Blog Wars 9 - King in the North

Blog Wars 9: King in the North

Saturday June 6th 2015

Kindly sponsored by:

Visit Element Games

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THIS RULES PACK BEFORE THE EVENT!

Tickets
Tickets will remain at £17.50 which gives you 3 games of 40K at 1,850pts, lunch, spot prizes and also includes entry into the ever generous raffle (top prize last time was an Imperial Knight). Remember the tournament is open to non-bloggers and bloggers alike (the name is just a throwback to the origins of the event).

The event has now sold out so I will be taking names for the reserves list. If you would like to be added to the reserves list please use the contact me link on the right. In the event of a drop-out reserves will be contacted and offered first refusal of the spare ticket.

Event Location
North West Gaming Centre in Stockport. For those not sure where the venue is the address is:

North West Gaming Centre
Hallam Mill,
Hallam Street,
Stockport,
SK2 6PT.

If anyone has questions about getting to the venue then don't hesitate to contact me and I'll help as best I can. The venue is pretty close to Stockport railway station so it's worth considering that as an option. There's also a Premier Inn across the road for those who want to stay over the night before/after. Room rates increase in price closer to the date so, if you intend to go for this option, I recommend getting it booked early.

Event Schedule
Each game will be played at 1,850 points with 3 games in total. Games will be 2.5 hours each and the schedule will look like this:

09:00-09:30 - Registration 
09:30-12:00 - First Game
12:00-12:45 - Lunch
12:45-15:15 - Second Game
15:15-15:30 - Break
15:30-18:00 - Third Game
18:00-18:30 - Results & Awards

This has changed slightly from previous events with the first game starting earlier. Please try to arrive well before 9.30 to allow registration to be completed and the first game to start on time. This new schedule means the event should, in theory at least, finish 30 minutes earlier than before though.

Prizes (kindly sponsored by Element Games)
There will be awards for: 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place, Last Place, Best Painted Army, Best Painted SC and Best Conversions. These will take the form of store credit with Element Games (the in-house hobby shop) who offer 10-20% off GW. The prize breakdown is as follows:

1st Place: Certificate & £25 voucher 
2nd Place: Certificate & £15 voucher
3rd Place: Certificate & £10 voucher
Last Place: Certificate, £5 voucher & Limited Edition Wooden Spoon!
Best Painted Army: Certificate & £20 voucher
Best Painted Special Character: Certificate & £10 voucher
Best Conversions: Certificate & £15 voucher

There will also be a series of spot prizes throughout the day (worth around £5 each) and, as usual, a generous raffle at the end. I'll be announcing additional prizes for the painting competition and talking about changes to the format. Keep an eye on the blog for that.

The raffle and spot prize pot is based on the number of players. The more tickets that are sold, the bigger the prize pot! These will therefore be announced nearer the time when numbers have been confirmed.

Bear in mind that the top raffle prize will be worth more than the tournament prizes combined. Basically, you could bring a horrible list that isn't fun for you or your opponents and win £25 and a crappy certificate or you could bring something a bit different that's more fun, enjoy your day more, piss your opponents off less and win the raffle anyway! This is completely intentional and hopefully encourages people to write their lists with the spirit of the event in mind.

Refereeing 
I'm hoping to play this time around but I'll be on hand to act as a referee. That being said, I hope this won't be necessary most of the time as it's intended to be a friendly tournament. If you and your opponent cannot come to an agreement about a particular issue then please ask the players on adjacent tables. If no mutually acceptable resolution can be found then I'll be happy to provide a final adjudication but this may simply be to ask you to roll off where the rules are not clear.

As ever, please try and contact me in advance with rules queries so that rulings can be made before the event to save time on the day.

Army Selection 
BLOG WARS IS INTENDED AS A FRIENDLY EVENT PLEASE BEAR THIS IN MIND WHEN WRITING LISTS! PARTICULARLY FILTHY LISTS WILL BE RETURNED DURING CHECKING. Thankfully I've rarely had to do this!

Each army can cost up to and including 1,850pts and can be made up of a maximum of two detachments. No detachment can be used more than once (i.e. no double CAD) and CAD/Faction Specific Detachments are either/or for a particular race which means for example you can't have a Space Wolves CAD and a Wolves Unleashed Detachment. Come the Apocalypse allies are not allowed.

Each army MUST include a Special Character in their primary detachment (not necessarily as an HQ though). This SC acts as the "Commander" where specified in the scenarios below. Please note this is not necessarily the same unit as the Warlord (but they'd have to be in the same detachment). An army may include multiple SCs but only one is used as the "Commander".

Note that up to three Imperial Knights may now be taken but the Adamantine Lance formation is not permitted.

Here's a selection of example legal armies:

Example 1. A Blood Angels CAD with a Culexus Assassin.
Example 2. A Chaos Space Marines CAD with Chaos Daemons Allied Detachment.
Example 3. A Space Wolves "Wolves Unleashed" Detachment with an Imperial Knights Detachment.
Example 4. A Tyranid CAD with "Synaptic Swarm" formation.
Example 5. A Dark Eldar "Realspace Raiders" detachment with Harlequins "Cast of Players" formation.

Please note that, as detailed in the Space Marine codex, the Space Marines Faction is allowed to ally with itself provided the two detachments choose different Chapter Tactics. 

The following Lords of War may only be taken once per army* (LoW not listed here are not permitted):

• Baneblade
• Banehammer
• Banesword
• Khorne Lord of Skulls
• Ghazghkull Thraka
• Stompa
• Logan Grimnar
• Kaldor Draigo
• Commander Dante
• Gabriel Seth
• Imotekh the Stormlord
• Obelisk
• Tesseract Vault
• Wraithknight
• Avatar of Khaine

*Imperial Knights (non-FW variants) are the exception to this rule and can be taken more than once per army.

Each army can also include ONE fortification from the Stronghold Assault expansion from the following list (please note the new Promethium Pipes are not permitted):

• Aegis Defence Line
• Imperial Bastion
• Skyshield Landing Pad
• Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Line
• Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Emplacement
• Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker
• Plasma Obliterator

Dataslates (e.g. Be'lakor) are permitted and form part of the army as detailed in their particular rules.

Lists must be submitted at least two weeks before the event (May 23rd 2015) to allow for checking and resolution of any queries.

The allowed Special Characters for each army are listed here. I will try to keep this up to date with each new codex release before the event. If you believe there is an error regarding your army's choice of characters then please contact me. These characters must be in your Core Force but do not necessarily have to be your Warlord. Please note that this list is only a list of those units which may be used as a Commander for Blog Wars purposes and is not an exhaustive list of the special characters you can use in your army. For example, Cypher and Be'lakor are all acceptable additions to your army but may not be used as the Commander. 

All current codices are permitted but the following are exempt from the compulsory SC rule (see below):

Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii
Harlequins
Imperial Knights
Militarum Tempestus
Space Marines (Iron Hands only)

These codices are exempt from the compulsory SC rule (since they don't have any options). A Character unit must still be chosen as the "Commander" for Blog Wars mission purposes. In the case of Imperial Knights this will always be the same unit as the Warlord. The units are still worth 100 bonus BPs in the first mission but DO NOT receive the Objective Secured rule in missions 2 and 3.

Supplements for any Faction are permitted provided the codex they apply to is still current, for example, the Iyanden supplement is no longer valid. You could run a Clan Raukaan force allied with a Sentinels of Terra force for example.

Forge World units and/or armies are not permitted. I've found it opens up too many options for abuse. Several FW units are undercosted for their capabilities and trying to sort the good from the bad is too much of an undertaking. Generally I think it penalises players who aren't familiar with the IA books and therefore the units they describe. It also penalises people who don't want to fork out for FW models in an already expensive hobby. That being said it's perfectly acceptable to use a FW model as a proxy for a codex unit provided the models are of a similar size and shape. For example, pre-Heresy marines as regular marines or a Contemptor in place of a regular dreadnought. If in doubt please email me with your intended substitutions.

Electronic versions of codices/supplements are acceptable, however, please ensure your tablet is fully charged before the event so that the books can be accessed throughout the day if necessary.

"Counts as" and proxy armies are welcome as long as it is clear to your opponent and that there is no advantage to be gained from using it. If in doubt please check with me BEFORE the event by email and include pictures if necessary.

Ideally armies should be fully painted (and there will be a Best Painted award to highlight particularly stunning efforts), however, I understand how much time and effort this takes so a three colour minimum with appropriate basing is the minimum compulsory requirement. Unpainted models are not acceptable.

Scenery
Scenery will be provided by the venue and will be made as even as possible prior to the event. If both sides are unhappy then come and find me and it can be re-arranged but try to avoid doing this in order to prevent delays starting the game. 

Please note that the scenery will be deliberately set up so that some tables provide more dense cover than others. 

Matchups
The pairings will be random for the first round and then chosen using "Swiss Pairs" in the subsequent two rounds. 

RULE CLARIFICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS

Warp Charge and Daemonology
The maximum number of warp charge points that may be generated is capped at 12 (plus the additional D6 each turn). Any excess warp charge is lost. Whilst Malefic Daemonology is allowed, only armies with the Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Daemons faction may make use of it. Please consider the spirit of the event before submitting a list that relies on summoning hordes of Daemons.

Invulnerable Saves & Re-rolls
A re-rolled Invulnerable Save is only passed on a roll of 4+. That means your unit is still pretty damn durable but your opponent should at least feel like they have a chance!

Invisibility
Invisibility simply reduces the BS of enemy units to 1. That means you can still fire blasts/templates and things that boost BS like markerlights will still be effective. I'm also going to rule that you can't cast Invisibility on a Super Heavy Vehicle or Gargantuan Monstrous Creature (or their variations). 

Lords of War
As per the rules in Escalation, Lords of War (including those like Logan) will give up an extra VP for every full 3 wounds or hull points they suffer. This will hopefully mitigate the inclusion of Lords of War and give armies facing them a way of claiming points even when they aren't destroyed. Of course, in the first mission this will be in addition to the points scored from Blood Points.

Scenarios
The scenarios will be as follows but are subject to playtesting which may lead to slight alterations: 

Game 1 - Cleanse the Xenos with Hammer & Anvil deployment
Game 2 - The Emperor's Relic with Vanguard deployment
Game 3 - Cleanse and Control with Dawn of War deployment 

Please note the secondary objective "First Strike" is in use rather than First Blood. This awards a VP to either player if they manage to completely destroy an enemy unit in their first turn thereby minimising the advantage of going first.

1. Cleanse the Xenos (similar to Purge The Alien - see what I did?)
The points value of each unit you've destroyed (referred to here as Blood Points or BP) is added up. Destroying the "Commander" will gain you 100 bonus BP. This gives a maximum of 1,950 BP (1,850 for the army plus 100 bonus for the Commander). The total will then be converted into a VP score out of 30 to determine placings for the second round.

Units which have suffered 50% or more casualties, multi-wound models which have sustained 50% or more wounds and vehicles which have lost 50% or more hull points will give up half of their points value (rounding up) e.g. a rhino with 1 HP remaining is worth 18 pts.

Tabling your opponent does, of course, give you maximum points in this round. 

If your opponent generates extra units (e.g. spawned termagants or daemons from a portalglyph) they are worth their standard unit cost e.g. 7 spawned termagants = 28 BPs. Similarly some units give up bonus VPs but in both instances, the maximum number of VPs for the round is capped at 30.

Secondary objectives (1 VP each): First Strike, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker

2. The Emperor's Relic
Based on a combination of Relic and Emperor's Will. There's one central fixed objective worth 10 VPs plus each player has one objective they must place in their deployment zone. If you hold your own objective at the end of the game you score 5 VPs. If you hold your opponent's objective you score 15 VPs. Holding all three objectives would score you 30 VPs.

Scoring units are as described in the 40K rulebook with the exception that the "Commander" gains the Objective Secured rule as described in the 40K rulebook.

Tabling your opponent DOES NOT automatically give you maximum points. If, at the end of any game turn, one player has no models remaining on the table, the game ends immediately and the players determine how many objectives are being controlled by the victor. If you table your opponent and are not controlling any objectives you will score ZERO primary VPs. Please bear this in mind when writing your army lists and playing your games.

Secondary objectives (1 VP each): First Strike, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker

3. Cleanse and Control
As per the rulebook except:

• Dawn of War deployment instead of Vanguard Strike
• The "Commander" gains the Objective Secured rule as described in the 40K rulebook.
• The Blog Wars tactical objectives deck will be in use (see table below). A copy of the deck will be issued to each player at the start of the round.
• No objective may be scored more than once.
• Impossible objectives may be discarded at the start of the game i.e. Scour the Skies if your opponent has no flyers.
• Fixed at 6 turns instead of random game length

Tabling your opponent DOES NOT automatically give you maximum points. If, at the end of any game turn, one player has no models remaining on the table, the game ends immediately with no further scoring possible. In the unlikely event that you table your opponent before achieving any tactical objectives you will score ZERO primary VPs. Please bear this in mind when writing your army lists and playing your games.

Secondary objectives (1 VP each): First Strike, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker

Scoring
There will be a maximum of 30 primary VPs available in all three rounds. There are also secondary missions in all three rounds which will be recorded separately. The total VPs (primary + secondary) will still be used for determining the placings for subsequent rounds and overall winner though.

Each player will be issued a score sheet at the start of the day. Losing it will result in ritual humiliation and grumbling from myself.

What do I need to bring? 
As with any tournament you'll need the normal things you use to play a game of 40K plus a few extras.

You will need: 

• Your painted army (at least three colours)
• A tray for moving your army between games (not provided)
• At least one copy of your army list (preferably typed) with your name and entrant number (your entrant number is the same as in the list below)
• A copy of the BW9 Event Pack
• A copy of the 40K 7th edition rulebook (and FAQ)
• Your army's codex/codices/supplements etc. (and relevant FAQs)
• Dice, templates and gaming aids
• Super glue/plastic glue for emergency repairs
• Six objective markers numbered 1-6 (don't need to be anything fancy)

Please do your best to remember to take everything with you when you leave. I'll be staying around afterwards to clear up and I'll do my best to reunite people with lost items but suffice to say I don't want to clear up people's mess!

What do we get to eat/drink? 
The venue is providing lunch for us (included in your ticket) and has a bar selling drinks, chocolate, crisps, etc. We will have table service from the bar throughout the day so there's no need to move during games if you're feeling lazy!!

Current Entrants List
Names of those who have purchased tickets will appear here after tickets have gone on sale. Depending on how popular the event is I'll add more spots if necessary.

1. Daniel Clarke
2. Matthew Tennant
3. Nick Thrower
4. Andy Rawlings
5. Lee Ridgway
6. Graham Sanders
7. Ben Leach
8. Tim Cooper
9. Michael Groom 
10. David Irving
11. Sam Georgiou
12. Luke Capper
13. Tom Capper
14. Hendrik Müller-Joswig
15. Theo Upton
16. Josh Secretan
17. John Broome
18. Ryan Kemp
19. Martin Baker
20. Simon White
21. Jacob Lamb
22. Jason Roberts
23. David Seago
24. Martin Waine
25. Nathaniel Gibbs
26. Robert Nathan
27. Jonathan Lyness
28. Matt Greenwood
29. Frank Marsh
30. Gary Hoptroff
31. Ian Plumpton
32. Peter Barrett
33. Daniel Johnson
34. Ian Connolly
35. Ken Morley
36. Dave Weston
37. Ben Houghton
38. Liam Ainscough
39. Peter Butler
40. Luke Fogg
41. John Holland 
42. Tess Yoxall 
43. Chris Benstead
44. James Lamb
45. Dave Halfpenny
46. Samuel Clewlow
47. Michael Corr
48. Daniel Russell
49. Adam Robinson
50. Alex Brown

Reserves
1. Daniel Lane
2.
3.