40K: Tournaments & Time Limits
It’s the eternal question for Tournament Organizers large and small – how long should your rounds be? But that should be a factor of how large the games are, right? And also how many rounds you’re planning to have in your tournament. That’s the hope anyways. But you know what they say about hope…
The Warhammer 40k community as a whole is pretty divided about how long and what size a “Standard” game of 40k should be. When it come to a Tournament, large or small, Time Limits can get to be a pretty heated topic as well – especially when there are prizes on the line. But removing those factors, there should be a standard reasonable amount of time for a tournament round, right?
“I said two hours – he said three. We fought to the death and ended in a draw.”
First and foremost, if you’re attending an event, be sure to ask your TO if you have any questions. At the end of the day, the Tournament Organizer has the final say on rounds, time limits, and army points! Don’t argue with them about it – it’s their tournament and you’re just playing in it!
For TOs out there the first thing you need to consider is probably your venue. How many players are you expecting? How long do you have the venue? And how many rounds do you reasonable think it will take to determine a winner? And then you have to consider you missions and scoring. All of those things are going to take time, but a lot of that can be worked out on the back-end.
Lots of folks out there may have heard of the Swiss-System for Tournament Pairings. This works great for a smaller tournament (8 or less) because by the 3rd round, you’ll have a pretty clear winner thanks to pure win-loss record. However, if you’re not using pure win-loss, then you’re probably going to be using some type of scoring system and that can complicate things for the TO. (Honestly, this is probably why so many independent retailers adopted the ITC format – it takes a LOT of the legwork out of the equation for the TO!)
There are many reasons it’s so popular – I’ll let you figure those out for yourself.
Check out the ITC Format HERE
So let’s just say for the sake of argument, that you’re a small to mid-sized venue and you can reasonably expect 20ish players to show up. Maybe you’re a store or a gaming club and you’ve got the space for the day. And, because you’ve seen how it works, you want to run an ITC tournament. Great – now at least we’re on the same page.
With ITC, and that many players you can reasonably have a winner after 3 rounds. You could go to 4…but you probably don’t need to. Also ITC has some time limit and point suggestions, too.
via ITC Tournament Packet
“ITC standard games will be played at 2,000 points. Round times are recommended not to exceed 2.5 to 3 hours in length.”
Well that settles it then, right? 2k @ 2.5 to 3 hours. What’s the problem?! Well for one, 3 rounds at three hours is 9 hours of playing. That’s not taking into account any breaks or even a lunch. But, again, that’s up to the TO and you should check with them. And also it’s recommended to be between 2.5 to 3 hours. So…which is it? Ask the TO!
But the question really comes down to is simply: “Is 3 hours enough time to finish a game of Warhammer 40,000 at 2,000 points?”
“It took me more that 3 hours to conquer Cadia – But that’s what Warptime(TM) is for!”
It’s Gonna Take Time
This is where things get tricky. Personally, I think that 3 hours is plenty of time for a typical game between two semi-experienced players. “What if you’re new or are playing with a new army!?” Great point – here’s a shocker, it’s probably going to take you longer. That’s not the tournament’s fault however – that’s on the player(s).
The only way to get to a point where you can finish a 2k sized game in the allotted time frame is to play game and practice. It’s really that simple. If you’re consistently playing you should get a better handle on your army and you should be able to finish in the time given. However, if you find yourself bumping against that time limit you might need to re-evaluate your army. Cause if you’re planning on playing the Ork Green Tide army, I hope you have some good habits to play faster…otherwise, good luck finishing a game.
I’m gonna need more Boyz. And dice. Lots of dice.
What About Slow-Play
Look, I’m not here to argue hypothetical situations with you. If you think a player is “Slow-Playing” call a judge. Plain and simple. And if you’re a TO, you better have a plan for when that happens. I suggest sticking a judge on the slow-players side to assist with movement, dice rolls, whatever they need to play faster. Note – the judge is not there to play FOR them, they are there to ASSIST.
There are players who “Slow-Play” – it’s a thing and it sucks. But in reality, those players do get a reputation and if the Judge keeps getting called over, well, that will probably resolve itself. But, there are also players who just play slow. See above – new players or a player with a new army. Heck, I’ve seen veteran players screw up and forget rules, units and even entire phases from the game. You’re human, it happens to everyone.
The point is you shouldn’t base your round lengths on players who are intentionally trying to game the clock. You could make the rounds 5 hours and I bet those same players would STILL “Slow-Play” because that their strategy to win. They can’t beat you by playing the game, so they game the clock. Call the Judge and keep playing.
Slow-Play: the reason the dreaded Chess Clock might be coming to a table near you…
Final Thoughts
I do apologize for getting on my soap-box about slow-players, but to wrap this up I just want to reiterate that Tournaments NEED time limits. They have to have them for a crap-load of logistical reasons. They aren’t going anywhere and, in fact, they are needed in a Tournament setting. That said – ASK YOUR TOURNAMENT ORGANIZER! Hey, maybe after the tournament you could even offer some constructive feedback. If players were having a hard time finishing games in your area, maybe you could suggest a smaller size, say 1500 points at 2.5 hours. Who knows – it might work for you…but ASK THE TO!
What do you think about Tournaments and Time Limits? Is 3 hours enough time for 2k? Does your local meta have a different size/time limit? Share those in the comments below!
