Chances are you have probably heard about the “10,000-hours” rule. The “rule” theorizes that to master any skill you need to have around 10,000 hours of deliberate and intentional practice in that skill. This theory was popularized by the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, which was an expansion on a 1993 study by psychologist Anders Ericsson.
While the actual time required to master a skill will certainly vary from person to person, the sum of it remains the same; you need to spend time with focused and intentional practice honing that skill.
So, how does that translate into Warhammer 40K? How much actual time do you need to practice and what does that practice actually look like? In today’s article I’m going to cover how intentional and deliberate practice can help you improve and hone your skills on the tabletop and what that looks like. Let’s get into it.
The 40K Deliberate Practice Framework
We all know that practice and reps are needed to improve in 40K. No amount of coaching or YouTube videos or Reddit threads can replace actual practice on the table. But that practice needs to be deliberate and intentional to move the needle in your 40K journey.
It is not enough to simply play games if you want to see improvement. The practice needs to be focused and intentional. There are essentially 3 different tiers in 40K practice. Let’s take a look at them.
Tier 1: Passive Reps
Passive reps are the most common type of practice for 40K players and generally offer the lowest value once you’ve learned the basics of the game and your faction rules. These include casual pick-up games at your FLGS or club. Even if those games use competitive lists and missions. Generally these pick-up games are focused on just playing for results, with little to no real review either in-game or post-game.
Chances are you’ve probably gone to your local Facebook Group or Discord server and asked for a game and the conversation goes something like this.
Player 1: Who wants to play a game this week at the store?
Player 2: I’m game. How’s Thursday at 6PM sound?
Player 1: Cool. See ya there.
You show up to the store with your army with no pre-game discussion beforehand on the type of game you are looking to play. You both have some small talk, you go over your armies, you play the game, maybe chit-chat a bit after, pack up and head home. Maybe you comment on how your dice failed you, or you didn’t realize that your opponent had some interaction that shifted the game. Sound familiar? These are called passive reps.
While passive reps are certainly better than no reps at all, they don’t really provide much meaningful insight beyond maybe getting an idea of your army’s synergies and rules. They are great for new players and if you’re just starting your 40K journey, passive reps can be useful to help you learn the game and the rules. Beyond that, passive reps offer very little value in improving once you are ready to move on beyond the basics of the game.
Generally this is because you’re focused more on results (winning) rather than learning with passive reps.
Tier 2: Intentional Games
Intentional games are more focused than passive reps. Examples of intentional games of practice will scale a little more than passive reps. For example, instead of playing a random pick-up game with no real goals, maybe you’re practicing a particular mission and layout for an upcoming event you plan to attend. Maybe you want to see how your list measures up against a particular matchup.
You’re going into your games with intentional goals in mind. Whether it’s deployment, or managing resources or improving time on a chess clock. The goals are deliberate and in the post-game you and your opponent are going over particular decision points and mistakes you both may have made. You’re writing these down or taking pictures and annotating key areas that went right and wrong in the game.
Intentional games offer medium value and most tournament players tend to linger in this specific tier of practice and rarely advance beyond this type of game.
Tier 3: Specialized Practice
Specialized practice is an area most players rarely go, but offers very high value in how you practice for events. In specialized practice sessions you are often not playing full games. You’re setting up to practice deployment for every mission and terrain layout in the event pack. You’re running through the first two turns of the game, repeatedly. You’re noting lines of sight and practicing movement and staging. Resetting and doing it again and again and against different builds and lists.
Specialized practice is where most players transcend from decent to good. You’re practicing much like you would in intentional games as mentioned above, but rather than just playing a full game, you’re focusing on very isolated and specific areas through repeated drills.
It should be noted that before you move into this tier of practice you need to have a firm familiarity with the Core Rules as well as your own faction rules. Most of this can be accomplished through moving through the tiers of passive reps and intentional games.
How the Tiers Work in Practice
Moving through these tiers takes time and reps and each is built upon the next. Which tier you need to practice consistently in largely depends on your experience level with the game. Let’s break it down a bit further.
Passive Reps -> Newer players who have been playing the game less than 12 months. In this tier you’re spending time learning the Core Rules and your own army rules. There’s less emphasis on “getting good” and more on getting familiar with the game.
Intentional Games -> You’ve had dozens of passive reps and are ready to progress to more focused practice sessions. You’re preparing to enter into competitive play when you move into this tier. You have a solid understanding of the Core Rules and your army rules and now you’re looking to identify weak areas in your game. You’re documenting and tracking mistakes after your games.
Specialized Practice -> You are a fairly experienced tournament player. You’ve played many games of passive reps and intentional games and want to focus and hone in on specific areas to prepare for events. Practicing deployment and running through turns and practice drills. Practice sessions are very focused here on key specific areas.
Let’s take this a bit further.
The 10-20-50 Reps Rule
This method breaks down milestones and measurable goals you can apply in your practice sessions with your army.
10 Reps: You’re getting familiar with your army list and rules. Making minor changes and tweaks to fill scoring gaps.
20 Reps: Once you’ve hit 20 reps you have a good idea of how your army works, how to deploy versus specific opponents an in particular missions. You’re building your competence in how your faction actually works by evaluating your sessions and learning from mistakes.
50 Reps: You’ve moved into more intentional and specialized practice sessions. You’re testing deployment on all the missions for a particular event. You’re running through the first couple turns of a game and measuring movement and line of sight areas. You’re moving from being simply competent, to becoming confident in your ability as a player.
I know, I know. 50 Reps is a lot of reps. Yes, it is! That’s the idea. But it’s not enough to simply play. The practice needs to be intentional and focused on specific areas as you grow. And while 50 reps may seem like a lot, consider that the best players in the world have hundreds and even thousands of reps under their belt.
The Practical Practice Plan
So, we’ve gone over the tiers of practice and moving through them. Once you’ve moved past the passive reps and intentional games phases, you’re ready to begin expanding into more targeted and focused practice sessions with specialized practice. These are designed for intermediate to very experienced players. But what does that actually look like?
It starts with a practical practice plan you can put into action. It’s not simply about “getting more reps” of 40K, but maximizing the value you get out of those reps.
So how often do you actually need to practice to start seeing positive results in your 40K games? You can get a lot out of 1-2 sessions per week of specialized practice.
But as the saying goes, it takes two to tango right? While some targeted specialized practice can even be done solo, it’s always best to find a partner with like minded goals to practice these scenarios with.
Define What You’re Training In
Whether it is deployment, or staging, or focusing on pre-measuring for movement and line of sight. Define what you want to focus on that week. Setup your reps to focus on those target areas. Take pictures and notes to reflect on after. Set aside a single practice session to focus just on that target area. Talk this over with your practice partner.
Structure Your Sessions with Intent
Whether you’re going to practice deployment, the first couple of turns, or even a full game, it is important to approach your practice sessions with intent. After you’ve defined what you’re training in, focus on those areas and establish goals. For example, I want to see how my units need to deploy in a particular mission on a specific layout. I want to practice moving and positioning in the first turn to put units in position to threaten and score.
Evaluate Your Sessions
After each rep, review what you did and take notes. If you’re practicing deployment, did you position with infiltrators in mind? What about Deep Strike threats? Did you screen valuable units properly? etc. Be honest in your evaluation and consider feedback from the opponent. Honest evaluation will help you improve and shore up gaps in your strategy.
Specialized Practice Example: Deployment Drills
You and your opponent are going to focus on a specialized practice scenario for an upcoming event. The mission pack for the event has given a specific mission and layout for all the rounds.
Setup the objectives and terrain for the mission. Alternate deploying with your opponent factoring in what you’re going to drop and in what order. Does your opponent have infiltrators? Maybe you need to deploy yours first to limit their ability to deploy their own. Do they not have any at all? Maybe you can hold yours until the end and drop them.
Practice this 2-3 times with your opponent per mission and terrain layout. Discuss and take notes. Then setup a different mission and layout from the event pack and repeat the process.
Focus on specific areas such as:
- Threat projection
- Moving onto your natural expansion objective
- Threatening the opponent’s natural expansion objective
- Setting up units to counter-punch
- Premeasuring line of sight areas and defining safe positions in deployment
You’ll find that spending 1-2 hours practicing this will give you more preparation for the event than playing a full game on just one of the layouts. You’ll have a plan for deployment for every mission at the event.
Final Thoughts
While the “10,000-hour rule” may not mean precisely 10,000 hours, its abstract concept holds value; targeted and focused practice sessions with deliberate intent will help you master the skills required to play and win games of 40K. Practice sessions need to be focused and targeted on intentional games and specialized practice sessions if you truly want to advance your skill level. Find like minded partners to practice with and do this 1-2 times per week. The 10-20-50 Reps Rule will help you build the skill set you need to move from novice to confident player at the table. Identify the areas you want to specifically hone, create a plan and practice, take notes and pictures and evaluate what went wrong and what went right. It won’t happen overnight, but within months or even weeks, you’ll find you’re better prepared and more confident at the table with focused and specialized practice sessions.
If you’re new to the game or want to improve quickly, then don’t forget to grab my FREE eBook: Forging Your Path to Victory: A Beginner’s Guide to Competitive 40K. A great starting point for those looking to jump into Competitive 40K. Subscribe and get your free copy!
Do you want a personalized practice plan designed specifically for your needs? Ready to start competiting for podium finishes? Check out my Grimhammer Competitive Breakthrough Program. My coaching program is personally tailored to help you see immediate and increased results. I guarantee within 90 days you’ll be able to go from 1-2 and floating in the bottom tables to contending to win your local RTTs. If you’re curious, head on over to my coaching page and let’s level up your game together.
If you enjoyed this article and want to keep seeing ad free content and get access to additional competitive 40K content, consider supporting me on Patreon.
See you on the tabletop
