Get ready...

I am pleased to make the following announcement...

WE'RE THROWING A TOURNAMENT!!!!

That's right, the first "Tell Me A Tale Grand Touranment" (herein after T-MAT GT) will be held for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game on March 10, 2012 in Purcellville, Virginia. This is currently a closed, invitational tournament, but if you live in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area and collect/play the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, please post a comment here so we can chat sometime. Due to limited space at the site we're playing at, attendance at this tournament is by invitation only.

Here are the Ten Commandments of the Tournament (Rules basically):

1) Thou Shalt Notify Me Immediately

Translation: there will be an even amount of entries for forces of Good and Evil, which will be determined by sending me lists of the primary and secondary force you would like to enter. With each player only controlling either a force of Good or Evil, your secondary choice must be for the opposite side of your primary choice. Once we know how many competitors are playing, those that submitted their armies first will receive top priority in using their primary armies. Should all of the slots for one side be filled before all of the invitees have submitted their lists, tough bunnies.

2) Thou Shalt Not Take All Day

Translation: All games will have a maximum time cap of 75 minutes. Time will be displayed visually for all games and will only be stopped in the event of a "red flag" being thrown. A red flag will be thrown when two players cannot agree on a rule (line of sight, special rules for a unit, etc.), in which case all fights will stop and the other competitors will mediate what the proper ruling is. If a resolution is still not met due to an even number of players, a dice will be cast by one of the competitors not playing in that particular game to determine what the rule is for that game. Should the time limit elapse without the victory conditions being met, the game is a tie - no exceptions. Any player found intentionally stalling the game to make time run out will be awarded a major loss as indicated in Rule 3 below. Between rounds there will be 15 minutes to move to the next table, set up the terrain and deployments, and answer the call of the wild.

3) Thou Shalt Have A Standard

The scenario and victory conditions will be pre-set before the tournament begins and made known to the competitors upon arrival. The games will encourage clashing with the enemy immediately and taking advantage of the special rules of the units in the tournament. Achieving a major victory (as identified in the victory conditions) will score the player 5 points, while a minor victory awards 4 points. A tie between players gives 3 points to each player and a major/minor loss gives 1-2 points (respectively) based on whether the victor received a major/minor victory. At the end of the tournament, the points will be tallied to identify best Evil force, best Good force, and overall winner. In the event of a tie between forces that fought each other, the winner of their match will be deemed the winner. Should two forces from the same side tie, a dice will be rolled to determine who is ranked higher.

4) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Lists And Alliances

Translation: all armies must be compatible with the Army Builder tool and follow the rules for at least one army sourcebook. Alliances with other armies must also follow army list restrictions. Bow limits, unit limits, etc. must be followed as usual. Once a list is submitted on this blog, it may not be edited based on the opponents it faces. The army brought to the tournament must reflect the army lists provided on this blog. The rule of WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") is also in effect, so units that have not been converted properly to identify that they are different from another unit (extra equipment, altered for a different profile, etc.) will not be accepted. Units must also be painted with a least a base coat and two other colors in order to be accepted at the tournament.

5) Thou Shalt Not Be Too Large

Translation: Armies may not exceed the total cost of 500 points, though a 0.5% grace period is being extended (that's 502 points, not 503). Armies that go over the grace limit will be forced to reduce their size down to no more than 500 points before the tournament begins (no grace after you break the grace limit).

6) Thou Shalt Fight In Middle-Earth

Translation: players are encouraged to bring terrain pieces to the tournament from their own stores and provide how many terrain pieces they will be bringing with their army lists. Each player will distribute his terrain pieces evenly between the tables used in the tournament by his choosing and each player will fight on a different table each game (playing on each table no more than once). Before each game, terrain will be arranged by the players per the instructions of the scenario. Playing stations will be 48" x 48" and each table will have a space for unused/killed units. A maximum of 8 pieces of terrain will be available at each table, with small terrain pieces (small chunks of rocks, wells, pillars, etc.) counting as 1/2 a piece of terrain.

7) Thou Shalt Be Gentlemen

Translation: players must be courteous to their opponents and play these games in the spirit of good fun. Should a player lose his temper during the game, a red flag will be thrown and depending on the severity of the infraction, the player may be issued a warning against future infraction, forfeit the game, or be dismissed from the tournament.

8) Thou Shalt Not Be Late

Players will arrive by 10:00 AM and prepare for their first round. Each preparation session and game will cover a 90 minute period, making the latest the tournament will end at 3:30pm (with 15 mintues budgeted for cleaning up the tables after the games are complete). Should all players agree that they are ready to begin a round early, the clock may be set to do so. Any players not at their tables when the time clock begins will be late and time will start without them.

9) Thou Shalt Provide Thy Name And Contact Data

Please provide to me (or one of the other contributors to this blog) with contact information so that we can provide updates on location and any scheduled changes that need to be made. As mentioned above, this is a closed invitational tournament only, but if you do play LOTR-SBG in the area, I would certainly like to hear from you and would like to meet you at some point.

10) Thou Shalt Start On the Count of Thrice...



Translation: Let the games begin! Leave your army lists (primary and secondary of alternate sides) in comments along with what terrain you can bring!