Greetings and salutations boys and girls of wargaming land. Drkmorals here, stealing few moments of the front page time to ramble on semi coherent like about a topic (usually related to 40k).
Today I want to talk about tourney prep, the customs and count downs leading up to the big morning before you plan to show up someplace get randomly matched up against opponents who will curse you the rest of the day for the epic defeat you plan on handing them in a nice 2 hr window of time. I know that in general we all know some things to be true like playing makes you better, knowing your army; you should at least be able to pretend you know the rules. But let’s take a few moments to talk about things that you may over look or possibly aren’t doing now to make you a better player the day of the event.
What type of things do you mean you might ask? Silly Drkmorals I am already planning to wear my lucky roll 6’s pair of boxer shorts what else could I possibly need? Well while we are all glad you are not going commando (and we are hoping those lucky shorts are clean) there is a bit more that you can do.
TIP 1
While it’s easy to get caught up in the rush to prepare and you might even be painting up to the wire depending on the event you are going to trying to get your new shiny codex or whatever flavor of counts as SW army you are playing at the moment table top ready.. Believe it or not, getting some sleep and not being tired will make you a better player. You are far less likely to over look something or make a better call if you aren’t trying to remember what turn it is out because of lack of sleep. Not to mention you will prob enjoy yourself far more if you aren’t looking forward going home and catching some zzz’s before the event even starts.
TIP 2
Tip 2 is actually a couple small tips put together. Bring some cash, or a snack and something to drink. It is easy to lose track of the fact you aren’t eating or drinking enough during the day while you are wrapped up in trying to get through your rounds quickly and crush your enemies. Having a granola bar to snack on, while you are sipping some water is a huge deal in making you not lag those last rounds. I say bring money too because some places don’t allow outside food and drink but they offer a selection of snacks to choose from.
TIP 3
Wear comfy broke in shoes. Don’t wear your work boots wear something you don’t mind standing in the entire time. You are going to be on your feet a ton during the day. Also I would suggest when you get a chance to sit to make it a habit to do so. Its easy to not notice how much your standing and if you’re not used to it you will be beat and sore at the end of the day.
TIP 4
Not all tourney’s are created equal, so when deciding what army/list you plan on bringing it might be a good idea to take a look at the missions. The missions might be designed so that your normal list is at a disadvantage or so that if you swap one unit out during this event you will be much better off. Remember the game is about playing the mission!!! Some events favor troop heavy armies while others are really balanced. Some events throw some crazy rules in one of the rounds. (tourney organizers seems to like to randomly add night fight to things?)
TIP 5
Not everyone plays this game exactly the same so before your game starts ask some questions and talk with your new opponent. Make sure you guys are on the same page about things. Discuss how the terrain will be played to make sure you don’t “assume” something is area terrain or a building only to find out your opponent “assumed” that was just some difficult terrain. You both will be able to make better choices and it will be a smoother faster game.
TIP 6
Have fun!!! Did you come with the sole intent of winning and if you don’t your day is a horrible waste of time? Do the rest of us a favor and stay home then. You need to come in with the right frame of mind. By all means come to compete, come to bring the pain, and play a solid game. However if things aren’t going your way, don’t be a jerk face about it. Sometimes the dice aren’t breaking your way, and all you can do is laugh.
That’s all for now boys and girls I have some more in depth tips to consider and several other articles planned for the future. In the meantime have any tourney tips to share? Habits before you play game one? Do you have a lucky charm or secret way you carry your dice? Feel free to share and comment away! Remember it’s a dice game so you can always fall back on good old plan “ROLL 6’s” although it’s not a reliable plan, I suppose it’s a plan. =P
