I also want to give a shoutout to the Neo's and gamers at the Realms at War 2017 even that happened in the UK this past weekend as well. My Twitter feed was overflowing with amazing pictures from the Narrative event. Check out the Hashtag #RAW17 on Twitter to see all the fun!
This year Games Workshop decided to mix up their event with additional awards and splitting of the two game systems into separate Parade Days. All these changes were put in place with the intention of improving the event and it is great to see Games Workshop working to improve their events. however, in my store at least, splitting the event really hurt the overall atmosphere as we do not have an even split amongst the two systems. I don't feel there was a lack of competition as everyone who joined it at my local store had great looking armies, but the amount of participation suffered greatly. In all honesty, I prefer to compete and lose against a large number of opponents then win against only a few. The day's event didn't feel like much of an event and to an outsider looking in would seem to be a typical day at the store.
I felt that the Store Manager was also left a bit in the dark on how to run with the new changes. He gave it his all and made the best of what he had, but it was obvious that perhaps he was not provided all the tools he should have had to make the event as big as it could have been. The final critique I have was seeing how Warhammer Worlds Facebook Page handled their Parade Day. It followed none of what was posted and instead appeared to run the event as it has the previous year with a single 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medal and combining all the game systems into a fun and exciting day. The pictures and my Twitter feed really gave me the feeling their atmosphere was as exciting and fun with a plethora of great Hobbyists out to show off their best work and have a fun day. It felt odd to see their event run in a similar manner as the rest of the stores across the globe.
Armies on Parade has always been an event I anticipate with a lot of enthusiasm. Before I was lucky enough to have a Games Workshop store near me I would eagerly scan the pages of White Dwarf to see the entries and hope to one day participate and create armies and boards as amazing as the ones I saw. Last year was my very first Armies on Parade and it was an exciting atmosphere in the store as gamers from 40k and Age of Sigmar all battled over the coveted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals. I was humbled to be voted number one and it only inspired me to do even more this year. I diligently kept up on the posts from the Armies on Parade web page, but I was honestly a bit saddened at the lack of consistent updates that normally help keep the enthusiasm going. There was never a very clear message on how the parade days would work so it felt a bit more ad-hoc then prior years.
Armies on Parade has always been an event I anticipate with a lot of enthusiasm. Before I was lucky enough to have a Games Workshop store near me I would eagerly scan the pages of White Dwarf to see the entries and hope to one day participate and create armies and boards as amazing as the ones I saw. Last year was my very first Armies on Parade and it was an exciting atmosphere in the store as gamers from 40k and Age of Sigmar all battled over the coveted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals. I was humbled to be voted number one and it only inspired me to do even more this year. I diligently kept up on the posts from the Armies on Parade web page, but I was honestly a bit saddened at the lack of consistent updates that normally help keep the enthusiasm going. There was never a very clear message on how the parade days would work so it felt a bit more ad-hoc then prior years.
If you participated in the event, or plan to this weekend in the 40k Parade day and come away with new inspiration or some awards for your hard work I want to offer you my deepest congratulations, despite and hiccups the awards are well deserved. I do hope Games Workshop continues to work on making the event even better and put forth, even more, of an effort to hyping it up and creating fun atmospheres for the Parade Days while defining the event clearly to the benefit of all. I know I will be participating next year despite this year's critiques as this will always be an event I look forward to participating in with my fellow hobbyists.
Sticking with the topic of Armie son Parade I did add a few last minute additions to my board I wanted to keep secret, even from my previous blog post. I felt I captured the whimsy of Autumn Harvest festivals in my board, but I also wanted a dark aspect almost hidden from first glance. Above you can see the somewhat subtle additions to the board to give it the creepy Halloween vibe.
I was also able to complete my Khorne half of the Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire set. Just in time for the next expansions to come out and be put on my Hobby table. It is really a great game and if you haven't had a chance to play it yet I strongly suggest you do.
May your week be full of Hobby as we venture into the Holiday months and begin planning our armies and projects for the upcoming year. Be sure to check back Friday as I continue my series "Life Lessons and Wargaming". Until then, Happy Hobbying.