Hello there!
Last time we touched base here I was off to a tournament so it’s fair enough I should report on it here for those of you out there interested in the gaming scene down here in Brazil .
Like I said it was indeed really refreshing to go for a tournament with nothing else in mind other than having fun with my hobby. That’s what hobbies are for in the end: Being a source of joy and fun!
I should mention that I did have to face a bit of a journey to get there as I had to take a 9 hour bus ride to reach the nearest airport and then a flight to Curitiba (on the way back it took me 15 hours to get back home including the flight and the bus ride) but I have to admit it was worth it. I left home on Thursday night on the bus and arrived in São Paulo on Friday morning for a change of airplanes and to meet a good friend, André, who not only was tagging along for the tournament but who was also my partner for the doubles tournament on the second day, together we boarded my second flight of the day to Curitiba. We had the rest of Friday to relax a little and the day was well enjoyed in the company of other fellow hobbyists, board games and Brazilian barbecue to end the day.
We jumped out of bed early on Saturday eager to meet our hosts and to get some games. I have to admit I was surprised by the infrastructure of the “Tropas Polares” club. They not only have huge space available to set up tables and host games but also have a humongous collection of scenery (to which every member contributes) which was put to good use in dressing the great looking tables we had for the tournament.
In total there were 18 players for the first day. 16 of those were local players thus proving that Curitiba has one of the largest player bases in Brazil (and there were many absentees as well!).
I wasn’t very fortunate on my first day. First because in two out of the three games played on Saturday I got to face an army I had never faced before: Chaos Daemons! And what a tough opponent that army is. The second reason I didn’t do so well is because I made a few mistakes on my games which not only prevented me from winning one of them (killing Eldrad instantly to a S 7 weapon – He’s T4 and I thought he was T3!) but led me to losing one. I think I could have placed better (Was 13th out of 18 with one minor defeat and two draws) but kudos should go to my adversaries who not only played brilliantly and took advantage of their armies strengths but who were also very amicable. I’d game against any of them anytime!
Sunday was devoted to a doubles tournament. Something I have always been very keen on experimenting but that I had never gotten around to. As I have already mentioned my teammate was André (he goes by Streem on the web) and his Salamanders. We got to play the first game against two Space Wolf armies and I have to say it was a very nice game from the start. Our opponents, Caco and Dumas, were also playing competitively (we had to win one of the nice cup trophies available to save some face) but did so in a very enjoyable way. Both guys were “gaming gentlemen” and our game ended in a draw.
Our second game pitted us against another two Space Wolf armies captained by Elson and Rodrigo, another two very nice wolf lords who made our gaming experience there even better. I should say the last game was TENSE!
We only had 12 players on the second day (Only?) which accounted for 6 pairs. Because of this, adversaries had to be randomly picked for round 2 (instead of pitting winners against winners, losers against losers and so on) which meant that every team still had a shot at winning.
Because of that everyone was trying their best at this last round (It’s only a game, I know, but did I mention the trophies were REALLY nice?) which resulted in a lot of thinking and nerve shattering turns. In the end lady luck favoured us a bit and we won our second game (I believe it was a “Massacre” result) which was enough to secure us the first place on the doubles tournament. Kudos should once more go to our opponents who not only did their best to win but also did the same to make the game an enjoyable one for us as for them.
To wrap up an incredible weekend I got to visit the closest thing we have to “Warhammer World” in Brazil: “Geraldo’s house”. I won’t go into details as mere words will never convey the experience. There’s a video inbound sometime soon which will show the experience.
I should finish this by thanking our hosts, the members of the “Tropas Polares” club, who not only welcomed us into their club but also made our stay there during the weekend a pleasure. I will not name anyone to prevent myself from forgetting someone but I’ll say that there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t a pleasure to game, or chat with. I’m DEFINATELLY looking forward to visiting again on another opportunity, if not to play games, at least to enjoy the company and the “pinhões”!
Before I forget, André has made a video showing his own impressions of the weekend. It’s in portuguese but it shows a little bit of the armies, the club and the tournament:
The Painting Frog 