Adepticon - And There It Went!

 Adepticon - And There It Went!

I tell you what: that was my first Adepticon and I had an excellent time! It was only the third major con I attended, with my first being NOVA and my second being GenCon. I had an absolute blast at NOVA. Seeing all the painted 40k armies, checking out the vendors, playing Armada...it was terrific. I couldn't wait to compete at GenCon the next year! But honestly, the experience wasn't nearly as good. I had never been to GenCon before, so I had no idea that it got so incredibly crowded or that one had to pay to do just about anything at all or that the vendor hall really required a sort of battle plan before going in there. So overall, it was just a more disappointing experience than I anticipated. The only real upside to the trip was playing Armada and being there with two of my closest friends. Anyway buckle in, because this gets a bit long and I didn't feel like breaking it up into two posts...

So I didn't know exactly what to expect from Adepticon other than knowing it was the first time I'd be filling up my con experience with events. I was driving up there with my buddy Biff and picking my other buddy Josh up from the airport before we checked into our hotel on Wednesday night. So I registered for a Kill Team tournament on Thursday, the Armada Open on Friday, the X-Wing Open Qualifier on Saturday, and Biff had signed us up for the Armada team tournament on Sunday. So yeah, that's a pretty full convention. Long story short, I ended up cancelling my registration for the KT tournament on Thursday because I just have no experience with the new system and wouldn't get a chance to learn even a little about how to play before Adepticon. I'm real damn glad that I cancelled, because having that first day to sleep a little later before going over to the con and just being able to wander instead of having an all-day commitment was huge. I got to play in several X-Wing pods so I could sort of casually dip my toe into playing in person (the vast majority of my games up until now were on Tabletop Simulator; I had only played something like 2 or maybe 3 games in person with actual minis), Josh and I checked out the vendor hall...looking back, it was the smartest thing I could've done. The con went by fast enough as it was; I can't imagine how much faster it would've flown by had I jumped right into Kill Team. Also, that little bit of fun experience I got easing into X-Wing really helped improve the odds of my enjoying a full qualifier day on Saturday. But I'll get to that later!

The fact that Adepticon is not located in the heart of Chicago is, for me, a point in its favor. At GenCon, it was certainly nice to walk around some of Indianapolis, visit some good restaurants, etc. But it all comes with the addendum of everything being far more expensive. That became a source of stress for me when we last went just because we were trying to spend so much time at the actual con in order to feel as though I had gotten my money's worth. Though I would love to really explore Chicago more than I have for someone who has lived only 5 hours away for nearly a decade, this wasn't the weekend I'd do it. Go out at night? Sure! But otherwise, I spent all my time at Adepticon, so a long weekend in the heart of Chicago would've basically been wasted. I appreciated that our hotel was a little more than half a mile from the con, so we could easily just walk over there each morning even while carrying our stuff for Armada and X-Wing. We kind of *had to* drive in order to go get food away from the convention, but that wasn't a big deal. Food wasn't far and there were places open late. I was pretty surprised there wasn't a lineup of food trucks or even one food truck, which was something we had experienced at GenCon or Geekway to the West, because food choices were real slim if one was stuck at the convention center for an all-day tournament or something. Josh and I lucked out there; I'll expound on that in a bit.

So at this point, the plan is Armada on Thursday and hoping to make the final cut on Friday. But failing that, I'll fly in the X-Wing Qualifier. I'd need a 5-1 record which isn't going to happen because I don't have nearly enough experience with the game. So I'm just planning on having fun and doing the best I can with my little Separatist squad. Which means it'll be go-time for the team Armada tournament on Sunday before dropping Josh off at the airport and driving home to STL. Again, I can't say how glad I am that I bailed on Kill Team. It was fun to peek in and see them play, but I really would've been tired and frustrated based on the previous night being a late one driving up and my not knowing the game well enough to really even be a decent opponent. So we started by walking around the con and getting our bearings for the weekend. The vendors weren't totally set up yet, but there was already some cool stuff out. And I saw that Wyrd Miniatures was present and doing demos of their upcoming release, Vagrantsong. Basically, it's a co-op game in which the players are controlling characters who get onto a ghost train and now need to escape. I'd read some really good things about the game and I really dug the artwork. So I had it on my Wish List with Miniature Market and thought it would be fun to demo! So I put it in the back of my brain to check back later.

I didn't get around to checking on it later that day as we ended up playing several X-Wing pods. I'd never played Aces High before, but man, I had a blast. Some of it is, of course, the company you keep. And Josh keeps some really excellent company. He's one of the Carolina Krayts (an X-Wing group in NC) and it was really great meeting some of the folks in that group. We also got lucky in randomly getting paired with this guy, Hiroki, who was just a really terrific fit: funny and there to have a good time. The vendors at Adepticon were, unsurprisingly, mostly centered on minis, paints and the like. So there was a lot of cool stuff, but nothing I *had to have*. Which, honestly, worked out okay for my wallet! I didn't see a ton in the way of "cute stuff" that I might buy and bring home to Eli, but that was okay; I should've anticipated that the vendors would be more like what I saw at NOVA than GenCon, but just hadn't given it much thought.

In Aces High, I just sort of flew what I had. Since one of the guys, Hiroki, had Grievous, I flew separatist Boba Fett. Again, I didn't entirely know what I was getting into with this format, but I just had a lot of fun flying around, dropping proximity mines, and generally getting blown up. We also played with another Krayt, Travis. He broke out Chewie in the Falcon for the second game of our pod, and it was really fun to watch him fly the Falcon around the board! After getting a handle on what to expect from Aces High, I immediately worked out an HMP Gunship I wanted to fly for Aces High just for the dumb fun of it. I got to mess around with that later in the con, so I'll write a bit about that later. But I'll say that Aces High was a terrific way for me to sort of ease out of any stress about playing X-Wing. I wasn't worried about qualifying because I knew that wasn't going to happen. But I also knew very few people would be playing Separatists for the qualifier on Saturday and I thought maybe I could finish above some other players in my faction. I had also previously stressed a bit about not knowing X-Wing etiquette or coming off as trying to cheat another player through simple n00b errors. Flying Aces High really helped me relax and enjoy playing instead of stressing it. Plus, they had a whole raffle ticket system going with the pods wherein players won tickets for participating as well as extra tickets for winning, and they had a prize wall. It was cool! I know it's not the only time it's happened and other tournaments and events and cons feature similar things, but it was new to me. And since I'm still new to X-Wing, getting some cool alt art cards for Separatist pilots that nobody else wants anyway was pretty sweet!

Fool's errand or not, I'm building around DFS-311 just so I can use one of the cards I got!

I had already told Josh I wanted to make it a decently early night so I could feel good going into Armada on Friday, so we played Aces High and also played a sort of standard practice X-Wing pod. The standard practice was an opportunity for people to fly their squads before any organized events, so I used it to fly my Charge! squad in person and on the table for the first time. I got absolutely stomped in both of my matches, but ultimately, I had fun! Also, I had run over obstacles so many times during Aces High that I had learned a bunch about distances and maneuvers and was able to apply those lessons to the standard pod. I still lost, but I ran into stuff like obstacles and ships a lot less, which was a welcome development. So after that, we got an excellent meal at Beerhead Bar and Eatery. The food was great, but we made the "mistake" of ordering the Barbarian Pretzel. That thing was huge.

Look at it!

So I only managed to eat half of my turkey club. I figured I'd save the rest of it for lunch the next day.

DUDE. You're telling me...

Star Wars Armada

Josh and I were both up and ready to go the next morning, no problem! Josh's tournament prep is more complete than mine is, so I tried to emulate him. I made sure to get myself some bananas, some peanuts, and some dried mango as well as some water and small cans of soda to get me through the con. Ensuring I'd eaten in the morning as well as having decent snacks (I love Doritos, but those aren't great for tournaments; I don't want Dorito Dust on my cards or ships, and they're just a ton of empty calories) was key. A little bit of caffeine from a small soda to get me going in the morning, but then relying on water the rest of the day. So we've got our fleets, our snacks and drinks, and we're good to go!

Round 1

We arrive on time after picking up breakfast to go, we register our fleets, set up, and get ready. We get started a bit late, but I'd honestly expected that from one of the first major events in the past two years, as well as it just being a large event overall, so it's all good. I get set up across from Lucas W., who is fielding a Starhawk, two flotillas, and a bunch of squadrons. He's got the bid and chooses to go second. I still worry about the Starhawk (though I'm mostly worrying about those squadrons...Lando, a Lancer, some YT-2400s, and a couple of other squadrons I'm not remembering), but I'm confident that if I hit that Starhawk hard with everything I've got, I'm likely to lose both Gladiators and my two squadrons, but that will still net me an 8-3 win. If I can manage to save even one of the losses I mentioned, that's a 9-3. If I'm not mistaken, I chose Salvage Run. Lucas and I spoke about it afterward and how he thought it was a poor objective choice given my plan to bring the hammer down on the Starhawk with all 3 ships hitting simultaneously. I can't remember my other two objective choices, but I remember he had done a very good job of picking an objective suite that I didn't enjoy. I figured I'd be spotting him some points, but at the time, it felt like a better choice than the other two. Anyway, I took a couple of pictures from this match, but as per usual, I forgot to take more pictures as the match progressed. Ultimately, my plan was to start fast then slow way down and see if I could mess with his command stack and his plans. But once I saw that he had command fixing available via Leia on one of his flotillas, I abandoned that plan. Since he had Kyrsta and Walex, I figured I needed as many shots as I could get at his Starhawk to take it down. So counter to how I would normally fly against a squadron-heavy fleet, I accelerated and got in his face so I could start unloading ordnance. It didn't quite work out that way, though. I had deployed IG-88 and Hondo to address the biggest squadron threats they could, starting with that Lancer and activating Lando, if I'm not mistaken. But it wasn't long before IG-88 was neutralized after not quite doing enough work and Hondo was locked down.

Honestly, at this point, I'm not *worried*, but I'm disappointed that my Glads will likely blow up a little more quickly than I planned. But ultimately, as long as they get in a couple of hits, I'm confident that my tanky ISD-II can still get the job done. That's not the way this goes. Luke's YT-2400s do really great work on the first of my Glads and it never gets to the next round to unload into the Starhawk with a double arc. My second Glad rolls a little cold and the Starhawk is able to weather than lackluster barrage just fine. My ISD does solid work, but at this point, I'm in trouble. His Starhawk shoots but definitely can't kill my Glad. However, this works against me, as he's able to bump me and stay in place. His YT-2400s dismantle my second Glad during the squadron phase and now I'm sweating. Especially because the next thing that happens is my ISD ends up in a Starhawk double arc. At this point, the game is over. I'd go on to lose 480-15, managing only to clear a single Lancer off the table before getting tabled. To say I was disappointed would be an extreme understatement. I was never counting on making the top cut, but it's certainly what I was playing for. This 1-10 loss almost certainly eliminated me from that possibility. I figured I'd need around 32 points to make top cut, which meant I'd need to win my remaining three matches, 10-1. So yeah, I was sour about this loss. I certainly hope Luke didn't feel any of what I was feeling because he was a very kind and thoughtful opponent, and I enjoyed chatting with him after the game, too! I was really glad to see him in 2nd overall by the end of the day (as well as 2nd after the top cut!) and no matter how the game goes, nobody wants to play an opponent who is feeling salty after losing. we talked about it afterward and while we agreed that my dice hurt me, I believe it was my mismanagement of the ISD's positioning that sealed the deal. Additionally, I shouldn't have engaged so early. He could've gotten set up a bit better if he had another round to do so, but that would've been one fewer rounds of his squadrons unloading on my ships. It's why I usually delay engagement against squadron-heavy fleets. Especially because my black dice (usually) do a lot of heavy damage in a short period of time, so I don't mind the game being condensed to only a couple of rounds.

At this point, I'm unhappy and I'm hungry and the tournament is running behind due to a late start, which means lunch has been pushed back. So I take the time to stare at some pictures of my kiddo and text my wife to improve my mood, which totally works. It literally works every time and I'm so grateful for that resource. I don't want my day ruined just because my first match is a bad one, and honestly, my primary concern is that I won't be a fun opponent to play against if I don't buck up and employ that short memory that all successful NFL quarterbacks have.

Round 2

Going into Round 2, things got a bit weird. I was in a better mood because of the self-care options I chose (snacking and family photos/videos), which was good! But for reasons I never learned, there was a pretty long delay going from Round 1 to Round 2. I've only run small tournaments, so I can only imagine how much more difficult the big tournaments are. But I'll admit that between being hungry and having woken up early, I was starting to yawn and get tired. Armada is not a game which really affords fatigue. And definitely not when only going into the second of four rounds. So the in-between time was a little rough on me and some other guys who I knew were playing. Especially because fatigue can lead to tilting and I really do everything in my power not to tilt. It makes for crappy gaming on both sides of the table and I'd do everything I could to fight it. For round 2, I was matched up against Donald B. with his LMC80, MC30, and Assault Frigate. Kyrsta was on the Assault Frigate. No squadrons, but I'm easily out-activated. Overall, though, I feel good about my matchup against this fleet. He has the bid and decides to go first. I end up picking Surprise Attack because with Tarkin, it's easy enough for the rest of my fleet to catch up with my ISD-II being forced to deploy onto the station while also addressing the Raid tokens he'll be handing me.

Given that any realistic shot I had at the top cut had been eliminated in the first round, I figured I'd need to just swing for the fences and either lose hard or win hard. Made my decisions a little easier moving forward. At this point, I didn't take any more pictures. I wasn't sure I wanted to write about this because I felt as though I'd failed so hard and I also still held hope that I could enjoy the rest of my day as much as losing would allow me. But if I recall correctly, Donald set up the station to my far right of the playing area, thus ensuring my ISD would be there as well. I deployed it as far back as I could and then deployed my two GSDs to the left of the ISD so that they had options. I figured that only one, maybe two of his ships would pop outside my ISD, but I didn't think all three would. I figured one ISD and one GSD would be enough to take down whatever happened outside if he sent anything that way. So one of my Glads was more or less committed to the port side of my ISD, and the inside GSD could go inside or outside as needed. Sure enough, only his Assault Frigate popped outside; the LMC80 went inside to line up shots on my ISD and GSD, and his MC30 kind of delayed but ended up meeting my ISD head-on.

My positioning felt good outside of perhaps letting my ISD get a little too far forward. But ultimately, I just couldn't take down the LMC80 when I needed to; the result was that I ended up eating dice I needed to not eat. I was exactly one activation behind where I anticipated my kills and the result was a dead ISD. I had switched from a Kuat to the ISD-II so that was less likely to happen, so I wasn't real happy about how things were going. Ultimately, I ended up getting the LMC80 as well as the Assault Frigate, but not before I lost enough that narrowed my win to a 36 point MOV and a 6-5 win. My day was officially over. I was going to keep playing because I saw no reason to drop other than to spare my ego. Plus, Donald was genuinely nice opponent and I like seeing LMC80s on the table (my favorite ship for a faction I don't usually fly)! Why drop and deprive myself of the chance to meet other nice opponents? Besides: what else was I going to do if not fly Armada?

Round 3

I mentioned awhile back that I had kept half of a big ole' sandwich from dinner the night before for lunch today. And a damn good thing I did, because I was starving by the time we got to a lunch break around 2pm or so. I didn't have to go looking for food, navigate a crowd, or wait in line and risk having to rush my meal. It really allowed me to settle in, talk to some folks, and feel better about my day. Honestly, I was less sour about not making top cut personally than I was about not making more noise with Tarkin on my last spin out with him for awhile. For anyone who reads this blog (or the STL Armada one for which I wrote before it), you are probably familiar with how much I like Tarkin and how I'd like to see him get the love he deserves. That wasn't happening today and I was real disappointed about that. But by the time I was halfway through the day, while I was still unhappy about the results, I was doing better than I had.

For the third round, I was matched up against Steve S. flying an Imperial MSU featuring Ozzel and a bunch of Arquitens and a 6 Decimator cloud. I don't remember much about this match, unfortunately, but I was definitely afraid of those Decimators. If he rolls well, those Decimators will...well, decimate my fleet. And I don't want that. So I try to stick to my plan of "take what he gives me." He's got Ozzel, so while I can change speed easily with Tarkin, he can change his speed much more easily with Ozzel and he's built for it. If I expend too much energy chasing down his bait, I'll fly right into any traps he might set. So I need to protect my assets, force him to make bad decisions, then make him pay for those bad decisions. We had an even bid, but I honestly can't remember who won the roll-off and who chose what. But I'm confident that I went first and I either chose Minefields or Planetary Ion Cannon. I figured I could fairly easily shrug off any damage either of those objectives did to me, and neither of them would afford Steve any points. If we tied 0-0, he wins by default. But nobody really wants that win, so I figured I could force the issue. As I mentioned, I don't recall much about the match other than I hit some stuff, then I accelerated so that he'd be forced to chase me because he needed points. Ultimately, if I recall correctly, I got all of his Arquitens and 4 of his 6 Decimators. I lost one of my GSDs and at least one of my aces if not both of them. It *just* netted me an 8-3 3. I honestly shouldn't have even been bothering to track this anymore, but for some reason, I was. I had no shot at making top cut, so it was all about just getting as close as I could.

Round 4

Last round of the day and I'm glad I'll at least be going 50%. The first loss was bad and my first win wasn't particularly good. But that's the way it goes sometimes. I got matched up against Nick K. and his Imperial MSU. I wasn't thrilled with facing off against another MSU, but I gotta say, not only was Nick a nice guy, but he'd put together a real interesting fleet. This was another one of those fleets that featured ships that didn't necessarily seem to have a lot of symmetry, but I figured would likely add up to be more than the sum of their parts. Sure enough, that's exactly how it went. I tried to follow my regular MSU plan and take what I'm given, but I was so badly out-activated that I ended up shooting at phantoms because I needed to be up close and personal to punch anything with my GSDs. So I put damage on a bunch of different ships, but simply wasn't bringing anything down. For the third time of the day, I lost my ISD. Again, I'd changed from a Kuat to the ISD-II so that I could keep my flagship alive, and I'd failed. Felt like a pretty personal indictment, but that's the way it goes. Great defensive tech, but needed a better admiral in the end. I ended up losing this one in a 4-7, I believe. That said, Nick was a really nice guy and a very good flyer. I prefer to win, but if I'm going to lose, losing to an opponent like this and a fleet that could run circles around me is an experience I can't complain about.

It's funny: a couple of weeks ago at our local Armada open play, my friend Scott mentioned that he had "blown my cover" and told some folks about how salty I was about how things went for me at Adepticon while playing Armada, but I didn't feel that way about X-Wing, despite going 2-2 in the former and 2-4 in the latter. I'll be the first to own that saltiness while qualifying that I didn't disrespect any of my opponents or direct any of my hurt feelings at them. I feel confident that I didn't and so everything else is fine. But the other thing worth noting is that I had expectations for Armada whereas I had zero for X-Wing. I had played a couple of games of X-Wing in person, and maybe 5 on TTS. I was always going to get whooped in the X-Wing Qualifier. But Armada? Tarkin? Man, I'd been flying iterations of that fleet for literally 2 years (most of it during the pandemic, but I was definitely using iterations of that fleet in Prime tournaments leading up to the pandemic). I knew how I wanted to handle different opponents, I knew my fleet forwards and backwards, and I was ready to do stuff with it. So yeah: expectations, y'all. It's the way it goes. I'm glad I went, I'm sorry I didn't do better, I'm glad I got to see good people and I think I did a solid job of not directing any of my frustration or disappointment at my gracious opponents. I can live with all of that.

As for me moving forward? Time for me to send Grand Moff Tarkin to that old farm upstate and move on. I still dig the hell out of him, but I need a break. I need to play some different things, learn what I can, and see if I can't fall in love with some other idea. That was Armada until the team tournament; X-Wing was next!