Fall/Winter 2011 Warhammer Fantasy Battle League
The Badlands Campaign
Welcome!
Hello everyone and welcome to the first Warhammer Fantasy Battle League in the new store! As many of you may know, Warhammer has been somewhat dormant of late, and this league is intended to get the fires lit again and get some battles raging in the Old World once more!
League Overview
This league is primarily a building league. Games will start at the 1500 point level and progress to a full 3000 points in size over the course of six weeks. Weekly scenarios and player contributions will provide and dictate the storyline for the campaign, with a massive finale battle including all the armies that participated in the league (or as many can attend!). League entry is $10, all of which goes right back into prize support for the winners (which means that you may not buy-in to the league with a product purchase, sorry!). The league entry fee covers a player's entire participation in the league.
A note on Army Composition, Sportsmanship, and Competitiveness
While this league includes points to be earned and prizes for the winners, it is not intended to be a hyper-competitive league. The intent of the league is to rebuild a community of Warhammer Fantasy players in the store, and you don't rebuild a good group with a handful of big fish pwning noobs left and right. Many of us in the league don't even have an edge to hone just yet when it comes to 8th edition, we still need to forge our swords! With that in mind, this league will be a self-policing environment. There is no scoring for either Sportsmanship or Army Composition, and nothing is banned or restricted. I know what an abusive Fantasy army looks like, and if I see a player consistently showing up with abusive lists, creating Negative Play Experiences for his opponents, I will refund their entry and remove them from the campaign. Don't be that guy. I don't expect to see anything like that, but I have to be clear from the beginning. Once we've built a good group and gotten a couple more leagues (and balanced 8th ed. army books) under our collective belts, then we might consider something that's a little more competitive. Until then, however, let's have some fun with playing the game, killing our opponent's mens in droves, and blowing things up with wild magical calamities!
Gameplay
Each week, a new scenario will be posted online in the forums, representing the armies gathering in strength as they fight. Weekly scenarios will include a mission, deployment, and victory condition, as well as special bonus point opportunities and unique special rules representing the changing battlefield. Each player will play one game per week against an opponent of their choice, though they may not play the same opponent more than twice during the campaign.
Each week, a new scenario will be posted in the forums and the league binder. Weekly scenarios will represent both the convergence of ever-growing armies in the region as well as other phenomena that will affect the games and battlefields. Note that Mystical / Magical Terrain of any type will not be used as part of normal games, though certain weekly scenarios will include some type of Mystical terrain.
A Note on Terrain
Tables will be pre-set with appropriate terrain before games commence on each league day. Unless otherwise specified in a weekly dispatch, no terrain in any game is Mystical. Terrain is static and should not be altered by players. In the event that players schedule a game on a day other than Tuesday or Sunday, all efforts should be made to have a league organizer (Travis or Davis) set the terrain for the game (we're here a lot, shouldn't be too much of a problem!
). Army Lists
Players must have a legible copy of their army list on-hand during league games. Players are not required to show their lists to an opponent prior to a game. However, any 'last-minute' amendments to a list must be explained to an opponent before the game begins, and any player can request to look at an appropriate section of an opponent's list during the game to verify the existence in the list of various magic items, upgrades, etc. While I have no interest in players getting hosed by any type of 'gotcha' magic combo that their opponent was unaware of, neither do I think that the spirit of the game is for everyone to know everything about everybody. I don't expect a problem with army list hoodwinkery, but if it becomes an issue I will refer involved parties to the Note on Army Comp and Sportsmanship, above, and take action in a manner I deem appropriate.
Model Rules, Stats, and FAQs
There have been a couple odds and ends published in White Dwarf lately, mainly for Vampire Counts if I recall correctly, but just in case we get a curveball in the next month or so, players must have all rules and stats for any model they field in their armies. There are a variety of sources for such information, including White Dwarf, the magical internets, and even Army Builder, so there shouldn't be a problem. Also, players are encouraged to have a copy of the most recent errata/faq document for their army from the Games Workshop Shrine of Knowledge, along with their army book and the Fantasy rulebook.
The Campaign Week
The campaign week runs from Sunday to Saturday, starting 10/30 and ending 12/10, with a preliminary meeting for league players on Tuesday 10/25, and a finale battle open to all league players on 12/11. On or before each Sunday, the weekly dispatch will be posted in the campaign forum, including the state of the region, armies, and the weekly scenario. Official league play is on both Tuesday nights and Sunday afternoons, to meet the schedules of all participants. Players are allowed to schedule games on other days in case of scheduling problems or to make-up for a missed week. Players are allowed to play a make-up game in the case of a missed week through the following week, but not after.
In the interest of creating a solid core of players to re-ignite the fire for Warhammer, players are strongly encouraged to attend a regular game day (either Tuesday or Sunday). Everyone getting together week after week is one of the biggest factors in building a group, trust me!
Scoring
Players will earn both Campaign Points, and, potentially, Scenario Bonus Points, for their performance during their games. Naturally, wins are worth more than losses, though a canny player will bear in mind bonuses to increase their score from a given game, regardless of the outcome.
When using Victory Points to determine the winner, this league uses the 'fixed' victory conditions that were published as an insert in the WHFB main rulebook. For those whose book was missing that insert, when using VPs, a victory is achieved when one player has earned at least 100 more VPs than their opponent.
For each game, basic scoring for campaign battle points is as follows:
Win - 8
Draw - 4
Loss - 3
Points Levels
The Badlands Campaign begins with games being played at the 1500 point level, to represent vanguard elements of the various armies arriving in the region, then progressing to a full 3000 points, representing the full might of the armies in contention brought to bear.
Week 1: 1500 points
Week 2: 2000 points
Week 3: 2500 points
Week 4: 2500 points
Week 5: 2500 points
Week 6: 3000 points
Prizes
Prizes for the league go to the players who achieve the following:
Grand Overlord: The player who has the highest total of Campaign Points at the end of the campaign is the winner and achieves the first-place prize.
Opportunist: The player who, throughout the campaign, earns the highest total of Scenario Bonus Points from the weekly scenarios, takes the second-place prize.
Assassin: The player who, throughout the campaign, kills the highest total of enemy characters and unit champions in challenges, wins the third-place prize.
Craftsman - The Painting Prize
Additionally, players may compete for the Craftsman award. Players who wish to participate must submit a photo of an unpainted model or unit that they will paint during the course of the campaign and check in that model with one of the league organizers (Travis or Davis). These photos will be posted in the Badlands Campaign forum and players are encouraged to submit photos of their works-in-progess to the thread. Submissions must be finished by the end of week 5. During week 6, photos of the finished models will be posted online for voting, and the highest vote tally wins the Craftsman award!
The Scourge of Naggaroth award (courtesy of Michael!) - The player who wantonly slaughters the most Dark Elf models throughout the campaign wins the Scourge of Naggaroth award, $25 worth of whatever you want from the store!
And in the spirit of giving, I'll throw another one out there: The Beast Hunter award! The player who kills the most Large Targets during the campaign wins the Beast Hunter award! I will personally paint one character model for the winner of the award!
And, any of you who have played in one of my leagues or campaigns before knows that I always manage to toss out a few extra prizes for various campaign achievements, so keep your eyes peeled for hints in the weekly missions and fluff... maybe!
Schedule
The Campaign will run for a total of six weeks, and the weekly schedule for the campaign is as follows:
10/25 - Tuesday night meeting for Campaign players and preliminary play
10/30 - 11/6 - Sunday afternoon meeting for Campaign players on 10/30; week 1
11/7 - 11/12 - Week 2
11/13 - 11/19 - Week 3
11/20 - 11/26 - Week 4
11/27 - 12/3 - Week 5; submissions for the painting prize must be finished and submitted by 12/3
12/4 - 12/10 - Week 6
12/11 - Grand Finale final battle, winners announced!
And that's it! If I think of anything I missed I will be post it here with an announcement of the edit. Stay tuned for the first Weekly dispatch, and make sure to plan on being at the store on either 10/25 or 10/30 for one of the preliminary meetings, during which campaign players will meet each other, one of the Campaign Organizers will go over the rules and answer any questions, etc.
See you in the Badlands!
