pre-GT

In preparation for the up coming Grand Tournament this year, which will be announce on a later date, we will be having a Pre-Grand Tournament Event this summer.

A battle on 4x4 tables between xenos, loyalists, and traitors.

It’s going to be composed of 3 games, 3 random missions, 1 Champion.

What: The 1st Sigismund’s Cup (1000 points Warhammer 40K Pre-Grand Tournament)
Where: NG Galleria When: May 16, 2009
Registration Fee: 300php

Prizes & Perks of Participants:
• 10% off on first purchase for a period of two (2) weeks to all participants, after which the said discount will be void.
• Store Credits for the BIG 4 Winners
• Trophy for the Over-All Champion.
• 1 bottle of Bugman’s Ale
• Certificates for:
 Best Over-All
 Best General
 Best Army Appearance Award
 Best Sportsmanship

Judges and their Rulings

Judges are responsible for the adjudication of rules, and insuring the safety of the participants. This responsibility means that a judge’s ruling, decision, or safety warning is final.
Participants are advised that the decisions of the Judges will apply to them from the moment that they enter the event.
Judges will not entertain any discussion once they have made a decision.
This includes safety warnings, rules adjudications, Army Appearance points, Sportsmanship points, and Battle Points.
Judges will post current Battle Point Totals with each new round of table assignments.
If participants find that the Battle Points posted do not match with what they believe they have earned then they should address the possible discrepancy with the Judges at the head table.

Number of Games

Competitors will play three (3) games.
Each game will always be against an opponent you have not previously played at that event.
You are expected to be at your table around 10 minutes prior to the posted start time.
This is time for introductions, setting terrain, exchanging army lists, and clarifying any issues. You will have 1.5 hours for each game.
This Game Time is for deployment of troops and playing the game.

How Pairings Work

For the first round you will be randomly assigned to a table and opponent.
For subsequent rounds we will use the system known as the Swiss System, where players face off against those with relatively similar scores (based on Battle Points only)

Timing

Competitors are expected to be at their assigned tables before the designated start time of the round (we expect 10 minutes before).
If your opponent does not arrive within 15 minutes of the start time for the game, then they will have been considered to have conceded the game.
Do NOT be late!

Tables and Terrain

All games for Warhammer 40,000 will be played on 4’ by 4’ tables.
Each table will contain sufficient scenery for a competitive game.

Filling out your Results Sheets

Each Tournament Packet will contain three (3) Game Results Sheets, one of which needs to be filled out swiftly on the completion of each game.
Once you have finished your game and filled out the sheet you and your opponent together must bring it to the Head Judges table where the results will then be entered into the Tournament database.
It is important that you fill in the information as quickly and accurately as possible; this will decide your ranking and ultimately the winner of the Tournament.
This will then generate the new pairing for the next round.

Army lists Allowed

We are allowing those army lists that have an officially printed Codex.
You are required to bring at least two copies of your army list to the Tournament.
When you register you must hand over a copy of your army list to the Judges who will check it over the course of the tournament.

This is considered an “open” tournament, where you are expected to show your army list to your opponent prior to the game and answer any reasonable questions about it.

In addition, we have a standing rule: If a new edition of a Codex is released less than 30 days prior to the event we are running, then the previous edition will be used. This is to give everyone a chance to read the new list and understand the way it now affects the game at large.

Other Important Things to Note!

Acceptable and Unacceptable Behavior

This one is fairly simple.
Acceptable behavior is that which you could expect to be comfortable with in regular, everyday life.
Unacceptable behavior can include, but is not limited to, physical abuse, verbal abuse, drunkenness, and other behaviors deemed unacceptable by Judges at the event.
Be aware that, depending on the situation, unacceptable behavior may result in your ejection from the event.

Painting & Modeling Rules

As everyone who is competing at a Tournament has put a great deal of time and effort into their army it is only reasonable to expect that their opponents have done the same.

As the intent of the event is for everyone involved to have a fun, nerdy weekend pushing cool toy soldiers about over cool terrain against other enthusiastic hobbyists, anyone can field an army they did not paint themselves.

Conversions, WYSIWYG, and “Counts As”

Non-Citadel miniatures are not allowed and will be removed.
Conversions must begin as Citadel miniatures and contain a majority of Citadel components. They must be of the appropriate type for the troops they represent and comply with the “Counts As” rule below.

ForgeWorld miniatures may be used to represent models or options from the Codexes allowed.

The army must be WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).
This means that weapons, armor options, and upgrades chosen from the army list must be shown on characters and a majority of the models in a unit or squad.
Should you wish to field certain models in your army that “count as” something different in your list than the model that was originally intended you need to follow these basic rules: the models must be roughly the same size as those you are substituting them for (eg. you could not use Imperial Guard Ogryn to represent Imperial Guard Conscripts), you must be consistent throughout your army (eg. if both of your Space Marine Dreadnoughts have twin-linked heavy bolters - an option no longer allowed - you could field them both as assault cannons, but not one of them as an assault cannon and the other as twin-linked lascannons), and finally you must be very clear with your opponent prior to the game, going over anything that may cause confusion. It may be appropriate to create a “cheat sheet” for your opponent that has pictures of the units accompanied by a description of the units and it’s equipment.

Scratch Building

Models may be scratch built for purposes of representing models that do not have a current (or previous edition) model.
If the scratch build is for a figure then the figure must follow the guidelines laid out for conversions.
If the model is a vehicle then participants will be allowed to scratch build the vehicle.
A scratch built vehicle will either be a heavily modified current model, or a model that is built from the ground up.
The scratch built model must represent the vehicle with all options.
Judges will be the ultimate authority if a scratch build will be usable.

Warhammer 40,000 Rules

All will use the 5th Edition Rules for Warhammer 40,000.

No more than 1,000 points may be spent on the creation of your army.

Armies must follow all restrictions on army selection from their own Codex.

Only the main army list be used for the army in question.

No appendix lists are permitted.

Special Characters are permitted, subject to the normal restrictions for that character in the Codex.

Only armies from the following Codexes may be taken:

• Codex: Space Marines
• Codex: Space Wolves
• Codex: Black Templars
• Codex: Dark Angels
• Codex: Blood Angels - White Dwarf 329-330
• Codex: Imperial Guard
• Codex: Daemonhunters
• Codex: Witch Hunters
•Codex: Eldar
• Codex: Dark Eldar
• Codex: Orks
• Codex: Necrons
• Codex: Tau Empire
• Codex: Tyranids
• Codex: Chaos Space Marines
• Codex: Chaos Daemons

These army lists will be used with the following addendums:

Space Marines

• Be aware that clarifications have been issued explaining how to use Codex: Space Wolves in conjunction with Codex: Space Marines.

These clarifications apply.

• Space Marine armies may use Inquisitorial allies as defined in Codex: Daemonhunters or Codex: Witch HuntersImperial Guard

• Doctrines may be used; if using a regiment with doctrines defined in the Codex then those doctrines must be used.

• Imperial Guard armies may use Inquisitorial allies as defined in Codex: Daemonhunters or Codex: Witch HuntersForces of the Inquisition

• Inquisitorial armies may take Space Marine or Imperial Guard allies as defined in Codex: Daemonhunters or Codex: Witch Hunters

Scoring Introduction

We have made some changes that we hope will more adequately meet the expectations of the majority.

Battle Points Scoring

Victory on the battlefield is the easiest thing to award points for, as the results are indisputable. Points will be awarded on a sliding scale determined by the result of each battle.
Typically the margin of victory creates a variety of "results".

Maximum Battle Points will be 20 points per game for a total of 60 points.
Loose = 10
Draw = 15
Win = 20

Sportsmanship Scoring

We think it encapsulates the spirit of things and helps clarify the type of experience we want people to have.
The points break down as follows:

Sportsmanship Checklist

Compulsory Trappings

These are the items an opponent can reasonably expect you to be prepared with, including being on time and playing promptly.

o Did your opponent show up on time (or early)? 1 Point
o Did your opponent have all the materials they needed to play (dice, templates, army list, rules for their army, rules for the game)? 1 Point
o Did your opponent play their turns in a reasonable amount of time (taking in account time to plan strategy, and includes playing throughout all the phases)? 1 Point

Game Play

These items include courses of action your opponent took during the game or in deciding what to field in their army.

o Did your opponent measure accurately for both model moves and shooting distances? 1 Point
o Did your opponent solve rules disputes by showing you the relevant passages in their rulebook (or, if that could not be found or remained confusing, was amicable about bringing over a Rules Judge)? 1 Point
o Was your opponent’s army easy to understand with clear conversions or completely WYSWIG? 1 Point
o Do you think your opponent built an army based on the theme of the relevant gaming universe and supplied background for that army (as opposed to a force built purely for winning with little or no regard to that army’s established background)? 1 Point

Behaviors

These items include basic social skills.o Was your opponent of good humor and amicable when not concentrating on strategy or planning out moves (this does not mean they put on a one man circus for you, but rather was not angry/grumbling/complaining/obtuse during your game)? 1 Point
o Was your opponent helpful in explaining correct rules, explaining how their army works? 1 Point
o Win or lose, was this person the type of opponent you look forward to playing again? 1 Point

This will mean that players can earn up to 10 sportsmanship points per game for a maximum total of 50 points.

You will notice that the behaviors expected by competitors are covered in these questions.
While you won’t love every game you play (or every opponent) there is a standard level you can reasonably expect to provide you with a positive overall experience.

Army Appearance Scoring

This is to ensure that well-painted armies are not penalized by a lack of conversions, and those well-converted (but perhaps averagely painted) armies are still in the hunt.

Army Appearance ChecklistPainting (worth up to 35 points)

Check One Box

o Army is fully painted, but only to the three-color standard of basecoating. 10 Points
o Army is beyond fully painted, additional steps beyond the three-color standard. 15 Points

Check All That Apply to Bulk (80%+) of Army
o Painting is Uniform: Not a mix of schemes, styles, and looks. 1 Point
o Clean Basecoat Colors: Base colors are painted neatly. 1 Point
o Details: Details are painted such as eyes, buckles, and jewelry. 1 Point
o Clean Details: Details are painted well (clean, have highlights). 2 Points
o Hand-Painted Details: Details (that are well executed) have been added such as unit markings, banner artwork, blood marks, dirt on cloaks, etc. 2 Points
o Artistic: Banners, markings, and details are hand painted to an incredible degree! 2 Points
o Discernable Highlights/Shading: Drybrushing, lining, shading, inking, etc. (not required to be clean) - 1 point 1 Point
o Clean Highlights: Lines are neat, drybrushing is appropriate, inking is controlled and not sloppy. 2 Points
o Layers of Highlights: More than one layer of highlight, which may include shading, highlights over inking, blending, etc. 2 Points
o Beyond Basics: Highlights have been blended, shaded, or layered well – beyond the basic highlighting techniques of drybrusing and inking. 2 Points
o Masterful Blending: Highlights have been masterfully blended, shaded, or layered. 2 Pointso Overall Appearance: Overall appearance is amazing! Everything works great together to create an awesome scene. 2 Points

Basing (worth up to 5 points)

Check all that apply to bulk (80%+) of army.
o Based/Detailed: Bases have basing materials (flock/sand/tiles) or details painted on them. 1 Point
o Extra Basing: The bases have multiple basing materials (rocks/grass), extra details painted on them (cracks in tiles), or if extra basing is inappropriate, basing is done very well (eg. rolling desert dunes). 1 Point
o Highlights: Bases have highlighting (shading/drybrushing). 1 Point
o Special details: There are extra details on the larger bases (helmets, skulls, animals, building rubble, etc.) 2

PointsConversions (Worth up to 4 points)

Check One Box for conversions that are appropriate and well executed.
o Minimal: The army has some elementary conversions (head and weapon swaps, arm rotations) or a couple interesting swaps. 1 Point
o Minor: Units have multi-kit conversions including head and weapon swaps. This is for more than a few models such as a unit. 2 Points
o Major: The army has some difficult conversions that use things such as putty, plastic card, drilling, sawing, minor sculpts, etc.
This could also apply to the entire army having very well done multi-kit conversions (see above) 3 Points
o Extreme: The army has some extreme conversions, which could be: a scratch built conversion or sculpt of an entire model, a large amount of models with difficult conversions (see above), or the entire army is extremely converted 4 Points

Other (worth up to 2 points)
Check all that apply to bulk (80%+) of army.

o Display Base: Basic based & highlighted or detailed display base. 1 Point
o Something Special: There is something above and beyond about a model’s painting, the display base, a conversion, or the basing (eg. movement trays are based/highlighted). 1 Point

As you can see, there are a lot of aspects to cover.
We’re confident that by publishing this checklist we can expect to see a great level of Army Appearance.
Competitors can earn up to 40 points for the Army Appearance category.

Awards

Best Overall Award

This prize will go to the competitor with the highest combined scores from the Battle, Sportsmanship, and Army Appearance categories.
In the case of a tie, the Best Overall prize will go to the competitor with the highest Battle points, then Sportsmanship points.

Best General Award

This award will go to the player who have achieved the best score in the Battle Points category over the course of the Tournament.
In the case of a tie, we will compare “strength of schedule”, where the player that has played against the toughest opponents will win.
If there is still a tie the awards will be given in order of the competitor with the highest Sportsmanship points, then Army Appearance Points.

Best Sportsmanship Award

This award will go to the player who have achieved the best score in the Sportsmanship category over the course of the Tournament.
In the case of a tie, we will give the awards in order of the competitor with the highest Battle Points, then Army Appearance Points.

Best Army Appearance Award

These awards will go to the players who have the best score in the Army Appearance category brought, the coolest looking armies to the event.