They Have Spirit? Yes They Do!

L-R: Dale M, Chenelle S, Austin B, Dave B, Kyle B

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages, the Battle Barn proudly brings to you the AdeptiCon 2012 Team Spirit CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD....The Final Order.

Ah, that was good. So yeah, the winners of the Team Spirit award for the AdeptiCon Team Tournament this year are from our club. They really pulled out all the stops to win this award and we couldn't be happier for them. After their triumph I asked each of them to give me a quick write up of their experience at AdeptiCon this year and what they did to bring home the Team Spirit award. Now, without further ado...


Austin B

When we came to AdeptiCon I was immediately impressed with the level of effort the event planners had put into the event. The Hordes box sets and AdeptiConstruct’s were particularly impressive. What I have to say is the greatest thing about AdeptiCon would be the unity the hobby brings. I stayed in the Westin, where the event was held, and so I could reliably talk to any random person on the elevator about Warhammer. Having my hobby being held as such a normal aspect of life for even a weekend was very refreshing.

So we decided early on that we were mid level players and that trying to win anything through Battle Points and victories alone in the Team Tournament would just result in disaster. Thus, we began to work on Team Spirit and Theme. Eventually Team Spirit showed more promise as we went more and more in depth into our costumes and handouts (which Dale may be able to better inform you of.)

“The Final Order” as a name was something I decided we could run with. “The Founding” was a well written chapter in the Grey Knight’s Codex and fortunately a henchmen army allowed us to play armies that suited such factions. Purifiers for Deathwatch, Grey Knight Terminators for the Grey Knight militant branch, power armor bolter henchmen for Sisters of Battle, and as many little anti-daemon quirks as possible in the Malleus army without taking any actual Grey Knights.

Overall the tournament was a lot of fun and obviously the work paid off for us. I would without a doubt recommend future AdeptiCon visits to any and all Warhammer players in the future. The event is growing every year and we’re even seeing more and more overseas competitors every year. Clear evidence AdeptiCon's great quality.

Dale M

Well AdeptiCon this year was well worth the preparation involved. It took us working off and on the entire year to actually have all of this come together with the painting and the costumes. I must admit though making the handouts was most enjoyable. We ended up making several wanted posters featuring regulars from the Battle Barn. I even tried to make sure the crimes they were wanted for reflected the armies that they usually played. I overheard a lot of people enjoying them at the convention.

Pamphlets were also made that we handed out to our opponents. Basically they were mini stories talking about how our individual Inquisitors were summoned by Malcador when the Inquisition was founded. So much was written that we actually had to make two brochures instead of just one to fit everything in. There was also a little movie I made talking about the different Ordos, but that didn't gather too much attention sadly. Going to have to make something better for the next time I want to win spirit.

We also made a few handouts that we gave, exclusively, to our opponents. Before each game we offered the enemy terms of surrender. Should they have accepted we would have got full battle points, sadly they were all about not doing that. At least the Cult of Charlie Sheen took it in a good light. We also made a "request for exterminatus" sheet, just in case we lost. We did a few times and had to stamp it with a "heresy, request termination" stamp that we had made for that paper and for our opponent's lists.

As you can see there was quite a bit involved in this and I didn't even mention the costume making much. We went so far over board as to even have my girlfriend cosplay as a warrior acolyte. Overall the project was good fun and a lot of work. Totally paid off in the end.

The Final Order's display board

Kyle B 

This was the second year that I went to AdeptiCon and it was still great. More teams and more players for the team tourney meant just that much more fun. As Austin said (above) though going into AdeptiCon with no hope of at least placing well, we did decide to try and go for the spirit award. Obviously we won. Even though one of the staff came up to me after round 2, I was proud that we got to go back up and get judged, but I was still unsure if we even did better than in the morning. Yes it can be easy to get the spirit award but when you have 4 teams going after it, it can be a challenge to make your team just that much more "spirity" than the rest.

Dave B

This was my second AdeptiCon. This year, I thought I'd change it up and play in the team tourney instead of the championships. With my team assembled we decided to go for the highest spirit and theme score we could get. Mostly because that was an achievable goal for us. So we took the checklist for spirit score and went down it trying to hit every point we could, multiples in some cases. Now with an incredible storyline to follow, costumes to match our given roles, and coordinating armies to boot... we were off to AdeptiCon 2012!

A few differences this year to last year. This year I stayed in a room at the Westin as opposed to one nearby. Best. Decision. Ever. The slightly higher price is well worth it for the added convenience. Next, skipping out on the championships in favor of the team tournament. This was also a good change. The championships were incredibly fun, but there's just something different about spending a day playing with your friends. Also, this year I decided to just pay my way instead of volunteering for a free weekend pass and such. This was a good choice as well. While AdeptiCon needs volunteers to run properly, not volunteering left me all the time I wanted for browsing other events, checking out vendors, and seeing what new games and minis were coming out.

The team tournament was a bit of a large project. Tons of work on consistently painted models, costumes that were a notch above the rest, writing new fluff, creating lists that felt right while still being playable and coordinating with 3 other people was a heck of a lot to do. But man was it ever worth it. When our team name was called over the PA system for having the best team spirit... it was amazing. It was a lot of work, and it paid off in the end. Will I ever do it again? Probably not. One win of that type is good for me. Next year, I think I'd like to try the 40k friendly and/or the Gladiator. I think I'll just continue doing a tour of the many events AdeptiCon has to offer. Over all AdeptiCon is, yet again, well worth the trip.

And there we have it. I'd once again like to congratulate The Final Order for their achievement. Winning anything at AdeptiCon is not an easy task to accomplish and these guys pulled it out in their first year as a team. Well done guys. Well done.