Intro 1K Events

[Deadkitten]

Hey All!  Just starting to dip my toe into AoS  along with another buddy.  As such, I'm pretty keen on 1K lists as a starting point and our group is kicking around maybe doing a tourney/event.  One of the criticisms I've heard about this level is that it can be very rock/paper/scissors as you just don't have all the tools you may need.  I also played my first game on a 4x4 rather than a 4x6.  I always feel like I'm at the kiddie table at Thanksgiving playing on a 4x4.  So my questions are:

1)  What do you think about a No Behemoths restriction to limit some of the nastiness?

2)  What's the smallest realistic points you would play on a 4x6?  Is it just better to do 1K on a 4x4?

Cheers!

[RuneBrush]

First off, I'd say that 4x4 is the best size for 1000 point games.  You can play on a 6x4, but what I find is that objectives tend to be too spread apart for the number of models in each army, making for some dull or lopsided games.

Some armies are certainly more viable at 1000 than 2000, but it depends entirely upon the army composition.  Generally the smaller board will mean that you get into the nitty-gritty of combat a little bit quicker, so shooting armies tend to dominate less.

If you've both got comparable Behemoths, you'll be fine - or if one side has a Behemoth "hunter" (e.g. Wraithmongers).  My own personal preference is that you cannot spend more than 20~25% of the total army on one unit.  That means the most you'll see in one unit is 250 points, cutting out the stuff that some armies just cannot compete with.

I've played everything from Skirmish up to 1000 points on a 4x4 without too many problems!

[Kramer]

Agreed with runebrush on the spreading of the objectives in some scenarios. Although it makes sure nobody can go too elite. Might help your behemoth question there as well. 

Bt from personal experience i’ve Played 700 point games which were amazing, tense to the last dice role and everything you look for and 2k games were I only rolled saves and not much more. But also vice versa. So size is not necessarily the defining factor in having fun. 

Personally I find 1,5K  the sweet spot. Offers enough options, strategies, speed of play and allows everybody to bring cool toys. We play it with the 1K limitations for battleline etc. 

For 1,5K we do switch to 6x4 by the way. 

[GeneralZero]

Who said only size matters?  

[syph0n]

Trouble with limiting armies at 1k is that some older factions are limited in choice anyway. For example, I only have the option of a Black Dragon for Order Serpentis. Obviously I don't have to take a Hydra as well, and take another unit of Drakespawn Knights. Whether or not this is game breaking at 1k I honestly don't know, I've yet to play one. 

However, I have played Open games where one side had a dragon and the other a hydra, mostly cavalry both sides and some older Dark Elves like Bolt Throwers and Dreadlords. Slightly imbalanced because I was playing with my kids, but it was great fun and won on a big roll of a 6 on a D6 mortal wounds in what felt like an epic battle between Hydra and a weakened Dragon! (I lost btw. ?) 

I guess I'm saying try Open, but balance a bit with points if you want. And stick to 4x4, a bit of scenery. 

[GeneralZero]

11 minutes ago, syph0n said:

I guess I'm saying try Open, but balance a bit with points if you want. And stick to 4x4, a bit of scenery. 

To be honest, the size of the table is not the main matter.

What is important:

- terrain: yes, scenery is important. Decor is the 3rd army in a party (or according to me, the first army  ) 

- the scenario: objectives, additional points (see ITC rules for 40K, example French wargame studio rules for 40K, etc...) , kill numbers etc... You have so many ways to create some real chalenges.

- the army builder: restrictions (example: no single char above 25% total army points) , special rules (examples: max number of  miniatures in the army, no unit above X% of the total army point, etc...), 

Some armies considered low tier can become cometitive and super fun in games that include some/all of the above.

I honnestly like to 6*4 size even for low  point armies. Because I love movment. And when you have few units to cover a large area, you have to make some CHOICE that matter! Do I take the objectives for points or do I charge/kill this oponent unit? etc... This game , when talking about strategy, is not a KILLING only dice rolling fest.

Just my 2 cts

[Twitch of Izalith]

I'm actually starting to prefer smaller games! 1000 points is often quite a hard target to hit though - 1200 or 1250 seems better.

You have enough for a couple of small units of battleline, a unit of elites, a monster and some supporting characters - its like 2016 AoS when it wasn't compulsory to have multiple units of 30+ models on the table.. and much better for it.

We play those games on a 4x4 and adjust the position of the objectives appropriately.

You have to be a lot more careful with army selection and with gameplay if you are playing competively at this size - if anything the bigger size game is the "kiddy table" as you have enough points to just take everything you would want. Its easier in some respects to play a bigger game.

The downside is that spam or leftfield lists become more powerful. - it will balance out over 5 games against different opponents but can be quite swingy in one off games depending on match up. Morathi for example is a bit much in a 1000 point game, or 2 Mawcrushas - so is 80 witch elves...

If you are all taking balanced armies in terms of composition 1000 - 1250 point games are really fun - and you will always get to complete all 5 turns in reasonable time!!

[Deadkitten]

1 hour ago, GeneralZero said:

 

- terrain: yes, scenery is important. Decor is the 3rd army in a party (or according to me, the first army  ) 

 

I like the cut of your jib!

 

47 minutes ago, Twitch of Izalith said:

 

If you are all taking balanced armies in terms of composition 1000 - 1250 point games are really fun - and you will always get to complete all 5 turns in reasonable time!!

I guess I'm trying to figure out how to impose that balance without curating lists ahead of time.  I'm a huge fan of curated lists but I'm certainly not the person to do it.  There are some random AoS people that would come out for an event so we're just trying to get a monthly/quarterly event going just to let people know AoS is around.  

[Kramer]

On 5/18/2018 at 11:40 AM, GeneralZero said:

honnestly like to 6*4 size even for low  point armies. Because I love movment. And when you have few units to cover a large area, you have to make some CHOICE that matter! Do I take the objectives for points or do I charge/kill this oponent unit? etc... This game , when talking about strategy, is not a KILLING only

Agreed if you have the opportunity and table. But below 1K I found 6x4 a bit much. Terrain is definitely very important and really lets the game shine if you play objectives