'Ard Boyz ISSUES & CONCERNS

[Sandman2663]

Hello All,
I am not quite sure if this is the correct location to post this, but this is the correct forum.
Let me start by saying I write this not out of jealousy, revenge or spite but out of fairness, ethics and sportsmanship. Granted there is no sportsmanship at 'Ard Boyz but there is sportsmanship for the game we all love to play and spend our time with.

ISSUES:
I placed at Kendallville, IN for the semi-finals. A little shop called Sinclair Games and Comics.
The TO (manager/owner) name unknown:
He did not have even a medicore grasp on the rules he was making judgement calls for, nor did he follow directions outlined by the 'Ard Boyz rules.
He did not require the collection of army lists. - Army compositions were changing midstream in a few lists.
He did not check lists throughout the tourney. - He would have caught a few cheaters, you know who you are.
He did not hand out rulesheets for us to record our scores for the round. - Opponents were going to the 'guy with the clipboard' afterwards to make changes without the other player.
He did not hand out the Semifinals player awards or patches. - I now have no proof of placement, only the hope he will send the list in to GW. I would like a patch
He did not have the correct scenarios printed out for the rounds. - Confusion from many players on this one.
He allowed players to go past the allotted time of 2.5 hours. - One game went an extra 20 min.
He paired the second round players by victory points. - I had a massacre first round and played a guy with a minor victory second round.
He made a number of 'Judgement calls' and then came back a few game turns later to apologize 'he was wrong'. - Cost a guy a Major victory.
He made a verbal threat to everyone in the store in a very non-professional manner. - A Codex was lost, his words were that if it was not found he was going to deal with whoever has it. It was in the bathroom.
He did not control the amount of rampant cheating at many of the tables. Many accusations turned into 15-20 min stand-offs costing players valuable time.
*EDIT* He did not enforce WYSIWYG. - My second opponent had 1/3 of his marines missing arms and weapons. His response do your best.

There was no room to place your army tray but the floor and with a 3 foot walkway and two bodies standing there (too few chairs to go around) some armies got stepped on and damaged.
The terrain was not 25%, not 20% for a majority of the tables. Pics of my game tables will follow in a day or so when I post my Bat-rep. The terrain was sparse to say the least. Most tables were low hills or craters or wood stands (2 or 3 trees) and a building. TLOS was the entire board...

I did not enjoy the experience at the semi-finals. I had good games and good opponents (third opponent was the best game of the day - OOH YEAH KOOLAID MAN) but the venue is what can make or break the day. The drive up and back was great.

CONCERNS:
I thought the above issues were isolated as I did not experience any of them at a venue in Ohio last year, they held the prelims and the semis, both were rock solid and great turnouts.

Alas, the venue in Beckley, WV decided to play the scenarios out of order - Mission 3, Mission 1, Mission 2. The standings would be different if they followed the rules as outlined by 'Ard Boyz.
A player from that store posted already about some issues.

I am not angry, upset or mad at the TO or the venue. It was disorganized and not worth going to a second time. I am frustrated that GW and its reknown 'Ard Boyz 2010 would leave a sour taste in many mouths.

I am expected to follow the rules and give my all while being ethical and a good sport (it is a game afterall) why can't we expect this from the venues GW chooses to represent their Tourney?
There are some good venues and there are some great venues.
There are also some venues there the TO plays and places in his tourney.

Is this a gripe session? I don't want to convey that, I do wish to provide awareness to the followers and players.

Am I going to Finals? If I get the certificate...

Hope that 2011 'Ard Boyz will be much different.

Any one else have similar issues?

[tjkopena]

Are there patches this year? I know it says so in the rules packet, but I wouldn't be shocked if GW copy/pasted that without actually meaning to do so this year. My TO seemed really on the ball, but he didn't mention the patches at all, and I just assumed there weren't any (I didn't think to ask, and only thought about them at all because one guy was wearing his from last year).

[ohiowargamer]

The one in I went to cut the rounds to 2 hours and didn't enforce WYSIWYG. They also used the Adepticon FAQ for rules disputes. I was pretty upset to see models count as others. It also led to alot of games only getting in 3 or 4 turns. I will probably never play in another tourny there.

[DarkLink]

I don't think there were patches for the winners at ours, though I could be wrong. I'd ran out to my car to put my stuff away and came back halfway through the winner announcements.


Regardless, I'd definitely send in a complaint to GW about the TO's behavior. They may not do anything (not much they really can do, now), but hopefully next year they'll choose a different store for the semis, and maybe lay out a more strict set of rules for 'ard boyz.

[Dingareth]

I was pretty upset to see models count as others.

Well, nothing much you can do about that. Counts as is a legitimate and GW approved part of the hobby, one many Chaos players are grateful for.

[BuFFo]

No Patches this year.