I’m the type of hobbyist who is most productive / dedicated when I have deadlines to meet, commonly in the form of a tournament, while I also quite like a few different armies for each system, rather than one particular one and end up starting armies then moving on quickly. I also think that many of my fellow hobbyists are similar to me in this respect, so I have come up with a mini event, ideal for clubs, shops, gaming groups etc. that I’d like to try out. It is aimed at Fantasy, although it could easily be adapted to 40K…

Fast Fantasy Army (FFA) Event
Aim: To collect a new army at a small points level, play some games and get them done!
How it works: With a group of friends / club members etc. each person chooses an army they wish to do, and purchases the battalion box ONLY and uses the contents to write a 500 pt list. After 1 month / 4 weeks / similar time frame, everyone meets together with their assembled and painted miniatures and takes part in an organised event, such as a Tournament or campaign.

Notes
- The idea came from To4G’s, if your wondering… except that this only goes for the first month.
- The battalion box was an idea I had that would restrict players from going crazy and writing a purely competitive list, and it puts everyone on a (more) even footing, it would also be another aspect of the ‘challenge’. I realise some races eg Dark Elves don’t have battalions, I could either say ‘too bad’ or make up a probable contents box, I’m undecided.
- I might make some changes to the FOC, like no need for heroes if you have a unit champion that could become the ‘leader’. I also though about only 1 power / dispel dice base so as to reward players who actually took wizards
- The end Tourney would include painting scores, so as to reward those who finished their armies as opposed to those who barely finished undercoating -> it’s really a race against the clock!

C + C really welcome

I would say its a fine I idea - a game club near me ran a similar scheme to good effect - only they went further and had people building up proper armies over time - based both on point limits ingame and on monetary cost - thus limiting how quick people could expand.
I would say though let people get the battalion and then, say, limit them to £10 for a hero to lead thier armie - let them have something a little more to make the army "thiers".

Seems like quite a good idea and is a great way to introduce other players into the hobby - not to mention kick start another army.
Maybe have the battles at the end of it played in a 'Border Patrol' style. If I remember correctly (long time since I played them) this waives some of the restrictions placed on lists and limits OTT lists.
Are you going to have a progressive post/blog?

Border Patrol! thats what I was thinking of!

Blogs - thought about it, but if everyones in a rush to get them done, there probably won't be time, though I could do a retrospective report type thing

Increasing Pts - while it's a good idea, I think just about every club does something like that and this was trying to be different. plus it means that if you decide you don't like the army, your not stuck with them etc.

Hero - while Border Patrols don't need 'heros', it is a good idea about the model. Maybe it could be something like the Battalion box + 1 blister. The aim isn't really to make crazy individual armies though, more to create more standard ones, with less conversions etc. so as to get them done in such a short time frame.

now that I think about it I think the rules for the local round my area was 1 battleforce + 1 blister under £10

then you got something like £25 or less for the next upgrade and so on - depending on the finances of hte player taking part so that all could advance at a similar rate.