500 Points about 500 Points (Lists, Touraments & Rules, oh my!)

[Chase]

There are some lists I was not expecting to see rolling in.  Interesting. 

[Benjamin]

Don't mind me. Just posting links to help keep a history.

http://www.battlegroundgames.com/forum/index.php?topic=5242.0

http://www.battlegroundgames.com/forum/index.php?topic=5083.0

[Benjamin]

There is a specter looming over Battleground Abington and it is 500 points! Chase posted here (http://www.battlegroundgames.com/forum/index.php?topic=5504.0) that he wants a 500 point in Abington on May 4th.

This event is something that should be thought about, starting now. So while I go back through and re-read comments and criticisms from the last event, I'd love to hear people's ideas moving forward.

What will definitely stay:

No HQ, 2 Troops minimum. Some codices have only too-expensive HQ choices for the format. The troops are necessary, because somewhat balanced missions are very difficult to design otherwise.

4' x 4' table.

5 rounds with the bracket format (2 qualifying rounds, followed by 3 rounds in your bracket to determine prizes).


Missions that score double (old) Victory Points will be kept to an absolute bare minimum. They'll try to be avoided altogether, depending on level of awesome epiphanies.

[King of the Elves]

Is the FW units being allowed still looking good? I'm really looking forward to the painting requirement though. Going to be a fun tourny!

[andalucien]

Why not open it up to 6 rounds if you get more than 32 people who want to go?  This would still be much shorter than a normal 3 round 2000 pt tourney.

[Sir_Prometheus]

I could do 6 rounds. 

[Benjamin]

It's a big if whether 32 players could show up. Last time, there were 23-24 players, something like that. Just enough for 3 brackets.

Really, it comes down to this. After 5 rounds and 32 players, there will be a single person, the winner of the top bracket, who has gone 5-0 on the day. A sixth round, while possible to break the winners using Victory Points, lacks that poetry.

But, if we had 64 players! Well, then we wouldn't have room. Using only 16 tables is somewhat nice too, as it doesn't take up the *entire* store.

[andalucien]

well, I'm thinking more if you had like 40 players.    Then 6 rounds would be needed to get exactly one 6-0 person.   This is more an argument for not capping the event at 32 participants than anything else.  I predict that this time even more people will sign up.   Another bonus of the 500pt format:  4x4 boards take up only 2/3 as much space as normal games!

[Benjamin]

well, I'm thinking more if you had like 40 players.    Then 6 rounds would be needed to get exactly one 6-0 person.   This is more an argument for not capping the event at 32 participants than anything else.  I predict that this time even more people will sign up.   Another bonus of the 500pt format:  4x4 boards take up only 2/3 as much space as normal games!

Mmm, not quite, if all those 4x4 tables are built on the standard 4x6 tables.

More than 32 players do not necessitate more rounds; they necessitate more brackets. That is, until we hit 64 players. 40 players could I suppose break down into 5 brackets, 48 into 6 and so on until 64 players, at which point we'd go back to 4 brackets of 16 players. I think. I haven't given it much thought, because 32 has been a good number. But I like the enthusiasm of bringing in lots of players!

[andalucien]

Well, one of the cool things about the format is that, unlike with most tournaments, you can play enough games that it's possible to guarantee that there will be exactly one undefeated player at the end.  If there are > 32 players you can't keep this possibility by adding brackets to a 5 round tournament, since with > 32 there could be more than 8 undefeated players after 2 rounds.  For 17-32 players, you mathematically need 5 rounds to do that (since 2^5 = 32).   For 33-64 you need 6 rounds (since 2^6 = 64).   

[Benjamin]

However, with 6 rounds and less than 64 players, the possibility also exists that no one will finish the day undefeated.

[andalucien]

Right... 

In my head, I was imagining that you just see how many people show up, and then decide how many rounds to play based on that.  But... that isn't how it usually works, is it?  You put the # of rounds up on the post that lets people know about the tournament, etc...

[Benjamin]

That is correct. Usually, more than 32 players say they are interested, and the extras get put on a wait list.

With a number of players between 32 and 64-ish, the answer would have to be either bigger brackets or more brackets. And that opens up the possibility then that more than one player goes undefeated, or no player goes undefeated. The spirit of the event gets a bit murkier in that awkward math.

Passing thought: Hmm... 500 point GT?

[King of the Elves]

Also to take into consideration... if there is a painting requirement, your adverage number of people playing may rise/ drop. Personally, if we can find 50+ people with 4000 points worth of painted armies, I assume there would be no problem with finding around 40 people. Also, there may also be more/ less people because the event is being held in Abington. All things to consider when planning for the number of people.

[Benjamin]

The plan is for 32 players.