The ongoing Commanders Challenge at Lone Star Comics Dallas includes a 400 Point, one-day Combat Patrol Tournament, for hobbyists to test their war leader in the crucible of battle! 'Combat Patrol' rules are not included in Fifth Edition Warhammer 40,000; each army must meet the following build criteria:
- 400 Points maximum.
- 1 Troops choice minimum.
- 1 HQ choice, which must be the model submitted for the Commanders Challenge; no limits (Armour, Wounds, Special Character) apply to the HQ.
- No 2+ Armour Save models (unless the HQ).
- No 3 or more Wound models (unless the HQ).
- No vehicle with a combined AV (Front/Side/Rear) exceeding 33 points.
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; 400 Point Armies using Combat Patrol rules; three games of approximately 45 minutes' duration each (including setup); highest total score of the 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. Sportsmanship consists primarily of how much fun the opponent provided and how civilly and courteously the opponent conducted themselves, but how much fun the army the opponent brought in terms of theme, background or logic can be considered, as well.
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); for the Commanders Challenge, any participant who has either already placed his Commander at Lone Star Dallas for display or who leaves it in the display cabinet following conclusion of the event--in other words, who has *finished* the model--will receive this award.
- 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)
