Competitive Gaming Thoughts

One of the things that has always drawn me into gaming is my competitive nature. I have always gravitated to games that have had a vibrant tournament scene. This goes way back to my early college days with Magic the Gathering and then after college with the advent of Mage Knight and Mechwarrior: DarkAge. Back then the fun for me was to play the game in an organized fashion with people from all over, I even ran events for Wizkids Games as an Envoy back then. Shortly after the death of MageKnight I found my way into Confrontation 3 and got into the big competitive scene for that game. At one point I was driving up to four hours one way to play in a tournament. It was a blast back then and I have made some lasting friendships with those players. Like all things however Confrontation eventually came to an end and so did competitive gaming for me. I have tried to get into various games within the last couple of years I have been playing Warmachine and having a lot of fun with that but even that seems to be coming to an end with the latest releases for the game and the shift to larger models and what I feel eventually larger games which is disappointing. The game seems to be passing me by as I cannot increase my investment into the game in an effort to keep up. 

On a brighter note it looks like Confrontation may be coming back with a new edition of the rules that have cleaned up a lot of issues with the previous rules. With the new rules will hopefully come a reinvigorated tournament scene that will at the very least bring us a national tournament at Gencon.

In the long run competitive was always going to slowly end for me as I grow older and my interests shift. I am starting to see that I am interested in a variety or games not just one exclusive one. I am to the point now where I am looking to own enough stuff for some of the second tier games just to be able to put the game on the table every now and again. I will end on that thought as I am working on an idea for a monthly game that will give people a chance to see these great games they have have normally missed because the local environment is focuses on a single game.

I am currently reading the Dark Age Apocalypse core book and will post up my thought on it once I have a change to get a few games in with my Dragyri.
I have my Dragyri army on my Work Bench along with some sci-fi terrain from JR Miniatures. I will post up some images of these models as work progresses.

All Hallows Eve in Malifaux Tournament

ALL HALLOWS EVE IN MALIFAUX!
TOURNAMENT!

Where:
Games Plus

When:
Tentatively scheduled for Saturday October 24th
Starting around 12:30PM

Rules:
35 Stone Scraps!
4 One hour and fifteen minute rounds.
Strategies will be given out every round.
Up to 2 Schemes may be used.

Painting prize for best painted Crew!

Follow Link to TTGamers for More Information

Alkemy Battle for the Circle City:Intro

Date: 10/11/08
Location: Games 2 Die For
Time: Check-in at 11:30 am 1st round start at Noon
Cost: 5 dollars
Limit: 10 of 16 Seats available

In order to receive pre-registration bonus points for this tournament army list must be received no later than 10/8/08

Faction Breakdown

Aurlok::3

Avalon::2

Jade Triad::2

Kaliman::2

Prizes: Prize Support Provided by Kraken Editions

Requirements
Army Construction: 200 points one character mandatory, one character maximum.

The Architekt should be used to create all lists, list should be submitted in PDF form to Sryth(sryth.varo (at) gmail.com). Please include your Real Name and location with your army list as well as a TTG forum name if you have one.

the Architekt can be found at Kraken Editions

Players will be required to bring an army constructed of Alkemy figures as well as set of Alkemy Tokens available in the starter(at least 4 resource tokens and 3 jin posts markers)

No proxies will be allowed

Painting is not required but encouraged

Structure
The Tournament will consist of 3 Swiss rounds of scenario play using currently published scenarios with each round lasting 1 hour. Players will be given 10 minutes prior to the start of the round for scenery and army deployment.

Scoring
Cumulative Scenario VPs plus Bonus Points.

Bonus Points
Win(Victory Condition Achieved) = 3 bonus points
Draw = 1 bonus point
Loss = 0 bonus points

In order to receive Win bonus points a player must complete the Victory Conditions of the scenario, at anytime a players army is entirely destroyed the game is immediately over and both players receive a draw.


If victory conditions have not been when time for the match is called players must complete any combats that have already been started and then calculate any victory points as if the turn had just ended.

Other Bonus Points
1 point for pre-registering a list and then playing that exact list on the day of the tournament.
1 point for having an fully painted army. Fully painted is considered to be a minimum of 3 colors per model and each model is painted in a way that details such as clothing,weapons etc are discernible from the rest of the model.



Ties for placing will be broken based on bonus points then by goal average(kills-losses)

Schedule
11:30 am Check-in
12:00 Round 1:Control the Jin Posts
01:10 Lunch Break
02:10 Round 2:The Informants
03:50 Round 3:The Chests
05:00 Wrap up and Awards

Alkemy,Tournaments

More Alkemy goodness. I got to play another game of Alkemy last night and I must say the game just keeps getting better the more I play it. Last night we got to test one of the prologue scenarios released by Kraken Editions earlier this year. The scenario was called the Informant and follows the story line setup in the prologues intro, essentially you are trying to find this man you had an artifact that many people wish to possess through the scenario the objective is to talk to as many information are you work your way down the table and gather enough information to find the man. Basically you have 3 informants close to the starting area that are worth 2 point you have 2 more about half way down the table that are work 2 points and then a one more at the complete opposite end of the table worth 3 points once you have scored 5 points the game is over. This scenario forces players to make decisions about when to fight and when to run which forces you to play the scenario and not the opponent which is nice. there is also the very distinct posiblity of a draw which is always cool. Over all a very fun mission and good game last night.

In other news I am putting the final touches on a tournament that is going to take place in mid octover more details will be posted here in 24 hours or so but it should be a pretty exciting

Tournaments:: Indy Tournament Rules v1.5

Indy Tournament Format for Rackham Games 2008

Version 1.5

Updated 1/2/08
Updates marked in blue

Tournament Structure

Tournament will consist of at least 3 rounds.

Each round will last a minimum of 90 minutes. This time includes deployment of units (when necessary) and game play time. Terrain will be deployed prior to the start of official time.

Once the time has expired players will finish activating any unit that is currently being activated and then perform an entire Control Phase.

In the event that one side is completely eliminated the game ends. The side still remaining on the field completes any remaining activations and then performs an entire Control Phase. At which point the game is over and results are calculated.

Tournament Scoring Format A

Format A scoring will be based upon the margin of Elixir/Victory points between both opponents at the end of a match. Once the margin has been determined individual scenario points will be based upon the tables below.

Scoring Chart
EP/VP Margin =	+15	10 SP
EP/VP Margin =	+10	9 SP
EP/VP Margin =	+6	8 SP
EP/VP Margin =	+3	7 SP
EP/VP Margin =	+1	6 SP
EP/VP Margin =	0	5 SP
EP/VP Margin =	-1	4 SP
EP/VP Margin =	-3	3 SP
EP/VP Margin =	-6	2 SP
EP/VP Margin =	-10	1 SP
EP/VP Margin =	-15	0 SP

Elixir/Victory Points will also be accumulated from round to round and will be used for breaking any ties in the final results.

Tournament Scoring Format B

Format B scoring will be base upon the win/loss records of players. Elixir values will be used to break any ties. Scenario points will be awarded base on the table below

Scoring Chart
Win	3 SP
Loss	0 SP
Draw	1 SP
Highest Elixir for the round	1 SP

Scenarios

Each round will use a different scenario which will not be announced prior to the tournament.

Scenarios must be from a published source or approved and tested prior to the tournament.

Any and all special rules regarding terrain, deployment or activation will be determined in the scenarios themselves.

Playing Surface

Tables must be a minimum of 120cm x 60cm.

Army Construction

Army must be built to the specifications in each army book. In the case that an army book is not in print players must have the current online version in order to play their particular army.

AT-43 Scenario List

See AT-43 Rule Book

Confrontation Age of Rag’narok Missions

All currently published Confrontation: The Age of The Rag'narok missions that feature equal forces are tournament approved.

Additional Approved Missions

See Missions Section

he Group are in no way affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games or Rackham we are fan based group that enjoy their games. These tournament rules and Missions are presented as an alternative to any official posted rules.

AT-43 Assault on Indy wave 3:Mega Battle

Basics
Date: Saturday, March 1st 2008
Time: 11 AM to 5 pm
Location: Games to Die For in Indianapolis,Indiana
Registration Fee: $10
Rounds: 2(one 2 hour round and one three hour round)

Allowed Releases
Any Model released as of February 29 2008

Registered Players
Karmans:
Red Blok:
Therians:
UNA:

Force Construction
1 2000ap list

Terrain
Each player will be required to bring 1 container matching their faction(theme if possible) and 3 low walls

Scenario
"The Therians have forced a division of UNA troops back to the surface causing them to fall back into defensive positions. Unfortunately for the UNA the Karmans have decided to join the fight along with the Red Blok. The UNA must work fast to clear the Therians retake the access points back to lower levels before the Red Blok. For the Therians and there Karman allies it is imperative that their push to AVA be unhindered."

Format
All players will be playing on the same table using multiplayer rules as they apply.

Each player will start each round with half(rounded down) of their units active and the remainder in reinforcements.

The objective the game is for the Red Blok and UNA forces to control a set of access points located on the Therian side of the board. The Karmans are tasked with pushing the UNA and Red Blok forces from the defensive positions and off the board.

Each player will be given a 20cm deployment edge where all of their troops may enter the board. Around the table there will also be various "drop zones" that may be used to bring in troops once they are under control

There will be two rounds. The 1st round will be a meeting engagement were all armies are setup in there initial positions and neither side will have an advantage. For the 2nd round depending on which side is leading the initial positions will be adjusted accordingly.

Scoring
Each player will have an objective container that must be placed at least 30cm from their table edge. This will be their primary objective.

Their will also be other containers and nano generators scattered around the battlefield.

Gaining VP
Destroying an Infantry Unit 2VP
Destroying an Armored Fighting Vehicle 3vp
Killing an Officer 1vp per rank level

Capturing a neutral container 8vp
Capturing a Primary Objective of another player 25vp*
Controlling a Primary Objective of another player 15vp

*Players may not capture a Primary Objective from a player in the same faction.

Gaining RP
Capturing a Nanogenerator 225RP
Controlling a Nanogenerator 175RP

Capturing a Container 200RP
Controlling a Container 250RP

Rolling Reinforcements
In addition to normal reinforcements we are also bringing back something that was seen in the Operation Damocles box set, something we are calling "Rolling Reinforcements". Essentially what this means is that units that are eliminated are placed into your reinforcement pool and may be brought back onto the table using RP like any other unit. The only exception tho this rule are heroes, once a hero has been eliminated they are considered dead for the session. Players are allowed to promote the leader of the unit to an officer by paying the cost of the upgrade when they pay the RP for the unit. This is the only change that is allowed to be made to the unit.

Force Balancing
Since it unlikely we are going to get an even representation of all factions on the table I am working out a way to try and keep numbers as even as possible by giving under represented factions extra RP as long as they have at least 1 unit on the table. The bonus RP will be determined based on how many players their are of a given faction using the following formula.

(Number of Players in Majority Faction - Number of Players for your Faction) X 75

300 RP Maximum per round

Awards
This may not be a tournament but we are going to be keeping a running total of VP across both sessions. The awards will be as follows(Prizes will be determined at a later date)

Overall Best Officer:: Players with the most VP at the end of the battle

Best in Faction:: For each faction represented we will give an award to the highest scoring player.

If anyone has any questions of comments please feel free to leave them here.