1850pt Tournament: I want your feedback

[Loranus]

That Fortress of Redemption got me 3 Points in the First round against Keith cause I hid some guys behind it for Linebreaker :p.

[andalucien]

Using buildings as actual buildings only causes "assymmetrical advantage issues" if one side of the table has buildings and the other one doesn't, right?

Anyway, I'm not sure that non-AV14 buildings are all that great. (and "neutral buildings" max out at av12).  AV10 buildings seem like they would actually be kind of deathtrap-ish.   I think these types of buildings would be much more cinematic and that folks should give it a try.   

That's your totally non-biased Daemon player opinion...

[Sir_Prometheus]

I understand some players running into problems with the couple tables that have large amounts of impassable terrain....

I understand terrain supply is what it is (though honestly, BG has a more robust supply than anywhere else that I know of) but that doesn't mean that you have to count whatever piece as X.  A building could be either ruins or a dilapidated building, as you like.  (and arguement that it "doesn't look ruined" is sorta meaningless to me)

Using buildings as actual buildings only causes "assymmetrical advantage issues" if one side of the table has buildings and the other one doesn't, right?

Yup, key is "roughly radially symmetrical".  Keep in mind I don't even play an army that is unduly screwed by impassable terrain, I just think there should never be more than a piece or two of imapassable, and that it should be symmetrical. 

[Sir_Prometheus]

I'm from the "use all of 6th ed" until proven otherwise camp.

I'm from the "Don't Use Shit Until You're Sure It Won't Screw Over A Tournament Player, Because GW Writes Poop Rules And Uses Whatever Floaters They Skim Off The Top" camp.

Too strong? 

The problem is, Ben, that I'm not really willing to credit you, me, or anyone with being smarter than GW based on pure theoryhammer.  GW certainly screws up, a lot, but I don't feel competent to analyse it until we've actually run a few proper 6th ed tournaments. 

And rules don't exist in isolation.  Some rules are counterbalances to others.  If you pick and choose what rules you want to use based on what sounds like, frankly, an emotional reaction, you're making things worse, not better. 

[Grimwulfe]

I absolutely LOVE peanut butter...  Just saying!

[Chase]

We're sort of getting off topic and that's fine, for now.  I have got a couple really valuable emails and seen quite a few solid points brought up in this thread.  I'm thankful for that.

Battleground is currently (although things will be changing soon, once Abington moves into it's sweet new place) in an odd situation with respect to tournaments that differ from the current "norm."

In 2012 we decided to experiment with a series of events leading up to an Invitational.  This eats up the majority of the calendar, assuming 1 event per month.  6 Invitational Qualifiers, 1 Invitational = 7 events (7 months).  This leaves 5 other months that have the potential to "mess around" with.  Some months we choose to skip for various reasons, so in actuality we're operating with like 3 months of "freedom."

In 2013 we'll have to make a couple of choices.  Was the Invitational a good idea *ALL* things considered?  Should we do it again?  How are we going to shift events between the stores?  Should Plainville continue with 1 event / month?  Should we shift more towards a casual tournament atmosphere and split the competitive type stuff with Abington?

Anyways, right this minute I feel like we HAVE to preserve the integrity of each Invitational Qualifier (competitive event).  What this means to me is not opening up things that can make stuff ridiculous, create "that's dumb" moments, and provide opportunity for players to become frustrated or upset.  I think a tournament using 100% of the book rules where large prizes are going out to a small percentage of the field is probably a bad idea.

What I can say is that I'd like to run a "by the book" event sometime in 2013, for fun.  It would be designed with a more causal spin, and the prizes would reflect that.

I like to try different ideas for different events.  I think that with the addition of the new space in Abington that we will be free to mess around a lot more.  If each store has 1 event / month and we stick with 6 IQ's over the year between the stores we're looking at all kinds of time and space to do different things.

What on earth am I doing to myself?

[Seth]

i would definatly like driving 10 mins instead of 35 mins. I feel that they should be split. and abington should host more. the community might not seem as big but with more events and people coming to a new bigger better store it would really help to revitalize the community that is there.

[PhoenixFire]

When Abington (are we going to have to call it Weymouth now? i know the "new store" has already changed locations at least twice.) When Abingmouth gets it's new larger space hopefully that will revitalize some of the 40k or fantasy or warmachine community up there.

I assume there are just as many people who play those games up in the abington area vs the Plainville area but "unofficial Thursday 40k" in Plainville usually only draws in the local crowd which is understandable because those who live near the Abington store want to drive an hour for a pick-up game of 40k about as much as those in Plainville want to drive an hour for a pick-up game of 40k.

I hope Abingmouth gets it's own day dedicated to 40k ( i know it's been tried before, maybe with a bigger space there will be more success)

Do i think moving the 40k tournaments to Abingmouth will affect attendance? Probably not, you will definitely get some people who were already driving a good distance to get to plainville and dont want to drive even longer to get to abington. On the other hand it might draw in new people who live near metro Boston who have never wanted to drive to Plainville but WILL drive to Abington. So it will likely even out.

Another thing you could do is when people sign up have them say Plainville or Abington, and 2 weeks out go with wherever the majority is. Only problem with that is you might run into people dropping because their attendance was contingent on one or the other.

Personally i prefer the tournaments in Plainville because it's 20 mins away for me, will i drive to Abingmouth if half the tournaments go there? yes. will i drive up there weekly for a pick-up game of 40k? no

I guess time will tell if you guys split the events which location has better turn out for tournaments

[Sir_Prometheus]

What I can say is that I'd like to run a "by the book" event sometime in 2013, for fun.  It would be designed with a more causal spin, and the prizes would reflect that.

I am having trouble with the idea that running a tournament "by the book" is the "fun, casual" option.  Yeah, I get it, GW writes bad rules....but essentially what you're saying is your default, "way we've always done it" version of 40k is better. 

No offense, but that isn't necessarily true, especially considering "way we've always done it" includes lots of 5th ed concepts, and missions based upon big tournaments that were back in 5th ed. 

I remember this happening in the 4th to 5th ed transition too, most tournaments basically refused to write 5th ed scenarios, this lasted years.....I don't think 4th ed style missions had really died out until halfway through the lifespan of 5th. 

Anyway, I do get the impetus to use missions from big tournaments, it's tried and true and certainly easier.  I'd recommend using missions from Battle for Salvation (basically Nova missions, but I thought they made some improvements) or Feast of Blades (though they're using Kill points too much). 

[Sir_Prometheus]

http://natfka.blogspot.com/2012/09/when-tournaments-go-bad.html

Kinda a manifesto on the subject....I probably agree with him on everything but the Warlord traits (random=dumb). 

[Benjamin]

What on earth am I doing to myself?

I don't know what you're doing to yourself, but the Warhams community is better for it.

[Ian Mulligan]

When Abingmouth gets it's new larger space hopefully that will revitalize some of the 40k or fantasy or warmachine community up there.

Not to go off topic too much, but I want to dispel this myth. At least for Warmachine, we have a robust community of regulars that continues to grow. Thursdays usually see about 8 on average, sometimes more.

[Seth]

that was why when i said it i was very specific to only have mentioned 40k. i am aware that war machine does quite well. i am not sure about warhammer fantasy.

[Grimwulfe]

Honestly I think keeping the tournies seperate is the way to go.  Let both sotres create their own schedules and people decide to go to either store or to both.  With the distance between the 2 I am sure the community is strong enough to support 2 totally seperate schedules.

Linking them by an invitational would be awesome and lets you even do a rep your store type tourny etc.. 

[keithb]

I would have no problem alternating stores for events once the new Abington store is open.  I am thankful the Abington guys come down to plainville for events.