DS' House Rules

[Dad_Scaper]

Preamble in the spoiler for posterity's sake.

Spoiler Alert!

Now that we are in the era of FanScapeTM there will be periodic releases of quasi-official releases.

This presents a problem for tournament directors like myself. Obviously Sam Brown, an official release, should be acceptable at most tournaments. And obviously we will have to repaint the particular 4th Massachusetts Line sculpt ourselves. But should repaints of other members of the 4th be acceptable? What about a member of the 4th that *hasn't* been repainted?

Writing as a guy who sets up tournament notices occasionally, I realized this question will not be isolated to Sam Brown. Let us say, hypothetically, that C3V releases a new figure with a Mage Knight sculpt. Well, as some of you know, Mage Knight figures will often be accented with one of three colors: yellow, blue, or red. Are they the same? If one becomes difficult to find, can another nearly identical one be substituted?

Tournament directors are going to have to be able to answer these questions and ones like them constantly.

I intend to use this thread to track my own house rules for admissibility of these quasi-official customs. I could conceivably do the same thing in one of my own tournament threads with a post I link to for future events, but it is my hope that what emerges in the following posts is something that other tournament directors can also use, customized as needed for their own events (Model TD's Official Custom Rules *link* except no Soliders of Valhalla, or something like that).

Once this thread is underway I'm going to put this intro bit into a spoiler & it will just be a list.

Unlike what it describes, the list that follows is extremely *unofficial* and is subject to change. If I say somewhere in here that Sculpt A is an acceptable proxy for Sculpt B, and it turns out that for whatever reason that proxy is a problem, then I may change it.

If nothing else this thread will be a place I can come to for my own tourney rulings on FanScape.

Anyway, on to the list; at the moment I'm just going to throw down a couple things but I expect this will become very complicated.

Rules of Thumb:

1. All rules are subject to exceptions as indicated for a particular event.
2. SoV units and C3V units are acceptable in tournament play. Other customs are not.
3. All rules are subject to the whim of the Tournament Director. If you have *any* question, get it resolved beforehand. Your tears will avail you nothing on Game Day.
4. Units must be approved/released by the SoV/C3V a full month prior to the event. That way players have an opportunity to look at & evaluate the unit, and get the sculpt, if they so desire, beforehand.
5. For the purpose of operating your calendar & counting days for 4, above: SoV units are approved when the unit passes the SoV/C3V joint review stage, which follows the deciding vote in the SoV. C3V units are approved when the official cards are published on this forum or on the home page (including a blog making the announcement).
6. Unit bases: C3V and SoV units are all clearly one or two hex based figures. If you're not sure, check with your TD. If it's a two hex figure, the base should be the right size, or at least close enough to work on the map. If the presence or absence of a base on a C3V/SoV mini creates a problem on a map because it doesn't fit on a ladder or on a hex, too bad. It's just like regular 'Scape that way.
7. Paint: As long as it's the right figure, that's what's important. Please make some effort to paint the figures, if it's one that's completely unpainted. If it's a Samuel Brown/4th Mass. issue, there's no need to paint, as long as it's obvious which is which.

Units:

1. Sam Brown may be any 4th Mass or 10th Reg, provided he is clearly distinguishable from the other 4th Mass or 10th Reg in the army, if any.
2. Varkaanan Blade Dancers: The similar Wolfen female squad figures armed with axes - I forget the name, but they're the same but with one weapon each instead of two - may be used interchangeably with the official C3V sculpt.
3. Proxies will normally be allowed but are subject to my discretion. Sahuagin Raiders for Greenscales or vice versa would be fine, for instance. Just ask first, and have the right card (or a printout, or some other substitute).
4. Mok's base: I'm told Mok stands comfortably without a base. If that's true, you don't need one for him.

Tournament Format:

1. Unless it says otherwise, the tournament format will be "Swiss System." Feel free to look it up for all the details, but the Swiss System is simply this: I will try to pair you with people who have the same record as you. The 2-0 people will play other 2-0 people.
2. The first tiebreaker is this: earlier wins count more. If four players finished 3-2, with Player A L-W-L-W-W, Player B W-L-W-L-W, Player C L-L-W-W-W, and Player D L-W-W-W-L, then Player B, who won in Round 1, comes out at the top. Players A and C, who both scored their first win in Round 2, go to the second level of tiebreaks, and Player C, who did not win until Round 3, finishes at the bottom of the bracket. It seems complicated but there are good reasons for it, which I've hidden in this spoiler because they will bore the uninterested.
   
   Spoiler Alert!

   There are three desirable goals this system will tend to accomplish over straight partial card scoring.
   
   1. In a Swiss system, the players who are winning will tend to crowd toward the top. So if you start the tournament L-L-x, you will be playing another player who has lost twice. This format rewards the player who is competing in the shrinking higher brackets of competition. If Player A goes W-W-W-L-L, and Player B goes L-L-W-W-W, Player A has lost to players who were 3-0 and 3-1 at the time, where Player B has beaten players who were 0-2, 1-2, and 2-2.
   
   2. This format will tend to favor the winners of head to head matchups among the top finishers. Note our most recent event as of this writing, here. I came in 5th with a 3-2 record. Behind me were Drewcula in 6th place and Twinkie in 7th. I had played them both and beaten them both, so it would seem fair (I hope) that I finish ahead of them.
   
   3. This assures that the winner of the game in which both players are 4-0 is the champ and the loser comes in second. Seems eminently fair to me.
3. Next tiebreaker is partial card scoring.

[dok]

"Incorrect" paint jobs are and have always been 100% acceptable in tournament play. Swogs have always been interchangeable with Nerak, even if you're playing both in the same army (just mark the one that's Nerak somehow). Check out killercactus's army on day 2; 2 squads of EOVs used as proxies for Venocs. Color is a non-issue.

On the other hand, I could definitely see making people that want to use Samuel Brown use the exact sculpt on the card. It doesn't matter if he's actually repainted, as long as he's the right sculpt and he's somehow distinguishable from other 4th Mass on the field.

[Dad_Scaper]

Well, I can't hear a word he says on YouTube but if KC did it it's good enough for me. The goal is to make something acceptable (a) to me but also (b) to the community so I can go with that.

I edited the OP to accommodate. I do recall Rÿchean posting something similar, dok, thanks for the input.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Well, I can't hear a word he says on YouTube but if KC did it it's good enough for me.

I don't think KC says anything other than "woo, vipers!", and runs through his army to help Cleon out.

The money dialog is the off-camera exchange a minute earlier... it goes something like this:

Matthias Maccabeus: ... that Raelin hiding back there? Hey, that's not... (louder) Hey that's a repaint, that's illegal.

Mantrainchoochoo: Hey, um, Mark? I'm allowed...

Matthias Maccabeus: Illegal!

Mantrainchoochoo: ...to paint my figures, I'm not allowed...

Matthias Maccabeus: Illegal called!

Mantrainchoochoo: ...to re-sculpt them, right?

Matthias Maccabeus: You can't... (pause) her wing is bent.

Mantrainchoochoo: You're a jerk!

Mantrain's red Raelin somehow survived this challenge from Matthias (although she was dead by the end of the first turn thanks to Matthias's Airborne).

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

The goal is to make something acceptable (a) to me but also (b) to the community so I can go with that.

I edited the OP to accommodate. I do recall Rÿchean posting something similar, dok, thanks for the input.

And thanks for doing it; having some community standard for acceptable proxies is surely going to get more important as the customs become more accepted.

[1Mmirg]

This is a great idea, DS, thanks for doing it.

I'm currently using a Redcoat for Sam (just because I have more and they clearly stand out from the blue Mass), that said, as a TD I would want to see the proper Sam played, just to keep everything fair/balanced.

(I could see allowing any Mass, if all players involved are okay with that.)

As for other issues, like the color of a MK sculpt, I think that is a non-issue. If the sculpt is the same, then the coloring doesn't matter (just like EOV vs. Venocs or San vs. a blue coat).

I look forward to seeing this thread grow. Thanks for getting it started.

[Dad_Scaper]

Thanks, Mmirg.

It's been brought to my attention by someone whose input I value very much that I made a significant error in my OP. Samuel Brown is not "as close to official as you can get," as I wrote. Samuel Brown *is* official.

It's an important distinction and one I am horrified to realize I overlooked.

That said, I stand by my example of authorizing alternative sculpts for him. So. Edit to the OP incoming, but Samuel Brown will remain there for sculpt-related reasons.

[peteparkerh]

Very interesting thread. Why would a repainted 10th foot not be accepted as a Samuel Brown? I actually have an extra set of 10th foot that I was thinking about doing this. I really don't want to sacrifice one of my precious 4th mass.

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by peteparkerh

Very interesting thread. Why would a repainted 10th foot not be accepted as a Samuel Brown? I actually have an extra set of 10th foot that I was thinking about doing this. I really don't want to sacrifice one of my precious 4th mass.

Hah!

Funny you mention that. I had been wondering the same thing & thinking I should probably change that exact thing.

As my 2/26 event draws closer it looks like there won't be any C3V or SoV releases before then. Either group could surprise me, though.

[1Mmirg]

GenCon only takes official sculpts--i.e. exact sculpts. So that's why the 10th don't fly there. That said, I'm comfortable with a 10th repainted/marked to be Samuel, but I can't speak for everyone and certainly not for all TDs and all Tourney players.

I think this is one thing that you have to ask your TD before any given event about.

[chas]

To kolakoski:

1. Although it is unclear to us outsiders in the First Post, his table rules can be ignored, as they apply to the acceptance of customs, which are not being allowed at this event anyhow. And yes, it was my first question also.

2. Its Sherman who accused the other three of us--since he wasn't able to go with us during that weekend--of recently going to Clan's Baltimore Con and lying about it because he didn't see any of us in the standings!

To Dadscaper:

1. Thanks for the interesting format. As we NYC guys eschew most A/A+ units as for sissies anyhow, we should be quite comfortable with your list of allowable units. Nice work.

2. "Jealous of Maryland" for what, exactly? OK, I'll give you the crabcakes...

3. I can almost guarantee you I won't win the event, but I'm afraid you're not safe with the other NYC guys around!

4. Actually, if you want to have a great event, you should allow all Sherman Davies customs. Of course, that list is probably as long as your Units Allowed List...

[Dad_Scaper]

Yup. For those attending my next event (My Time to Shine), this thread does not matter one bit, because it concerns (a) customs and (b) Sam Brown, who is official but is also, if memory serves, a B+ (or maybe an A-), and thus ineligible for a different reason.

[Neo]

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