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Goldensprue Cup GT 2020 Post-Tournament Report




This year’s Goldensprue Cup once again showed that the Northeast continues to have an incredible community willing to support our hobby and the establishments which make it all possible. This was our fourth year as a proper 40k GT and our second year as an Age of Sigmar GT. While we were bigger than ever (51 players for 40k and 26 players for AoS), the event ran smoother than ever. This is a testament to the group’s experience and how well the games themselves have evolved.

Note that lists for our events can be found on the Best Coast Pairings app.



From a game-play perspective, the 40k GT saw the surge of Space Marines in the meta reach its crest. Five of the top eight players brought a Space Marines list, however the Chapters represented were not strictly Iron Hands, but also Ravenguard and White Scars. Of course, the successor Chapter Tactics, Long Range Marksmen, Stealthy, and Master Artisans were featured heavily in these lists. Also in the top 8 were a mixed Astra Militarum force, Grey Knights, and Sautekh Necrons. Judging by the models I saw at the event, Thunderfire Cannons and Invictor Warsuits were an extremely popular choice for players this year.



In the end, Alex Fennel with his Ravenguard successor took the top spot, battling Tyranids, Necrons, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, and finally another Ravenguard successor to win the day. Honorable mention should go to Jared Friedman who also went 5-0-0 for the event with his brigade of Iron Hands successors.



In the hobby, David Koszka took top spot with his gorgeous Adeptus Mechanicus army which never fails to please the attendees. Matt Aaron impressed everyone with his Chaos force and their incredible vertical display board. Finally, Bill Ill’s Aeldari were unorthodox, but told a beautiful story on the tabletop. The average Hobby Track score on the 40k side was over 16 which warms the cockles of my heart.



Best Sportsmanship went to Kyle Steimle who managed to get either a Favorite Opponent or Second Favorite Opponent rating from every person who played against him. Special mention should also go to Daniel Wohlmuth who represented the whole hobby in such a way that he won Best Overall, scoring high on Battle, Appearance, and Sportsmanship scores.



For Age of Sigmar, the top field was unsurprisingly diverse. Among the top eight were Slaves ot Darkness, two Ossiarch Bonereapers, Daughters of Khaine, two Blades of Khorne, Seraphon, and Ogor Mawtribes. Sam Gould would end up taking the day with his Slaves to Darkness army, beating out another Slaves to Darkness player, Seraphon, Blades of Khorne, Ossiarch Bonereapers, and finally Daughters of Khaine.



The Hobby on the Age of Sigmar side of things was also extremely well-represented with an average Hobby Track score of over 15. Special mention should go to Anthony Trentanelli’s Daughters of Khaine and Michael Fox’s Skaven which left us all breathless, but best appearance went to our own Benjamin Mininberg with his gorgeous Gloomspite Gitz army featuring more fungi than you can shake a stick at.



However, in the end, the thing that really stuck out was the overall positivity and comeraderie represented by the Age of Sigmar community who attended our event. If we could give out a Best Sportsmanship award to every player, we would.



Most importantly of all, we had a hell of a lot of fun. The venue has made it easy, of course. The food and drink at the Melvin Roads American Legion is always a major draw considering nobody really has to go anywhere during the event. Also, the prize support is incredible thanks to our club’s FLGS, Flipside Gaming in East Greenbush.



We are all overjoyed that so many players tell us that they’re excited to come back year in and year out. This year was no exception in that we had a lot of familiar faces from years past and many others who expressed a desire to return again next year. We absolutely hope they do because the quality of individuals who played with us this year was exemplary.

Good luck to everyone at the LVO.

Note that army shots and other photos of the event can, for the time being, be found at the following Google Photos location: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pu3aNQeAARq8chMf9






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