Gathering in the Desert 2011

Gathering in the Desert 2011
Lord of the Rings Independent Grand Tournament

For the last 3 years now a savage battle has ragged on in the desert of Phoenix Arizona for control of this Middle Earth. The forces of Good and Evil are once again amassing forces for another huge climatic battle. Forces from both sides are sending armies to determine the fate of this Gathering, will you be one of these brave commanders to do battle?

This is the fourth year of the Gathering in the Desert and it is looking at having a larger crowd than last year. Once again this event will be featured on the Games Workshop 2011 North American Circuit. Here are the particulars for this event:

When: February 18th - 20th
Where: Imperial Outpost Games, 4920 West Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306
Cost: $50.00
Games: March to Mount Doom on Friday night run by Brent Sinclair, GitD Tournament will have 3 Games on Saturday & 2 Games on Sunday with awards following.
What you Get: Your entry to Gathering in the Desert gets you entry into the March to Mount Doom Event on Friday night as well as the two day tournament. You will also receive a commemorative Tee Shirt (If you register by January 14th, 2011) from the event as well as lunch for both days. You may also enter the Red Dragon Painting Competition.
How to Register: We will accept payments through PayPal or cash if you are local.

PayPal should be sent to Skulinski@cox.net

When you send your Paypal information, please indicate your shirt size, quantity and contact information. A Note on Shirt sizes, if you are ordering a shirt larger than 2XL, you will need to include an additional $3.00 for 3XL and $4.00 for 4XL sizes.

Tournament Details:
Maximum 600 Points

Forces must be chosen from one of the army lists from the Legions in Middle Earth supplement or from a valid army list in White Dwarf.

Armies Must be fully painted, no unpainted armies or figures will be allowed.

WYSIWYG, Weapons, armor and upgrades chosen from the army list Must be shown on the models used. In other words What you see is what you get!

In addition to your army, you must model on figure on a standard 25mm base to represent an emissary which will be used in one scenario during the event. It must be a model on foot with hand weapon only and not mounted.

All army list must be turned into the organizers one week before the event (2/11/2011). Also, you must have a copy of your army list at check in as well as throughout the weekend. If your army list does not match what you are playing anytime during the weekend, you will automatically be disqualified and have all your games reported as Major Loss' and you may be asked to leave the event without a refund.

Forces must follow all rules and restrictions on force selection detailed in "Mustering the Legions of Middle Earth" pages 4-8 in the Legions of Middle Earth supplement.

Named characters (Gandalf, Lurtz, the Witch King, Spider Queen, etc) can only be taken once.

A set of Errata and FAQ's for Lord of the Rings source books will be used and these are maintained on the Games Workshop website. We are aware that many issues may come up in a game that are not covered by the Erratas or FAQ's, If you ask for a rules clarification from the organizers their decision will be final on the situation.

Models with stat lines and point values included in the forces section of the following rulebooks, journey books, source books or any White Dwarfs will be used:

• The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules manual (aka The One Rulebook)
• The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Two Towers
• Return of the King
• A Shadow in the East
• The Fall of the Necromancer
• The Ruin of Arnor
• Khazad -Dum
• Gondor in Flames
• Harad
• Mordor
• Any White Dwarf Article lists (such as WD#354).

Evil Forces cannot include Gollum.

Good Forces cannot include Tom Bombadil or Goldberry.

Where the points value differ between a source book and the Legions of Middle Earth supplement, the points value in the source books takes precedence.

Special Rule - Good vs Evil!
The Lord of The Rings is a modern classic of the tale of Good against Evil. As such the Strategy Battle Game is designed for battles between two forces, one Good and one Evil. This causes
a few problems for a format like the GitD where your Evil army of Uruk-hai could conceivably face five other Evil armies over the course of the weekend.

While this may seem like it would not be an issue, there are some problems that arise with the wording of various Special Rules and the effects of various artifacts wielded by powerful Heroes. These rules are typically worded in terms of affecting Good or Evil forces, or affecting a particular race like Orcs or Goblins.

For the purposes of games at the GitD we ask that players determine reasonably who is affected by the rule or item. In almost all cases players can easily determine who is affected by substituting the words Friendly or Enemy models for Good or Evil and when it comes to rules that affect a particular race, that rule will only be applied to one side or the other.

Here are a couple of examples:
• Both players are fielding armies drawn from the Fiefdoms list,
both armies contain Knights of Dol Amroth, and Player A has
Prince Imrahil. While Player B’s Knights of Dol Amroth also
have the Dol Amroth for Gondor! special rule, they would be
unable to take advantage of it, as the Prince Imrahil on the
table is their “enemy” for the purposes of this game.

• Both players are fielding Evil armies. Player A has a
Ringwraith that has the Harbingers of Evil special rule. In
typical play this rule only affects Good models, reducing their
Courage value while the Ringwraith is nearby). For the
purposes of the GT, this rule would affect “enemy” models,
those fielded by Player B.

We know you guys are reasonable players, and we look to you to make the right decision in the myriad of situations this issue could arise. If you are unable to, please call over the Organizers to make the call for you.

Also if you choose to use any of the new models as detailed in White Dwarf under the Reinforcements section, than you must provide a copy of the article for the event organizers (if they do not have a copy) and as well as your opponents. This is to make it fair for folks that may not be able to get these articles to be able to see the special rules that apply to these new models.

Scoring for the event will be a combination of Battle Points, Sportsmanship and Paint scores for Overall placement. In order to be eligible for Best Painted, you must have painted the army yourself and you must disclose the fact that someone else painted your army.