Adepticon 2011 Preview: The Killzone Tables
This year, the Flylords are loading up in the Short (Party) Bus at 4AM on Thursday and heading to Adepticon… and they’re picking up yours truly on the way! Today I’m bringing you some preview shots of the Killzone tables and some words from the creator himself.
I guess that means I’m a Flylords’ +1, but I’ve been called worse… by you.
Adepticon 2011 is loaded with events, and though I’m the veteran of countless tournaments and quite a number of Indy events, this thing is the standard by which others are measured… so naturally I’m pretty freakin’ excited!
A big part of that is meeting the community, in particular those Bloggers and Commenters I’ve had occasion to chat with over the years. It just so happens one of those gents is the Gentleman behind A Gentleman’s Ones, Brian… and it just so happens Brian is the mad genius behind this year’s Killzone Event. It just so happens that’s a ton of work!
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| Here’s one section of six! |
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| Here’s the work in progress shot. |
Brian: One of the most difficult aspects of this project was considering how and why a rather grand series of Special Operations Groups might collapse upon a single space all at the same moment. It was driving me around the twist, to be candid. And so with 24 players for each event at AdeptiCon, I quickly punted any notion of creating some worthwhile fluff that could cover all these bases. Invariably, attempts to accomplish the same have left me cold. So I started with a simple premise, a quasi-volcanic post-industrial satellite planet, and let the rest sort itself out in the process. This was, to some extent, a leap of faith, but I have always found that panic is a tremendous motivator and that I am best when I have bitten off way more than is good for me.
Brian: After a sequence of false starts and hand wringing, I settled on the creation of six 4’x4’ tables (I always have a Spinal Tap moment when I type something like that… Stonehenge!). Again, after a winter absolutely teeming with maps and papers and scribbled notes of ideas, I settled on the idea that these six tables would run from the exterior of a city directly into its heart. I wanted the each table to be distinct but, as importantly, contiguous to its neighbors so that when assembled the whole length would really look like a cross section cut almost at random through a genuine, functional post-industrial landscape.
Brian: On the whole, I was thinking about Pompeii (and perhaps Ostia Antica) and the Mary Celeste …more on that second item in a moment. Pompeii has a wild and haunting charm, as does Ostia. I find a stiflingly hot stroll through these now quiet avenues both grand and horrifying in equal measure. That kind of visceral impetus is always a good creative place to start.
Brian: Most importantly, the sequence of six tables allowed me to indulge just about every hobby impulse that I might have. I am profoundly inspired by Sir Sidney Roundwood’s WWI trench tables, and I wanted to emulate something of that. I adore Space Hulk, and wanted to include some claustrophobic interior spaces. I thought it might be both quirky and fun to include a bit of the history I mentioned above. With six tables of real estate to cover, I quickly found that I had an adequate dose of space-time to accomplish all this and perhaps a bit more.
Brian, regarding the Mary Celeste: While I really like what GW has done with the plastic scenery, I have always also hoped for a little less ruin and a little more architecture. I am not complaining, mind you, as I said, I love what they do. Genuine. Love… not luv, or lurv, or infatuation, or simple fondness. Love. But I used to live in Rome, and while walking through any given street in that fine city I would invariably find myself wishing that I could see what it was when it was what it was –if you know what I mean. I suppose that I feel the same way about the far distant future that I do about the more relatively recent past. I understand that the 41st millennium is a desolate and war-torn mess, but I wanted to think about what a cityscape might look like if it had just been abandoned and, while in distinct need of tidying, significantly functional –like the Mary Celeste. It’s intact. Just missing the people to populate it.
Killzone, as you know, is the epic love child of one Big Jim, so check out the rules there!
Here are some Bell of Lost Souls related articles: Killzone Blitz and A New Way to Play 40K.
Brian also had a thing or three to say concerning the missions, but I didn’t want to overload this article. Check it out on Strictly Average after you’re done dropping some hugs and gropings here in the comment’s section.
There’s really not much discussion to be had here today, unless you want to compliment Brian on his effort. I would like to get some input on what kind of coverage you’d like to see of the event.
As I’m reminded from time to time, not everyone here is a competitive, tournament-minded player… but surely everyone can appreciate something from an event the size of Adepticon! What would you like to see and how would you like to see it?
I’ll try to accommodate! I’ll be there, laptop in one hand and a camera in the other. Until next time, thoughts? Comments? Hugs and gropings? Cya in Chicago soon!
