PAX Prime Tabletop Board/Card Game and Miniatures Tournaments Schedule

Lackey

For the past few PAXes, we’ve learned how popular Tabletop tournaments are. We’ve done our best to provide a good array of different types of games for all types of players, putting on tournaments for 11 different games at last Prime. And to our delight, the tournaments we were able to run were well received, and often packed beyond capacity, with waiting lists for popular games.

We asked the community how we could improve. How did you respond?

“Offer more variety!”
“Offer more games at different times!”
“Why don’t you guys run Warhammer 40K?”
“This is awesome, but I can’t spend 6 hours of PAX playing one game. How about some shorter games too?”
“More Dominion”
“MOAR DOMINION!”


In short, you asked us to go big.

So, go big we did -- more than tripling the number of games run.

I am proud to announce this year’s slate of Tabletop board game, card game, and miniatures tournaments at PAX Prime 2011!

Board/Card Game Tournaments
(1st place in each tournament will win a PAX 2011 medal)

(View this list in Grid View -- It's pretty, easy to follow, and has more info!)

Friday

10:30 am - 02:30 pm Puerto Rico
10:30 am - 02:30 pm Innovation
11:00 am - 03:00 pm Citadels
11:00 am - 05:30 pm Power Grid
12:00 pm - 05:00 pm Settlers of Catan: World Championship Prequalifier (Rm. 206)
03:00 pm - 07:00 pm Ticket to Ride
03:00 pm - 09:00 pm Dominion Challenge League (Session 1) [See details later in this thread]
03:30 pm - 05:30 pm GUBS *
06:00 pm - 09:00 pm Food Fight *
05:30 pm - 08:30 pm Gloom
07:00 pm - 09:00 pm Slapshot *
09:00 pm - 02:00 am Friday Night Frenzy *
09:00 pm - 02:00 am 7 Wonders
09:30 pm - 02:00 am Agricola

Saturday

10:00 am - 02:00 pm Carcassonne
10:30 am - 02:30 pm Memoir '44
10:30 am - 02:30 pm Race For The Galaxy
10:30 am - 03:00 pm Dominion
11:00 am - 04:00 pm Settlers of Catan: World Championship Prequalifier (Rm. 206)
02:30 pm - 08:00 pm Munchkin Munchathlon [See details later in this thread]
03:00 pm - 07:00 pm Small World
03:00 pm - 09:00 pm Dominion Challenge League (Session 2)
03:30 pm - 08:30 pm Penny Arcade The Game - Gamers vs. Evil *
07:30 pm - 09:00 pm Bananagrams
08:00 pm - 09:30 pm Poo: The Card Game
09:00 pm - 02:00 am Saturday Night Showdown *
09:30 pm - 02:00 am Thunderstone
10:00 pm - 02:00 am Galaxy Trucker

Sunday

10:00 am - 11:30 am Tsuro *
10:30 am - 02:30 pm Revolution!
10:30 am - 03:30 pm Dominion Challenge League (Session 3) [See details later in this thread]
11:00 am - 03:00 pm Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
11:00 am - 04:00 pm Settlers of Catan: World Championship Prequalifier (Rm. 206)
12:00 pm - 06:00 pm Robo Rally
03:00 pm - 06:00 pm Guillotine
03:00 pm - 06:00 pm Munchkin Axe Cop - World Premiere *
03:30 pm - 06:00 pm Blokus

* indicates no experience necessary

Miniatures Tournaments

Friday

10:00 am - 03:30 pm Warhammer Fantasy +
-- 1750 point buy with standard force organization
03:30 pm - 09:00 pm Super Dungeon Explore *

Saturday

10:00 am - 03:30 am Warhammer 40,000 +
-- 750 point buy with standard force organization
10:00 am - 06:00 pm Warmachine/Hordes - Masters +
-- 50pt. Army List
-- 3 Lists Required Steamroller Variant (each list must be played at least once)
-- Standard Steamroller scenarios
-- Accelerated Time Limits
03:30 am - 09:00 am MERCS Minis *

Sunday

10:00 am - 03:30 pm Malifaux +
-- 35 points with standard rules for building your force

* indicates no experience necessary
+ indicates Players Must Supply Own Armies. No scenarios will require special or specific terrain.

How to Sign Up

Signups will be located in the TT Tournaments Area on the first floor of the WSCC. (The *First* floor? Yes, the First Floor - we'll have good signage)
Signups for Friday games will be open as soon as PAX starts. For 10:00 tournaments, you''ll want to head IMMEDIATELY to the First Floor tournament area.
Signups will be put out at 7pm on Friday for Saturday's tournaments, and 7pm Saturday for Sunday's tournaments.
Some slots will be reserved for Day-of signups, to give those with single-day badges a chance to participate
Show up about 10-15 minutes prior to the tournament's start time, so we can confirm your spot. If you're not there at the start time, your spot will go to those on the wait list.



Let me know if you have any questions here in this thread or through a PM, and start practicing!

Lackey
PAX Prime Tabletop Tournaments Deputy

pillarofdawn

Lackey wrote: »

Sunday
10:00 - 15:30 Warhammer 40,000 +

* indicates No Experience Necessary
+ indicates Players Must Supply Own Armies

I'd love to do the 40k tourney, however i'd get mah ass handed to me and i'm not sure if i want to devote ALL of sunday to it

honestD

Wild Garlic wrote: »

Where's the Warmahordes?

Lackey wrote: »

Privateer Press will be running tournaments from their stable of games.

tsrblke

Sweetnees Munchkin! But Munchkin with experience required? (I don't see a * next to it). I have some experience but only with regular in "Space Munchkin" is that going to be a problem?

Mattaui

pillarofdawn wrote: »

Lackey wrote: »

Sunday
10:00 - 15:30 Warhammer 40,000 +

* indicates No Experience Necessary
+ indicates Players Must Supply Own Armies

I'd love to do the 40k tourney, however i'd get mah ass handed to me and i'm not sure if i want to devote ALL of sunday to it

Always the downside to 40k, most tourneys are going to be huge, all day deals. Fun to do local, but I'm in the same boat in not wanting to haul my minis up there or spend all day doing it, with so much else to do and see at the con and the city in general. But I'll definitely be stopping by to check out the armies!

Kilo147

And I would get in on the Warhamms, but you know, having an 11,750 point force of 'Nids that is 90% Gaunts leads to abnormally long games and or quick death to Mech IG. Plus I need to you know, Enforce this year.

ptriz21_teamkill

....starting a 7 wonders training program. Get ready.

Lackey

tsrblke wrote: »

Sweetnees Munchkin! But Munchkin with experience required? (I don't see a * next to it). I have some experience but only with regular in "Space Munchkin" is that going to be a problem?

If you understand Star Munchkin, you'll be fine! The basic mechanics of Munchkin are essentially the same between standalone editions, with a couple quick rules that can be picked up on the spot.


The Munchkin Munchathlon details (Saturday, 14:30-20:00):

Players will get to play in five rounds of Munchkin. Each round, players will be seated at one of the many Munchkin standalone base sets (e.g. Munchkin, Munchkin Bites, Munchkin Fu, Munchkin Zombies, etc.). Every round, you will move to a different standalone Munchkin set, so by the end of the tournament, you will have played five different flavors of Munchkin. Each game, your Level will revert to 1, but you will be recording your cumulative Level total, round after round. So if you win every game you play, you might end up at Level 50, and be the tournament champion!

OFFICIAL MUNCHKIN BOOKMARKS, BOBBLEHEADS, SHIRTS AND OTHER GAME ENHANCEMENTS **WILL BE ALLOWED** !! - so don't forget to pack them with you!

annnnnd.....

Come back Sunday for the World Premiere Tournament of MUNCHKIN AXE COP!

This will be a PAX medal-awarded tournament, so be prepared to chop your way to the top!

Lackey

pillarofdawn wrote: »

Lackey wrote: »

Sunday
10:00 - 15:30 Warhammer 40,000 +

* indicates No Experience Necessary
+ indicates Players Must Supply Own Armies

I'd love to do the 40k tourney, however i'd get mah ass handed to me and i'm not sure if i want to devote ALL of sunday to it

While the length hasn't changed, please note that Warhammer 40,000 is now on Saturday instead of Sunday. Army size details will be posted here soon.

tsrblke

Cool, I'll have to see if I can devote 4.5 hours to Munchkin, decisions decisions. It's my first PAX so I'm playing it by ear.

Lackey

Ok, time to define what the Dominion Challenge League is!

For the last two PAXes, we've had Dominion tournaments that used only the original base game. While this is fun for casual players, some more experienced players were dismayed that they couldn't show off their skills with any of the expansions.

The Dominion Challenge League changes all of that!

We'll be asking players to show off their skill using every flavor of Dominion (Base, Intrigue, Seaside, Alchemy, Prosperity, Cornucopia) during the three set-aside time blocks:

Friday 03:00 pm - 09:00 pm (Session 1)
Saturday 03:00 pm - 09:00 pm (Session 2)
Sunday 10:30 am - 03:30 pm (Session 3)

You do not need to participate in all three sessions!!

Instead, you will be recording the results from your play sessions during these session time blocks. You might choose to play Alchemy and Prosperity on Friday, Cornucopia and the Base game Saturday, and Seaside and Intrigue on Sunday. Or you could power through, and record all six variants during a single session.

At your first session, and each time you play a game, you will fill out a scorecard. This scorecard will be used to record your placement and Victory Points for each of your six games. Your placement is the game (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) is the number of points you receive. Victory Points are recorded as a tiebreaker, but game finish trumps VPs.

Best score at the end of PAX is the winner. You can only log each variant once, so you will not be able to replace your record by playing the same expansion again later on.

So the best score possible at the end of PAX is 6 points, meaning you came in first place in all six games. The worst score is a 24. If you don't log a specific expansion play, you receive 4 points for it.

Each Kingdom card set will be pre-defined -- that way, there's no disparity when one game has the Witch, and one doesn't, when taking into account cumulative VPs for tiebreakers. Scorecards will be turned in to the session's Tournament Enforcer, who will record your results in our system, and then hand the card back to you. All games will be 4 player games whenever possible.

Note: For those who don't want QUITE so much Dominion, we are having a standard, base set only tournament Saturday morning, separate from this League.

Now get out there and get practicing! Just over a month to go!

Lackey
PAX Prime Tabletop Tournaments Deputy

deadwing34

Will this just be the 2P base game of Memoir '44 without any of the expansions?

Lackey

deadwing34 wrote:

Will this just be the 2P base game of Memoir '44 without any of the expansions?

Correct - base 2-player Memoir '44, no expansions. As this is the first time we're running Memoir '44, we're starting conservatively. If we get enough interest in it, we'll investigate adding expansions for it at future PAXes.

Lackey

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer added to the list, Sunday morning at 11am!

jacalata

there is a note saying '+ means must bring own armies', but I couldn't see any events actually labelled with a +?

(also, a few of them seem to have the am and pm confused, but I'm sure people can work that out for themselves).

Gene Parmesan

Now that the schedule of panels are out I'm roughly planning out the weekend. These times are much more reasonable than last year and more games I'm interested in playing are represented this year, so I'll probably join you all

Lackey

jacalata wrote:

there is a note saying '+ means must bring own armies', but I couldn't see any events actually labelled with a +?

(also, a few of them seem to have the am and pm confused, but I'm sure people can work that out for themselves).

That's a headscratcher. Not sure how that happened. Fixed now. For quick reference, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Warmachines/Hordes and Malifaux will require you to bring your own armies.

I am trying to finalize Army point sizes now, and will post the info as soon as they are confirmed!

DaftCapybara

I am going to assume that the Friday Night Frenzy Is PAX's version of FNM?

susan

Do we have points and rules for the Warmachine Tournaments yet?

Lackey

DaftCapybara wrote:

I am going to assume that the Friday Night Frenzy Is PAX's version of FNM?

Friday Night Frenzy and Saturday Night Showdown are special, fun tournaments. Basically, you'll be playing a surprise unannounced gauntlet of games during the timeslot! It's usually light-hearted fare, and the focus is on socializing and having fun while playing in an unpredictable tournament. So you won't know what you'll be playing until it starts!

(There is also a full suite of Magic events, including a FNM, being run by Cascade Games. Magic events are separate from this list)

Lackey

susan wrote:

Do we have points and rules for the Warmachine Tournaments yet?

Workin on it! I'll have them posted ASAP

afeil117

Is there are thread on the MTG schedule anywhere? I have looked and searched and can't seem to find anything.

Lackey

afeil117 wrote:

Is there are thread on the MTG schedule anywhere? I have looked and searched and can't seem to find anything.

Cascade Games, who is running the Magic events, will be posting their schedule when it's finalized at http://www.cascadegames.com/events/884

DjFIL

I hope to join at least one of the tournaments, still undecided which (but probably not more then one... to many other items to see). Just want to confirm that the games will be provided by the organizer (unless specified, like the miniatures games)? Also I guess it is first come, first seated... there is no pre-registration?

Lackey

DjFIL wrote:

I hope to join at least one of the tournaments, still undecided which (but probably not more then one... to many other items to see). Just want to confirm that the games will be provided by the organizer (unless specified, like the miniatures games)? Also I guess it is first come, first seated... there is no pre-registration?

In most cases, games will be run by the PAX Tabletop Tournament Enforcers, but some games will also have support staff from the game's publisher on hand to help.

The main exception to this is for Miniatures -- All minis games will be run either by its publisher directly, or through the kind assistance of an experienced friendly local game shop.

But your guess about showing up to play is not quite correct! The *IS* pre-registration, but it is on-site only. There will not be signups online before PAX.

I'll update the original post here soon with this info, but there will be signup sheets available before the tournament begins - they will be available in the Tournaments HQ the night before and the day of each respective tournament. Each tournament will have a Max number of people, and anyone who signs up after the cutoff point becomes part of the waiting list.

Lackey

For those of you who prefer it to a list format, the Tournament Schedule is also now available in a Spreadsheet Grid View

Lackey

Ok, Here's some Minis army guidelines for you:

The Friday Warhammer Fantasy Tournament will be a 1750 point buy with standard force organization. No scenarios will require special or specific terrain.

The Saturday Warhammer 40,000 Tournament will be a 750 point buy with standard force organization.

The Sunday Malifaux Tournament will be 35 points with standard rules for building your force.

CodeMonkey76

Looking to play in the Catan tournament. When/where is the registration for it?

Heleor

CodeMonkey76 wrote:

Looking to play in the Catan tournament. When/where is the registration for it?

Ditto.

ilikesanta

When/where do we sign up @ pax for these tourney's?

Akumakei

Last year the signups were at the board game library iirc. That was on the 2nd level I think.

Lackey

Signups will be located in the TT Tournaments Area on the first floor. (The *First* floor? Yes, the First Floor - we'll have good signage)

Signups for Friday games will be open as soon as PAX starts. For 10:00 tournaments, you''ll want to head IMMEDIATELY to the First Floor tournament area.

Signups will be put out at 7pm on Friday for Saturday's tournaments, and 7pm Saturday for Sunday's tournaments.

Some slots will be reserved for Day-of signups, to give those with single-day badges a chance to participate

Gene Parmesan

I'm interested in the Citadels and Revolution! tournaments on friday and sunday. What do you think the numbers will be like?

Lackey

Gene Parmesan wrote:

I'm interested in the Citadels and Revolution! tournaments on friday and sunday. What do you think the numbers will be like?

EVERY TOURNAMENT WILL BE FILLED TO CAPACITY! (in most cases, 32 players max)

Well... that's our wish. We'll find out when the show starts!

Citadels hasn't been run as a tournament for a couple of years, and this is the first time Revolution! is being offered. But both are popular games, and I expect some strong competition for both. Remember though, Citadels is early Friday morning, so consider coming immediately to the TT Tourney area on the WSCC First Floor as soon as PAX begins to sign up and ensure you've got a slot in the 11:00 tournament.

susan

Lackey, here's the Warmachine/Hordes rules:

http://privateerpress.com/get-ready-for-pax-prime-masters

Privateer Press will be hosting a PAX WARMACHINE and HORDES Masters on Saturday, August 27 at PAX Prime. Registration will be from 10:00am - 10:30am on Saturday in the Privateer Press Event area in Suite 20 on the first floor of the convention center. The tournament will start at 10:45am. There is only room for 32 players so register early on Saturday to ensure your spot.

PAX Masters will have the following list requirements.
50pt. Army List
3 Lists Required Steamroller Variant (each list must be played at least once)
Standard Steamroller scenarios
Accelerated Time Limits"

Lackey

susan wrote:

Lackey, here's the Warmachine/Hordes rules
...

Thanks susan! Added to the original post

iSamurai

For Friday Night Frenzy will we have to be there at 9PM to play or can we come late to the party? I absolutely HAVE to be at the TRS panel from 9-10.

iSamurai

And does anyone know if you need to sign up for the M:TG tourneys or just show up?

akjak

For games with expansions (especially Carcassone), will there be information on what rulesets will be used?

Lackey

akjak wrote:

For games with expansions (especially Carcassone), will there be information on what rulesets will be used?

We'll have the latest copies of rules for each game on-site for reference. This means that PDF versions released by the publisher are the rules we use, not necessarily the rules printed in the box. (Some of the copies of our games are from different editions - the newest version of rules will be used in all cases)

Whether or not an expansion is used for a tournament can be viewed in the Grid View version of the tournament list.

For Carcassonne in particular, we will use the latest rules found on the Rio Grande Games web site. We be using the original base game only, and we will *not* be using the River. Note that the 2008 rules linked here show that a city completed consisting of only two tiles will score 4 points, and that Farmers score 3 points for each city they successfully supply. This is different than the scoring listed in rules from earlier editions, so please be aware. (If you're used to playing with expansions, consider how refreshing of a change it will be to only play the original base game!)

Also, I now have some General Rules for tournaments available, giving your more details about how typical tournaments will work at PAX.

akjak

That answered my question, thank you!