Pages

Thursday, February 2, 2012

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!

8 comments:

  1. My men stand ready!!!

    Isengard Raiders
    1 Vrasku (60 pts)
    16 Uruk Scouts with swords/shields (144 pts)
    8 Uruk scouts with bows (54 pts)

    Armies of Isengard
    1 Uruk Captain with shield/hvy armor (60 pts)
    1 orc with banner (31 pts)
    8 orcs with spears/shields (56 pts)
    2 orcs with bows (12 pts)
    3 orcs with 2-handed weapons (18 pts)
    8 orcs with hand weapons/shields (64 pts)

    TOTAL: 48 units, 499 pts

    I'll be bringing 2 pieces of difficult terrain; one rocky terrain (you're welcome Goblin hordes and Dwarf rangers), and one obstruction.

    We look forward to meeting the forces of Good in glorious carnage! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With a quick update on your calculations, your army stands as follows:

      Isengard Raiders: 276 points
      Vrasku (60 points)
      16 Uruk Scouts with swords/shields (144 points)
      8 Uruk Scouts with bows (72 points)

      Armies of Isengard: 224 points
      1 Uruk Captain with heavy armor and shield (60 points)
      1 Orc Warrior with banner (30 points)
      8 Orc Warriors with shields (48 points)
      8 Orc Warriors with spears and shields (56 points)
      3 Orc Warriors with 2-handed weapons (18 points)
      2 Orc Warriors with bows (12 points)

      Total: 48 units, 500 points

      Delete
  2. Update: when I specified "WYSIWYG," I intend the following - units need to be converted to show what equipment they have if there is another unit that has the same appearance and no modification. For example: if an army fields 20 Warriors of Rohan and 9 of these warriors have spears, there need to be spears on 9 of the models. However, if it is established that Legolas has been equipped with armor and the particular Legolas does not have armor on him, this model is fine. Again, the objective with WYSIWYG is to eliminate confusion on the part of the opposing player so that play moves smoothly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The muster of the woodlands will answer the call!

    Vanguard of Rivendell
    High Elf Captain with Heavy Armor and shield - 80pts
    10 High Elf warriors with Heavy armor and shield - 100pts
    10 High Elf warriors with Heavy armor, spear and shield - 110pts
    10 High Elf warriors with Heavy armor and elf bow - 110pts
    Ally: Legolas with armor - 95pts
    TOTAL: 495pts - 32 units, 11 elf bows, 2 heroes

    As for terrain, I have a small ruined tower, and an approx 10"x10" high ground with ruined tower on top. I may have a few smaller pieces (low hills, rubble piles, etc) by Mar 10 depending on how much I can get done in the next month.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok, so I finally broke down and decided on my list... since I've been working so hard on my new Dwarf Rangers, I'm bringing the Dwarves to the tournament. Here's the list:

    The Host of Erebor: 501 points

    Gimli, Son of Gloin - 90 points
    Balin, Son of Fundin - 75 points
    8 Dwarf Warriors with shields - 72 points
    6 Khazad Guards - 66 points
    10 Dwarf Warriors with Dwarf bows - 90 points
    3 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes - 30 points
    3 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes and two-handed axes - 30 points
    4 Dwarf Rangers with two-handed axes - 28 points
    2 Dwarf Rangers with Dwarf Longbows - 20 points

    38 units, 10 Dwarf bows + 2 Dwarf longbows, + 8 throwing axes, 2 heroes

    I'll be supplementing whatever terrain we need for the tables. Looks like that will be close to 16 pieces, to include several small woods, several pieces of rocky terrain, and some cairns/climbable rock formations. Forces of darkness, Baruk-Khazad, Khazad Ai-menu!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tavros will be fielding the dark forces of Angmoria:

    Moria:
    -Durburz- 60pts
    -20 Goblin warriors with shield- 100pts
    -14 Goblin warriors with spear- 70pts
    -6 Goblin warriors with bow- 30pts
    -4 Goblin prowlers with 2-handed weapons- 28pts
    Angmar:
    -Burdur- 110pts
    -Cave Troll- 80pts
    -3 Wild Wargs- 24pts

    502 points: 50 units, 6 goblin bows + 4 throwing weapons 2 heroes

    For terrain, he is bringing a 9pc river system (3 straight, 3 angled, 3 bridge pieces - approx 3' total length), a small barn/house, a stone tower (approx 4"x4"), an inhabitable 3 level burned-out fort (approx 8"x8"), and three climbable rocky hills

    (all measurements are my guesstimate from memory)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Captain Glot will be fielding a Rohan(+) army:

    Theoden's Host
    -Theoden, King of Rohan with heavy armor- 70pts
    -12 Warriors of Rohan with shield & throwing spear- 108pts
    -10 Warriors of Rohan with shield- 70pts
    -11 Warriors of Rohan with bow- 77pts
    Fellowship ally:
    -Boromir of Gondor- 105pts
    Lothlorien ally:
    -Haldir, Defender of Helm's Deep- 70pts

    500pts, 36 models, 11 bows + 1 elf bow, 3 heroes

    ReplyDelete
  7. So, from what it sounds like, I'll be bringing 14 pieces of terrain with me to supplement the game tables with terrain, bringing it to a nice 8 pieces of terrain per table. As mentioned in the opening notice, each player will distribute his terrain pieces among the different tables. I'll be bringing...
    -4 woods (none larger than 6" in diameter)
    -2 cairns (climbable piles of rocks with ledges to fight on)
    -3 mountain outcrops (players may decide if they are climbable or impassable before each game)
    -the mine that I've been working on recently
    -3 pieces of rocky, difficult terrain and...
    -the Elven smithy that I never quite finished from the terrain challenge during Uruk-Hai month a LONG time ago

    Also, for the benefit of those participating (and since we're 3 weekends out), the scenarios we're going to be playing in this tournament are:
    -The High Ground
    -Meeting Engagement
    -Domination

    Each table will have a scenario on it and players will be directed to what table they play at after each game (finish your game early and you can get a feel for how you want your terrain to be before the placements begin). The scenarios will not be assigned, until the day of the tournament.

    Happy hunting (and pray I get really ambitious with my painting projects)!

    Tiberius

    ReplyDelete