A viable tournament format?

This discussion came up on a small warhammer mailing list I'm on. If i was running a tourny, here's how I'd do it.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never run a real warhammer tournament. That being said, I have run other tournaments, and organizing is something which I greatly enjoy. Furthermore, I have a gut feeling that our annual “nitz-in-your-face” gathering of warhammer buddies at my house will eventually turn into Iowa’s first major tournament… we shall see.

That being said, if and when, I run a tournament, here is how I’d like to do it. As seasoned tourney goers, I’d love to hear your feedback on this system.

Battle Score – 100 battle points + 10 bonus points = 110 points possible.

Each game is worth up to 20 points. I would use the Aussie system I discussed previously whereby each player starts with 10 points a piece, and every 150 points you win by increases your share of the 20 points by 1 point. Furthermore, I would have players vote for the best tactician they played against. Each one of these votes would give the player a bonus 2 points, so if you played 5 games, the max score you could get would be 10.

I really think this system has merit. I disagree that it would discourage bad players and cause them to have a bad time. In fact, I think the better declination of scores would mean bad or new players would be much more likely to face others at their level sooner in the tournament. A player who lost 8-12 in the first round would not be playing a player who lost 0-20. The current system of 5/10/15 makes it much more likely the new/bad player could still play a much better player than themselves in the first round… not to mention the guys who sandbag game one to get in an easier bracket. Also, with my overall points system, one loss will not sink your whole tourney.

Sportsmanship Score – 100 points +10 bonus points = 110 points possible

Each game your opponent will give you a sportsmanship score between 1-10. This score will then be doubled, so you will receive a score between 0-20. In addition, each player will vote for the best sport they played against. This will garner that person an additional 2 bonus points. Again, with 5 opponents, the max score a person will receive is 10 points for this.

I like the 10 levels of declination for sports. Giving a specific idea of what each level should entail with a brief narrative should help people decide what to score each other better. Granted, sports scoring is never perfect b/c guys can tank each other, or a lot of guys just drop 9’s and 10’s, but I’ve used a 5 point system before and to me, it doesn’t offer enough options or flexibility.

Appearance Score – 50 points +10 bonus points

Again, this would be determined by the organizer, and scored during a break. I think there are a lot of good scoring guides for this out there, and I’d simply steal one. Each player would vote on the best themed/painted army they played, and this would be worth 2 bonus points per vote, so again, the max you could get in this category would be 10 points.

Composition Score – 50 points + 50 points +10 bonus points = 110 points

For comp, I would have 3 sets of scoring. First, 50 points would be assigned by the organizer. If I were doing this, I’d get a loyal band of henchmen who are well versed at using stealth cheese to help me comp out an army. If there were time, I might even give people who turned in a list well in advance a chance to redo a list to improve their scores… but this would depend on time. The other 50 points would be scored by the opponents. It would be a 10 point scale, and they could adjust it by +/- 1 after the game. I like this plan b/c it helps regulate the craziness that is comp scoring. If I’ve never played a tomb king army, how can I comp score it? This way, players get some imput, but only half. In addition, each player votes for the best designed army they played, and that army gets 2 bonus points… so each person could max out at 10

Ultimately, this leads to a tournament where the max score possible is 390 points. Battle scores account for 28%, Sports is 28%, Appearance is 15%, and Comp is 28%. Overall would be decided by highest total score. In addition, I’d award these awards
Overall – top 3 – total points of all scores
Best Warlord top 3 – Battle score + Comp scores
Best Sportsman – top 3 – Sports + Appearance
Best Tournament player – top 3 – all bonus scores (and bonus only) added together.

If I had prize support, I’d never give it to winners since I think that adds too much competition, and is counter-productive to the vibe most tourneys are striving for. I’d make all prizes drawings open to everyone. A random prize can make a day of getting your ass kicked much better. Winners would get a plaque/trophy.

This is how I’d do it. Thoughts?