So you’ve finally taken the plunge and signed up for your first Warhammer 40K tournament at your local gaming store. Now comes all that anxiety and stress as you get ready to start your competitive 40K journey. What if I play my rules wrong? What if my opponent is a jerk? What if I just get smashed every game? These kinds of questions are probably bouncing around in your brain leading up to the event. First of all…relax. You’re probably overthinking it.
I’ve written about preparing for your first Warhammer 40K tournament before, and I highly recommend checking that article out before proceeding on.
Ok, now that you’ve read the primer, let’s get into it.
Your First Warhammer 40K Tournament: Learning to Relax and Enjoy the Ride
I remember my first Warhammer 40K tournament 16 years ago. It was around the middle of 5th Edition. I had played 40K a bit in college, but was returning from a long hiatus from the game. After a life-long friend convinced me to pick it back up, it wasn’t long before I had built my first 1850 point Blood Angels army (the standard point level for tournaments at the time) and was ready to hit the tables at a tournament. I was nervous and excited. I didn’t know what to expect. I was very new to the game having only about 20 or so games under my belt at the time. Maybe even less. I gathered up my models, headed to the store and ended up having the most fun playing a game I’d had in a long time. And I didn’t win a single match.
Chances are, if you’re anything like me at my first event, you’re probably full of anxious nerves. You’re worried about making mistakes, taking up too much time looking up rules, and getting absolutely destroyed. Just take a breath. These feelings are normal and trust me when I tell you, it’s not nearly as bad as you’re picturing in your head. Chances are you’re going to meet new people and have a great time. Your first RTT should be a learning experience first and foremost.
Setting the Right Goals for Your First Warhammer 40K Tournament
Understand that you’re probably not going to win your first RTT and in fact, you probably aren’t going to win a single game and that’s ok. It’s important to set the right goals going into your first event. Let’s look at some sample goals that are pragmatic and realistic for your path forward:
- Be clear with your communication with every action from movement, to declaring attacks and especially your dice rolls
- Identify at least 3 mistakes you made in your games across the event. Take note of them for future reference
- Make at least one new friend. 40K Is all about community and growth. Meeting other players can help give you people to theory-hammer with in the future.
These goals give you a firm foundation to build upon moving forward and are the first steps to the road of improvement.
Mistakes to Avoid in Your First Warhammer 40K Tournament
It’s common, especially among new players, to blame elements outside of your control for reasons you lost a game. It is important to avoid blaming things like your dice rolls or your opponent’s armies being “overpowered.” Be objective in your analysis of your games and note mistakes you made in deployment or movement, target priority, etc. Be open to identifying these mistakes so you don’t repeat them in the future.
Don’t stress about having the perfect army list. At your first RTT, familiarity and clean execution matter far more than optimization or meta choices. Chances are, if you’re hopping into your first 40K tournament, then you’re probably fairly new to the game. Focus on familiarity over optimization. While a strong army list for competitive play is important to be sure, you’re going to have more success with playing something you’re already familiar with, even if it isn’t exactly “optimized” for tournament play. Don’t get bogged down in “meta” and “win rates” yet. Your focus in that first event is your own fundamental play.
Avoid “getting on tilt” during the event. If you make a mistake, or lose a unit unexpectedly, take a deep breath and don’t let it get in your head. Try not to focus on the negative plays, but take a look at the board state and try to develop a plan moving forward.
How Much Preparation is Enough?
You don’t need perfect preparation to succeed at your first RTT. A small amount of intentional prep will dramatically reduce stress and let you focus on actually playing the game.
The goal isn’t to memorize everything, it’s to remove friction so you’re not burning mental energy on basics during your games.
If you want a full breakdown of how to prep, what to bring, and how to review missions ahead of time, I cover that step-by-step in my complete tournament preparation guide.
Things to Focus on During Your Matches
These aren’t things you need to master before the event, they’re habits to lean on during your games when nerves and pressure set in. If you’re attending your first Warhammer 40K tournament, you probably don’t have a lot of experience playing the game at a competitive level. During the match focus on these fundamental steps in each of your matches and you’ll see an immediate impact in your games.
- Pre-measure distances and threat ranges. This includes your own units and your opponents. Measure movement distances for units and ranges for weapons to understand what you can see and shoot and what your opponent can as well.
- Ask questions before the game and during the game before committing to a decision. In deployment, for example, you may ask if your opponent has any infiltrating units or units that can make Scout moves. Before declaring a charge in the Charge phase, ask your opponent if they have any units that can Fight First or perform a Heroic Intervention.
- Focus on scoring points over destroying enemy units. In your first event let scoring be your primary focus. That is, holding Primary objectives and scoring your Secondaries when possible. Don’t overthink this in the beginning. Take scoring opportunities when they arise in your first event.
- Clearly communicate with your opponent. Declare every action and talk through this with the opponent. Be clear with your intentions, give your opponent a chance to respond with defensive stratagems and abilities. Declare all your rolls beforehand and give your opponent the chance to confirm your dice rolls.
These four simple tips can help you see immediate positive results in your games. They also help develop positive habits which you can carry over consistently in your games from round to round. You’ll begin to see mistakes before they happen.
Being a Good Sport at the Event
Sportsmanship matters in competitive 40K. I’ve mentioned a few times how important it is to communicate clearly with your opponent throughout the game. It’s a fundamental aspect that is core to a plan for success. Clear communication can help you avoid mistakes and helps establish a level of trust with the opponent.
Not everyone who plays 40K is a social butterfly and usually, the exact opposite in fact. Many Warhammer 40K players have social anxiety and may be reserved. I was like this myself, especially early on in my 40K career. Don’t take it personally if your opponent isn’t particularly talkative or doesn’t banter back and forth. Perhaps you suffer from social anxiety yourself. The important thing is to simply play the game fairly and within the spirit of the rules.
What Doesn’t Matter (as Much as You Think)
It’s important to focus on the right things in your first Warhammer 40K tournament. The things that matter include learning from mistakes, objectively evaluating every match, and being fair with each opponent. Things that don’t matter nearly as much as you may think?
- Your final record. Whether you go 0-3 or 1-2, your first Warhammer 40K tournament is a starting point not the final destination.
- Your tactical competency. We all want to play our best, but understand you’re not going to be a tactical expert in your first event. Learn from your mistakes and focus on the positives.
- Your army list. You’re unlikely to have a highly tuned and optimized army list. Most likely you may be playing with the models and units you own. Your list itself is less important than how you manage it on the table. Identify weak points in your army list post-event and work towards tuning it from there.
Final Thoughts
Your first Warhammer 40K tournament may cause you some anxiety ahead of time. This is natural and everyone goes through it. Before the event set goals for yourself that are attainable. Learn from your mistakes, take notes and photos to reflect on post-event and identify weak spots in your play. Take the opportunity to meet new people and learn from them. Be clear with your opponent with every interaction. Remember your first event isn’t about winning all your matches, but rather about learning and improving. This is the start of your competitive Warhammer 40K journey. Relax, have fun and learn.
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!
Want more personalized help preparing for your first Warhammer 40K tournament? Looking for some help with an Army List build for your next event? My coaching program is designed to help 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.
