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OFFICIAL GUIDE


Location
Matchplay Game & Computer Center
(formerly Neutral Ground)
San Antonio Shopping Center
560 Showers Drive, Suite 4
Mountain View, CA 94040
Tel: (650) 947-0398 

STANDARD RULES

• You must use the same army list for each game.
• The models must be Citadel, Fanatic, Marauder, or Forge World Miniatures.
• The latest editions of the rules must be used (including Warhammer Armies books, Codices, and main game rules).
• The tournaments is for fun, and poor sportsmanship will not be tolerated. You must conduct yourself in a manner that will not bring the hobby into disrepute. Conduct yourself as you would have your opponents conduct themselves.
• What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). If you wish to use an item, it must be represented on the figure. Army list choices whose models aren’t available must be converted. If you are in doubt as to whether your conversion or scratch-built piece is acceptable, please call us before the tournament. We don’t want you showing up with something you can’t use! Remember, if you are in doubt about a conversion you have done, you probably shouldn’t use it!
• You must bring all materials needed to play including dice, measuring devices, templates, models, and any rules that you will be using (we won’t have any extra supplies!).
• You must bring at least 4 copies of your army list in the RTT required format.

WARHAMMER 40,000 RULES

• You must create an army of no more than 1,850 points with one Standard Force Organization Chart.
• Chapter Approved, Index Astartes, and Imperial Armour books will be in use with the following exceptions. Rules marked “Optional” or "Trial" will not be in use.
• Specific zone fighting rules will not be in effect - including Jungle fighting and City fighting.
• The following publications and articles will be in use:
• THE NEW ASSAULT RULES LOCATED IN CHAPTER APPROVED 2003 WILL BE USED IN THE TOURNAMENT.
• All released codices
• Chapter Approved Annual 2003 (except) the following articles:
Minor Psyker Powers
• The Chapter Approved Book (except) the following articles:
Fielding a Army of Death (Death Company army)
Imperial Guard Armoured Company
Of Roads, Craters and Other Things
Tyranid Monstrosities
Vehicle Design Rules
Necrons
• Index Astartes I & II
• Imperial Armour I & II except the following:
No super heavies
No flyers
• White Dwarf Articles:
248- Land Raider Crusader
261- Index Astartes, Iron Hands
263- Index Astartes, Ultramarines (Tyranid Hunter Squad)
269- Speed Freeks Warboss
273- Index Astartes, Salamanders
274- Chapter Approved, Priestly Delegations
274- Index Astartes, Raven Guard
275- Chapter Approved, Necron Q&A
275- Chapter Approved, The Cursed Founding
• Anything not mentioned or presented here is not legal for Tournament play.
• You may use Special Characters as long as they meet the specified requirements (i.e., you may not use a special character that is restricted to armies over 3,000 points or under 1,500 points if the tournament you are playing is using 1,700-point armies!).
•Chapter Approved rules clarifications and Q&A appearing in White Dwarf are in use.

 

AWARDS

Just who will be the Fightingest General in the Bay Area? Fame and glory await you. Here’s what you could claim for the 1st MatchPlay Rogue Trader Tournament.

Best Overall - to the person who earns the most points.
Best Sportsman - to the person who earns the most points in Sportsmanship
Best Appearance -to the person who earns the most points in the appearance category.
Most Worth Adversary- to the person who earns the most battle and sportsmanship points combined.

SCORING


The Fighting Hellfish/Matchplay Rogue Trader Tournament will not be following the current Rogue Trader Tournament scoring system. After speaking with GW North America about RTT scoring, they wholeheartedly agree the current system is flawed and in fact are currently revising it. Consequently, our tournament will take the best parts from the U.S. and U.K. Grand Tournaments.


Points System
Battle: 37% of your total score
Sportsmanship: 27% of your total score
Appearance: 26% of your total score
Theme: 10% of your total score


BATTLE SCORE


You will play three games in total. Each scenario will be worth a set number of points.
• Scenarios are handed out at the beginning of each round. Read through the scenario to make sure you know what your objectives are.
• Not every scenario will be as simple as beating your opponent’s army into a bloody pulp!
• After the game is over, tally up your victory point totals and determine a winner and loser.

SPORTSMANSHIP SCORE
(based on the US and UK GT rules)

Your sportsmanship points will be a combination of your score for each individual game and any “Most Sporting Player” votes you receive at the end of the tournament.


Every round you will be judged on your Sportsmanship - the measure of how fair, fun, and sometimes even patient and respectful a player you are. This aspect of the tournament is one of the most important. You should always keep in mind that you are entering the Tournament to have fun, see other armies, and play with toy soldiers. Finding ‘champion players’ is only a by-product of this.


Having a rules disagreement doesn’t automatically dock an opponent’s score if you can amicably reach an agreement. Sometimes even the friendliest of players can lose their cool, especially if the dice have been going against them all day. Sometimes players can misread rules or mistake a house rule they’re accustomed to for an official rule. Rules questions arise in most games of Warhammer 40,000, both because the huge number of variables involved in the game make it just about impossible for the rulebook to cover every situation that might occur, and because different people interpret the rules in different ways. In order to avoid arguments, refer to the rulebook as soon as a question arises.

If the rules do not cover the situation, then roll a dice to decide what happens. In other words, a friendly dice roll should decide any question that cannot be answered by the rulebook. Please note, there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking an opponent to show you the appropriate rule or set of characteristics so that you can check for yourself that everything is being done correctly.

It is also okay to call a judge over to get an official ruling. However the judges will give players one of two answers to any question they are asked:

1. They will show you the rule in its relevant place in either the rulebook, White Dwarf or Army list.

2. To roll a D6 to sort out any rules problems not solved by the above.

Also, know that, if the judges suspect someone is marking opponents low (or high) on purpose rather than in the spirit of the Sportsmanship rule, judges will adjust the scores as they deem fit.

• Most Sporting Opponent: At the end of the tournament, players get to vote for the opponent who they thought was the most fun, fair, and enjoyable to game against in this Tournament. You can only vote once, and you can’t vote for yourself.


APPEARANCE SCORE
(from the US and UK GT rules)

During the first break on Saturday, after the first game has been played, all players will set up their armies, place their name tags beside their army, so judges can score appearance.


A player who brings along an army that is painted, based and characterful will pick up a lot of points in this Category.
Judges will award points by following a basic set of guidelines. Each category has its own set of criteria for determining the mark awarded. The Judges mark the armies, but only the top score will be used, the bottom scores being dropped. The most important thing to note is that the Judges don’t rate how ‘beardy’ an army is – the points on sportsmanship cover this. Neither are the scores created from any aesthetic or subjective opinion of the Judge. Instead the Judges will be marking your army purely on whether it meets the basic guidelines.


The measure of a person’s army (all subjective opinions aside) is whether it is painted, based, and what degree of detail has been added to the overall effect of that army.

To maximize your painting score, make sure:
• That your models are completely painted. The smoother the highlighting and shading, the more points you can earn.
• That the bases on the model are flocked and painted.
• That every single model in the force is complete!
• That any conversions look as seamless and natural as possible.
• That you’ve used the appropriate models for the job.

Remember judges will assess whole armies and score them in their entirety. Having one superbly painted model with the rest needing some work won’t earn you as many points as a whole army painted to a good standard.

THEME SCORE
(from the US GT Handbook)

How your army is designed, its background, and its make-up all factor into an appropriate theme. Does your army look and feel like it belongs in the Warhammer 40,000 universe?

Judges will be checking armies and voting for those armies that they think fulfill this criteria. The judges will also be looking for armies they think break or abuse an army’s background and go against the spirit of the game for the sole purposes of being able to use the “best bits” to alter game play.

Players will alsol be given the opportunity to make similar judgements during the “Best Themed Army” voting on Saturday night after the final game. Be sure to take into account the army’s theme and if the army is abusive. A few examples of the types of things judges we will be looking for are:


• A good example would be an Ultramarine army that strictly follows the Codex down to the man including number of models in a squad, weapon armaments, and squad markings will score high. Judges would also look for appropriate squad choices when taking an army that follows a particular theme (i.e., fast attack Blood Angels versus the more methodical Salamanders).


• A example of a badly themed army would be a Chaos Khorne army that took wizards to support its already powerful close combat abilities. Khorne absolutely hates mages!


• If you create and bring an army with a background of your own design, make sure it makes sense and conforms to the precepts of the existing universes within Games Workshop’s games.

 


Any questions, e-mail: Hellfish40k@aol.com