Comp Scores: My Thoughts

Ok guys :)

So now that some thoughts have been floating around ya'lls heads I think it's time to share my thoughts on Composition Scores.

I'll be up front about it now. Through my experiences with different tournaments in different areas and different levels of competitiveness I've got to put my vote in with no comp. The reason I'm behind no comp is because I believe that the codices, to an extent, have been balanced to play against each other with no other modifications. I also feel that you can not (without a pains taking amount of work and quite a bit of subjectivity) make a balanced Comp System. Here's why;

Option 2: Although this is the system I prefer in the event of comp scores at tournaments, especially the openness of how it is scored, there is still a large flaw in it. The problem lies in that not all codices are meant to use and be limited by the same FOC slots. The codices are balanced with each other by being able to use all the FOC slots without penalty. When two armies can take the same exact list, and one is penalized and the other is not you can see the break in the system.

Here's an example. We'll take what some might call a cheesy list of 3 Landraiders. Here's a little 1,500 pt list.

Space Marines
Captain
Assault Terminators riding in LR
Tac Squad
Tac Squad
Bike Squad
Vindicator
LR
LR

So that's a little bit less then 1,500 pts and a comp score of -3 or 17 pts.

Space Marines Blood Angels
Captain
Assault Terminators riding in LR
Tac Squad w/ LR
Tac Squad w/ LR
Bike Squad
Vindicator

Now we have the exact same list, (ok some sspecial rules are different) but because all Blood Angel units can take LRs as Dedicated Transports this list get's a comp score of -0 or 20 pts.

Another Example would be the Space Marine player who can take 3 10 man Tactical Marine squads. This squad has 3 scoring units and no reduction in Comp Score, but on the field depending on missions can become 6 scoring units if needed. Now take any other Army out there (other then IG who can get 14 scoring units per Troop FOC) and they have to fill 6 slots to have the same kind of scoring possibilities. That's -5 to their comp score, or a total of 15 points.

There are many examples like these that lead me to believe that this kind of option for comp is not balanced.

Option 3: Option 3 comes down to how much do you trust your TO's or Judges opinions. What one person might find over the top might not be to another player. It is just too subjective for my liking. One Judge might have been beaten by a simular list the day or week before and feels that it's too powerful. Or they may not like a certain army and so score it lower. The point is with out a clear set of rules set in place before the Tournament, it's impossible to walk into an even knowing if your Army Lists will be scored well or not.

Then there are the horror stories of people walking in with the exact same list and being scored differently on them. Once again if two armies containing the same units can't be judged and given the same score then the system does not work.

Option 4: Some of the different things I've heard here talk about opponent scoring and the like. I think this is about as good as Subjective Sportsmanship scoring (which will be a later topic). There are people not out there, maybe not all of them, but some who will give people very low scores just because they lose. Doe losing mean that the other player brought an army that was out of balance, or that couldn't be won against? Sometimes it's the dice, sometimes there are just dumb mistakes, and sometimes people are just matched up against players of different caliber. As much as I would like to believe that people can give fair and balanced scoring against people all it takes is one not doing so to skew the scores and unbalance things.

There you have it, with the different soft score that there are I don't believe that Composition Scores should be part of the tournament scene anymore. Not only have I been unable to find a balanced way of scoring, but I feel that it keeps players from playing what they would like to play without penalizing them.

And then you always have the issue of someone building a list within the confines of Composition, and an Opponent who doesn't and builds the biggest meanest list they can. Because of what Comp Scores are meant to do, one person has a weaker list then the other and makes for an unbalanced game. Comp Scores may balance things out for overall winner later, but makes for a really un-fun game for those who have to play against the person.

And if fun is the name of the game, then comp should be out.

-CKR

Comp Scores: What are your Thoughts?

Hey everyone.

Lately I've seen quite a bit of discussion on Composition Scores in tournament use. Now I'm not here to tell you my opinion on it quite yet, but I would love to know how you guys feel about it. So I'll detail out a couple of the options that are being used, and see what you guys think.

Option 1: No Comp Score. (Easy enough)

Option 2: Comp Score based on units taken. Can be seen at some tournaments such as Astronomi-Con. The scoring system can be found here, http://www.mts.net/~xian/astronomi-con/websiteV2/rules/composition.htm

To summarize it, it says you get to use a set number of FOC choices for free. If you go beyond the free ones, points are deducted from the Composition Score depending on what and how many of those FOC slots you take.

Option 3: Judges scoring. I can't remember the tournament, but it has 3-5 judges and the judges look over each list and try to determine how many games the list is expected to lose. The more games it's expected to lose. The better the composition score.

Option 4: I want a Composition Score, just not one you described. Here's my thoughts on how I would like Comp Scores to be.

So it's all about you guys today, let's hear what you have to say :)

-CKR

40k BRB FAQ 1.1 Out

So much to many people's surprise GW has released a new set of FAQ's for the 40k Big Rule Book. I've only just started skimming through it but is appears to be quite thourough so far. It should solves quite a few questions people have been having.

Check it out here!

The Stormraven?

Yeah uh... I was hoping for something more. Thoughts?

Original Info can be found on Warseer.

Chaos Space Marines: Army Overview

Models:
*Plastic to Metal ratio, While most of the Troop Choices are plastic you'll find that a fair amount of the other Infantry models including HQs and Elite and Heavy Support to be metal. Luckily other then an HQ choice and Obliterators you could almost get away with a full plastic force.

*How old the current models are, Most of the models are quite old, there have been some updates to the HQ Daemon Princes, Obliterators, and the new Defiler, but other then that most of the models have been around for about 5 years or longer.

*Anything new coming out soon, as of right now there is no News of new stuff.

*Large back catalogue of Classic/OOP models? There is still a small catalogue of the Classic models on GW's website, but ebay seems to be full of older models.

*Fun/easy to paint, many schemes available to choose from? There are many schemes available for Chaos Space Marines, all ranging from Dark to Darker, and can be varied even more by the Chaos God that your army may choose to follow.

The larger models can be quite fun to paint, but the Chaos Armor itself can get a little tedious to paint as you have to outline almost every arm, shoulder pad, breast plate and leg. Still the models are fairly easy to paint as you do not need advanced painting skills to be able to pull the details off the models.

*How many models in an average army of 1,500-2,000 points, Most armies will consist of about 45-60 models.

*Costs in £/$ in collecting the average army, relatively cheap or expensive when compared to other armies, You will probably be looking at close to $500-600 for a 1,500 point army. If you concentrate on having higher point models and large vehicles this could possibly drop to about 450. This seems about average for most armies.

Background:
*Small summary of the race's history, A Chaos Space Marine is a towering warrior, whose brute strength is tempered by inhuman skill. Armed with a fearsome bolter, protected by a suit of power armour and the product of intense training and genetic manipulation, he is far beyond a mortal man, transformed into a lethal, superhuman killing machine. The Chaos Space Marines were once Humanity's ultimate warriors, dedicated to the defence of the Emperor and the Imperium of Man. Having since sworn themselves to the Dark Gods, in exchange for untold power and immortality, they wage war on the very worlds they once fought to protect. Though their noble ideals and goals have been cast aside, their superhuman bodies and military skill remain, leaving them to degenerated into psychotic killers.

*How do they get on with other races, They don't. Pretty much that simple. The Chaos Space Marines are mostly blood driven to destroy the universe.

Play Style:
*General playing style, A Chaos Space Marine army is an army of the most blood hungry, feared warriors to have walked the void. An army of elite, battle hardened veterans it will often be out numbered, relying on its greater skill and equipment to win the day. The Chaos army list is very flexible, allowing you to create an army suiting a number of playing styles.

*Themed army list types, there are a couple of themes, which can be seen in the Chaos Space Marine Codex. These themes are usually broken between Legions, and Gods.

Chaos Legions:
The Black Legion - is a Legion of Chaos Space Marines united to the pursuit of a single purpose and opposed to the infighting that consumes so many of their Chaos Space Marine brethren, as they serve Chaos Undivided. They are always brought together in great numbers when it is the will of their Warmaster, Abaddon the Despoiler, the heir of Horus. Whenever the entire Black Legion is called to battle it marks the beginning of another of Abaddon's Black Crusades against the Imperium of Man.

Word Bearers - are one of the nine First Founding Space Marine Legions which betrayed the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy, becoming Chaos Space Marines, their allegiance pledged to their Daemon Primarch Lorgar and to Chaos Undivided. The Word Bearers were also the first Space Marine Legion to be corrupted by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and through their actions they corrupted the Warmaster Horus and brought on the terrible civil war of the Horus Heresy in all its savagery.

Alpha Legion - are the Chaos Space Marines Traitor Legion about whom the least is known. They are experts in infiltration and their armies contain many Chaos Cultists in addition to regular Chaos Space Marines. The Alpha Legion's Primarch was named Alpharius, who was actually one of the identical twin Primarchs Alpharius Omegon, two brilliant and secretive Primarchs, one of whom was reportedly later killed after the Horus Heresy by Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines.

Night Lords - are one of the nine Traitor Space Marine Legions which betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy, becoming Chaos Space Marines. They do not worship any of the four Chaos Gods individually, but acknowledge them equally in the form of Chaos Undivided as they ruthlessly spread terror and fear amongst the galaxy's inhabitants.

Iron Warriors - once formed the Emperor's most able body of siege troops. The Iron Warriors Primarch, Perturbo, excelled in siege and trench warfare above all else and his treatise on fortifications and their destruction formed the basis of several sections of the Tactica Imperium.

Chaos Cults:
Death Guard - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his 'gifts', they are Plague Marines—men eternally rotting away within their Power Armour but immune to pain or minor injury.

Emperor's Children - are a Legion of Chaos Space Marines who solely serve the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure.

Thousand Sons - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines who are sworn solely to the service of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and sorcery. The main feature that distinguishes the Thousand Sons from the other Traitor Legions is the sheer number of psyker mutations that have always existed among the Space Marines in this Legion. They prefer to use Chaos Sorcerers and guile in combat, relying on their psychic abilities and sorcerous knowledge to earn them victory.

World Eaters - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines who now inhabit the Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Imperium of Man's Segmentum Obscura. The World Eaters are also one of the twenty First Founding Space Marine Legions, though they were also one of the first to betray the Emperor for Chaos. The World Eaters are the dedicated servants of Khorne, the Chaos God of War and Murder, and live for nothing more than to spill blood in his name. The World Eaters'Primarch, Angron, was one of the first of the Space Marine Primarchs to join with the Warmaster Horus when he turned against the Emperor of Mankind and began the Horus Heresy.

*Competitive list types, - Most of the current competitive lists contain Plague Marines as Troops riding in Rhinos with 2 Melta Guns, 1-2 Daemon Princes, and 2-3 units of 2-3 strong Obliterators for Heavy Support.

*Current tournament standings, The Chaos Space Marines can still hold their own in most tournaments but they are starting to show their age. While not often in the top three it's hard not to find them in the top 10.

Misc:
*How popular is the army, Is one of the more popular armies across from Space Marines, seeing as how they are the evil twin.

*When was the book released, The current Codex was released in September 2007.

*When is the next one due if known, there has been no word of a new coxed.

*Any race specific forums, I've not found any Chaos Space Marine Forums, if you find one let me know and I'll update.


***If you find any information on here outdated or inaccurate please let me know so that I can update, thanks***