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Hi Folks!

Don't really know if this is the correct place for the post (being there is a tournaments section on Dakka) but I was wondering something about tournaments. Having read over various lists etc. I was wondering is it justified for tournaments to have the bad name they have? I was playing a couple of tournament veterens the other day and one of them stated that tournament lists are soooooooooo efficiently studied and developed that people are bring armies to the table which cause no fun whatsoever!

Is it all about the win or do some of you experience fun whilst playing at them? Do people steer well clear or embrace the seriously hard armies? I ask because I was thinking of the possibility of entering one later!

Cheers
Andy

One thing you need to consider here is that for some people, winning is what is fun for them, and thus may (or may not) bring WAAC lists to tournaments. For others, it may be the simple participation of it that is fun for them.

If you are going to enter a tournament for the first time, you will need to be aware of this.

Tournaments can be an absolute ton of fun, but it depends on your view point. I was recently at the September UK Doubles Tourney at GW HQ and it was a great weekend from start to finish.

First thing I'd suggest is going with someone else or with a group, we go up as a club, so that you have someone to hang around with when you're not playing games/for the evenings. It also makes hotels that bit easier as you're splitting the cost between 2+ people and during the evenings it's fun to go out and about for a few drinks with friends.

Second thing is to consider your gaming style. If you're like me and just want to have fun playing, then you will want to be on the middle tables. The really competitive players will all be on the top tables (unless they're doing badly) and they do tend to be rather joyless, -very- picky on the rules and will take every advantage they can (even down to nudging models forward when they've finished their movement) to win. On the middle tables people tend to be more relaxed, you have more of a laugh with your opponents, generally, and leave at the end with the knowledge that you've had some great games with some fun people. If you're on the bottom tables you might find people are sulky & upset because they're on the bottom table - I wanted to be on the bottom table to try and come last for the 'Wooden Bolter' award, but alas, we came somewhere around the 70s mark (out of about 120).

I would say about 'Hard Armies' but its hard to get an idea at tournaments because you play several different people and when there are so many games going on you can't get an indication whether there are lots of 'hard' armies there or a lot of luck/skill.

Tournaments have a rather nasty reputation from the under current of players who play Win At All Cost Lists, which means their list is basically tailored to min/max the strongest unit their codex offers, and is horribly scrutinized. I'm not sure if they follow Net Lists, but often enough people who 'power game' rely heavily on Mathhammer and really, really get 'niffed if your 'low to non competitive' lists wins or smotes them completely from the table. (which no one expects Tallarn Rough Riders charging into their carefully groomed Death Company and their feathers get ruffled)

Other than those few people, tournaments are rather fun. Most people go to play and socialize, regardless if they win or not. The last Tourney I participated in had free bbq and drinks, and there was more fun just shootin' the breeze with people than shooting at each others armies.

I recommend going with a friend and just using the army list you play regularly for the first couple events. If you really want to 'step up' and compete, then you can consider fine-tuning your army.

Most people are actually pretty friendly and look forward to armies that they're not used to seeing.

Tourney's can be a realy blast regardless if you win or lose.

A lot of the negative stigma towards tournaments comes from Ardboyz. Ardboyz is big, it's stupid, has no painting/sportsmanship requirements, and is WAAC all the time. Even tournaments without comp scores are usually pretty fun. I've played in a few and had some great games, some hilarious moments, and nobody brought a really beatstick army list. The games and the lists will tend to be more competitive than Thursday nights in your buddy's garage or whatever, but most people are generally pretty cool.

Oh ok chaps! Just wondering as said because of the level of anti-tournament stuff out there! Also is something like Ardboyz in America or do they do that tournament (something like it) in Europe, UK etc?!

Good suggestions here - I'd also suggest going in a group or with someone else, or trying a doubles tournament first.

Despite the occasional 'competitive' type, the VAST majority of people I've met at tournaments are just there to meet new people, play against new armies, and have a fun weekend away. Even many of the people playing net lists are nice people to play against. It's really just the occasional arse.

Ardboyz, over in the US, is the 'competitive' tournament, and I get the impression that the 'competitive' mentality is more prevalent over there. However, in my one experience of playing in a US tournament, while the lists were more competitive, the people were still lovely.




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Oh, and I've never encountered a major tournament in the UK that could be said to be an 'Ardboyz Equivalent'. I've certainly never been to a UK tournament without painting requirements, and I think that's a big part of it.

In my last tournament a few weeks ago I came third from the bottom (damn Slaaneshi CSM ). I still had an awesome five games. The occasional guy with a WAAC army gets upset if he loses, but most people are just happy to be playing. I tend to find that playing against and talking with some different opponents is good enough fun in itself.

I do a local tournament when i can (broke right now ) which is a lot of fun.

We have a couple of WAAC types, and one obscenely lucky guy (he's not cheating, just can't roll below a 4 ) , but generally a good time is had by all.

It's possible to win with the 'worst' army out there. I have, with 3rd ed Necrons (claimed to be worst in 5th) at a tourament. It's also very possible to have your carefully mathhammered list rolled into a metaphorical point, sprinkled with lemon juice and rammed into an equally metaphorical eye

Nothing gives me greater pleasure at a tournament than being against a waac player with my mathematically inferior list (full of randomness that drives mathhammerers nuts, like wierdboy and SAG mek or Flash Gitz) and hand his deathstar 'unkillable' unit their 2+ 3++ Thunderhammer-toting, SC-laden unit (or other army equivilent ) butts through the roll of the dice, skill and luck.

If you really want to see an apoplectic meltdown take down the same unit with grots/gaunts/other 'worthless' small squeaky things

I stopped going to my local tourney because this one guy was ruining it for everyone. He just cared way to much about winning and almost got mobbed when he started making fun of the CSM players