After my last series of articles, mostly focused on competitive play and assessing the lists available in that light I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about alternative ways to play Epic. I wondered about how you might put together a team event that puts the big focus on team to make it feel different in play.
Here’s what I’ve come up with, why not give it a look and tell me what you think?
I’ll have to try some players foolish enough to be my guinea pigs to debug it…
Overview
A full day of gaming, 3 rounds where players are in teams and face off against an opposing team where between each game round there is a planning phase where new lists can be drawn up, matchups planned and various ‘special cards’ can be fought over that grant the winning team (not player) the option to use them. these special cards provide a handy bonus for the next round from control over where certain players go to benefits in the next game itself.
Aims
– To be a different feel to a normal tournament where working with your teammates is more important than performance in a single game/individual
– To be willing to play fast and loose with balance to encourage a laid back atmosphere and more experimentation
– To shake up the meta lists by providing a different environment for them to play in
– To really play up the team aspect and encourage thinking on the more team vs team level with matchups, planning, counterpicks and so on
– Be something different and fun on the EpicUK calendar!
Needs
– Players bring ~4k points of their chosen faction, they do not need an army list prewritten and they can (and probably MUST) change what they take to the table each round. What they take to the table on any given round must be legal though, so if they have minimums those must be taken, titans 3rds must be adhered to for the points total they bring to each game, etc.
– Enough terrain for the tables
Organisation
– Overall a total of [team size] tables are laid out.
– Overall for each round a total of [(team size-1)*2000]pts
E.g.: 7 players on a team means 7 tables and each team gets (7-1 = 6) * 2000pts = 12000pts to spread out onto those 7 tables. Yes this means that there is no easy ‘oh just stick 2000pts on each table’ option, some tables will have fewer points and they may end up against larger forces. This is as intended.
Round Structure
– Before each game round there is a 15 minute planning stage where the teams gather and can play any ‘special cards’ that say they can be played during this phase, plan the points allocated to each player and write their lists for the round ahead as well as assign any ‘special cards’ to the players in their team.
– During the first round of the tournament each team is allocated [number of tables -2] random special cards to use for round 1. For each subsequent round they receive any cards they won during the previous round (and get 2 random cards if they didn’t win at least [number of tables -4] last round).
– Teams should write down which player, with how many points, with any assigned cards go to which table and hand those to the TO before the start of the next round. (No sneaky last minute switcheroos!)
– Each team should designate a captain who will be the one to tell the TO about any cards their team plays (mostly to stop the TO having a half dozen or more people crowding around trying to tell them things al at once, we’re wargamers not footballers!)
– When chosing where to deploy your forces each round bear in mind the following rules:
— No table may have less than 1000pts PER TEAM on it (i.e.: there must be a game played on each table, even if it’s not very big)
— No table may have more than 4000pts PER TEAM on it (i.e.: you can have bigger games, but not so big they can’t fit into the time limit)
— Only one player per team is assigned to each table
— The ‘special cards’ that are fought over each round are assigned to each table BEFORE choosing which players go where (i.e.: you can see a powerful option and commit forces to capture it) – note this is not talking about the cards your team has already captured, just the ones the TO is placing down
— The tables are laid out with terrain BEFORE choosing which players go where (chances are they will be laid out before the first round and then not changed)
— Players cannot change which faction they are playing between rounds NOR may they mix troops from multiple factions in the same army
– Note that ‘playing to draw’ or ‘playing to defend points’ is perfectly legitimate and part of the overall team strategy for the event and due to the intended discrepancies in matchups probably necessary.
– All games are played as normal following standard tournament format and rules, scoring, etc. except for the ‘special cards’ being played for on each table each round.
– Each round total the points earned by the players wins/losses/draws for each team and add to running total, at the end of the day the team with the most points is the winner.
Link to EpicUK scoring
Additional factors?
– To increase the number of factors to consider during the planning stages I would consider options like
— Making the terrain more extreme on the tables, have ful city boards, maybe some trenchworks boards, etc. so that deciding which table to go to matters more
— Coming up with some weather rules and assigning weather conditions to each table each round
Special Cards
– Each card will tell you when you can play it and what it does. See the end section to see the cards.
– Any number of cards may be played during the Team Planning Stage so long as the timing conditions for the card are met
– Any number of cards may be played during a game turn or the pregame so long as the timing conditions for the card are met
Follows normal tournament scheduling
Registration 0900 ends 0930
Round 1 team planning 0930 ends 0945
Round 1 0945 ends 1200
Lunch 1200 ends 1300
Round 2 team planning 1300 ends 1315
Round 2 1315 ends 1530
Round 3 team planning 1530 ends 1545
Round 3 1545 ends 1800
Plus inevitable delays between.
Due to the team planning phases expect things to take longer, draws to be a bit more common, etc., they will eat into the ‘faffing around’ time.
The cards!
– A deck is built from 10 cards, some cards appear more than once, each round one card is placed on each table
– 2x Advanced Warning
— Play during the team planning stage at any time
— The opposing team must declare loudly and clearly to which table they are assigning one of their players, the faction they are bringing and how many points they have
— If the team has not yet decided any of those details then they have 30 seconds to decide (with team captain the deciding vote)
— If they fail to declare these details within 30 seconds then the team playing this card gets 30 seconds to make that decision for them!
– 1x Hidden Objectives
— Play after placing objectives, replacing with webway gates, plotting spacecraft and garrisoning troops but BEFORE placing teleporters or rolling for the first turn
— You may move any of the objectives you placed (including a webway!) to any other legal location (you cannot change deployment to or from corners!)
— Any garrisoned units that find themselves in now illegal positions (i.e.: not within 15cm of an objective) REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE (they fell for the deception)
— Proceed with placing teleporters and the first turn as normal
– 1x Orbital Bombardment
— Play during the spaceship plotting stage of the game after the opponent has plotted any of their spacecraft and after you have plotted any other spacecraft you may have
— Plot an additional spacecraft (meaning you might end up with 2), it must follow all spaceship plotting rules as normal (i.e.: not same turn as another)
— This spacecraft has 1xPinpoint Attack MW2+ TK(d3) AND a 3BP MW Barrage
– 1x Logistics Constrained
— Play during the team planning stage at any time
— Clearly tell your team and the opposing team, pick a table, and then the number of points that MUST be allocated to that table by either side (bear in mind the min 1k max 4k rule stil applies)
— If, through some means, a table has already had a certain points total already applied to it then this card overrides that points total with the new total
– 2x Tip Off
— Play during the team planning stage at any time
— The opposing team must declare loudly and clearly to which table they are assigning one of their players and the faction they are bringing (but not how many points)
— If the team has not yet decided any of those details then they have 30 seconds to decide (with team captain the deciding vote)
— If they fail to declare these details within 30 seconds then the team playing this card gets 30 seconds to make that decision for them!
– 1x Challenge!
— Play during the team planning stage at any time
— Your team loudly and clearly declares where they are assigning one player and one specific opposing player
— Both players must be assigned to that table
— They may both select their own point totals as normal and do not have to tell the other team how many they are bringing
– 1x Secrets Revealed
— Play during the team planning stage at any time
— The opposing team must declare loudly and clearly how many points they are assigning to one table
— If the team has not yet decided any of those details then they have 30 seconds to decide (with team captain the deciding vote)
— If they fail to declare these details within 30 seconds then the team playing this card gets 30 seconds to make that decision for them!
– 1x Sappers
— Play at the start of any of your turns, before rolling for initiative and before placing teleporters
— Select one formation, it immediately activates and goes onto Overwatch
— This counts as its activation in all ways as though it had rolled and passed the initiative check during the turn
– 1x Bad weather
— Play before deciding table edges
— For the rest of the game all aircraft receive 1 extra blast marker (above whatever else they would have gained that turn) when they leave the table, regardless of which table edge they use to leave
Etc.?
Guildford Games Club 