NOVA MOVE IN; Good Luck to All, UStream Live, and more

NOVA is here. It's by far our biggest and most ambitious yet. I'm already a little on the tired side, but at the same time incredibly excited, and incredibly proud of our staff.

I'll be mostly MIA starting with move in this morning.

Volunteer David G will be monitoring the live feed and keeping things busy on the social media fronts.

The 11th Co live stream info ... spread the word:
information about our upcomign live streaming of the top table at Nova Open.
You can find the stream at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-11th-company
We will be starting on Thursday at around 5:30pm Eastern and will be broadcasting the top table for both the invitational and the Nova Open.
Thanks for your time,
Pat, 11th Co

Follow the NOVA on Facebook for live updates from the con.

Follow the NOVA and invitational for live forty k stats, results, pairings, and more at app.torrentoffire.com

See you all there!

Mike

Craft Beer and Cocktail Seminars - Late Update, Room Remaining

All those pondering it for your Friday (Cocktails) or Saturday (Beer) evenings,

The Craft Beer seminar will involve tasting of FIFTEEN different American beer styles and variants. Instructor Chris Jacques, a DC Area Brewmaster formerly with Harpoon and presently w/ Rock Bottom, will be rolling through his personal choices and a history of craft brewing in America. He's guessing each attendee will be getting through around 3 pints of this nation's best brew.

The Craft Cocktail seminar will involve rolling through the craft and tasting of the "fundamental" cocktails from which all others invariably sprout, and will include a 2nd hour LAB session where you'll be working hands on learning to make the basics, and learning how to twist them into your own brand of American Craft Cocktail.

Some spots remain in each course, held in the Presidential Suite of the Hyatt, with proceeds benefiting the efforts of the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation (501c3).

NOVA Move-In ... 2 Days

Anyone out there willing to put in some early morning Wednesday time to join the staff for move-in? We could use all the hands we can get!

For all you last minute painters and playtesters and preppers ...

NOVA 2013 Dice

Hey all,

We've got some radical dice for the  NOVA this year; they can be purchased for a few bucks at the NOVA Open Store during the Con.

These suckers double as Scatter Dice (all cred and perms to/from AdeptiCon for the idea!), and are gorgeous to boot!

Pick some up when you're there - supplies are limited (only 75 sets available).

Torrent of Fire Registration / Account Linking

All,

If you are in the 40kGT and/or Invitational, check your spam / promotions / etc. filters for the Newsletter sent out yesterday with your personal ID # to grab your Torrent of Fire account.

In order to protect attendee security, we did not share e-mail addresses / contact information with Torrent, so they created unique ID's for each player, so that you can create your accounts and go "link" if you wish to be registered with Torrent (which enables keeping track of who you are / your clubs for pairing / pairings avoidance, lifetime stat tracking, etc. etc., and perhaps most importantly - live self scoring w/ mobile devices). Go ahead and get that done now if you desire to, so you don't have to bother with figuring it out at the last minute at the con.

If you have any questions, fire away!

 - Mike

Torrent of Fire Alert / Update

First, stealth pimp - WHY HAVEN'T YOU CHECKED OUT REDEMPTION OF THE FALLEN YET? Support charity, contribute to a good cause, and maybe win an absurdly sweet army ...
http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/RotF-PHOTO-ALBUM-by-MVB-8-15-13.pdf?utm_source=NOVA+Open+Newsletter%3A+August+15%2C+2013&utm_campaign=April+14%2C+2013&utm_medium=email

ALL 40k players, and Invitational players.

A pair of distinct newsletters will be going out shortly to just you guys. Make sure you are not on spam lists / etc., make sure to check your Gmail Promotions tabs.

These newsletters will be mail merged to give each attendee their personal User ID to "take over" their Torrent of Fire account, and enable player lifetime record keeping, Mobile Self Scoring, live score updates, etc.

For the viewing / non-attending audience at large, you'll be able to follow along with live results and all table pairings as they occur via the app. link below.

Once they're public, just click the Invitational or GT to get live status on any and all players and how they're doing, the army of who they're playing, etc. etc.

Players - even if you aren't someone with a tablet or smart phone, you'll want to snag your Torrent of Fire account and register w/ them. List your CLUBS also, and make sure your friends in the same clubs list theirs. The software will automatically avoid pairing club mates and state-mates for the first couple rounds, and that's true at ANY EVENT IN THE FUTURE that uses Torrent of Fire ... I already know at least 11th Co GT, BFS, FoB, the Redstone Rumble, and others are in talks w/ them. They tweak their scoring software to suit the tournament / format.

If you list your club and register correctly, any time you attend a tournament - whether an RTT or GT or whatever - that uses Torrent of Fire, they'll automatically know who you are and who not to pair you with, etc., plus it'll have your personal stats records and other things on file.

So, watch for the e-mails, follow the instructions, get yourself registered, and make your NOVA experience even more radical.

Relevant links
http://www.torrentoffire.com/
http://app.torrentoffire.com/#/

40k GT has only about 20 spots left; if you're a slacker, you're nearly screwed! :)

This deserves a smile b/c we've actually sold our spots entirely, but we've had some pre-drops (Which is normal). We'll probably have some noshows day of, as that's way normal, but no idea how many or what to expect.

We are SO excited, going to be an amazing NOVA!

FAQ Update for NOVA 2013

NOVA's head judge has finished his review, and the final FAQ document is here:

http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/40k-FAQ-v2.pdf

If you have any remaining questions, feel free to ask; Somerville and I will do our best to provide you with answers to expect. Remember this is a Frequently Asked Questions document, not one meant to address every possible issue, or rules clearly answered within the book and simply  not well understood, yada yada.

Fantasy GT Update - 6 spots left

Quick PSA - Only 6 of 64 spots remain in the Fantasy GT.

Infinity, Warmachine, and 40k are all also very close to sold out.

The Masterclass Painting Seminar #10 (see schedule) has I think 1 spot left.

A LOT of stuff is filling up late ... this isn't a very comprehensive list. If you're a dawdler, grab your tickets.

Also, I don't think the hotel room block stays open at $85/night until the day of ... if you haven't reserved your room for any reason, do so ... there are not very many rooms left. I think like 23 room-nights total left? You can always cancel your reservation if you can't make it, at 0 cost.

Final NOVA Invitational 2013 Roster

This represents one of the toughest crowds we've ever had for the Invitational.

The schedule this year for it is also much easier, leaving players fresh in all / nearly all games (1 game Thurs night, Fri AM, Sat AM, and then the 2 final games Sun afternoon).

Daniel Bunker
Tony Kopach
Alexander Fennell
Nick Nanavati
Jens Gertsen
Ragnar Arnesson
Matt DeFranza
Alex Bessinger
Ben Mohlie
Andrew Gonyo
James Watkins
Jesse Newton
Allan Hernandez
Alan Bajramovic
Brad Nichols
Brett Perkins
Brad Townsend
Eric Hoerger
Jeremy Veysseire
Bob Roda
Vaden Ball
Robert Fortin
Aaron Aleong
Alex Harrison
Werner Born
Neil Gilstrap
Robert Tilly
Matt Schuchman
Adam Tricola
Nick Rose
Kurt Clauss
Mark Aksel

Are you getting excited for NOVA yet? Any questions unanswered?

The hotel room block is getting close to sold out, and the days to reserve it and its amazing $85/night room rate are also running low.

The FAQ has been updated as well, and should be republished soon ... keynote changes include ruling Vengeance Weapons Batteries are "Emplaced Weapons" and not "Gun Emplacements."

Have you checked out seminars in your off time? Magic events and booster drafts? Are you submitting anything to the paint competition?

Marineception

First I saw this ...

So then I thought this ...

Tracking Team America at the ETC

To follow how Team America is doing in the Singles today/tomorrow, and the Team Champs as a whole by the weekend ....

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ETC-2013-Novi-Sad/147903428748437
Google+
https://plus.google.com/112836945837633020155
Twitter
https://twitter.com/2013ETC
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99535840@N02/


In 40k, Andrew Gonyo, a local buddy, regular opponent, etc., is sitting in first place after day 1 of the European Singles Championship (which leads into the ETC itself). Alan Bajramovic is up there as well, with Tony Kopach the next highest American in the standings.

Good to see our local crew, and the Americans as a more important whole, doing well already!

Follow along ...

 - Mike

Short-Turn Draft FAQ - Responses Solicited

All,

The following link is to the INITIAL DRAFT 40k FAQ for the 2013 NOVA Open. While primarily complete, your feedback is requested for addressing critical absent responses, and any major rules conundrums you feel should be addressed / re-addressed.

Dispassionate feedback only, please, with rules references and cogent arguments to support your point of view. We follow a Rules as Reasonable approach, leaning Rules as Written when in doubt.

The 40k Chief Rules Judge will be reviewing the document internally, and we will publish a final version by Tuesday AM. All changes will be implemented after NOON on Monday.

Please remain respectful with any rules / rulings you feel especially passionate about, and keep in mind the NOVA's only intent with the production of this document is the adjudication of difficult or fuzzy rules/rulings at the NOVA Open itself.

Thanks for all the feedback, rules amalgamation, and Q&A we've had so far - it's been incredibly helpful!

 - MVB, NOVA

http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013-NOVA-Open-Short-Return-Draft-FAQ.pdf