Heroscape Tournament/Demo Event Guide for Event Organizers

[reapersaurus]

I am hoping that we can get a Guide to provide advice, structure and feedback about running HS events.

There are a lot more events being run nowadays, and many people being faced with the same kind of questions and planning issues that many HSers have had to encounter for their events. I was hoping for a one-stop resource for people wanting to plan an event, whether it be a tournament or a demo.

Any help and contribution to this effort is appreciated. This is for the community, and the game to get more good exposure - the better-run the event, the better the impression of the game.

Tournament Guide
(to be filled in and added to as people post)

* Sponsorship (who provides the terrain, figures, etc and the prizes (if any).
- HouseMouse BoardGames, Hasbro themselves (at Gencon), Convention producers (@ Kublacon), or Event Organizers

*Materials
- HS banner

- Laser pointers for LOS determination
- Latest FAQ
- Summary of Rules play (player aids) - available from the TrU event package (ask me if interested) and a reference sheet at www.HeadlessHollow.com HERE.

* Prizes
- when should they be expected/provided?
- how many entrants should receive prizes?
- compare/contrast the different prize formats (sponsor, the event host, or shared amongst the participants (i.e. everyone brings a prize and the winners get first pick.))

* Structure
- Swiss scoring, single elimination, double-elimination, etc (pros and cons of each, and which is applicable for how many players)
- Will figures/order markers be provided? (for new and/or experienced players)
- Will you allow proxied figures to be entered? (i.e. repainted or unpainted Swog Riders and Knight of Weston for Nerak and Sir Hawthorne) *recommended*
- Will house rules be allowed? Choose and advertise which rulings or non-standard play asap. There is nothing wrong with non-radical rules changes - don't be afraid to mix-up your event with different scenarios/all-general armies/well-reasoned ability/point changes, etc.
- Will a sideboard be allowed? A sideboard may be allowed (25 - 50% of the army size), when armies are written down and not allowed to change between rounds. Any sideboard units may be exchanged for army units between rounds. Once both players say they are ready for the match, no sideboard exchanges may be made.
- Who places first? Many maps are not exactly mirrored/symmetrical- Roll the D20 or flip a coin to determine who gets to pick his starting zone.
- How long for rounds (My estimation would be 40 minutes at most, on average)
- If calculating a score for remaining figures, will you count each figure (1 Izumi Samurai is worth 20 points) or are full points awarded for squads even if only part of the squad survives?
Full points are more standard, but it is a less accurate estimation of remaining army strength.

* Which maps are best suited for what the tourney is trying to achieve
- The Glyph issue (too many unbalances the army matchups, none seems to be less strategy, proper location, etc)
- Visibly interesting vs balanced gameplay.
- The Ranged unit Dominance problem
- List of successful maps (Soulrazor, other official maps, The Pond (see below) & other fanmade maps)
- starting zone may limit common squad multiples - is this good?
Consider limiting to 2 of each common squad if you don't want CommonSquadScape.

* Location
- game conventions (GenCon, Kublacon, and GenCon SoCal, and other regional cons that have enough gaming presence to be promising)
If at a convention, can you leave the maps on the tables overnight
- Game Stores (for regional Gameday tournaments)
- HSers member's houses


Demo Guide
(to be filled in and added to as people post)

* How many/which maps to set up?
- One large (a la Hasbro), or many small?
- Which maps work well (official or unofficial) with links to download
(I suggest both 2 player and multi-player maps are shown to demonstrate the different fun of the game and to support different numbers of interested participants)
For example, The Pond (2 player) and Last of the Wellsprings (3 player free-for-all)

Click for full size
- How many points will you use on each side to demo?
I would strongly recommend around 200 points for each side when demoing the game to multiple groups (like in a typical convention situation where many people may be playing, and the shorter the demo the better).
You can have pre-combined combos of hero and squad that work thematically and balance-wise. The combos I used to good response at Kublacon to give players a good selection of theme, abilities, and powers were:

DW9000 and Zettian Guards
Sgt Drake and the Airborne Elite
Grimnak and 2 Blade Gruts
Marcus and 2 Roman Legionnaires
Khosumet and 2 Anubian Wolves
Agent Carr and the Krav Maga
Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, and Marro Warriors
Charos
Alistair MAcDirk and the Highlanders
Raelin and the Sentinels
Mimring and ?? Roman Archers
Venoc Warlord and 2 Venoc Vipers
Taelord and Minions
there are more, but you can probably see the pattern.

Anyone who has run events of any kind or done work for them (Jim, Oogie, grungebob, truth , Satyr & Alistair, allskulls, etc) and has ideas/advice or words of wisdom, please add to this Guide to make it as useful as possible.
I will edit this post as things are added by other people.
Please add links to resources or pictures of maps to help other Organizers get a good picture of your point.

Grungebob added a sample Tournament Rules in another thread, so I'll copy them here, removing a couple (glyph requirement and dice falling off):

• There should be a minimum of 8 Players, and one battlefield for every two players.

• There will be at least one referee, the ultimate judge – whose decision will be final in the case of a rules dispute. The referee will be thoroughly familiar with both the Heroscape 2nd edition rules and the latest official FAQs on Heroscapers.com.

• There will be a copy of the 2nd edition rulebook at all tables.

• A timer will be visible to all players, or time left should be announced at regular intervals.

• As players arrive (we suggest 30 minutes before the scheduled start time), they sign in at the registration table with their completed army, whether they are pre-registered or not.

• Each player should bring one pre-drafted 400 point army. Only official Heroscape figures markers and cards are eligible to be used. Extra master set figures and cards can be available for those who do not have an army at registration time. Once you register an army, you cannot change it for the duration of the tournament.

PREPARING FOR A TOURNAMENT ROUND.

•Players will be paired up with an opponent and assigned to a map.

•Players roll a 20 sided die. The player with the highest roll chooses one of the deployment zones, and places his entire army in the designated deployment zone spaces. Initiative in the first round is still determined normally once play starts.

•The opposing player places his entire army in the opposite deployment zone spaces.

PLAYING THE GAME

Players play the game as per the most current set of rules with the following exceptions:

•The game will last 1 hour from the time it starts. Keeping track of rounds is not necessary.

•When the time is called all play must finish the current order marker number. If the players have not finished the game when the one hour is over, victory goes to the player with the most points worth of figures left on the field. Full points are earned for squads even if only part of the squad survives.

•Players place their order markers simultaneously and may shield or hide them from view of the other player until placed if so desired.

•Touching an opponent’s figure during your turn is not allowed. If a figure gets accidentally moved during play the player who controls that figure may ask a judge to assist in replacing the figure if so desired.

•All dice must be rolled on a flat surface near the playing area and in full view of all players. Dice towers are acceptible. Any dice that do not lay flush at the end of the roll will result in a re-roll of the dice in question.