Announcing the TMAT Grand Tournament 2022!

Good morning gamers,

It's that time again - Spring is hastening here, holidays have come and gone, and we're gearing up for another GT! The tournament will be held at Patrick Henry College on April 2, 2022. This year, we're running our highest points level to date and trying out the "veto system". 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. 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 "pure" 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 Not Bring Too Many Points

All players will create an army list that is no more than 800 points. The list must be submitted to the Tournament Director at joshua.kamakawiwoole@gmail.com by March 26, 2022. Players will be notified of the other armies have been submitted for the tournament after submitting their army list (not before).

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 Scenario

Each round, players will be assigned to different tables - each round will use a different pool from the Matched Play supplement and both players will roll a die (reroll ties): the player with the higher roll will veto one of the scenarios from the list, then the other player will veto a scenario. The remaining scenario will be the scenario for that table for that round. The scenario pools will be used in the following order:

• Control Scenarios (Pool 2: Domination, Capture and Control, and Breakthrough)
• Slaying Scenarios (Pool 4: To the Death, Lords of Battle, and Contest of Champions)
• Traveling Scenarios (Pool 5: Reconnoiter, Storm the Camp, and Divide and Conquer)

Scoring for each game will follow the rules provided in each scenario. If one player scores at least 6 victory points and 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 not more than 6 victory points), 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 Break Ties Properly

In previous tournaments, players have received bonus tournament points for giving out "kudos" to each other (or fulfilling secret objectives). In this tournament, we will not be doing this. Instead, ties will be broken by determining the sum of the Victory Points scored in each round. If there is still a tie, then the players that tie will be ordered by the earliest to latest submissions of army lists to the tournament director.

6) Thou Shalt Face Random Opponents

This tournament will consist of three randomly assigned rounds. On the day of the tournament, "BYE" rounds (should they be needed) will be determined at random for all three rounds. The score received will be computed based on the average scores of the three players who received BYES (6 data points).

7) Thou Shalt Not Take All Day

Each 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). Players who bring boards should also make sure their map has 5 objective markers to be used for the first round and potentially the third round (Divide and Conquer requires 3 objectives, while Storm the Camp can benefit from 2 objectives to keep the "camps" clear). If more boards are supplied than are needed for the tournament, the Tournament Director will let the players know if their boards are required or not.

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 9:00am 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 must 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 certain Isengard armies - and how many units must be lost to be reduced to 25%). The tournament will follow this schedule:

• 10:00am - 12:15pm - ROUND 1
• 12:15pm - 1:00pm - LUNCH
• 1:00pm - 3:15pm - ROUND 2
• 3:30pm - 5:45pm - ROUND 3
• 5:45pm - 6:30pm - Tournament Score Summary and Clean-Up

Looking forward to see the armies that participate!

Tiberius, Tournament Director

PARTICIPATING ARMIES: 

• Centaur: The REAL Helm's Deep Army (Convenient Alliance, 29 models)
• Theoden, King of Rohan with everything [ARMY LEADER]
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards
• 2 Rohan "Outwalkers"
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with axes and shields
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with armored horse and shield
• 1 Rohan Royal Guard
• 1 Warrior of Rohan with axe, shield, and banner
• 2 Rohan "Outwalkers"
• 6 Warriors of Rohan with axes and shields
• Eowyn, Shield Maiden of Rohan with armor and shield
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards
• 2 Rohan "Outwalkers"
• 2 Warriors of Rohan with axes and shields
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Fellowship: Aragorn - Strider on horse with Anduril, armor, and bow
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Halls of Thranduil: Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood
• Tiberius: Stand, Men of the West! (Legendary Legion, 34 models)
• Aragorn, King Elessar [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 10 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with shield
• 3 Warriors of Rohan with axes, throwing spears, and shields
• 11 Warriors of Rohan with axes and bows
• Gandalf the White
• Rythbyrt: Storming the Black Gate (Convenient Alliance, 33 models)
• Aragorn, King Elessar on armored horse [ARMY LEADER]
• 8 Guards of the Fountain Court with shields
• 4 Rangers of Gondor with spears (representing the Dunedain)
• 3 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields
• Cirion, Lieutenant of Amon Barad (representing Calenglad, Warden of Tinnudir)
• 3 Guards of the Fountain Court with shields
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield
• 3 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 2 Rangers of Gondor with spears (representing the Dunedain)
• Mablung, Ranger of Ithilien
• 2 Rangers of Gondor with spears (representing the Dunedain)
• Minas Tirith Siege Veteran with Avenger Bolt Thrower
• 2 Crew
• COVENIENT ALLY - The Misty Mountains: Gwaihir
• Strider: Easterling Ambush (Historical Alliance, 49 models)
• Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol with everything [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Black Numenoreans
• 4 Orc Trackers
• 3 Warg Riders with shields
• Orc Commander on Great Beast of Gorgoroth
• 9 Orc Warriors with picks and Orc bows
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Easterlings: Easterling Captain with shield and glaive
• 4 Easterling Warriors with shields
• 8 Easterling Warriors with shields and pikes
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Easterlings: Easterling Captain with sword, shield, and armored horse
• 2 Black Dragon Kataphrakts
• 3 Dragon Cult Acolytes
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Easterlings: Dragon Knight on armored horse
• 2 Black Dragon Kataphrakts
• 3 Dragon Cult Acolytes
• Dronak: Amon Hen Went . . . Differently (Convenient Alliance, 33 models)
• Boromir, Captain of the White Tower on horse with shield and the Banner of Minas Tirith
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 3 Rangers of Gondor with spears
• 7 Guards of the Fountain Court with shields
• Madril, Captain of Ithlien
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
• 7 Rangers of Gondor with spears
• 1 Guard of the Fountain Court with shield
• Hurin the Tall, Warden of the Keys on horse
• 3 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Misty Mountains: Gwaihir [ARMY LEADER]
• Red Jacket: The Scouts of Mirkwood (Legendary Legion, 37 models)
• Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood with Elven cloak [ARMY LEADER]
• 13 Mirkwood Rangers
• 2 Wood Elf Sentinels
• Tauriel with Elf bow
• 10 Mirkwood Rangers
• 2 Wood Elf Sentinels
• Mirkwood Ranger Captain
• 6 Mirkwood Rangers
• 1 Wood Elf Sentinel
• The Black Prince: The Rohan Royal Family (Pure Army, 26 models)
• Theoden, King of Rohan with everything [ARMY LEADER]
• 4 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with everything
• 4 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• Theodred, Heir of Rohan with everything
• 4 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• Dernhelm with throwing spears
• 4 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan on horse
• 4 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears