Origins Game Fair!

Greetings all.  Life and game testing has had me very busy and kind of neglecting the blog.  I am making myself do I post a week from here on out.  I wanted to let everybody know I will be at Origins Game Fair next month.  I will be running Learn to Play classes  for Firestorm Armada, Halo Ground Command and Halo Fleet Battles.  We will also be doing an FSA tournament on Sunday of the Convention.  I will be pulling double duty with the help of Larry also doing Infinity Boot camps and an ITS tournament on Saturday of the convention.  So come on out and play and say HI!

Lets look at the Schedule!

Adepticon! Almost Live

Greetings all.  I am in the trenches running the Spartan Games events at Adepticon.  The Halo Fleet Battles tournament is in the books as is The Schaumburg Clash! Dystopian Wars North American Championships.  The Russians took top honors in the Clash.  Congrats to Bob Schroeder on his win and claiming the title of North American Champion.  The Covenant dominated the Halo Fleet Battles tournament.  Andrew Karolus was crowned champion in the Fall of Reach.

We also premiered several new models at the convention.  STL Traders, Pathogen, OSO Corsairs will all have models very very soon.  The first Leviathan slipped its moorings to join the battle as well.  The Relthoza have been up to no good!  The Flashpoint Amber Campaign also kicked off today.  Check out the Firestorm Armada section of the Spartan Community forum for details.  Now for the picture dump!

Shiny Prizes! Halo Events Get Hooked Up!

Greetings all! SeerK here once again to talk Adeptcon.  I wanted to welcome aboard our latest sponsor.  Its official yet unofficial.  I want to send a special thanks to Ken and Rick from Studio 343 for their generous support of the Halo events at Adepticon.  If you have not seen the pictures on Facebook, we received a big box of goodies from the studio. How can you get some of this exclusive stuff?  Well you can sign up for the Halo Ground Command and Halo Fleet Battles tournaments!  Players will also have a chance at a studio exclusive piece of Artwork of Cortana.  Participants in both tournaments have a chance to win this beautiful piece of art.  A drawing will be held Sunday after the Halo Ground Command Tournament and one of the players will go home with it!

The Road To Adepticon: Halo Joins the Fray!

Greetings all! SeerK here with another installment in our Road To Adepticon series! The crazy night of Registration is over and the Adepticon cart is open! The new system which started last year once again took the onslaught and Team WayGate was able to register without any mishaps. Spots are going fast for all the events. I know the Planetfall GT only had a couple left. So if you are thinking of attending or plan to sign up sooner rather than later to reserve your spot. We will be announcing sponsors over the next couple months. Spartan Games is on board bigger than ever and Evolution Games of Lansing Michigan returns as our other primary sponsor. More on them later though. This time we are talking Halo. Halo Fleet Battles and Halo Ground Command are making their debut at Adepticon this year with Tournaments for both games Happening. Lets chat about The Battle for Reach Halo Fleet Battles GT and the Battle for Reach Halo Ground Command GT!

UCON Games Convention Demo Sessions!

Greetings all! SeerK here.  With all the Adepticon hype starting I almost forgot that I was going to be doing some demo sessions at a local convention here in Michigan.  As some of you remember I have attended UCON Games Convention in the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti area for a few years now.  This Year I will be running Learn To Play sessions of Firestorm Armada, Halo Fleet Battle and Halo Ground Command.  I will also be running an Infinity Boot Camp  The events start on Saturday night and continue through Sunday. Lets take a look at the schedule!

State Of The Union

Greetings all!  SeerK here and I am going to get a little philosophical.  Last week was quite an adventure.  You may say, “of course it was you went to the Nova Open!”  My response sadly would be no I didn’t.  I was unable to attend Nova due to some circumstances I would rather not go into, other than say I had to attend a Funeral.  We had a lot of setbacks with our planned trip.  It is setbacks I want to talk about.  Setbacks and a malaise that has gripped the community. Players and Spartan fans grumble about it, but nobody is really talking about the fact a lot of established communities and play groups seem to be dwindling in size to the point they cease to be.  I want to talk about it a bit, at least my take on it.  Join me won’t you.

I am going to use the local scene as my first example.  Things die down during the summer around here.  It doesn’t really matter what game it is.  Infinity is catching on and we ran a league this summer, but we only had 6 players participate.  Others are starting to play now that summer is winding down and people are itching to play again.  We have not done a whole lot of Firestorm Armada or Planetfall in the local are this summer.  Halo is pretty much not a thing here in Lansing.  I am going to be trying to change that, but the player base is kind of tuckered out.

I am hearing about this from a lot of places.  Attendance at The Nova Open was lackluster say for the build and play tournament.  It makes me worry a bit about the North American Championships at Adepticon this year.  I think we are seeing our first real community wide rough spot.  This is going to be a major test for Spartan.  The only communities that seem to be growing fast and gaining momentum are the Halo related ones.  They have a feel like FSA when 2.0 came out.  

I think this is from a combination of things.  First and foremost I do not think the Vanguards are getting out there enough and in the right way.  Demo’s days and such get people into the game, but you have to be more involved than that.  If you cannot make it up to the shop on a weekly bases to help foster a growing community you should not be stepping up to lead it.  There is a lack of follow though.  There is also a lack of follow through on Spartans part.  We hear about stuff in the pipeline and plans for the future, but we are not seeing them come to life.  This has hurt Spartans credibility and the communities trust in them.  That is not a good thing.

Spartan is getting better and improving though.  Official play kits for the games and a marked increase in convention attendance is a good start.  The planning for shows and conventions is months in advance and they need somebody dedicated to doing it if they want to really get out there and get the community fired up.  They need somebody in the United States to do this.

The apparent supply problem has a bit to do with Spartan and more to do with the Distributors that shops use.  Golden Distribution is pretty much the only reliable one for Spartan product.  Most shops tend to use Alliance, who is terrible in my opinion, Southern Hobby and ACD.  I know Spartan has been working with the latter two to get products in and out to the players.  Shop owners will not carry stuff if there is no community to support it though.  It is a big investment getting a new game on the shelf.  This is where the Vanguards and local community cheerleaders come in.  

Keep the community going and growing with follow through and regular attendance.  I know it is disheartening when people don’t show up.  I have gone to game nights and been the only person there for weeks. I still went though.  Sometimes you have to be the beacon to get things going.  I know real life is busy, but if you want a community to flourish, you have to put in the extra effort.

So to sum up.  Spartan needs to overhaul the Vanguard program, they need to kick some of the rule sets in the pants and follow through in a timely manner.  They also need a dedicated Event Coordinator in the United States.  The supply issues could be solved with their own warehouse here, but in lew of that they need to continue to work with the distributors to keep products in stock and restock regularly.

This is really dependent on all of us getting out there and getting our communities rallied and playing.  Not only playing, but buying stuff.  That’s what shops want to see.  Players buying locally, not on the internet.  I am not going to get into my view of internet only vendors, that’s a whole different post.

So join me in getting the community back on track and growing again.  It’s going to be tough, but if we want to see more events and have more players we really need to start working together to do it.  I am hoping Spartan plays ball as well and continues to improve.  Well that’s my two cents

Until next time, Crush the Alliance and as always…

REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!!!!!!!

NOVA is Nigh! Adepticon Planning Has Begun!

Greetings all!  SeerK here once again.  As many of you know I will be heading to the NOVA Open next week.  For once I am not running any of the events.  I will be playing in something FSA and maybe something Infinity while i am there.  My primary purpose is to award the top two winners of the FSA GT their golden tickets to The Schaumburg Prime Offensive North American Firestorm Armada Championships.  The winners have guaranteed spots in North Americas premiere Firestorm Armada event! Adepticon is quickly shaping up to be bigger and better than last year!

The Post Gencon Round Up!

Greetings all. SeerK here once again. It has been a couple days since I got home from Gencon and either the Pathogen got to me or a Tohaa sniper with a viral weapon scored a critical hit. I have the con crud pretty bad. I guess I was due. I have done the past 5 conventions without any incident. Hot tea, NyQuil and lots of rest has been my day today. So since I am stuck at home I thought it would be a prime time to do my post Gencon update. I am also planning on going on the Hub Systems Podcast if I am feeling better as well as finally getting some recording in with Phil on Firebase Delta. Stupid real life. So what were the highlights for me at Gencon? The Corvus Belli Seminar and working with Spartan Neil and Spartan Derek at the Spartan Games booth of course. Lets take a look!

See You At Gencon!!!

So here we are. Its the last day of July and I leave for Gencon Wednesday morning. I will be helping to set up the Infinity tables and terrain as well as the Spartan booth Wednesday afternoon after a drive of a little less than 4 hours. Telarion will be attending this year. So if you are looking for pick up games of Firestorm Armada and want to test your skills against the North American Champ come find me at the Spartan Booth or in the exhibition hall with my fellow Warcors. So what am I looking forward to? Several things.

Gencon is Nigh!!

Greetings all!  SeerK here once again.  We are 22 days away from Gencon.  Yours truly will be in attendance for my second year.  I will be once again joining the Spartan Games crew at the Spartan Games booth in the Exhibitors hall Friday to Sunday.  The focus this year will of course be the release of Halo Ground Command.  Last year visitors to Gencon were treated to some of the prototype models.  This year we have the game making its debut.  Spartan will once again be teaming up with the Warstore.  You can look forward to demos and product at the Warstore booth.  I am really look forward to trying this game out.  i have been hearing bits and pieces  and so far I like what I am hearing.  Lets take a quick look at it!

Halo Gets Big: New Carriers!

SeerK here with a quick update.  Halo sees its next release, this time we are getting the big boys.  The Assault carriers are now available for your fleet.  Phil over at Firebase Delta was nice enough to get some pictures up over at the Facebook page.  The new ships look great and seem to be resin, which is a departure from the current Halo products.




So enjoy the Pics!

The 2nd Schaumburg Prime Offensive: The Road to Adepticon 2016

Greetings all!  The time has come to plan for Adepticon 2016!  The WayGate team is hard at work planning the 2nd Schaumburg Prime Offensive at Adepticon.  Missions are already mostly developed as is a new method of doing terrain.

We plan on being bigger and better this year and expanding the offering of events.  We have a learn to play Firestorm Armada class as well as the big show The Schaumburg Prime Offensive.  I am working on a format as well as logistics for a Planetfall Tournament as well if there is interest in the community for a Planetfall event.

I have a little Survey up at The WayGate Facebook Page that I would like to ask people to take a couple minutes and vote on.  We want to run an event that is professional and reflects the will of the community.  So we want to see what point level people would like to play at.  800, 900 or 1000 points?

Go Vote!

I apologize for the lack of updates.  The trusty laptop finally died and I am forced to try and work on posts at work.  I will be more vigilant in the coming weeks.  I have a bunch of events to plan for the Store as well as getting all my stuff together to run Firestorm Armada and Halo Fleet Battle Demos at U-CON in Ann Arbor.  Come check it out and say hi if you are in the area!


Until next time...


Crush the Alliance and as always

REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!!!!

Convention Update!: Gencon 2015

Greetings and salutations! SeerK here once again.  Its has been a slow month on the blog. and this is mostly because I have been going full tilt at the new job.  I have been painting mini's, making terrain and constructing tables.  If you have not heard, SeerK is now working at a game store.  B.C. Comix in Battle Creek Michigan to be exact. I have also been getting ready to go to Gencon.  I have been drafted by Wyrd and Spartan to do demos at Gencon 2015.  I have to say I am pretty excited. This is my first trip to Gencon.  I know what you are saying.  "SeerK...seriously....you have never been to Gencon?!?!"  This is indeed true.  In my 20+ years as a gamer I have never been, despite my proximity to the convention.


I decided that this year I was going to change that.  I have been to Adepticon for many years and attended Origins Game Fair this year, so I decided its about time I did Gencon too.  I will be running Malifaux demos for Wyrd once again.  Come see me for a game at the Wyrd Games booth.  I will also be running demos for Spartan Games.  Come see me Saturday of the convention for an intro to one of Spartans awesome games, or just come and say Hi!

I will be continuing my series on the Relthoza after Gencon.  I plan on doing at least one "almost live" post while I am at the convention.  I will be rooming with Tim Toolen aka "Miniature Tim" of the Miniature Tim Blog during the convention. so look for updates and plenty of pictures from both of us.  Firestorm Armada, Halo Fleet Battles, Malifaux and Infinity will be had.

Its going to be a busy week for me so stay tuned for updates later this week! I would also like to remind all the Firestorm fans that we still have spots left in the Firestorm Armada tournaments and Narrative events at the 2015 Michigan GT in our backyard of Lansing, MI. Sign up today as spots may fill up quick.  There are some locals being slackers and have not signed up yet.  Reserve your spot now!

until next time as always...

Crush the Alliance and.......


REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!!!!!!!

Halo Fleet Battles At Salute 2015!!!

I will just leave this here for your viewing pleasure.  People attending Salute 2015 get the first glimpse at the game and the models. They  get to try out the game itself. Halo Fleet Battles is in a smaller scale than Firestorm Armada, which is probably why the starter contains a raw ton of models. I am very interested in seeing what its all about, but we are going to have to wait until this summer for the starter box, dubbed "The Fall Of Reach".  Lets look at the contents of the box!

Spartan Games Picks Up Halo!

So if you are not signed up for Spartan Games news letter, you probably did not see the big announcement today.  Spartan games has teamed up with Microsoft and will be producing a Spaceship combat game based on The hit console game Halo.  Not only that but they will also be doing a ground combat game.

This is pretty big news as it is Spartans first joint venture and their first Licensed IP game.  I am on the fence about it, but I ma hopeful this brings in the capital Spartan needs to really expand and ramp up and consolidate their core games systems.  The one we know and love and brought them to where they are now.