Tournament Play Tips – finish your games and have fun!

This Document provides tournament play tips for Warhammer tournament

Games like AoS and or 40K.  These practical tips will help you finish your
games in the time while still having fun.

Whats in this document

1. Completing your game on time – the social contract of tournaments.

2. List writing – can your army finish games?

3. Practice, practice, practice – know your army?

4. Practical tips for the table.

Completing your game on time,
the social contract of tournaments
For many tournament players timely play is a fundamental part of the social contract
that we as gamers enter into when we turn up at the table-top game/tournament.
That contract includes a commitment to complete the game at a reasonable pace
with an equitable split of time between the two players.  Most tournament games are
between 2 and a half and 2 and three quarters long for 2,000 points. It is both
players’ responsibility to manage their time wisely.

Avoid sour taste of a rushed or incomplete end to the game

No one wants to feel rushed through their decisions, but you also don’t want to feel
that you are being slow-played (either deliberately or inadvertently).
If players do not use their time wisely, then you can find that you are left with the
difficult decision of whether to try to fit another battle round in before dice down, play
into a lunch break, or to rush through turns.  All of these can leave a bad experience,
especially if you make crucial mistakes because you are rushing.

Armies are impacted differently by time – Some armies win in 2

turns, others need 5
Different armies are affected by time in different ways.  Lists which do most of their
damage in the first one or two turns are not affected if the game only gets to turn 3,
while some grind or highly mobile lists which are dependent on capturing objectives
late once an opponent are whittled down, need all 5 turns to execute their strategy.

Being time efficient while still having fun with your opponent
Efficient play does not require you to be rude or unengaging with your opponent. Nor
should it discourage banter and enjoying the narrative of the game as it unfolds.
Warhammer is a social game, even at the highest competitive levels.
Consider an analogy with golf.  In golf, the premise is that you take the time you
need to take your shot, but you move efficiently at all other times so you don’t hold
up play. You don’t stand on the green to mark your card, you do it while walking to
the next tee or waiting to tee-off.  While your opponent is taking their shot, you might
be moving into position for yours in anticipation etc.

List writing – can your army finish games?

At the list writing stage, think about how your army plays. If you are running the
Kunnin Ruk from Bonesplitters, and have 500 shots a turn, come prepared with
enough dice, or perhaps don’t bring the list at all if you don’t think you can get
through a game in time.
Practice, practice, practice – know your army

Nothing beats experience with a faction or a list to speed up play.

Read and re-read the rules. To save time in game, especially with the move to
electronic battletomes, scrolls, FAQs and rules, you may want to have a hard copy
cheat sheet to act as a helpful reminder of what you need to do in each phase,
including synergies, combinations and rules.  Have a separate one-pager which has
all the rules for an army (including any FAQs you rely on) it’s a useful reference for
players and you can share it with your opponent. Play practice games with your
tournament list. Perhaps think about how your army will deploy in each scenario in
advance – of course you will have to tailor for your opponent, but the changes will
not be dramatic – know how many drops you have in your army.

Practical tips for the table

So what should you do at the event?

Pre-game: Moving your army and explaining your force

Think about how you will carry your army as you move from table to table – an open
top box lined with magnetic sheet can be far quicker and easier to move models than
a foam carrying case which is more ideally suited to long-distance travel. At the start
of the game, introduce your army to your opponent and offer to explain anything
then.

Deployment
Try not to deploy your units from foam – get the units out onto a side table (or the
middle of the game table) before the game even starts.

Movement
Consider using movement trays for early turns. Many players also use movement
trays for packing models in and out of their box. When removing casualties during
the game it is easy to put them back into the tray and into your box, ready to move to
the next table.

Pre-measure a charge in the movement phase – agree the required amount in

advance.

There is no need to agonise over positioning when charging, for example, when you
get to make a 3″ pile in during the combat phase.
Also in relation to movement, and depending on your opponent’s view, you may want
to agree that you don’t need to measure for every model, move one first and keep
the rest in line. You may also want to combine destruction or other hero phase based
moves and runs in one go for standard units.  It is normally not a good idea to do this
for wizards, heroes or buffing characters where range (and their board position in a
particular phase) matters.
Dice etiquette

Avoid unnecessary disputes – narrate your actions as you go so there is no

confusion.

Have your dice ready.

Always have piles of 10 in different colours so you can easily pick up how many you
need
Don’t mix sets so there is no confusion over whether symbols are on 1s or 6s.

Roll in a set spot or clear space near the dice.

Don’t spend time hunting for dice.

Rolling attacks together if stats and rules are the same

Tokens and cheat sheets

Use markers and tokens – scenery dice, buffs, wounds etc.  It can’t be stressed
enough on how much you need tokens. There will be so many synergies, rules and
abilities in play affecting different units that you will want to keep track of them
somehow.

Save time looking up rules by having a one-pager that contains all your rules in one
place. Or a prompter to remind you of what you need to do each phase.

Final points

Think in their turns! Put your phone down and prepare that you might win the roll-off
in advance.

Leave breaks for after the game, bathroom breaks, drinks, smoke (or if you must, do
it in the opponent’s movement phase).

If running short of time, discuss, even out turns, or could extrapolate out last turns.