It's that time again... time for a tale!
Yes, I've decided to run another Tale of X Gamers campaign for my friends and I. I've done Tale of Four Gamers before, but as yet I haven't got an exact number and it exceeds 4 in any case, so for now it's just X gamers :oP
My planned rules for it are written below. This is a collection of the various posts made throughout last years campaign, with updated dates and clarifications.
Even better, I'm planning to use this to get my Escalation 11 army ready and painted.
Anyway, the rules are below.
Tale of X Gamers
Starts Monday January 31st.
Phase 1 lasts till last Monday of March
Phase 2 lasts till last Monday of May
Phase 3 lasts till last Monday of July
Phase 4 lasts till last Monday of September
Phase 5 will last an as yet undetermined time...
Phase 1 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of April) , 0 for unpainted. Bonus 1 point available for getting a combat patrol game in. (not necessarily a ToFG competitor, anyone will do. Get a couple of pics if possible.)
Phase 2 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of June), 0 for unpainted. Bonus 3 points available for getting a test game against someone (not necessarily a ToFG competitor, anyone will do. Get a couple of pics if possible.)
Phase 3 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of August), 0 for unpainted. Also, will play a mini-league with each competitor playing each other competitor. League rankings will determine bonus points. This will take place early August (date TBD) We will look to book the club for a Sunday to get the games in.
Phase 4 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 points for late (painted by first Monday of October), 0 for unpainted. Bonus 2 points for modelling an objective marker. Further bonus 1 point for a further objective marker.
Phase 5 - As much extra as you wish for Apoc. Legendary Units, Super Heavies, whatever you like. Deadline is the day of the apoc game, probably late October or early November (date TBD). There will be no points available for painting, but simply put if it isn't painted you can't use it. Any units dropped from earlier 500 point blocks can be put back in here. All forces will join our standing 2000 point armies. The sides will be determined by the challenge organiser along the best lines he sees fit. Hopefully we’ll have some clear “goodies” and “baddies” that can team up, neutrals being assigned as needed... however if there are no clear easy sides to draw we will find another method, at random if necessary. Any difference in points will be covered by additional strategic assets for the poorer party. Scoring for this month will be 5 points for each person on the winning team. There will be an additional 5 points for the "Champion" of each team. This will be decided by completing a secret personal objective (so secret even their team mates aren't allowed to know!)
Additional Rules and Clarifications
The 500 points is the target. Give or take a few points that can be made up or dropped with wargear this is fine. Of course, in your test games you must have a legal army and the correct army value so bear that in mind when planning your forces. Your 1500 point army for the mini tournament will be made up of what you have painted thus far.
If anyone chooses to paint extra throughout the challenge that is their prerogative. However you can’t hold it off against next month. If you present 650 points in phase 1 you still have to present 500 in phase 2. The advantages for doing extra are more tactical flexibility when planning for the phase 3 tournament and more forces ready for the final apocalypse game.
Imperial armour books are acceptable sources for miniatures, unit entries and army lists. Anything found within those pages shall be allowed to be entered as part of the contest and used in games therein (though obviously apoc only formations can’t be used till the apoc game) The person wishing to do this however MUST possess (or have access to) the Imperial Armour books required.
If anyone wishes to use this as an exercise to add more models to an army that already has the core forces painted then this can be arranged, do ask for more details if this is relevant to you. I have a working solution in mind but I’m an idealist, I won’t go into it unless I have to :oP
When it comes to games, weapons on models and anything that would normally be represented needs to be. Wargear that doesn't need to be represented can be varied.
If you go to the effort of making your weapons alterable, through magnets or whatever, you can make use of this flexibility. The conversion work and painting the extra guns is the price you pay. Note though that in the mini tournament you must stick to one weapon loadout throughout.
Finally, while wargear can be changed, when it comes to the mini tournament we will each submit a list. That is what we play to for ALL games.
Apocalyptic Finale
To finish our Tale of X Gamers we're having an apocalyptic showdown, and I thought I'd give fair warning of the rules we are using for this one.
For starters, all models MUST be painted. It is a painting challenge we've just finished after all. It doesn't matter when you painted them, or whether you're missing something you should have finished earlier, if it's painted you can use it, if it isn't then it doesn't exist as far as we're concerned.
Second, scoring. Imperial Armour apocalypse rules will be used here. I will reproduce them below...
"The following model types are NOT able to claim objectives:
Independant Characters
Immobilised Vehicles or immobile models
Flyers (including those using Hover Mode to act as skimmers)
Units which are fleeing or pinned
Other than this all other units and models can both claim and contest objectives unless stated within the mission rules.
To claim or contest an objective, a model must be within 5 inches of the edge of the objective marker. No model or unit may claim or contest more than one objective regardless of size. Owning player picks if this becomes a factor.
Objectives themselves are counted as impassable terrain but do not block line of sight at all. It is not permissable for vehicles or walkers to 'park' on top of objectives for any reason.
Note also that owing to these modified rules the strategic asset Hold At All Costs is no longer relevant as listed and should not be used"
There will be a couple of additional objectives, again taking inspiration from IAA2.
Kill Score.
Kill points will be added up for any unit destroyed. Gargantuan creatures are worth 3 kill points, super heavy vehicles are worth as many as their starting structure points. Keep track of the kill points, whichever army holds most at the end counts as holding an additional objective.
In addition to this, we'll be using the Lord Of War rule. This makes the commander of the army worth 3 kill points instead of 1. For this, we will be using the characters that have been with us through thick and thin. These will be determined during the campaign by the mutual loathing of the enemy commanders, and will be made clear before the showdown. To give fair warning though, this will not necessarily be your BEST character - it wasn’t mine last time. It’ll be the one who’s built up the best “rapport” shall we say with your opponents. Opinions will be taken into account but the organisers judgement is final. The points for killing this Lord of War will be added to our kill points score to decide the additional objective. If it is a tie neither side gains the advantage.
For fun, I'm including the rule for crashing flyers from IAA2. I don't think there'll be many of these, but it could be a bit of fun to spice things up.
The basic rules will be for a standard apoc game, though we will have personal missions. These will be written in advance and will be secret (even from our teammates) Revealing the mission before the end of the game means your mission is void. You will have the choice of three.
Claim most objectives in the enemy deployment zone.
Kill the highest value enemy independant character.
Destroy the highest value enemy legendary formation.
In the kill/destroy ones, the person who takes the last wound takes the prize, as keeping track of who did what damage is far too much work. If both players on a team complete their mission, whoever did the harder mission is named that sides champion.
The winning team will get 5 points each. The champion of each team will get 5 points each. Thus each player can score 0, 5, or 10. Only one player will score 10.
Anyway, gamers, let me know your thoughts or queries on these rules. I've tried to keep things fluffy, balanced, and to use some input from Imperial Armour Apocalypse 2 to make it work with 5th edition and still be fun and quite a lot of carnage.
Anyway, let me know either here or on the club forum who's definitely up for it and what army you wish to do. I'll need answers by... mid january say, to give me a couple of weeks to finalise details. I'll be running the campaign through here again, with rules and queries cross posted to the club forum.
Good Luck
My planned rules for it are written below. This is a collection of the various posts made throughout last years campaign, with updated dates and clarifications.
Even better, I'm planning to use this to get my Escalation 11 army ready and painted.
Anyway, the rules are below.
Tale of X Gamers
Starts Monday January 31st.
Phase 1 lasts till last Monday of March
Phase 2 lasts till last Monday of May
Phase 3 lasts till last Monday of July
Phase 4 lasts till last Monday of September
Phase 5 will last an as yet undetermined time...
Phase 1 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of April) , 0 for unpainted. Bonus 1 point available for getting a combat patrol game in. (not necessarily a ToFG competitor, anyone will do. Get a couple of pics if possible.)
Phase 2 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of June), 0 for unpainted. Bonus 3 points available for getting a test game against someone (not necessarily a ToFG competitor, anyone will do. Get a couple of pics if possible.)
Phase 3 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 for late (painted by first Monday of August), 0 for unpainted. Also, will play a mini-league with each competitor playing each other competitor. League rankings will determine bonus points. This will take place early August (date TBD) We will look to book the club for a Sunday to get the games in.
Phase 4 - 500 points. 5 points for on time, 3 points for late (painted by first Monday of October), 0 for unpainted. Bonus 2 points for modelling an objective marker. Further bonus 1 point for a further objective marker.
Phase 5 - As much extra as you wish for Apoc. Legendary Units, Super Heavies, whatever you like. Deadline is the day of the apoc game, probably late October or early November (date TBD). There will be no points available for painting, but simply put if it isn't painted you can't use it. Any units dropped from earlier 500 point blocks can be put back in here. All forces will join our standing 2000 point armies. The sides will be determined by the challenge organiser along the best lines he sees fit. Hopefully we’ll have some clear “goodies” and “baddies” that can team up, neutrals being assigned as needed... however if there are no clear easy sides to draw we will find another method, at random if necessary. Any difference in points will be covered by additional strategic assets for the poorer party. Scoring for this month will be 5 points for each person on the winning team. There will be an additional 5 points for the "Champion" of each team. This will be decided by completing a secret personal objective (so secret even their team mates aren't allowed to know!)
Additional Rules and Clarifications
The 500 points is the target. Give or take a few points that can be made up or dropped with wargear this is fine. Of course, in your test games you must have a legal army and the correct army value so bear that in mind when planning your forces. Your 1500 point army for the mini tournament will be made up of what you have painted thus far.
If anyone chooses to paint extra throughout the challenge that is their prerogative. However you can’t hold it off against next month. If you present 650 points in phase 1 you still have to present 500 in phase 2. The advantages for doing extra are more tactical flexibility when planning for the phase 3 tournament and more forces ready for the final apocalypse game.
Imperial armour books are acceptable sources for miniatures, unit entries and army lists. Anything found within those pages shall be allowed to be entered as part of the contest and used in games therein (though obviously apoc only formations can’t be used till the apoc game) The person wishing to do this however MUST possess (or have access to) the Imperial Armour books required.
If anyone wishes to use this as an exercise to add more models to an army that already has the core forces painted then this can be arranged, do ask for more details if this is relevant to you. I have a working solution in mind but I’m an idealist, I won’t go into it unless I have to :oP
When it comes to games, weapons on models and anything that would normally be represented needs to be. Wargear that doesn't need to be represented can be varied.
If you go to the effort of making your weapons alterable, through magnets or whatever, you can make use of this flexibility. The conversion work and painting the extra guns is the price you pay. Note though that in the mini tournament you must stick to one weapon loadout throughout.
Finally, while wargear can be changed, when it comes to the mini tournament we will each submit a list. That is what we play to for ALL games.
Apocalyptic Finale
To finish our Tale of X Gamers we're having an apocalyptic showdown, and I thought I'd give fair warning of the rules we are using for this one.
For starters, all models MUST be painted. It is a painting challenge we've just finished after all. It doesn't matter when you painted them, or whether you're missing something you should have finished earlier, if it's painted you can use it, if it isn't then it doesn't exist as far as we're concerned.
Second, scoring. Imperial Armour apocalypse rules will be used here. I will reproduce them below...
"The following model types are NOT able to claim objectives:
Independant Characters
Immobilised Vehicles or immobile models
Flyers (including those using Hover Mode to act as skimmers)
Units which are fleeing or pinned
Other than this all other units and models can both claim and contest objectives unless stated within the mission rules.
To claim or contest an objective, a model must be within 5 inches of the edge of the objective marker. No model or unit may claim or contest more than one objective regardless of size. Owning player picks if this becomes a factor.
Objectives themselves are counted as impassable terrain but do not block line of sight at all. It is not permissable for vehicles or walkers to 'park' on top of objectives for any reason.
Note also that owing to these modified rules the strategic asset Hold At All Costs is no longer relevant as listed and should not be used"
There will be a couple of additional objectives, again taking inspiration from IAA2.
Kill Score.
Kill points will be added up for any unit destroyed. Gargantuan creatures are worth 3 kill points, super heavy vehicles are worth as many as their starting structure points. Keep track of the kill points, whichever army holds most at the end counts as holding an additional objective.
In addition to this, we'll be using the Lord Of War rule. This makes the commander of the army worth 3 kill points instead of 1. For this, we will be using the characters that have been with us through thick and thin. These will be determined during the campaign by the mutual loathing of the enemy commanders, and will be made clear before the showdown. To give fair warning though, this will not necessarily be your BEST character - it wasn’t mine last time. It’ll be the one who’s built up the best “rapport” shall we say with your opponents. Opinions will be taken into account but the organisers judgement is final. The points for killing this Lord of War will be added to our kill points score to decide the additional objective. If it is a tie neither side gains the advantage.
For fun, I'm including the rule for crashing flyers from IAA2. I don't think there'll be many of these, but it could be a bit of fun to spice things up.
The basic rules will be for a standard apoc game, though we will have personal missions. These will be written in advance and will be secret (even from our teammates) Revealing the mission before the end of the game means your mission is void. You will have the choice of three.
Claim most objectives in the enemy deployment zone.
Kill the highest value enemy independant character.
Destroy the highest value enemy legendary formation.
In the kill/destroy ones, the person who takes the last wound takes the prize, as keeping track of who did what damage is far too much work. If both players on a team complete their mission, whoever did the harder mission is named that sides champion.
The winning team will get 5 points each. The champion of each team will get 5 points each. Thus each player can score 0, 5, or 10. Only one player will score 10.
Anyway, gamers, let me know your thoughts or queries on these rules. I've tried to keep things fluffy, balanced, and to use some input from Imperial Armour Apocalypse 2 to make it work with 5th edition and still be fun and quite a lot of carnage.
Anyway, let me know either here or on the club forum who's definitely up for it and what army you wish to do. I'll need answers by... mid january say, to give me a couple of weeks to finalise details. I'll be running the campaign through here again, with rules and queries cross posted to the club forum.
Good Luck
A note on phase 3... "each competitor will play each other competitor"
ReplyDeleteThis was missed whilst editing, it may not be everyone plays everyone, it entirely depends on how many people we get signed up for this.
Sounds good to me mate, although this time can you state which are deemed the 'hardest' missions during the apocalypse game,wouldn't it be better to give each player a random mission, pick from a hat style?
ReplyDeleteI did last time. They're written in order of difficulty.
ReplyDeleteAnd I prefer people to have a choice. What if I wanted to try the harest mission but drew the easiest one, whilst you got the middle one? I then complete the hardest and easiest, you complete the medium one... you then win, yet if I'd had a choice I'd have won.
It's also about looking at your army and thinking about what it can do. If I'm running a gunline army and my ally is using blood angels, I'd much rather try to kill something than attempt to claim enemy objectives.
Ok, thus far we have...
ReplyDeleteGinge - Guard
Ken - Nids
Rich H - Space Wolves
So Rich goes for the small elite army yet again, Ginge is an idiot who paints horde again, and Ken goes from smallish elitish, to the ultimate in horde choices... clearly not learning from the mistakes of others then :oP