Scorched Earth Open Results

After a wonderful weekend of bolter fire and chain sword thrashing, another Scorched Earth Open is in the books. We had nearly double the number of people as last year. And unlike last year, players from outside of the state outnumbered the Arizona players 2-1.


Huge thank you to everyone involved. Great meeting lots of new people and look forward to seeing you next year.


Our award winners for 2016 are


Best Overall (Painting & Games combined)  - Derek Page, 2nd year in a row, Imperial Knights


Best General (Games & top ITC points) - Frank Giampapa, Battle Company


Best Appearance (Painting)  - Mark Wright, Blood Angels


Pictures of the event can be found at
https://www.facebook.com/ETE-Designs-1635064680111016/

What to Bring to the Scorched Earth Open

Just 6 days away, it is time to pack your bags


Here is a quick list items to bring

• Your army
• A display board or something to carry your army from table to table
• your registration fee is have not already paid
• Dice - we will not be providing dice this year (we have a new goodie to give away)
• 6 copies of your list
• One for each opponent
• One for the judge to review
• Templates
• Copy of your armies rules, either the codex or supplement
• If you plan to bring the electronic version, be aware your opponent will need to be able to read as well
• Including a photocopy with your list is permissible

If should need anything hobby related the event is less than 5 miles from Imperial Outpost Hobby Store on Thunderbird Ave (so no way to get lost)


What to do Saturday Night
I am super excited to see so many traveling from outside the area for the event
There is a hub of hotels and chain restaurants at 83rd & Bell, two exits north on the 101


This is the West Valley's designated spot for Spring Training Baseball so you have lots of choices
details found here http://us.justdial.com/AZ/Peoria/Restaurants/near-83rd-Ave-Bell-Rd/ct-1000043348


Option two is to head south on the 101 to Westgate.
Again several restaurants, Dave & Busters, Tanger Outlet Shopping, plus home of the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Coyotes
for information click on www.westgateaz.com

Death from the Skies & the New FAQ

Just to keep everyone on the same page:

 

As stated earlier with the Angels of Death supplement,

 

"Any future releases will not be used at the tournament"

 

So no new dogfight or attack wing rules to learn.
Please use the previous dataslates for your flyers

 

Regarding the FAQ, GW is specific that this is a draft, ie not complete
So we will be using the current ITC FAQ
If there rules issues not covered by that FAQ, we will use this as a guide to make a consistent judgment.
In the past we have been transparent to both players how we are coming up with a ruling by having a discussion table side. We will continue this tradition.

 

However, there are some overturned rulings in the FAQ which we will not use
If the FAQ is finalized prior to the event, we are too close now to accept those changes just like a new codex or supplement

 

If you have specific concerns feel free to comment below

 

To answer a previous poster: no, you are not bothering me, I am here for you
If I don't answer right away it means

• a) I am researching it
• b) I am at a place at work or with the kids where I can't answer right away

 

Look forward to seeing you all on the 14th

 

And do not forget about the Mad Hatter's practice event this weekend!

Last Minute Preparations

Quick reminder to those of you planning to attend but have not purchased your ticket
I meet Monday of next week (5/8) with the venue to finalize headcount

We have plenty of room for 54 players
but
If you have not paid, I will have guess at headcount

which means if there is a surge in day of event sales someone of you may get short changed on food, giveaways, etc


Please purchase your ticket this week

This will be a huge help
Thanks!

The 2016 Change to the ITC No One Talks About

This is by far the most overlooked change from the 2015 to 2016 ITC season. I would go as far as saying it is the First Blood of the ITC ranking system, where only one player can obtain it and it becomes the tiebreaker that wins games.

The importance of winning round one is losing round one will cost you about 6 points or 1-2 rankings per event.

Tournament Organizers know this part of the game. If you have 16 players you need at least three rounds to find a true winner

• After round 1 you have 8 winners
• Using Swiss Pairings, where winners play winners, you have 4 undefeated players after round 2
• After round 3 you will have 2 undefeated players, and mission points will determine the top player

ITC awards 3 point per win until your first loss. Based on the formula above

• Only two players will be undefeated, so they will get 9 extra points
• Only 2 additional players won two in a row and lost their last game, gaining 6 points
• Only 4 guys will get three extra points for winning Round 1

Let us look at a GT level event with five rounds

• 32 players to start
• 16 players win round one
• 8 players win round two
• 4 players win round three
• 2 players win round four
• 1 player stands alone with 5 wins

Now we add in the bonus for having 32 players, let us see just how many extra points each player got:

• Our top player at 5-0 would get 15 extra points
• His opponent in the final round won 4 straight gets 12 extra points
• The next two guys get 9 extra points
• The next 4 guys get 6 points
• Finally, the our 8 guys who won round 1 each get 3 points

Let us paint some real world examples to show how big this is.

I win round one, but lose round two. I plummet to the lower end of the tournament. I get an easy win but start day two at the bottom of the 2-1 pile. Somehow, I go 2-0 on Day Two and finish 4-1. You might see this and go “Wow, nice job.” This tactic, though frowned upon by the community, is known as submarining. It is more effective in Battlepoint systems, but as shown here could work in a Win-Loss system. ITC has seen right through this.

The top player would be the 5-0 player. The second place player would his opponent in the final round, going 4-1. Let us assume I finished third with my 4-1 record. Despite being only one rank below him, the second place person left me in the dust for ITC points

• First place – (100 points + 15 bonus points) x 1.1024 = 127 points
• Second place  - (90 points + 12 bonus points) x 1.1024 = 112 points
• Third Place (Me) – (85 points + 0 bonus points) x 1.1024 = 94 points
• Fourth Place  - (80 points + 9 bonus points) x 1.1024 = 98 points

Yes, that right: they guy who went 4-1 by winning three games, lost in round four, and won in Round 5 got more points than me for the season. You will also notice that 5 points separate the top eight. Winning at least your first two games ensures you will get points for one position higher than you actually finished. 

What does this mean for list building?

The opening round is a random pairing in 99% of all tournaments in 40k. Chess players call this the slaughter round, as you have to prepare for any eventuality. Once again, we are looking the idea of the Take All Comers (TAC) lists to get through this mess. There are more articles than I can count on this subject, so I will offer an alternative.

Grand Masters in chess play better than other chess players not because they know chess better, but they know their opponents better. Not personally, although I have learned a lot about how to beat an opponent just by their bragging. They recognize the patterns of how the player is playing and know the counter.

For example, if you play your friend who brings the same list every week at the local games store, you will get really good at beating that list should you face it in a tournament.

If I say Skyhammer Annihilation Force, you know immediately “Drop Pods and Grav” and deploy accordingly.

If I say Necrons on foot you know must Necrons shooting is only 24” and you would deploy differently than the previous example.

What happens more than most to newer tournament players is what I call the “First Contact” effect.  When you play a list that you have never seen before, or if you are a chess player who does not recognize their opponent’s strategy, you use five times as much brainpower than if you are playing against a familiar scenario. That amount of grey matter usage adds up quickly over three to five rounds of play.

Bottom line: better players are not smarter than you. They have just been there, seen that.

Ruling on New Releases

Thank for your patience


We wanted to do our due diligence on this make sure all participants have an enjoyable time at Scorched Earth Open.


Crimson Slaughter & Black Legion supplements will be allowed


The 30th Anniversary Space Marine will not be allowed


Angel of Death supplement will be allowed
with the exception of the new psychic powers


The Renegade knights and any future releases between now & the event will not be allowed


Sorry for the late notice and I hope to see you all on May 14th & 15th

Are Big ITC Tournaments Worth it?

One of the changes to the ITC is that all tournaments, even those under 16 players, award full points. Secondly, the modifier for the size the tournament has doubled. That means playing well on the big stage has its rewards.

Tournaments are now classified into three events. On the surface, this seems like fancy nomenclature. The reality is very different.

As mentioned above, only your top 5 events count. In previous years, that meant as long as you can clean up at Bob’s Comics & Games 5 times you should have an easy 500+ point season. That is not the case this season, as only three events of less than 28 players, or RTT size, will count towards your top 5.

To get full points, you will need to attend the following

• 3 RTTs, 1 GT, 1 Major Event
• Replace any RTT with another GT event or attend a Major Event
• Attend 5 Major Events

This is actually a clever idea. Larger events are something every player should experience. The excitement, community and pageantry of seeing that many players in one spot is something that will really ignite the hobby in players.

Secondly, the level of difficulty goes up, as the field gets larger. Larger tournaments will need additional rounds to determine a true winner. A GT level event will need at least five rounds, while some major events can go seven rounds. The mental endurance required to be at the top of your game for that long is a remarkable feat. Given the calculations needed during the average 2-3 hour game of 40k, a five round weekend tournament is equivalent to taking the SAT three times in the same weekend.

Lastly, more rounds leads to more balance among the match ups. Getting a bad or favorable match up in a three round tournament is a bit of luck. To duplicate that luck over five or more rounds is less likely, forcing the players to work themselves out of bad situations. Some lists that rely on certain warlord traits or psychic powers will more likely expose their weakness in larger events. For example, my friend posted this lengthy explanation of how he is 79% likely to get the psychic power he needs his list to be “unstoppable”. I will spare you his math and bravado to make my point.

In a three game event, 79% or 1/5 chance is (1/5 + 1/5 +1/5) = 3/5 or a 60% he will play one game without his super combo. Simply put it should happen once every other event. This may be an acceptable risk for most players.

In a five round event, there is a 100% statistical chance it happens once that weekend. Assuming that my dramatic friend is a right and he cannot win without this power the best he can do is 4-1, which is an outside chance at best to win the event. Perhaps the list needs some more work.

How big is worth my time?

Any game experience is worth its weight in gold. In several studies among chess players, there was no genetic advantage between competitive chess players and Grand Masters. This a big deal when you consider anyone less than 6 feet tall has a slim chance to compete in the NBA, NHL, or NFL. What does differentiate Grand Masters from others is the number of games they play at a high level.

If you want to get better, play more games at the highest level possible.

For more analysis, let us do some math.

For every 16 players at the start of the tournament, your score increases by 5%

The key to winning is to finish in the Top 8, as that is where the bigger points are. Any size event will have a top eight. Where larger events help players is the next level groupings become much larger and more attainable.

	16 players	32 players	48 players	64 players
Top 10% outside of the top 8 (55 points)	1 player	2 players	4 players	6 players
Next 20% (40 points)	1 player	5 players	8 players	11 players
Next 30% (30 points)	2 players	7 players	12 players	17 players
Last 40% (20 points)	4 players	10 players	16 players	22 players

Then you take into the size of the tournament factors

	16 players	32 players	48 players	64 players
First Place	105 points	110 points	115 points	120 points
2nd	95 points	99 points	104 points	108 points
3rd	89 points	94 points	98 points	102 points
4th	84 points	88 points	92 points	96 points
5th	79 points	83 points	86 points	90 points
6th	74 points	77 points	81 points	84 points
7th	68 points	72 points	75 points	78 points
8th	63 points	66 points	69 points	72 points
Top 10% outside of the top 8	58 points	60 points	63 points	66 points
Next 20%	42 points	44 points	46 points	48 points
Next 30%	31 points	33 points	34 points	36 points
Last 40%	21 points	22 points	23 points	24 points

 

If you are not a fan of numbers, here is a narrative version: a player who finishes 12^th at a 48-player tournament will get more points than a player who finished eighth at a 16-player event.

Bottom line: playing well at larger events will be worth it.