Objective Secured

ITC in WA

We have had a number of players over the last 12 months as us about ITC events here in Perth. It hasn’t been something that players have overly asked for until this point so the majority of our Warhammer 40,000 events are ETC format. With players starting to ask about ITC we toyed with the idea of running a SMALL ITC event to trial ITC with the WA Warhammer 40,000 community.

A small event.

Our intention was no more than 20 players and we would run a relaxed, entry level event alongside a young bloods event. Well, we managed the relaxed, entry level event with only four x 1250 point games over the day. The small part we struggled with. Of the 48 players intending to attend, we ended up with 40 players starting the ITC event and we didn’t run the young blood event.

What went wrong?

THE VENUE!

We had booked the Manning Hall, a smaller venue than we are used to but a decent venue. I got an email about 10 days before the event to tell me that they had double booked the venue and we couldn’t have it. Double booking of venues seems like it is going to be a theme for us for 2019 and it is not a theme I am enjoying!

Mike and I sat with our laptops open to local councils, both on the phone calling every venue we could possibly find that was big enough to host 50 players, had 25 tables available and was in an area with reliable internet connection. After roughly 75 phone calls we had two venues available, one in Kelmscott and one in Roleystone. The Roleystone venue is much bigger but the internet connection up there is terrible if you aren’t with Telstra and we, of course, rely on internet for the Down Under Pairings scoring system (and we aren’t with Telstra). Kelmscott it was. (Then there was an issue because City of Armadale wont let you book with less than two weeks notice and they said they would waive that restriction, then they didn’t waive it and 7 days before the event we didn’t have a venue AGAIN! Luckily we were able to find a solution and it went ahead but it wasn’t easy!!!).

We could probably host 50 players in this venue but as we were panicking about getting a venue we forgot that we normally have very strong opinions on the venue being airconditioned. We found out as we arrived that it doesn’t have aircon. Ceiling fans and 2 industrial pedestal fans. At 7am the room was roasting and the glass sliding doors have all been cordoned off with industrial construction site fencing and we were not allowed to open them. Luckily I could slip between the fencing and the doors to get them open because without the air circulation we would all have passed out! Even with ALL the doors open it is HOT in here. Luckily, unlike the song suggests no-one has taken all their clothes off although I’m thinking the Table Top Mafia are re-thinking their long sleeve hockey jerseys.

We also had a number of players unable to attend so we ended up with 40 players starting and 38 players finishing. I am normally sad when we run small events but I can’t imagine another 12 people in here and the noise in the room is pretty deafening with the voices echoing off the bare bricks and then the industrial fans on top. Generally a smaller group lacks atmosphere, that is not an issue today!

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The event

Bearing in mind that I am very hot, and a bit out of sorts I am going to be a bit cranky here. I have enough self awareness to know that I would normally try and temper this a little but not enough to actually sensor myself now so hopefully I do when I edit this before hitting publish tomorrow or Tuesday.

Overall the event seems to have gone well. This is a learning event, we (Mike and I) are learning about the nuances of running an ITC event and of course the players are learning about how to actually play an ITC event. I have no issues with people not being 100% familiar with it all. We did a short ‘how to score ITC’ video prior to the event but we didn’t realise that there was a drop down to pick deployment type so we had to work that out on the fly. Learning was the purpose of this event. We aimed for a smaller number of players to facilitate our learning as well as the attendees.

Where we do have issues is when we have veteran players who have come to the event, unfamiliar with the format etc and they haven’t even bothered to read the players pack or do anything to familiarise themselves with how it will run. I understand with newer players or players who are new to our events because you don’t know what you don’t know. We had one new player who didn’t even realise there was a players pack until a couple of days before and we understand that when you are new to a game, a system or to events your knowledge will have more gaps in it than an experienced player and we will do everything we can to support you. As unfair as it may be, I hold veteran players to a higher standard and to have not even read the players pack and have no idea about missions, secondaries, scoring etc put an extra pressure on the event and of course impacted the time taken for games etc.

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Key learning #1

When playing in any event please read the players pack to familiarise yourself with the missions. If you have any questions then reach out to the TOs for explanation or clarification. When playing an ITC event please familiarise yourself not only with the mission but also with the secondaries. You choose your secondaries on the day to match your opponents army but you still need to be familiar with the options you have available to you! There are lots of options. Although we had a generous amount of time for games it would be best to use as much of that time to finish the game rather than spend too much choosing the secondaries or working out the mission.

Key learning #2

Remember to check your venue has air-conditioning, even if it is being held mid March and it’s technically autumn so should be cool enough. 40 men produce significant body heat. I did wander around a few times offering to share the deodorant. If you attended and I offered you deodorant, I promise I wasn’t singling you out because you smelled! There were a lot of sweat patches on clothing and so I was trying to be proactive as I am still scared from my days visiting GW in the early 2000s 🙂

Key learning #3

Again this is something that I have spoken about on multiple occasions, however I find myself reiterating it after almost every event.

If you have an issue mid-game and you aren’t sure about something your first port of call is to check it out with your opponent. It is 100% ok to politely check with your opponent how something works, the rules for a model or to clarify your understanding.

If you find yourself in a situation where you still feel that something doesn’t feel right or you and your opponent don’t agree on something then it is the role of the TO to then step in and become part of the conversation.

That conversation HAS to happen AS the game is occurring and the issue has arisen. That is when we can do something about it. If you tell a friend who then tells someone else and that someone else then tells us that player x was cheating (or pushing the boundaries of the rules) there is nothing we can do about it. Not only can we not change anything three days later but we also can’t verify what actually happened three days later. When it is happening we can see, we can talk to both players and we can step in as needed.

Please don’t be afraid to talk to Mike and I about this as an issue arises. Believe it or not Mike and I (well Mike) handles these issues quietly, calmly and in a contained manner at almost all of our events. Any disagreements are handled discretely so as players you really aren’t even aware it is happening if you aren’t involved so you don’t need to be concerned that it will cause an issue.

*I don’t often compliment Mike and certainly not in public or on the blog. I do have to say that as loud, opinionated and brash as he can seem he is actually quite tactful when it comes to handling these issues as they arise. Ok, tactful might not be the right word. If he knows you well he will still probably say ‘no, you’re wrong’ or ‘of course it doesn’t/you can’t do that!’ but he will handle any concerns in a way that wont escalate the situation, wont draw attention and a way that doesn’t make someone feel like they have been accused of cheating.

Please – if you have concerns COME AND SEE US as the issue is occurring. That’s when we can do something about it!

Factions

There was a pretty broad range of armies represented at the event.

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ITC and soft scores

I have spoken on many (and all possible) occasions about why I believe that an overall score for events that includes soft scores is important. As a VERY brief recap the top reasons that I think that soft scores should be included:

1 – There is a perception around tournament players being ‘hard core’ and win at all costs. We have worked really hard to dispel that myth and I honestly don’t believe it is true. I think that the soft scores are important for reinforcing that there is more to an event or a tournament than JUST winning.

2 – I believe there is more to this hobby than just playing to win. Winning games is just part of the hobby but to be honest, playing games is only part of the hobby! Buying the models could almost be a hobby in itself! Couldn’t it? Not looking at anyone in particular (because you are all as bad as each other for buying models and leaving them in the boxes for how long? :p) Building, converting and painting is a big part of the hobby for some and then the story that goes behind the army etc is another part. The social aspect of the game (and with it the sportsmanship) is another aspect of the hobby that is important. This is so much more than playing to win!

I could go on, but really they are the two main reasons that I believe soft scores are important. They are also the top two reasons that I was concerned about running an ITC event as ITC doesn’t factor in soft scores.

Prize categories

To alleviate my concerns Mike and I compromised. We would run an ITC event without a best overall prize category but we would continue to recognise the peer judged painting and peer judged opponent awards.

The winners

Congratulations to the winners:

We have to say a big congratulations to Dave, Aaron, and Travis who all went four for four. Dave took out the prize on victory points.

We had joked and said that the perfect score for the event was 4168 and we really hoped someone would get that. Dave didn’t quite get there but he was pretty close with a score of 4141!

Feedback

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We have had a number of attendees reach out and say they are keen for more ITC events. I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure whether they are keen for ITC or keen for something different to what we have been running as standard for the last 4 years.

Next events

We are hoping to sneak another event in prior to Southern Hemisphere Open so keep an eye on the Calendar of Events. If we don’t see you before we look forward to seeing you at Southern Hemisphere Open.

*Thank you to Mike Sloan for the photos for this post. Again I didn’t manage to get photos and Mike kindly snapped these for us while he was volunteering for the day.