Announcing TMAT's THRO 2017: A Red Sun Rises!

After nearly a year-long hiatus, good morning gamers,

It is my great pleasure to announce the sixth annual THRO tournament! The purpose of this tournament, like previous THROs, is to try new things and this year we will be doing something radically different from previous touranments. The tournament will be held at Patrick Henry College on November 11, 2017. For this year's tournament, we're experimenting with tiny lists, one scenario type, and basically no hero options. Without further ado, here are (in my typical style) the Ten Commandments of the Tournament (Rules):

1) Thou Shalt Understand The Canon

The ruleset from the One Rulebook (ORB) and warbands sourcebooks will preside over this tournament, as well as the "House Rules" section on the TMAT website. Errata and FAQs on the GW website for the sourcebooks and rulebooks (both the ORB and the new Hobbit rulebook) will apply, so far as they explain the sources above or explain scenario scoring rules. When in doubt, the ORB reigns supreme.

2) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Alliance

This years tournament is themed "A Red Sun Rises" - for reasons that will be made clear in #3 below, you are not allowed to have any ally contingents in your list. Pick a list and stick to that.

3) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Lists And Alliances

All armies shall be worth no more than 150 points. No hero may be taken that costs more than 40 points. 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.

4) Thou Shalt Know The Scenarios

All scenarios are "Early Sortie" scenarios, with armies deploying within 6" of their board edge. The game ends when one army is reduced to 25% of its starting force. When the came concludes, the following points will be awarded:

• 1 Victory Point for every 10 points of enemy models killed (rounding up);
• 2 Victory Points if a banner is alive at the end of the game;

5) Thou Art Not Remarkable

Unlike previous tournaments, there are no remarkable achievements this tournament. This has been done primarily for the sake of time and to make introducing the hobby to new players easier.

6) Thou Shalt Have No Oaths

Unlike previous tournaments, there are no oaths this tournament. This has been done primarily for the sake of time and to make introducing the hobby to new players easier.

7) Thou Shalt Not Take All Day

All games will have a maximum time cap of 30 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 voting evenly on the issue, 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 current round will be played and then the game will end. Any player found intentionally stalling the game to make time run out will be awarded 0 Victory Points for the round. Between rounds there will be 15 minutes to finish the round, determine the standings, move to the next table, and take necessary breaks.

8) Thou Shalt Fight In Middle-Earth

Players who have built terrain for a thematic board (24" x 24") are encouraged to bring their boards to be used in the tournament. Players should use their best judgment when building their maps to ensure that armies are able to maneuver the map within the time constraints (e.g. having too many walls, doors that must be battered down, difficult terrain, etc. can make a game more tedious than interesting). If more boards are supplied than are needed for the tournament, priority will be given to those posted first.

9) Thou Shalt Be Gentlemen

Players must be courteous to their opponents and play these games in the spirit of good fun. Should a player conduct himself in a manner which destroys the fun atmosphere of the tournament, 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.

10) Thou Shalt Not Be Late



Players who are bringing terrain to the tournament must arrive by 9:15am to set up the tables and register their armies. All other players must arrive by 9:30am in order to get preliminary check-in requirements, set up their armies at their tables, and fellowship with other players. All armies need to have a sheet of paper that provides their complete army list (with profiles), along with necessary unit-count information (total units in the army, how many units are to be lost when the army is broken, and how many units must be lost to be reduced to 25%). The tournament will follow this schedule:

• 10:00am - 10:30am - ROUND 1
• 10:45am - 11:15am - ROUND 2
• 11:30am - 12:00pm - ROUND 3
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm - Lunch
• 1:00pm - 1:30pm - ROUND 4
• 1:45pm - 2:15pm - ROUND 5
• 2:30pm - 3:00pm - OUTROUNDS, ROUND 1
• 3:15pm - 3:45pm - OUTROUNDS, ROUND 2
• 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Tournament Score Summary and Clean-Up

Looking forward to see the armies that participate!

Tiberius