Tournament Events vs Hobby Events

Balanced Tournament Scoring:

Hey Guys, Today I’ll be ranting off on “Hobby” Events vs “Competitive” events.

You know the types….

Adepticon – In all it’s glory, is a hobby event. Sportsmanship is in your score, Painting is in your score, etc…

Ard Boyz – Is a competitive event. It’s all about who is the best. That’s it. No Whining, no crying, just bash em in the face competition.

Now, As you all are probably well aware, I am a competitive player. Not because I’m an ass, but because I love to play against the meanest, nastiest  hardest lists people can come up with. Bring on that power gaming 3 nob squad list at 1500 points, that is the point.

Now, for a Tournament, to me at least, you have to go the Competitive angle.

For an EVENT you almost always have to go the hobby angle. Why? Because a tournament is just that…. A TOURNAMENT-

From Dictionary .com

1.      a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play a series of contests.

You are not trying to see who can play nice, you’re playing to see who is the best. I’m really not sure why this is so difficult to understand for the majority of the people out there. If you are in a tournament, you don’t use comp, sportsmanship, or any other SOFT Scores. You play to win.

Now, if you are at an EVENT (Adepticon, Bolscon, etc…) You may notice that these have CON added to the end. It’s because it’s a CONVENTION. A gathering of people with like minds. You’re not playing to see who is the best, you are playing to have fun, see who comes out on top and who has the nicest painted armies, etc.

There is a fundamental difference. You may not like it, but it is there.

So you should have a good idea what you are going to before hand. Some people will tell you that at the Competition only event, that you will find cheaters. I’ll tell you this from experience, You will find those same cheaters at the hobby events as well. They are just that way. WAAC people will go to every event they can find an try to win the pot. It’s just the way it is. The ability to give out a sportsmanship score is not what will scare them away. The ability of the TO’s to simply eject them for cheating is what will keep them away or in line. It is truly that simple.

In an effort to cut down on the stupidity of THAT GUY, Tournament Organizers need to be far more vigilant than most of the events I’ve gone to. The optimum number of Judges I’ve found is 1:16. This gives each judge 8 tables to watch, and they should be watching, helping the newer players and just generally not BSing with their friends.

I’ve been to some amazingly well organized events, and I’ve also been to those events where everything is hap hazard.

I bet you can guess which I prefer.

A perfect tournament (at least in my mind) would be scored like this:

Battle Points – 20 Available Per Round

Bonus Points (Added to Battle Points) 4 Per Round

Winning Record for Tie-Breakers(i.e. 3-0 beats 2-1)

Winner Takes:

1^st: 50% of Pot

2^nd:30% of Pot

3^rd:20% of Pot

Extra entry fee to enter Painting competition:

Say extra $5 to enter YOUR army’s paintjob (i.e. Pro Painted are not allowed, you cheat, you never can enter ANY other event here)

Panel Judging on entered armies. 60% of vote

Player’s Choice 40% of vote.

Winner Takes:

1^st: 50% of Pot

2^nd:30% of Pot

3^rd:20% of Pot

This makes life simple, yet effective.

Just the way I like it.