I stopped by my FLGS the other night to pick up some paint for my Drop Pod project I'm working on and it just so happens there was a Warmachine tournament going on.
Now I don't know anything about Warmachine other than it generally uses fewer models in armies compared to 40k. What I did find interesting was that each player's turn was timed.
They only had 10 minutes to complete their turn.
Now I know that 40k tournaments usually have a time limit on the game itself, but I found the idea of timing each turn rather interesting. You don't have the luxury of deliberating for 15 minutes on what you think the best move is going to be. You need to be paying attention and you need to move with a purpose if you want to get done... in time.
Don't know your army rules? It's going to cost you valuable time.
Don't know the game rules? It's going to cost you valuable time.
Don't have a plan? It's going to cost you valuable time.
The more I think about timed turns, the more I like it.
Maybe it's because I have such a small force. It doesn't take long to resolve the phases for 11 guys, two tanks and two dreads. I can see where people with much larger armies like Orks and Guard might have some trouble with timed turns but I think if you allow enough time and the player knows their force and the rules, it shouldn't be a problem.
I may just try imposing the time limit on myself and see how that goes. If anything, moving faster through my turns will force me to think and plan faster and force my opponent to go faster since his turns will come up quicker. If he's not ready for it, it may cause him to make a careless mistake.
Ten minutes seems like a good place to start.
Think it's over the top or downright silly?
I decided to look at the 2010 Adepticon 40k Championships. It's 1850 points in two hours. That breaks down like this...
If you want to get 5 turns in, you've got 12 min a turn.
If you want to get 6 turns in, you've got 10 min a turn.
If you want to get 7 turns in, you've got less than 8 min a turn.
