Battle for Salvation Tournament Coverage - Game 1 vs Rob Baer

As promised here is the coverage for my experience playing in the Battle for Salvation Tournament in White Plains, New York on Saturday November 21st. As in past posts of this nature I have included a photo of my opponent, some pics of their army, and a few other shots to keep things interesting.

Game 1 was against Rob Baer's beautifully painted Ork Imperial Guard army. That is right, I said Ork, Imperial Guard army. Rob has converted and painted up a very impressive Imperial Guard army using a mix of Imperial and Ork vehicles and replacing the Imperial Guardsmen with Boys and Grots. Rob won overall at Mechanicon with this army and I am not surprised. While I personally think the painting could use just a bit more depth (the army is just to clean for a Ork force for me, even if meant to be IG) it is still a beautiful army and the crown jewels are definitely is Vendetta Helicopter conversions, just stunning work.

This army, like pretty much all Mech IG these days was a hard nut to crack. 2 Manticore Missile Tanks, 3 Hydras, Lots of Chimeras, Hellhound Variants, and nastiness. Luckily mission 1 was a modified kill points missions, in where after setup each player got to pick 5 units (of which up to 3 could be dedicated transports) to count as a kill point with the rest of the army not worth anything. I chose Rob's Inquisitor+Retinue and their Chimera, his Psyker Battle Squad and their Chimera, and a Hellhound as my 5. Rob chose 3 of my outflanking Razorbacks, my predator, and the regular landraider.



This was a rough game for me with models coming in a dying all over the place, but I got in my licks and in one good turn went on a spree of Chimera destruction and took out 3 of the buggers in one go. However in the end it came down to just 1 dice roll at the bottom of turn 7. Rob had managed to kill all 3 of my Razorbacks and my predator. The landraider was immobilized, had no weapons, but was still alive deigning him the KP so Rob had 4 KPs. I had destroyed the Chimera with the Psyker Battle squad in it and the resulting blast had wipe the squad out as well, and I had destroyed his Hellhound, leaving me with 3KPs. I had, in the last moments of turn 7 fired a Hunter Killer missile in desperation at his remain rhino with the Inquisitor and retinue inside. The missile hit, it penetrated the armor and rob had rolled a 3 for its cover saving meaning the missile had got through. Now all I needed was to roll a 5 or a 6 to tie the game, with a 6 meaning I could do some damage to the Inquisitor and Retinue inside and maybe get them to run, giving me the victory.

I rolled the die and rolled a 1! Gar! Round 1 to Rob. It is a good close game with the Mech IG holding out just long enough for the win.

More to come so stay tuned...

How to Run a Proper Tournament

Hey guys, Huron here. Mike and I really had a blast at the Battle for Salavation Tournament run November 21sts and got some good ideas to implement for a Sugarland Gamers Tournament we want to run early next year. From my experience at their tournament and from running some in the past here are a few things I think are important to running a really fantastic tournament.

1. No bad games - usually when I play in a tournament of the magnitude of the BfS tourament (40 Players) I expect at least one of my games to be a bad one, usually against someone who is a little to over competitive for their own good. However, with a little work and defined purpose and goals you can usually get around this problem. Mainly from the beginning you need to have the right attitude that will attract the right kind of gamer to your event. Making it clear from the being you are expecting good, competitive, respectful battles with no funny business (and that there will be penalties if there is any) is a good start.

2. The Food - Thats right folks, many of you are scratching your head wondering what good food has to do with a successful tournament. Well let me tell you, great food keeps players on site instead of allowing them to wander off and come back late. It fills the bellies and settles the gripes that come up after tight hard fought games. I have never been to an event before that fed me so well as the BfS tournament (Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for Lunch, full on Thanksgiving style Turkey dinner later on), and that includes the several GW GTs I have been too.

3. The Cause - Why run a tournament just to run a tournament. The best, most well attend events I have have been too were always those that bennifited a cause of some kind. The BfS tournament while putting up some great prizes for the winners also was part charity fund raiser. Their tournament benefited the Salvation Army and brought in quite a bit of money for them. Not only did part of the proceeds for the event go to Charity, but there was also a Charity raffle which raised several hundred dollars but also all the money raised by the good food I talked about above went to charity as well.

4. Good Judges - Make sure you and those helping to run the tournament have a good grasp of the rules and FAQ for the system you are playing. Having to look up simple rules can take up time and cause fustration amongst players looking for a quick answer. However with that also goes making sure players know that a judges ruling is final and once they have made their final ruling there is no room for anymore arguement. There is plenty of time after the game to look up rulings after the game, while the game is in play, players should respecting the ruling made by a judge until the game is finished.

5. Good Terrain and Area - Make sure that the terrain you are using and the area you are playing in is the best it can possibly be. Players like playing on good terrain and not on unpainted card board cutouts with books for hills. One of the reason to goto tournaments is to put your nicely painted army up against another nicely painted army on a great looking table. Good presentation brings players back.

Well that is my thoughts, but what tips didn't I cover that you have found work well. Please post them in the comments and I will see about getting them add to this list.

With that in mind, the Sugarland Gamers 2010 tournament series (I hope to run one per quarter) has a mission. To put out and provide the best possible tournament environment that focuses on good fun competitive games while giving back to the community and those in need. Additionally all players will be well fed.

Until next time...