This year, the Thanksgiving Apocalypse match was sizable.  Everyone was asked to bring their entire force, which amounted to about 50,000 points per side.  The teams were Uncle Clayton (Tyranids), Oliver (Necrons), and I (Space Wolves and Imperial Knights) against Ian (Chaos), Codi (more Chaos), and Keagan (even more Chaos).  While not everything managed to hit the table, there were a few titans, more than a few big models, and piles upon piles of infantry.

Pictures after the jump.

Overall, things went pretty well this year, but for two main issues.  The first was simply that we didn’t have enough table space for all the models that were brought – I know I only fielded about 2/3 of my force (by points, not model count) and I know I wasn’t the only one.

The other issue was that there were a lot of bored models, due to not having great access to good conflict.  In this case, there were a lot of models taking up space on the table that couldn’t get to anything to fight, and exacerbated both problems.  There was something of a flow problem here as the defenders – we were supposed to defend the wall, but, in doing so, we clogged up our own guys from getting out.  Any vehicles had to walk on to the table from our edge, which meant they were likely to never see something to shoot (either because they were behind the wall or because there were friendly models blocking their ability to get out).  On the other hand, infantry could be deep-struck into the battle, but were unable to assault the turn they did so, making melee units irrelevant (and simply targets for enemy fire).

On the other hand, the game space was much better this year.  We played downstairs which had much better ventilation and air circulation, which improved both air quality (for those of us who don’t smoke) and temperature (it wasn’t uncomfortably hot mid-day).  The space also made getting around the table easier and with less hunching-over.

It was also nice having two days instead of just one.  While it didn’t help us get in any more turns, the whole thing felt a little less rushed.  I vastly preferred having the time to take breaks, eat real food, and let the game breathe a bit compared to some other years where it felt like there wasn’t time even to complete three rounds.

I will say that I managed to run more walkers this year than I did last year, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to do the same next year – 25 walkers is the number to beat!