Not everyone is off to the beach or getting ready for back-to-school this Labor Day weekend.
More than 400 tabletop wargamers will be spending Labor Day weekend at the NOVA Open at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. The gamers are traveling from across the U.S., Canada and Europe to participate in wargamming tournaments and other events. Expert painters and miniature designers will be leading hobby and art seminars throughout the weekend.
This is a multi-system event that includes: Warhammer 40K GT, Invitational and Trios Team Tournaments; Warhammer Fantasy; Flames of War; Warmaching/Hordes; and Infinity. Players travel to the event with integrated armies of miniature figures from numerous genres including WW II, Fantasy, Steampunk and Sci-Fi. Using dice and laser pointers to determine sight lines and game effects, players follow their strategy in hopes of winning the tournament. New this year is the trading card game Magic:The Gathering, which includes two Primiere tournaments.
Michael Brandt, a 32-year-old proposal manager from Vienna, VA, started the event five years ago with 35 players in a park in Northern Virginia. The NOVA Open is now the largest East Coast tabletop wargaming event. Brandt also introduced the tournament’s format and style which lets attendees compete on either game strategy or the artistic challenge of the hobby.
Players are generally male, 22 to 40 years old, earning more than $50,000 annually and have been gaming for more than four years.
