Eric, please think it through one more time.
I think this could be a fun tournament. And you have already scored a win for Team Nobles!
That been said, I've been thinking about the handicap thing and how useful can it really be?
There aren't more than two players that really stands out and that's PB and eric.
A handful more could be considered...well, top players; davothojo, ianiow, CheAhn, Lysimachos(if he still is playing), deeter, batesmotel, me. Forgetting someone?
I'm not against a handicap system that could be used in friendlies and smaller tournaments.
If someone was to launch a bigger one like Lysimachos' Challenger, petes' K-O or CC I wouldn't participate if handicap was part of the deal.
Take K-O for example; there the players could chose any list throughout every book. That means any player could end up with any kind of
bad match-up. Then there is the map. If I was handicaped and both these two factors went against me I wouldn't feel fairly treated

There are other ways too. Have a list of aviable armies and let the player chose based on ranking. Or, like the Iberian tourny, dole out the armies based
on the skill of the players.
In short, could be good for practice and occasional, smaller tournaments.
And pete, you wrote you won't enter LoEG in the future. Can I say to you as I did eric...think it through.