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I've been playing the game for quite some time now, but I've never been in a GT. Is there anything I should know going into it? Common curtesies? Things to watch out for? Secret passwords/handshakes?

You dont know the secret GT handshake??!!??..... ok seriously.....this is what you do at a GT........HAVE FUN!! Thats the point of the GT...
Also, bring copies of your army list for your opponent to look at and any fluff youve written for that particular list, try to keep it to a page. I usually write it up a few days beforehand and make copies of the fluff and the list, staple them together and them to judge(s) and opponent(S) i usually make enough copies for each opponent and one judge and e additional copies just in case.
If there is a rules dispute with your opponent kindly dispute it 'i thought the rule was...' not 'YOU CANT DO THAT!!'
Bring a camera- a digi cam is great to bring there WILL be some awesome armies to take lots of pics of. I remember a tourney or two where my opponent's army wound up on the gw website.
Finally- be cool, easy going. You are there to have fun playing a miniature game after all. So basically- 'dont sweat the small suff..its all small stuff!'
Have fun, good luck and enjoy!

ummm...don't drop the soap?

Make sure you have all your FAQs and codexi. Its useful when you need to settle some rules disputes. Bring a few beers/drinks and of course some trash talking.

I'd suggest you don't go in with a big head.

The people who are willing to pay big bucks to play are usually fairly good, especially those from out of state.
Use your time wisely and enjoy the large crowd. Try to see the other armies out there and don't adhere too closely to all the rumors. The 2 GT's I've been too there are always rumors running around about this or that guy's army but in the end it's all luck. Don't forget to be a good sport about everything and everything will turn out just fine.

I really enjoy all the painted armies, the conversions, and old friends that you have not seen in years.

Good Luck and enjoy the games.

when its not your turn sit down.

take a tray, cookie sheet, display base, whatever to transport your army from table to table.

 

have fun, take care

Posted By albinoork on 05/30/2007 8:04 PM

when its not your turn sit down.

take a tray, cookie sheet, display base, whatever to transport your army from table to table.

Drink lots (of water), be ready to be exhausted after 5 games, after GW gets thru screwing up your scores - come out to Adepticon next year to see how tournements should be run. 

Thanks all for the advice. I almost forgot to make copies of my army list and totally missed the fluff thing. I can't wait!

My advice would be to not go...But I'm jaded.

#1 Its Karma, go and have fun and you will do better that way also.#2 Expect cheese armies as they are dominant at the moment and by the way #3 YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET YOUR APPONANT SEE YOUR LIST.
I dont know why people think that but there is a specific entry in the 40k rules stateing you do not have to show your list and you do not have to specify what is in what transports.
Sounds like being a jerk? Heck no its not the game is meant to have hidden setup and no prior knowledge of enemy forces.
#4 Keep a close eye on your stuff at all times.
#5 When you do play the rules stickler make sure you stomp his D!(k into the ground.
#6 Just remember you get very few points for composition now so your going to see some wild stuff. As it always should have been.

Last and this is only my opinion you are there for fun but it is a TOURNAMENT you are there to win games also. But i do always find that just having fun ALWAYS makes me a better player. LAID BACK.

 

#7 What Gt are you going too?

In keeping with #3 above: make sure the army you use matches the army list you gave the judges. You don't want a poor sport to accuse you of cheating.

 

 

 

 

secret GT handshake: shake hands with opponent, then surreptitiously wipe your hand on your trousers.

I'm going to the Vegas GT this weekend. It's funny, I haven't played for a year and I just moved to Vegas in October. Then I hear that the first-ever GT in Vegas will be the upcoming year........so I took it as an omen to start playing again.

Bring & use;
Soap
Deodarant
Toothpaste

Consider a minty chewing gum - especially if you smoke

I'm not really a morning person, and enjoy the nightlife when I visit for a tournament, so I bring a pack of Jolt Gum (I buy it at hot topic, but YMMV) to wake me up in the morning so I actually get sports scores.

Bring a bottle for water, or a bottle of water for each game.

Talk to your opponents, but not during their turn.

If they have a nice army, complement them.

Enjoy.

Posted By 5thelement on 05/31/2007 12:03 PM

 #3 YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET YOUR APPONANT SEE YOUR LIST.
I dont know why people think that but there is a specific entry in the 40k rules stateing you do not have to show your list and you do not have to specify what is in what transports.

I have to strongly disagree with this sentiment. Although the GT rules (unfortunately) do not specifically state that you must disclose your army list to your opponent it is common tournament ettiquite to do so before the game.

The reasoning for this is simple: It is the only way to ensure that your opponent isn't cheating by playing with more or different models than he has in his army list.

While the 40K rulebook does allow the contents of particular transports to be kept a secret is an absolute necessity for a fairly run tournament to require list disclosure between opponents.

 

As for my advice for first time GT attendees:

1) Be aware that the way you play the game with your friends might be different from the way other people play the game, especially if you have one guy in your gaming group who is a kind of 'rules guru'. Be prepared to be flexible on rulings to make the game go smoothly and don't get offended if someone points out in the rulebook out that you've been playing the game incorrectly.

2) The time goes really quick. Get to your table on time and don't dilly-dally, especially if you or your opponent is playing a horde army. It may not be in your normal gaming comfort zone but you really need to keep moving at all times. There just isn't time to stand around and do much talking or strategizing.

3) Keep track of the time and know that your game may not finish. If you've only got 1/2 hour left and your game is only on the 'top' of turn 4, know that you are likely not going to get to finish your game. Strive to end your games fairly so that both players get the same number of turns, even if it means leaving some 'spare' 10-15 minutes on the clock to do so.

 

Good luck and don't forget that you're there to have a good time!

 

Dont eat the yellow snow... ~Frank Zappa~

So? How'd the tournament go? did you have fun? did you win any games?
vot? joo dont write? joo dont call? nothing? feh!

I meant to post sooner, but my first GT experience was a blast! I met some very cool people and saw some extremely nice looking armies. One of the more surprising sights was the bone & flame decorated Eldar shown in the 3rd ed codex (can't remember the guy's name off the top of my head, sorry). I took my Nids and was unsurprised to see that most other bug lists were the godzilla variety. There was an all-genestealer army that looked neat, but I never got the chance to see it in action. I took a swarm with two Carnifexes, a flyrant, 80 gaunts, 10 warriors, and a broodlord with retinue.

I've never had so much fun getting creamed in my 10 years playing this game. I played against Space Wolves in the first match on a lava table.  The one thing that bugged me (pun intended) the most was making difficult terrain checks almost every step of the way with no cover saves to compensate me. I got mostly shot up on the way there and when I got there my forces were far from full strength. I failed a few assault checks through difficult terrain which left me within rapid fire range. Major victory for the wolves; one of my personal favorite marine chapters.

Next round, on lava, I played against Iron Warriors. Looking at his forces, he had 3 Havok squads, 3 2-man Oblits, a few regular squads, a lord on a bike, and a defiler as his only armor. A very interesting IW army to be sure. As we set up our respective forces, I looked at him and said that my ONLY goal was to kill one whole unit. He chuckled and the slaughter began. I moved my flyrant on the far left to intercept his Defiler. I decided, "hey, I can land in lava with no problem. Let's have fun!." I flew the big guy in, rolled a 1 for my dangerous terrain check, and cried as my tyrant drowned in molten hot lava. The rest of my army as shot to pieces, but I did manage to get a lone warrior and a few gaunts into HtH with a squad of Oblits and finally on turn 5 I wiped out my goal unit. I was happy and expressed that no matter what happenned thereafter, I had my morale victory. Needless to say, he got a Massacre. As a side note, he said he had so much fun that he gave me an 11 outta 10 for sportsmanship. I thought it was just a figure of speech, but when we handed in our results, the Staff guy looked his over, chuckled, and said "Ok, thanks guys." Apparantly, he actually did give me an 11. Haha!

My last game was against Imperial Guard. Vostroyans (I think that's spelled right) as a matter of fact, so naturally I couldn't help talking in a bad Russian accent the entire match. "For the Emporer...........and vodka!" My forces clashed with his, but the superior firepower kept my numbers a little slim by the time I got to the center objective. In the end, He had more scoring units and earned a butt-load of VP's. Even with the mission objective boosting his side, he got a minor victory. One of the best games of 40k I've ever played. The guy was a riot.

I was late for my 4th game (stupid bus was 21 minutes late..........I need a car!) so I played against a ringer Salamanders army. It looked a little small for 1750pt., but I suppose the points were tied up with useless upgrades. I'll say three words:
Master
Crafted
Chainswords
Every sergeant had them. It was cleanse and he set up 18" away, so all my Hormagaunts and Warriors were within assault range turn 1. By Turn 2, he had no tanks left and by Turn 6, he barely had any troops left. I massacred it.

My last game was against another Space Wolves army, but with more armor and a unit in a drop pod. I had the cover of darkness to help me get an early lead. Lava was my bane again as I lumbered towards a firing line. His Tornado speeders decided to do a fair amount of killing on their own and they just wouldn't go down. I stunned'em repeatedly after I got my Carni's in range, but they just wouldn't die. It got to be 10 mins left and I pointed out that we wouldn't have enough time to complete another whole turn. He said that we would have enough time and continued with the top of fifth turn. By the time he was done, time was called. Drat! In those ten minutes, he scored over 500 VP's with me unable to respond. A real downer, but not something that ruined my day.

So, I lost 4 out of 5 games, saw a bunch of great looking armies, and met a bunch of interesting players. I thought my painting was good, but the guys at the GT set the bar much higher than what I'm used to. Next time, I'm bringing my Marines and gonna have another go at this whole GT thing.

You lose 1 wound if you fail a dangerous terrain check.

But anyways glad you had a good time.

That Vostroyan army was beautiful (I gave it my player's choice award). I would have loved to have played against it.


Glad you had a good time, and as Olinari already pointed out your Hive Tyrant should have been alive with 3 wounds after landing in that lava!

huh....I always assumed they died as most things I've used/seen that had to make dangerous terrain checks only had 1 wound anyway. No one even corrected me, either. Oh well, I still had fun.