NAF Championship LII - 25th & 26th May 2013 - Nottingham UK

[Indigo]

Brilliant event, extremely well run and definitely a step up on previous years. Well done and thanks to all the organisers.

I'll get the pics up ASAP.

[Podfrey]

Brilliant event, extremely well run and definitely a step up on previous years. Well done and thanks to all the organisers.

I'll get the pics up ASAP.

+1 to all the positive comments and looking forwards to showing the "death stare" pic to the wife. IF the internet can handle it without withering

[ceetee]

Genius weekend, great venue, 100% in for next year.

Thanks to one and all and see you in 2014 for more geeking.

[DeeTee]

Thanks to everyone for an awesome event.

Hotel was great value and the venue was superb - definite winner for the next World Cup. Food was very good, personally I would rather have a good quality packed lunch than cheap canteen food.

I agree with the single width table idea voiced earlier - it was nice not to be bumping elbows with the person sat next to me but it was a reach at times.

The only things I would want to see included next time would be i) vendors selling FF related products (I understand the clash with another major event this weekend made it impractical) - even one of the independent GW stockists i.e. Dark Sphere or Total Wargamer etc

and ii) some flags or similar to decorate the venue. Whilst the atmosphere topped Warhammer World the overall ambiance was a little lacking in that it could easily have been any event - nothing really defined the room as the NAF Championship.

These 2 points however would be the icing on the cake. It was very well organised and in my opinion showed what the NAF can do - well worth the £5 a year - dice or no dice. Thanks to all those who made it happen.

Danny

[Jimjimjimany]

Bravo everyone for a fantastic weekend! Thanks to my opponents, Ben, Hannah, Stan, John, Craig and Andrew for 6 great games that could have gone either way.

And a massive congratulations to the NAF and the organisers of the event, I know a lot of work must have gone into running the event for the first time outside of warhammer world and you did a fantastic job.

[Hawk]

Venue was great, especially the proximity to the hotel. Would definitely be happy going back there again. Was good playing 6 new people and catching up with some folks from the waterbowl. downside was finding myself foolishly drawing 3 games in a row from winning positions...

Sorry about that! lol

Great weekend, Great venue, Great Currie for dinner, 6 great games, Great hotel, Great atmosphere, Great laugh

This weekend was the best example of why I am addicted to the tournament BloodBowl scene.... It is really good to see
the regular faces and meet new ones.

Well done not only to the winners but also to all the organizers and refs for a complete success!

Bring on 2014

[Sizzler]

The praise can't be shovelled on thick enough!

The venue was top class and to get a discount on such a fancy hotel was fantastic. Lounging around in the sun in the garden between games was a treat like no other. A big thanks to the organising commitee. You really did out-do yourselves on this one.

[Simolekyyli]

Thanks for great venue and weekend! Thanks for Jokerz's opponents as well!

See you next year again.

[Heff]

Just adding to the chorus of approval for the venue. Here again next year please!

[TalonBay]

Great event because of the opponents and company but sorry to say the praise isn't universal.

The venue was spacious and airy, which is nice enough but I didn't have a problem with the previous venue. The bar was expensive though and the food was poor. A rubbish packed lunch and an average curry on the Saturday night compared to what previous years has offered?

The dice are poorly thought out, I stopped using them after game one because my opponents and I were constantly double checking the 2 and 5 results. People will stop registering if these are the reward, sad but true. This is two years running that the dice aren't practical...not a good sign.

I'll be returning, but it's despite the venue rather than because of it. In my car travelling home I was the only one of four to be so sure, the others were in various stages from doubtful to certainly not.

[nonumber]

I think the best compliment that I can give the weekend was the fact that I was massively excited leading into it, more than any previous year, and I didn't leave dissapointed. All of my expectations were met, the only down side was feeling a little under the weather the saturday morning and the damage to my bank account caused by friday night!!

The bar prices were astronomical (£3 for a coke say whaaaat) but in a funny way I didn't even mind, I think the place being dotted with water coolers helped, combined with the fact that I was in no place to be consuming any more alcohol from an early stage!

The hotel was stunning and the venue was excellent, the only time I thought about Warhammer World was when I realised I didn't miss it in the slightest.

The one thing I would say was truly dissapointing was the lunch. A great mass of blokes drinking the bar dry need more than a sarnie and an apple I'm afraid. I think with the sheer volume of bar sales, which I'm sure they were not anticipating, there should surely be some room for negotiating a hot meal in there at no extra cost. They made a LOT of money at that bar over the weekend.

And but for the D8 landing in the ONE square I didn't want it to (that old chestnut) I could have equaled my tournament best! A big thanks to all my opponents, everyone who attended and all the organisers for a great NAF Championship. Roll on next year.

[Joemanji]

Are the bar prices really that much worse than Bugmans?

[JT-Y]

No Joe, they're not.

Bar prices were a kick in the balls for me, as our club meets in a social centre with nice cheap bar prices, and my last two tourneys have been at the Masonic hall in Hartlepool, so encountering real prices came as a shock more than anything, but that's a result of being spoilt. Hell even Merseybowl had a cheap bar, until happy hour ended and suddenly a pint cost all the money in the world.
But like it or not, £4 for a Guiness isn't that uncommon these days, and most bars charge an extortionate amount for mixers, which is where they make their profits.

Whatever, we drank the bar dry of Guiness on Saturday, Gav went to bed in a huff and I had to drink bitter, but I'm not bitter.

Bugmans and WHW were nice when they first opened, but I'm over it for a lot of years now. As I said before, I've gamed all over the country in all manner of systems and this ranks as one of, if not the best venues I've been at.
If everyone came back saying they loved it, well some would be fibbing to save your feelings. You can't please everyone, so don't try, you'll go daft.

edit: Did the organisers like the venue and were the people there accomodating and easy to deal with
These are big ol' questions that most punters won't consider but you guys certainly should.

[nonumber]

No, in all fairness, the bar prices were comparable to Bugman's and I think most people acknowledged that. Possibly a little higher on average by a few pence, but worth paying for the quality of the venue in my opinion.

[Joemanji]

I live in London so don't bat an eyelid at £4 a pint, but I fully understand that for most others this is pretty shocking. My last event was in Hartlepool where it was £1.70, so yeah, harsh.

It is really important to get both positive and negative feedback, so thanks to everyone. I will start a feedback thread at some point soon. But what we trying to put on here is a premium event. Whilst I love the simplicity of turning up to a scout hall with 20 other nerds to play some BB and chew the fat, this is supposed to be the UK's (if not the world's) premier individual event. There will be a higher cost involved compared to other tournaments. All we can do is try to balance that against what you get back. Primarily that is everyone together in one room, and for that to happen we need a nice venue.