June 15, 2017: Year 7; Edition 12
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NOVA Open 2017 CONVENTION DATES: August 31 - September 3
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CAP Discount Ends July 1st
Individuals who purchase CAPs after that date and time will purchase them at the new price. Pick up your CAP
today - don't miss out on the Early Bird price!
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Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition News
Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition FAQ
With the release of 8
th Edition just around the corner (this Saturday, to be precise, so go on out and make sure you've snagged your copies!), an increasing number of players are curious whether we will be producing (on our own or in concert with ITC or other organizations) an independent 40K FAQ. For now, our simple answer is "we don't know." While many folks have had the opportunity to take a look at preview copies of the game in places like their local
Games Workshop, we need to wait and see how many questions arise and what GW's own approach to them will be. So, while our crystal ball says we will certainly do all we can to provide answers and guidance to our attendees as much as we are able, we can't really provide any clear insight on FAQ documents at this point. In the meantime, if you do have any questions about any of our 40K events, rules, or other related items, make sure you email them to
[email protected] - our leads are fast and responsive!
Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition GT Missions and Primer
Our leads are hard at work updating the primer with the information they have available.
Unfortunately, with the game not even officially released until Saturday, there's a limit to how much information that really is! Stay tuned to the
NOVA Open website and our Newsletters, as we anticipate releasing a fully updated 40K GT Primer Packet within a week or two of the edition releasing. We will definitely be updating our missions for 8
th Edition, and while we do not anticipate going with straight book missions for a variety of reasons, we do anticipate ensuring those we run are well-updated and in alignment with all the many changes 8
th Edition promises to bring.
Available Spaces in the 40K GT
With the excitement brought on by the newest edition of 40K, there are far fewer spaces remaining in the GT than was the case at this time last year. Make sure you get yourself signed up quickly, as you do not want to miss out! Not only will it be one of the first major GT events for 8
th Edition, but it will be one of the first major GT's in the US attended by the Games Workshop Community Team. This includes key design studio members (more info on all our GW attendees coming in the next newsletter), so if you want your chance to be able to shoot the breeze with them in the 40K hall or over a snack or beverage in the Charity Lounge, this is your chance! Sign up if you haven't yet, and get on out to NOVA Open 2017! This is especially relevant as we are rapidly approaching the $10 increase in Convention Access Pass costs and the end of our Early Bird special.
Register Today!
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Many of the best companies in the miniature industry will be at NOVA Open 2017 giving you a chance to purchase their products, peruse new releases and meet representatives from some of your favorite hobby manufacturers and suppliers. Some will also be offering pre-sales for pick up at NOVA Open; watch for details on July 1 in our next newsletter. In the meantime, get ready to shop:
Vendor Hall Hours are generally: 9:00AM to 10:00PM (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and 9:00AM to 7:00PM (Sunday)
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Hobby, Display, and Lecture Seminars
NOVA Open 2017 Has Them All
 As long-time NOVA Open attendees know, we host an extensive range of seminars with award-winning instructors who will help take your hobby skills to the next level. Whether you're a new hobbyist wanting to improve your painting or a veteran wanting to create MDF terrain or add lighting to your models, we have a full line-up of seminars to choose from.
- Roman Lappat is teaching a daily introduction to display painting seminar, color theory, blending, painting a bust in atmosphere, building a display base, and painting OSL.
- James Wappel is teaching the shaded basecoat technique, painting with Reaper Miniatures clear paints, building a solid base, and painting historical vehicles.
- CK Studios is teaching a full range of airbrushing classes to include a basic class on getting started, finishing techniques, large models provided by Warlord Games), painting black/white, blending, and painting non-metallic metals.
- Shapeways is providing a discussion on design requirements and printing options for miniature wargaming.
- Steamforged Games is starting with a free seminar on the company's future and offering a seminar on painting a model in two hours.
- Matt DiPietro is teaching painting artistic flesh tones, sketch style painting for gaming, and two-brush blending.
- Stiff Neck Studios is teaching speed painting where students will learn this technique to provide high standard paint jobs for their miniatures.
- LightCraft Miniature Studios is teaching intro to painting Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing Miniatures and advanced oil wash techniques for X-Wing Miniatures.
- Dan Cotrupe is teaching advanced MDF scenery, filling a table, and painting on wood.
- Joe Kopena is teaching an intro to 3D modeling and printing for miniature wargaming.
- PoweredPlay Gaming is teaching introduction to lighting, advanced lighting techniques, artistic implementation of lighting, lighting a model or display board, and the basics of DC circuitry theory.
- Sam Jeffery and Daniel Entwisle are discussing Lord of the Rings tactics and list building.
Many seminars have sold out, make sure you get on the wait list in case spots open up this summer. You can see more information on the seminars at http://www.novaopen.com/seminars/.
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Introducing NOVA Open Hobby Haven
For years, hobbyist and painters have gathered in various places throughout the NOVA Open to paint their models, socialize with fellow hobbyists, and exchange techniques. In 2017, the NOVA Open will introduce Hobby Haven, a large, general-use painting area with painting supplies, on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency. The area is intended to form a central, social hub, which provides opportunity for casual interaction and impromptu teaching of painting and artistic techniques.
The NOVA Open is proud to announce that Hobby Haven is being brought to life through the sponsorship of THE ARMY PAINTER! The Army Painter will be supplying Hobby Haven with all the art supplies we could have imagined - primers, paints, brushes, tools, basing materials and more.
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Warhammer Age of Sigmar Update
We hope you've heard something about the
Age of Sigmar Coalescence global narrative event on June 10th. This community event included more than 40 locations around the world, at each of which AoS fans gathered to play through three battleplans to determine the fate of the godbeast Eristrat. Players at several events in Virginia and Maryland helped shape the narrative, the final chapter of which is expected to be announced on Thursday, June 15th.
If you're interested in narrative events like Coalescence, we recommend you check out the range of events scheduled throughout the
NOVA Open. Also, the currency for the grand narrative is shifting: rather than spending "gold" coins from a team treasury which were earned in the previous round of games, teams will borrow a kind of narrative credit which will come due after each game. With this change players will have more direct control over the resources they risk for bonus effects during their games.
Would you like to bring a young person age 10-15 with you to NOVA Open? We have a KidsHammer event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday (Sept 2-3). The kids will receive a box of new models to assemble and paint on Saturday, learn to play Age of Sigmar with experienced coaches, and then have the chance to play in a mini tournament on Sunday.
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Seventh Terrain Build Update
On June 10th, the NOVA Open Terrain Build Team held their 7th terrain build session this year, which focused on priming and painting the terrain. We continued with our work on Age of Sigmar and 40K line of sight terrain and building more scatter terrain. We also started building the 40k partial line of sight blocking terrain that NOVA Open staff approved at the last build session. Through the hard work of our volunteers, we were able to crank out over 60 new scatter terrain pieces. On the painting front, we were able to prime and/or second coat most of the large line of sight blockers so they were ready for the tabletop.
While this terrain build day marks our last session in Mclean, Virginia, we will be hosting the next one at our new location in Lorton, Virginia. We hope to see you there!
We are always looking for volunteers who either have a good eye for detail, or who would like to learn more about this side of the hobby. It's always a fun day and a place where you can start building great new friendships. A lot of work is still required - and we only have TWO (2) MORE DATES to get it done. If you are interested, please contact
[email protected]
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Dave Nordquist from MiniWarGaming
Star of Countless Battle
Reports
and Painting Tutorials
NOVA Open staff recently spoke to Dave Nordquist from
MiniWarGaming
, a media channel responsible for hours upon hours of in depth battle reports on Games Workshop systems. It's our pleasure to announce that Dave will be bringing MiniWarGaming's presence to NOVA Open 2017!
NO:
For people who don't know, or might be new to the NOVA Open community, what is MiniWarGaming?
MW: MiniWarGaming is a media channel that produces Games Workshop battle reports. We cover Warhammer 40k, 30k, Fantasy and Age of Sigmar. We do some other games as well in addition to that, but it's mostly Games Workshop coverage. We do an action-by-action turn-by-turn battle report where you see every die roll and every movement on the battlefield. So it ends up being about an hour long when you watch a battle report. That's our YouTube channel, and that's where half of our videos are.
The other half of our videos are on our website,
MiniWarGaming.com
, and that includes all of the exclusive content that people can pay a monthly subscription to gain full access to everything that we produce, which is all that plus painting tutorials. We come out with daily painting tutorials and of the same things. So if something new comes out, say the new starter set for 40k, we will have battle reports and then we will have painting tutorials on how to paint up those miniatures.
It is myself, and my business partner Matt Glanfield, and we have about ten employees that we employ here at MiniWarGaming studios, a number of which are also content producers. That's what we have been doing for close to ten years now.
NO: How did you get started with MiniWarGaming?
MW: It started with an idea of turning our hobby into a business which was about 10 years ago. We were literally in [Matt's] basement playing Lord of the Rings miniatures game, created by Games Workshop, and we thought to ourselves - at that time I had a landscaping business and he had an internet marketing business - that we were both business owners already and how can we turn this into a business and do this? So the idea to open an online store came about and we started doing that. We started selling the product online and making YouTube videos that would drive traffic to the store.
After a number of years, when Games Workshop changed their policy on selling for online retailers, we had to actually close the store because it pretty much eliminated ninety percent of the business. Which was, looking back on it, a fantastic thing for us. At the time it looked like it was really bad because we had to close down the store and we were going to lose the business. At that time we decided to go one hundred percent media and just create the videos. By doing that we became completely autonomous from any other company and relying on product being sold. We just created our own products called digital media.
NO: You were talking about your paid model, which is the Vault. What sort of extra content to Vault Subscribers have access to?
MW:
So when you're a Vault member, you gain access to one hundred percent of the videos we produce. Which, if you weren't a vault member, you would have access to about forty percent. We create so many painting tutorials that makes up for the other portion of our videos. We don't just duplicate our battle reports and have double the amount of battle reports, it's a little bit more than that. It's also behind the scenes so you see a lot of footage of what happens in the studios and at various times there are updates. We have vlogs. Then there are post game discussions we have in addition to the battle reports. So for every battle report that goes on YouTube there's a post game discussion that goes in the vault, plus there's another battle report that goes in the vault.
If you're a bronze member you can watch everything and stream everything. If you're a silver member you can watch all of the battle reports and painting tutorials and download all of that content as well.
NO: How have you guys been approaching the change to 8th edition?
MW: We've been very excited about the anticipation and the change over the edition and we have been very busy working at making battle reports and review videos. At Games Workshop they were kind enough to give us a review copy so we produce a lot of content for that.
The entire team is working at producing content because every single army got updated so there's just a lot of coverage to do. It's very exciting. The energy here is awesome because it's something we have all been waiting for for a long time, that the community has been waiting for. The anticipation has been huge.
And we're just barely scratching the surface because with just one army, for example I play Chaos Space Marines, there's so many different configuration you can bring with just Chaos Space Marines that really we could have the entire team focus on just Chaos Space Marines and even still we wouldn't cover everything that you could possibly cover with that one army.
We're putting out as much as we can at the quality we desire to produce.
NO: Do you have a quick take on how you feel about the new Chaos rules?
MW: My quick take is I love close combat. Close combat rewards you for getting into close combat. It's devastating. Being a Chaos Khorne player I love that aspect.
NO: You guys have done a ton of battle reports in 8th already. Is there any particular faction or unit or something that stands out as a lot better or surprising to you guys?
MW: Yes, Orks. Ork boyzare devastating. That is... I would say that Orks are a top tier army now. Just what they are able to do in close combat is immense and is terrifying. The sheer number of attacks that they are able to produce, the different army configurations and the bonuses from certain models that buff you if they're close by. It's pretty awesome. And it's a good thing too, because Orks certainly needed it. For all the Ork players out there, they're going to be incredibly happy.
The Heldrakes in Chaos is another one that stands out to me. Because not only can they do some awesome things in the air at shooting whatever, but they are able to attack in close combat now and their close combat attack is devastating. They are scary.
NO: What are MiniWarGaming's plans for NOVA Open 2017?
MW: The plan is to set up a booth and sell a little bit of swag, some t-shirts, maybe some dice. Take a few selfies of people. We will probably bring our arsenal of weapons. Our combi-bolter and our plasma rifle and our missile launcher so people can have some fun and run around.
Meeting people, meeting the east coast gamers, I would say. Getting a better pulse on the tournament scene. This is the first year that we have really done the convention/tournament circuit.
We are very excited to come. We are very excited to have a presence, to meet the gamers, meet the viewers, and get their thoughts. We love it. That's why we do it.
NO: At NOVA we like to think of ourselves a family convention, something that people of all ages can go to. I notice, in that vein, that you have written a children's book.
MW: Yes I have. The Children's book Troooolls! is a book that I based off a game that I created with my children in real life. It's an imaginative role playing game where we battle trolls and we roll dice and we give them friendship stones so that they don't eat us. It's literally a game that I made up with the kids and I turned it in a book so that I could read it to them as a bedtime story. Then I thought, you know what? Instead of making one book I can publish a book so that I could share it with other wargaming parents who have kids and who play wargames and want to get their kids introduced to the world.
I ran an IndieGoGo campaign for it and it raised about fourteen thousand dollars. It was good. It was well received. Apparently, I didn't know this before because it was the first time I ever authored a book, if you make more than five thousand dollars in sales in a year with a book then that's considered to be a success. So I looked at that and I thought, well, that's a success.
I'll be bringing the book to the convention. That will be at the booth for sale.
One more thing I'd like to mention, if that's okay, is another thing I'll be bringing as part of the vendor booth is copies of The Rangers, the short film that I made. This is a passion project that's also a part of MiniWarGaming because MiniWarGaming is producing it. It is a short film that I created and I've received production money from some producers in order to make a feature film. It's a fantasy film where, I wrote it and directed it and star in it, and a lot of wargamers are part of the movie and the local community as well.
I'll have copies of the short film there. It's a story about my daughter, who gets captured by orcs and as a ranger myself I track them down and I confront the orcs and I search for my daughter. It's been submitted to different film festivals and it's won an award already, in one particular film festival.
The NOVA Open would like to thank
Dave Nordquist and MiniWarGaming
for their
support of our work and community as well as taking the time for this interview.
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NOVA Open CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Roman Lappat / Massive Voodoo
Roman Lappat, of Massive Voodoo, has become a mainstay at the NOVA Open - as a
seminar instructor, as a
Capital Palette Judge, and as a member of the
NOVA Open Charitable Foundation (NOCF) Artist Consortium.
Below is a sneak peak at the two models Roman is donating to the NOCF for its summer raffle season. Sales will "go live" on the
NOCF website
on July 1, 2017.
Roman Lappat, noted as one of the finest miniature artists in the world, has recently created a portfolio of his work. Please enjoy spending time at
PAINTED MINIATURE ART to get a feel for his amazing talents.
One of our all-time favorite pieces, which we'd love to one day have travel with Roman to a NOVA Open, is
The Last Light - winner of several awards and owner of its own fabulous
VIDEO. Roman has a step-by-step walk through of The Last Light's creation which can be found at the Massive Voodoo website -
HERE - scroll to the bottom to click through this four-part presentation!
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Volunteer Scheduling to Begin
We NEED You!
We'll be sending our staff schedule to volunteers for sign up in the next couple of weeks. Look for it if you're on the list; let us know if you'd like to be added.
The NOVA Open is a full 4-day convention with a move-in day on Wednesday, August 30th, and a move-out day on Monday, September 4th. Strongman support staff is for move-in and move-out: seriously, the NOVA Open moves out of four storage units in two massive trucks into 68,000 square feet of convention space; no amount of help is too much ... ever!
Non-player staff (aka significant others, parents, family, children) needed to cover three daily shifts at registration, store, raffle desks, SuperNOVA desk, halls, Hobby Haven, seminar rooms and more. Anyone willing to join the Photography stable is also a hot sought-after commodity!
Don't be shy ... we'll keep you busy the whole time you're having the Best Time of Your Life (feel free to insert music/lyrics into your head here)!
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Get Your 2017 Convention Coins Today!
NOVA Open 2017 Convention Coin
Pre-Sale: $10.00 ($15.00 at convention)
Ends: July 1, 2017
NOVA Open enters the coin field with its first annual
Convention Coin. This "polished silver" coin measures 1.75 inches in diameter and features two cut out sections above and below the center circle as well as 3D versions of the US Capitol Dome, the Washington Monument, the White House, and the Jefferson Memorial.
Don't miss out; limited quantities available. Multiple coin purchase enabled. Destined to become one of many collector coins to come, the 2017 Convention Coin can only be pre-ordered for $10 until July 1st.
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HELP SUPPORT THE WORK:
NOCF Charity Lounge Needs You!
The NOCF could not have predicted the Foundation Lounge would become so integral to the NOVA Open Convention experience. Now that it has, we are turning to you, the generous companies and individual donors who support its charitable work. In return for acknowledgement and some of the best ad placement at the NOVA Open, we are seeking five donors per day for the five days of operation. Your generous contributions are tax-deductible, will underwrite the high costs of running the Lounge, and will add significantly to the amount of funds the NOCF is able to contribute to charity in 2017.
Five Levels of Sponsorship
PRIVATE RESERVE SPONSORSHIP
Stock the Bar: $500
Choose Wednesday - Sunday
***
GOLD LABEL SPONSORSHIP
Wells & Calls: $400
Choose Wednesday - Sunday
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BLACK LABEL SPONSORSHIP
Signatures & Bottles: $300
Choose Wednesday - Sunday
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RED LABEL SPONSORSHIP
Catering Fund: $250
Choose Wednesday - Sunday
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KEG NIGHT SPONSORSHIP
Keg + 2 Hours of Raffles: $200
Choose Wednesday - Sunday
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Watch for NOCF Summer Raffles
Expected to Go Live July 1!
Below is a peek at some of the upcoming NOCF summer online raffles:
- Sons of Horus vs. Mechanicum - two 30K armies completing soon!
- Warmachine/Hordes offer: Stryker's Irregulars (8 world-famous artists from the NOCF Consortium under way)
- Flames of War has two (2) great offers in the works (by NOCF Consortium artist Steve McCuen): Monty's Desert Rats & Rommel's Afrika Korp
- Stiff Neck Studio / Wes Cogdal will be presenting the new Blood Bowl boxed set with custom pitch
- Steamforged will be donating a studio painted version of its next Guild!
- Madeline Cockrell is painting an X-Wing Squadron donated by FFG
- An anonymous donation has been made of one large commissioned 40K army - details tba later
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Details Regarding Purchases of Forge World
Products at NOVA Open 2017
Forge World will be at NOVA Open 2017. They will be bringing a wide selection of resin kits, Horus Heresy tomes, modeling products, books, event-only items, and a few potential new releases.
Located in the vendor hall in the corridor next to the Regency Hall, they will open for general sales starting Thursday, August 31st, at 10:00 am. NOTE: NOVA Open a
ttendees will be limited to just one (1) "event-exclusive" item on Thursday.
Forge World will accept pre-orders for free delivery to NOVA Open 2017. Pre-orders are the best way to guarantee your products, plus you save shipping costs from the UK. Watch upcoming NOVA Open newsletters for advance sales dates and instructions on how to place those orders in the near future.
Check out Forge World's complete catalog by visiting their
website.
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1. HYATT REGENCY CRYSTAL CITY @ REAGAN AIRPORT
This is the site hotel for NOVA Open. It sold out in April, but there is always the chance of a cancellation. For this reason, we suggest you CHECK HERE FIRST before moving onto our other amazing hotel partners below!
2. RENAISSANCE ARLINGTON VIEW
3. RESIDENCE IN ARLINGTON VIEW
- Side by side with the Renaissance, one long block
- Residence Inn (Studios & 1BR Suites) 5-Star Property
- Complimentary breakfast and free wi-fi
- 50 rooms are being held for attendees, these rooms
- Residence Inn Suites can be booked at $99 per night
- Parking on site; nearby parking garages
- Airport shuttle available; local garage parking available
4. HILTON CRYSTAL CITY
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You Can Now Make an NOCF
Donation Using your Account at the
The NOVA Open Charitable Foundation thanks the tabletop wargaming community for its support!
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2017 NOVA Open Games/Events
Check Regularly for Updates
Primers can change up until and after registration, and leads are highly responsive to commentary and input.
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2017 Internship Opportunities:
Convention Management Interns Wanted
The NOVA Open is seeking a spring and/or summer interns. If you know a college student looking to build career skills and gain experience? NOVA Open works with college for credit! C
ontact:
Internships are a great way to practice existing skills, fill that ALL IMPORTANT
EXPERIENCE SECTION on a resume, learn time management while building new connections ~ all the while
helping bring the 2017 NOVA Open to life.
Expectations would be20-25 hours per week (9am-2pm five days a week) on site in the Tysons Corner area (own transportation required). The NOVA Open has had over 20 interns successfully pass through its internship program while at school; we've provided letters of recommendations and served as references for successful hires thereafter.
If you know of anyone (son, daughter, children of friends) who might benefit, please feel free to share this opportunity.
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Have a Favorite Food Truck?
Let us Know
DMV area locals who want to see their favorite local food trucks can email us at:
[email protected]
with the truck's Twitter handle and/or web page so we can look into inviting them at this year's convention.
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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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