Raze and Ruin 2015 - Tally Comp Preview Part 1

So it's that time of year again! Raze and Ruin 2015 has been announced, and this year the tickets are already on sale! If you're interested in attending, you can find the details here on TWF. This year, despite the release of Age of Sigmar - which I keep intending to write a post about - we will be playing 8th Edition Warhammer. This is mainly because the guys at the club have very little interest in AoS at the moment. We've been gearing up to play 8th since the last event, and it would be wrong for me to deny them the chance to play at least one event under those rules. I'm not saying we won't be using AoS in the future, but this year we won't be.

We will be using Tally Comp again this year, and the point of this post is to start the ball rolling on getting it out there. I've been updating it once we decided it would be 8th Ed, and I've made a few changes since the last version. However, including the End Times armies has meant that it has been tricky to check it is as close to correct as I would like it to be. So I am going to do the same as I did last year, and release the comp a few armies at a time over the next few days. I will also invite comments and suggestions, but I won't guarantee that any particular suggestions will be used.

So, where do we start? As with last time, we start with the Generic Comp section.

Generic Composition Rules

• The following generic magic items will attract composition points if taken in your army:

-1 for the Crown of Command                +1 for Sword of Bloodshed

-1 for the Standard of Discipline             +1 for Book of Ashur

-3 for Fozzrik’s Folding Fortress             +1 for Scroll of Leeching

+2 for the Wizarding Hat                         +1 for Shivejir’s Hex Scroll

+2 for the Arabyan Carpet                       +1 for Rampager’s Standard

• The following bonuses apply if the circumstances are met:

+1 if your army does not include an item that automatically dispels a spell

(Such as the Dispel Scroll or the Cube of Darkness. This does not apply to Daemons of Chaos)

+2 if your army includes a race-specific magic item that costs 60 points or more

(Note that Exalted Gifts from the Daemons of Chaos army book and Runic Items from the Dwarfs army book do not count, though Dwarf Ancestral Heirlooms do count)

+1 if your army includes no Wizards or Spellcasters. This is increased to +2 if you also have no Bound Spells, either Innate or as Magic Items.

(This does not apply to Dwarfs)

+2 if your army does not include a Battle Standard Bearer

(This is reduced to +1 for Daemons of Chaos, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts and Undead Legion armies)

• Units (not characters or single models) that cost over a certain points value will attract penalties as per the below list:

-1 per unit that costs between 450 and 599 points inclusive

-3 per unit that costs between 600 and 749 points inclusive

-5 per unit that costs 750 points or more

These penalties are waived if a unit attracts a positive modifier

• In addition, certain choices available to many armies have bonuses or penalties attached as follows:

+1 for the first non-spellcaster character mounted on a Monster

+1 per character mounted on a Chariot

-1 per character who knows 3 or more spells from the Lore of Death or Lore of Undeath

-1 per spellcaster who knows spells from the Lore of Light after the 3rd

• Any comp score for Special Characters will be listed in their own entry. They do not apply any further bonuses or penalties.

So where are the changes? Firstly, I've added some items to the Magic Item list. These are items that are expensive and rarely taken, so a positive for them is not beyond the realms of doubt. I've also modified the No Magic clause, so that the bonus is also available for an army that only takes Bound spells but at a reduced value.

The next addition is one that I felt was obviously missing last year. Every army has a BSB right? And why not, they are very useful. So in a comp pack that encourages unusual choices why isn't there a bonus for not taking one? Obviously the armies that get a reduced benefit out of their BSB also get a reduced bonus from not taking it, or it would be an obvious choice.

The last change is one that may take a little longer to explain. I've added something into the main Rules Pack about Look Out Sir saves for characters targeted by the big unit killing spells. Basically, if you have a positive Comp score, you are allowed to take a single Look Out Sir against Dwellers, 13th or Final Transmutation. If your score is +6 or more, you get two Look Out Sirs.
With all these changes (pretty much the only rules changes in the document) it seemed unfair to add an additional comp onto the Lore of Life, so it was removed. I toyed with just playing straight out of the Rulebook for these spells, and hitting Life and Metal the same, but I think this way is slightly more elegant.
What was added in it's place was the Lore of Undeath. This has proved to be very powerful in the right list, and it is difficult to predict which armies will get the most out of it. Just to be on the safe side, it's getting a negative for high level Undeath casters.

So that's it for the Generic comp. I'll try and get the first few armies done and up on here later today. Meanwhile, if you have any comments about the comp please feel free to email me, contact me on Twitter, or post below or on the TWF thread linked at the top.