[anathema]

Indeed, I don't think upping points to 2000 will balance stuff. It just adds more one-trick lists to the list of evil. On Dakka they keep going on about zilla nids, drop pod termies etc. To take the IW further, it then definitely allows you the full 9 oblits, the 4 heavies, the second infiltrating speed HQ and some infiltrating las/dual/plasma whatever squads to really go to town. Not to mention how evil Necrons get at higher points.

 

[anathema]

Actually, first and second were IW and drop pod marines, highest BA player was HO's very own Longbeard in 20th.

 

[anathema]

and anybody coming into 40K will know what's expected when attending a GT.

Thats what the rulespack is for. Everyone gets about 6 months to know what the system is, and its even less complicated than before. You simple get a football style scoring system with small bonuses for big wins. All you really need to know is the margin of victory and then try and win by more than that. The missions are all in the rulebook. I don't see how anyone needs much time to get used to trying to win TBH.

 

[anathema]

I have been playing for over 20 years with a reasonable rate of success. I have had my eyes opened by some seasoned Tournament Vets who have shown me a new way of looking at lists and composing armies, and what the victory conditions in a tournament actually mean.

What you're actually talking about is how to play the missions well and write good tournament lists that take the metagame into account. That sort of thing should never be in the rulespack as its what you learn yourself and what seperates good players from great players.

For example, should the rulebook tell you to hide that unit with 2 models left for the rest of the game so that you only give away half points for it? No, thats the kind of thing you must work out for yourself or from seeing others doing it to you.

Looking at the rulepack tells you that you only really need to get a minor win if you read between the lines. In a close game every VP counts so playing accordingly will help you win. However it doesn't need to say that in black and white in the pack.

Looking at last years heat results tells you that you need 4 wins to be certain of qualifying. Thats all publicly available data that you can use to work out what you need to do.

 

[anathema]

The non-scoring issue arose from a player convincing the referee at this years final that as Farseers count as 'off the table' and so cannot cast psychic powers when embarked on a transport (as per the rulebook FAQ), all troops in transports also count as being off the table and so cannot hold objectives.

This is balls, but as the refs gave it last time, it needs clarifying that they won't do it again otherwise it will screw a lot of people over.

 

[anathema]

Thing is this is now contradicted by the new Chaos codex as Icons in transports can be used to summon in daemons, hence the unit must be on the table. So IMO these 2 pieces of indirect supporting evidence (neither of which are directly relevant to all transported models) cancel each other out and you're left with the common sense answer.

 

[anathema]

And I'd tell them that the Farseer not being on the table is irrelevant to the general rule that an infantry unit over half is a scoring unit and only applies to casting psychic powers while in a transport. In fact all it strictly clarifies is that a Farseer in a transport doesn't count as being on the table, nothing else. That's fine as its non-scoring anyway.

 

[anathema]

Agreed, I think they've found a decent half-way house with this. All armies can get wins, not all armies can win big except in exceptional circumstances. Players should be rewarded for winning by whatever amount, with the margin of victory being a tie-breaker not a deciding factor IMO.