Bay Area Open Breakdown

http://www.frontlinegaming.org/community/bay-area-open/warhammer-fantasy-championships/

Coming March 2nd and 3rd! Sign up now if you haven’t already. This will be the third Bay Area Open, and hopefully continue the growth and improvement. In 2011 I nearly had it, but a poor 5th round match up saw me taking 4th. 2012 I knocked it out of the park for my first 5 round GT win. The last two years I believe they capped at 32 players, but this year they upped it to 64 I think. I doubt we will fill that, but I’m hopeful.

The event is 2500 points with 2.5 hour rounds. In the past it has just been battle points for overall, with a separated paint score and no comp or sports (just a thumbs down option for a yellow card I think). This year they have introduced both paint and comp into the mix, though still heavily weighted towards battle. There is also a small sports score of 50 points, which is less than a loss and I expect will only come into play at a tie breaking level.

Battle points are 75 for a loss, 100 for a draw (within 100 points), 125 points for a win (100-499 points) and 150 for a major win (500+ win).

Sports is 10 worth points per game and completely opponent judged. I hope they have a yes/no checklist system with minimal subjectiveness.

Paint is scaled from 0-65 depending on the level (unpainted at 0 points through tournament level at 60 points with the last 5 for ‘advanced’). The last 10 points are for a display board. The rules don’t mention any judgment between the different levels, so I expect with my Dark Elves I will be able to swing all 75 points. If there is judgment allowed between the levels, I expect I will still score high.

Comp is worth 75 points, with a list of 5 ways to lose 15 points. These are:

25% of points in one unit
2+ Level 4 wizards
Duplicate rares
3+ war machines
Units over 50 models in count.

I will be taking the duplicate rares penalty for my double hydra. I don’t think losing the points would cost me the event if I can win my games. If I can’t win, then it won’t matter. I think taking two hits might present a larger disadvantage, but no one who can win all games should balk at taking 1 hit (1.5% of total score). There should only be a maximum of two players undefeated after 5 rounds, and with a minor/major win option it should still work. I wouldn’t be too upset with second should we both go max and my comp knocked me down. But I still have to win.

Category Minimum Points Maximum Points Percentage
Battle 375 750 79%
Paint 0 75 8%
Comp 0 75 8%
Sports 0 50 5%

Minimum score is about 40% of overall score.
For the missions, it’s straight out of the book. I’m not sure how I feel about this, as it’s nice to play something different at events. Both meeting engagement and dawn attack are good missions for my list. No battle for the pass means I won’t have to worry about an uphill struggle against a gun line.

Round 1 – Meeting Engagement (corners, 12 inches apart). This mission is great for me assuming I don’t roll too many 1’s on deployment, as it makes it really easy for my cavalry to be where ever it wants, or to pull pack should I decide to go protective and still have plenty of space to move.

Round 2 – Battleline – boring old normal game

Round 3 – Blood and Glory (breaking is worth 500 for first and 100 for second) – with 8 fortitude, and nearly my entire army having banners (except Hydras, Shades and lesser wizard), if I’m broken I’ve lost so it doesn’t matter. The modified deployment zone tends to open up space for vanguard and scouting, so good. With my inability to take on large units I won’t worry about breaking my opponent.

Round 4 – Dawn Attack – good for me as I’m only really concerned about leadership with my hydras. Vanguard makes this mission forgiving.

Round 5 – Battleline – if there is going to be a mission with just battleline, the last one is the best. I would hate to lose at the top table due to some extreme randomness introduced by the TOs.

The website also says they offer awards for “best of army.” By switching to Dark Elves it probably means I’ve significantly reduced my competition. Dark Elves are not in great favor on the west coast these days. I only know of a few people who played them competitively, and I all but one have moved on.

Unfortunately the TOs have decided not to list the players and the armies of those signed up, so no breakdown will be included. Also means I haven’t been able to remind people who haven’t already signed up. When asked, they have said they don’t want to make customers who wish privacy to be upset. Strange response, but they’re the bosses.

Wish me luck!