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Hey guys, so I have been asked to organize a tournament for my local shop.

The points will be 1250 with 3 games.

Other than that the only thing set in stone is:

Cost of entry: $10 (includes lunch and prize support)
Prizes:
1st: $50
2nd: $40
two Raffles for $30

Now here is where I need your help. I want to make this the best tournament possible.

What would be your ideal tournament? If you could make any rules what would they be?

Please let me know your answers to these questions aswell as any other tips you will have:

1. What should be allowed to be used (fortifications, fw, escalation, allies)?
2. What scenarios would you use? (BRB or other) please specify?
3. Should full FOC be allowed or a limited FOC such as only one of each heavy/elite/fast to limit the cheese?
4. Should tables have preset terrain? If so how would you work in fortifications?
5. Should I promote a friendly atmosphere or competitive?
6. How would you reinforce rules?
7. How would you handle WYSIWYG/proxies/conversions?
8. How would you handle scoring? (win/loose, points killed, objectives=points)
9. Any other tips/information you would offer?

I have been to a bunch of tournament now and have some ideas, but I want to make this a fun tournament that will grow the hobby and attract players, and what better way to do that then include suggestions from players.

Just do what Adepticon, Nova, etc are doing, or;
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First 1500-1999 would be the minimum (less points hurt many armies)
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For your first tourney, KISS, Keep It Simple Sanguineius
1. What should be allowed to be used (fortifications, fw, escalation, allies)? NO, but fortifications in BRB fine
2. What scenarios would you use? (BRB or other) please specify? BRB
3. Should full FOC be allowed or a limited FOC such as only one of each heavy/elite/fast to limit the cheese? Full FoC and full Allies
4. Should tables have preset terrain? If so how would you work in fortifications? Preset, allow to be set on/in terrain
5. Should I promote a friendly atmosphere or competitive? Friendly
6. How would you reinforce rules? What rules?
7. How would you handle WYSIWYG/proxies/conversions? I am all for wysiwyg
8. How would you handle scoring? (win/loose, points killed, objectives=points) Again, just do what Adepticon, etc are doing.
9. Any other tips/information you would offer?
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Rules wise, good luck, that is why I would keep it simple.
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You have to have a feel for types of players you think will come or not come depending on what "Rules" and "Type" (two different things here) of game tournament you run.
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Rules aside, I am all for "Hobby as a Whole" types of games; wysiwyg, no Proxy, painted, Counts As defined, no toys, and other than GW miniatures only if they are close, etc.
But depending on your store, and the community within a two hour drive from your store, sometimes an "Arrd Boyz" style of Game is needed.
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1900168a_40K_Ard_Boyz_Rules_2011.pdf
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A combination of the two types above (Hybrid) is where the Fail will happen, all or nothing, black and white (no gray), trying to accommodate one, will lead you into trying to make "everyone happy" which is impossible. Think about shopping at your local grocery store, you made someone mad by doing so; store sells meat; Peta, Vegans, etc, are mad. Apples from China; US farmers are mad. Booze; MaDD. Tobacco, etc. you cannot make everyone happy.
.
Additionally, I call a Hybrid type of game that follows the Rules as strictly as the Pope follows the Lord; a "Have your Cake and Eat it Too" tournament, want to enforce all the rules, but want to allow Proxy FW, Hypocritical. This is where you will have the confusion. Players in tournaments do not like flamers being meltaguns, and a stock Leman Russ being used for a FW zippy-fromage-cannon Russ, or toys, or unpainted, or all black primer armies, unless everyone was aware of this at sign up, well BEFORE the tournaments date.
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Again, I would defer-up, and just do what one of the Big tournaments are doing (Adepticon, etc.) OR Arrd Boyz. (and this goes for daily play in the FLGS as well)

RTT: 1850, Allies allowed, Formations take up the Allied slot. Four games, 16 players, with a strict WL determined by a points system. For RTTs I like two equally weighted Primary and secondary missions. $10 entry fee, with 60-40-20 for 1-3rd place, and 40 for best painted.

GT: 2000, 2xFOC, Allies allowed, Fortmations take up the Allied slot. Stronghold Assault and Escalation allowed, with no ranged D weapons. A primary, secondary, and tertiary, with the 3 bonuses plus Last Bliod for 20 total. Standings are purely points-based. 64 players, $50 entry, Prizes are given in Store (of choice) credit for the top 3 and best painted/sportsman. Also a small prize for each best faction.

That's be awesome.

Just chaos space marine warbands, legions, whatever, 2000pts (standard slots though)

You would be allowed to take CD as allies though, so you can make it fluffier and get a bit more variety.

It would last a few days of playing over the course of a few weeks ends and whenever you win a match you get a permanent roll on the mutation boon chart and they would stack, resulting in some wicked characters towards the end.

My ideal tournament?
4th or 5th edition rules.
Or just no allies, supplements, or dataslates.

I miss the idea of non - death star assault armies. They just don't exist anymore. And allies chart and all the other junk stuff just favors some armies way over others, makes for bad competition.

Not addressed:

45 minutes for lunch. 30 is really on the edge of too short to relax and enjoy some eats.


Firm clock management by the TO:
a. A few times during a round, ask players what turn are they on to help them keep up a good pace, reminding them when the round ends
b. calling a "hard dice down" when time is up after you've gone & checked and warned of "Last fifteen minutes guys, so this is the last turn"
c. Have a beeping alarm, an app on your smartphone, etc., to stop a round

At my FLGS we have a regular who is a slow player. It's not that he's manipulating for the Win, but he's just lazy on memorizing his rules and slow in moving models. Anyway, he shortens his opponent's Lunch Time. It's not cool. We've been on him about it. Nice enough guy, though.


1750 or 1850 are good upper limits to keep the day from dragging far into the evening, but your 1250 is good for starters.

Skip Mysterious Terrain. Most players do anyway.

2. What scenarios would you use? (BRB or other) please specify?
1. Crusade - specify that it will always be 5 objectives. Maybe one in each guy's deployment zone & three in the middle.
2. Purge the Alien
3. Emperor's Will

These are fairly straight forward missions, not favoring Shooty vs Speedy (like Relic favors mobility, getting to it first). You could check out the BAO dual mission format (referenced below, but if your local boyz haven't tried 2 simultaneous missions, then I'd save it for another day).

Also, assign Hammer&Anvil, DawnofWar & Vanguard deployments for the rounds when you print up the player score sheets

4. Should tables have preset terrain? If so how would you work in fortifications?
Yes, preset terrain is essential for speedier times. I find that it takes 20 minutes to shake hands, show lists, roll Warlord Traits & Psy-powers (lotsa eldar armies out there!) and to deploy. 6e plays too long as is.

As far as Fortifications go, the player tells you where they want it (SkyShield or Bastion). If there is terrain there, you move it slightly to accommodate the Fort. ADLs are never really a problem for players to set up.

5. Should I promote a friendly atmosphere or competitive? These are not mutually exclusive. My FLGS has a competitive set of lists, but we're a friendly bunch of guys.


6. How would you reinforce rules? Post something on the how you'd resolve rules disputes. For example:
1. RB 2. Codex 3. FAQs, 4. BAO rules, 5. Judge 6. Dice-off or roshambo.
And then follow it.

7. How would you handle WYSIWYG/proxies/conversions? Rule of cool. And some reasonableness, like "This plasmagun is a Gravgun Muhreen" is okay, as long as the list has it written so.

8. How would you handle scoring? (win/loose, points killed, objectives=points)
Here's my TO's format (as best I can recall):
Win 17
Draw 8
Loss 4

SlaytheWarlord, First Blood & Line Breaker all count toward this score and to "Win the Game", so 20 points possible per game, 60 max for the tourney.

Include scenario bonuses. These help to win the game, but don't count toward the overall tourney score. +1 for all Troops dead, +1 for HQ slain in h2h, or have a unit in each table quarter, etc. These can help you with tie-breakers in Final Results.

The FrontlineGaming kids run their tourneys with 1000 points for a Win, 500 Draw 0 for a loss. Each mission has 7 points, for the *two* missions played, 4 for the Primary and 3 for the secondary. StWarlord, LB & FB all apply for a max score of 1010 points per game.

Include a Sportsmanship score. I've seen a few different approaches:
a. Thumbs up or Down.
b. Assign 3 points to Fav opponent, 2 to the next guy and 1 to your least Fav opponent.
c.
6 for an orgasmically awesome game. It's a Bro-Mance.
4 for a basically good game. Rule disputes amicably resolved.
2 for a kinda unfun game. Not horrible, but you'd prefer not to play this guy again. Slow play, dice fudging, *or* long measurement moves. Tiny fudges you're not comfortable with
0 for serious, egregious un-fun douchery. Cheating. Contentious Rules arguments. This guy needs to be banned. Players should be prepared to explain to the TO.

Other:
- Printing a score sheet that gets turned into the TO between rounds and then back to the player helps. It ought to have the 3 rounds of scoring on it, and any scenario, mission and/or sportsmanship scoring.
- A 2x3' white board or such to display pairings & table assignments (a 3x5" card on each table is good)
- Having a ringer for round 1 odd numbered players, then assign a buy round to the lowest point scorer for round 2

There is a *lot* that goes into being a TO and setting it up, but make a check list and go for it.

Break a leg.

 Creeping Dementia wrote:
My ideal tournament?
4th or 5th edition rules.
Or just no allies, supplements, or dataslates.

I miss the idea of non - death star assault armies. They just don't exist anymore. And allies chart and all the other junk stuff just favors some armies way over others, makes for bad competition.

I posted this in the other ideal tournament thread.

I have a tournament rule that solves every deathstar problem in the game without banning or comping any codex or unit.

Rule:
No more than one Independent Character per unit as any one time.

Boom, every deathstar in the meta is solved.

A cash prize is something I've never encountered before, is that common?

 scuzz_bucket wrote:
A cash prize is something I've never encountered before, is that common?

Not really, mostly its because its a form of gambling and in many places is a no no.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 buddha wrote:

 Creeping Dementia wrote:
My ideal tournament?
4th or 5th edition rules.
Or just no allies, supplements, or dataslates.

I miss the idea of non - death star assault armies. They just don't exist anymore. And allies chart and all the other junk stuff just favors some armies way over others, makes for bad competition.

I posted this in the other ideal tournament thread.

I have a tournament rule that solves every deathstar problem in the game without banning or comping any codex or unit.

Rule:
No more than one Independent Character per unit as any one time.

Boom, every deathstar in the meta is solved.

Except Centstar.

 Ravenous D wrote:

 scuzz_bucket wrote:
A cash prize is something I've never encountered before, is that common?

Not really, mostly its because its a form of gambling and in many places is a no no.

Yeah, I figured it would feel a little bit like gambling. There is a lot of dice rolling..

twinner wrote:
Hey guys, so I have been asked to organize a tournament for my local shop.

The points will be 1250 with 3 games.

Other than that the only thing set in stone is:

Cost of entry: $10 (includes lunch and prize support)
Prizes:
1st: $50
2nd: $40
two Raffles for $30

Now here is where I need your help. I want to make this the best tournament possible.

What would be your ideal tournament? If you could make any rules what would they be?

Please let me know your answers to these questions aswell as any other tips you will have:

1. What should be allowed to be used (fortifications, fw, escalation, allies)? Allow everything
2. What scenarios would you use? (BRB or other) please specify? I'd rather play book scenarios that let my army do what it does then have to read and figure out some special scenario
3. Should full FOC be allowed or a limited FOC such as only one of each heavy/elite/fast to limit the cheese? Don't change the rules just play the game
4. Should tables have preset terrain? If so how would you work in fortifications? Preset terrain with fortifications in mind so there is room for something in both deployment zones
5. Should I promote a friendly atmosphere or competitive? You can have both
6. How would you reinforce rules? Bamboo stick
7. How would you handle WYSIWYG/proxies/conversions? If it looks good and represents what it should allow. Reaper Dragon Turtle as Doom Wheel I'd say no.
8. How would you handle scoring? (win/loose, points killed, objectives=points) Win/Loss/Draw bonus points for objectives
9. Any other tips/information you would offer? Blind deployment for at least one round. I really enjoy that.

I have been to a bunch of tournament now and have some ideas, but I want to make this a fun tournament that will grow the hobby and attract players, and what better way to do that then include suggestions from players.

Enough rounds for 1 undefeated player.
Must have painted army of table top quality (doesn't matter if you painted it or not).
Mono detachment with up to ONE (1) other allie/formation/LoW/dataslate/etc...
Actual 25% terrain table coverage with 33% of that tall blocking
Community dice pools at the tables.
NO NEPOTISM!

My perfect tournament would be;
~1500 points
~Allied detachments either barred or restricted. Allies of Convenience (or maybe Desperate) across the board, and must cost between 500 and 749 points (33-49% of your army)
~Kill Points replaced with Battle Points. Gain battle points equal to a units points cost when the unit is wiped out. Have 20% more battle points than opponent for a win.
~Forgeworld in, dataslates in but must belong to the same faction as your army, Escalation out, Skyshield, Fort of Redemption and other massive forts out.
~Loads of terrain

Edit; Thats for singles. Perfect tournament would be doubles.

My perfect TO would neatly organize tournaments into several formats:

-codex tournament: You get just your codex. No super-heavies.
-ally tournament: A primary codex with an ally, as well as small codices such as knights. No ranged str D.
-Large scale war tournament: Codex, allies, forgeworld, dataslates, formations, etc. No ranged str D.
-Grand war: Everything under the sun. lords of war, strongholds, allies, whatever. Full FOC with all the options available, no unit bans or restrictions.
-Apocalypse: As above, and throw out the FOC. Just war.

Obviously some of the names could be made a bit more impressive, as ally tournament seems kinda lame, but that's the general idea. A nice set of a few varying standards that TO's could quickly relate to players instead of each tourney having to write up their own personal list.

One of the things that put me off tournaments is the terrain (or lack of it)

Ideally in my view there should be:

1/3 tables - limited terrain, mostly open
1/3 tables - 25%+ terrain (Some LOS blocking)
1/3 tables - very heavy on terrain(lots of LOS blocking)

1. What should be allowed to be used (fortifications, fw, escalation, allies)? Right now I would go with No escalation, no stronghold assault (except rules clarifications for fortificaitons), but everything else included

2. What scenarios would you use? (BRB or other) please specify? The BRB scenarios tend to be pretty bad (especially if played as written.), Relic and Scouring Especially. I tend to like stacking 2 missions together to limit player advantage, but keep it simple so that understanding the mission does not impact the outcome.

3. Should full FOC be allowed or a limited FOC such as only one of each heavy/elite/fast to limit the cheese? Full FOC is fine, the limit I would use is on detachements, limiting it to 2 detachements. It prevents some shenanigans, and stops people with tons of sources in their army. This rule also balances formations a bit.

4. Should tables have preset terrain? If so how would you work in fortifications? Yes, player placed terrain takes extra time and is easy to game for advantage. For fortifications you just state that they cannot be placed on other terrain but otherwise ok

5. Should I promote a friendly atmosphere or competitive? Not Mututally exclusive, do both.

6. How would you reinforce rules? Generally left up to players, make sure as a judge you are available, and as you circulate if you see something being played incorrectly mention it to that player.

7. How would you handle WYSIWYG/proxies/conversions? Depends on level of event, beginner events I tend to be more lax, but in general WYSIWYG = distinguishable models. I'm fine with counts as generally (though some effort needs to be present)
8. How would you handle scoring? (win/loose, points killed, objectives=points) Depends on the event, if you have enough rounds win loss is fine, if not I typically do 10 +/- VP difference bettween players capped at +/- 10 (so 0-20 points) so if a player wins 5 Vps to 4 in a mission, they get an 11-9 victory

9. Any other tips/information you would offer? Advertise, tournaments are only as good as the players that show up.

1/3 tables - limited terrain, mostly open
1/3 tables - 25%+ terrain (Some LOS blocking)
1/3 tables - very heavy on terrain(lots of LOS blocking)

Completely disagree here, I am opposed to the table you end up on having a huge impact on the outcome of the game. Which is what happens in this scenario. If I am playing a Gunline army and I draw the open terrain field, I probably win easily in many games, but I might lose those same games on terrain heavy table. Better that all the tables have relatively equal levels of terrain. As a player I would be pissed if I drew the table that screwed my army.