TOURNAMENTS

Besides participating in our regular Warmonger tournaments and events, many Warmongers also make the trek out to several other large and small tournaments outside of New York City. These Rogue Traders / Grand Tournaments / and recently IndyGTs have always been loads of fun and the stories brought back from each trip have and will continue to convince more and more of us to go next time. But did you ever wonder what it is like to host and run one of these events? Well, we did and we decided to find out, and we were lucky enough to interview Jason Holliday, one of the organizers for The Necronomicon IndyGT held every year in Orlando, Florida.

WM:	Hi Jason, can you give our readers some details about this year's Necronomicon Indy GT?
JH:	Sure, this year we have room for 120 players: 70 for Fantasy and 50 for 40K. The point limits are 2250 for Fantasy and 1850 for 40K. We pride ourselves on high quality, so we can guarantee you will have the time of your life gaming with high quality terrain and high quality people from around the world, not just the U.S. Our event is in Orlando, FL, and this year it is held at The Caribe Resort, which you can find more info on our website at www.thenecro.com.
WM:	What events are planned for this weekend of gaming?
JH:	Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K, as well as any other game the players want to bring for after hours events. We will also have our annual chariot racing competition hosted by Brian Peterson, one of the best sportsmen in the country!!!
WM:	What, in your opinion, sets the Necro apart from all the other tournaments out there for gamers?
JH:	We have spent a long time building the reputation of our event to be the best around, and I feel we have achieved that. We are the largest Indy tournament in the South and up the East Coast. All of our terrain is very high quality and mostly provided by Gale Force Nine and a professional set builder for TV shows and movies: Round Table Productions, out of Orlando. When you come to The Necro you will be wow'd by what you will see and experience, I guarantee it!!!
WM:	Are you the only person organizing this event or do you have a staff or volunteers to help you?
JH:	The organizers are myself, Jason Holliday, my brother Janner Holliday, Tom Keegan who comes to us from Texas where he hosted his highly popular Hombre IndyGT, Jason Mitchell and John Petreli. All of us have our strengths, and each person compensates the other person for their weaknesses. We are very complimentary towards each other and we work great as a team. We do have volunteers from time to time that help with scoring, but no one cement.
WM:	Is it expensive to run an event of this size?
JH:	Yes it is, however if you do it right, and save your money from previous years IF you have any left over, it doesn't have to be. But yes, it can get expensive. The main costs are venue rental and supplies for terrain or the purchase of pre-made terrain. There are other costs like shirts or giveaways or custom tournament dice made for the event. But the first two mentioned are the biggies. First thing you do is create a budget. You do that by figuring out two major things. How much do we want to charge the players, and how much do we want to spend on a venue. The more the venue costs the more you have to charge the players, or find a larger venue that is not as expensive so you can have more players and charge them less money. But figure out your budget first, make a list for everything you want to do, and go from there. Going in without a budget is a nightmare and will cost you hundreds of dollars more and can get out of hand.
WM:	Do you receive support from Games Workshop? What are some of the Necro's sponsors and how did you solicit their support?
JH:	Yes, we get support from GW. We have a great relationship with them, and they feel we put on a grand tournament for lack of better terminology. Other sponsors are local game stores and manufacturers of gaming products and supplies, like Chessex Dice, or Black Library. To acquire support from other companies and local stores, just contact them and ask. It's that simple. The more experience you have, the more likely you are to get better support. That way the company doesn't think you are just some fly by night person who is going to pocket free product. After the first couple of years, it gets easier trying to get sponsors and support.
WM:	How early do you start planning each year's Necronomicon?
JH:	We usually have a post meeting about a month or so afterwards and talk about what went wrong and how we could have done a better job. We read the comment sheets, etc, and throw out ideas for the following year. Around January we will get together again and go over what we want to do for the upcoming event. So I would say about 6-8 months out we are starting on the planning for the tournament. As far as the venue or hotel goes, the earlier the better. If you know your date range, get something on the books, even earlier than 6 months if you can, and do it for the following year also if you can.
WM:	It must be a tough job to find a location large enough to accommodate all the Necronomicon's players, as well as dealing with hotel accommodations for the out-of-town players. How have you been able to tackle these daunting tasks?
JH:	Just find a locale that you like and can represent your event well. Usually for us, it has been a hotel with a large ballroom. Make your arrangements with them, notify the players of who, what, when, where, and the rest just happens.
WM:	As a veteran gamer, how does organizing a tournament compare with playing in one? Do you find that being a gamer helps you in some aspects of running the Necronomicon? Do you also find running the Necro rewarding?
JH:	Running a tournament is completely different than playing in one, so it is hard to compare the two. I do feel that being vet gamers has helped us in organizing the event because we have been to so many that we know what works and what doesn't work. My simple philosophy is this, I want to put on an event that I would want to go to and spend my hard earned money on. Why put on an event that I would not want to attend, and so I do my best to avoid that. This is great for the players who come the Necronomicons because I am VERY picky and anal about some things, so they are getting the best we have to offer. Running the event is rewarding, especially hearing the cheers and seeing the players' faces afterwards, it makes it all worthwhile.
WM:	Do you get any feedback, comments, and compliments from the Necro's players? If so, has any of it influenced your decision making for the event?
JH:	We hand out comment cards after each event, and we do read each one of them, and try to fix issues players had during their experience. They are very few but we do have them and we do fix them.
WM:	What's your process of creating fun scenarios for your players?
JH:	We try to make it challenging and fun. Remember it is a game of Warhammer, so just playing is fun, but we try to throw in exciting challenges to test the players' skills and wit. We find that that makes it fun for everyone.
WM:	Army composition has always been a hot-button issue among Fantasy tournament players. Is there a particular 'comp' system you prefer? Does 'comp' play a part in the Necro's rules?
JH:	We do not have a comp system, you can bring whatever you like, however we do have an internal handicap system that is not known to the players. Basically we score your army from 0-25 -- '25' being the comp friendly army and '0' being the worst cheese. You are scored and then for the first round you are paired with like rated armies, so the 25's will not face the 0's. After the first round, the handicap scoring is moved to the second sort after the battle scores. Also, if you win a game your score is dropped a few points, and if you lose a game your score is raised a few points. So for example, if you are a 20 handicap and keep winning, your score will go down to say a 10 over the weekend, and if you are a 0 and you lose your games your score will go up to a 10, for example. So the initial 0 army and the initial 20 army will face each other, however it is apparent the fluffier army has a better general than the cheese army and therefore the two components will balance themselves out. Just 'cause you have the cheese doesn't mean you can win all games, and vice versa. We have received so much applause for this system and we have never heard one bad word about it. So the bottom line is bring what you want, but keep in mind would you want to face an army like the one you just built!?
WM:	How does the Necro account for Sportsmanship, another controversial issue among tournament players?
JH:	We are player rated, so show up, act appropriate and you will be scored by your opponent appropriately. We also ask for explanations for all TOP marks and all BOTTOM marks. We want to know why you think this guy or gal was the best gamer ever or the worst. If you don't write that info in, then we will hunt you down and ask you, so be prepared to explain why you think the way you do.
WM:	How does the Necro's rules deal with or allow for specialized aspects of the two Warhammer games like Special Characters, SoC/EoT or appendix lists, siege/jungle/city fight rules, DOW/Forgeworld units, etc?
JH:	We allow basically anything official. The only things we don't allow are crazy website rules or lists, appendix lists, White Dwarf test lists, that sort of thing. We also are not allowing SoC or Lustria as these books were created to use for a short run in a particular campaign and built for the 6th edition Fantasy game system, and are not set up for the new army books out and new rulebook. You can also see more of what is or is not allowed on our website.
WM:	Players usually love to play on tables with ample amounts of colorful and interesting terrain. How has the Necro managed to meet this interest from its players?
JH:	We create or purchase the best terrain we can find or make. As I stated earlier, we put on an event that we would want to go play at, so believe you me when I say the terrain is very nice, and we do not want to allow players to have to play on felt lakes or carpet mats.
WM:	Is it hard to find knowledgeable people to serve as judges for all the games?
JH:	Yes it is, and not to toot our horn, but when we ask those really knowledgeable players to come judge they say that they would rather play in the event instead. So yes it is hard to find judges, so we usually just judge ourselves.
WM:	What's the percentage of veteran players versus regular/newbie/non-tournament players at the Necronomicon?
JH:	Vets are probably 80% and newbies are 20% if not less. With our event being around for 7 years we are very established, so a lot of the vet gamers come back each year and that has grown to a very large amount.
WM:	After-hours events, like the Greater Daemon Bash, Chariot Races, pub quizzes, etc are always popular with players. Can you give our readers an idea of some of the events that might take place after the games?
JH:	The only thing scheduled is the chariot race we have each year and that is a huge success.
WM:	What is the Charity Dice-off event?
JH:	This is a great thing. We have a charity each year that we donate the proceeds of the event to. It has been and more than likely will continue to be a children's home in Orlando who only gets funding by donations. We sell dice, you can buy as many as you want. Then before game 5 on Sunday, we all gather round and roll the dice. Who ever is the last person standing will win a prize, usually a very nice high dollar prize. I will call out "roll the dice and take out any 4s, 5s, and 6s", and we continue like that until one person is left. People will often auction off their dice to the highest bidder as well, and that can get quite exciting.
WM:	What are some of the craziest memories you have about past Necros?
JH:	Nothing too crazy, but we did have one event where someone bumped a picture on a wall and the picture came crashing down on part of someone's army and crushed a beautiful High Elf mage tower that was built for a terrain piece. That is not too crazy, but it is all I could think of right now.

Well, we'd like to thank Jason for taking time out of his busy schedule for this interview and we're sure this year's Necro will be as much fun for everyone involved as it was for last year! The Warmongers will definitely be there, if our club T-shirts don't give us away then just listen for our funny New York accents.

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