world open war logo

SSWG PRESENTS

World Open War

World Open War is SSWG's new international Bolt Action tournament. It is a team-based event, with teams of three players and is competitively focused.

INTRODUCTION

World Open War is SSWG's new international Bolt Action tournament. It is a team-based event, with teams of three players and is competitively focused. The tourney is played over two days at our club house on pre-prepared tables which will all differ. Teams will play a total of six rounds.

Unlike other SSWG events, World Open War is not historically themed though we encourage players to still do this and there will be a prize for the best themed army. The aim is to find out who has the World’s best team at a fun event for Bolt Action enthusiasts.

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World Open War will be following Warlord’s tournament pack for missions and the latest FAQ. There will be a captains group to discuss all incoming FAQs

Team’s will be drawn into groups of four on day one and then again in groups of four based on their ranking after day one. The winner of the Finalists group on day two will be declared the World Open War Champion. Other groups on day two will also be playing for trophies and so no matter what your day one performance, you will compete for a trophy on day 2

KEY INFORMATION

Date: 21st and 22nd October 2023

Location: SSWG clubhouse in Southend, England
Applications to participate and queries should be sent to the TO, Russell Wright at:

Kendoruss@outlook.com

On messenger or phone on +44 07703 773 781
World Open War facebook page
Via SSWG’s website and contact details

Planned cost for the event is £30 per player for the whole event with a £10 deposit per player (refundable) to be paid when the team is registered

Reps

If you would like to be a rep/captain for a national team please contact the TO. Where a team already exists the TO will put you in contact with that team or potentially invite you to organise a second national team

TEAM AND SELECTION RULES

Each team will consist of three players and contain one captain but teams are welcome to bring non playing members (such as reps or reserves) to the event

Player selection will be solely the remit of the captain or any representative (if not playing) for the nation and SSWG will not involve itself in these decisions

The team players will use different nation armies, for example a team could not include two German army lists

Armies will be generic platoons, tank platoons are banned; these will total 1100 points maximum with a limit of no more than 24 order dice

Chinese army reinforced platoon from Empire in Flames; Australian reinforced platoon from Campaign New Guinea and Canadian Infantry division 1943-44 from Campaign D day, British and Canadian sectors will be allowed. Armies of Free France from Battle of the Bulge campaign book will be allowed. All other theatre and campaign selectors will be banned. Note that where an Australia or Canadian list is selected, further British dominion lists may not be selected.

British free forward artillery officers may not be upgraded to Naval observers.

Captains will submit their three army lists by the deadline of September 9th 2023 but players do not need to be allocated to a list

Lists will then be checked and released publicly by September 16th 2023 if all have been received

If a team is late on providing their army lists, there will be a 0.5 point deduction in place for the day one group games

Army forces must be built using the reinforced platoon rules and therefore every platoon will require an officer and two infantry sections

Players are free to use any format for the army they choose, eg easy army or excel.

Army restrictions

No Additional Army PDFs

Units that are available to be used in generic lists will be allowed. This includes units from campaign books where it explicitly says they can be used in generic platoons. It will also include FAQ units allowed in generic platoons

All points changes in the FAQ are in effect up to the list submission deadline, at that point no FAQ changes will be accepted

No named characters

No airplane rule

Adjustments on army list rules may be made up to September 9th 2023 based upon captain discussions

Please Bring

Note that if a unit is not included on your list, it will be removed (so make sure you include your free units).

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3x copies of your army list

SSWG Bolt Action Team Challenge 2020

Please bring two sets of order dice, dice, tape measures, templates, dice bag, rules book and the army book being used

3 good men Bolt Action game

A fully painted army using WYSIWYG. Models that do not meet this requirement will be removed. Therefore if you are planning on bringing Maori Gurkha Paras you will need to have the historically correct model for them

THE ROUNDS

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Teams will play six rounds against other teams over two days, pre allocated on day one via seeding and a draw. On day two teams will play in groups based on their finishing places on day one.

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Each round will take 2 hours and 30 minutes and time updates will be provided. Players will be allowed a maximum of five minutes for a toilet break but only in the first 2 hours of the game.

The main highway, autobahn, heading for the road bridge.

There will be a fifteen minute set up period prior to the game to allow for score collection and reviewing, allow players to tidy up their armies and find their tables, check their next mission and opponents will be matched up by the captains.

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Players will be given a time update on one hour, two hours and with five minutes remaining.

US forces under fire board boats for the river crossing

When the final bell is rung at 2 hours and 30 minutes, no further dice are to be drawn from the bag (under any circumstances) but the current order may be completed.

TABLES AND TERRAIN

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All tables at the event will differ. Expect a significant variation in tables and ample terrain. Teams will not play on the same tables on day one and efforts will be made to minimise any need to replay tables on day 2. Tables will be marked out to be 6ft by 4ft. Examples of what to expect are above:

THE MISSIONS

The following six missions from the Warlord tournament pack will be played in the following order.

Meeting Engagement

Key Positions

Timely Objectives

Nuts

Turkey shoot

Sectors

DAY 1 GROUPS

Each team will be entered into one of four groups. The groups will be drawn prior to the event by the TO and the film of this provided to captains.

Prior to the draw, the TO will seed all teams into a pool A, B, C and D with four teams in each pool. One team from each pool will be drawn for the day one group

Seeding will be carried out by the TO with support and will be based on prior results at similar events and number of tournaments won by the players in the team. Captains input will be appreciated but the TO’s decision will be final on the pools

Pools will then be drawn randomly with two key exceptions:

Home nations (England, Wales, Scotland, N Ireland) will not be drawn in the same group as each other. Note the exception to this will be if one of the home nations brings a second team, in which case the second team can be drawn against another home nation but with a maximum of two home nations allowed per group.

If a nation has two teams at the event, those teams will be kept separate on day one.

Match up order:

Round 1 A v D, B v C - Round 2 A v C, B c D - Round 3 A v B, C v D

DAY 2 GROUPS

At the end of day one, each team’s ranking in its group will determine which group it enters for day 2. It will also have points, secondaries and dice killed to determine within the group whether it is team A,B,C or D.

This will produce four groups:

Finalist group- All teams that win their group will enter the finalist group and the winner of this group will be declared World Open War’s World Champion team.

Challenger group- All teams ranked second in their group will enter this group and the winner of the group will be declared World Open War’s Challenge winning team.

Battle group- All teams ranked third in their group will enter this group and the winner of the group will be declared World Open War’s Battle winning team.

Wooden spoon group- All teams ranked fourth in their group will enter this group and the winner of the group will be declared World Open War’s wooden spoon winning team.

Avoiding rematches-

Rematches will be impossible with teams from day 1 and so all teams will play six different teams.

Avoiding “home nations”-

The Finalist Group will consist only of teams that win their group. Therefore if two teams from the same nation (team A and B) win their groups they will face each other.

Other groups will be altered to ensure that same nation teams do not face each other. This will only be done with captains’ agreement. This will be achieved by swapping teams across groups.

Match up order:

Round 1 A v D, B v C - Round 2 A v C, B c D - Round 3 A v B, C v D

Why groups?

By seeding the groups and then deciding final round games based on table results, we hope to ensure the teams have reasonably balanced schedules. To win the tournament you will have to win your group and then win the final group and so every game matters. A group of death situation should hopefully be avoided but we do accept some groups may be slightly uneven in strength of schedule.

Every team by entering a group for day 2 will still be playing for a trophy as well.

THE LIST AND TABLE MATCH-UPS

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Stage One:

Team captains will roll off and the winner of the roll (captain A) can select a table for their army. Captain B will now select an army to face it.

Stage Two:

Captain B will now select a table for one of his two remaining armies and captain A will pick an army to fight it.

Stage Three:

The remaining two armies will be placed on the remaining table.

THE TABLES AND MISSIONS

There will be 24 tables per round, teams will be allocated three and can then select match ups and tables (see above) Every round the same mission will be played by all players

Missions will use exact rules from the Warlord tournament pack

There will always be a secondary objective on the table (see below)

EVENT SCHEDULE

9th July 2022 Event starts advertising and starts website and facebook page

21st October 2022 Nations that have enquired about a second team will be offered slots if available

September 9th 2023 deadline for list entry

September 16th 2023 lists published in a standardised format

Friday 20th October 2023 Pre tournament evening, anyone arriving early can meet with the local club and use the tables.  Our social officer will also be available to help anyone planning to enjoy the local nightlife.

Saturday 21st October 2023

09.00-09.45 Registration and captains’ meeting

09.45-10.00 Pre round brief

10.00-12.30 Round 1

12.30-13.30 Lunch

13.30-13.45 Pre round brief

13.45-16.15 Round 2

16.15-16.30 Pre round brief

16.30-19.00 Round 3

19.00-19.15 Day one summary

20.15-23.00 Team dinner at Fujimoto in Leigh on Sea (optional)

Sunday 22nd October 2023

09.00-09.15 Registration

09.15-09.30 Pre round brief

09.30-12.00 Round 4

12.00-12.45 Lunch

12.45-13.00 Pre round brief

13.00-15.30 Round 2

15.30-15.45 Pre round brief

15.45-18.15 Round 3

18.15-18.30 Finals preparation

18.30-18.45 Awards and restaurant invite to anyone staying on the Sunday

SSWG will offer breakfast rolls both mornings of the event and will also be taking drinks orders during the games. A lunch option will be arranged for both days.

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RULES CLARIFICATIONS

Scoring for the tourney will be as follows:

Match play results- 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss

Team v Team bonus- Each round if a team beats its opponent (for example two wins vs one) a bonus 1 point will be awarded. This means team head to heads are meaningful.

Secondary objective

Score a secondary win by holding a secondary at the end of a game, uncontested by an enemy unit. This is done in the same way as for normal objectives (see below).

Secondaries will be used to determine team rankings in the case of a tie based on points

Why secondary objectives?

SSWG includes these in all games. They add an additional tactical element to any game; they mean that even a player who feels he has lost or will lose a game has something to continue to fight for; the scoring method for them reinforces that this is a team event; they provide a different tie breaker to dice kills and they are fun

Dice killed

Players will record how many dice they have destroyed each game and total dice destroyed will be used as a tie breaker if points and secondary objectives held are tied.

Score sheet

Players will complete a score sheet at the end of the round and these will be kept for reference. Scores will be provided at the end of each round and if a team is unhappy they must inform the TO immediately.

TRAVEL AND STAY

Southend is a small city (!) on the Thames estuary coast in Essex (England’s most important county), England. It has a small local airport and good road and rail connections to London, just over an hour away.

Local airports that are within 80 minutes of the event include:

London Stansted

London Gatwick

London Luton

London Heathrow

City Airport

London Southend airport

The TO will provide advice on travel but SSWG will also endeavour to offer a pick-up and drop off service for airports for teams (first come first served basis). Give us notice on your arrival and return flight times and we will look to provide a car pick up.

Southend itself has many hotels and some of these are very close to the club house. We will discuss with the local Holiday Inn for a discount for players but also recommend the many guest houses near the beach in Southend

THE CLUB AND CLUBHOUSE

WOW is being hosted by SSWG (Southend on Sea War Gaming) at their permanent club house in Southend (address and map below). Onsite parking will be made available and the club is close to several hotels.

SSWG.co.uk
3a Bentalls Close
Southend on Sea
Essex SS2 5PT

Map

SATURDAY TEAM EVENT

The teams are all invited to meet at a local restaurant on Saturday night to swap stories and complain about dice. We encourage teams to mix with other teams and not sit at tables as teams

There has been a suggestion that we could run a quiz night with a prize for the winning team as well

SPONSORSHIP

TBC, Warlord and Stone Sword signed on already and many  others will be contacted