What is the Battle at Blobs Park? It's awesomesauce, thats what. This is the 2nd annual event held at a German beer hall here in Maryland, about an hour north of where NOVA was held this year. The event consists of tournaments for 40k, Fantasy, Warmachine, Flames of War, and even Malifaux. It takes place Saturday, September 24th. (sign-ups cut off the 17th)
Links: Event Flyer and Event Packets
So, what is great about it? Well, the venue and atmosphere are unique for one. The tournament itself is held in a covered outdoor pavilion, next to the German beer hall (site of the first Oktoberfest in the US). The pavilion is huge and completely shelters you from the elements, but still gives you the feel of playing outdoors (I will provide pictures after the event). Additionally, you can BYOB or purchase beer and food from staff in the pavilion. And every loss, you get to drown your sorrows with a free beer! (i think)
The event is geared to be competitive, but also fun. So, if you have a chance to take a look at the players packet for 40k, here are some of my favorite things:
- It is a GW qualifier GT.
- The have added a 10 minute deployment time limit to avoid slow player manipulation
- Round pairings are similar to Nova
- No comp (duh)
- Missions are standard - with secondary battle points that are the same each round
- Prize support/awards is superb
- Overall Champion
- Best painted
- Best General for Imperium
- Best General for Xenos
- Best player from EACH codex. (even that lowly Necron player can get a prize)
In the interest of full disclosure, members of my gaming group are hosting this event and running the 40k/fantasy tournament, so the praise I give may be a bit biased. These are the same guys that ran the Fanstasy tournament at Nova this year.
*Note* - I am posting about this tournament mainly because I will be attending it, but I also spent much of my childhood attending German festivals inside the hall, so it brings back memories. Plus, the 3++ community always seems open to learning about different types of tournaments.
