SA Open is, err, open!

12/19/2012

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Last night three dishevelled figures met in a dingy bar and drunk themselves into a stupor while plotting the next steps towards global domination!

Well, OK, we weren't all that dishevelled considering I was wearing beige dress shoes, Adam was in a suit and Casper, well, his nic is "Vain" for a reason. And you can't really call the Griffin's Head, with its new designer interior, "dingy". And three beers is hardly a drunken stupor. And, yes alright, we were discussing the AusBowl State Championship and SA Open, but apart from that all of the details above are correct!

This discussion was an important one because it pinned down some key details and allowed us to open registrations for the SA Open. We've set the entry fee at $30 up until 22 February, and $40 thereafter, to try and encourage early registration (as it helps us with planning in the run up to the event). This $30 will cover access to the venue, seven games over two days, eligibility for a range of prizes (both tournament-based prizes and some additional draws and games), player gifts (yet to be finalised) and a souvenir coach pack.

While we're talking about prizes, however, it is worth reiterating what is on offer. Mantic Games have offered us a copy of Dreadball, which I am going to try to paint up before the tournament begins, as well as one of each of the four Season 1 teams (Corporation, Marauder, Forge Fathers and Veer-myn); Three Die Block have offered a painted Amazon team, Tin Soldier Penrith have offered two boxed sets of Games Workshop's Dreadfleet; Intergalactic Games have offered a custom pitch and some Lead Adventures miniatures; Cyanide has offered two product keys for their Dungeonbowl online game; Focus Interactive have offered six product keys for Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition; Southern Shrike Bowl have offered a SSB prize pack; and KO'ed Dice Bags have offered four dice bags with dice. With more to come, it is an exciting prize pool.

Payment details and registration forms are available online in the "SA Open" page of this website, so head on over for more details.

In addition, we will soon be opening a series of discount orders with various suppliers of fantasy football miniatures. With everyone congregating in one place it is the perfect time to pick up any teams or supplies you've been looking for both with a significant discount and without the need for additional postage costs once they arrive in the country.

The only sad news we have is that we have had to cancel plans for a dedicated fantasy football painting contest alongside AusBowl SC2 and the SA Open. With the tournament looming we needed to look realistically at what we could do, and this was looking to be beyond us.

But all guns are firing for the tournament and the painters can still be involved in the Best Team competition by being involved in either the AusBowl or SA Open.Get those registrations in for the Open and good luck if you're still hoping to make a representative team.


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Getting into the Nitty Gritty

9/19/2012

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I've been trying recently to pin down some additional detail on several areas of the website as we move ever closer to the competition. In particular, the rule set has now been almost entirely pinned down, with the only gaps being how match-ups will be determined in the ASC2 and how scoring will be undertaken. Apart from this the Rules section is complete and provides coaches with exact details on how to build their teams and how this event will differ from other comparable tournaments.

I've also now added some detail in regard to the AusBowl Painting Tournament (APT) which will run at the same time. Ever since we first discussed hosting this event in Adelaide, we've been talking about also having a dedicated fantasy football painting competition. It's no secret that this is close to my own heart as, while I've been lucky enough to make the SA state team on both ocassions, painting has always been my main focus and I love to see amazingly painted miniatures and teams line up on the pitch with one another. I know there are many others in the same boat and, to make a rounded event, I feel that including painters in the "AusBowl" event is vitally important. In future years I would like to see it become a feature of both the State and Team Championships, although this decision rests, ultimately, with the organisers for any given year.

The categories that are planned for the APT are Player, Big Guy, Team and Open. The first three should be fairly obvious, although team has been defined further. Open is for anything else: dioramas, custom pitches, large scale models, etc.

It is also important to note that we are not requiring entrants to actually be present at the tournament, so long as they can get their entries there somehow. Given that there are a large number of players converging on the tournament from across the country, we figure this gives everyone the best opportunity to be involved by using attendees as mules (of course, this is at the discretion of the mul... err... attendees). I'd love to see the painters from around Australia come along though. Perhaps it is selfish, but having the chance to share a beer with danielcollins, DevilsReject, the Chad and many other gamers known for their amazing painting (yes, even Sart) would be awesome. Either way, however, seeing their work in the flesh would be almost as good.

It's also important to note that this stands apart from the Best Painted Team awards in both the AusBowl State Championship and SA Open, which are open only to competitors in those events and which will be judged by peer vote.

Once you've finished reading this, nip over to the "More" tab on the main page and select "Painting Contest" to see the rules as they stand. Keep posted on this too as we have some ideas re the trophies and 'branding' of the contest going forward.

Until next time...
SinisterDexter
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