Birthday Tourney: Need thoughts/ideas

[SpiderCoach]

After reading about how well the birthday party went for Bahde's son, I was inspired. I decided to do something similar for my son next month--hold a tourney for him and his friends. This Heroscape tourney thing is new to me, though, so I'd like any thoughts/ideas about how to make this party even better. So far I've set it up a lot like a baseball tourney (pool play, then single elim format for pool winners), but I'm open to any/all ideas.....

I want to have 3 tables set up with two maps on each table. I liked Bahde's way of having each map "show-off" a different look in the Heroscape universe, so I think I'll do the same. That means the six maps will be VW, FotA, RotV (water map), SotM, TT, and RttFF.

Each of the three tables will have an experienced, adult monitor to help with rules, etc. Most of these kids will have played Heroscape here at our house, but few (if any) own it and a couple will be completely new to it. I figure as such we should use Basic Rules for this particular event.

Twelve players will draw from a hat for their player ID (A through L). The ID will have a roughly 365 point army and tourney schedule attached to it. Again, I'll try to have the armies themed to "show-off" the versatility of Heroscape. Here are the armies that I've come up with so far...

A. Utgar 365 pts (Tornak, Grimnak, Arrow Gruts x 2, Swog Rider, Blade Gruts)
B. Jandar 365 pts (Sir Gilbert, Knights of Weston x 2, Templar Cavalry)
C. Ullar 365 pts (Venoc Warlord, Venoc Vipers x 2, Armoc Vipers, EOV)
D. Utgar 360 pts (Su-Bak-Na, Me-Burq-Sa, Marro Drones x 2, Marro Warriors)
E. Jandar 370 pts (Raelin, Kelda, Sentinels, Omnicron Snipers)
F. Ullar 370 pts (Syvarris, Acolarh, Warriors of Ashra, Aubrien Archers, Theracus)
G. Vydar 365 pts (Agent Carr, Krav Magas, Gorillinators, James Murphy)
H. Einar 365 pts (Izumi, Tagawa, Tagawa Archers, Kaemon Awa)
I. Utgar 370 pts (Deathwalker 8K, Zettians, Warden 816, Deathreavers x 2)
J. Vydar 360 pts (Major X17, Gladiatrons, Major Q9)
K. Einar 380 pts (Spartacus, Crixus, Retiarius)
L. Utgar 360 pts (Khosumet, Anubian Wolves x 3, Zombies of Morindan)


The schedule....
Players are divided into four pools of three teams each (ABC, DEF, GHI, JKL). Each player plays the other two teams in his/her pool and one *crossover game against an opponent from another pool. Each match would be on a different map. Thus, each kid will get a minimum of three games on three different maps...

Round 1 (Pool play): AB-FotA, DE-TT, GH-SotM, JK-VW, *CL-RttFF, *FI-RotV
Round 2 (Pool play): AC-VW, DF-FotA, GI-TT, JL-SotM, *BK-RotV, *EH-RttFF
Round 3 (Pool play): BC-SotM, EF-VW, HI-FotA, KL-TT, *AJ-RttFF, *DG-RotV

Round 4 would begin the single elimination, championship brackets. Each of the four pool winners (determined by 1. overall record, 2. in-pool record, 3. head-to-head, 4. out-of-pool record, 5. d20 roll)

Round 4 (Semi's): ABC Winner versus JKL Winner, DEF Winner versus GHI Winner. These games played on randomly selected maps.

Round 5 (Finals): Two semi's winners play on a randomly selected map.


Questions for all of you....
1. How do I ensure that this doesn't take too long. Limit the number of rounds? Time limit games? Small maps? Other?
2. I'd like to give out prizes, but what? I thought I'd make a custom figure/card for each attendee using their names for the characters, but what about pool and tourney winners?
3. Are there any armies that seem overwhelmingly powerful or terribly weak?
4. Should we stick to Basic Rules, or could we try Advanced?
5. Is there anything that I'm missing?

Thanks in advance, everyone, for any help.

-Coach

[damja]

You didn't mention the age of the kids, but I would suggest that each game be no longer than 25-30 minutes if they are young.

What are you going to do if there is a kid there who isn't really interested?

[Bahde]

I did very similar with the armies - I had 12 for 8 kids but I made sure the number of maps was just right. I had the armies in bags labeled (ie Knights, Romans, Orcs etc) and they could pick based on d20 roll for order. For the table spots, I broke down a corresponding d20 roll for the table spot and had them roll for spots so everyone had equal chance to play each other without having some prearranged format that could leave someone feeling slighted.

Time limits on the games will be good - but I would start with longer for the first few games and shorten as needed later so they could get a better feel for it.