11th-12th November

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Introduction Welcome to the event pack for the upcoming Throne of Skulls: Open War

Matched Play event for Warhammer 40,000 held in Warhammer World.

Throne of Skulls is a casual gaming event, where sportsmanship and well

presented armies go hand in hand with your ability as a general on the battlefield

to crown the champion of the event. Only a player with a good attitude, clever

gaming skills and a decent looking army will raise the trophy, so if playing games

against like-minded, enthusiastic players with fully painted armies is something

you aspire towards, or have always dreamed of, then come on down and

experience a weekend like no other.

Open War The Warhammer 40,000 Open War Cards are a high-octane style of play which

rewards quick thinking on the part of the player and encourages balanced armies

that can engage with mutable tactics - perfect for a gaming event. During the course of the weekend you will play five games of

‘Open War’ which will challenge your gaming skills to the limit as ruses and twists add an unexpected element to your games. With

over sixty thousand combinations of missions and themes you will never play the same game twice.

Event Essentials System: Warhammer 40,000 using Open War cards to generate Objectives, Twists and Deployments.

Army Size: 120 Power Level Army.

Missions: Open War.

Number of games: 5.

Army Selection: Battle Forged with a maximum of 3 detachments.

Publications in use: All current and in-print Warhammer 40,000 Index books and Codexes from Games Workshop and Forge

World, unless their release falls on the weekend of the event. We expect you to use the most current datasheets for your models –

e.g. those found in a Codex rather than an Index if a Codex is available for your army. This means that you may use Faction-

appropriate Index datasheets that might not appear in your Codex (such as Chaplain on Bike).

Meals: Lunch is provided on both days.

SCHEDULE Saturday 9:00am-10:00am - Bugman’s Bar opens for registration

10:00am - Warhammer World opens and players can enter the hall to find their tables.

10:15am - Event Briefing followed by the draw for the first game of the day.

10:30am - 1:00pm - Game 1

1:00pm - 2:00pm - Lunch and the Legends painting competition

2:00pm - 4:30pm - Game 2

4:30pm - 5:00pm - Break

5:00pm - 7:30pm - Game 3

8:00pm – Warhammer World closes

Sunday 10:00am - Warhammer World and Bugman’s Bar opens

10:30am - 1:00pm Game 4

1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch and the Best Army competition

2:00pm – 4:30pm – Game 5

4:30pm – 5:15pm – Final results tallied and awards are finalised

5:15pm -5:30pm – The awards ceremony

BREAKING NEWS SOLDIER!

This is our first in a brand new line of Throne

of Skulls events - we have re-invented how

we award the Throne of Skulls so this is a

very exciting time to play games with us here

in Warhammer World. To see the changes, go

to the section titled “How to win a Throne of

Skulls” and have a read.

Open War

Cards These cards are

available from your

local Warhammer or Games

Workshop store. They will be an

invaluable asset if you wish to

practice for the event, but you will

not need them specifically to take

part –we will draw cards for the

whole hall so everyone plays the

same game, to make it as even a

playing field as possible. For further

details see below under the section

titled “Open War”.

PAINTING AND BASING YOUR ARMY At registration we will ask you if your army is fully painted and based. You will need to make sure it is all done before you arrive –

even though staying up late in the nights before a tournament is a common practice across the world, we don’t recommend leaving

it for when you arrive in Warhammer World before your first game!

We do not allow anyone to play with unpainted or unbased models.

If you have a model which is unfinished, then we will politely ask you to remove it from the table, as we are obliged to protect the

experience of every attendant - we all want to play against fully painted armies, and this event is designed to give everyone the

opportunity to do just that!

All miniatures in your collection must be produced by Games Workshop and be fully assembled, painted and based. Each

model must fully represent what you have presented on your army lists. If you are not sure whether or not your models

come under this heading, use our handy flow chart, presented below.

Are you planning to use conversions or proxies of any kind (aka. anything other than the stock model)?

YES! Contact us at 0115 900 4994 or email us at whworldevents@gwplc.com NO! Carry on - nothing to worry about except getting it painted on time.

Note: Fully assembled means just that – fully assembled. Examples of models that are not fully assembled are cavalry without

riders, artillery pieces without crew, one Mangler Squig on a base rather than two, half a skeleton representing a full one, Basilisks

or Thunderfire cannons without crew and so on. Please bear that in mind before deciding what to bring along!

WHAT YOU GET Your ticket covers you for a weekend of fun and games. Specifically a ticket for Throne of Skulls: Open War will get you the

following:

Five games of Warhammer 40,000 against fully painted and based armies, on fully painted Realm of Battle Boards, with

appropriate scenery provided.

A hot, tasty lunch on both days, Saturday and Sunday. We will be able to cater to any dietary requirements you might

have. If there is anything you would like to let us know about, or if you have any specific concerns regarding meals, feel

free to get in touch with us before the event – we will do our best to make sure you enjoy your food here!

Access to the “Legends” painting competition where you can display models from your army in our cabinets. There will

be multiple categories, described in detail below, and the photographs from the competitions will be uploaded to our

Facebook site after the event for posterity.

You will be automatically entered in the “Best Army” competition – the Events Staff will select the finalists (or the

‘Nominees’ as they are sometimes known) and those finalists will display their armies on Sunday during the hour lunch

break for peer judging.

Access to the Warhammer World facilities – Bugman’s Bar as well as the Forge World and Citadel Shops.

We’ll have a ‘Modelling Apothecarian Kit’ available in case something breaks so you can patch up your warriors and get

them back to the battlefield.

Each table will have access to a set of Open War cards, to allow you to track the Objective, Twist and Scenario on each

table easily.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED Getting ready for an event is very straightforward, and while we can’t do it for you, we can certainly provide a check list of things

you will need once you get here.

This includes:

A fully painted and based 120 Power Level , built according to the Matched Play rules laid down in the Warhammer

40,000 rulebook.

A copy of your Army List for each game. Note that in previous events you could swap armies, but as this is a little closer

to a Matched Play tournament, you must use the same army each game.

All the gaming equipment you will need to play your games. This includes dice, tape measures, up to date codexes and of

course, a copy of the rules. Note that you do not need a set of the Open War Cards (though that will be helpful) as we will

be using one deck of cards to determine each games deployment, objective and twist for the entire hall at the start of each

round. Once a card has been drawn, we will remove it from the deck for future draws.

OPEN WAR Open War games are great fun to play in. They are simplicity itself to set up, and they provide an unbelievably wide variety of

games to take part in.

Nonetheless a little structure is required for the weekend, so here follows how we will run the weekend.

Before each game starts the Events Team will draw a Scenario card, an Objective card and a Twist card for the entire hall.

Everyone is expected to play the same game throughout, in order to make sure everyone is playing the same game. This will be

same for the whole weekend so expect the unexpected!

At each table there will be a single deck of Open War cards so you can easily reference what we draw for each game by having the

cards on your table.

Finally, every player will be required to draw a Ruse card during registration. This Ruse may be played once during the weekend,

during any game. Once it is used, your opponent will sign off on your scorecard that you have used it.

CONDUCT Throne of Skulls is about playing Warhammer 40,000 with beautiful armies and like-minded people. We want to encourage

everyone to paint their armies as best they can, play well, but most importantly treat their opponents in a manner which would bring

a (brief) smile to the face of even the most puritan Inquisitor.

Not only will the scoring system reflect this, but the expectation for how players at the event treat each other is laid out below.

Bear in mind that while we will not be going from table to table enforcing these, they provide a great opportunity to get your games

off on the right foot and will go a long way towards helping both players have a great time, especially given the varied nature of the

games you will be playing.

Treat your opponent with respect and civility (introducing yourself and offering to shake hands is a standard way to start

once you both reach the table you are set to be playing on).

Provide a copy of your army list for them to read and offer to take them through your army, one unit at a time, and

explain what each one is and what it can do.

If you disagree on the interpretation of a rule in the game, rather than getting into a debate about it, feel free to get an

Events Staff member to help you solve the problem. Mind you, our first course of action will always be to look in the

rulebook, so that’s a great place to start before you call us over. Our priority will be to get you both back to playing

games and enjoying yourselves as quickly as possible, to the satisfaction of all involved.

PAINTING COMPETITIONS During the event we will hold two painting competitions. These competitions are separate from the Throne of Skulls score, so have

no bearing on the overall rankings. They are there to celebrate hobbyists who have gone the extra mile in their modelling and

painting to create something truly remarkable. To enter, you must have done the building and painting yourself, the models must be

from the army you are using at the event.

The first competition is the Legends Painting Competition. This is perfect for any particular models in your army you are most

proud of. It’s open entry, so each player may enter model(s) of their choice from their individual army into each of the categories

for peer judging. The winning model from each category will win a Legend award for that player. The categories are as follows:

Hero of Legend includes any one model that doesn’t have the VEHICLE or MONSTER keyword.

Company of Legend includes any unit of 2-5 models, or 2-3 models on larger bases.

Icon of Legend includes any model with the VEHICLE or MONSTER keyword, or any model that doesn’t fit into the above

categories.

The Events Team will nominate a shortlist of teams for the Best Army Competition. This is a prestigious award for hobbyists who

manage to achieve a truly excellent standard of hobby consistently across their whole force. To be nominated for this award, you

must have assembled and painted the entire army yourself. Armies are nominated on a variety of skills, including the strength

of brushwork, basing, interesting conversions and unique details. Though hardly an exhaustive list, examples might include:

Brushwork – Delicate Freehand, neat highlights, consistent weathering, painted details (eg. banners, eye lenses, spirit stones),

unique colour schemes, squad markings and Chapter symbols.

Basing – Consistency across the army, additions to the bases to add narrative (corpses, helmets, spent rounds), additional tufts,

different textures and of course, how well it contrasts/compliments the rest of your army.

Interesting Conversions – Head swaps, alternative poses, kit bashes. This is a broad category where the player is encouraged to

add their own spin! It’s worth bearing in mind that all conversions must be approved by the Events Team prior to the weekend.

Unique Details – This category is a catch all term for “cool ideas we would never have thought of ourselves”. As a result there are

no examples! In the past we have seen fully converted armies, unique chapter colour schemes and themed army compositions to

name but a few.

The Events Team may specify additional requirements during the event for any unusual or particularly large entries. If you have

any queries regarding the competitions, feel free to contact us before the event. Please note that to win any of our Painting

Competitions, you must have built and painted the models yourself.

HOW TO WIN THRONE OF SKULLS The winner of a Throne of Skulls will be the player with the highest score from gaming, army presentation and

sportsmanship. To see how you score points for each of these categories, keep reading.

GAMING SCORES At the end of each game, you and your opponent will need to record your results on your event score card, and then hand in your

results to the event staff at the same time. We need you to do this as promptly as possible so that the next game can be organised

straight away. Each game lasts two hours and thirty minutes, and once the game ends, you will have five minutes to record your

result with the events team.

To determine the winner of each game, use the victory conditions as laid out in the mission.

Once you know the result, you will record it on your event card using the following system:

Win the game – 6 points

Draw the game – 2 points

Lose the game – 0 points

For each game you will also need to record on your event card the following (if you achieve it), which will be used as a

tiebreaker should the need arise .

Power Ratings value of enemy units destroyed – this is the total value of enemy units that have been destroyed. Any

units not on the board at the end of the game count as destroyed. For example if you destroyed a Redemptor

Dreadnought, you would score 10 Points.

SPORTSMANSHIP AND ARMY PRESENTATION SCORES Sportsmanship and army presentation scores are calculated by voting in the following two categories when you hand in your

final results at the end of the event.

You get two votes in each category, and you must vote only for those players and armies you played against. This is also a secret

ballot, so don’t let anyone see who you’ve voted for!

Favourite Game – You can vote for the two opponents you enjoyed playing against the most (note that you can’t vote for the

same opponent twice!). Maybe they displayed excellent sportsmanship, perhaps they were positive and friendly, or it was

generally a fun and engaging game.

Favourite Army – You can vote for the two armies you played against that you liked the look of the most (note that you can’t

vote for the same army twice!). Excellent painting standards, a fantastic centrepiece model, spectacular conversions or overall

theme may make up your mind.

Each vote you receive counts as three points towards your Throne of Skulls score – this means you can receive a maximum of

fifteen points for Favourite Game and fifteen points for Favourite Army. Every player must use their four votes, as they are

integral to the event. If you don’t vote, then you don’t rank!

Throne of Skulls score example

At the end of the weekend, Elliot has won four games and lost one game, earning a Throne of Skulls score so far of 24. He then

receives three Favourite Game votes and two Favourite Army votes, which are added to the 24 points he scored from his games

for a total Throne of Skulls score of 39.

As you can see, sportsmanship and army presentation are highly prized at a Throne of Skulls, and play a much bigger factor to

see who wins than our other Matched Play events. This is intentional – we want the Throne of Skulls Champion to be a rounded

‘hobby hero’ – as versed in diplomacy and art as they are in matters of war.

Should two or more players be tied for Throne of Skulls score, we will use their total points from Favourite Game Votes,

followed by total points values of units they have destroyed as second sorters.

For example, if Elliot and Edd both had a Throne of Skulls score of 39, we would then check their score for Favourite Game

Votes. In this instance Elliot scored 9 points from Favourite Games, and Edd scored the same, with three votes. After that we

looked at the amount of Power Rating value of enemy units they destroyed over the weekend and we find that while Eliott has

done very well and destroyed 250 Power Ratings worth of models, Edd has destroyed 300, placing Edd higher in the overall

rankings.

AWARDS At this Throne of Skulls we are going to have the following awards available to vie for:

The Throne of Skulls Open War Champion – this award will go to the player with the highest Throne of Skulls score over the

weekend.

The Most Sporting Opponent – this award will go to the player who has the most points scored from Favourite Game Votes,

with the highest Throne of Skulls score being used a second sorter.

The Best Army – this award will go to the player who scores the most votes from the Best Army competition at lunch time on

Sunday.

The Warmaster of Chaos – this award will go to the highest ranking Chaos player from the event. This will be the player with

the highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the CHAOS Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

Scion of the Primarchs - – this award will go to the highest ranking Adeptus Astartes player from the event. This will be the

player with the highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the ADEPTUS ASTARTES Faction keyword in common across

all units in their army.

The Commander of the Imperium – this award will go to the highest ranking Imperium player from the event. This will be the

player with the highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the IMPERIUM Faction keyword in common across all units in

their army.

The Dynastic Overlord - this award will go to the highest ranking Necron player from the event. This will be the player with the

highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the NECRON Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

The Ancient Foe - this award will go to the highest ranking Aeldari player from the event. This will be the player with the

highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the AELDARI Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

Da Biggest Boss - this award will go to the highest ranking Ork player from the event. This will be the player with the highest

Throne of Skulls score whose army has the ORK Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

The Lord of the Hive - this award will go to the highest ranking Tyranid player from the event. This will be the player with the

highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the TYRANIDS Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

The Herald of the Empire - this award will go to the highest ranking Tau player from the event. This will be the player with the

highest Throne of Skulls score whose army has the TAU Faction keyword in common across all units in their army.

Hero of Legend – For the winner of the Hero of Legend painting competition.

Company of Legend – For the winner of the Company of Legend painting competition.

Icon of Legend – For the winner of the Icon of Legend painting competition.

Contact us

If you wish to ask any questions, discuss any conversions or to find out more about our events, please feel free to get in touch

with us:

Phone: 0115 9004994 Email: whworldevents@gwplc.com

Write: Warhammer World Events Team , Games Workshop, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS

Catch up on all the latest Warhammer World news by finding us on at Games Workshop: Warhammer World.