December 1, 2017: Year 7; Edition 22
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FFG US NATIONALS AT NOVA Open 2017!
NOVA Open will again be organizing and hosting the 2018 National Championships for Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) competitive Star Wars™ games. This will include:
Expect tickets to go fast when registration opens on Thursday, March 1, 2018. Keep a lookout in the coming weeks for event schedules and announcements about other FFG games that may be coming to the 2018 NOVA Open.
If you are interested in volunteering to help judge any of these events or if you would like to help bring other FFG games to the NOVA Open, please send an email to [email protected].
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NOVA Open 2017 CONVENTION DATES: August 31 - September 3
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THIS TABLE OF CONTENTS WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THE ARTICLES YOU'RE MOST INTERESTED IN READING:
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Support the NOCF this Holiday Season Using AmazonSmile
With every purchase you make, you could help the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation (NOCF).
AmazonSmile has made it easy for everyone to support the NOCF. By simply choosing the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation as your preferred charity, a percentage of every purchase made goes straight to the NOCF!
Remember, only purchases at
AmazonSmile
, (not www.amazon.com or the mobile app,) support charity.
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Winners: 2017 Fall Raffles
CONGRATULATIONS to the WINNERS from the first NOCF Fall Raffles!
Models
Bolt Action, Medium Tank T-34/85, by James Wapple, was won by,
Travis Cannon of Springfield, Oregon, USA
WH 40K Commissar, by David Faust, was won by,
Michael Coates of Mililani, Hawaii, USA
Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest Dominus, by Dave Taylor, was won by,
Shawn Overton of Manitoba, Canada
Army
The Deathwatch Army, by Astartes of Charity 2017, was won by,
Tom Angove of New South Whales, Australia
The Fall NOCF 2017 Raffles saw people purchasing from 19 different nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, & the United States.
From within the U.S. there were thirty-eight states represented: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, & Wisconsin.
NOCF thanks everyone for being a part of our most successful year ever!
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An Interview with Andrew Thomas,
Community Manager at Shapeways
The next subject of our ongoing NOVA Open 2017 interviews is Andrew Thomas from
Shapeways
, one of the companies leading the charge in the 3D printing marketplace! This was the first time that Shapeways attended the NOVA Open, and they presented exciting 3D printed parts and accessories for many popular games.
Since the inception of 3D printing, tabletop gamers have recognized that the technology could be a powerful force for improving innovation, customization, and access to miniatures. Shapeways is bringing that promise to life!
NO:
Shapeways has been making big waves in the miniatures community. 3D printing has brought a whole new world to miniature wargames. Can you tell me how the NOVA Open is going for you so far?
AT: It's going great! We're really excited to be here. We're having a lot of awesome conversations with gamers and people in the community.
Really psyched to bring along some of our designers. We have Jeffrey Bain of Alien Luxury Miniatures along with us, and then we have Shane Blomberg of Gadgets + hanging out.
We have a whole bunch of their really sweet customizing products at our table. Showing those off, people are coming by and taking photos. We're having a blast!
NO: You have a lot of different materials for the miniatures you make on Shapeways, what do you find that people tend towards for different applications?
AT: Around the hobby, around table top and war gaming, probably the most popular that we have is our frosted ultra detail. That is a UV cured acrylic. It is so detailed it looks indistinguishable, once it's painted, from cast resin. In many ways I would say it's superior because you can do a lot of geometries that aren't possible with injection molding.
Also really popular is our black high definition acrylate.
Hero Forge
produces all of their products in that, if you're a role playing gamer. And then for terrain our strong and flexible plastic is really popular, you can do some figure stuff, kind of stronger things.
And finally our metal is really popular, so we have a lot of really cool custom steel dice on our table.
NO: You have some heavy dice there.
AT: Yeah, those could do some damage if you let them go out in the wild on the table.
People have some pretty cool dice. Some of them are a little scary, they're all spikey ... there's a thorn dice that's pretty terrifying looking.
NO: Have you seen any people walking around with models with Shapeways components that you've noticed?
AT: Yeah. Totally. Lots of people are doing custom insignias for their marines. So on the shoulder pads they want to have their own crew. So that's really, really fun to see.
Custom characters or something like that for role playing games are represented here. I see that a lot.
Then custom vehicles. Some vehicles that just aren't out there yet. Things that are really rare war gaming stuff. Tanks, things from odd eras.
Anything that a gamer can imagine now you can make with 3D printing.
NO: My understanding is that Shapeways, you guys, handle the printing and the designers are other people in the community that work with and through Shapeways, but they're their own entities.
AT: Yes. Exactly. Everyone on Shapeways is an independent shop owner. They're coming up with the ideas, they're designing the products, they own all the rights to them, and they are gamers like the rest of the community. And they kind of see that there is an opportunity here or there is something that people just have said "oh, I really wish I could have this" and they have the skills to make that.
So they put it up in the shop and people can go buy from them. And if you have your own design shops or you want to make something you can always upload your products and start designing as well.
NO: If someone had an idea for a design, how easy would it be to start the process and design something that could be used on Shapeways?
AT: If you are interested in learning how to do 3D design, we have a lot of
tutorials
that are available. We've worked with skillshare before, there's a lot of things on youtube, there's tons of free software out there like Blender that's really well documented, so if you wanted to learn you could do that yourself.
And then if you're looking to work with a designer we can hook you up with someone in the community, we have a designer-for-hire program. Or you can just reach out to a shop owner and say "hey, I'm looking for this, I see that you have something similar, can you help me out?"
NO: Do you or anyone else on the Shapeways team play the games?
AT: We're definitely, you know, play some of the smaller skirmish games. I just bought Flames of War. I've been meaning to play that. I have RuneWars, which I've played a little bit of.
And then we're big role playing game players.
NO: Have you used Shapeways to design any of your characters?
AT: Oh yeah, totally. Hero Forge we've designed a lot of stuff with, and then I design my own characters sometimes, from scratch. So that's super fun. We're all into gaming too, and product design, and kind of just everything.
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Important: Your Swag Discounts/Coupons
Watch for Expiration Dates
For attendees who received a
SWAG BAG
, don't forget to use your discounts and coupons. Read the details carefully. This year's coupons include:
Remember to support the companies that support the NOVA Open!
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Volunteers are the Lifeblood of NOVA Open
Near or Far, Join the Family Today!
The NOVA Open is so much more tha
n
tabletop wargaming! It is about
about fundraising for charitable causes, getting together with old friends and making new ones, and the one thing heard more than any other - family. Become part of the Family today!
QUOTING A NEW VOLUNTEER:
"Bottom Line: I want to be part of
t
his Community . . .
more than just a consumer!"
People ask how they can help; they think
about it, want to be a part of it, and then shrug.
Don't shrug today!
New volunteers will be invited to a meeting with the NOVA Open Board of Directors (in Vienna or via Telecom) this Saturday, November 18 @ 1:00pm EST ~
CONTACT US TODAY IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US!
The NOVA Open cannot exist without the massive collaboration of its volunteers. Everyone of us has special skill sets that can help the NOVA Open continue. There are tasks and projects that require help throughout the year.
WORK REMOTELY OR JOIN US ON SITE:
If you live far from the DC area, you're not going to be able to come to terrain days; regardless, can you work remotely throughout the year on small tasks and projects?
- Are you an organizer? Calendars need managing and tasks need tracking. Can you work with a team to keep things moving forward?
- Do you have a knack for graphic design, good at quick turnarounds? Our lead graphic designer could use artists who understand concept and handle editorial feedback.
- How about communications or networking? Could you work as a writer or collaborate with a team on reaching the bigger market ... through blogs, advertising, social media?
- Does anyone out there have mad shopping skills? Can you find what no one else can on an internet search? Do you refuse to pay for a product that doesn't come with free shipping and a discount? The NOVA Open could use your help - frequently and year-round!
- Use your imagination! A convention requires skills from just about every area of expertise or capability there is. Throw your hat in the ring and NOVA Open will find a good fit!
YEAR-ROUND & SEASONAL VOLUNTEERS:
Having volunteers available year around to jump in on small tasks or to commit to big jobs is an area of great need. NOVA Open could also benefit from seasonal volunteers: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer & The Convention! When does your calendar open up?!
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Photos from the Convention
Find Yourself and Your Friends!
Thanks to the amazing efforts of Chris Michaels and his photography team, we have hundreds of photos of all the events at NOVA Open 2017!
All photos will soon be organized by event
, but feel free to look at them in advance at this link on Flickr.
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NOVA Open 2017 Attendee Recaps:
What the Blogs are Saying
The internet has been abuzz since the convention ended.
Check out just a few of the posts below.
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Social Media Links:
FOLLOW US!
Stay up to date with all the most recent news from the NOVA Open by following us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter! We update frequently on not only important NOVA Open information, but from our sponsors/vendors and the gaming community as well.
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