Jumping into competitive Warhammer 40K is exciting. You’ve got your army, dice and you’ve just registered for your first competitive event. As fun as that first event can be, it is also where many players fall into the same traps.
Going into your first competitive 40K event, you should keep your expectations reasonable. You’re probably not going to win the event. You may not even win a single game. But you can give yourself a leg-up by avoiding some of the common mistakes new competitive 40K players make.
After coaching countless players and playing competitively for over 15 years, I’ve seen the same common mistakes repeated again and again. That said, they’re all fixable with good practice and better preparation. Let’s dive in.
1. Poor Time Management (Not Finishing Games)
This is one of the most frequent issues for new players. In competitive 40K, a game being called on time without completing all 5 battle rounds can drastically change the final score – and often not in your favor. Even moreseo if you are clocked with a chess clock and you have little to no experience with using them (as I mentionind in this article).
Why it happens
- Lack of understanding the core rules or your army rules – constantly looking your rules up
- Overthinking movement and shooting sequences
- Spending too much time on plays that have little to no impact on the game’s outcome
How to fix it
- Practice with a chess clock to get the timing down for your army and complete your games
- Create cheatsheets for your army’s rules and memorizing datasheets
- Using a mental “turn timer” – Giving yourself a certain amount of minutes per turn and staying within that pace
- Identifying exactly what you need to do in the turn to score, identifying how your opponent can react on their turn to your actions, and focusing on that
2. Picking “Cool” but Inefficient Units
We all have that one model or unit we love, but competitive 40K rewards synergy and efficient unit choices, not just style points. That is not to say you can’t find a way to squeeze those unit selections into your list sometimes, but just keep in mind in doing so, you may be handicapping yourself. New players can get overly attached to certain units in-game without understanding the need to build to their army’s strengths and taking efficient unit choices over ones they love.
Why it happens
- Emotional attachment to certain models or units
- A lack of understanding how to make the correct unit choices
- Time and/or financial limitations
How to fix it
- Test units in practice games or casual games, but be objective in your analysis. Don’t be afraid to take out units that are consistently underperforming in their role in your army
- Review tournament lists for armies similar to your own to see what units they are running and analyze why
- Ask players using your same faction in your area to borrow models to fill in gaps (just handle them very carefully and respectfully and return them in the same condition they were lent to you in)
3. Not Knowing the Missions
Improving at competitive 40K starts with controlling the variables that you can or have the ability to control. You cannot help how good your opponents are, the army choice that they’re playing, etc in an event, but you can control your understanding of the mission packet. Read and understand the missions beforehand. Understand the terrain that the event will use. Don’t focus on unit selections that are potent only at “killing”, but understand and have a plan in place for scoring points in the missions.
Why it happens
- Lack of understanding how missions work coming from more casual play
- Focusing on killing the enemy with the fallacy that “killing” equals “winning” (spoiler: it doesn’t)
How to fix it
- Read the current mission pack multiple times before an event
- Practice the missions with the same list beforehand to learn how it scores in each scenario
- Think about secondary selections in your army list. Sure you can shoot well, but how will you score Behind Enemy Lines or Engage on All Fronts when drawn? Think about units that will hold your homefield objective, etc.
4. Skipping Pre-game Prep
Too many players walk into a tournament game blind. They don’t look over or review their opponent’s lists, don’t consider terrain layouts, how they will manage their resources like CP and so on. They fail to ask the right questions (what has Infiltrate? Can you Advance/Fall Back and shoot/charge? etc)
Why it happens
- Social anxiety – some players are nervous especially when meeting new people
- Not knowing what questions to ask – you don’t know what you don’t know
- Lack of a structured pre-game routine
How to fix it
- Create a pre-game checklist of questions to ask your opponent about their army and detachment rules
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions as they come up or during the game (how far can unit x move? What is the range of their weapons? etc)
- Review their list thoroughly before the match and try to identify the greatest threats and the units in your opponent’s army that will be the most difficult for you to deal with and try to create a plan
5. Lack of Practice Against a Diverse Field
Expand your opposing player bubble, if possible. If you’re playing against the same couple of people and their factions, you may not be able to recognize gaps and matchup issues against other factions and armies. Play a variety of opponents and armies in your preparation for an event. Understand the meta (the larger meta or local meta for smaller RTT events) and how the armies you may expect to play will factor into your army list and gameplay decisions.
Why it happens
- Lack of an expansive player pool to practice against
- Overconfidence in one’s list and/or abilities in game
- Time limitations to meetup and play
How to fix it
- Try looking for more opponents in your local area running different factions. Test against things you speculate will be difficult matchups for your army list
- Try using TableTop Simulator on your PC. It has an expansive community with tons of players, a minimal investment and let’s you try different armies and units for free
- Try to set aside specific time leading up to the event to practice. Schedule it into your week and arrange games with the intent to practice and prepare for the event
Final Thoughts
Don’t let these common pitfalls cause you to stumble as you start your competitive 40K journey. Going in blindly with no preparation will end up resulting in a negative outcome. Give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.
If you’re newer to tournaments or trying to understand how all the competitive pieces fit together, I put together a complete resource guide on getting started in competitive Warhammer 40K that walks through the core rules, missions, tools, and learning resources used at events.
If you’re new to the game or want to improve quickly, grab my FREE eBook: Forging Your Path to Victory: A Beginner’s Guide to Competitive 40K.
For more in-depth information on how I can help you unlock your potential as a complete all-around Warhammer 40K player check out my coaching options. Let me work with you one-on-one to maximize your abilities on the battlefield.
See you on the tabletop!
