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Hyatt Regency Crystal City
2799 Jefferson Davis Hwy Arlington, VA 22202
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May 15, 2018: Year 8; Edition 10
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Hi, All ~
It's hard to believe we're already in the middle of May. The NOVA Open is "the" End-of-Summer tabletop wargaming convention, and occurs every year on Labor Day Weekend here in the US. For our staff, that means we're a scant 3-1/2 months from the event. How can that be when it feels like we were wrapping up 2017 just yesterday?!
A few of our loyal attendees have been surprised by the number of events selling out or sold out already. We are, in fact, on a faster pace than ever before; due to space constraints, expansion of existing events will be limited. We want our attendees to enjoy those events they look forward to, but that requires quick movement on their part. As this newsletter launches, there are just 17 TICKETS LEFT IN THE 256-PLAYER 40K GT. Such registration numbers are mirrored across the whole con.
We thought you might enjoy knowing that several members of the NOVA Open team will be spending the next two weeks engaged in a bit of cultural exchange with the UK, visiting the massive London Grand Tournament at Queen's Olympic Stadium and the Malifaux International Team Championship in Manchester. We're excited to visit and share in the experiences of these other great events, but also to take back the usual hefty dose of inspiration and motivation they provide! We also wish the organizers luck going into what is always a stressful, challenging, but ultimately rewarding time.
If you're in the DC area at all, please e-mail
customerservice@novaopen.com and sign up for a NOVA Open terrain day! During the summer months, we grill out at the terrain build venue inearby Lorton, VA. There's always plenty of ice cold beverages (adult and otherwise) in our big ol' fridge, and you can learn all about everything from shaping amazing terrain with precision hot wire table cutters to painting like a master with your airbrush - good food, good camaraderie, and basically free hobby training! Join us.
This newsletter is as packed with information as the NOVA Open will be packed with activities and fun, so read it carefully, and make sure you sign up now for the events you want 😊
Mike Brandt
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BLACK LIBRARY SEMINAR CHANGE
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Ticket sales for the Black Library seminar currently scheduled for Sunday, 9/2, have been
temporarily suspended. A time change to accommodate the presenter is under consideration. If you already have tickets, and if a change does occur, our registrar will contact you directly. We expect this decision to be made by June 1, so please be patient and we will let you know more at that time.
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NOCF FUNDRAISER 2018 NOVA HERESY SHIRTS
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Marc Raley, NOVA Open's 30K lead, believes in the generosity and compassion of those who attend the convention. To that end, he has created another awesome shirt design, "NOVA Heresy 2018. " The shirt is
available now for pre-sale. The best way to ending to ensure you are able to secure one in the size you need is to order before
pre-sale ends June 15th.
Proceeds from the sale of each shirt, over and above cost, will be donated to the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation. The pre-order cost is $25; a
limited number of shirts and sizes will also be available at NOVA Open 2018 for $30.
In 2017, 33 shirts were pre-sold and the remaining 12 shirts sold out at the convention. To help pre-sales, we've decided to offer two different styles of shirt in all sizes:
- Anvil:
- A jersey t-shirt in soft,
- 100% preshrunk ringspun cotton,
- more athletic fit;
- sizes from Youth S to 3XL
- Gildan:
- traditional fit t-shirt,
- 100% preshrunk cotton,
- gets softer with each washing;
- sizes from Youth XS to 4XL
The selection outlined above. which offers a whopping 9 youth sizes and 14 adults sizes, will be extremely limited at NOVA Open 2018.
Please help us double last year's sales by pre-ordering your shirt today!
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PLAN YOUR TIME at NOVA Open 2018
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The 2018 NOVA Open schedule is kept up to date. Take time to study it and plan your days.
Look out for new events and semiars and check to see if you can fit them into your schedule
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The NOVA Open has received many reports that the Hyatt's block is fluctuating. What that means is people booked rooms early and have since dropped their reservations. We recommend you use the Hyatt booking link:
https://aws.passkey.com/go/NOVA18
until you are locked out.
The NOVA Open has contracted with the Marriott Courtyard next door at $99/night with half-price parking. They have only 40 doubles and 10 have been reserved. When the Courtyard block is full, NOVA Open will consider contracting with the Marriott Renaissance, located just outside Hyatt's back doors. Marriott booking link:
https://bit.ly/2J9hzcO
If anyone runs into trouble booking rooms, don't hesitate to contact:
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NOCF 2018 SUMMER RAFFLES - PREVIEW
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The NOVA Open Charitable Foundation (NOCF) works with some of the best miniature artists in the world to give the community at large rare opportunities to win unique treasures. In this newsletter, NOCF previews two 2018 Summer Raffle models to get tabletop wargamers ready for the July 1 launch of ticket sales.
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THE HIVE TYRANT BY MARY PROFFIT
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Mary is a renowned miniature artist with
Hamster Cage Studio. She has been busy painting her dazzling Hive Tyrant with an intricately designed carapace and a beautiful scenic base. You don’t have to be a Black Templar to feel the grip of this amazing bio-terror. Follow this work in progress on
Facebook and
Instagram.
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DARTH VADER BY MARK SORASTRO
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Mark Sorastro just revealed the model he is donating to NOCF for its 2018 Summer Season - complete with video painting guide! Follow him on
Facebook
. See the Star Wars Legion Painting guide Ep.6: Darth Vader on
Youtube
.
Raffles will go live July 1, 2018.
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WHAT'S PLANNED FOR NOCF
2018 SUMMER RAFFLES
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The NOCF Artist Consortium, and some of our favorite artists and studios, have been hard at work preparing ah-mazing armies and models for the 2018 Summer Online Raffles. These will go live on July 1, but we thought you'd like a sneak peak of what's coming:
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ARMY OFFERINGS:
- Space Marines: Chapter of Hope Charity Project / Facebook Over 4000 points, Super Big Centerpiece led by Alex Goode
- HH Loyalist Army: Iron Warriors -NOCF Artist Consortium under Marc Raley
- HH Traitor Army: World Eaters -NOCF Artist Consortium under Marc Raley
- Necromunda Minis + 4x4 table of terrain - Stiff Neck Studio / Wes Cogdal
- FOW Team Yankee Army #1 - Steve McCuen
- FOW Team Yankee Army #2 - Steve McCuen
- X-Wing Repaint Force - Madeline Cockrell / Lightcraft Miniature Studios
- WM/H Trollbloods - NOCF Artist Consortium
- Legion Force Set - NOCF Artist Consortium
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SINGLE MODEL OFFERINGS:
Models being donated, to date, from:
John Stiening
Duncan Rhodes
Tish Walter
Mary Proffitt
Sean McAfee
Thor Intararangson
Joe Johnson
Dave Taylor
Sean Fulton
Roman Lappat
Alfonso "Banshee" Giraldes
Mark Sorastro
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HELP CHECK-IN RUN SMOOTHLY
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Here are some helpful hints to make your check-in at NOVA Open 2018 faster and easier:
- Ensure your account at novaopenstore.com is set up with your first and last names entered in the correct sequence. To check this, log in to your account and click on your user name in the upper right corner of the screen. When your account info page opens, you can edit if necessary.
- Why? Your convention badge is printed with the name listed as "first." This is also a good time to insert a nickname if that is your preference.
- Does your account have a proper email address, one you currently use? If yes, we can contact you; if no, you will not be able to receive important newsletter and splash info.
Final Note: Passes are not mailed. They will waiting for you at registration check-in (or the SuperNOVA desk), when you arrive.
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2018 NOVA OPEN GAMING EVENTS
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PRIMER TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!
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UPDATE: Microsoft is currently working on this issue. We should have a resolution some time next week.
If you attempt to access one of your event primers lately via certain devices / browsers, you may run into some technical difficulties with access. We're aware, and we're working on it! Since the Draft Primers are constantly being updated by event leads due to attendee feedback, we work hard to use contemporary collaboration software like Office 365 in order to maintain living documents for our attendees to always be up to date on where things stand. That said, we're working out a couple of kinks with our software provider of choice. Should these not be resolved before the next Newsletter, we'll make sure to go back to old fashioned PDF hosted versions of each of the primers to make sure our attendees can access them in a timely fashion. If you are in particularly dire need of a primer today (in order to help you determine what events to sign up for, how to build your army, etc.), please let us know via
customerservice@novaopen.com and we'll endeavor to send you a soft copy as soon as volunteer time permits!
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EVENT PRIMERS FOR NOVA OPEN 2018
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What game and events are on your NOVA Open radar this year? Primers can change up until and even after registration. NOVA Open leads are highly responsive to questions, commentary and input. E-Mail
customerservice@novaopen.com
Click any event title to see the Primer. If your event primer is not linked here, visit novaopenstore.com - they will be available for viewing there first.
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AGE OF SIGMAR NEW EDITION ANNOUNCEMENT
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At Warhammer Fest this past weekend, it was announced that coming this June players can expect the next edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar as well as some great new models and armies. The AoS Team is happy to announce this latest edition will be used at NOVA Open 2018. We are looking forward to how the new edition will shape the game. Chuck Moore, T.O. for the Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament and Team Doubles had a few words as well!
“I was thrilled when I saw the announcement of the new edition and doubly so when it was confirmed the release was set for this June. Age of Sigmar is a great game and the coming adjustments promise to improve that quality further. In order to ensure everyone has plenty of time to digest the new edition and prepare their forces for NOVA you can expect the event packs to be released shortly after the edition drops.”
There are still some tickets left for both events and we hope you join us as NOVA Open 2018 will be the first U.S. National level event to be using the latest edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
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AGE OF SIGMAR REBASING GUIDE
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CORRECTED VERSION OF GUIDE BELOW:
This year, we will require hobby standards which will be detailed in the event packet to promote and reward hobby efforts. All armies must be fully based on appropriate round or oval bases. A base size conversion will be provided to assist players with armies on square bases to convert onto round bases.
We have also changed our painting standard and will require armies painted to a tabletop level, rewarding effort as well as skill. In order to remain as current as possible, we will be using the latest FAQ’s, as well as the most current General's Handbook, at the time of the event.
New Battletomes released after August 11th
will not
be legal for use at the event.
The KidsHammer event is the exception to the basing and painting standards.
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2018 FFG US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
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The NOVA Open is once again hosting the
FFG US National Championships for X-wing, Armada, Destiny, and Imperial Assault. Tickets to these events are selling very quickly, so don't wait to get yours. Here are the links you need to get all the information:
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FFG ANNOUNCES X-WING SECOND EDITION
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On May 1st, Fantasy Flight Games announced that X-wing Second Edition is coming soon. This reboot of X-wing promises to bring new life to a lot of ships that have been sitting unused in many players collections by allowing you to use the X-wing ships that you already own.
Even though some players will have Second Edition prior to the convention, Second Edition
will not be released until September and will not legal for any events at the NOVA Open.
However, if you're interested in giving Second Edition a try at the NOVA Open, FFG staff will be demoing it over the weekend. If you already have your Second Edition Core Set with you at the NOVA Open, there will also be players looking for games after events in the X-wing hall. Empty tables will be open for free play all night long.
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STEP BACK INTO THE 41ST MILLENNIUM WITH THE GAMES WORKSHOP GREEN SCREEN
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As last year's NOVA Open attendees remember, Games Workshop had a green screen and life size bolters that allowed them to step into the 41st millennium and take photos as mighty heroes of Warhammer 40k that the Games Workshop team shared on social media. We're excited to announce that the green screen will return in the same location - inside the Independence Hall - so make sure to take your photo and leave your mark in the Grim Dark at this year's NOVA Open!
Check out last year's photos here: http://bit.ly/2wFG8fa
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LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS
ELEMENTAL TRIAL
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This year, the NOVA Open will be hosting an official
FFG Legend of the Five Rings Elemental Trial. This event is similar to the Regional Championships in some of FFGs other games. Tickets are on sale right now. We're expecting them to sell out very quickly, so grab yours now.
http://www.novaopen.com/legend-of-the-five-rings/
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The NOVA Open is a full 4-day convention with a move-in this year from Monday, August 27th to Wednesday, August 29th - and a move-out day on Sunday, September 2 to Monday, September 3rd. Able bodied support staff is needed for move-in and move-out: SERIOUSLY! The NOVA Open moves out of seven storage units in two massive semi tractor trailers into 75,000 square feet of convention space; every bit of help given allows NOVA Open to grow as the greatest US East Coast TTWG event!
Non-player staff (aka significant others, parents, family, children) are always needed and welcome to cover three daily shifts at registration, badge station, store, raffle desks, gate receipts, SuperNOVA desk, halls, Hobby Haven, seminar rooms and more. Anyone willing to join the Photography crew is also a hot sought-after commodity!
Make Friends for Life: We'll keep you busy while you're having the Best Time of Your Life (feel free to insert music/lyrics into your head here)!
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PRE-CON EVENT: ONLY 65 SPOTS LEFT!
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GAMES WORKSHOP PREVIEW EVENT
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Games Workshop's
Andy Smillie, Pete Foley, and members of the Warhammer Community team will host the latest Games Workshop Preview for 2018 at the NOVA Open this year. This event is fast become famous as the largest of sneak peaks and reveals of what's to come in the Worlds of Warhammer.
Sign up today and be among the first to find out what's next: Could it be new rules, miniatures, or even games? Even we don't know! If you only attend one seminar this year at NOVA Open 2018, it should be this one.
The seminar is
free
, as long as you have a Convention Access Pass (CAP), and will take place, Wednesday, August 30, 2018 from 7:30-9:00 pm at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City (location of the convention).
Attendees
must
sign up for the seminar at:
NOVA Open's check-in desk will open no later than 4:00 pm on Wednesday, 8/30; arrive early to pick up your access pass and seminar ticket.
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PRE-CON EVENT: ONLY 12 SPOTS REMAIN!
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Roman Lappat, of
Massive Voodoo, will teach
his popular JAR’s Beginner Painting Class. This three-day workshop is being offered for the first time EVER in the U.S.
JAR's Beginner Painting Workshop will be taught from
Sunday, August 26, to Tuesday, August 28
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WORTHY OF A LEGION - THE NEW 'PLANET SERIES' LINES OF F.A.T. MATS
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TABLEWAR has released a new 'Planet' series line of F.A.T. Mats! The new mats come in the popular 6x3' size with four designs sure to help your legion feel right at home whether it be in the forest, desert, snow, or a lava torn landscape.
These mats have all the quality you have come to expect from the TABLEWAR F.A.T. Mats: crisp, detailed designs, vibrant colors, water resistant surface, smooth model movement, quiet dice rolls, a non-slip rubber back, and more.
Storage and transport of your F.A.T. Mat is a snap as EVERY F.A.T. Mat comes with its own black canvas zippered storage and carry bag as well as a F.A.T. Tag to identify which beautiful design is inside.
Choose your favorite environment for your battles. Or, as a special bonus, get all four! We have a limited time offering of a discounted bundle of all four designs! Move your campaign from planet to planet for a dynamic environment to really build narrative.
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Arlington Crystal City/Reagan Airport
2899 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202
(just a hundred or so steps from Hyatt's front door)
---
$99/night ~ 50% discount on parking
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Hyatt Regency Important Information
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Chesapeake View - Foundation Lounge:
We are pleased to announce that the NOCF Lounge has now been permanently moved to Chesapeake View
NOVA Open Room Block Rates:
- Single or Double occupancy: $97
- Three in a Room: $122
- Four in a Room: $147
Length of Block:
- The NOVA Open room block begins Saturday, 8/25 and ends Monday, 9/3 - keep in mind, it looks like NOVA Open will be underway late afternoon of Wednesday, 8/29
$50 Per Night INCIDENTAL HOLD FEE:
- The Washington DC area hotels have adopted policy (this includes Hyatt and surrounding properties) which will put a hold of $50 for incidentals at check-in ... FOR EACH NIGHT YOU BOOKED. This will typically impact only those using debit cards (as opposed to credit cards). Regardless, if you plan to be on site Wed-Mon (5 nights), a hold of $250 will be put on your card. No incidental charges to your room = full release upon check out.
Check In / Check Out:
- Check in is 3:00pm; Check out is 12:00pm. Early check in and late checkout requests, booking upgrades to rooms and suites, may receive additional charges.
Departure Fee:
- A one-night rate fee "can be" assessed if an attendee fails to give Hyatt a 24-hour notice of early departure.
Roll Away Bed Fee:
- One-time fee of $25 for a roll away bed; limited / request early.
When Hyatt is Sold Out:
- Contact NOVA Open (customerservice@novaopen.com) if you are unable to book at Hyatt; this will notify us of any issues and allow us to expand the block. NOVA Open is negotiating room rates and perks at surrounding hotels (like 2017) ahead of expected Hyatt sell out - which well could be BEFORE registration launches on March 1. Receiving and reading the NOVA Open bi-weekly newsletters is the best way to stay informed and prepared.
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HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS/SESSIONS
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REASONS NOT TO MISS TERRAIN DAYS
There are so many fun and unexpected things that happen during a NOVA Open terrain build, that missing one is like a day without sunshine! Check it out:
- On Saturday May 12th, members of the NOVA Open staff and volunteers met at Telegraph storage for our 2018 "Lucky #7" terrain build.
- It was one of the most beautiful Saturday's of 2018 - Happy Mother Nature's Day 😊
- A 40K terrain design turned out to be faulty - no problem! It was redesigned and reworked on the spot . . . corrected (in a major way) to be 40K compliant quickly and efficiently. What an awesome crew, right?
- The team primed all of the finished terrain and a large portion of the redesigned 40K pieces.
- A bottle neck in the production line involved 1'x1' wooden bases - we can now celebrate that they are complete.
The plan is to break out the grill for our next build, so mark your calendars now: SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2018.
We look forward to the next build on June 9th.
If you're new to the area, or not on the current distro list, contact
customerservice@novaopen.com
. Keep an eye out for the EVITE invitation which will land in your inbox.
Follow our progress at the
Road to NOVA blog managed by our Minister of Terrain, Bob Likins.
May 12th 10:00 AM
RAIN OR SHINE
Park on yellow painted curbs
TELEGRAPH SELF STORAGE
8935 TELEGRAPH RD, LORTON, VA 22079
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Atlantis Games and Comics
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