Recently I had the chance to attend Warzone: Atlanta, the largest 40k Grand Tournament in the Southern United States, come see how good it really was!
I have been to many GTs in my 40k career, including the big ones like NOVA and Adepticon, but Warzone: Atlanta is my favorite. Why you ask? Let’s take a look.
Great Rules: Warzone: Atlanta has a great staff, and they have put together a very good FAQ document and the rules they play by for 40k are very simple: Everything is allowed! Yep, that’s right. No restrictions, no modifications, just pure 40k. An army did have to be battle forged, but other than that the whole spectrum of 40k was represented at Warzone, from Taunar Supremacy suits to FW Grot Tanks. This may seem crazy, but this makes the game like the wild wild west, and with great mission design it all balances out.
Great Missions: Warzone: Atlanta uses a unique set of missions that you can find on their website. Each mission is distinctly different, so to do well your army must be able to complete a wide variety of tasks. This really helps keep some armies in check and makes sure you need all your wits about you when you play a mission.
Warzone: Atlanta also uses the Battle Points mission format, nothing is win loss. This means that every game is all about getting as many points as you can, even if the matchup is a bad one. I feel that this really helps players stick out their games until the end, as you can do poorly in one or two rounds and still rocket back up to the top 10.
In fact, my first round opponent last year got 0 points when my D-Thirsters of Doom cut through his fortuned Seer council, but he battled back to 5th place overall by maxing his next 4 games! It ain’t over till it’s over, and that really makes Warzone fun.
Great Environment: This is what REALLY sets Warzone apart from the other GTs of the world. Warzone has the most relaxed and fun environment of any GT I have been to. Each table is spaced in a wide carpeted hall in such a way that you can fully walk around the table. That’s right. You are not crammed into rows, but spread throughout the room in such a way that there is plenty of space at each table to play and place your army, and not constantly be bumping into the people around you.
Every table is also complete with a FAT MAT, which really adds to the experience. In addition, Warzone has 3 hour rounds for 1850 points games, which REALLY cuts down on the stress level of trying to finish games. But the biggest thing that adds to this experience is the catered lunch. The price of your Warzone Ticket includes a catered lunch that is served between games 1 and 2 on each day.
So, you finish a game, and then walk around the corner and get a buffet. This is such a huge stress reducer! No running out to grab fast food and running back, no standing in line to get a $5 hot dog, you get a great buffet with delicious items that everyone can enjoy, and with a full hour break for lunch, you have time to really enjoy it and visit with the other tournament attendees.
One other small thing that makes Warzone great is that between days 1 and 2, the gaming hall is shut and locked, which means you can simply leave your army in the gaming hall and you don’t need to haul it up to your hotel room and back down again the next day. Like I said, a small thing, but it helps.
Great Prize Support: This is an understatement. Warzone gives away a phenomenal amount of prize support. First of all, Warzone recognizes 4 overall winners. Yes. If you ask who won Warzone: Atlanta, you will hear five people’s names. There is an award for Best Painted, Best Sportsmanship, Best Battle Points, and Best average of these three categories.
All four of these champions get the same hefty prize – this year it was a Silver Tower Box – and an amazing trophy. Warzone also does a few other things to give out even more prizes. They give an award to the Best Team at the event, and a prize to the person who comes in last place, with the aptly named “Ezekyle Abbadon’s 14th Time’s The Charm Black Crusade Award.”
Also, based on your battle points at the end of day 1, you are placed into groups, and on day two those who score the first and second highest in those groups also win prizes! It is important to note that these groups are for prizes only, and do not affect overall tournament prizes. But wait, there’s more! Warzone: Atlanta also has something I have never seen at any other event, and that is The Bounty Board.
The Bounty Board is a list of player sponsored prizes that are awarded based on completing certain tasks throughout the weekend. These range from beating certain players in a game, to killing certain units when you face them, such as the dreaded Supremacy Armor, or even completing nearly impossible tasks, such as Killing a flyer or Flying Monstrous Creature with a Bloodthirster outside of assault!!!
These really added to the event and created an atmosphere of pure fun. When we all heard that the legendary Zack Moltz Summoned a Bloodthirster with his SW deathstar and used it to lay low Fateweaver with a perfect Vector Strike, we all cheered! And Zack was quite happy to win the sponsored prize of 2 Helblades! Warzone gives away more prizes in more forms than anything I have ever seen and it is a truly great event to be a part of.
Warzone: Atlanta is a GT like no other. The amazing crew in the General Staff gaming club, as well as a host of volunteers, sponsors and promoters from other organizations really go the extra mile to make this GT something special.
Mark your calendar! Warzone: Atlanta is a GT you NEVER want to miss!
