Question regarding future NH events and armylists

[Primarch]

So.... I posted earlier in the 40k section about "what codex would you like to see?" and M_i_J made a point about having an 'official' rule set for the Imperial Armour - Eldar Corsairs armylist. One of the things that I have been considering for NagoyaHammer is the idea of making the army choices a bit less restrictive next year. This year there was a limit* of only using official codexes for the tournament and everything went smoothly. We had a fair mix of armies and saw Dark Angels, Tyranids, Tau and Blood Angels at the top of the heap at the end of the day. (Necrons totally won it though ).

But how would folks feel about opening it up a bit more. The goal of the event is to have fun rather than play to win regardless of other factors. I'm not saying that winning isn't good, just that my aim in running the event is for everyone to go home feeling that they had a good time even if they got crushed like a bunch of orks. (Sorry Badruck and Konrad).

There are quite a few variant armylists kicking about for 40K, some of them pretty good too.
There are the Imperial Armour lists such as Eldar Corsairs, Tyrant's Legion, Elysian Drop Troops, Vraks Renegades and so on.
There are several fan made armylists on the internet from sites like the Codex Project where they are working on some loyalist and traitor marine rules and Tempus Fugitives which has some (very nicely presented) books under development such as Ad-Mech, Tau Auxiliaries and Harlequins.

Now I know what some people's first reaction will be about the fan-made stuff, but let me ask you this. So long as it has been playtested, looks balanced and sounds fun, what exactly is the harm? Codex Grey Knights, Space Wolves and all of the other 'broken' official books are allowed without question. If the fan-based books are approved before use, announced to everyone and readily available for people to check up on before the event, is it really that bad?
Likewise IA books are made by GW group employees, surely they should be of an acceptable standard.

I'd like to get people's ideas on this, so take some time to think over the pros and cons and let me know.
Would it be more 'fun' to see more variety in the armies and for people to be able to bring along something special?

*And yes, I know I am the one who set these limits.

[Tenorikuma]

I think it's a really bad idea to allow fan-made lists and rules, unless you want to restrict the event to a small group of anglophone-only gamers who are willing to familiarize themselves with all these house rules and home brewed codices.

Using Forgeworld rules might be okay, but even then, you are erecting a barrier to participation for the Japanese gamers unless there are Japanese rules available.

[Admiral-Badruck]

I have a dream... When all codexies will be treated as equals at the Nagoya hammer.

I am all for what you are doing man. It truly would be fun



Free at last thank Gork we are free at last.

[job]

Well, I think Tenorikuma brings up good points about fairness for people outside of the local scene and for Japanese-English language differences and vice versa. (What if there was a fan made Japanese language list?)

I think IA and Forgeworld are a good start. They are accessible and have of the essence of being legit even if they are not official. I think the fan made stuff might be a little difficult, and maybe you'd have to place yourself as the arbitrator of what is legit. Essentially people could shop for a list they liked, for better or for worse, and there is tons of fan made stuff out there.

[Primarch]

@Ten and Job - I get where you are coming from with this. Sadly not every game/rulebook/army list is available in Japanese and perhaps never will be. This is doubly so with the home brewed stuff. Whilst I don't see it as a barrier to playing at the event (after all there are still 16 regular codexes available in Japanese), it is certainly true that offering some people a wider choice than others may not seem fair.

On the other hand, there are some Japanese gamers out there who play games with no Japanese support, Warmachine springs to mind, so obviously it is not impossible for them to get by without a fully translated version of the rules. A stat-line is a stat-line when all is said and done. At the NH events so far we have had a turnout of 6 Japanese players at 2010, 1 at 2011 and 5 at 2012. Of those 4, 0 and 2 respectively speak English fairly well and should be able to manage English rulebooks with no major difficulties. As for having to learn all the new rules, that's not even true now with the regular books. Everyone of my opponents at NH took one look at my Necron army and said "So what does that do then?"

So whilst this is an issue and one that should be addressed, I dont see it as being a reason to say "NO!" all by itself.

@Job - Which home-brew rules to use and which not to is something that would need to be looked at closely. Obviously there will always be a temptation to just find the 'best' ruleset and go with it. So if home-brew rules are accepted, there would still be a vetting process to avoid any power-gaming or crazy stuff from getting thrown into the mix.

@Badruck - Woah, slow down there. We aren't quite at the 'shooting guns wildly in the air' stage just yet. Gork (or is it Mork) will have to wait a little longer.

[kojibear]

I like the idea though I would prefer that the event organiser(s) give the thumbs up for any lists that are not 'official' codexes.

If I am playing in a tournament I will respect the decision of those who are running the event with regards to what is allowed.

I can see how this would definitely up the fun factor (I am thinking scorpion riders for my Desert Scorpion Marines ), but people should be fully aware and accept the good judgements of the organisers before signing up..

[Admiral-Badruck]

Surely the IA list will be allowed wont they?

[me_in_japan]

I think

IA should defo be ok.
Fan dexes should not be ok (waaaaaaay too much room for stupid shit)
Rules made up by oneself should defo not be ok (see point 2, multiply by a gajillion)

Just my two cents

[Spevna]

IA -
Fan made stuff If vetted by Prim, The Spevna says fair game

As for the language barrier, let all players know months in advance which codices will be allowed and provide links to the stuff that it online. If any players feel that it is too much of a hurdle to overcome then it is their choice to not come.

[me_in_japan]

I can see how this would definitely up the fun factor (I am thinking scorpion riders for my Desert Scorpion Marines ),

actually, if you're playing your desert scorpions as proxy space wolves, you wouldnt need anybody's permission to have scorpion riders. They'd just be proxy models for those wolf ridey chaps. Heck, if you used GW scorpion models you could rock up to an official GW tourney (oh wait...there are no official GW tourneys...) and play with them there.

That said, I cant help but wonder if scorpion riding space marines would be...not really silly looking?