Tournament Scoring, At Least How I Think It Should Work.

Round 1: Random Seeding with the exception of people from the same gaming club not fight each other IF POSSIBLE.
Subsequent Rounds: Players face people with equivalent battle points with the exception that no 2 players ever face each other more than once.

Maximum 25 Points Per Round:
Massacre – 20-0
Major Victory 17-3
Minor Victory 14-6
Tie – 10-10

Conditions for what constitutes a massacre, etc. are defined in each round's mission.

Bonus Points:
Up to 4 Per Round Determined by Tournament Organizer
Examples Include but are not limited to: Did all of your HQ choices Survive? Did more of your Troop Choices Survive than your opponents? Etc.

Sportsmanship:
1 Point for sportsmanship is available for each player for each round.
Simply answer if you would play the person and their army outside of a tournament environment.

In a standard 3 round tournament you will have a maximum score of 75 for the tournament.
In a GT Setting, you will have a maximum score of 150 points.

Painting is a separate category that SHOULD NEVER be included in trounament play, Thus a person Could win both Best Painted and Best overall for a tournament.

Why "Comp" is killing Competitive 40k

I’m not going to sit here and think that I will convince everyone that comp is a bad thing. People are used to it and may even believe that it levels the playing field between codexes.

I take the opposite stance. It does not level the playing field. It limits us as gamers. So I want to take the time to put together an outstandingly brutal list that is built to not only wipe my opponent off the table but win the match, wait, what? I get penalized and dropped in standings because I can figure these codexi out? What a bunch of crap that is.

Comp limits us as gamers because it specifically says “If you take this unit you get dinged in points”. Why? This is supposed to be a competitive setting. I did not come to a tournament to play a beer and pretzels game. I came to a tournament to get my ass handed to me and learn from those that are better than me. Next tournament I’ll do better and teach a few people things. What is the point of playing in a competitive environment if you take the competition out?

Am I disillusioned enough to think that nob bikers are not great? No. I’ve played them. Are they unbeatable? No. Is Vulkan so overpowered that I should take a penalty if I include him in my army? No.

Perhaps we should just start penalizing people if they fill their 1850 list to the max of 1850? It’s just as arbitrary. Oh you squeezed that extra 2 points into your army? -10 Battle points.

Am I the only one that sees comp this way? If you have to rely on the comp system to make your army a worthwhile choice, why are you playing in a competitive environment? Honestly, if you don’t have what it takes to stand up and take your licks (I Did) and learn how to build a strong army AND play it with good tactics, why are you playing this game? For fun? If that is the case you do not belong in a tournament. If you can, and prove your mettle against all the competition, take your prize, and the glory and enjoy it knowing that you have what it takes to play competitively.

Comp kills our competitive environments because it limits what we are allowed to come up with for our armies. You show up at a comp tourney and you see 10 Space Marine armies that are 90% the same, and you see maybe 6 other armies that are built to a different standard. Who usually wins? The xenos. Why? Because all the comp systems are built around the Space Marine Codex. The Xenos are built around fluff.

Ever seen that super anti-Space Marine army play against a xeno army? 7/10 times it get’s it’s ass handed back in it’s transports.

So what do we gain by playing comp tourneys? Well, you get your options limited, you get your creativity stifled, and you get somebody else’s sense of how the game should be played shoved down your throat.

I challenge each and every one of you to build the nastiest list you can and go play in a non-comp tourney. Why? Because you will see that it is not about the list, it is about tactics. Yes your list will help you, but without a plan of action you will get bogged down with so many mundane rules and special effects that you will forget what you need to do. I’ve been there. I’ve done it. I’ve forgotten snikrot behind cover on my opponent’s edge within an inch of a terminator assault squad that would have been crushed had I charged.

My plea: Drop Comp, let people learn what a competitive environment really is. Let them build tactics, Let them build their army to be theirs, not a cookie cutter “NetDeck” yes, it’s brutal, yes it can lead to hurt feelings over a crushing defeat, but you know what else it leads to? Original thought. Nobody learns much by winning every game because comp limited your opponent but not you. Everybody learns something when the guy across from you kicks your ass because you don’t know how to use tactics to win.

I’m not encouraging “That Guy” to be an ass and lord it over his opponents when he wins, I’m not encouraging cheaters, I’m encouraging original thought and to step out of the mold and look at your codex so that when you go to a tournament, you’re more worried about YOUR army than you are about YOUR OPPONENT’s army.

Also, a few points that have been brought up is that comp is used to make things "Fair" or "Fairer" for the people that play outdated codexi, I'm calling bullshit on this. Dark Eldar, Necrons, Tau, Inquisitors, and Eldar all have some of the most competitive armies in existance. No Dice there folks.

Also cripling somebody elses army so yours does better should be done on the battlefield. not bo somebody who thinks that orks are too powerful. Duh, that is the point of the game isn't it?

Tau - Tournament Style

Ok, so i went to a 1500 pt tourney yesterday and took my new tau army.

I had played tau all of 1 game prior to this tournament so these were my 2nd 3rd and 4th games not only with this list but with this army.

My list:
Tau 1500

HQ:

Shas El 125
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Drone Controller (Shield x2)
HW Blacksun Filter, Bonding Knife

Elite:

Crisis Suit x2 124
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multi-Tracker

Crisis Suit x2 124
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multi-Tracker

Troops

Fire Warriors x6 155
Devilfish, D-Pods, Flechette Dischargers

Fire Warriors x6 155
Devilfish, D-Pods, Flechette Dischargers

Fire Warriors x6 60

Fast Attack

Pathfinders x6 167
Devilfish
Disruption Pods, Flechette Dischargers

Pirhanna 80
Fusion Blaster, Flechette Discharger, Targeting Array

Heavy Support

Hammerhead Gunship 175
Railgun, Flechette Discharger, Disruption Pods, 2x Burst Cannons, Multi-Tracker

Hammerhead Gunship 175
Railgun, Flechette Discharger, Disruption Pods, 2x Burst Cannons, Multi-Tracker

Broadside Battlesuits x2 160
Advanced Stabilization System

Total 1500

my first game was dawn of war capture and control against a dark eldar wych cult with lillith and 3 squads of wyches and 3 ravagers with 3x disintigrators each. between rolling 1-3 on 4/5 to hit rolls and the speed of the dark eldar, i got wiped down to 3 squads of drones from my devilfish. i did kill off lillith which netted me a bonus point, but this was a 24-1 loss.

My second game was against space marines, spearhead and seize ground 5 objectives. I had his entire army wiped out by turn 5 so there was no need to roll for another turn.

My third game was against space marines again, his list was all foot with 15 terminators (not the best choice) By turn 3 I had wiped everything out and the terminators were still in reserve. they both came in and on the turn they landed they killed a hammerhead. then i wiped both squads (one of 10, 1 of 5) in the following 2 turns.

In the end i took 3rd place (by one point) just above the guy that played dark eldar and wiped me out the 1st game.Thank you lillith hesperex to dieing to drone fire. otherwize i'd have come in 4th.

All in all i'm satisfied with the army. though i need a bit of speed bump action for them. I believe that i will be dropping one squad of fire warriors for a squad of kroot or 2.

I believe that my next tau army setup at 1500 points like this:

Tau 1500

HQ:

Shas El 123
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Drone Controller (Shield x2), Bonding Knife, HW Blacksun Filter

Elite:

Crisis Suit x2 124
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multi-Tracker

Crisis Suit x2 124
Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multi-Tracker

Troops

Kroot x10 - 70 points

Kroot x10 - 70 Points

Fire Warriors x6 155
Devilfish, D-Pods, Flechette Dischargers

Fire Warriors x6 60

Fast Attack

Pathfinders x6 167
Devilfish
Disruption Pods, Flechette Dischargers

Pirhanna 80
Fusion Blaster, Flechette Discharger, Targeting Array

Heavy Support

Hammerhead Gunship 175
Railgun, Flechette Discharger, Disruption Pods, 2x Burst Cannons, Multi-Tracker

Hammerhead Gunship 175
Railgun, Flechette Discharger, Disruption Pods, 2x Burst Cannons, Multi-Tracker

Broadside Battlesuits x2 170
Team Leader, HW Target Lock, Advanced Stabilization System

Total 1500