So, it's the day after the OTC.
Well, I will say, that I haven't had so much fun in such a long time...
And we lost EVERY game we played. We lost horribly, beaten to a pulp, and with grace. If there was a silver plate, our teams asses would be on it. we only got second last because our last game was dropped due to our opposition dropping from the tournament after round 3.
We loved every second of it. we were shot, stabbed, hung stretched, disembowelled, drawn and quartered. We were shown No Quarter in combat, and it was the best time I've had in a long time.
The first thing I would suggest, is that the night before, don't touch your models except to pack them up. At this point, if you're worried about your game, its too late. Just go out there tomorrow and have fun. The night before, we got together at Roberts house, looked at some of the lists the opposition had and just chatted about it over a couple of beers. it was in no way a serious conversation, but instead just a look at what people were fielding, and otherwise, just a night of laughs and jokes. After a bit, we chatted about the store and other non related things. We just shot the breeze. I hopped home and went to bed at around 11. try to get a good nights sleep. I didn't because of the anticipation of excitement. After all, we had been preparing for this for months. As for the morning, a good breakfast is never a bad idea. we waited until we got out to Burlington and hit up a breakfast joint in town where we got a first glimpse of some of our opponents, laughing and shooting the breeze over bacon and eggs...yeah... I think this is a tradition for any team game, and its members. We chatted, discussed how we were approaching the day, and just sat, drinking coffee like Tom Waits in a Jim Jarmusch film. Breakfast came and went, and soon enough we were stacking our armies on our docking plates. It was not long after that we found our table, and started preparing for some hard gaming.
Secondly, make sure you guys are on the same page when it comes to your goals. Ideally, this should've been established in the beginning. A competitive player in a team of casuals is likely going to have a bad day if the player feels that they are holding up the team. Likewise, a casual player is likely going to piss off a bunch of competitives that are fighting the hard fight, and the one guy is just washing game after game, but is making friends with each opponent. It doesn't hurt to mix it up, but make sure you don't have unrealistic expectations for your team mates. In the beginning we were aiming for a hardcore game, but about a month in, we had a meeting and asked ourselves "Why are we going to this?", and most of us had the same answer, and none of them were "to win". I was going out because I was intent on pressing the flesh with my fellow PP'ers, be it gamers, or Press Gangers or judges. Also, because I wanted to put us on the map. Make ourselves known. I didn't care if we lost every game, but i was going to show that Durham region has a meta, and that we can be small, but we can also be mighty. Everyone else basically stated that it was making new friends, learning more about the factions, and just having fun. When you go out for breakfast that morning before the game, its a great time to just quickly assess that the goals are the same or if they've changed, then to re-establish what everyone else is aiming for so as to keep the expectations realistic. we were on the same page from the get go, but it never hurts to just make sure.
Lastly, is a reiteration of the Friday night. If you aren't ready by now, then you aren't ready. So go out there and just put boot to ass and see what happens. If you're reviewing opponents lists with great scrutiny 2 hours before the event, you're going to have a bad day because you're likely going to stress about the match ups. If you aren't going full tilt competitive, then you really shouldn't be worrying about it anyway. Remember, at the end of the day, we're grown ups playing with army men. This isn't the U.S War Room.
So less talk about the prep, and more about the event then!
As Murphy would have it, we had a bit of a hiccup with our team support. Our sub AND our 5th player both got pulled into work and couldn't dodge it, so we were on the short-list for players. Luck would have it that Scott (one of the EO's for the OTC) had an on-deck list of players who were last minute looking for spots to fill. And as we would have it, we ended up on-boarding a member of the Syndicate of gaming by the name of Herb. Now, Herb was a great fit for our approach. Herb is a big guy and is full of mirth, and was completely in tune with our "who cares if we lose" attitude. Actually, he took to ripping into his regular team-mates which made for a really funny sort of grudge competition with a team we never ended up playing against. Of the teams we did play, we met some more competitive players, and a few casual players, and otherwise just a bunch of really friendly people that we all shared our mutual interest in. Again, never having been to a large scale event for a game, it was nothing short of a delight to be in the company of so many likeminded individuals. Many of these folks we knew from our online presence and respective meta pages on Facebook, but to shake the hands of these otherwise faceless folks was exactly what I had been looking forward to.
Over the course of the day, we lost as a team against each of them (Although I believe Rob won a game and I think Herb won one or two, but as a team we did not do well at all lol). we got second last place because the last team we were supposed to face took leave, so we were given a bye. while I wanted to redeem myself, I couldn't help but feel relieved because at least three of us were feeling mentally drained. Worse still, was there was no coffee on site or close by. If there had at least been a Tim Hortons nearby, I could've fake-awaked myself into playing a last game, but it wasn't to be. The event was really cool, they hosted a few draws for models as well as swag from the Party foul store (Shirts, etc). After that, we bailed. I wasn't about to be a slug on the way home and the drive was over an hour, and I had to take Mike back to Oshawa before I went on home. After dropping off Mike and Keith, I was done. IN the door and head touched pillow.
As my first time going to one of these events, I can honestly say that it was something that I'd gladly do every year. we had a great time, with many hands shaken and friendships made, it was a memorable occasion at its worst, and phenomenal at its best.
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