2018 was big. 2019 brings some changes and opportunities to be even bigger.
How big was 2018?
Well, for a start our club reached over 50 members. We have about 20 different chats going on our WhatApp group, with usually 200+ postings a day (conservative estimate; I've been away from my phone 3 hours and returned to find that many unread messages!) If you don't see a lot of activity on the website or FB page, don't let that fool you. There's always a vibrant scene going on in the chats! And I swear Victory Gamers was one of the largest gaming groups attending the NOVA Open this year, both playing but also setting up and breaking down (which is something to be especially proud of). We even have members in Portugal and Ukraine now!
Gaming? AoS had another big year. Club members ran not one, but TWO Coalescence Narrative events in 2018, and then threw in another massive narrative all day event in the fall as well. In addition, members of Victory Gamers pretty much ran all the AoS events at the 2018 NOVA Open. Speaking of tournaments, three VG members attended a GT this fall and all three placed in the top 10. KidsHammer had another successful run at the 2018 NOVA Open and held the first of its quarterly events afterwards at The Games Tavern in November. To end the year, the club ran another months-long campaign at Victory Comics, this year using the Path to Glory format.
40k? Let's see. Victory Gamers represented at LVO for the fourth straight year. Sunday gaming at the local dojang became a regular thing. TentCon moved to the fall to avoid conflicting with an AoS Coalescence event, but still pulled off another massive multi-player all day affair. Kill Team exploded on the scene, with lots of activity on that front. And the year ended with 40k launching its own Path to Glory campaign, which will continue in 2019.
But it wasn't just AoS and 40k. Lord of the Rings became a big thing after NOVA and the release of the box set, with regular gaming on Sunday afternoons at Victory Comics. And Blood Bowl! So much Blood Bowl. The club launched the Nuffle Ordained Violence Association (NOVA) in the fall and has had monthly gatherings at the Board Room Bar/Restaurant in Arlington. James continued to run his highly successful Star Trek Assault Wing event every Tuesday. And we finally (FINALLY!) got a game of Dropzone Commander in!
So where do we go from here into 2019?
First off, we need to come to grips with loss of the dojang. The owner decided to close up shop at the end of 2018, and with it we lost our space to game on the weekend and store our tables and terrain. That's a big loss. But also an opportunity to re-think what the club wants to be and how to do it.
Some things won't change. Will still have Tuesday nights at Victory Comics for regular AoS gaming, and Saturday nights at Victory Comics for 40k and Skirmish gaming. Closure of the dojang is an opportunity to get more people out on these regular nights. We won't run an AoS campaign this spring, but hope Tuesday night will become a chance to get in games of whatever size and format they want, and to show off new armies (Gloomspite Gitz anyone??). I am committing to being at VC the first Saturday of every month to build up a regular Kill Team community. Will make it a mix of open games and running NOVA tournament missions. Blood Bowl NOVA will continue, and LotR gaming on Sunday afternoons at Victory Comics will go on. Tentcon is being set up for first weekend of June. And the club will continue to strongly support the NOVA Open through participating in organization, running events, and building terrain.
Some things will change, however. Without the dojang we need to find opportunities for gaming outside the space and time limits that Victory Comics can provide. The NOVA Open announced that it is looking at gaming space as part of its new warehouse storage deal. This could be something excellent for the club, so we are interested in hearing more about it whenever the NOVA team announces it. In the interim, we will look at gaming at members' homes, at Community Centers, or wherever else we can arrange games and storage.
We also want to increase the opportunities for matched play in AoS and 40k in the DC area between NOVA Opens. Things are already in the works on this front, and I hope there will be announcements early in 2019. Victory Gamers was always about building a community, rather than just gaming, so we would love to support others in the community who are building their own events. As a whole, the gaming scene in the DMV has never been better, and Victory Gamers is proud to be part of it!
So if you are already a member, thank you for another great year. If you are reading this and not a member, drop us a line via the Find A Game page and we'll get you on the list serve and WhatsApp Chats. We'd love to keep this good thing growing!
How big was 2018?
Well, for a start our club reached over 50 members. We have about 20 different chats going on our WhatApp group, with usually 200+ postings a day (conservative estimate; I've been away from my phone 3 hours and returned to find that many unread messages!) If you don't see a lot of activity on the website or FB page, don't let that fool you. There's always a vibrant scene going on in the chats! And I swear Victory Gamers was one of the largest gaming groups attending the NOVA Open this year, both playing but also setting up and breaking down (which is something to be especially proud of). We even have members in Portugal and Ukraine now!
Gaming? AoS had another big year. Club members ran not one, but TWO Coalescence Narrative events in 2018, and then threw in another massive narrative all day event in the fall as well. In addition, members of Victory Gamers pretty much ran all the AoS events at the 2018 NOVA Open. Speaking of tournaments, three VG members attended a GT this fall and all three placed in the top 10. KidsHammer had another successful run at the 2018 NOVA Open and held the first of its quarterly events afterwards at The Games Tavern in November. To end the year, the club ran another months-long campaign at Victory Comics, this year using the Path to Glory format.
40k? Let's see. Victory Gamers represented at LVO for the fourth straight year. Sunday gaming at the local dojang became a regular thing. TentCon moved to the fall to avoid conflicting with an AoS Coalescence event, but still pulled off another massive multi-player all day affair. Kill Team exploded on the scene, with lots of activity on that front. And the year ended with 40k launching its own Path to Glory campaign, which will continue in 2019.
But it wasn't just AoS and 40k. Lord of the Rings became a big thing after NOVA and the release of the box set, with regular gaming on Sunday afternoons at Victory Comics. And Blood Bowl! So much Blood Bowl. The club launched the Nuffle Ordained Violence Association (NOVA) in the fall and has had monthly gatherings at the Board Room Bar/Restaurant in Arlington. James continued to run his highly successful Star Trek Assault Wing event every Tuesday. And we finally (FINALLY!) got a game of Dropzone Commander in!
So where do we go from here into 2019?
First off, we need to come to grips with loss of the dojang. The owner decided to close up shop at the end of 2018, and with it we lost our space to game on the weekend and store our tables and terrain. That's a big loss. But also an opportunity to re-think what the club wants to be and how to do it.
Some things won't change. Will still have Tuesday nights at Victory Comics for regular AoS gaming, and Saturday nights at Victory Comics for 40k and Skirmish gaming. Closure of the dojang is an opportunity to get more people out on these regular nights. We won't run an AoS campaign this spring, but hope Tuesday night will become a chance to get in games of whatever size and format they want, and to show off new armies (Gloomspite Gitz anyone??). I am committing to being at VC the first Saturday of every month to build up a regular Kill Team community. Will make it a mix of open games and running NOVA tournament missions. Blood Bowl NOVA will continue, and LotR gaming on Sunday afternoons at Victory Comics will go on. Tentcon is being set up for first weekend of June. And the club will continue to strongly support the NOVA Open through participating in organization, running events, and building terrain.
Some things will change, however. Without the dojang we need to find opportunities for gaming outside the space and time limits that Victory Comics can provide. The NOVA Open announced that it is looking at gaming space as part of its new warehouse storage deal. This could be something excellent for the club, so we are interested in hearing more about it whenever the NOVA team announces it. In the interim, we will look at gaming at members' homes, at Community Centers, or wherever else we can arrange games and storage.
We also want to increase the opportunities for matched play in AoS and 40k in the DC area between NOVA Opens. Things are already in the works on this front, and I hope there will be announcements early in 2019. Victory Gamers was always about building a community, rather than just gaming, so we would love to support others in the community who are building their own events. As a whole, the gaming scene in the DMV has never been better, and Victory Gamers is proud to be part of it!
So if you are already a member, thank you for another great year. If you are reading this and not a member, drop us a line via the Find A Game page and we'll get you on the list serve and WhatsApp Chats. We'd love to keep this good thing growing!
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