Goatboy’s Old Hammer 40K – My Greatest Old School Adepticon Stories
I’m just back from Adepticon 2026, one of the premier miniature gaming events. I want to wax poetic about some of my craziest 40K games I remember from back in the day!
I have gone many years and I am glad to have gone again this past year. I have a ton of memories from all the games I have played here and it is always a great time. If you like miniature games – all of them – then this is the event to go too.
Winning 40K Championship – 5th Edition
One of my greatest memories is actually winning the Championships in 2010. This was back in 5th edition and I ended up taking a Counts as Space Wolf army known then as the Space Goats. It was all red, covered in Goat heads, and look mysteriously like a bunch of Juggernaut rider goat dudes. This was the beginning of the Deathstar nonsenses so I took a ton of Wolf lords on Thunder wolves inside a min/maxed force org list. The event I won had me pull some fun nonsense in most of my games – from barely winning against a T’au opponent that forgot the mission need him to stay in terrain, to become amazing friends with my buddy Horton who lost because we went to turn 6, and finally actually winning the whole thing because my other friend Jay forgot to fill out the quiz. There is nothing like winning a giant Metal Thunder Hammer all because your good Warhammer friend forgot to turn in his “game homework”. I think I also won a quiz award too which is amazing. I think the prize for the event besides the hammer was the brand new Blood Angels codex that wasn’t out yet and some FW Astra Militarum buggies I ended up giving to my best bud Nick.
Land Raider Surprise – 5th Edition
The first year I went to Adepticon in 2009 our friends convinced us to bring these Land Raider armies for the event. This was back in early 5th edition and had us playing a weird Space Marine group that would take old Chaos Artifacts and use them for good. The trick was letting your Captain take Chaos Daemon Weapons that would give the bearer d6 attacks. We would take our Land Raiders, shove them in opponents faces, and watch as our Captain went crazy with his “evil” weapon for good. We immobilized our Land Raiders a lot during this team event and it was a ton of fun seeing all the players bring their display boards and well thought out armies. This was the beginning of me writing for Bell of Lost Souls too as I became good friends with the group during this time. Oh and it was also the even we drove too because American canceled our flights due to hail damage so we had to drive all the way from Texas to Chicago proper. My wife (then Girlfriend) came with us and had a good time seeing art in Chicago. The drive up there included driving thru a Tornado as well as my buddy getting stopped by police. I think I also had to take a pee break during the Tornado/Wind event and had to go outside to a closed gas station and hope I wasn’t taken away to Oz.
Chaos Daemon Flying Circus – 7th Edition
The next time I made it near the finals was during 7th edition and the release of the new Chaos Daemon book. This book allowed me to play a bunch of Daemon Princes and create the first case of the Flying Circus. I was wrecking players all the way to the finals and ran into the only Grey Knight player ran by a friend Alan Hernandez. It was a close fraught game where everything wasn’t going my way which included throwing out a portal that scattered into the middle of the field and lost me the game by being the Killpoint Alan won by. I proceeded to wreck a bunch of players in the losers bracket but missed getting close to the finals that year. I did win the best “Chaos” player in the top 16 which is a trophy I have somewhere in my house. I met a lot of good players that are still consistent now with Nick Nanavatti I think winning the whole things if I remember correctly.
Just Go – It’s SO Worth It!
I recommend any player who loves the hobby to go to one of these big events like Adepticon. There are so many cool things with awesome vendors, amazing models, and just a good time to hang out with players that match your hobby vibe. It is a great thing and I love being able to make Adepticon again this year. I get to play with a team I joined last year of old friends as well and it is an awesome chance to hang out and talk about the game we love. I also am staying with my good friends that moved out of Texas which is also a good reason to fly out while I wear my poor hard boot on my broken foot.
~What are your favorite Adepticon games / war stories?
Adepticon – There is No Substitute!
