Nationals Wh40k Rules

THE BRITISH HISTORICAL GAMES SOCIETY

present

BRITCON 2008

The BRITCON/WPS 40K rules promote a different style of play to that which you may be familiar with through playing at GW events and tournaments. The overriding principle when putting together this rules pack was that all players attending this event should enjoy every game they play over the course of the event. To this end there are several mechanisms in place to restrict some of the more extreme armies that players may be tempted to bring. In addition many of the score reporting procedures have developed over the years to the point where we are pleased to say a BRITCON 40K tournament more or less runs itself.

2. The tournament will be played using all of the relevant current rules and supplements that are available to the general public as of the date of the tournament. This includes all clarifications made in Chapter Approved and the official FAQ documents available from the GW website.

3. There is a four-week grace period before this event. If GW formally releases a new Army list or rules modification within four weeks of the event (NOT in an Army deal), then this list or rules modification will not be used. If released at least four weeks before the event, then this list or rules modification will be used. This includes all material published via GW whether via printed media or via the Internet.

1. Read your rulebooks, supplements and other relevant material to refresh your memory before attending the event. Remember you may play against players who do not interpret the rules in the same way as you do, so be prepared to compromise and accept the fact that you could be playing the rule incorrectly.

2. Don’t forget that you need to bring all the relevant materials to play. Specifically dice, tape measures, templates, rulebooks, codices, and any other materials you require to play a game of Warhammer 40,000.

3. It is strongly recommended that players be familiar with the electronic FAQ's for each army to be found on GW’s website. At the very least you should print out and bring the FAQ for your army. These rules will be used, so you will be at a disadvantage if you are not familiar with them.

5. You should ensure you have at least two legible copies of any required documents as specified in the event specific rule set (e.g. army roster). One copy is for judging and the others are for your use during the event. If you do not bring these you will incur a penalty score.

1. When you arrive at the event you must register at the designated registration point. Please register as soon as possible as the event cannot begin until all players are registered.

3. You must provide the organizers with one legible copy of any required documents as specified in the event specific rule set (e.g. army roster). Ensure your name is clearly marked on these documents. If it is not or the umpires cannot decipher your writing then this will result in a penalty score.

1. All “cocked” dice must be re-rolled. Agree with your opponent before the game what definition of “cocked” you will use.

2. Any special dice rolls must be declared before they are made and witnessed by either your opponent or an acceptable independent (e.g. an umpire).

4. Dice must be rolled where both players can see the results. Give you opponent time to see the dice you have rolled.

2. In the event of a rules debate which seems unanswerable, roll a D6 each time the situation occurs and get on with the game.

4. If an umpire is asked to make a ruling, that decision is binding. Players arguing with an umpire may incur a penalty score.

5. Umpires are free to interrupt any game to clarify or point out mistakes to players.

6. The Umpires decision is final, even if they are subsequently found to have made an incorrect judgment.

1. Where at all possible all models in the army should be WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get. This means that if you have paid for an upgrade on a model, then the model should where possible display that upgrade, and vice versa. At the umpires discretion non-WYSIWYG models may be removed from a players army – the player will be required to continue with his army “as is” for the remainder of the tournament.

3. Ensure you are using the correct miniatures to represent your units as far as you can.

4. Using non-Citadel miniatures is fine providing they fit into the WH40K Universe and you can tell what they are supposed to be.

5. If the miniature does not look appropriate, then it may not be used. Basically if it doesn’t look like what it is meant to be, then don’t bring it!

1. Players must provide a copy of the rules for their army i.e. Codex or Army List.

3. All armies must be chosen from the most current Codex available for that race.

4. Only the following Chapter Approved armies may be used at this event: Kroot Mercenaries and Blood Angels. Any Chapter Approved army not mentioned above may not be used.

5. Space Marine, Imperial Guard, and Inquisitorial Ordo armies may include (other) Inquisitorial Ordo units as allies, as per those Codices. Inquisitorial Ordo armies may obviously include Inducted Guard and Allied Space Marines as per the Codex. Lost and The Damned armies may include Chaos Space Marine allies, as per the Eye of Terror Codex. No other army may include allies. The Trait “We stand alone” may not be taken by Space Marines

6. Special Characters or Units may not be used except where they are necessary to actually have a particular army such as Raven Wing, but they must lead a pure army such as pure Raven Wing.

7. Forgeworld rules are not allowed. You may still bring along Forge World models, but they will count as the “standard” model of their type. For example, you may bring a Leman Russ Executioner, but it will count as an ordinary Leman Russ.

8. No Vehicle Design Rules (VDR) vehicles, Super Heavy vehicles or Tyranid Monstrosities are allowed at all.

9. The army list variants presented in the Index Astartes series of books have been superseded – they may not be used.

There is no army composition scoring as such for this tournament, however as we wish this to be a friendly, fun tournament experience for all concerned, there are guidelines for players below.

Army lists submitted for verification will also be checked for “friendliness” and any “over the top” lists may be sent back for further consideration.

2. Lists must be submitted in either .doc, .txt, or .xls formats only. Army Builder files will not be accepted and you will be asked to re-submit. If you send an army builder text file, please take the time to format it legibly, or else you will receive the penalty for an illegible list.

2. Only the organizer may provide impassable or very difficult terrain features.

Player’s Terrain

1. All players should bring enough terrain to cover 1/8th of a 6’ x 4.’ Table. Together with your opponent’s scenery, this will combine to cover the ¼ of the table that the rulebook recommends. This is the min. required amount of terrain. Also, those with City Fight Terrain available are asked to bring along what they are able to provide.

2. Players must make available all the terrain they have brought in every game. You may not assess your opponent’s army and then to decide to make available only X number of pieces of terrain.

4. All pieces of terrain must have a footprint of greater than 12 square inches (4”x3”).

5. No single piece of terrain may have a greater dimension than 12”. As such no terrain piece can have a greater area than 144 square inches footprint (12”x12”).

6. Terrain types may not be combined. i.e. players may not use a wooded hill; such terrain must be fielded as either a wood or a hill.

8. Players who bring unreasonable terrain may not be allowed to use it and this will be at the umpire’s discretion. Unused terrain must be removed from the table prior to the game commencing to avoid confusion.

1. Terrain is placed before player’s roll-off to determine choice of deployment zone.

3. Both players roll a D6; the highest roll may choose a single piece from the pool to place.

4. The piece is placed anywhere on the table, as long as it is not within 6” of any pieces of terrain already placed.

5. The second player then chooses a single piece of terrain from the remaining pool, and places it as in step 4. Players alternate placing a piece in this fashion until all the pieces are on the table.

6. Each piece is then scattered 2D6” in a random direction determined by the roll of a scatter dice. If a ‘Hit’ is rolled, the piece stays were it was initially placed.

7. If the roll of the scatter dice is sufficiently high enough to take the piece off the table, then the piece will ‘bounce’ back as soon as it makes contact with the table edge the remaining distance at 90o to the direction it initially scattered.

8. Terrain may not be scattered such that it ends up on top of any other pieces. Should this happen then ‘bounce’ the piece as soon as it comes into contact with an existing piece as per 7 above.

If either player, for whatever reason, does not supply terrain that satisfies all 8 of the Players Terrain Rules above, then the Placing of Terrain Rules above are not used; instead apply the following:

1. The player who has brought terrain may place all their terrain pieces anywhere on the table.

3. There is no dice-off to determine choice of table edge. The player who supplied the terrain may choose their table edge; their opponent gets the opposite edge.

4. The player who supplied the correct terrain may choose to go first or second.

1. Prior to each game commencing, both players are required to display their army to their opponent and should spend five minutes discussing any special rules or features of each unit and the army as a whole. Note that you do not have to reveal any “secrets” at this stage.

2. All games will last the number of turns noted in the scenario description or two and a half hours. Note this time includes terrain placement, discussing each other’s army lists and any special rules, discussing the effects of terrain and troop deployment.

3. Players playing particularly slowly or deliberately time wasting may receive a penalty score deduction.

4. Remember there is a sequence of play (and a chart is provided in the rulebook). Should you forget to do something - tough, it is your fault. Do not use the “puppy dog eyes” tactic and try to make your opponent feel guilty, this is unfair. Accept your mistake and get on with the game.

1. At the end of each game, swap army lists with your opponent and check the following:

a. The army list and the army you just played against are in fact the same and that there are no differences.

b. The army is legal to the best of your knowledge. If required you may look at the appropriate army book to check this.

c. If there is any problem with an army list, notify an umpire immediately. Any issues must be resolved straight away between the players and the umpire.

2. At the end of each game, players must report their scores. Fill in your game result/score on the Game Result form provided.

3. IMPORTANT: You are required to fill out the result (Win / Lose / Draw), the VP total and the Tournament Points.

4. Pairing of opponents via the Swiss System will still be done on your win/loss record however.

When you have finished your game, add up the victory points as per the Warhammer 40k rulebook.
When you have done this you should work out the difference between the victory points scored between yourself and your opponent.

In scenarios where objectives or locations have to be secured, ONLY INFANTRY units are allowed to secure the objectives.

The maximum last turn move permitted onto an objective to secure or contest it is 12”, so no turbo boosting to claim or contest objectives in the final move of the game.

Then use the following table to work out your level of victory, or loss, and how may tournament points you receive.

Game 1 and 4 will use Alpha Mission Levels to score and points will be awarded as follows, based on how many objectives you control or how many scoring units you have in your opponents deployment zone;

2. The overall winner will be the player with the highest tournament points total. In the event of a tie, the player with the highest total VP’s scored will be the winner.

The Player judges will be Geoff Hamilton and others to be announced. All judges’ decisions are final. You may be able to bribe them with a pint though.

2. Psychic Powers that are used at the Start of the Turn may be cast while the user is locked in Close Combat

1. A model on a Jetbike may be equipped with a Singing Spear and use it normally in the Shooting phase but may not use it in Close Combat at all.

1. A Resurrection Orb only allows a Necron model to make a WBB roll when hit by a weapon that allows no save in HTH or by a weapon that has a Strength value double the models Toughness. It does not allow a Necron model a WBB roll in any other circumstances when they are killed outright. Examples include wounded on a six by a Wraithcannon, instant killed by a Force Weapon, a failed Death or Glory attempt etc.

1. Until such a time as GW release an official model for them, players wishing to use Drop Pods in their army must either buy them from Forge World or scratch build them. Scratch built Drop Pods must be of similar size to a large blast template. Any Drop Pods deemed inappropriately large or small will not be allowed, at the organizers discretion.

2. “Heed the Wisdom of the Ancients” Chapter Trait allows you to take Dreadnoughts as either Heavy Support and/or as Elites.

3. “Be Swift as the Wind” Chapter Trait only applies to ordinary Bike Squadrons. Neither Scout Bike nor Attack Bike Squadrons may be taken as Troops, nor may they purchase the Expert Rider skill.

4. Land Raider Crusaders may not be used as a squad transport from the squad options of those units allowed a Land Raider as a dedicated transport vehicle. You may obviously still use one from the Heavy Support section and put the squad in it.

1. Models with deamonic speed do not set up in escalation, models with siren can use it in assault OR enemy shooting phase not both, psychic powers are used once per game turn

1. Zoanthropes and Biovores deploy as Infantry in missions that use the Escalation rule.

All (non skimmer) vehicles/monstrous creatures count as level 3 models, please note you use this size for LOS over combats and terrain only. Level 3 models only block LOS to each other if they are same size or larger, therefore a land raider cannot hide behind a rhino or a rhino hide behind a crashed landspeeder

Destroyed vehicles count as level 3 /dangerous/ area terrain. But with the caveat above for LOS. Any non tank/walker counts a level 2 /dangerous/ area terrain

The aim of these Army Composition (AC) notes is to encourage players to bring balanced armies to this tournament. Armies that score well on this basis are based around a solid core of troops with support from a diverse range of elite forces, assault squads and heavy firepower units. The judges will actively encourage players to bring an army following this ethos. We want to find the best General/Tactician, not the WACC’est player/list out there.

With the above in mind we are asking you to try to stick closely to the guidelines below, a panel of “judges” will consider army lists and any considered to be too extreme may incur penalty points, although players will be given the chance to alter their list before this happens. KEEP IT FRIENDLY !!!

Every army has to have a minimum of two troops choices; if you wish to include a third choice in any other category such as fast attack then you must have a minimum of three troops choices.

Armies should be 2000pts or less, NOT 1 POINT OVER, and comply with a standard single force composition chart.

This concept is central to the WPS Composition system. Experience has shown us that the vast majority of armies that would be considered “beardy” or “unfair” are based upon repetition of units. For example, most players have no objection to a single Wraithlord, yet many players consider three to be “cheesy”. The concept of Duplication is intended to discourage such armies by penalizing excessive repetition.

So, we do not want to see squad after squad of 5Marines, Las/Plas; multiple 3 Obliterators; multiple 3xRangers etc.

Nor do we want to find overloading of Star Engine/holofields, Assault Cannons, Pie Plates etc.

You all know what we mean, so think about your list, try something new or different, challenge yourself to do well with a more balanced choice, see how much fun you can have.

APPENDIX 3 - SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES

Tokens to represent stratagems especially barricades, razor wire etc, dice, templates, tape measure, army, army list, relevant codices, 40K Rulebook, Cities of Death book and up-to-date FAQs. Players should feel free to bring along any bits of terrain they would like to use in the city fight tournament. As stated above these will be pooled and placed by the judges so if you bring them please be prepared for others to use them.

You can feel the earth move under your feet. It’s an earthquake! The constant warfare has torn the mantle apart causing even more ruination to this once proud city.

The Manchurs are snipers without parallel for many light years around and rose in opposition to the Lamtai and in the absence of government the Manchurs have taken control of large tracts of the city and it is inevitable that at some point during your fight to capture the city you will cross their path. Do not show them mercy as they will certainly not show you same courtesy. The only thing they respect is force.

Placed: One Sniper will be pre-placed by an organiser before the game starts. It must remain where it is and will not move during the game.

Booby Traps: Even when discovered the snipers are not easy to root out.Manchurs set traps to warn them of approaching enemies and to deter any of those who would try to distract them from their single minded purpose. The building the sniper is in counts as having D3+3 booby traps.

Ultimate Sniper: The sniper may target any model in LOS and range, e.g. heavy weapons trooper or veteran sergeant. When a 5+ is rolled to hit the shot counts as AP2. His line of sight is also unrestricted by the building he is in i.e. he can see over 6 inches through the building he is in.

Master of Stealth: The snipers are adept at hiding themselves in the skeletal remains of Ranex capitalis. So adept are they that even those indiscriminate weapons of city fighting are near useless against them. The Sniper gains +2 to any cover save and gets a cover save even against weapons that would ignore cover saves such as flame weapons. They can never contest or hold an objective nor plant flags.

Fast Shot: The sniper shoots once at the end of each players shooting phase at a target of that players choosing

Oath: The only thing the once noble Manchurs now respect in might. Should you humble one of their number it is likely that you will attract the services on one of their kinsmen. Should the sniper be killed the player that did this may use the sniper model in game 6 as a fellow sniper offers his services in a show of respect for defeating one of his brethren. The sniper in this instance replaces ‘fast shot’ and ‘placed’ rules with the ‘infiltrate’ special rule. He is worth 60 VPs.

Fearless: The sniper is so bound to his cause he is Fearless as described in the 40k Rule Book.

Not every conflict can take place on stable ground. Some worlds are hotbeds of geological activity, where continental tectonic plates grind against each other causing earthquakes and forming new mountain ranges in sudden upheavals of molten rock. In this scenario, two forces have met each other on a most unpredictable and dangerous battleground. Will strength of arms or the fickle planet's violent growth spurts determine the victor?

Fury of the Earth. After both armies have deployed, roll a D3+1 to determine the number of focal points present on the battlefield. For each focal point, place a marker in the centre of the table and roll 4D6 along with the Scatter die. The result of the 4D6 is the number of inches the marker is moved in the direction determined by the Scatter die. If a hit is rolled, the marker is moved half the number of inches in the direction of the small arrow on the Hit side of the Scatter die.

On the result of any double, the ground buckles and shakes as the unstable plates shift underfoot. The total of the doubles rolled determines the tremor's radius from the focal point and the area in which the quake has the greatest effect. For example: if double 4's are rolled, all models within 8" of the focal point would be affected by the tremor. Any units of infantry, cavalry, bikes, or walkers within the tremor's radius must test to keep their footing. Roll a D6 for each unit or independent model (a result of 6 always fails). If the result is higher than the unit's Toughness, the unit is pinned for its next turn. Note that this roll is not a normal pinning test; even Fearless models can still be knocked over by the shaking earth.

On the result of a 2 (ie, snake eyes), the earth itself splits wide open and steam and sulphurous gases spew out with great force. Place the Ordnance Blast template centred on the focal point. Any model fully or partially under the template will suffer a wound on a 4+. Normal Armour saves apply, and vehicles touched by the template take one hit with an Armour Penetration value of 2D6. If te marker is within a building when this result occurs the structure will be severely effected. On the first occurrence the building will become dangerous and on the second occurrence it will become a destroyed building.

Well done to those who made it this far and we hope you enjoyed the second Britcon tournament pack to include Cities of Death scenarios. The aim of this tournament is first and foremost to have fun and we all hope that this pack will achieve this. While staying true to the spirit and rules of 40K and Cityfight it has also added in twists to the missions, which will hopefully help us, the players, have a different experience than you might in other tournaments.

If you feel you have discovered a loophole in these rules which gives you an unfair advantage, don’t do it i.e. don’t use it to your advantage, tell us instead so we can amend the rules accordingly for future events. Hopefully we have not missed anything too obvious, but should you see any glaring errors, please advise either the author, Geoff Hamilton or the Tournament Organizer.

Admission to the tournament is at the sole discretion of the organisers and their decision on all matters is final. An application to enter denotes acceptance of the rules. Entry fees and any queries to be addressed to the BHGS, The White Cottage, 8 Westhill Ave, Epsom, KT19 8LE. Tel. 01372 812132. Fax. O1372 817038. E-mail BHGS@slitherine.co.uk All correspondence must enclose a stamped addressed envelope, and Players who indicate an e-mail address will receive details via e-mail.

Victory Points Difference	Winner	Loser
0-200	16	16
201-500	18	14
501-800	20	12
801-1100	22	10
1101-1400	24	8
1401-1700	26	6
1701-2000	28	4
2001-2300	30	2
2301+	32	0

Objectives/Units In	Winner	Loser
Even Numbers	16	16
One more	20	12
Two more	24	8
Three more	28	4
Four(+) more	32	0