2009 North Texas Games Workshop Hobby Weekend Schedule

• Generation X Comics and Games Bedford WINNER: Brian Vayner--Chaos Daemons
• Planet Hobbies Dallas WINNER: Jeff Whitehead--Howling Griffons Space Marines
• HobbytownUSA Dallas WINNER: Forrest Buchly--Orks
• Area 51 Grapevine WINNER: Walter Vaughn--Inquisition
• Lone Star Comics Dallas WINNER: Adam Gipson--Chaos Daemons
• Lone Star Comics Arlington WINNER: Michael Sanford--Eldar
• Comic Book Craze Garland WINNER: Nick Villacci--Space Marines Salamanders
• Games Workshop Grapevine Mills WINNER: Eric Smelley--Dark Eldar
• Comics Asylum Garland WINNER: David Caldwell--Inquisition Grey Knights
• NORTH TEXAS WARHAMMER 40,000 HOBBY WEEKEND CHAMPIONSHIP: June 13, 2009, HobbytownUSA Dallas.

2009 North Texas Games Workshop Hobby Weekend Combat Patrol Rules

Each North Texas Games Workshop Hobby Weekend concludes with a 400 Point, one-day Combat Patrol Tournament, for hobbyists to test their new forces in the crucible of battle! 'Combat Patrol' rules are not included in Fifth Edition Warhammer 40,000, so for Hobby Weekends, each army must meet the following streamlined build criteria:

• 400 Points maximum.
• 1 Troops choice minimum.
• 0-1 HQ choice, with a maximum of 2 Wounds; if no HQ is chosen, a squad leader or equivalent must be declared the army commander. No model may exceed 2 Wounds, regardless of Force Org allocation.
• No vehicle with an AV above 12 on any facing.

Note that these streamlined changes do allow some things which 'Combat Patrol' lists used to exclude (Terminators and Dreadnoughts, specifically) in order to maximize use of the contents of the new Assault on Black Reach starter box, for beginning players. Each participant *MUST* have a completed, legal, accurate and legible army list to turn in to the moderator at the beginning of the tournament on Sunday (which means participants should bring at least two, to keep one for themselves, and as many as five, so that each of their three opponents can have a copy). The rules and scoring will be consistent with those used in local 'Combat Patrol' tournaments in recent years:

FORMAT

Eight Players (can be expanded to a maximum of 16 players if sufficient tables are available); 400 Point Armies using Combat Patrol rules; three games of approximately 45 minutes' duration each (including setup); highest total score of the 40 available points (detailed following) wins the tourney.

POINTS

• Painting: Maximum 10 Points.
• Sportsmanship: Maximum 5 Points.
• Army List: Maximum of 5 Points.
• Games: Maximum of 15 Points.
• Presentation: Maximum of 5 Points.

PAINTING

*All Players entering the Tournament must attest they are primarily responsible for having painted their armies themselves. This does not preclude assistance from parents/friends/significant others, so long as the painting is primarily representative of the player's own skill and effort.*

Painting Scoring is cumulative (undercoated figures with no other paint but elaborate bases still score only at the first 1 Point level, for example).

Armies which require no level 4 decals/squad markings (some Tyranid and Necron armies, as an example) are not penalized for that, and will simply either receive 3 points or 5+, as appropriate to the level completed.

• 1 Point--All figures/vehicles assembled, based and undercoated (anything less is zero).
• 2 Points--Judge's optional score for armies with one (or more) models at previous level, but one (or more) at a level higher on the Painting Scoring scale.
• 3 Points--Above plus all figures in basic uniform colour(s) plus all obvious details (facial skin, weapons/weapons cases, shoulder pads/trim, bases, etc) complete.
• 4 Points--Above plus all appropriate decals/squad markings added.
• 5 Points--Above plus details painted (pouches, lenses, skulls, aquila, etc).
• 6 Points--Above plus bases flocked or otherwise scenicked.
• 7 Points--Judge's optional score for excellence to the above level, before advanced painting techniques are attempted.
• 8 Points--Above plus effective washes or highlighting (effectiveness to be determined by judges).
• 9 Points--Above plus effective blending (effectiveness to be determined by judges).
• 10 Points--Award of Merit for ONE of the armies which qualified for 9 Points; this Player will receive an extra point (for a Painting score of 10), and receive the award for Best Painter.

If no Players qualify for 9 Points, the Player with the highest score in Painting will receive the Award of Merit for Best Painter but will retain the lower earned Painting score, for calculating Overall Winner. In the event of a tie the winner will be determined by consensus of the judges.

SPORTSMANSHIP

Each Player will confidentially score their three opponents for Sportsmanship under the following guidelines, be scored by their own opponents under the same guidelines, and will, at the end of all three rounds, cast a vote for which of the three opponents they played (if any) they considered Best Sportsman.

Each Player will have their lowest score dropped, making the Sportsmanship available points range 0-4; among Players tied for the high score, the Player receiving the most votes for Best Sportsman will then get an additional Award of Merit for Sportsmanship point, for a maximum Sportsmanship score of 5 Points. In the event of a tie in score and in number of votes cast for Best Sportsman, ALL tied Best Sportsmen will receive the additional point:

• 0 Points--Not a fun opponent. Not an opponent I would like to play again.
• 1 Point--A quality 40K opponent I would happily face again.
• 2 Points--An outstanding 40K opponent who made our game more memorable and fun than average.

ARMY LIST

• 1 Point--Printed, legible Army List presented to judges at beginning of tourney, with player's name on List, all units accurately identified (including Force Org allocation, gear and squad options) and pointed out; list conforms to the rules of Combat Patrol (anything less is zero).
• 2 Points--Above plus a copy of the Army List provided for each opponent.
• 3 Points--Above plus army and all characters/units/vehicles evocatively named.
• 4 Points--Above plus either written background for the Army or decorative artwork/presentation for the List undertaken by Player (or both).
• 5 Points--Award of Merit for ANY Army List which achieves 4 Points which judges deem of exceptionally high quality, either in written background, decorative presentation, or both.

GAMES

Players in each game will receive 2 Points for a Loss and 5 Points for a Win (scenarios at the 400-point army level will not accomodate Draws). Even-numbered Players (2,4,6,8) will play Odd-numbered Players (1,3,5,7) in Game One, unless the moderator adjusts initial pairings (to avoid like armies facing each other, etc). The four winning Players will face each other in one bracket and the four losing Players will face each other in another bracket in Game Two. The two undefeated Players will face each other in Game Three, with the remaining six Players bracketed to face a Player they've not yet played in Game Three. This will produce a minimum Games score of 6 and a maximum Games score of 12 except for the one Undefeated Player who will earn 15 Points, and the Award of Merit for Best General. For Tournaments with greater than eight participants, this general swiss system will be followed but modified by that number of players.

PRESENTATION

Players may earn up to 5 Points for Presentation of their armies at Tournament. These points may be earned as follows:

• 1 Point--Having a decorative presentation base/carrying tray/diorama for displaying/transporting their army.
• 1 Point--Having notable effective conversion(s) to figures/vehicles which personalize their army. Conversions can be as simple as substituting bitz from one GW figure to another or as elaborate as from-scratch greenstuff-sculpting, but the qualifying conditions are that said conversions be 'notable'--ie, that the judges notice them--and 'effective'--meaning that they add to, rather than detract from, the presentation of a Player's army (note that Players should feel free to point out conversions to judges to meet the first criteria, as very few of even the most well-qualified judges will be familiar with every figure, vehicle kit and bit GW produces!).
• 1 Point--An additional Award of Merit point for Presentation may be presented by the judges in any instances where the notable effective conversions in an army are deemed to be of exceptionally high quality or the Display board is considered notably effective, evocative or otherwise well-done.
• 1 Point--Event Specific Award: Most Combat Patrols are held in conjunction with a larger event, and participating in that event in some fashion specificied can earn participants this additional point for Presentation. This can include modeling a specific character for the Tournament (such as the Waaghmbat) or participating in a related activity (such as the previous day's 'bring and build/paint and play' during the Hobby Weekend).
• 1 Point--Award of Merit for Best Army: one Player will receive an additional point for having the highest combined score from the categories of Painting, Army List and Presentation, and will receive the Award of Merit for Best Army.

AWARDS

Awards of Merit for Army List, Presentation and Event will be presented in the form of Points added to Players' Overall scores, as noted above.

Prizes (in addition to Points, where noted above) will be awarded for:

• Award of Merit for Best Sportsman
• Award of Merit for Best Painter
• Award of Merit for Best General
• Award of Merit for Best Army
• Overall Tournament Championship Award
• Murphy's Luck Award (presented to that Player who, more than any other, was deserted and betrayed by Lady Luck, the Hand of Fate and his Dice during the Tournament)

Results: Hobby Weekend 8 Games Workshop Grapevine Mills

Thanks to Games Workshop Grapevine Mills for hosting the climactic Combat Patrol Tournament of the eighth North Texas Games Workshop Hobby Weekend! It is always good be out at the North Texas GW store: for hobby expertise--and sheer number of scheduled events--it is in many ways the center of the local miniatures gaming universe! Check http://www.adeptusnorthtexas.com for full Tournament Rules if you wish to participate in the ninth and final Hobby Weekend of the spring, May 3 at Comic Asylum Garland--and congratulations to Overall Champion Eric Smelley, commanding Dark Eldar, the eighth qualifier to claim control of a planet in the Nor'tex Nebula and pass through the warp gate to reach the 1500 Point Tournament of Champions June 13th, representing Games Workshop Grapevine Mills!

• OVERALL CHAMPION: Eric Smelley/Dark Eldar
• BEST PAINTED: Helio Rosenthal/Ultramarines Space Marines
• BEST ARMY (and tied for runner-up): Chad Jones/Eldar
• BEST GENERAL (and tied for runner-up): Philip Beightol/Space Marines
• MURPHY'S LUCK AWARD: Jason Reynolds/Space Marines

Results: Send In The Superheavies!

Presaging a great conflict to come, forces of the Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Chaos, Tyranids and Orks landed on Aquiline XII, an extreme-light-gravity world with an unstable planetary rotation and weird magnetic fields; combatants discovered these phenomena in combination caused all but the heaviest objects on its surface to be unpredictably cast up into its atmosphere. However, the mysterious power source radiating an unclassifiable energy signature somewhere on the planet's surface appeared able to defy this effect--and so the race began to reach, identify and claim this objective on Aquiline's treacherous surface. Regular infantry, even normal vehicles, lacked sufficient mass to retain contact with the surface and function, however...so the only option was to send in the Superheavies!

Six players (and twice that many onlookers as the game wore on) arrived at HobbytownUSA Dallas' Game Hall to accept the gauntlet thrown down. Five arrived with either superheavy vehicles or gargantuan creatures--an Imperial Guard Baneblade, an Imperial Guard Hellhammer, a Chaos Traitor Doomhammer, an Ork Stompa and a Tyranid Scythed Heirodule. The Space Marines of the Howling Griffons chapter dispatched a Predator tank in defiance of the risk of being cast into orbit. All six were beautifully painted, making the table a great pleasure to look at as the battle progressed.

The objective was determined to be in the ruins of an abandoned Ork fortress, planetside. To get there, each model had to test against a D6 before each Movement phase to see whether it succumbed to the weird gravitic phenomena of Aquiline XII: one a rolled '1', any superheavy or gargantuan creature could not move that turn as it struggled to retain purchase on the surface (non-superheavies had to roll twice, accepting any result of '1'); if the vehicle rolled another '1' on its next Movement phase, it was hurled into orbit around the planet. Any fully-painted participating model got to ignore its first rolled '1'.

As the battle progressed, every model faced this consequence at least once--all being saved from their first rolled '1' by having been so nicely painted by their players. No one struggled with the atmospheric effects more than Clay Smith's beautifully-painted Ork Stompa--and aptly, it was the first model to fail consecutive tests, and be launched into space, gatla-blasting and grot-missiling at the enemy all the way. It will be interesting to see whether the meks responsible for it had the foresight to seal it against vacuum...

On the right flank, Jack Salva's Hellhammer found itself alone in a duel for its life against David Caldwell's Scythed Heirodule: the Hellhammer blasted away valiantly at the onrushing beast, doing it two Wounds, before the black-and-purple monster was able to come to grips with, and finally wreck, the valiant Imperial tank. One more shooting turn...

One the left flank, the Stompa and Chad Jones' Doomhammer gunfought Tim Gregart's Baneblade and Jeff Whitehead's Predator: the space marine tank made a valiant run for the Objective, coming within a turn of reaching its cover before succumbing, while the Baneblade held its own against two Disorder superheavies until gravity evened the odds.

The Heirodule's superior speed allowed it to reach the Ork ruin first, and with the demise of the two furthest-advanced Imperial vehicles, it appeared control of the objective would belong the Tyranids--but Tim pulled out the now-standard-in-fifth-edition building destruction rules, trained the entire arsenal of the Baneblade on the Ork fastness...and atomized it, destroying whatever had been secreted inside, and denying the enemy the objective.

With the secret now obliterated, only surviving remained: the Baneblade continued to reap its bloody tally, finishing the Heirodule, before the Doomhammer disabled it in turn, to claim last-vehicle-standing honours.

What the Tyranid had seen in the depths of that old ruin could only be guessed at from impressions of psykers in orbit: a strange sigil of power, a rune of activation of some sort, perhaps...and the lingering words, somehow related: 'Mordant Thirteenth...'

---

Thanks to everyone who participated, and all those hobbyists who took time out of their holiday to drop by and cheer one side or the other on. A good time was had, and in addition to an afternoon of Apocalypse fun, all six participants in 'Send In The Superheavies' earned an unadvertised bonus: their first participation stamp in 2009's Apocalypse Lucky 13s Campaign for North Texas!

Watch the mailing list and website at http://www.adeptusnorthtexas.com for the next North Texas area Apocalypse, Warhammer and Lucky 13s events--including the first formally announced events of the 2009 campaign--Mega-Battle 1 on May 9 and the Gallery of Giants!