Middle-earth SBG WTC 2025 - Rules Pack

Date : 12th-13th April 2025

Location: Double Tree Hilton Hotel, Sheffield, UK.

Direct access to PDF : link

1. Army lists

Each team of four players will submit five 700pt army lists, all five can be used by their team at the tournament.

1. 1. Permitted publications

Army lists may be created using the following Games Workshop publications:

• The Armies of The Lord of the Rings
• The Armies of The Hobbit
• All of Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Supplements up-to and including any publications published before 10th March 2025
• All PDF documents released by Games Workshop (including Forge World) which contain rules for newly released miniatures which have not yet been included in a published book, published before 10th March 2025

1. 2. List building restrictions

The following restrictions are in place:

• Each team may not include more than one of each Army List across their five army lists.
  • For example, Team Antarctica may not field two forces from the Black Gate army list but may include one from the Black Gate and one from Wraiths on Wings from example and a third from Army of Gothmog.
• Each team may not include more than one copy of each named character across their five army lists (including variations of a single character).
  • For example, Team Antarctica may not use Aragorn, Strider and Aragorn, King Elessar.
  • Exception: Good Saruman and Evil Saruman are considered separate characters for the purpose of this restriction and can both be taken by the same team.

1. 3. List submission - deadline & format

Each team must submit all five army lists by 23:59 GMT on

10th March 2025

To submit the army lists the team captain should compile all five army lists in a single document which will then be sent to the tournament organisers for review.

Please use the standard template available on the IGE website under the SBG Resources section:
This document must be completed before submission and submitted by the Team Captain after all team members have confirmed the lists are correct. Team captains should email their completed army list submission forms to the tournament organisers at:

dwellersinthedark@gmail.com

Following army list submission, the tournament team will take the following steps:

• Review army lists & report problems to team captains for resolution
• Generate & published the Day 1 team match-ups
• Publish the full list of approved army lists 2-3 weeks before the event
• Return any illegal lists to relevant captains.

Late submission or errors reported back to the Team captain will incur a penalty. In the spirit of gaming this penalty will oddly be a selection of chocolates representing your country. My kids spend a few nights after the event exploring the world through your chocolate. This is a fun experience for them. Logistically late or wrong entries cause both myself and the TO team a lot of headache and interrupt the deadline of events.
Any offending country not abiding by this humorous consequence will incur a 1 point tournament penalty.

1. 4. Substitute players

Should a player have to withdraw from the competition after the army list submission date, but before the tournament itself (e.g. due to illness), the substitute player must use the five army lists submitted, it will not be possible to submit a new list for any substitute players.
If a player is able to attend the tournament, but is subsequently unable to play their game, see “10 - Player & team absences”.

2. Tournament preparation

2. 1. Player equipment

All players are expected to arrive at the tournament fully equipped to play their games. This includes:

• Two copies of their army list (printed, not hand-written)
• All miniatures for their army
• Dice & tape measure
• Pen & paper
• All supplements and published materials containing the rules for their army
• Erratas & FAQs

Each team must supply at least two Rule Books written in English to be used amongst their players.

1. 2. Painting & Modelling Standards

All models used within the event must be fully painted and based. Models should also follow the WYSIWYG system, which requires each specific model used to be equipped displaying the options and war gear purchased in the army list. For example, we would expect to see a Moria Goblin modelled with a spear if the army list states a Moria Goblin is wielding a Spear. 3rd Party models and conversions are allowed provided that there is no impact on the model’s line of sight e.g. a model should not be converted to be laying on the floor or to be much larger than the original model. If you have any doubts about a model you are using, your Team Captain should contact the event team in advance, so rulings do not have to be made on the day.

3. The Draw

Over the two days of the event, the teams will first compete against predetermined opponents, and then in a traditional Swiss Ranked format.

3. 1. Day 1 - Rounds 1-3

The teams will have their opponents on day 1 predetermined by a random draw. These opponents will be determined and published in advance of the tournament.

3. 2. Day 2 - Rounds 4-6

After round 3, teams will be drawn to play against each other using the Swiss Ranking system - for example, the team ranked 1st will play against the team ranked 2nd, and so on.
Teams will be ranked for the draw following the system outlined in the “Scoring” section.
Teams will not be eligible to play against the same opposing team multiple times over the weekend, except for in the final round where they may face a rematch.
Teams will not be eligible to play against any other teams from their country with the exception of round 6 and only if they are in contention to podium the event.

4. Scenarios

The standard six Scenarios in the 2024 rule book will be used. The order of them will be randomly determined with the scenario being rolled for at the start of each round. Further publications from GW may open the pool of scenarios available to us but this window will close on the 10th March 2025.

5. Player Match-ups

5. 1. The Fifth List

After the scenario is drawn and the opponents determined the captains from both teams will simultaneously discard one of their teams five lists and distribute the other four between the four players of their team. The 4 lists and their associated players to be used for the forthcoming game MUST be submitted to the opposing captain at least 30 minutes before the games begin to give time to do the match-ups.

5. 2. The Match-up System

The captains from both teams will then determine the individual player match-ups within their teams. This is done by following the WTC Match-up System as pictured below:

6. Game Duration

Each round will have an allotted game time of 2 hours, plus 30 minutes before the round for the player match-ups to be determined.

6. 1. Deployment time limit

In rounds which use scenarios with a Deployment phase, players must have completed their deployment within the first 15 minutes of the round. As soon as Deployment is completed, players should begin playing the game.
In scenarios which do not use a Deployment phase, no time will be allocated for Deployment, and the full-time allowance for the round will be used for gameplay.
If players have not completed Deployment within the first 15 minutes of the game, they may be penalised for Slow Play violations.

6. 2. Game end

After 2 hours, time will be called on the round and any players who are still playing will finish the turn that they are on, and then determine the result of the game.
If you cannot complete the final turn of the game within 15 minutes of the end of the round (2 hours 15 minutes of gameplay) both players should complete the current phase of their turn (e.g. Movement, Combat or Shooting) as quickly as possible and the game will immediately move to the End Phase where Victory Points will be worked out and the result of the game determined.

7. Scoring

Players are awarded Tournament Points for their team based on the result of their individual games.

7. 1. Major and Minor Victories

We are presently working hard to create an appropriate scoring matrix that suits this great event.
It will be added in due course.
Thank you for your patience.

7. 2. Conceding

Should a player concede a game, their opponent will automatically receive a 12-0 win, thereby receiving a Major Victory.
The conceding player will receive a Major Loss, and a -1 Tournament Point penalty. This latter penalty may be waived in exceptional circumstances, subject to the event team’s discretion.
This additional rule is to ensure that all our players who have travelled from around the world get to maximise their time playing games at the table.

7. 3. Ranking & Tiebreakers

Team rankings (including for the Swiss Ranked draw on Day 2) will be determined by the following criteria.
1. Most Tournament Points
2. Best Victory Points Difference (“VPs Scored” minus “VPs Conceded”)
3. Total Victory Points Scored

8. Awards and Prizes

The following awards will be given out at the end of the tournament. There may be other prizes available which will be announced closer to the time.

8. 1. Gaming Awards

Prizes will be awarded to the teams ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd after all six rounds are completed. Ranking will be determined as laid out under “7 – Scoring”.

8. 2. Painting & Modelling Awards

Prizes will be awarded to individuals for following categories:

• Best Painted Army.

For each category, the referees will each nominate 2 players for their work.
The event organiser will then choose the winner of each category from the nominees.

9. Rules Queries and Decisions

Referees will be using the “IGE WTC 2025 - Referee's Handbook” to adjudicate the event.
The referee’s decision is final.
For the purpose of this event the English versions of all publications shall be used and as such all TO decisions will be based on the rules as written in English.
Making sure that all attendees are playing from the same version of the game ensures that there are no discrepancies or wording changes between the publications in use, usually due to translation issues.
Any rules updates, FAQs or Errata documents released by Games Workshop for tournament use on or before 10th March 2025 will be in use during this event.

10. Player & team absences

In the case that players, or an entire team, are not available for individual games or the entire event, and replacements aren’t available, some adjustments will be made to the Match-up and Scoring process.

10. 1. Player absences

10. 1. 1. One player absence in a team

If one player is absent from a team, the following changes will be made to player match-ups involving that team:

• Instead of “5.2 The Match-up System”, the following approach will be used for player match-ups:

a. Team A has 3 players unassigned, and Team B has 4 players unassigned, within their teams' player pool.
b. Both captains’ secretly select 1 player from their pool and reveal their choice simultaneously.
c. Each captain chooses 1 player from their pool to face the opposing selected player from step 2. leaving 1 player in Team A's pool, and 2 players in Team B's pool.
d. Team A's captain chooses 1 player of the two remaining in Team B's pool for their remaining player to face.
e. This will create 3 player match-ups, leaving 1 player remaining on Team B without a match-up. For the purposes of scoring the round, this player is considered to be matched against the missing player.

• The game involving the absent player will be scored as a Major Loss (VPs: 0-12) to the team with the absent player.
• The player who would have played the absent player will be welcome to arrange a casual game with any other attendees who are also drawn against an absent player, using the tables we have available.

10. 1. 2. Two player absences in a team

If two players are absent from a team, the following changes will be made to player match-ups involving that team:

• Instead of “5.2 The Match-up System”, the following approach will be used for player match-ups:

a. Team A has 2 players unassigned, and Team B has 4 players unassigned, within their teams'
player pool.
b. Team A's captain puts forward their 2 players
c. Team B chooses 2 possible opponents for each opposing player.
d. Team A's captain chooses which of the options put forward in step 3 will be the opponent of each
of their players.
e. This will create 2 player match-ups, leaving 2 players remaining on Team B without a match-up. For the purposes of scoring the round, these players are considered to be matched against the missing players.

• The games involving the absent players will be scored as a Major Loss (VPs: 0-12) to the team with the absent players.
• The players who would have played the absent player will be welcome to arrange a casual game with any other attendees who are also drawn against an absent player, using the tables we have available.

10. 1. 3. Three player absences in a team

If three players are absent from a team, that team cannot compete in the event. The remaining player  would be welcome to participate in any casual games at the event, or alternatively, their help with the smooth running of the event would be much appreciated.
See “10.2 Team Absences” for details on how this is treated during match-ups and scoring.

10. 2. Team absences

If a team is unable to compete in the event, the backup team will step out (or step in) to make the numbers even.