This post is in response to another I spied over on 40k War Zone. I had originally intended it to be a comment reply to their blog post, but it just sort of sprawled.
I think that 90 minutes is plenty of time to complete a tournament game. The thing about a tournament is that if you are playing here, you ought to have some idea of what goes where.
Organizers should have briefing time built into their schedules between games, to go over the scenario and answer questions related to them. Tables should be set up before hand, and not dicked with by players. Organizers should be clear beforehand about rules and rulings. Informing your players which rules will be allowed and that disputes will be read Rules as Written, so don't bother to argue and whine, thank you. A tourney organizer should never run an event alone, this guarantees shenanigans. They should instead appoint referees who can also field disputes and just keep an eye on things. When a game round ends, and a match is only 3 1/2 turns in, there is a problem.
Players should have their army lists ready when they arrive, and exchange them during the briefing period between games. They should also be able to deploy their army in a timely manner. Any follower of mine can tell you that my army of choice is the Imperial Guard. Of late, I am taking an IG force of nearly all infantry. My 1500 point list is something like 100 models, and I can get 'em all out of my army bag and onto a lunch tray for pre-deployment with ease. I reset units between games, and deployment, while not always artful, is quick.
Players who come unprepared don't get to play, period.
The first tournaments I attended, I placed poorly. In fact, in my 40k career I haven't had any tournament wins. I do always have fun, though. These tournaments had scoring based on performance, as well as army comp and painting. You didn't have to be the best painter to score a quick five points, either. There was usually about 20 guys turning out, to play three games. There was first, second, and third, as well as best painted and sportsmanship awards. Of course, Games Workshop used to maintain Outriders to run the tourney circuit, and offer prize support as well. We had pizza more often than not, and hearing '4,5, or 6 it' to settle something was the rule more than the exception. 90 minute rounds were what we played, and usually with 2500 points.
/rant
In other news, I've been building some terrain after spending most of September not accomplishing anything. Somehow, I was moving for the whole month even though the actual move took a day... someone will have to explain how exactly that works sometime.
I've got a pile of new stuff to work on, due to some killer eBay gets, so stay tuned for that.
Steve over at Mad Robot is working the Kurgan Winter Guard now, and I have a platoon of guardsmen waiting for when the greatcoats are released. I haven't quite decided what to do with them, either a third platoon for my existing forces or more 'counts as' Mechanicus, maybe Inquisitorial henchmen this time around. Time and finances shall tell.
Until next time,
Xi
