For years, I have watched competitive Warhammer 40K players chase improvement in the wrong places. They obsess over the newest tech, the latest detachment, and whatever list just won a major event, while overlooking the core fundamentals that actually win games. Do not misunderstand me. A well constructed army list built for competitive 40K missions absolutely matters. But list strength alone will not carry you. If your fundamentals are weak, no amount of optimization will push you past your current plateau.
In this article, I am going to break down the 5 fundamentals of competitive Warhammer 40K play. These are the skills that separate consistent winners from players who are constantly tweaking their army list but never improving their results.
Let’s get into it.
1. Asking the Right Questions in Competitive 40K
The key to advancing your play and improving in competitive Warhammer 40K is making the right decisions and minimizing your mistakes. Improvement begins with objective analysis of your games and determining your failure points. A lot of simple mistakes in competitive 40K play can be avoided by asking the right questions before and during games.
Ever found yourself suddenly in a bad position in a game because of an interaction and said “I didn’t know they could do that”? That’s because you didn’t ask the right questions. But a lot of times, especially with new players, they don’t even know what to ask! While knowing what to ask will come with experience, there are some fundamental questions you need to ask ahead of time so you are not caught off guard.
In the pre-game important questions to ask include:
- Does your opponent have any units that can infiltrate or make scout moves?
- Do any units have Fights First?
- What are your opponent’s important stratagems to look out for?
- What do their enhancements do?
- What is their Detachment rule?
- Do they have any units that can Deep Strike closer than 9″? Can they charge when doing so?
- Can any characters or units resurrect or return to the game after being destroyed?
During the game important questions include:
- What units can potentially overwatch when you move?
- How far can a unit move?
- Can their units Advance or Fall Back and Shoot/Charge?
- Can any of their units make a reactive move?
- Can any units redeploy back into reserves after the game has begun?
Warhammer 40K is an open information game. You should not expect your opponent to reveal their full strategy, but when you ask direct rules questions, they are obligated to answer honestly. The same standard applies to you. Clear, transparent information exchange is one of the foundational elements of strong competitive play. The examples above are simple and generic, but applicable in all games of competitive 40K. Think about they types of interactions and abilities that are specific to your own army. This will help you understand the right questions to ask relative to your army faction.
Asking the right questions protects you from avoidable mistakes, reduces “gotcha” moments, and allows you to make informed decisions.
2. Pre-Measuring and Threat Awareness in Competitive 40K
Pre-measuring is an essential skill for improving your play in competitive 40K. It is important to pre-measure not only your own threat ranges, but those of your opponent. Use a dice, or some other marker, measure out how far a unit can move. Check line of sight and weapon ranges for both your own unit and for the opponent’s before moving.
Pre-measure movement and threat distances of your opponent’s units as well. Does your opponent have a fast moving melee unit? Measure how far that unit can move in your own turn. This will give you an idea of their threat range. Do they have units that can potentially use Heroic Intervention? Pre-measure their distance before moving your own units.
Pre-measuring helps you assess the threat ranges of both your own units and your opponents. It can prevent you from making critical errors in movement such as overextending. It can also help you assess how your opponent can react to your own movement in their turn.
The more experience and more reps you get playing the game, the easier this becomes to visualize on the table.
3. Understand the Mission and How it Scores
I’ve written about constructing a gameplan for competitive 40K missions before. It is crucial to understand how the mission scores Primary victory points. Each mission scores differently. In the Chapter Approved 2025-26 Mission Pack, Linchpin awards victory points for holding your home objective along with increased victory points for holding others. While some missions, such as Supply Drop only award Primary victory points for holding objectives in no man’s land.
It is important to understand how these missions score Primary victory points. This helps you plan for how you’re going to hold objectives to score Primary points and helps you evaluate Secondary scoring options.
Speaking of Secondary options, it’s important to know if you’re going to take Fixed or Tactical Secondaries. This may change depending on list and/or opponent. Is your opponent playing Imperial Knights with 5 “big” knights? Maybe you consider taking Assassination and Bring it Down as Fixed Secondaries. If so, do you have the capability to destroy 4-5 of them over the courses of 5 turns?
Generally speaking, if you’re taking Fixed Secondary objectives, your list should be designed to do so ahead of time, regardless of opponent. Designing a list dedicated to scoring Behind Enemy Lines and Engage on All Fronts as Fixed Secondaries is a viable strategy, but you should have the units to score them consistently over 5 turns.
Most events publish their missions for their event ahead of time. Look over them, understand them and prepare a gameplan ahead of time to score victory points. Focus your strategy and army list construction around scoring victory points and not just dealing damage to the opponent.
4. Managing Resources in Competitive 40K
Many factions in Warhammer 40K have various resources you need to manage during the game. Command Points are a resource everyone has to manage to use for army and core stratagems. Many other factions have other limited resources that you must carefully manage in your games. Abilities such as Battle Focus for Aeldari, Cabalistic Rituals for Thousand Sons, Miracle Dice for Adeptus Sororitas or even “once per battle abilities” must be carefully managed as the game progresses.
It is not just important to consider the resources you plan to use on your turn, but also the ones you plan to use on your opponent’s turn. Do you have a fight on death stratagem in your Detachment? Will you need to use it on your opponent’s turn? Managing your Command Points to ensure you have the necessary resources to use them is critical to a successful gameplan.
These finite resources must be used carefully. Your turns should be used to carefully apply these limited resources to gain the advantage in your games. A classic example of this is using the Command Re-roll Stratagem in unnecessary situations.
Managing your resources in competitive 40K takes reps and practice, but be mindful of your army strategy and gameplan. Apply your resources surgically and precisely as needed.
Being proactive in your approach to resource management is a key fundamental skill that will improve your results on the table in 40K.
5. Communication Skills in Competitive 40K
Clear communication with your opponent is often underrated, but necessary to success in competitive 40K. Chances are you’ve probably heard the phrase “playing by intent” and there is often confusion on what that means. Playing by intent is not an excuse for sloppy play or to ask for take-backs for careless mistakes. Rather, playing by intent involves clear communication with your opponent when it comes to movement, checking line of sight, charge ranges and more.
“If I move my unit here, it can see unit x? Do you agree?”
This type of communication can reduce rules disputes, judge calls and will make for a more enjoyable game for you and your opponent. It also ensures that the game remains “clean.” Remember, you and your opponent want to win, but it is important that you’re both playing the same game with the same understanding of interactions on the table and the board state.
Ensure you’re clear with your dice rolls as well. Roll clearly in front of your opponent and declare what you’re rolling for every time whether it is an Advance or Charge roll or a unit’s attacks.
I mentioned pre-measuring above, but it is equally important to communicate why you’re pre-measuring and what you’re pre-measuring for. Clear communication with your opponent goes a long way to prevent “gotcha” moments in games.
Sportsmanship is an often hand-waved notion that many players don’t prioritize, however it is a fundamental skill that will improve your gameplay at the table. Competitive 40K is a social game and requires clear communication between you and your opponent.
Final Thoughts
Having a strong army list is important, but players often put more emphasis on “the list” expecting it to carry them to victory while ignoring the fundamentals of competitive 40K. The fact is, “the list” is a tool. Your understanding of fundamental play is what will carry you to victory on the table. Asking the right questions, pre-measuring, developing a plan to score the missions, managing your resources and communicating clearly with your opponents are fundamental skills. Mastering them can turn you from a 2-3 player to a 4-1 or even 5-0 player. Building on these fundamentals as a foundation will lead you to victory on the tabletop consistently and will give you the confidence you need at the table to be successful.
If you’re new to the game or looking to improve, 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!
Want more personalized help developing these core fundamentals? Looking for some help with an Army List build for your next event? My coaching program will give you the tools for success to navigate meta changes and weather the storm. I’d love to help you one-on-one level up your game.
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See you on the tabletop.
