Remember, No Bottom Lip Trembling........

Last year I TO’d four Warhammer 40k events. All four were at 1850 points. Each of them had a Composition Score that effectively made up 20-30% of the Overall Score. For the four events, one had a panel, two were TO judged and one had peer judging (a Masters event with 12 players).

The intention of this score was purely to act as a handicap because I believe that GW can’t balance a dozen plus codexes over three editions and over a decade. This balancing is not a precise science but I firmly believe that it is a better alternative to believing that the 3rd Edition Daemonhunter Codex can go toe to toe with the 5th Edition Space Wolves and Imperial Guard armies.

At each of those events the best player won, in two cases the same player while in the fourth that dual winning player lost his first game and never made the ground up on the eventual winner.

After the recent Battlecry event in Auckland where composition scoring could most charitably be described as “problematic”, there has been a call to move to a No Comp environment. This is a very very tempting proposition for a TO because it removes one of the major causes of bitching after the event. Certainly for the gun-players (and those that think they are gun players) it is also very tempting. They can push efficiency to the extreme.

In NZ, the Nicon event is going to be No-Comp. I really want to encourage the New Zealand community to support this event. However……and this is pointed at those who think they are good but ultimately get exposed….remember, no tears. This is big boy pants time and there is no point whining after the event about other people’s armies if you get flogged seven Sundays sidewards.



Everybody starts with a level playing field. You have the choice of 12+ codexes and a Force Organisation chart the same as everyone else. You only have the figures for one army? Bad luck. There’s no could’ve, should’ve, would’ve…..if you take an army less than the most efficient build for your likely opponents and the given missions then you are handicapping yourself and it’s your choice. Not the TO, not the other players, not God…..just you :-)

Next time play better! Oh, and have fun!

Disclaimer: As an ex-tournament player I would have loved it if it was always No-Comp. It rewards people who put thought into army construction and takes one variable (Comp Scoring) out of the equation. However it does discriminate against those that don’t have access to a variety of “powerful” armies. There is also an argument around Market Efficiency that says over time you limit the breadth of armies you will face. That is not a bad thing from a competitiveness point of view but does assume you’re main reason for attending is to win.