Announcing the 2021 TMAT Grand Tournament!

Good morning gamers,

Well, 2020 saw us put our grand tournament on pause, but it's time again! The tournament will be held at Patrick Henry College on April 17, 2021. This year, we're doing something a little different with an escalation tournament that begins at 450 points and builds up to a 750 point round. 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 new Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual (MESBGRM) will be our baseline. The Armies of the Lord of the Rings supplement will govern the rules for armies from the Lord of the Rings, while the Armies of the Hobbit supplement will govern the rules for armies from the Hobbit. Legendary Legions and profiles from any of the GW supplements may be used, provided that the army building requirements for the Legendary Legion are followed at all points levels. Any GW errata for these books will take precedent over the printed text of these documents.

2) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Alliance

This tournament follows the alliance "restrictions" provided in the Armies of the Lord of the Rings and Armies of the Hobbit supplements - players are allowed to have mono-focused armies or Historical/Convenient/Impossible alliances. Legendary Legions from any of the Games Workshop supplements can be taken as well, but obviously cannot take allies nor be taken as allies.

3) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Lists And Alliances

All players will create an army list that is no more than 750 points. From this 750-point list, players will create a 450-point list and a 600-point list. The 450-point list doesn't have to be a subset of the 600-point list, but players will receive +2 Tournament Points for having thee nested lists. Models selected for the 450/600-point lists must have the same wargear as they have in the 750-point list. The 450-point list must be submitted to the Tournament Director at joshua.kamakawiwoole@gmail.com. 

Note on proxy/converted models: proxy models will be automatically accepted if the models are not available from the GW webstore. Other proxy models will be accepted if they 1) have the same equipment (weapons, armor, gear) as the model it's proxying, and 2) is clearly distinct from other models in the list. Please note any models that are being proxied in the email to the Tournament Director. Converted models should have the same gear as the model profile that they're substituting for and should also be distinct from any other models in the army.

4) Thou Shalt Know The Scenarios

Each round, players will be assigned to different tables - each table will play the same scenarios each round, with players playing on each table no more than once. The scenarios will be used in the following order:

• Hold Ground (p. 141) for the 450-point match (requires an objective marker for the center of the table)
• To the Death (p. 140) for the 600-point match
• Fog of War (p. 150) for the 750-point match

Scoring for each game will follow the rules provided in each scenario. If one player scores at least double his opponent's victory points, he will be awarded 10 Tournament Points (while his opponent is awarded 2 Tournament Points). If a player has more victory points than his opponent (but not double his points or more), he will be awarded 8 Tournament Points (while his opponent will be awarded 4 Tournament Points). Players who tie in victory points are awarded 6 Tournament Points.

5) Thou Shalt Do Secret Objectives

In previous tournaments, players have received bonus tournament points for giving out "kudos" to each other (or fulfilling secret objectives). In this tournament, players will choose a different secret objective for each round after seeing their match-ups and table assignments. For each secret objective completed, the player receives +1 Tournament Point. If all three objectives are completed during the course of the tournament, an additional +2 Tournament Points will be awarded (for a total of +5 Tournament Points).

6) Thou Shalt Face Random Opponents

This tournament will consist of thee randomly assigned rounds. In the case of having an odd number of players, players may choose to play a game against an automated player (referred to here as the AI). The AI must be controlled by another player who is coming to the 2021 TMAT GT. The Tournament Director must be notified that a player is "going for record" against the AI and the results of the fight must be emailed to the Tournament Director after the battle is over. Once the fight has occurred, the score cannot be changed and the list cannot be changed either. 

On the day of the tournament, "BYE" rounds (should they be needed) will be assigned to players who have already faced the AI - the score the player received when fighting the AI will be the score they receive for that BYE round. The AI army will be as follows:

• 450-pt list: The Breaking of the Fellowship LL
• Aragorn - Strider with Elven cloak [AL]
• Gimli, Son of Gloin with Elven cloak
• Legolas Greenleaf with Elven cloak
• Frodo Baggins with Sting, Mithril coat, and Elven cloak
• Meriadoc Brandybuck with Elven cloak
• 600-pt list: The Breaking of the Fellowship LL
• Aragorn - Strider with Elven cloak [AL]
• Gimli, Son of Gloin with Elven cloak
• Legolas Greenleaf with Elven cloak
• Boromir of Gondor with shield and Elven cloak
• Frodo Baggins with Sting, Mithril coat, and Elven cloak
• Samwise Gamgee with Elven cloak
• Meriadoc Brandybuck with Elven cloak
• Peregrin Took with Elven cloak
• 750-pt list: The Breaking of the Fellowship LL
• It's the same list guys - this list caps out at 600 points . . .

7) Thou Shalt Not Take All Day

The 450-point match will be 75 minutes (1hr 15min), the 600-point match will be 105 minutes (1hr 45min), and the 750-point match will be 135 minutes (2hr 15min). 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 Tournament Director will mediate what the proper ruling is.

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 (48" x 48") are encouraged to bring their boards to be used in the tournament. Players intending to bring a board for the tournament should mention it in their army submission email. 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 emailed 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 for each points level (with profiles), along with necessary unit-count information for each points level (total units in the army, how many units are to be lost when the army is broken - and how many units the army must lose before it tests for Courage if the player is bringing an Isengard army - and how many units must be lost to be reduced to 25%). The tournament will follow this schedule:

• 10:30am - 11:45am - ROUND 1
• 11:45am - 12:45pm - Lunch
• 12:45pm - 2:30pm - ROUND 2
• 2:45pm - 5:00pm - ROUND 3
• 5:00pm - 6:00pm - Tournament Score Summary and Clean-Up

Looking forward to see the armies that participate!

Tiberius