The Aftermath of Adepticon

Wow what a weekend. Adepticon by its very nature cannot disappoint. It is truly more than an event, more than a tournament, even more than an experience…it is a celebration of a hobby that I am not ashamed to say has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years.

I started 40k in high school. Rogue Trader. I played Marines. They were the Knight of the Rising Storm. My buddies and I would sit up at night on the weekends and talk about the Grand Tournaments and Games Days and how we would love to go to one. We would play at Games Extraordinare and talk to some of the guys who had actually been there. My friend Antony is from England and until Games Workshop opened the store in Nashville he was the only one I knew who had ever been to a Games Workshop store.

Flash forward 20 years. Of all my high school friends I am the only one who still plays. Sure they are all still gamers (role-playing mostly) but none of them play Warhammer 40k. My brother and I are it. Games Days are not what they used to be. Grand Tournaments are gone and from what I have read they were not all they were cracked up to be. So 20 years later and the dream has had time to evolve and change. Adepticon is what that dream has changed into. Going with great friends, eating and drinking, playing a game that has given me more than just wins and losses (we do not even need to look at that ratio).

I have been twice now. I am now at the point in my gaming career that I want to try different events. I could forego Adepticon for another cool the event. The Nova, Wargamescon, the ATC just to name a few. But regardless of which one I try, Adepticon will always be the one that fulfilled the dream. It will always be the one that I will have to go back too and enjoy. Talking to Greg Swanson at the tournament was an eye opening experience. Many people do not know how personally involved the Organizers and Volunteers are in the running of this event. Greg was telling of how for the longest time terrain and supplies were stored at people’s houses and it was just in the past couple of years that the Tournament was able to afford storage for all the stuff. Months before the Tournament they are repairing, building and updating terrain. Just amazing…and all for the love of one great event. I am deeply thankful for all they do.

Now I can get on with the rest of my year. I have a big Apoc game I am running in May. There are some tourneys coming up that I want to hit. And before you know it Supremacy will be right around the corner. We have some campaigns at the Keep planned and who knows what else. None of those are Adepticon though. Maybe we will see it again next year. Only time will tell.