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[Brother Tyler]

Welcome to the Bolter & Chainsword Arena of Death: Blood Duel! This is a board-wide Arena of Death competition in which members may submit characters and have those characters battle other characters in order to determine champions. We’ll have a first round in which each of the forums will have a little competition to determine their forum champions, and then those champions will all face off to determine the B&C’s champion.

Moderators and other members will conduct the battles and then write battle reports for everyone else. The goal is for everyone to have a little fun and to spark a little friendly competition.

CHARACTERS

Characters must conform to the following rules:

• HQ or Elites character (see this post for guidance on Elites choices)
• 145 points or less
• 0-1 attack at Str 8 -or- Instant Death ability*
• Not accompanied by any models with stat lines
• Bikes, jump packs, or the equivalent may be taken
• No monstrous creatures or vehicles
• Special characters are okay if they meet all of the above criteria
• Characters must be created using any of the codices covered by the Bolter & Chainsword (Codex: Space Marines, Codex: Black Templars, Codex: Blood Angels, Codex: Dark Angels, Codex: Space Wolves, Codex: Daemonhunters, Codex: Witch Hunters, Codex: Chaos Space Marines, and Codex: Chaos Daemons)

*There will be no Instant Death in this competition, as covered under Stunning below.

Some deviation from the above might be allowed on a case-by-case basis, except for the 145 point limit (contact Brother Tyler).

Don't expect any involved storylines. Some of our moderati might inject storylines in their batreps, but that’s up to them. This will just be about bashing each others' heads in and getting bragging rights. Battle reports will be short and sweet.

BATTLES

Battles will be arranged by a random draw. A model may get only one bye throughout the entire competition (counting both the internal intra-forum AoDs and the B&C-wide inter-forum AoD as a single competition).

All of the battles for a round will be announced simultaneously. Once the battles for the round are announced, members will have about 24 hours to submit special instructions specific to that battle (special instructions are covered later). Battle-specific special instructions will be submitted by PM to the member that is conducting the battle (which will be listed with the battle announcement), to the moderators of the forum (for the intra-forum AoDs), and/or to Brother Tyler.

Battles will be conducted using the following rules:

• Combatants start 18+3D6" apart
• Combatants will make an Initiative check each turn by rolling 1D6 and adding their Initiative score. The combatant with the higher Initiative check wins the initiative and goes first that turn. If the combatants tie in the Initiative check, the combatant with the higher Initiative wins the initiative. If the combatants have the same Initiative score, the Initiative check will be re-rolled until there is a winner.
• Models may move up to their full movement distance forward, or up to 2” backwards.
• Stunning replaces the Instant Death rule. Any attack that would normally cause Instant Death (e.g., force weapon, Str of the attack double or more the defending model’s Toughness, etc.) causes Stunning instead. A Stunned model may not perform any more actions (moving, shooting, charging, assaulting) for the rest of the game turn. If the model is engaged in assault, it may not attack and will defend at -2 WS. The next game turn, the model makes a Toughness check. If the model passes the Toughness check, it may roll an Initiative check and act as normal. If the model fails the Toughness check, it automatically fails the Initiative check, but may otherwise act as normal.
• Models may Parry. A model may parry one or two times each turn, sacrificing that number of attacks but forcing the opposing model to re-roll that number of to-hit rolls. Declarations to parry are made at the start of the Assault phase (by special instruction). If the other model fails to land successful to-hit rolls, the attacks are still sacrificed to the parry intent as the model has readied itself for defense.
• Models may fall back voluntarily (based on special instructions) or may be forced to fall back by losing an assault. Losing an assault is similar to the normal rules, but is based on the number of Wounds inflicted. Wounds for which the save (whether normal or invulnerable) was passed count as double. A model that falls back immediately moves back 2” from assault. The other model may not consolidate, but if it passes an Initiative test (roll less than or equal to its Initiative score on a D6) it may make a single normal attack with no special modifiers (i.e., using its own Str and no special rules). If both models fall back for some reason, neither may make the free attack.
• Each battle goes until a model is reduced to 0 Wounds, at which point the other model is declared the winner. If both models are reduced to 0 Wounds simultaneously, both models die and the battle is a draw (the “ai uchi” rule). The only exception to the ai uchi rule is that it can’t result in a champion by default (i.e., if we have three models left and one has the bye, the other two won’t be able to kill each other off by ai uchi) – the champion has to earn the title.

The Arena of Death is single elimination, so once your model “dies” (regardless of how it is portrayed in the battle report), it is out of the competition.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

Special instructions allow players to direct the way their characters fight. There are stock special instructions that apply to every fight in which the character takes place, and there are battle-specific special instructions that direct how the character will fight against specific opponents. In general, the stock special instructions will be used unless over-ruled by the battle-specific special instructions. Both types of special instructions should be submitted using the following format:

[b]Moving -[/b] [enter your instructions here]

[b]Shooting -[/b] [enter your instructions here]

[b]Psyker Powers -[/b] [enter your instructions here]

[b]Charging/Assault -[/b] [enter your instructions here - this is where you’d give Parry instructions]

[b]Voluntary Fallback -[/b] [enter your instructions here]

The stock special instructions will be submitted with your character entry while battle-specific special instructions will be submitted before each battle. Members will only need to submit battle-specific special instructions in cases where their characters’ tactics will differ against a specific opponent.

FORUMS

So what is this “intra-forum” and “inter-forum” garbage?

Well, a number of our forums will be conducting internal intra-forum Arena of Death competitions to determine their forum champions. Once done, the champions from each of those forums will face off in a board-wide inter-forum Arena of Death. There will be one champion from each of the following forums:

• Black Templars – characters created using Codex: Black Templars
• Blood Angels – characters created using Codex: Blood Angels
• Dark Angels – characters created using Codex: Dark Angels
• Space Wolves – characters created using Codex: Space Wolves
• Ultramarines – characters created using Codex: Space Marines (the Ultramarines and known Ultramarines Successors)
• Index Astartes – characters created using Codex: Space Marines (all other Chapters)
• Chaos Ascendant – characters created using Codex: Chaos Space Marines without any Marks
• Legio Morbidus – characters created using Codex: Chaos Space Marines or Codex: Chaos Daemons that serve Nurgle
• Throne of Skulls – characters created using Codex: Chaos Space Marines or Codex: Chaos Daemons that serve Khorne
• Planet of Sorcerers – characters created using Codex: Chaos Space Marines or Codex: Chaos Daemons that serve Tzeentch
• Legion of Excess – characters created using Codex: Chaos Space Marines or Codex: Chaos Daemons that serve Slaanesh
• Liber Maleficorum – characters created using Codex: Chaos Daemons
• Ordos Inquisition – characters created using Codex: Daemonhunters or Codex: Witch Hunters
• Liber Astartes – characters created using any of the supported codices – the member must have previously posted a topic in the Liber Astartes forum to discuss the development of the Chapter/Order/whatever, and the character must be from that Chapter/Order/whatever
• Librarium – characters created using any of the supported codices – the member must have a published article on any topic within the Librarium

As you can see, that’s a pretty long list. The intent is to allow as many members as possible to participate. You’ll be fighting first for bragging rights within the respective forums, then for overall bragging rights on the site. Note that the list above may change based on the number of characters submitted. This is especially true for the Chaos forums. We'll make a determination later if we need to consolidate any forums.

Only sixteen models will be allowed to participate in each forum. This gives us a nice progression of 16-8-4-2-1 if we get the max participation.

In keeping with our goal of allowing as many members to participate as possible, though, we’ll do our best to shuffle characters around forums. So let’s say that the Liber Astartes forum has twenty-three participants while the Ultramarines forum has only fourteen, the Index Astartes forum has only eleven, and the Librarium has only eight. If any of those characters from the Liber Astartes forum were submitted by members that had submitted articles to the Librarium, we might shuffle those characters into the Librarium; while any characters that come from Chapters descended from the Ultramarines might be moved to that forum with others being moved to the Index Astartes forum. We might even relax some of the requirements with regard to affiliation, so Ultramarines Legions descendants might find themselves in the Index Astartes forum whereas Chaos Space Marines that serve powers might be moved to the Undivided forum (if we have room, that is). We’ll minimize the number of characters moved, though, to only those necessary in order to allow maximum participation.

If we still have excess characters (which I hope we don’t), we’ll have some sort of selection process to whittle the numbers down. This process will be determined by the forum moderators. Characters/members prevented from participating through any “whittling down” process will be automatically entered into the next AoD we run (whenever that may be).

ENTRIES

Members may submit one character for the entire AoD. Submissions will include:

• Character name
• Codex used
• Unit entry used
• all weapons, wargear, abilities, options, etc.
• Total cost
• Stock special instructions
• Image of painted mini (must be at a tabletop level – three colors or more).

You don’t need to have images of Golden Daemon quality painting, nor do you have to have an elaborate background (though those might help if we get to a “whittling down” situation.

All submissions must be posted to the appropriate forum Arena of Death participation discussion:

• Black Templars
• Blood Angels
• Dark Angels
• Space Wolves
• Ultramarines
• Index Astartes
• Chaos Space Marines (Undivided)
• Khorne
• Nurgle
• Slaanesh
• Tzeentch
• Chaos Daemons
• Inquisition
• Liber Astartes
• Librarium

(the bulletized list above will be linked to the appropriate discussions)
All submissions must be posted by midnight PST on 22 August.

PARTICIPANTS

There are two ways that members can participate. First, you can submit a character as described above. Second, you can help the moderati to conduct battles and write battle reports. You can do either or both. If you are interested in helping the moderati, please contact them via PM.

PRIZES

The champion from each forum will get nifty little images that can be used as an avatar, personal photo, or banner image within their signature. The overall champion will get additional images that can be used in the same fashion.

And then there’s the right to talk a little smack.

Edited by Brother Tyler, 22 July 2010 - 02:44 AM.
Changed criteria to allow for certain Elites choices to be entered.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Excellent. I have been waiting for this.

I have a few questions:
1. Are characters that are immune to Instant Death (e.g., equipped with an Adamantine Mantle) immune to stunning?

2. For Special Characters: Must they be submitted under the character's legion/chapter forum, or is that up to the submitter? (for example, could a Salamanders player submit a green Chaplain Cassius under the + INDEX ASTARTES + forum, or would they be forced to submit the green Cassius under the + ULTRAMARINES + forum?)

3. Could you explain a bit further about the 0-1 Str 8 attack? Does it mean that a: You may only have one Str 8 attack in the whole battle (like from a Combi-Melta); b: Your character may only have one Str 8 attack per turn (like from an infernus pistol), or c: Your character may only have Str 8 attacks in one phase (like from a Captain with a Thunder Hammer)?

Edited by KhorneHunter57x, 20 July 2010 - 10:43 PM.

[Brother Tyler]

1. Are characters that are immune to Instant Death (e.g., equipped with an Adamantine Mantle) immune to stunning?
Yes, immunity to Instant Death equates to immunity to Stunning.

2. For Special Characters: Must they be submitted under the character's legion/chapter forum, or is that up to the submitter? (for example, could a Salamanders player submit a green Chaplain Cassius under the + INDEX ASTARTES + forum, or would they be forced to submit the green Cassius under the + ULTRAMARINES + forum?)
Characters must be submitted based on their rules, so in your example he would be submitted in the Ultramarines forum. Note that the model doesn't matter, so you could use the Lysander model to represent a character created using Codex: Blood Angels and he would be submitted in the Blood Angels forum. If we get to the point where we have to shuffle characters around, model representation and paint job might be used as a qualifier (which might allow a Chaplain Cassius character to be moved to the Index Astartes forum if he is painted up in Chapter colors appropriate to that forum). Note the words "if" and "might".

3. Could you explain a bit further about the 0-1 Str 8 attack? Does it mean that a: You may only have one S 8 attack in the whole battle (like from a Combi-Melta); b: Your character may only have one Str 8 attack per turn (like from a infernus pistol), or c: Your character may only have Str 8 attacks in one phase (like from a Captain with a Thunder Hammer)?
Even though we've nerfed Instant Death by turning it into Stunning, we're still limiting each character to having an attack of any type that causes Instant Death. So it's the type of attack that matters. Don't overcomplicate it. It's all about the number of attack types (not attacks) that the character has. So a Space Marine character can't be equipped with both a power fist (doubles Str to 8) and a combi-meltagun (the meltagun has Str 8). Librarians automatically come with force weapons, so if they choose an additional attack type that also confers Instant Death somehow, they may not use the force weapon's Instant Death ability at all (as JamesI's character did in the Duel to the Death - he sacrificed the force weapon's ability in order to use the Sanguine Sword psychic ability).

A Space Marine Captain equipped with a power fist would get to use all of his attacks, but he can't have any other attacks that might confer Instant Death or be Str 8 or higher (which might not help the Inquisitors/Sisters of Battle, but that's what they get for going toe-to-toe with the big boys).

[Firenze]

All battle rolls are conducted by Moderati right?

Im game. This sounds great.

[Brother Tyler]

We allowing members to help, too. We'll provide all of the rules and other stuff for them to conduct battles and write battle reports.

We will, of course, do our best to ensure fairness. So members that have entered characters to the Ultramarines AoD won't be able to conduct battles in that AoD.

[Firenze]

Im also wondering, how do the Instructions work? Can they be fairly vague?

eg: Moving: Stay away from enemy and hit at range

Or detailed

eg: Moving: Move 6" right and shoot then...


?

[Brother Tyler]

As long as they give the member running the battle an idea of how to run your character in a fight, the instructions can be as vague or as specific as you want. I recommend specificity (sprinkled with brevity).

Note, though, that movement is limited to straight forward or straight backward. We're not fighting these battles with minis, so we're not allowing more complicated movement as that would make running the battles much more complicated and would take far longer.

Edited by Brother Tyler, 20 July 2010 - 11:18 PM.

[Darmor]

One more question about S-8 Attacks.
DA librarians have a psychic power Hellfire with random Str(which may or may not be Str-8 - that depends on luck and dice gods) and a force weapon.
Does this means, that Librarian must choose, what he will use - Hellfire or force weapon - during the submitting? Or before the battle itself? Or both the psychic power and force weapon are allowed to use in one battle?

[Brother Tyler]

Due to the random nature of Hellfire, he can have both Hellfire and the force weapon. If you take the combi-meltagun, though, you can't use either Hellfire or the force weapon.

1,1 = 0 | 1,2 = 1 | 1,3 = 2 | 1,4 = 3 | 1,5 = 4 | 1,6 = 5
2,1 = 1 | 2,2 = 2 | 2,3 = 3 | 2,4 = 4 | 2,5 = 5 | 2,6 = 6
3,1 = 2 | 3,2 = 3 | 3,3 = 4 | 3,4 = 5 | 3,5 = 6 | 3,6 = 7
4,1 = 3 | 4,2 = 4 | 4,3 = 5 | 4,4 = 6 | 4,5 = 7 | 4,6 = 8
5,1 = 4 | 5,2 = 5 | 5,3 = 6 | 5,4 = 7 | 5,5 = 8 | 5,6 = 9
6,1 = 5 | 6,2 = 6 | 6,3 = 7 | 6,4 = 8 | 6,5 = 9 | 6,6 = 10

So we have 36 permutations, with the following results:

1/36 = 0 (2.7%)
2/36 = 1 (5.5%)
3/36 = 2 (8.3%)
4/36 = 3 (11.1%)
5/36 = 4 (13.8%)
6/36 = 5 (16.6%)
5/36 = 6 (13.8%)
4/36 = 7 (11.1%)
3/36 = 8 (8.3%)
2/36 = 9 (5.5%)
1/36 = 10 (2.7%)

So over half the time it will be Str 5 or lower (wounds on 3+ or worse).

And then we have to factor in the random (D6) AP. Half of the time the target will get a normal armour save.

In contrast, a force weapon wielded by a Librarian will always wound a T 4 model half the time, and always bypasses regular armour when it wounds. Most of the time the Librarian will successfully use the Instant Death ability. So on average, the force weapon is better, though Hellfire has the potential to do great things. It could also fail miserably, though (although I suppose getting a 12 on the Psychic power check is a bad thing for the Instant Death ability, but it would be the same for Hellfire).

The force weapon is more consistent and "safer".

So Hellfire is okay.

[Cosmic Archmage]

Question :

How are Gift of Chaos, Boon of Mutation and Jaws of the World Wolf ruled ? They are not actually instant death, so do they all work normally ?

[Brother Tyler]

Note that I'm not looking at those codices because they're upstairs and I don't feel like going up there, so I'm working from memory, but if my memory serves me correctly (and the fact that you're asking me tells me that it does), all of those powers cause a model to be removed from play regardless of the number of wounds it has, and/or without making any saves. Anything that does anything along those lines will, for our purposes, be considered Instant Death (or Stunning in the Blood Duel).

[Marshal Wilhelm]

How big is an Arena of Death?

The models start x" apart, but is it limitless in all directions?

[Ferrata]

I've never seen it move past a 2D arena. You either move towards your oppenent to get into range/combat or move away from him to avoid combat/range. The length of this 2D line is as long as it needs to be, you can't back yourself up against a wall.

[Marshal Wilhelm]

I've never seen it move past a 2D arena. You either move towards your oppenent to get into range/combat or move away from him to avoid combat/range. The length of this 2D line is as long as it needs to be, you can't back yourself up against a wall.

Okay.

So what is stopping someone on a bike maintaining 18+" between him and his opponent and never actually fighting him, just shooting one bolter shot each turn ~ killing by a thousand cuts attempts?

Not very heroic....

EDIT: This is prevented by the may on back up 2"?

Edited by Marshal Wilhelm, 21 July 2010 - 09:25 AM.

[Chaptermaster Graymantle]

I know you cant give me a spesific date Brother Tyler, but I was wondering: Approximatly when do you expect this AoD to be over?
No pressure or anything; the only reason I ask is so that I can plan my usage of time in the work on Nestir V a bit better if I know approximately when this will be done and Nestir will continue.

Thanks!
CMG

[Ferrata]

This is prevented by the may on back up 2"?

Yup, you can only back up 2" no matter what you are using. That means that the enemy can close 4" per turn. At the very maximum it will take 8 turns to close if the enemy keeps backing up.

[Brother Tyler]

In answer to Chaptermaster Graymantle, we hope to have this AoD completed by the end of September or mid-October. Our intent is to keep the momentum up just like the mods' Duel to the Death (hence the lack of a storyline). The intraforum AoDs should take three weeks or so to run, and then the interforum AoD should take a similar amount of time. That three week estimate is liberal - if we can, we'll push through much more quickly.

Of course, members helping us out by running battles and writing batreps would definitely help to keep things running at a rapid pace (hint hint hint )

We're not on the multi-year plan that Nestir's Fate is running on.

[Chaptermaster Graymantle]

Thank you Brother Tyler!
I was expecting some time in October to be the estimate. Like I said though, there is no rush. I have a whole bunch of stuff scheduled for Nestir and a few other B&C projects over the next months and I'm already lagging behind a lot, so I am only to happy to have this AoD keep people busy while I toil away at my own projects. - That does mean I won’t be able to help out with this AoD though.
So I expect Nestir to continue some time in later October or early November. - As I am going on a pilgrimage to great and holy Nottingham in October though, I expect it won’t be before November.

And I am very happy that the B&C has let Nestir go on for as long as it has. Nestir has grown to become a leviathan of a project, but in the end I am certain we will all have something great to look back upon, that we can all be very proud of.

Best of luck with the Blood Duel AoD!

[Marshal Wilhelm]

Yup, you can only back up 2" no matter what you are using. That means that the enemy can close 4" per turn. At the very maximum it will take 8 turns to close if the enemy keeps backing up.

Jolly good. Only a scurvy dog would think of such a dishonourable tactic and I wanted to make sure that I someone couldn't do so. Garrr!

+++

What's a Nestir?

[The emperors chosen]

When will this start?

[chapter master 454]

Better get my archangels fluff sorted then, don't want to be left out. Oh darn...can't field my 1st company captain Finn. 145pts...you had to pick that huh? 5pts over because he has a combi-plasma! Oh well Vice-captain Andrews will fill in. TO THE FLUFF-SHOP!

[Brother Tyler]

When will this start?

The deadline to enter characters is 22 August. It might take us a few days to get everything in order (there's a little work that goes on behind the scenes), so we expect to see the fur flying around 27 August.

For those that need a little clarification on how the special instructions work, I provided an example here.

[Brother Caleb]

How are you planning to work out re-rolls to hit and parrying? Will the parry occur after the to hit re-rolls or visa versa?

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

I am worried about Deepstrike - is that unallowed, or what?

To the Codex Marines Codex I go...

Also, what if we can't provide pictures? I tried to with my blog, and it failed miserably. If I can't provide pictures, does that mean I can't participate?

[Brother Tyler]

In the interest of simplicity and following the "only one re-roll rule" as much as possible, we'll just say that each Parry will cancel out a re-roll. If there are additional Parries or Re-rolls left over, then those can be taken as normal.

Examples:

Brother Bob has decided to sacrifice 1 of his Attacks to Parry. Nefarious Nick has 4 attacks with an attack that allows him to re-roll. Nick hits on a 4+. If Nick rolls a 6, 4, 4, and a 3, he has three successful to hit rolls. Normally he would get to re-roll the failed to hit roll (the 3), but since Bob parried, Nick doesn't get the re-roll.

In the next turn (somehow Bob survives), he sacrifices 2 of his Attacks to Parry. Nick rolls a 5, 5, 4 and 1. That's three successful to hit rolls. One of Bob's parries automatically cancels out the re-roll for the 1. The other parry forces Nick to re-roll one of the successful to hit rolls.

In the third turn (Bob is amazingly resilient), he sacrifices 1 of his Attacks to Parry. Nick rolls a 5, 4, 3, and 1. That's two successful to hit rolls. Bob's parry automatically cancels out one of the re-rolls, but Nick gets to re-roll the second failed to hit roll.