This is the page for the 2014 event, which already occured.

Click here to see the 2015 Event Page.

2014 Las Vegas Open Warhammer 40,000 Championships Format

1,750pts

Get your Player Packet Here.

Schedule: 2 Hour 30 Minute Rounds, 15 Minute Breaks

Thursday Night

• Early Registration

Friday

• 9:00 AM to Noon Registration Open

• Noon Round 1
• 2:30 PM Lunch
• 3:00 PM Round 2
• 5:45 PM Round 3

Saturday

• 12:30 PM Round 4
• 3:15 PM Round 5
• 6:00 PM Awards

Sunday: Top 8 Finalists Only. If you make the finals and paid for another event on Sunday, we will refund the difference to you. 

• 10:30 AM Registration
• 11:00 AM Round 6
• 1:30 PM Lunch
• 2:00 PM Round 7
• 4:45PM Round 8
• 7:00 PM The Champion is Crowned!

40K Championships Tournament Format

• The 40K Championships will be broken into 2 events. Days 1 and 2 (Friday and Saturday) will be a traditional 5 round tournament with combined hobby, generalship and sportsmanship scores to determine placings. Day 3 is for the final 8 players with the best generalship records who compete in a no holds bared, single elimination, 3 round event to determine an overall Tournament Champion!
• Every scenario has a total of 10 possible battle points.
• Whoever has the most battle points points, wins. Equal points is a tie. There are no degrees of victory, winning by 1 point or 10 is counted the same.
• The tournament is W/L/D format, with accumulated points used to determine standings within a given final bracket. For example, if you end the event with a 3-2 record, you will be ranked within that bracket according to how many battle points you accumulated throughout the event. The official scoring is 1,000pts for a win, 500pts for a tie and then accumulated battle points within the game. So, a player with a 3-2 record who accumulated 7 battle points in each of his 5 games would end with a final score of (3,035 points). We score it this way so that the W/L/D record trumps accumulated battle points, but battle points earned throughout the tournament matter in determining your precise ranking in the event.
• Pairings are Swiss style, based on strength of schedule.
• For the 5 round, Friday and Saturday tournament, we will combine your battle points (50 points total) and hobby score (50 points total) to determine your overall rank, using sportsmanship as tie breakers if necessary followed by strength of schedule. There will also be awards and recognition for those who do well in only the battle points or hobby categories. The finals will be the top 8 players with the best W/L/D records (battle points then strength of schedule as tie breakers) who then compete in a no soft score, single elimination tournament for all the marbles! Last gamer standing is crowned tournament champion!

Scenarios

Each scenario is built using two book missions played simultaneously with all 3 book bonus points. Each mission is distinct, for example, Heavy Support units in Big Guns Never Tire can not take the Relic. Winning one mission earns that player its points. If a mission is tied, neither player earns the points. Any bonus points earned via Warlord traits, etc. apply to the primary mission only. For example, if your Warlord becomes a scoring unit, that will only apply to the primary mission.

In the Scouring, each player places 2 objectives in their opponent’s deployment zone and 1 outside of either player’s deployment zone following normal objective placement rules (6 total on the board for the Scouring). Each player has a 1, 2, and 3 point objective, which are revealed just before the role to seize the initiative as normal. You will end up with 2 objectives in no man’s land, and 2 in each deployment zone. Destroying fast attack choices counts for points to this mission.

In Big Guns Never Tire, each player places 2 objectives, one in their own deployment zone, the other in their opponent’s following normal objective placement rules (4 total for this objective on the table). You will end up with 2 in each deployment zone. Destroying Heavy Support choices counts for points to this mission.

Book bonus points are added to the total, not to each mission. For example, if you win the Primary mission, lose the Secondary Mission, and get First Blood, Slay the Warlord, but not Linebreaker, you would have scored 6 points total (4 for primary, 0 for secondary and 2 of the 3 book bonus points for 6 total). You will have a score sheet for each scenario that makes tallying the points very straightforward.

• Mysterious objectives are used.
• Mysterious Terrain is not used.
• If you roll your Warlord trait out of the BRB, you roll once and choose any trait with that number. If rolling out of a codex, generate the trait as normal.

Day 1

1. Scenario 1: Emperor’s Will (4pts) and Crusade (3pts): Dawn of War Deployment. There are always 3 Crusade Objectives placed outside of either player’s deployment zone. Emperor’s Will objectives are placed in each player’s own deployment zone.
2. Scenario 2: The Scouring (4pts) and Purge the Alien (3pts): Hammer and Anvil Deployment. There are always 6 objectives for The Scouring, 2 of which must always go outside either player’s deployment zone. See scenario guidelines.
3. Scenario 3: The Relic (4pts) and Big Guns Never Tire (3pts): Vanguard Strike Deployment. There are always 4 objectives for Big Guns Never Tire. See scenario guidelines.

Day 2

1. Scenario 4: Crusade (4pts) and Emperor’s Will (3pts): Dawn of War Deployment. There are always 3 Crusade Objectives placed outside of either player’s deployment zone. Emperor’s Will objectives are placed in each player’s own deployment zone.
2. Scenario 5: Big Guns Never Tire (4pts) and The Relic (3pts): Vanguard Strike Deployment. There are always 4 objectives for Big Guns Never Tire. See scenario guidelines.

Day 3: Final 8 Players Only

1. Scenario 6: Purge the Alien (4pts) and The Scouring (3pts): Vanguard Strike Deployment. There are always 6 objectives for The Scouring, 2 of which must always go outside either player’s deployment zone. See scenario guidelines.
2. Scenario 7: Big Guns Never Tire (4pts) and The Relic (3pts): Hammer and Anvil Deployment. There are always 4 objectives for Big Guns Never Tire. See scenario guidelines.
3. Scenario 8:  Crusade (4pts) and Emperor’s Will (3pts): Dawn of War Deployment. There are always 3 Crusade Objectives placed outside of either player’s deployment zone. Emperor’s Will objectives are placed in each player’s own deployment zone.

General Guidelines

Mission Order of Operations

1. Roll for Warlord Traits and generate Psychic Powers/Gifts/etc. Each player rolls 1D6, chooses any of the three Warlord Traits with that number for their trait. If rolling from a codex Warlord Table, roll for the power as normal.
2. Roll for Night Fighting.
3. Roll for Sides. The player rolling highest chooses their deployment zone (but does not yet deploy their army, as normal) and deploys any Fortifications. Fortifications must be more than 3″ away from a board edge or another piece of terrain. Exceptions to this are the Aegis Defense Line which can be placed anywhere in your half of the table, and the Skyshield Landing Pad, which can be placed touching our board edge. If a piece of terrain cannot be placed without being more than 3″ away from a board edge an/or another piece of terrain, move the terrain the minimum distance to legally place the Fortification. The player going second then does the same. Please note, that you can still deploy inside of a Fortress of Redemption even if it is slightly outside of your deployment zone.
4. Place objectives, with the player that chose their deployment zone first, placing the first objective. This can be any of their objectives. The Relic automatically goes in the middle and is placed before any other objectives.
5. Roll for first turn as normal, following book guidelines for deploying forces, reserves, Seize the Iniative, etc.

Allowed Armies

• All current Codices, and White Dwarf armies will be allowed. We made the decision to allow Tyranid players to use either the old or new codex as the new book is so new and plays so much differently form the old book. During registration, let us know if you are playing the Old or New book, and all of your army lists will be noted as such. It will show on registration if you are using the old or new book too, so that your opponents are aware of what to expect.
• Escalation and Stronghold Assault will not be used for this event.
• Data Slates will not be used for this event.
• Allies per the Rule Book will be allowed. Please note, only 2 different factions are allowed per list. For example, White Scars+Ultramarines, or Tau+Eldar, or Imperial Guard+Inquisition. You cannot have more than 2, so no Iron Hands+Space Wolves+Inquisition. 
• Forge World units will be allowed so long as they are neither a Super Heavy nor Gargantuan Creature. The most recent version of the rules must be used. This means not just the “40K Approved” units, but any that do not fall within the above restrictions.
• Forge World Army Lists will not be allowed. Experimental rules are not allowed.
• Each player MUST have his pertinent rulebook or digital supplement with him to show his opponent.

Rules Judgments

Rules issues will be dealt with swiftly by a roaming judge. We use a hierarchy for determining rules issues as follows:

1. Main Rule Book
2. FAQs and Erratas
3. IGTC FAQ
4. Consensus of judges present at the time. Please note, that these judgments are final.

Hobby Scoring

All models must be painted to a 3 color minimum. We count primer as a color. If you have any models that are not painted to a 3 color minimum, you will be ineligible for prize support at the end of the event. We will use a Paint Rubric for judging paint. No basing requirement. We use the following rubric for paint judging with a maximum of 50 points:

1. Your army is painted to a 3 color standard. 1-5 points
2. Your army is fully painted. 1-5 points
3. Your army is fully based. 1-5 points
4. Your army features lowlighting. 1-5 points
5. Your army features highlighting. 1-5 points
6. Your army features extensive basing with 2 or more materials. 1-5 points
7. Your army features advanced modeling work such as cool conversions, greenstuff work, rivveting, etc. 1-5 points
8. Your army features advanced painting techniques such as blending, NMM, etc. 1-5 points
9. Your army features something extra such as freehand work, custom banners, cool conversions, exceptional basing, etc. 1-10 points

Comp and Sports

There will be no comp scores at this event. We feel that the game has an inbuilt comp system with the rulebooks and Codices. We do not feel that a second, player created level of comp is necessary. So bring whatever army you want to play!

Sportsmanship will be handled as a simple thumbs-up, thumbs-down check box on the results sheet.

The temptation to ding someone on sports after a tough loss is often too much for many players to resist. We therefore are providing a very narrowly defined set of terms under which a player may mark their opponent with a thumbs down mark on sportsmanship. This system is intended to punish those who are being abusive, but to not allow chimpmunking. After a great deal of real world use, we have found this system to work very well.

Legitimate reasons to give an opponent a thumbs down on sports:

1. Your opponent was 15 or more minutes late to the round.
2. Your opponent was verbally abusive. This does not mean you argued with your opponent or that your personalities clashed, but that they were verbally abusive and insulting.
3. Your opponent intentionally cheated. Be prepared to support your case to a judge.
4. Your opponent slow played. We define slow playing as not completing 4 game turns of play. Most often this results in both players getting a thumbs down. In the case of 20 or less minutes left to play, divide the time remaining between players to complete one full GAME turn. Time each other during this period to ensure that each player has an equal amount of time to complete a full game turn. If one player does not finish within their limit, the other player can force them to stop and then begin their turn. This mechanic is in place to ensure no one is slow played out of a turn of play.

What does NOT constitute a thumbs down on sports?

1. You argued over rules with your opponent.
2. Your opponent beat you.
3. You didn’t like your opponent’s army.
4. Your opponent thinks the Black Lion never should have been the head of Voltron. The Green Lion was way cooler. NERD RAGE!!!

A negative mark on sportsmanship will be used as a tie breaker for prize support and will be met with administrative action as follows:

1. First thumbs down: A verbal warning from a judge, up to reversing a win to a loss.
2. Second thumbs down: From reversing a win to a loss, up to disqualification from any prize support.
3. Third thumbs down: disqualification from any prize support, up to expulsion from the event with no refund of the ticket price.
4. Fourth thumbs down: Expulsion from the event with no refund of the ticket price.

WYSIWYG 

All models are expected to be WYSIWYG as much as is reasonable. Proxies are not permitted. Counts As armies with counts as allies will only be permitted if they represent a clearly concerted effort to build a unique army around an obvious theme. For example, an Adeptus Mechanicus army using extensive kit bashing and conversions will be fine. If you go this route, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE A HANDOUT TO SHOW YOUR OPPONENT THAT SHOWS WHAT EACH UNIT IN YOUR ARMY IS ALONG WITH ITS STATS AND PERTINENT RULES! You must also present this to them prior to the game so that they have time to understand what they are playing against. There will be no exceptions to this.

If your army uses only a single Codex but if for example you have Crimson Fists models using the Blood Angels Codex, or Chaos models using the Space Wolves Codex, that is acceptable. Allies for this type of army however, MUST be represented by their actual models. This is to avoid confusion. No exceptions.

If you are using converted or scratch built models with Forge World rules, this is acceptable so long as your model is as close to the represented model as possible in terms of equipment, size and shape. We will not be lenient with this.

If you have any questions about your army, ask us prior to the event so that we can let you know if what you have will be acceptable or not.

Modeling for Advantage

There is a fine line between creative freedom and modeling for advantage. We do not wish to stifle anyone’s creativity, but in the end, this is a game that relies heavily upon the physical characteristics of the models being used.

Modeling for advantage will be handled on a case by case basis. To resolve a possible abusive situation, follow these steps:

1. Ask the player to play the model as if it were a GW standard, modern version.
2. Call a judge to ask for a judgement.
3. Possibly substitute the model with an appropriate replacement.

Examples of what we consider modeling for advantage:

1. Using out of date and inappropriately sized models such as the rogue trader era Eldar Avatar (which currently is a large, monstrous creature model but back then, was the size of a Space Marine, which would now grant huge advantages due to being so much smaller) or Gorka Morka Trukks (which are less than half the size of modern versions). If an army is made predominantly of Rogue Trader era minis (or any era) and is clearly going for a theme, then exceptions will be made. If it appears to a judge that the player is in fact modeling for advantage, then action will be taken.
2. Increasing or decreasing the size of models to gain an advantage in gaining or granting cover. Custom Battle Wagons often fall into this category.
3. Altering a model to increase the range of a model or to benefit your LOS.

Terrain

Terrain will be prearranged and laid out by the TO’s prior to the event. We will not be using terrain placement rules per the book as it is too time restrictive. If you come to a table and feel that it is not sufficiently or fairly arranged, or that it may have been moved by the previous players, alert a TO who will arrange the terrain appropriately.

Hills: All hills are open terrain, granting cover via LoS blocking/interference as normal.

Barriers: All barriers grant cover per the book and are not considered to be Aegis Defense lines unless they were purchased and placed by a player.

Buildings/ruins: All buildings and ruins are assumed to have a ladder or other means for moving up and down. Rules in the Rule Book will be used for Ruins and Buildings.

Rock Towers, Crates, and Can Towers: Are impassible and block LOS completely (even if there are actual gaps in the terrain pieces).

All other terrain functions as outlined in the book.

What to Bring

• Your Army
• Tape Measure, Dice, Game Aids, etc.
• 3 Objective Markers on 25mm bases, 2 Objective Markers on 40mm bases.
• 10 Typed Copies of your army list.
• All pertinent rules for your army. Codecis, White Dwarf Articles, Foregworld Rules, etc.
• If you are using a counts as army, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR PLAYER HANDOUT FOR YOUR OPPONENT IDENTIFYING WHAT EACH UNIT IN YOUR ARMY IS, NO EXCEPTIONS!! You don’t need to have one for every player, just one for the judges, and one to show each opponent.
• A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beer coozy. That would just own!

Prizes!

If there’s one thing we know how to do right, it’s prizes! Expect the awesome, truck loads of prize support you’ve come to expect from us. We will have custom trophies for the popular “Best of Awards,” which go to the layers who do the best with their respective armies (day 1 and 2, only), appearance awards, generalship awards, combined score awards, you name it!

Also, we have a very, very cool Wooden Spoon this year!

And, of course, the awesome gran prize which is going to be a custom trophy, on par with the mighty Belt of Russ! You will have to be there to see it!