Adepticon Review: The Great, Ok, and UGLY!!

By Spaguatyrine





So a week after I took the 3 hour drive south to Indianapolis and have come down from the Adepticon high I want to give my review of the 10th Anniversary of Adepticon and my first visit t the windy city.



The Great:



*The facility was amazing.  Here is the main hall leading into the gaming area on the right.  Even though I didn't sleep on the beds, I laid down on one for 5 minutes and almost fell asleep.  The facility was also close to quick food attractions and close to the interstate.  Great job here!!!  Even the food lines were good. (Except the french fries. Mine were gross, twice)



*Organization-Great job in organizing almost everything.  From pairings, to painting, to announcements. There are a few items I will touch on below, but an overall awesome score from me in organization.

*Prize support-Even though it didn't seem like it until our team won the Team Tournament, there was a ton of prize support for the winners.  I would have liked to see more random prizes. I am not sure there were any from what I recall.

*Staffing-I feel the majority of the staff were helpful and seemed to enjoy themselves.  This is a big one for me as I cannot stand grumpy people, and grumpy workers are even worse.  Great Job!



*The team tournament was unlike anything I have ever seen. Absolutely amazing!  If you haven't seen it you need to!!!!
The OK:

*The swag bag for the not first 1000 registered participants.  Well this was kind of like a kid going up to an ice cream truck and seeing everyone get these giant bags of goodies and then you are giving a lollipop. 

*Trying to find a judge.  The only time I actually needed one in game 4 we called for one and no one was in sight, we had to walk 4 rows down.   A majority of the time they were around, but it would have been nice to have one within close proximity.
*The line to pre-register was stupid crazy.  I didn't wait in line for 5 hours like some did for nothing, but I bet those people were very upset when they got there and didn't get the free bag. I just walked up after dinner and waited 30 seconds to register. 
*Mission selections:  Boo! having killpoints the first three missions.  What was worse is when killpoints combined with taking the center objective and table quarters. This gives rock armies too much power in a particular mission. If you are going to use straight killpoints, mix up the other objectives.

The UGLY:

*The lights!  The lights continued to go out during random times of the tournament all weekend.  This was very annoying as it seemed it always went out when I was rolling a die or trying to move.  This should have been corrected after the first night it happened. 

*The french fries! Yuk!

***Sportsmanship: So this is a sore subject for me as I was hit with the poor looser sportsmanship stick.  This is the worst thing I will say about Adepticon and I will more than happy to discuss specifics privately with an email.  That being said, Matthias was a gentleman, but had to stand by the rules of the tournament. I respect him for that even more. 

What happened?  Well my first opponent who built a killpoint denial deathwing army of a whopping 8 killpoints was as described by a few judges I knew as "weird".  He didn't wear shoes, had let's say a lot of hair.  Our game was going fine until his terminators starting falling into Jaws lines all game.  He lost 9 terminators to jaws, including 3 cyclone missile launcher models.  He started getting frustrated when I stayed away from him and started eating his squads 1 by one with the Thunderwolves and double runepriests with Jaws.  How I beat him in all 3 objectives with 17 killpoints is kind of telling.  I gave him a top sportsmanship score because we only had 1 rules dispute.  Little did I know he gave me a bottom score.  (Poor loser)



Opponent number 2:  Wouldn't you know it killpoint denial deathwing army of a whopping 10 killpoints.  I utilized the same strategy against him as I did against player 1. Stay away, shoot missiles, plasma, and jaws at him until my TWC could take 1 squad at a time. The problem I had was he had Ezekiel and blocked my Jaws twice before I crushed him with my TW Lord.  So on round 2 player 2 states I believe you are moving your thunderwolf calvary 1/2 and inch too much on their run move  after I have hit 2 cyclone missile launchers with Jaws.  I apologize, move them back 1 inch and state, I will pay closer attention. Please let me know if you think I move too far and I will fix it. I then proceed to measure, put my finger down, then move each model the rest of the game.  After the game is over I have all 3 objectives including kill points, and after I hand him the score sheet and start putting my guys in a pile he starts complaining.  "I don't know why you had to do that.  You kept on moving your guys 1/2 an inch too far."  I asked him if he was serious to which he said, "you were crushing me, you didn't have to do that." I then asked him what he thought I was doing?  I also explained that I was putting my finger down and even asking him if he was good with my movement before I went to the shooting phase.  "He continued to say, I don't know why you had to do that."  I asked for examples at which he didn't give any and then annoyed I changed his sports score from great to average, as he was clearly whining.  As we walk up and hand in our scorecards, (after we already handed them to the judge for verification)  he looks at mine and says, "you changed the score you gave me."  I look at him and say yes.  He then starts saying loudly I want to change yours then to a negative score.  Now call me stupid, but how does someone change their score after they turn in their sheet, after they have seen my score for him???????  Um????? Really??

Now normally I wouldn't have cared, but I get called over after this because:
I was told I recieved a negatve sports score from the first player and now the 2nd and if I get another one I cannot qualify for any prize support, or can be asked to leave the championships. ARE YOU FREEKING KIDDING ME???  The two players next to my in the 2nd game were screaming at each other and they didn't get negative games from each other.  I explain to Matthias that he changed his score after he looked at my sheet, after we both turned in our sheets.  Matthias stated he understood, and was very professional about this, but I should never have been put in his situation anyways.

  (Maybe some people need to see this film.)
So round 3, my opponent who was great, stated the way he plays, vehicles get 4+ cover save if they are in area terrain before the game starts,. Um..sure, if I disagree the game starts bad and...... then after he cast hammerhand twice, then tries to roll for force weapon, I inform he he cannot as he already used his psychic powers says, that isn't what I meant.......  At this point I was so frustrated, if I played by the rules, I would get another negative and it would have been done anyways..soo.....I just said whatever. 

The game should have been a route, but I allowed my 2 negative sports score to affect my games. 

So I ended the championships with 2-1-1.  Not what I was hoping but there it is. I have learned from this experience.  To try and not be so intense, and no matter what, hold true to the rules and if I feel someone is looking to tank me, let someone know it.  (or really be a jerk to earn the 'worst game ever' tag.  I laugh about it now though.  :)

So I HATE the way Adepticon has their sportsmanship scoring as part of the championship in a way to affect how someone can play the game, or punish others for being poor loosers.  I have only ever received 1 negative sportsmanship score in any tournamnent game I have ever played before Adepticon, and that is a ton of them. This might sound like whining. It is not!  Sportsmanship scoring should not be allowed to interfere in any way with a players desire to play in a competitive event.


And for that secret player that I was paired up with that actually lost a game and had his opponent give him the win because he already lost......shame on you for taking it. ;)  You know who you are.


In conclusion, a great event that I will probably go to again every year.  I give 4 out of 5 gold stars!!!