2013 WTC review: being social (and other oddities)

Speaking of oddities...

What's the #1 reason to go to international tournaments? To meet many nice people, both new and old. I started attending the international WM/H events in 2012 and it's amazing how easily you connect with people from all the globe. Unlike what the term "wargaming" implies, wargamers are about the friendliest crowd one can find. :-) If there is a #1 reason to go to international tournaments, then this is it.

Consider this:

Team Portugal receiving the Wooden Spoons.

As I hinted in my previous blog post on Team Switzerland's performance, Team Portugal ranked last in the final standings. However, they got wooden spoons (with a custom engraved Convergence logo) for their efforts - after all, preparing one year for this event, traveling all the way up from Portugal, and keeping up a positive attitude even in the face of defeat is quite something. :-) Not surprisingly, the applause for Team Portugal was about the same as for the top three teams receiving their trophies. :-)

Team Prime Sweden getting third place.

Team USA Blue getting the silver trophies.

Team Poland Red receiving the WTC trophy for the first time ever...

...but not after having been wholeheartedly congratulated and hugged by Team USA Blue.

If one can say one thing about wargaming, then it's about celebrating victories and defeats together. :-)

One of the best moments at the WTC for me was when I observed a member of Team Austria and Team Italy high-fiving each other simply because they were walking down the same aisle. :-)

Of course, whenever there is a group of people together, they also need a prime coordinator. ;-)

Norbert, the head judge, laying down the law.

The high quality of the games and the peaceful spirit of this event can also be seen in the fact that Norbert (head judge) and his team had no heavy rules issues to solve. Of course, the WM/H ruleset already has a high quality standard, but there still was not more than calling a judge quickly over for a short rule's clarification as far as I could observe.

Norbert observing the final game between Andrzej Kasiewicz and Brian White.

Even in the final games between Poland and the USA, where at other events (I am looking at you, 40K) minimally one judge would be constantly at every table, everything was relaxed and running smoothly. Norbert was casually patrolling the tables whereas the rest of his team of judges all attended the regular games as normal.

"My right War Wolf ran a hook screened by the Reeves when my eMorvahna threw a Hail Mary for a 42 yards touchdown." - Will explaining to Jason how he won his final game. :-D ;-) :-P

Me and Chad Shonkwiler, probably the best Trollbloods player in the world.

+Gergely Gati and +Sövényházi Loránd engaging in that secret language of theirs. :-)

One thing worth mentioning in terms of social activities are definitely the evenings, most notably Saturday evening. Once the dust cleared on the boards, people started to play card games and had a heck of a good time:

Botond in a round of "No, we didn't playtest this either!", a wicked card game where you can win or lose from one second to the next. :-D

The card game "Cards against humanity" is politically totally incorrect and therefore attracted even a larger crowd. :-D

Team Germany discussing tactics over beers...

...while Team USA huddled for a full 90 minutes, discussed all combinations through, and then went to bed early. If you want to win the world, you leave nothing to chance. :-D

Team Norway won the drinking contest, consequently won even more drinks,...

...and even found their shoes again. ;-)

Another reason why this community is awesome is this picture:

The gaming hall, one hour after the award ceremony.

Gamers staying for one more night before returning home helped the organization committee to put away tables, chairs, etc, so everything was cleaned up quite swiftly.

Speaking of the organization committee: they did a superb job! Really, this can't be said enough. Also, it was them who got the biggest applause as they really set the bar for all future WTC events to come. The Belgian crew was well organized, extremely friendly and hospitable, so if anyone deserves praise, then it's definitely them. :-)

2013 WTC review: Team Switzerland

Team Switzerland on WTC Sunday. From left to right: +Gergely Gati, +Botond Gati, me (as the reserve player), +Henrik Ekholm, +Moritz Schwank, and +Dominic Beyeler.

This is going to be the start of a series on blog posts on the 2013 WTC. First we get started with the performance of Team Switzerland at the 2013 WTC. In form of really short battle reports mostly in pictures.

For those readers who don't know what the WTC is: it's the World Team Championship in Warmachine and Hordes and you can get extensive information in the official blog and the results page.

Round 1 - Team Switzerland vs Team USA Blue

For Team Switzerland, this initial draw was like a dream come true. That we could win this was never the question, but it was a big honor to play against our idols so we focused to give them as much of a hard time as possible. We considered ourselves really lucky to get this matchup because after Round 1 we were extremely unlikely to see any of the two US teams again.

The matching process begins.

Gergely has Will Pagani thinking...

...what could possibly be the most beardy tactic.

After the game, Will Pagani complimented his Ghetorix who killed around 32 Cryx infantry models.

Moritz battling Brian White.

Jake VanMeter playing against his Swiss padawan. We see here Legion vs. Legion; in the run of the tournament Jake will have to play vs. Legion repeatedly again. It seems like everyone is afraid of Legion except Legion itself. :-D

Henrik battling Danny Modesto.

Dominic defeating Jason Flanzer eventually with an assassination run. We were really proud of Dominic since he showed we may not be one of the top teams, but still good for a surprise victory if one makes mistakes. After the game, Jason said he considered his eMadrak to be the weaker of the two (with the other being Runes of War T4) and he wanted to get rid of it in Round 1 to always have the freedom of choice in the following rounds. Well, the gambling paid off and there's no doubt that a player weaker than Dominic (like me) would still have been defeated by Jason.

Round 2 - Team Switzerland vs Team Netherlands

While Team Netherlands was a bunch of cool guys to play with, this 3-2 loss was bitter for Team Switzerland as we felt that although Team Netherland was a tad better, we could have defeated them with smarter games. Oh well. Maybe we'll have another run in 2014. :-D

Dominic vs. Casper Jellema

Botond vs. the Team Captain, Aat Niehot. Aat played an interesting eGrim list that I will talk about in a later article. In this game, Aat survived eVayl's assassination attempt and then struck back for Botond's defeat.

Gergely battling Robert Willemstein and eventually winning the game.

Moritz battling Tom Starren.

Henrik battling Harm Kleijnen and eventually winning the battle as well.

Round 3 - Team Switzerland vs Team Portugal

When I previously said that Team Netherlands was a tad better than we were, then I think it's acceptable to say that Team Portugal was a tad worse. Team Portugal also ranked on the last place in the end, but don't make a mistake and think of them as easy prey. If you play at WTC level, you play well and there is no such thing as an easy opponent. Team Portugal played great games against us, but finally we were relieved when we were able to tip the scale in our favor - winning 3-2 showed we were able to dominate this round, but it's not like we steamrolled them totally - they massively fought back and were good at it!

The matching process starts once more.

Botond battling Nuno Sequeira.

Dominic battling Paulo Morais.

Moritz battling Miguel Marques Correia.

Henrik battling against Joao Nunes.

Gergely battling against Joao Morais.

Round 4 - Team Switzerland vs Team Ireland

Fighting the Irish on a Sunday morning sounded like a very promising thing to do - but they were sober like the desert is dry. The same applies here what I wrote about the Netherlands: a tad better than we, we could have had them if we had played smarter games. The 2-3 loss properly reflects the strength of the teams here as well.

The matching process starts again. For a change we tried strategy. :-D

Dominic battling Gerry Nolan.

Botond battling Enoin Brennan. This game was over quickly because...

...Botond showed the Ladygoat how eVayl's assination run works.

Likewise Gergely won against Ciaran Bolger, the other Team Captain.

Unfortunately, Henrik was less lucky against Stuart Gorman. For a long time, either player could have won this. henrik pac-manned his way through Stuart's entire army, but less fortunate dice rolls made Henrik lose his elephants more quickly, so Stuart basically won on attrition.

Moritz battling Anthony O'Reilly.

Round 5 - Team Switzerland vs Team France Bleu

This round was a huge let down as we expected to do better at the bottom duels, especially after losing 2-3 vs. the Netherlands and the Irish. However, France Bleu simply wiped us out. They were really friendly guys, but their lists were really nasty and all geared towards assassination. Not really scenario play, not really attrition, but full hardcore get to the throat assassination. Hence one after the other Swiss player fell.

Gergely battling Baptiste Schmittlin. Baptiste was really excited to play against eGaspy because hardly anyone seems to play him in France, but Gergely killboxed himself for Baptiste's early victory, which Baptiste gladly accepted, of course, but still was a bit disappointed that it was over already.

Dominic battling Marc Simoni.

Henrik battling Valérian Tschanz.

Moritz battling Franck Primavera.

Botond battling Matthieu Buttin.

Conclusions

Team Switzerland after a tiring tournament. :-)

So what are the conclusions of all this battling nonsense?

1. We had a heck of a good time. :-)
2. We ranked 29th of 32 and met our goal not to be last. :-)
3. While we may not be the top contender, we don't have to hide ourselves either. The Netherlands and Irish are waiting to be defeated next time.
4. In order to defeat the Dutch and the Irish, more training is required and better strategy. We had to play too many unfavorable matchings. :-/
5. We really need to form a second team Switzerland for the 2014 WTC. I am looking at you, +Robi Deola and +Andre Suwanda. :-)

So to all opponents of the past and of the future: see you in 2014! :-D