Kings of War League
Why am I running a Kings of War Builder League?
Within the Causeway Giants Gaming Group someone asked would anyone run a league of some sort for the group. There were lots of suggestions and points raised, and through the ensuing discussion a Kings of War League was suggested. I had been itching to play more Kings of War and so I decided (wisely or not) to organise a Kings of War League myself. Thinking on past experience I have found that whilst there is lots of enthusiasm during discussions when things like Tournaments, Leagues and other Events are suggested, until someone actually steps up and does something, nothing ever happens. I mean, how hard could organising a league actually be?
The initial response to a Kings of War League was good, garnering about 17 positive responses about playing in a league. I therefore reported to the group that I would be setting up and organising for a league. Quite a bit of work was initially undertaken, including reading up on Kings of War organised play, putting together a draft ruleset, organising documents and schedules, getting the league listed on the Mantic community events page, and dedicating a small section of this website to the future Kings of War League.
When I was compiling the rules I looked to see what other clubs had done with their Kings of War Leagues. Most of the information I found was from that period in time shortly after Games Workshop blasted the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world into oblivion and brought out Age of Sigmar. Most of the league rules if found were based around bringing in new players and introducing them to Kings of War, not only as a game, but also to get experience of a league and tournament practice.
I wanted to do something similar for the group's first league, and so between Mantic's 2017 Clash of Kings Organised Play supplement, and the league rules I found online I drafted rules for an escalation league, which would allow players to build their army over the course of the league. This should hopefully be engaging for both new and experienced players. The Builder League was therefore created where you essentially “build” your army over the course of the league, and at the end, hopefully have something which can be used in tournaments.
So with everything ready, the league was launched and registration opened. As it turned out, rather disappointingly, only 4 people signed up for the league; 5 people if I included myself. This was a huge drop from those that had initially been so positive about the league. Not to be disheartened, I am currently working away with reckless abandon to make this league work; and I want this league to work not only for my own sanity, but to encourage others to join in any future league that might be run within the Group.
So as we draw to the close of registration, I was on tenterhooks because the league as I had designed it was built around an even number of players, and so with 5 people signing up, it meant that I would have to sit this league out to ensure everyone else got a game. This is not a real problem, it was just the way I drafted the rules. I am sure I will still get a game in here and there with folk as they practice with their lists, but it seems that my itch to play Kings of War would not be soothed so easily. Whilst I am disheartened that it has turned out this way, I will be working on a new set of league rules for next year, and hopefully I will take better account of an odd number of players.
To answer my question above, how hard could it be to organise a league? Very hard as it turns out!
J