Lock & Load GameFest 2013 has come and gone, and what a great event it was!
Hundreds and hundreds of players converged in Seattle to play over a thousand games of WARMACHINE and HORDES in just three days (yes, we counted), participate in seminars, talk with staff, show off their fantastically painted models, and generally have an awesome time.
Today I wanted to zoom in on one of my favorite aspects of Lock & Load, the tournaments and events. During the closing ceremonies I mentioned this to the crowd, and I wanted to reiterate it again here—the players at Lock & Load 2013 were an absolute treat to interact with. Even in the most intense competitive matches, everyone was having fun and being completely chill. It was a great experience for all the staff, Press Gangers, and judges who ran the events.
Who’s the Boss was as insane and fun as ever. If you aren’t familiar, in this format players spin a giant wheel to determine who their warcaster or warlock will be for that game. You never know what crazy mash ups you’ll see in this casual format, and that’s part of the appeal! Congratulations to Chuck Betts for winning The Boss award!
Speedmachine is exactly what you think it is, a turbo-charged frenzy of teeth, claws, and pistons. This format requires players to use mangled metal rules and a 16-minute deathclock for the entire round! Congratulations to Frank Capraro for being this year’s Speedmachine champion with his Legion of Everblight forces.
Bridging the gap between the more casual events such as Who’s the Boss and Speedmachine and our highly competitive events is the team tournament. Three players band together and take on the field as they fight their way to the top. Congratulations to Team Fully Torqued (Danny Modesto, Tony Richio, and Craig Conroy) for taking home the gold in this event.
Hardcore is . . . well, hardcore. This fully painted, full-speed event has been a proving ground for competitive players for years now, and 2013 was no different. This year’s Mage Hunter award for killing the least amount of enemy models on their way to victory was won by Sam Ross, who you may have seen on Sunday dressed as Broadsides Bart. The Executioner award, for most army points destroyed, was won by the bloodthirsty general Robert Shrodes. Masters Craftsman, the award for the best-painted army, went out to Todd McNeal, who also won awards during in the Formula P3 Grandmaster Painting Competition.
Trollblood players, make sure you high-five Brian Egger next time you see him. Brian took home the Vanquisher award for being the only undefeated player in Hardcore, all with the help of Epic Doomshaper and his best friends, the Mountain King and Mulg.
Masters is the arena in which players prove they are masters of their faction, and at Lock & Load 2013 we witnessed some absolutely amazing matches between top-level players. Props to Todd McNeil for this third place finish, and Gord Weppler for his second place finish. In the end, it came down to only one, so let’s give a big Insider round of applause to Ryan Chiriboga. Ryan proved he is a master of Cryx, winning a series of difficult games to become the champion.
At Lock & Load 2013, we held our first ever Iron Gauntlet qualifier, and what an event it was! First, the battlefield looked gorgeous, with fully painted armies battling it out on every single table. The matches were a treat to watch, as many of the most skilled WARMACHINE and HORDES players in North America (and some international players as well) took their first crack at this new format. In the end, 16 players earned the first qualifier points for this Iron Gauntlet season and put their names up on the scoreboard. You can view the global rankings here.
In the finals match of this qualifier, the whole world was able to witness an amazing game played between the Cryxian forces of Keith Christanson and Legion general Brandon Cating. If you missed the original stream, you can watch the entire match here.
Congrats to Keith for his hard-fought victory, to Brandon Cating for his second-place finish, Charles Arrasmith for his third-place finish, and to all the players who placed in the top 16 to earn their points. We look forward to the results of more qualifiers throughout the year and all across the world, as we lead up to the first ever Iron Gauntlet finals at Lock & Load 2014.
In more organized play news, Machinations: Anomaly has come to a close, which means it’s time for the post-battle report!
For starters, congratulations to the global community for completing enough Schematics to unlock this season’s Vault. By your efforts everyone was given their first look at the Convergence of Cyriss colossal, the Prime Axiom.
After four brutal weeks of war we also have the winners of Anomaly. Third place was taken by the zealous forces of the Protectorate of Menoth. Good job, defenders of the faith! In first place, however, we have a tie! Just like this season’s name, we have an anomaly when trying to determine the overall winner, so equal congratulations to both Cryx and the Legion of Everblight for winning this season! Enjoy your new art prints, available now in the online store.
And now for the moment I’ve been looking forward to all year. It’s almost time for the third season of Machinations. It’s almost time for Entropy. Why am I so excited about Entropy? Not only is this league season insanely fun (emphasis on insane), not only is this league’s fiction absolutely amazing, but this season’s Vault is going to be your very first look at the brand new Converg—
Oh, I can’t fool you. You know better than that, don’t you? By the time this season’s Vault opens everyone will have already seen Forces of WARMACHINE: Convergence of Cyriss. If you’re thinking it can’t be Convergence behind this season’s Vault, you’re right.