cruisers, some Thors, Marines, some Reapers etc. In your army instead of a very optimized MMM+Ghost+Viking compo.

People with less optimized armies are rewarded with compo points that aloow them to have strategic advantages that even the games against very optimized armies. That help having a lot of fun in the tournament.

My tournaments are oriented fun and not so much competition. I'm happy if I hear laughter and see good comradeship around the tables. The scenarios oblige you to concentrate and think about your strategies, but passing a good time with your opponent is still the priority. Fair play and good time is what we seek.

For that and after the success of the 2010 edition, I had "selected" a bit the participants and got rid of people who were spoiling the fun of their opponents by harsh attitudes, stalling etc.

When I identified that I will have harder time doing all the job I have done the year before, especially since I had far more real job work, I began delegating more to my team and recruiting an even larger organizer team. At the end at least 20 people of the club participated in the organization of the tournament, at least for installing the hall the day before. That is one of the bigger organizer team of W40K tournaments.

The time of the tournament came the last week-end of November and it was again a great success, even greater than the year before.

Some friends came at the tournament in Black Templar and Eldar Cosplay. i immediately borrowed the mighty Thunder hammer and kept it with me the whole tournament. Believe me or not it has a very positive "unconscious" effect on people and discipline has gone smooth all along.



The key to have a good organizing team is delegating all things that have to be done and let you just overlook everything and be free for all that don't go according to plan. I was presenting the different scenarios, giving the timings and the rest was taken care off by my staff. One group at the kitchen, one at noting the paintings, one guy at the comp, some people between the tables. I was able to pass between the tables, chat with the players, answer questions etc.

I have told my team that next year I couldn't do as much and selected a few members of the staff that are going to take more charge next time.


Pictures:


It has been a huge experience for me and I wanted to share it with you. i hope it wasn't too long.