Charity Pub Sing/Music & Board Games @ NOVA Open 2016

Each year, we try to find more and more things to add to the NOVA for the "cost of the CAP," to help transform it over time into a well-rounded convention, instead of its early founding as primarily a gaggle of collocated, but ultimately isolated tournaments.

Two things stand out as heavily expanded and fleshed out this year to that end, giving people a lot more to do socially and gaming wise for the cost of attendance and nothing more.

First off, we're bringing back the Board Game room from last year, but expanding it pretty dramatically. Atlantis Comics and Games, which runs the room, will be running board tournaments, events, collaborative games, and more all weekend long with a proper, robust schedule of activities. So there'll actually be organizational support, potential rewards, and more. Furthermore, all events are free w/ a CAP (or Day Pass). In the same room, we'll have a lot of free Magic the Gathering activities as well throughout each day, with at-cost Limited Booster events in the evenings. Stay tuned to the newsletter for a list of all the board gaming events for the weekend. It's a TON, and it's gonna be awesome!

Second off, last year a few musical members of the staff wound up pulling out guitars and other things to jam in the Charity Lounge. In support of that, and with a few of the members of http://embrymusic.com (yes, this is my and my wife's band), as well as a few members of the NOVA Open staff, we'll be jamming most nights in the Lounge. But we'll also have a couple of 2-hour more formal sets with a wide range of fun sing-along-able songs to play, ranging from rowdy Irish drinking songs to popular music we all know and love from the last 50 or 60 years. You can check out the Embry set list for an idea of the types of things you might hear. This is another outgrowth of what makes NOVA happen each year - a combination of the developing passions of our various organizers, board members, and volunteers, as well as responsiveness to the outcome of surveys and feedback that attendees provide (folks loved the lounge jamming last year, and wanted more; people didn't quite know about the board game room last year, and wanted a more robust and well-organized time to enjoy it around).

Cya at NOVA!

The NOVA Open is Around the Corner, and Age of Sigmar is Sold Out

Rumors of my demise have been greatly overstated.

Well, I don't know if there are any rumors.

But hi!

So I haven't posted in a really long time, and that's my bad. I used the blog to keep people posted and wax [in]eloquent about the game for a long time, and I should get back to that.

First off, I've never actually blogged about whiskey.

So, drink Lagavulin. Why? Ron from Parks and Recs drinks it, that's why. Also, it's like licking candy off a grill. So. C'mon. It lacks the downsides of peaty whiskeys while owning all the upsides. Win win. IT's a little overpopular/cliche these days ... b/c it's awesome ... in a way that Laphroig and others in my opinion simply cannot be. Maybe b/c I don't like a whiskey that tastes like I imagine a tire doused in iodine to taste.

Broken seals ... on my long post absence, and on my never actually really talking about Whiskey on the Whiskey & 40k blog.

NOVA's around the corner, and registration is lookin' great.

40K Trios only has one spot left. That's pretty awesome, and it's under new management this year with some upgrades.

Lots of the X-Wing, Malifaux, and other events are sold out or nearly sold out, b/c those games rock.

Wyrd is coming to NOVA this year

Fantasy Flight Games is coming to NOVA this year

The owner of Corvus Belli is coming to NOVA this year

There's a lot more

I'm super excited, are you?

Also, even before the new actual points system for Age of Sigmar released, the singles event sold out. Too cool.

We added Guildball. We added Firestorm Armada. We said we wouldn't add things. But we did, b/c it makes things more fun for you guys.

We're rejiggering Magic to support the free ability to do sealed/limited events in the evening for all attendees, including those whose primary game isn't magic, but who've always wanted to be able to play it or who play it casually (So, I'm finding out, everybody).

We have a cool show mini coming, entire game boards and terrain sections dedicated to battling it out in Las Vegas or to battling it out on ancient Viking warships (in a non-nautical game).

We're also bringing live music more formally to the lounge this year. Keep a weather eye on the schedule.

So sign up if you haven't, get on your horse, and we'll be talking about some things here and elsewhere as we lead up. I'm excited about NOVA.

On a personal level, I don't play as much 40K as I used to. I dabble in Magic casually, and I just started traveling to events again to attend a Malifaux ETC-style team tournament formally done with Fantasy as the focus called Bragging Rights up in Connecticut. And, with Tony Kopach, Owen Beste, and Casey Campbell as teammates, we won the thing. Made me feel like gettin' into another 40K tournament again also, flex that old competitive muscle.

Can't wait to see everyone at NOVA, and to talk more about some of the nuances and details going forward. Only about a month and a half to NOVA! Jeesh ...

NOVA Open 2016 Registration Opens TONIGHT! Do NOT Miss Out!

Well, today's the day NOVA goes live for more than just the feverishly busy Exec Board and Leads.

Website: novaopen.com
Webstore: novaopenstore.com
Schedule: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6qMuAG1UTYaUjlzREt2d1o3Vzg/view
Hotel Rooms: https://aws.passkey.com/g/55247835

Things I'd recommend snagging while they last tonight ...

1. SuperNOVA passes. These lasted only one hour last year. I have no problem saying they are the best VIP program bags you can find at a tabletop gaming convention anywhere. That doesn't belittle others, either. They're just THAT good, thanks in large part to KR MultiCase and our other wonderful partners.
2. Swag Bags. Last year, over 1,200 individuals attended NOVA Open. Only 400 of them qualified for our first 400 registrants receiving Swag Bags. Those Swag Bags are ALSO awesome, and this year get even more awesome due to the addition of special Golden Tickets by KR to many of the bags, good for free product (Some of it quite expensive) at the KR Booth at NOVA. It's very possible we'll clear our 400 swag bags early on this year - snag them while you can, even if you miss out on the SuperNOVA.
3. Seminars. With the addition of 4-hour intensive workshops by Roman and Raffa, the return of super-popular sold-out classes by Justin McCoy and Caleb Wissenback, and the addition of very limited-space classes taught by acclaimed artist Jessica "Brushmistress" Rich, seminars are set to go very, very quickly, especially those in the most optimal time slots. Don't miss 'em.
4. Malifaux National Championships. Last year's event wound up selling out, and this year looks to be in much higher demand now that the game has grown even more and last year's absentees had a year to plan for it. We are not offering more spots for it at this time, so when they're gone, they might very well be gone. Do not miss out.
5. X-Wing Events. Last year's events all sold out. The Hunger Games events sold out on the day of registration opening. There are less Hunger Games this year, to make room for new Armada and Imperial Assault additions to the schedule. When they're gone, they're gone.
6. All the things! Last year's NOVA was by about 400 people the largest yet. It only looks to get bigger this year. By and large, most of our events sold out. That is likely in 2016 as well, only at a faster pace. Just get registered!
7. Hotel Rooms. This one is unique for this year. We've already booked 20% of our room block. You really don't want to miss out on the ability to stay in the convention hotel. Even locals and staffers now stay at the hotel instead of commuting during NOVA. There's just too much to do and too much socializing and fun to be had well into the wee hours of the morning each night. 

Good luck getting the events and items you want. The NOVA's exec staff will be online and ready to triage any issues you have. Contact us at novaopen@gmail.com with any questions that arise.

Registration in a Few Days - Don't Miss SuperNOVA Bag

Here's how the SuperNOVA works ...

We only have 100 of them

Last year, they sold out in under an hour

Registration opens at 8PM on Monday, February 1, Eastern Time

KR is sweetening the deal this year for those who miss out on SuperNOVA

For the first 400 non-SuperNOVA registrations, aka the people who get Swag bags, there's a chance your bag will contain a golden ticket for as much as a Kaiser4 bag in it, redeemable at the KR booth at NOVA ($300 bag, fwiw).

NOVA Open Registration in 2 Weeks!

So, here we go again!

NOVA Open's registration opens in about 2 weeks, on Monday, February 1, at 8:00PM. Because it's a work day, and due to the extremely high demand for SuperNOVA, X-Wing events, Malifaux events, and a number of other items, we wanted to make sure the widest cross-section of people didn't have to skip work in order to be at the front of registration.

You can book your room at the Hyatt now. We kept the rates low, and we were not able to add more rooms, since we largely have them all, and they nearly sold out last year. Snag your rooms now - you can always cancel up to 24 hours in advance if something comes up. BOOK ROOMS HERE.

First off, we have a SUPER sexy new website, thanks to Dylan Davis. http://novaopen.com has been updated, though there's still some "W.I.P." going on as we flow things through and finalize things like schedule of events.

We also have a new logo, that you'll see used more and more often, along with variants.

So that's cool.

Roman, Raffa, Justin McCoy, and Caleb Wissenback are all returning to teach their highly acclaimed classes this year. Moreover, after demand, Roman and Raffa will also be offering a limited number of 4-hour hands-on workshops to complement their standard 2-hour demonstration courses.

We've added a number of events, especially Imperial Assault, Armada, and the Horus Heresy. Events are occurring all weekend long in each of these systems.

It's going to be a super exciting year this year, and we're anticipating our biggest crowd yet. Stay tuned for more and keep your eyes on the website and newsletter.