Switch Theme:

GT Tourney Advice  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Yellin' Yoof on a Scooter





Washington D.C.

Hey all,

So i'm considering entering my first GT (NOVA open), and I'm starting to think up lists in my mind. So, I wanted to get your idea on a couple things

1. What kind of lists usually have success (shooty-leaning, mobile, balanced, assault etc.)
2. Are certain units really hard to deal with? which ones
3. Any gameplay and/or showmanship advice
4. Non-gaming advice for travel and whatnot

Thanks,

CreepyCrawly

Best Overall Adepticon 2013
Top 16 Adepticon 2013
2nd Best Overall SVDM 2013

Best Overall SVDM 2012 
   
Made in gb
Morphing Obliterator





1. Lots of different armies do well. The thing they all have in common is good mobility. Its key for being able to reach far objectives (I assume you're going to a 40k tournament).

2. Landraiders, Bloodcrushers, Monoliths (Ha!), TH/SS terminators are probably the most annoying, but all can be tarpitted/kited/ignored with a bit of skill .

3. Be nice. Make sure you have a good grasp of the rules and bring all of your own stuff (dice, tape measure, templates, books etc). If your army needs to keep track of stuff then it may be a good idea to make some little counters or tokens. Dont cheat.

4. Shower and brush your teeth on the morning of the tournament. Nothing worse than an opponent whose BO makes your eyes water. Gum is useful (and helps you concentrate apparently) and water is a good idea. Booze to share with your opponents always goes down well (helps with sportsmanship too!).

taking up the mission
Polonius wrote:Well, seeing as I literally will die if I ever lose a game of 40k, I find your approach almost heretical. If we were to play each other in a tournament, not only would I table you, I would murder you, your family, every woman you ever loved and burn down your house. I mean, what's the point in winning if you allow people that don't take the game seriously to live?
 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills






Manchester, NH

That was one of the best and most succinct "tournament advice" posts I've seen. Bravo!

Meanwhile, I'm going to try to just dig up and re-post something from the last time I replied to such a thread...

Adepticon 2015: Team Tourney Best Imperial Team- Team Ironguts, Adepticon 2014: Team Tourney 6th/120, Best Imperial Team- Cold Steel Mercs 2, 40k Championship Qualifier ~25/226
More 2010-2014 GT/Major RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 78-20-9 // SW: 8-1-2 (Golden Ticket with SW), BA: 29-9-4 6th Ed GT & RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 36-12-2 // BA: 11-4-1 // SW: 1-1-1
DT:70S++++G(FAQ)M++B++I+Pw40k99#+D+++A+++/sWD105R+++T(T)DM+++++
A better way to score Sportsmanship in tournaments
The 40K Rulebook & Codex FAQs. You should have these bookmarked if you play this game.
The Dakka Dakka Forum Rules You agreed to abide by these when you signed up.

Maelstrom's Edge! 
   
Made in us
Sneaky Sniper Drone




It would certainly depend on your local tournament scene.

I will approach it from my local perspective. I live near Chicago and see a lot of scenario based tournaments.

With these tournaments I often never see the missions before I play them. That said, the best way to prepare for a tournament is to play the scenarios ahead of time. In my case however, I can't

For me, tournament prep comes down to list construction and game day reminders and focus.

List Constuction
for me it is all about minimizing the ways I can be negatively affected by weird rule changes and additions without totally compromising on effectiveness. I would rather be at a minor handicap in all my games then be massively screwed in one game. I can make up small shortfalls with superior generalship, but if your list is completely nerfed there is not much you can do. With the general philosophy out of the way, lets look at some of the variables I consider when building my list.

HQ choice
This is a no brainer, in almost every tournament there is a kill the HQ objective. Its not often the main objective, but it is a common secondary or tertiary objective. With that in mind, I make my HQ durability as high as possible. The best way is with a retinue, but having a squad to babysit is fine too. Spend a few points on terminator honors or that invulnerability save and you will be glad you did.

Troops choice
With nearly all tournaments using objective based missions troops are the most important dudes in your army. You win or lose based on their performance. Do you have enough troop to hold 3 or 4 objectives often for multiple turns to gain points or bonuses. Are you troops resilient enough to hold an exposed objective or defend against an assault

Reserves
Would your list be totally compromised if there was a penalty to reserve rolls or if deep strikes scattered an additional d6. What about if they didn't allow outflanking scouting or infiltrating.

Mobility
How would you deal with a scenario that slowed down your units. Would you still be able to function? Could you contest a far away table quarter or objective?

Unit types
Does your army have a mix of unit types so that a mission special rule doesn't completely nerf it.

Save Denial
Do I have the ability to deny cover/invul saves that may be granted by special rules

All of these should be at least considered on top of basic list building principles like redundancy and ensuring a correct balance of MEQ horde and anti tank weapons. Finally I take into account the local meta game and prepare for basic arch-types of armies. Some examples (Deathwing, KFF mech orks, fateweaver daemons, seer council eldar, drop pod marines, tau, raider spam dark eldar, Air force IG, chimera spam IG, Dreadnaught spam, dual-lith necrons, lash oblit CSM. You should take a few minutes and think about how you would deal with each one of these armies. How would you deploy, would you like to go first or second, what are the dangerous units? Then when you face them you can think back to that 5 minutes brainstorm and be more prepared.

Game day
Get to the venue early and have a look around the tables and more importantly get the rules packet as soon as possible. Ask questions during this period. Then grab a highlighter and go through each mission. What is the primary, secondary, tertiary objective? Are there any bonus points? Are there any special rules for units or terrain? Once that is done, open your eyes and ears. Look at the armies people are getting ready and think back to your brainstorms about how to defeat them and make little mental notes or corrections. Make note of someone talking up their favorite unit. IF you play them then you know which unit to destroy to demoralize them.

Finally, when you are playing constantly ask yourself what am I going to do next. Plan your moves during your opponents turn. Every turn look at the packet to remind yourself of the mission and the objectives.

Good Luck

Razor

3000 3-4 League 5-3-1
1500

I think lubing a lighting bolt would cause fire damage

i love war horns and marching drums. going to be reviving my old necromancer character in a game next year. LEGIONS OF UNDEAD BARDS.

otherwise known as south african soccer fans

WIN 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




I especially appreciate the shower advice, since he's considering attending my tournament and that's *actually* a written rule.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Feasting on the souls of unworthy opponents

@OP:

Best advice I can give you is my own philosophy.

1. Don't worry about the GT missions. Practice them, but don't create an army list specifically tailored to fighting in them - make a list for 1850, and for 2,000 of whatever army you play, and learn to use it - in every situation. A well balanced list capable of handling every situation reasonably well with good generalship that you know the strengths and weaknesses of exquisitely is worth more than a scenario-based list that you don't know intimately. The lists I use are "take-all-comers" lists - I'd be happy to use them against any army in any scenario.

2. Redundancy: What one can do well, two can do better.

3. Multi-purpose: Every unit in the armies I make attempts to have dual roles. A squad of Lootas is both anti-infantry and anti-light transport. A deffkopta is anti-transport and also anti-devastator / longfang...and if I need it, a late game objective contesting unit.

4. Tools: Your ruler, tac-template, dice, codex, and rulebook should all be accessible and with you all the time. Bring water as noted above; you'll get thirsty.

And the general tactical advice: Protect your army. I think that the reason I do so well is because I start every game looking for the things that can hurt me the worst - and I attempt to neutralize them. If I'm playing against IG, I'm looking for manticores, leman russ tanks, maybe hydra flak cannons, and vendettas. 5-10 chimeras notwithstanding....I'm after the things that can hurt my list the most.

   
Made in us
Sinewy Scourge





Bothell, WA

1. The best armies generally have two things going for them: They are played by skilled generals who are comfortable with the lists they bring. Very rarely do you see sometime winning a GT the first time they've brought out the build.

2. This depends on what kind of army list you brought. A bike seer council against the stormcaller with a ton of terminators might not hold up very well, but can totally destroy an IG parking lot on the charge.

3. Know the 5th edition rules & your own army rules as best as you can. Yeah you know your attack bike can fire both the multi melta & the tl bolters, but do you know where the rule is to show the other player? I think one area I can grow in is not letting myself get so frustrated with my oppenents either not knowing the rules or asking me to show them the correct rule.

4. Drink fluids between rounds, try not to stall, and give the other player the benefit of the doubt without letting yourself get walked over.

Salamander Marines 65-12-13
Dark Eldar Wych Cult 4-1-0
Dark Eldar Kabal 36-10-4
2010 Indy GT Tournament Record: 11-6-3
Golden Ticket Winner with Dark Eldar
Timmah wrote:Best way to use lysander:
Set in your storage bin, pick up vulkan model, place in list.
 
   
Made in us
Heroic Senior Officer





Woodbridge, VA

Just remember, if we face each other at the NOVAOpen, winner buys the first round. Everyone else has given good advice, I'll just add one thing.

Have fun!

See ya there!

Don "MONDO"
www.ironfistleague.com
Northern VA/Southern MD 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




rule number 5) if you play against me, you loose ><

After the orbital strikes, Thunderhawk bombardments, Whirlwinds, Vindicators, fusion and starfire and finally Battle Brothers with flamers had finished cleansing the world of all the enemies of Man, we built a monastery in the center of the largest, most radioactive impact crater. We named the planet "Tranquility", for it was very quiet now.
 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Sentient OverBear






Clearwater, FL

Honersstodnt wrote:rule number 5) if you play against me, you loose ><


Really? They "loose"? What do they "loose"?

DQ:70S++G+++M+B++I+Pw40k94+ID+++A++/sWD178R+++T(I)DM+++

Trust me, no matter what damage they have the potential to do, single-shot weapons always flatter to deceive in 40k.                                                                                                       Rule #1
- BBAP

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




The fires of retribution!



Since you are talking about the Open, here's my $.02 ...

1) Bring a strong all comers' build, and be aware that we do not use COMP.
2) Run through the primer mission packet that's viewable on the tourney website and get a feel for the "format." Keep in mind for us that the final missions will be different from the primer packet.
3) I'm the tournament organizer. I'm as accessible as they get. If you have ANY questions, ANY issues w/ the rules or format, ANYTHING AT ALL ... just tell me ... we'll work out whatever questions or concerns you have.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/04/29 19:05:46


 
   
Made in us
Ancient Chaos Terminator





Deep in the Woods

Well lots of great advice so far, so I just have one thing to add. Throw a bunch of granola bars or fruit bars type of snack in your bag. Having a snack during or between rounds is good. Plus if you bring more than a few offer one to your opponent.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2010/04/29 19:05:51


"I have traveled trough the Realm of Death and brought back novelty pencils"
 GamesWorkshop wrote:
And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
the band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light,and somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout but there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out. 
   
Made in us
Boosting Ultramarine Biker



Saco, ME

Regwon wrote:
3. Be nice. Make sure you have a good grasp of the rules and bring all of your own stuff (dice, tape measure, templates, books etc). If your army needs to keep track of stuff then it may be a good idea to make some little counters or tokens. Dont cheat.


I have to echo this one. I regularly play in tournaments against Eldar, Sisters, and other armies that gain or lose abilities and functions during the course of the game.
Nothing grinds my gears more than an Eldar player who can't remember whichof his units is Fortune'd, which of mine are Doomed, etc. Having a stack of poker chips or wooden discs to keep track of things like Faith Points also helps immensely.
You might also want to bring a baggie that contains status markers for vehicles, or at the least some cotton batting to use for smoke launchers.

 
   
Made in us
Awesome Autarch






Las Vegas, NV

Have fun!

Drink some brewskies with your opponent, laugh at the gakky dice, talk lists and rules, make new friends.

Oh yeah, and bring a savage list that is well painted, practice with it and you will do just fine.

I love tournaments, gets the competitive juices flowin and you get to hang out with fellow nerds all day. Really enjoyable experiences, IMO.

   
 
Forum Index » 40K General Discussion
Go to: