This years Clash of Kings Regional tournament at Origins, while slightly disappointing in the number of participants, still increased participation from the prior Origins Kings of War tournament in 2013 by 400%!
It does seem to be a bit of a catch-22 for running tournaments at big conventions. On the one hand, you get people coming in from all over the country and even the world for the convention. On the other, a lot of people don't want to dedicate 8 or more hours to a single event when so much else could be going on. I had hoped for more locals, but four players is much better than one!!
The event went off very smoothly. US Clash of Kings Champion Kara Brown was there with her Abyssal Dwarfs, this time bring some undead allies. Amy Stamper was also there with her dwarf army, with allies from her dragon themed nature army. Mike Moyer brought his Kingdoms of Men, and Skip Bourque jumped at the chance to play in the tournament using my Abyssal Dwarfs.
We used chess clocks (well, chess clock apps on our smart phones) to run this as a timed event. I have usually found that this works very smoothly, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
In the first round, Amy went up against Skip, and she quickly destroyed his army. Meanwhile, we had more people come by to learn to play on the empty tables in the back.
Kara took on Mike. It was a very close game, right up until a 7th turn was rolled. Kara went first with about 90 seconds left. She made two quick charges, resolved one, and then froze. She looked at the clock and saw she only had about fifteen seconds left, and something snapped and she panicked. She just kept saying "I don't have time to finish" over and over as her last few seconds ticked away, and everyone watched as, for the first time in ANY tournament I have run, the clock ran out.
Kara really was in a state of shock for a while. She only had a single charge left to resolve a troop of wraiths. After the game she tried to see how long it would take to resolve it - she had to roll five dice, then three from the hits with no wounds, and even with wounds it would have been an additional 2 dice for the nerve check. She rolled them in about three seconds.
Luckily we had a dinner break after the first game, and she was able to collect herself. Even for champions, it seems sometimes with the rush of adrenaline, the flight response hits and panic sets in.
In the second round, Kara played Skip - so we had Abyssal Dwarf on Abyssal Dwarf action. There were beards flying everywhere as Kara was back in form beating Skip.
Amy played Mike to a draw.
For the third round, Mike faced off against Skip for a victory.
Meanwhile, it was family feud time as Kara battled against Amy. The newlyweds showed now mercy however, and Amy managed to squeak out a win against Kara.
There were nice armies there. Unfortunately Mike had hastily assembled his Kingdoms of Men army, and did not have time to finish his war machine crews, which caused a serious blow to his painting score.
Amy premiered her new Dwarf display board. She used old Mage Knight Dungeons doors and furniture to great effect, including hiding a gold D20 in the treasure chest, and putting a working light inside the mine.
Kara allied her Abyssal Dwarfs with the Undead this time instead of the Forces of Nature. She was able to put the necromancer to good use dark surging her lesser obsidian golems into the fight.
In the end, Amy won her first tournament, earning her the coveted Blaine statue and an invitation to the Clash of Kings at Adepticon next year (so I guess she has no reason not to go now). Mike came in second, and Kara took home another Best Appearance award.
Overall, everyone had a good time and we all look forward to continued growth next year.
It does seem to be a bit of a catch-22 for running tournaments at big conventions. On the one hand, you get people coming in from all over the country and even the world for the convention. On the other, a lot of people don't want to dedicate 8 or more hours to a single event when so much else could be going on. I had hoped for more locals, but four players is much better than one!!
The event went off very smoothly. US Clash of Kings Champion Kara Brown was there with her Abyssal Dwarfs, this time bring some undead allies. Amy Stamper was also there with her dwarf army, with allies from her dragon themed nature army. Mike Moyer brought his Kingdoms of Men, and Skip Bourque jumped at the chance to play in the tournament using my Abyssal Dwarfs.
We used chess clocks (well, chess clock apps on our smart phones) to run this as a timed event. I have usually found that this works very smoothly, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
In the first round, Amy went up against Skip, and she quickly destroyed his army. Meanwhile, we had more people come by to learn to play on the empty tables in the back.
 |
| Amy v. Skip |
Kara really was in a state of shock for a while. She only had a single charge left to resolve a troop of wraiths. After the game she tried to see how long it would take to resolve it - she had to roll five dice, then three from the hits with no wounds, and even with wounds it would have been an additional 2 dice for the nerve check. She rolled them in about three seconds.
Luckily we had a dinner break after the first game, and she was able to collect herself. Even for champions, it seems sometimes with the rush of adrenaline, the flight response hits and panic sets in.
 |
| Mike and Kara as they begin deploying their forces. |
 |
| Kara smiles as Skip moves his forces forward. |
 |
| Amy and Mike look over the battlefield situation. |
 |
| Mike v. Skip on turn two, as their forces approach each other. |
 |
| Kara v Amy - Abyssal Dwarfs against their good cousins |
 |
| Mike Moyer's Kingdoms of Men |
 |
| Amy Stamper's Dwarfs |
 |
| A shot inside the mine, where you can see the working light she installed. |
 |
| Kara Brown's Abyssal Dwarfs |
 |
| (L to R) Kara Brown, Amy Stamper, Claude (Skip) Bourque and Mike Moyer |
 |
| Amy Stamper, Champion |
 |
| Kara Brown, Best Appearance |
 |
| Mike Moyer, 2nd place |
Origins 2015 Clash of Kings
| Place | Name | Army | Opponents | Battle | Objectives | Paint | Players Choice | Favorite Opponent | Attrition | Total | Additional Painting | Appearance Total | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amy Stamper | Dwarfs |
Claude (Skip) Bourque, Mike Moyer, Kara Brown
|
75
|
8
|
20
|
1980
|
95
|
7
|
27
|
Champion | ||
| 2 | Kara Brown | Abyssal Dwarfs | Mike Moyer, Claude (Skip) Bourque, Amy Stamper |
55
|
8
|
20
|
3
|
2
|
2540
|
80
|
5
|
28
|
Best Appearance |
| 3 | Mike Moyer | Kingdoms of Men | Kara Brown, Amy Stamper, Claude (Skip) Bourque |
65
|
6
|
6
|
3190
|
71
|
2
|
8
|
2nd Place | ||
| 4 | Claude (Skip) Bourque | Abyssal Dwarfs | Amy Stamper, Kara Brown, Mike Moyer |
45
|
5
|
17
|
1
|
2
|
1535
|
65
|
4
|
22
|
Comments
Post a Comment