Shroud of the Reaper - Pirates of the Mytalein

So on the 19th of September 2020, Shroud of the Reaper hosted a REAL LIFE tournament.

This was is the of the seemingly apocalyptic ball ache that is COVID, so social distancing measures, new processes, new cleaning regime etc needed to be created and adhered to.

Working with the Hall owners, the Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club plans were in place, tested out and fingers crossed we did not go into full lockdown 2 days before like the March tournament!!

So what shit did I put in place that allowed this to go ahead?

Shroud of the Reaper and Bexley Wargaming club have its own scenery, and Club night is on Monday, so any club terrain I used was taken out of circulation for 1 week.

The Hall has installed multiple hand sanitiser stations around the hall.

Club and Shroud have bought more and included a bottle and a detol spray on each table, which could be used to spray the tables and terrain between rounds.

Freemantle Hall with the measures both the Hall and the Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club Committee have put in place is classed as a COVID-19 Secure venue.

Direct from the Gov.uk site

Gaming is part of the hospitality sector under the Recreation category
"Recreation is any activity that people do for rest, relaxation, and enjoyment.
The goal of recreation is to refresh a person's body and mind"

Hospitality venues also have exemptions
"COVID-19 Secure venues, such as hospitality venues, can still host larger numbers in total but groups of up to 6 must not mix or form larger groups."

Gov recommended measures include:

• HANDS – Wash your hands regularly and for 20 seconds.
• we already recommend this, and hall has its own hand sanitiser, club has its own as well
• FACE – Wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet.
• we already mandate this when moving about the hall
• SPACE – Stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with where possible, or 1 metre with extra precautions in place.
• with 7 tables we were well within this

Therefore we could legally host more than 6 people in the hall, but limit the "gathering in groups"

• Games are played 1:1 within there own bubble, therefore there is not a gathering of more than 6 people together in the same bubble.
• Smoking Area: 6 people max in area at a time
• Gathering around a table, prohibited
• Again players are 1:1, so are timed bubbles
• Care needed on peoples entry and award ceremony, so never more than 1:1
• 3 or 4 Zones for people to wait/watch ceremony, or just distance yourselves to not a group "gathering".

The table layout was drawn out, tested and implemented, there was around 3 to 4 meters between tables, to allow for people to sit and stand and still be in there own bubble:

We were also trying a 100% electronic only Round Result, Best Army, Best Reaper and Sports voting, to reduce the amount of contact.

So how did the players respond to all this "inconvenience"?

• 87.5% felt "Safe Dude, felt totally safe and chilled man" and the remaining 12.5% felt OK and Safe enough
• No one felt particularly that the safety measures intruded the day, with 50% being Cool, hardly noticed them and the other 50% being Cool, noticed a bit

When asked if anything extra we could have done?

• Majority were happy with the organisation and that we covered all the bases
• Some picked up on my mistake on buying hand wash instead of hand sanitiser (it was in same shape and coloured containers!)

Right enough of the COVID shit, what about the Tournament

Why did I called it: Pirates of the Mytalein?

Well the hall was booked back in 2019 for the 19th September, which happens to be the International Talk like a Pirate Day.

So in my head it had to be Pirate themed, but what to call it?

Scouring through the rule book, there is an island call Mytalein, so the pun on Pirates of the Caribbean was born Pirates of the Mytalein.

Right we have a date, we have a name, what next?

The Reaper!, no Shroud of the Reaper is complete without its Reaper, so Keeping it Piraty Davy Jones was born.

Davy Jones is the fiend that presides over all the spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, ship-wrecks, and other disasters to which sea-faring life is exposed, warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.

Davy Jones ferries those drowned to the afterlife, his locker a purgatory place of punishment for any slights performed in life.

The Reaper is ethereal and is a difficult to target in melee or range (Ensnare and Stealthy).

FFS Mark, the tournament, stay on point dickhead!

Right Right, OK, where was I, oh yer, Tourney hall booked - check, Tourney named - check, Reaper designed - check, sponsors sorted - check, gifts bought/created - check, Covid shit done - check, pre amble list annihilation with TrollCast - check

The Day.

Turned up early to meet Grant so we can set up the hall, to find the electronic key dont friggin work, after much panic and a few phone calls, I get the hall owners number, who then enables the key for the Oh My God hrs we were there to set up.

Tables all pulled out, terrain and mats all pulled up from the basement, everything (well I thought everything) all set on the tables, just as first players start to turn up.

There were 3 Joker tables with very unusual layouts.

Table 1 - The Grassy Knoll

Table 2 - Head Freeze

Table 3 - River Deep (8ft of rivers) - Joker table

Table 4 - Lava Cake

Table 5 - Dust Planes - abandoned ship in middle of table from the flood recessing

Table 6 - Pirates cove - Massive Pirate Ship next to islands in the sun - Joker table

The sea is difficult terrain! Reverse map

Table 7 - Kate Bush Hills - running up da 5 hills - Joker table

Joker tables feedback

• Half those that played on Table 6 - Pirate Cove hated it, so was definitely a step to far
• Only 1 who played Table 7 Kate Bush Hills hated it, so tweeking needed on this idea

Scenarios

The four Scenarios used were Fools Gold, Pillage, Plunder and then Control

The chosen Scenarios had a lot of love, Plunder had the most Meh with about 33.3% Meh to 66.6% Love for it

Pillage has a little hate on it with 22.2% Meh and 11.1% hate, I think it is due to objective deployment being 4 and 3, so one side is perceived to have the advantage.

When asked what other scenarios the players would have liked to see in a tournament.

• 44.44% asked for Push - Token Scenario
• 33.33% asked for Dominate - Area Scenario
• 33.33% asked for Invade - Area Scenario
• 22.22% asked for Salt The Earth - Objective Scenario
• 11.11% asked for Raze - Objective Scenario
• 11.11% asked for Smoke & Mirrors - Bluff Scenario
• And some old school
• 11.11% asked for Kill (Kill & Eliminate) - Bounty Scenario
• 11.11% asked for Occupy - Objective Scenario
• 11.11% asked for Take and Hold - Objective Scenario

Electronic submissions

• 88.9% used the Electronic Results submission form, dropped to 77% for Best Reaper/Army voting and further still for Sportsman
• 45% used the online player pairing page, that auto updated and published from the scoring sheet
• 33% used the online live Rankings tracker
• Only 11% found the online forms difficult to use, I think this is two factor.
• not all devices have QR code readers installed by default
• the short URL is still gobbledygook, need to find a way to have a short readable URL (for free 😉)

Welcome Gifts

TOs break sweats over gifts for players, but is it for bollox?

Jury still out, overall more like something as a cool memento, but it is definatly not the be all and end all

Prizes

Sponsors

Prizes most thought it was just the right amount of prizes, 11% thought there was too much.

Also

Awards

Was sad to see some loath the two Reaper Awards:

• Soul Reaper - the person with the most battlefield kills (both own and opponents), ie souls sent to the reaper
• Reaper Killer - the person who killed the most Reapers, while keeping there own alive across the tournament

Other Loathed:

• Last Place - Wooden Spoon, this had some loathing and a little Meh
• Double One King - the person who caused the most units to be devastated, largely Meh and a little loathed - looks like we will be scrapping this one

Found it odd that basically every placement award has some Meh factor to it, now is that because they are expected so Meh that it is included.

Regardless will keep the placement awards, the Best Army, Best Reaper and Soul Reaper awards, as well fuck it we are the REAPERS

So Final Results