Announcing the TMAT Grand Tournament 2023!

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 June 24, 2023. This year, we're going European and trying out two things: the German points system and a wacky (but logical) points level. 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 updated Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual 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 623 points. The list must be submitted to the Tournament Director at joshua.kamakawiwoole@gmail.com by June 17, 2023. 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 and use the "veto system" to determine the scenario they're playing. Each round will use a different pool from the Matched Play Guide and on the first round, both players will roll a die (reroll ties): the player with the lower 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. This same system will be used in later rounds, though there won't be a roll (see Commandment #6 below). The scenario pools will be used in the following order:

• Control Scenarios (Pool 2: Domination, Capture and Control, and Breakthrough)
• Traveling Scenarios (Pool 5: Reconnoiter, Storm the Camp, and Divide and Conquer)
• Slaying Scenarios (Pool 4: To the Death, Lords of Battle, and Contest of Champions)
• Object Scenarios (Pool 3: Seize the Prize, Destroy the Supplies, Retrieval)

Scoring for each game will follow the rules provided in each scenario. Tournament points will be awarded based on the number of Victory Points each side received, using the table below:

5) Thou Shalt Break Ties Properly

Players that tie will be ordered by the earliest to latest submissions of army lists to the tournament director, with the priority ranking given to the earliest player to submit their list. If you don't think this is fair, try running a tournament sometime. ;-)

6) Thou Shalt Face Comparable Opponents

This tournament will begin with a randomly assigned round. After the first round, players will be power matched from highest scoring to lowest scoring. The player with the higher seeding will get to pick the board, while the lower seeded player will get to choose whether he vetoes the scenario first or second. If a board is not chosen in a timely manner, then the Tournament Director will assign the board and both players will roll to determine who gets to.

7) Thou Shalt Not Take All Day

Each match will be 90 minutes (1hr 30min). 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 drop below 5 minutes remaining 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 second and fourth rounds (Divide and Conquer requires 3 objectives, Storm the Camp can benefit from 2 objectives to keep the "camps" clear, Retrieval requires at least two objectives but ideally four - two to stay on the starting locations of the "flags" and two to indicate who has the flag). If more boards are supplied than are needed for the tournament, the Tournament Director will let the players know if their boards are required.

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 - 11:30am - ROUND 1, Pool 2

11:30am - 12:30pm - LUNCH

12:30pm - 2:00pm - ROUND 2, Pool 5

2:15pm - 3:45pm - ROUND 3, Pool 4

4:00pm - 5:30pm - ROUND 4, Pool 3

5:30pm - 6:00pm - Tournament results and tear down 

Looking forward to see the armies that participate!

Tiberius, Tournament Director