LoTRs details
OVER THE TOP 2011: LOTR Strategy Battle Game TOURNAMENT
“A Tournament of Two Halves”
February 12th & 13th
Fraser High School, Ellicot Road
Cost: $40 (contact us about payment options)
Umpire/Contact: Marlin Fisher, 021 681 376,
fishtail@ihug.co.nz Address: 80 Alderson Rd, Hamilton 3214
Summary Table of Info:
• No force is required by participants. Each table will have a specific mission and opposing armies on table.
• Players will move around the tables.
• A player has the option of bringing their own force instead. But the opponent can then choose which force to use against it.
• Each ‘own’ force to be a maximum of 800 points and 60 models . Forces must be created using Legions of Middle Earth and its restrictions to forces will apply. The list must be capable of being reduced to suit the mission i.e. if mission states 500 pts then only 500 of the 800 can be used.
• Recent WD rules for new troops and heroes are allowed provided it states which Legions list they can be used in. Correct models must be used for the troops and heroes.
• Six games, 4 on first day, 2 on the 2nd. Most scenarios based on those in source books but with modifications.
• Generalship & Sports are used for scoring for determining the winner.
• # of Prizes will be determined by # of entries
• 1st place prize in Generalship/Sports is a minimum $50 voucher
Detailed sections: Forces, Rules, Playing, and Scoring
A. FORCES
Your own army is not required. In fact it is almost preferable you do not bring a list. Each table will have a specific mission with specified forces. The required forces will be supplied on each table, along with a list and a brief detail of tactics. Each round players will move to a different table.
There are two purposes of this style of tournament. The first is to expose players to other armies. It will give new players a chance to try other forces and even some experienced playes have only tried a small number to forces. The second purpose is to challenge players in a different way. Instead of turning up with your well practiced army, a player must now quickly adapt to using a new army. This does put players on equal ground in terms army selection.
But I know some players will only come if they bring their own army. I will allow this but they will be slightly penalised indirectly e.g. the opponent gets to choose which list to use against them and bonus point options will be limited (see scoring/missions).
Force Rosters (if you decide to bring your own army:
Prior to the event you need to supply me with a single roster via email, or in hard copy which can be a nicely hand written page or computer printout. In the past I have found mistakes and it is best to have it sorted before the event to avoid auto losses. You are also required to have your own copies to keep with you while playing. It can be viewed by your opposing player on request. The rosters shall include all the models, their points value, and extra equipment and abilities.
Force painting (only if you bring your own force):
Expert painting is certainly not required but there is a minimum standard. All models are to be on painted bases and have at least three appropriate colours e.g. plain brown warg with red eyes and white teeth is fine.
Force selection (only if you bring your own force):
Forces are to be selected using the supplement Legions of Middle Earth, or more recent supplement publications such as Mordor which update the Legions lists, or a WD article where it states which Legions list the troops/heroes are in and their points cost and stats. This excludes items like Gandalf’s cart. The WD hero/troops included in the forces must be represented by the correct models. For example to use an Easterling war priest you must have the Easterling war priest model. The only exception is that you may use a named hero model as a standard hero of the same force type. Note that not all models in Legions are available and have stats yet. I believe the Nov 2010 WD is the last one to have rules for new models (e.g. Kings Champion dwarf).
Weapons, armour options, and upgrades must be shown on the models.
Force Limitations:
Forces are to be a maximum of 800 points and 60 models. Note Legions states 75 models maximum for 600 points but we have time limited games. All other limitations from Legions apply.
Note that the list needs to be capable of being reduced in size to suit the mission, and still be legal. For example some missions state no mounted troops but if you remove cav you may end up with too many bowmen. For this event its recommended you have limited mounted troops.
(For Ride of Rohirrim mission the good side will have to be the Rohan force, not an ‘own’ army.
Note that no more than a third of each force’s warriors can be armed with bows or crossbows. So if you had 5 heroes and 9 warriors in your force, all five heroes can have bows and only three warriors can have bows. The bow limit applies to each separate allied force.
NOTE: There is a special exception for forces whose warriors comprise solely of Riders of Rohan. The actual warrior models and their listing in Legions are all automatically armed with bows. This means it is not possible to have only a third with bows, so technically a list comprising of the horsemen as the only warriors is not allowed, even though the horsed forces did occur in the books and movies. To allow a player to have these horsed forces, they can decide that only those models depicted as actually firing their bows will count as being armed with bows. Those models not shooting their bow will not count as armed with bows and thus cannot shoot. The points cost will be the same. Note this rule will only apply when the only warriors are the Rider of Rohan. If they are part of a larger warrior force, then all the models count as bow armed and will be part of the one third that is allowed to shoot.
B. RULES
Published Rules:
Whenever any rule or points costs is repeated in several publications, the most recent version takes precedence. The exception is that in Legions some point values differ than that in previous supplement publications. Use the points value in the other publications. An example is bat swarms that are listed as 20 points in Legions but are 35 points in Fall of the Necromancer.
Common Scenario-specific rules (page 72-73 main rulebook):
Rules for loose mounts, picking up weapons, passengers, and sentries will not be used. Rules for leaving the table, carrying light items and reinforcements will apply when specified by the mission. Swimming rules apply if there is an open water (not marsh) terrain piece on your table that can’t be jumped.
Good vs Evil Rules:
Players bringing their own army may face sides of the same alignment. When deciding drawn combats, if both sides are the same alignment, the players roll off and the player with the highest role wins the fight.
All references to good and evil will now be considered as referring to the “opponent” or to ones own army, using common sense. Also race or character specific items/rules will affect the owning side only, even if the opposing force has the same race or character.
Terrain:
Scenery for the battle will be set up in advance by the umpire as specified by the mission. Changes are not allowed by players but a player may make a request to the umpire if he/she thinks that something is unfair. If I agree I’ll make the change. The tables are 6 x 4 feet but the playing area will be 4 x 4 for most missions.
Note on buildings. Some missions specify the placement of small buildings. They cannot be entered except for ruins.
Measurement Units:
Either only inches or cm should be used in each game. Both players can agree or roll a dice. 1 - 3 the designated evil player chooses, 4 - 6 the designated good player chooses.
Rules Questions:
At first players should refer to the main rulebook should a player be unsure of something. At times however queries arise which are which are not easily solved by referring to the rulebook. This is because the rulebook cannot cover every possibility or the players interpret a rule differently. If the players disagree then the tournament umpire can be called over. The umpire will do one of three things:
1. Show you the rule in the rulebook if the correct section not yet found.
2. Make a ruling which will be final (may seek the advice of other experienced players)
3. State that a D6 be rolled to sort the issue if he is not certain of the answer.
C. PLAYING
Items needed:
There are the obvious items such as rulebooks, dice, tape measure/ruler, and some pen & paper for notes (and if bringing your own models you need your own roster x 2 & models). Missions will be available on each table. Score sheets will be given out on the day.
Games:
There are six rounds, 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. The timings below indicate how much time there is for each round. Note the first game has a bit more time length. You will need time to set up and work out the result, so you will need to play at a brisk pace. Five minutes before time is up, a bell or something similar will ring. Five minutes later the bell will ring again. If you haven’t already finished when the bell rings, the current turn is to be finished and then work out results.
Note that because of daylight savings we play till 7pm on Saturday. On Sunday we will start a bit later but only have two games, thus allowing out-of-town player a chance to visit our sponsors before heading home.
Timings for Saturday:
8:00 to 8:30 AM: Registration
8:30 to 8:45 AM: Preparation / Short briefing/Draw
8:45 to 11:15 AM: Round 1 (has 2:30 hours to allow players to get ‘warmed up’)
11:15 to 11:30 AM: Morning tea/Lunch
11:30 to 1:45 PM: Round 2 (2:15 hours)
1:45 to 2:15 PM: Break (I to start doing draw based on results)
2:15 to 4:30 PM: Round 3 (2:15 hours)
4:30 to 4:45 PM: Break/Draw
4:45 to 19:00 PM: Round 4 (2:15 hours)
Timing for Sunday:
9:00 to 9:15 AM: Preparation/standings/Draw
9:15 to 11:45 AM: Round 5 (2:30 hours)
11:45 to 12:15 PM: Break/Draw
12:15 to 2:30 PM: Round 6 (2:15 hours)
The Draw & Scenarios:
The scenarios were chosen from published supplements. They are 500-800 point games. A separate file will have details. I will be playing some of them between now and the event.
Day 1 Saturday- Round Robin play:
On this day the draw for the four rounds will be determined in advance. Players will be grouped, based on where they came from. People in the same group will not play each other for the first day. This ensures that fellow club members will not play each other at the start.
.Day 2 Sunday- Fight to the Finish:
The first day results will determine the draw for Round 5 and the draw for the last round will be determined by Swiss Chess.
Starting the Game:
Force selection happens first before choosing table edges etc. How this occurs depends on the forces the opponents have.
1. Both players are using the specified forces: Both role a dice, the players who roles the highest uses the good force, other player uses the evil force.
2. One player will use a specified force and the other player only has brought his own army. Player who plans to use a specified force gets to choose which of the specified forces to use against the player with their own army. The ‘own’ army player then adjusts his list to the specified points. Then I’ll need to look at objectives and see how to adjust any named hero objectives.
3. Both players brought their own army along. If they both agree they can choose to use the specified forces. Otherwise they use their own armies. If using their own armies both players roll a dice, and the player with the higher number is deemed the ‘good’ side in terms scoring points. Then both sides need to adjust their 800 points lists to the specified size and I’ll adjust objectives as required.
Roll for priority at the start as the Good side does not automatically have priority in the first turn in these scenarios, and both sides may be evil anyway.
Ending the game:
Games will automatically end after the turn when the bell rang is completed, even if objectives aren’t met. See missions for details on how to score.
D. SCORING
Generalship & Sportsmanship are the two categories for scoring points. The winner of Generalship & Sportsmanship will be the player with the most points. If there is a tie, then the person with the most generalship points will be the leader.
You will be given a sheet to record your game results. After each round you will hand the sheet in and I’ll give it back before the start of the next round.
A separate sheet will be used for marks for opponent’s sports. You hand this in after each round.
Prizes: # of prizes for the two categories will depend on the number of players. First place in each category will get a prize before giving out second place prizes and so on.
1. Generalship (0-39 points, 81.25%)
A maximum of 6.5 points can be gained from each game, minimum of 1, therefore a total of 39 points is available. In general for each scenario:
Major Win: 6 points
Solid Win: 5 points
Minor win: 4 points
Minor Loss: 3 point
Solid Loss: 2 points
Major Loss: 1 point
Draw, if an option, will result in 3 points each.
Then in each game there is a ½ bonus point available for each side, e.g. killing enemy leaders or a specified hero achieving an action.
2. Sportsmanship (0-9points, 18.75%)
Up to 5 points for each round can be gained. At the end of each round, you give your opponent a 5, 4, or a 1 (note: A score of 2 or 3 is not available).
5= A good sport. My opponent was fine to play, answered questions in a polite manner and was friendly. I was allowed to do non-critical events after the fact. Checking the rule book to make sure things were right was no issue. You have no issue playing them again elsewhere. Most games at the tournament should be like this.
4= Hard nosed- stuck to phases and letter of the law or also someone who gets grumpy when you check the rule book. You don’t mind playing them but wouldn’t arrange it socially.
1= Cheat! My opponent frequently bent or tried to break rules, or inventing their own rules. I would not play this opponent again. (Must be justified to give this mark).
Note a score of 5 is the standard you expect from any game. It doesn’t need to be the best game you ever had. You can pick your favourite sport at the end of the first day. A good sport is someone that lets the game flow by not being hard nosed about non-critical events. A good sport however is also someone who will check the rule book if there is doubt about a rule, it is a bad sport that doesn’t care if the game is played correctly or not. Not enjoying the game because events didn’t go your way does not mean your opponent was not a good sport.
The sports mark from each of the games will be averaged to get your final result, i.e. if you get a 5 every game then your mark will be perfect 5.
Then at the end of the first day, you choose two of your four opponents who were the better sports. Anyone who is picked 4 times will get 4 bonus points, picked three times gets 3 bonus points etc. This will help to spread the points. Note the 5, 4, & 1 scoring still occurs the next day so it wouldn’t be a good idea to become ‘difficult’ then.
You may have given all your opponents a 5, so to assist you in choosing your favourite two opponents, use the guide below.
Characters- Was it obvious which models were characters or did you find out too late?
Was the army WYSIWYG or did you get surprised?
Was it made clear to you what your opponents models were doing e.g. which ones were shooting, moving into contact?
Do some models actions not reflect their purpose e.g. berserkers running away or did the assault troops assault etc?
The army was used as expected, in line with the background and theme of the force?
Would you play against this force again?
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