Pack your gaming gear bag. The first officially organised Warhammer tournaments of 2021 are booked in, and today we’re sharing all the juicy details with you lovely folks.
If you read the initial announcement, you’ll know we revealed the now-named Warhammer US Open Series 2021, taking place in three cities in the Southern US: Orlando, New Orleans, and Austin. Now that our crack events team have finalised the plans, we can tell you a bit more about them.
The Games
Each of the Warhammer Open events will feature both a Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament and a Warhammer Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament.
We coaxed the Warhammer Events Team to clue us in on some of the specifics, and they kindly obliged:
The Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournaments will have 256 player spots available and will use missions and rules from the most current Grand Tournament mission pack. After four rounds, all players will be bracketed into pods of 16 players with an equivalent record, ensuring the remaining rounds are played with their most closely matched opponents. Each tournament will include three rounds on Friday and three rounds on Saturday, with two bracketed Final Rounds on Sunday.
The Warhammer Age of Sigmar Grand Tournaments will have 128 player spots available, and will use missions, pairing, and scoring formats from the soon-to-be-released new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar! Each tournament will include three rounds on Saturday and three rounds on Sunday.
Each event will present two equal top awards – one for the player with the best overall record (any ties will be broken by the quality of their competitive performance), and the player with the best combined paint and competitive score. Numerous other awards will be presented for categories such as army painting, bracket wins, and runner-up finishes.
Your safety is of paramount importance. We’ve selected venues that provide enormous amounts of space, ensuring this quantity of players is able to remain socially distanced.
These will be the first official Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 events of their respective new editions, and it will award points where appropriate for US-based ranking systems like the ITC format.
Event packs will go live with ticket sales.
The top two players from each Grand Tournament will be invited to attend the Grand Tournament Series Final – that makes six players for Warhammer 40,000 and six for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. The final event celebration is slated to take place at the Warhammer Citadel in Grapevine, Texas, on December 4th and 5th.
The Venues and Dates
While the locations were chosen based on the safety criteria we mentioned, they’re also beautiful buildings in their own right, and they offer some incredible experiences beyond the gaming itself. Here’s a quick look at each one.
Warhammer Open Orlando 2021
Hyatt Regency Orlando13th, 14th, and 15th of August
Located in Orlando, Florida, less than five miles from both the SeaWorld® Orlando and Universal Orlando Resort™ theme parks, your friends and family will beg you to enter the tournament so they can tag along. This venue sports more than one jaw-dropping pool, along with family-friendly dining and activities.
Gaming will take place in the gorgeous Windermere Ballroom.
Warhammer Open New Orleans 2021
1st, 2nd, and 3rd of October
Nestled in the beating heart of New Orleans, Louisiana – one of the most vibrant cities in America – this hotel gives you easy access to the culture and cuisine of Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. Sports arenas, museums, and loads more are all within Big Easy walking distance.
The tournaments will go down in the massive Elite event room.
Warhammer Open Austin 2021
Fairmont Austin19th, 20th, and 21st of November
Austin, Texas is a famously hip city, and the Fairmont offers an incredible way to experience it all. Crowned with an absolutely stunning rooftop pool, with views of the Colorado River, and downtown architecture. You’ll be right in the city centre, with easy access to all sorts of incredible restaurants, bars, sightseeing, and nightlife.
We reserved the entire 5th floor for our event, so there’s plenty of room to spread out.
The Shopping
As with all our events, you can look forward to a booth stocked with models and books, including Forge World. You’ll also be able to get your hands on a pair of event-exclusive miniatures.
Holga Clovenhorn, Aspiring Champion of Chaos
Necron Lord Hasmoteph the Resplendent
These two models will also be available at the Warhammer Store and Cafe in LA’s grand opening, as well as major Warhammer events in 2021 and 2022.
The Tickets
Mark your calendar for June 14th. Tickets will go on sale for all three Warhammer Open events at the same time. We’ll remind you closer to the date, but you’ll want to start making plans ahead of time – we expect these to fill up quickly.