Hello competitive 40k players, SaltyJohn here from TFG Radio bringing you my wish list for ITC Mission Changes this season!
If you’ve been paying attention to the Competitive 40k internet scuttlebutt post-LVO you will no doubt have heard of the wish listing going on with the ITC Format/Missions for the next season. A lot of interesting ideas are getting thrown about for secondaries, removing objectives, punishing gunline armies via secondaries, punishing flyer spam armies via secondaries etc. Some of the ideas we’ve seen are good, some look pretty bad, but overall it’s just wish listing so don’t panic if you’ve seen that document that’s floating around. That also applies to the ideas I have put forth here in this article. While I do help with the ITC Format/Missions/Code of Conduct/Chess Clock/Terrain rules none of the ideas here are guaranteed to even make it past this article, let alone become part of the ITC for this season. Just like the Google Doc that’s out there, these are just ideas, but I would like to hear your feedback on them!
“If it Fits, it Sits”: in the absence of any real update from GW regarding terrain rules, this is the first in a few changes to the ITC format regarding terrain I would like to see. I would like the rule to be changed to apply to all models on all terrain features. Also add that no matter how much of a terrain piece is taken up by a model, or models, that unit may never be considered impossible to charge.
Document clean up. I would love to see the ITC document cleaned up so all the secondaries are listed alphabetically, given more concise language and made to fit on a single sheet. I would also like to see a more practical scoring sheet for each mission that has the objective placements on the actual sheet itself, everything you need in one place.
Stacking Secondaries. Get rid of them. All of them. Remove the asterisks and the ability to stack any secondary objectives. Letting some of the Secondaries stack creates too many odd interactions and I have seen people play it entirely wrong all season, show up to LVO, and be blindsided with how the stacking actually worked. Just get rid of it, it’s not necessary.
King of the Hill. KotH was one of the least taken Secondaries according to the ITC Battles App data. A lot of that has to do with when that objective was scored. End of the Battle Round is too limiting, I would like to see it changed to how I originally envisioned it when it was proposed which was the end of the player turn. It would make it a bit easier to score, but still not an auto-take secondary. You would need to build with it in mind or have it as a back pocket option against specific armies. Which makes it a more versatile secondary.
Conceding a Match. This is a contentious topic every year. It is hard to really fix correctly. The idea behind the player conceding the match earning zero points has its roots in several things but one of the primary places is to keep people from colluding to farm points. However, it also really sucks that someone who is having a terrible game, for whatever reason, is forced to either continue playing or get zero points. I am unsure what the actual solution here is, but I would love to see this addressed for the next ITC season.
Deployment types. I would like to see the Format/Mission pack moved to include the options for the TOs to run the entire event with either of the two deployment types. So you can continue to run it with the 1, 3, 5 missions and 2, 4, 6 missions using the ITC/GW Matched play deployment types. But also have two other options for using all one or the other deployment type. I understand the ITC makes it clear TOs can do whatever they want but we should be realistic, most TOs do exactly what the packet says, by codifying that they have a choice it might encourage some TOs to branch out. More diversity in the missions from event to event with the same core structure in place would be a nice change of pace.
Seize the Initiative. Throw it out. No modifications to it, just get rid of it.
3 New Scenarios. I wouldn’t mind seeing 3 Scenarios added to the Mission pack so you know what’s coming day 3 of a 9 round event. Missions designed for the Top 8 of these Uber Major events we’re seeing more and more of. Also, a single “Championship Round” mission would be really cool in my opinion. A mission that’s rarely played except in the rare circumstance of having a 9 round event! So, either 3 new missions designed for 3rd day top 8 situations or a single “Championship Round” mission played for all three games on Day 3. Either option sounds cool and adds in more variety for the 2020 season.
Pick Your Poison, and Marked for Death. These two are quite popular choices but still need some work in my opinion. PyP could probably use a few more “keywords” added to the list and MfD might need an adjustment to the PL requirement for picking it, or perhaps changing from PL to points, for determining if a unit can be chosen.
A few things I don’t want to see:
- A large increase in the number of Secondaries. If we add some, I would like to see us remove some, to keep the number more or less the same.
- Attempting to address power creep issues through the Missions. Using missions to try and adjust the meta away from certain builds because they are currently OP (Iron Hands and Raven Guard) isn’t a good idea.
- Anything that makes the “pre-game” part of setting up the game longer. This includes having to move terrain, or adjust the placement of objectives for various reasons.
- Ability to remove objectives from the game. The game begins with certain primary objectives on the board, moving toward a system where you could potentially remove objectives from the game, like Age of Sigmar does, is a bad mechanic for the ITC missions.
There are a lot of options open to us as we begin to look at the potential changes to the ITC for this season. While none of what I wrote here is guaranteed to be added, or be left out, I think this is an important conversation to have now before the changes are set and released. Someone may come up with an absolutely amazing secondary, or new primary mission, or an elegant solution to a problem such as conceding matches! The best part about asking for feedback is the potential for others to provide the input you never could have thought of on your own. So let us know in the comments what you think, not just of what I wrote, but what you think in general about the direction you’d like to see the ITC Format/Missions go for the next season.
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