Just to ensure that there isn't a repeat of the now infamous "Slatch" incident of last year, there is a new line in the Rules Pack for the event. This reads as follows:
"Raze and Ruin will be
using Tally Comp to determine the relative strength of the various armies being
brought. This is further detailed in a separate document, but as it is quite a
lengthy document there may be wording errors. One of these was spotted last
year, and it led to someone playing the comp rather than the game. To stop
this, the Tournament Organiser reserves the right to veto any army list that
abuses the comp. This veto will be used sparingly, and it will be after full
discussion with the player."
This is purely to stop someone getting an easy +20 Comp score purely by abusing an obviously missing word in the Comp document. I don't expect to veto any lists, and I certainly won't be vetoing purely based on it being a tough list that plays the comp well. It will only be used to stop people getting away with the king of loopholes that Slatch did last year.
Whilst we are talking about the Rules Pack rather than the Comp itself, I should also note that another extra line has been added since it was first released. This is to do with the Scenarios. It reads as follows:
"Tally Comp and Scenarios
The player with the higher
Tally Score (as described in the Comp section) counts as automatically winning
the dice roll to determine table sides in all the scenarios at Raze and Ruin.
If the Comp Score is a tie, roll off as normal."
This, along with the Look Out Sir provision that was discussed previously, should help to alleviate some of the stress and poor games that result from bringing an under-strength army. If you've brought a Dragon, for example, and got the bonus Comp points for doing so, you should have the option to choose the side that has something to hide said Dragon behind when facing a filthy Dwarf gun line.*
Now on to the Comp itself. I'm not going to list the whole document again, as there actually haven't been that many changes. Plus you can download the new version and compare it yourself if you want to! What I will do is look at the Comp lines that have been altered between this version and the one that I posted here.
Bretonnia
The first place where changes have been made is in the Bretonnian section. I played a game with my Bret army a couple of weeks ago, and whilst my list had changed from a -1 to a +1 with the previous version, it still felt over-comped for what it was. With this in mind, I tried to soften the restrictions a little, and have amended the top half to the following:
Bretonnian armies start at a +1 comp score.
-1 if you take 2 of the following items, -2 if you take all 3:
• Virtue of Heroism
• Virtue of the Impetuous Knight
• Crown of Command
*Please note this line replaces the Generic Comp for the Crown of Command.
-1 if you have Silver Mirror and Dispel Scroll -1 for the second Trebuchet
-1 per Bretonnian Lord or Paladin after the 5th
*Please note this line replaces the Generic Comp for the Crown of Command.
-1 if you have Silver Mirror and Dispel Scroll -1 for the second Trebuchet
-1 per Bretonnian Lord or Paladin after the 5th
Changes have been highlighted in red. As you can see, they now have a general +1 bonus, and the penalty for the Crown of Command can be lifted entirely if they give up the two Virtues. To compensate for this, and to ensure that Bret players had to make some choices, I lowered the character limit to 5 before Comp is applied. It might still be too high, but these changes should see Brets at least an option for the event.
Chaos Dwarfs
The next army to see changes were the evil Big Hats.** I admitted to not knowing these guys very well, and contacted the only guy to play them last year. He suggested they were over comped, and from his suggestions I removed the following penalties:
Now the only negatives are for the Chalice, K'Daii and the artillery. Seems fairer!
Daemons of Chaos
There weren't many changes here, but there was a word change to two negatives and an added positive. The first negative that changed was concerning the Herald of Nurgle. I didn't like the way it was worded, so I thought again about the purpose of the line. It is there to stop a single unit of Plaguebearers from having the Regen Locus twice, so I thought why not just simply hit the Regen Locus itself? The line is now:
-1 per Herald of Nurgle with Greater Locus of Fecundity
Simple and does the job. Possibly a bit OTT, but it encourages other options and that is the point of the Comp! I also added something to the line about Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirsters, as I hadn't considered before the cumulative affect they could have with 50% Lords. The line now reads:
-1 for the first Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster, -2 for any subsequent
Should come into play very often! The positive that was added was for Isabella the Accursed from the Archaon book. I hadn't realised she could be taken in a pure Daemon army, so I added her in.
Dark Elves
A fair few changes here, mostly to make the comp a little more lenient. The first was concerning the mounted characters. I just didn't like the fact we were hitting pretty much every type of mounted character, leaving them with few options. I tried to streamline things into the below line.
-1 per character mounted on a Cold One, Dark Steed or Pegasus after the 1st
I was tempted to make it after the 2nd, but 3 tooled up Peg riders for only -1 seemed a bit too good, so it stayed as after the 1st. Hopefully Dark Elf players will feel they have some more options now. I also removed the "after the 1st" from the Cold One Chariots, mainly due to comparing them to Lion Chariots and finding them worse in most ways! If someone wants to spam Chariots now, they can get the +6 instead of +5, and good luck to them!
Lizardmen
I was never really happy with the Razor Standard being comped for Lizards. It's a good item for all, why should they be hit more than anyone else? I still think it will be an easy choice for a Temple Guard unit, but -2 seemed too much for them with the banner, so it's gone.
Ogre Kingdoms
+1
per Big Name worth over 20 points
Our local Ogre player has been badgering me about the line above. "Why the points limit? They're all terrible!" Well Christian, I finally relented. Go crazy! :D
Orcs and Goblins
+1 per Wyvern
The only change here was to add a line for Wyverns. Yes they already get a bonus for being a monster mount, but they are at least as bad as a Manticore so probably deserve the extra help. It might also encourage an all-Orc list, which would be amazing!
Skaven
Note: Skaven Grey Seers, as they can choose how many spells they take from each Lore before each game, do not take the penalty for being able to choose 3 or more spells from the Lore of Undeath.
A rules clarification here, rather than a Comp change. However, it should limit the penalties on Grey Seers to a sensible level. For the full argument of where this came from, it was initially ruled by the ETC that as Grey Seers get to choose their Lores at the start of the game, and they got Undeath added by the Nagash book, they could choose to take Undeath as one of their spells at the start of the game. Honestly, I'm not sure I agree, but as the alternative was to hit every Grey Seer just in case, it seemed the sensible option.
Tomb Kings
Tomb Kings start on a Comp Score of +2
Reduced for a reason - there's a hidden bonus in their comp section that makes up for it. See if you can find it! :-)
Vampire Counts
-3 Count Mannfred
+1 per every 3 Blood Knights in the army
I kept writing lists with Mannfred in, and he still seemed a better choice than any of the alternatives. His penalty going up was an obvious one really. As for the Blood Knights, I still don't expect to see any, but now a unit of 6 gets a +2, rather than a unit of 8. Seems fair for the investment!
End Times Lists
Basically, if it's changed above and that army can be taken in an End Times list, it's probably changed there too!
Well, that's it for the major changes! Please note that I may have missed some, so if you are coming to the event make sure you check the actual document! Links to both the Rules Pack and the Tally Comp document are in the event thread on TWF (link) and at the time of writing there are 7 tickets left. If you want to come down and try out this Comp system, please follow the link and get one of the last few tickets!
Hopefully I'll find something else to write about soon, but for now I'll say TTFN!!!
*Hey, they're stereotypes for a reason!
**Not a real army ;-)
