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Warhammer Underworlds (Format) Tournament
This event pack provides information to prepare for the Warhammer Underworlds Clash at Game Theory (Duraleigh). So strap in! Let’s walk through the rules so you can get yourself best prepared!
Sections:
1.0 Event Essentials
2.0 Warband Construction And Painting
3.0 Tournament Format
4.0 The Players Code & Policies
5.0 Format FAQ and Errata links
6.0 Contact Us
1.0 EVENT ESSENTIALS
When: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 8:30 AM.
Location: Game Theory (Duraleigh) 5910 Duraleigh RD Ste 125, Raleigh Nc 27612
Number of Rounds: 5
Number of Games Per Round: Best-of-Three
Round Length: 105 minutes
Warband Selection: All previously released Warhammer Underworlds warbands and their faction cards are allowed, provided they are released before the dates listed in section 2.1
Tools of War: Attendees are expected to bring everything they need to play five rounds of Warhammer Underworlds utilizing the Nemesis Format Rules. This includes, but is not limited to:
- One deck, built using the Nemesis Format
- Miniatures, fighter cards, and warscroll for your chosen warband.
- A written or printed deck list for your chosen deck (note that you will not be allowed to modify your deck between games)
- Attack and Defence dice
- An appropriate number of boards (a minimum of 2 of those available in Nemesis Format Rules)
- A full set of tokens and counters (wound, glory, move/charge, guard/stagger, etc.)
- All relevant rules publications and access to FAQ and errata documents if necessary
- Please note: If you plan to use cards with different card backs, you must sleeve the cards in opaque card sleeves.
2.0 WARBAND CONSTRUCTION AND PAINTING
2.1 Warband Selection and Deck Creation
All previously released Warhammer Underworlds warbands and their faction cards are allowed.
To decide which Warband to bring, be aware that Warbands/ rules/ FAQ/ Errata published within two weeks of the event date will not be eligible for use.
Your decks must be constructed following the Nemesis format rules, and you must bring a copy of your decklist to the event. Please provide a copy of your decklist to the event staff at check-in. Your decks must remain unchanged throughout the event.
2.2 Modelling and Painting (optional)
Playing exciting, atmospheric games with finely detailed, painted miniatures is intrinsic to the Warhammer experience. With this in mind, all miniatures in your collection must be Games Workshop miniatures (excluding basing or scratch-built components) and be fully assembled and painted to at least a Battle Ready standard. More information on Battle Ready can be found at warhammer-community.com.
Each model must accurately represent its entry on your Warband Roster.
Many players “scratch build” or heavily convert elements of their model collection, and these activities are a hallowed part of Warhammer hobby history. For the sake of fairness, any conversion should still be recognizable as the most current version of the model they represent.
For any converted or scratch-built models, you must seek permission from (TOURNAMENT_ORGANIZER_EMAIL_HERE), including photos of the models in question where possible, at least two weeks before the event.
If you do not obtain permission for conversions before this date, you run the risk of them being removed from play, or possibly incurring score penalties. We recommend that you also bring the actual model your conversion represents to swap out at your opponent’s request. We ask this as conversions may make it more difficult to determine what the model is, which would confer an unfair advantage.
3.0 TOURNAMENT FORMAT
3.1 Round Format: Best-of-Three
Each round will include three games played according to the Nemesis format against the opponent you are paired with. Winners will be determined by overall record within the round (best two out of three). If you win your first two games in a round, do not start a third game.
3.1 Round Format: Best-of-One
Each round will include a game played according to the Nemesis format against the opponent you are paired with. Winners will be determined by overall record within the round.
3.2 Win-Path Pairings
Your opponent for your first game will be randomly determined. Subsequent rounds will use Win Path to pair opponents in each round. Win Path pairs players against someone with the same win-loss record and who had those wins and losses in the same rounds. For example, a player who won Round 2 and Round 3 will play an opponent who did the same, rather than someone who won Round 1 and Round 3 or someone who won Round 1 and Round 2. This is done to ensure players with a similar strength of schedule pair off and to ensure an increasing level of skill parity and sportsmanship with each subsequent round, as they face people who have had an increasingly similar play and outcome experience across the event.
3.3 Game Speed Milestones
Outside of Events, most players do not complete their games against a set clock. As a result, when a loudspeaker shouts “sixty minutes remaining,” most players don’t naturally think, “OK, we should almost be done with the entire first game round!” To help with this, rather than simply calling time left, event staff will call time based on the place in the game you should on average be at, and these will also be shown on the projectors in the gaming hall. These time calls exist to help keep the flow of play moving and are not binding, but you should be aware of them. For clarity, this provides each player with, on average, the following time breakdown for the
typical game:
- Playing your First Game: 17:30 minutes per player
- Playing your Second Game: 17:30 minutes per player
- Playing your Third Game: 17:30 minutes per player (in our experience, the third game in a round takes slightly less time, as both players are more familiar with how rules and Warbands interact)
The milestones for a Round breakdown are as follows:
- 1:45 Start round (Formally)
- 1:10 First Game Complete, Begin Second Game
- 0:35 Second Game Complete, Begin Third Game
- 0:00 Third Game Complete, Submit Round Results
3.5 Dice Down: Round time expires
It is recommended if there are less than 25 minutes left in a round, a new game should not be started. If a game is being played at the time called for dice down, the player who went second in the game shall finish their activation and power step so that each player will have completed the same number of activations and power steps in that game (there is no End Phase). If that activation is the last activation and power step of the round, both players shall complete the End Phase, at which point the game is over. In each case, follow the rules in the rulebook to determine a winner and break ties.
3.6 Scoring
At the end of each match, you will record Game wins, Game losses, and Glory point Differential and submit them at the judges’ table. There may also be an option for reporting your results digitally on the day. Tournament Points will be used to determine an overall winner. In case of a tie, Game Losses will be the first tiebreaker used. If players are still tied Glory Differential will be the tiebreaker, then tournament point Strength of Schedule (SoS), and then if needed, Head-to-Head matchup results. Finally, if still tied, use Total Glory Points scored.
Placing Metrics:
- Tournament Points: 3 points are awarded for a match win, 1 point for a match tie, and 0 for a match loss. This is the total of all points awarded.
- Game Losses: The total number of games a player has lost across all their Matches. Lower numbers are better.
- Glory Point Differential: The total glory points you scored during the match minus the total glory your opponent scored during the match.
- In Best-of-Three Matches, each game’s glory differential is limited to a maximum of +/- 7 glory. If the game’s glory differential exceeds +7 glory, adjust the player with the higher glory result so it is +7 glory of the opponents. The total glory differential for a Best of 3 Match can not exceed +/-14 glory.
- In a Best-of-One Match, the game’s glory differential is limited to a maximum of +/- 10 glory. If the game’s glory differential exceeds +10 glory, adjust the player with the higher glory result so it is +10 glory of the opponents.
- Tournament Point SoS: The sum of all player’s opponents’ Tournament Points divided by the number of opponents the player played.
- Head-to-Head Matchup results
- Total Glory Points
3.7 Conceding game or a Round Bye
Conceding: Warhammer Underworlds tournaments often have rounds that are best of three games. Finishing a full game that is out of reach can waste valuable round time. This can make playing three games in that match difficult. With that in mind, players can concede a game at any time, resulting in a game win with maximum glory differential (+7) for their opponent. This can be used to save time for the third game of a match. Please remember everyone came to this event to play games. So we heavily discourage a player from conceding two games in a single match.
Round bye: If the tournament has an odd number of players. A “Bye” win will be awarded. For Round one a random player skips the round and receives a “Bye” win. This is two game wins and a glory differential of +7 in a Best-of-Three tournament. In a best-of-one tournament, the player will receive one game win and a glory differential of +10. In the following rounds the “Bye” will be taken by the player with the least amount of tournament points (to include tie breakers). Each player is to be selected for a “Bye” only once.
3.8 Schedule: Example
| 8:00 am – 8:30 am | Registration and Check-in |
| 8:30 am – 10:15 am | Round 1 |
| 10:15 am – 10:30 am | Break |
| 10:30 am – 12:15 pm | Round 2 |
| 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm | Lunch |
| 1:15 pm – 3:00 pm | Round 3 |
| 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 pm – 5:00 pm | Round 4 |
| 5:00 pm – 5:15 pm | Break |
| 5:15 pm – 7:00 pm | Round 5 |
| 7:00 pm – 7:15 pm | Awards |
3.9 Awards:
The Warhammer hobby is multi-faceted, including social, gaming, and artistic
components. With that in mind, we will award the following prizes:
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd – For the players who ranked the highest in tournament points.
- Best Painted Warband – (judge voted) for the best painted Warband
- Favorite opponent. After round 4, players will be asked to vote for their favorite opponent.
4.0 THE PLAYERS CODE & POLICIES
4.1 Player Conduct Policies
The great Olympian Jesse Owens once said, “Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.” While Warhammer is no athletic competition, the saying holds true. Warhammer Underworlds is a game best played in this spirit, and we place great emphasis on playing excellent games with like-minded people at our events. Therefore we expect players to play each game with a certain code of conduct to support this. When you arrive at your table for a game, greet your opponent, introduce yourself, and start the game promptly. We then expect players to treat each other positively and demonstrate good sportsmanship throughout each game.
Everybody Loses from Time to Time
Be ready to lose a few games of Warhammer! It seems an odd thing to say, but it is in the nature of any event that only a few players (at most!) will finish the weekend without a loss. Barring ties, half of you will lose your very first game of the weekend, in fact!
Winning with skill and grace is a rewarding and perfectly acceptable goal. Losing with skill and grace, however, is both more challenging and more laudable. These events present you the opportunity to build friendships with fellow hobbyists who share your interests – friendships you can renew and celebrate every time you travel to an event. A single great friendship built out of your experiences at these will outweigh any number of individual victories across your battles this weekend. In fact, if you do your best, have a great time, and build some lasting friendships … you haven’t really lost at all!
4.2 Judges
Event staff will be prominently visible in the tournament hall throughout the event and hold the final say on all game rules and tournament issues. Rulings may be changed at the judge’s discretion with new information presented, and will always be based on correct rules interpretation rather than adhering to previous precedent. When calling for assistance, please be prepared to provide any relevant rules to the particular question.
5.0 Format rules, FAQ and Erratas
5.1 Format, FAQ, and Errata
Please note a number of updates are posted on the Warhammer Community website: https://www.warhammer-community.com/warhammer-underworlds-downloads/. This event will be using both the Nemesis Format Rules, Errata, and Designers’ Commentary. Also, the Previous Seasons Designers’ Commentary will be used. These documents not only clarify some rules but also change the wording on a number of fighter cards. Please take the time to review how these changes impact all warbands.
6.0 CONTACT US
If you wish to ask any questions, discuss any conversions, or find out more about our events, please feel free to get in touch with us via email at: (TOURNAMENT_ORGANIZER_EMAIL_HERE)