I just thought I'd add my own thoughts to this regarding the army overlap and special rules. I think that there's something to be said about army comp. Your frankly stuck with either a duel list to maximize your special rules, ect (like 2 space marine armies) or trying to minimize your weaknesses by partnering with another codex(shooting eldar and assaulting blood angels). Both are valid, and I think that they're definately the best part of a doubles tourny.

Now, I'm not sure that one of these is better, or more rewarding than the other, but it's probibly more likely that by both playing space marines your gonna have a similar style of painting, basing ect. Those same Ultramarines/nids won't be painted the same, but why not base them the same? Have dead Nidz on the bases of some Ultramarines, and vice versa? One of the benifits of this tourny in my opinion is that the organizers(mainly Nate I think, though I may be wrong) marks the painting and the theme... and he's got a pretty open mind as to what your aiming for. In the above example I'd imagine that the Ultramarine/Nids team would get some good theme marks for having the bases done, perhaps with snow depicting Macragge, or Tarses Ultra.

The point is that right now your NOT rewarded for just taking your Tyranids list and your friends Marines and pairing up.... you can, but why REWARD you for that. But, if you decided to even rebase your models(which isn't that hard), make a nice board, and get a good story going those same models can earn you some of those "soft" points your after. That was the most fun part of getting ready for this tourny, was when my partner and I got together, picked our theme(crusade era marines) and converted his Iron Hands and my Emperor's Children. With a few models touched up, and a few conversions I think we took what would have otherwise been 2 stock armies and told a story with them.

I would like to agree though that perhaps something should be done in regards to the "wording" issue, though that is a very general issue at competitive events. Older codex's are usually the culprit there, as they have outdated rules/text which can sometimes become an issue in newer versions of the game. That being said, the pre-tourny FAQ"s did address most of the issues, and I can't really remember having any problems myself at the event regarding this, most of the lists were solid. The guys who run it seem to really lean towards the "have fun, be fair to everybody" side of things, which is great.

As for the 10 Chimera's(which we'll be seeing a lot of at tourny's I think), yeah, it's a tough list, but if people start to rely on them then you'll see counter lists being built. It's the nature of things, and it's a change from the Ork Boyz heavy lists that did so well previously. Kill points doesn't always beat that list, as you've still got to get those points by taking out the Chimeras themselves, and with the damage charts being forgiving it's a hard thing to do.

Hey Guys,

Keep the feedback coming in. Currently we are in the midst of final preparations for the Fantasy Challenge in March. But we'll be discussing this information in depth once we start the 40k preparations in May.

Later,
Greg

In regards to the 1250, I don't think it's necessary. Most new codex's have seen a reduction in points(chimera/rhinos) and are viable at 1000pts. It's only your 1000pts as well, your still fielding 2000 points of army.

This year my partner and I had something like 40 marines, vulkan and lysander, 2 dreadnoughts, 4 land speeders and at least 1 predator. Most of which were in drop pods or rhinos. That's a pretty standard list at 2000 points.

It's always gonna be hard to get everything we want into our 1000 points(as most of us own far more than 1000 points of our favorate armies) but remember your only playing half the army. 2500 points of 40K is a very different beast in my opinion.

Hi,

We have been recording the discussion here to help us shape the next 40k event. There will be more news to come in the next couple months but here is a tid bit I can share with you already:

Core Forces and Support Wings

This year, we are increasing the flexibility of the armies in the singles tournament. This will allow players more options and flexibility in preparing for battle.

How it Will Work:
Players will have the choice of building a standard 1850 point army OR segmenting their armies in the following way:
1. The army shall consist of a Core Force and two Support Wings.
2. The Core Force shall be no more than 1250 points. The Core Force shall contain the army’s mandatory HQ and 2 Troop selections.
3. Each Support Wings shall consist of no more than 600 points. There are no required selections in each side bar.
4. When the core component is combined with either sidebar (but not both at once), the force must still adhere to the standard 40K force organization chart (2 HQ, 3 Elite, 6 Troops, 3 Fast Attack, and 3 Heavy Support).

Space Marines Sample Army
Core: “The Marines Ride to War”
Librarian
4 x 10 Space Marines, Powerfist, Lascannon, Meltagun, Razorback with Extra Armour
Predator – heavy bolter sponsons

Side Bar 1: “In Your Face”
2 x Venerable Dreadnought, heavy flamer (for stormbolter), Drop Pod
6 Sternguard, 6 x combi melta, Fist, Drop Pod

Side Bar 2: “The Strength 8 Solution”
5 Assault Terminators
Land Raider Redeemer, Extra Armour
Predator – heavy bolter sponsons
Land Speeder – 2 x heavy bolter

We are hoping this flexibility will provide players with the ability to adapt to the many varied battlefield conditions they face.

More to come later with details on the Doubles event.

Regards,
Greg

That is a good question.

My guess is that they would remain a Fast Attack since that is where they were purchased. But I'll talk with Nate and get you an official ruling.

Later,
Greg