Two Nerds Talking (TNT) - Ep. 7 - Southern Assault 2024

[@HouseMasterPoDing]

Your comments on being a good gamer should be required viewing for everyone in the community. I couldn't agree more.

[@vonjankmon]

The discussion about growing the local group is spot on, you really need to ensure that the community atays friendly to new players and doing that requires active work to keep things on the right path

[@mikeg3906]

I had a good time. Player’s Choice award was a surprise. Got to meet a lot of people including John for the first time.

[@BanzoSan]

For the plates, there's rigid cheap foam sheets you can get off of Amazon that you could cut to shape that would probably fill out your suit and be much more comfortable.

[@sephiroth838]

Overall I loved the event, but yeah round 4 was difficult. I was already fairly new to alpha strike, so had just learned those rules, but then had to learn a whole new rule set during a small break to play last game. By that time I was already tired and ready to rest so I tried my best to throw the game so I could go to my hotel. But my opponent didn't understand it either so we ended up playing until time with neither of us scoring. I'll definitely attend again though. Everyone I met was pretty awesome. I had one negative experience with someone where he went on a minor political rant about a particular political party, which I'm not opposed to having those debates/discussions, but not in that setting. I just wanted to play games.

[@JAllenHammer]

I played John in the Karnov Down mission. Absolutely fantastic opponent and brought a kickass Clan Coyote combined arms list! I only won on a 50/50 roll. He straight up tabled me! Good to see him again!

[@Thearmedpainter]

He’s a solid player and someone I’ve battled against in TTWargames more times than I can count. We know each others play styles pretty inside and out lol

[@logosonfire2481]

Very constructive video guys! Loved it!

[@JAllenHammer]

Going forward, Southern Assault would really benefit from separating the contestants into a "premier league" and a... "casuals league" - Take the top 20-30 participants from the previous year and push them into the premier league. Separate the "sweaty list" players and the players who are just there to enjoy a little competition.

[@Thearmedpainter]

The downside of not having something like that is the first few games of the competitive players rising to the top which could lead to a few early games being less than fun for casuals if their pairings are rough.

[@JAllenHammer]

@@Thearmedpainter I think if it was structured something along the lines of- "if you've finished in the top 20-25 at least once in the past # tournaments, you're in the upper division automagically" It doesn't necessarily account for "lucky dice rolling" but it would possibly be a way to separate the sweaty list players from those of us who aren't..

[@JAllenHammer]

Justin - I was your opponent for the ignominious Game 4- and I agree with your constructive criticism of the game format. It was a lot to read and a lot to digest after a long day of gaming. I probably should have just fought straight up. Agree that the ruleset should be published ahead of time and agree that it really should have been a side game, not a main mission. My fellow Southern Assault veterans continue to insist that Game 4 on Day 1 should be the "Fight" mission.

[@Thearmedpainter]

Eh, we at least gave the scenario a shot and tried I suppose. It’s unfortunate that I think neither of us had fun with it. That said I have a video found up soon showcasing some awesome minis you gave me! :)

[@dbul2542]

I wasn’t there but one bad game causing people to not come back is weird to me. Especially if they’re not going to complain about it first and see if it’s going to be there next year.

[@stitchreloaded9044]

From a spectator POV, I watched the first game and some of the second. It seemed everyone was enjoying SA. I will say If I had participated, I would of felt cramped in the environment and I stepped out several times while I was there. My expectation for SA was this being held in a larger area with more room, ether more space or less people. Guessing I don't remember the size of an elementary school gym... I felt there was too many people in the area in question and I personally would had not been able to play the entire weekend. Going forward, and since this is the largest AS tournament, I feel a larger venue would make SA much better.

[@Thearmedpainter]

I think SA has grown faster than Fortress has expected and a change of venue is likely something he's already looking into :)

[@stitchreloaded9044]

I didn't realize that you were the Jade falcon. I seen you there, my first thought "Dirty Clanner" second thought, the guy is dedicated to the cause. Did enjoy that a few people did dress up, really added to the atmosphere.

[@lesjames2478]

I think the grid iron game probably would have landed better if it had been the first game of day 2. Giving people a whole day to get caught up on the rules and not playing under 7 prior hours of brain fatigue would have greatly impacted the perception. Of course not everyone would like it but generally think it would have landed better. I also really agree with how the soft scores were weighted too much. Realistically, I feel like the soft scores shouldn't matter for more than tie breaker. At least 3 of my locals did better on the table than I did but I ranked 21st overall due to those soft scores and they all scored in the bottom 50%. I'm happy with my placing and had a blast at the event but it really soured the experience for at least 2 of my locals. They don't think they will be returning in 2025. That really sucks but I understand their frustration. Not everyone is good at painting or has the time to do more than basics and getting hit in final standing due to that seems unfair. The army rating we give each other is controversial locally as well. People worry that beating an opponent too severely will lead to a lower score. With those soft scores having so much weight in final standings, it's a fair concern. How do build an army list or play in such a way to maximize table performance without pissing off your opponent who may or may not be a sore loser.

[@Thearmedpainter]

@@lesjames2478 yeah I almost feel the army rating should be done ahead of time based on lists being made public. How someone plays against you is sportsmanship, but if their list was cheese or not exists whether they play you or not and your list may be super casual but if you dominate a game someone may judge it as cheese. Where as before any dice are rolled most players can probably look at a list ahead of time and pin point cheese, just have that community rating take place outside of games of it needs to stay. As for overall rankings and soft score, I agree that it should be for tie breaking and other prizes but not for overall rankings. Doesn’t make sense that Tom Brady could win a Super Bowl but still not be ranked number one so to speak lol.

[@lesjames2478]

@Thearmedpainter the superbowl analogy is spot on. I really like your idea of rating an opponents list ahead of time. Even if it was done right before the game... maybe on a separate slip of paper. It being on the scoring sheet and turned in after the game leaves too much room for bad feelings to influence what ultimately should be an impartial impression of the cheesiness of the list. One of my guys tanked in that category (when final scores were released). I wouldn't call his list super competitive but fairly unconventional and a bit of a challenge to face unprepared. I think it left a bad taste in several of his opponents' mouths because it was unconventional, and he is a very competent player. The first list he wanted to bring I talked him out of because I felt it would do nothing but piss off the people he played against. With how poorly he got rated by his opponents, I feel partially responsible for his final standing being negatively impacted by that.

[@billkim-et1iw]

100% agree. Round 4 mission was flaming hot garbage. It was basically not alpha strike, to the point that a perfectly viable force could have no chance whatsoever of accomplishing anything. Took SFE mechs for survivability? Sucks to be you since you remove mechs at the first point of structure damage. Took VTOLs as your Maneuver element? Sucks to be you since VTOLS couldn't carry the ball. Went with lots of low-damage units? Sucks to be you since you had no real chance of stopping something that got into your end zone. My opponent had all three of the above apply, and my force turns out to basically have been tailor made to score points. No matter what my opponent did, he was never going to score anything and he had very little chance of stopping me from scoring when I had 3 super fast units that could basically sprint into the end zone and score from almost anywhere on the table. It w wasnt fun for my opponent and it wasn't fun for me.

[@Thearmedpainter]

@@billkim-et1iw I encouraged anyone I’ve talked to about the scenario to talk to Bobby in a constructive way. I think it has value but maybe as a side event or charity event but as a primary mission for the tournament, not a fan. I was also drained when I found out what we were playing and it was doubly worse for me because I was dressed up and socializing and had about 5min to look over the doc 🫣 couple that with how slow I read and how I process information and it was triple whammy.