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Ok just getting back into the game and I have played 3 games so far with 6th ed. rules. I really haven't played since 3rd ed. (and mostly played 2nd edition and RT) but so far all three games have taken all day, ie. 3 hours or more. First game was 750 points and 2 hours, 2nd game 1500 points and 5 hours and 3rd game now was 2000 points and after 3.5 hours i just gave up at the end of turn 2 - i just don't have the time or patience to spend my entire Sunday playing with plastic soldiers anymore.

Every unit, every weapon has a special rule that needs to be looked up. The Table of Contents and Index in the Rule book and Codex are horrible and don't list half the stuff you need to find. I roll a ton of dice, i reroll a bunch of dice, then i roll some more dice. Then my opponent rolls a crap load of dice then he rerolls some more dice. All this for 1 or two guys to die. The number of times I just agreed to a ruling because I couldn't bear to drag the game out one moment longer was staggering.

Are we just slow noobs or does the game really take this long? Have I just been spoiled by other better game systems I have been playing in the last few years? I want to be in and out of a game in 2 hours, including setup. I find this game nowhere near as fun as I remember. So far games have been as fun as stabbing myself in the eye - so please help me speed up my game (2 hours or less) and convince me the game will get fun if I stick with it. Or at the very least convince me to run away and never look back!

I'm an irregular player 1-2 games a month and on average it makes me 3-6 hours a game for 2250-2500 points. Its mostly around the 4 hours lately because i took the time to write out important stats on paper, basically my units stats plus their weapon and range with any special rules i need to remember. It speeds it up a lot.

An 1850 game will take between an hour and a half and three, depending on player ability.

750 takes between an hour and two, depending on player ability.

Once you know the rules better you don't need to look them up (as much).

You can easily do a 1500pts in under two hours. Once you get above 2000pts it can take significantly longer.

Well considering everyone carries 5-6 codex with them and faqs it does take a longer time to play something . Even if you know the rules your opponents may not know the ones your using and ask you to find them. And it is one thing to know why grimore gives +2inv and another one to explain how it combos with divination .

we mostly play 1500pts here and I must say that outside of tournament games , the time spent playing is longer by around 20-30 min , if both players know what they are doing.

Ya for me when I first started it took a while to play games because I was always flipping through the codex and rulebook.

Now I can play a 1000-1500 point game in about 2 hours. It is just a matter of learning your army and understanding whats going on.
Same goes for fantasy when I started playing it took forever but I find 40k is faster if you can speed up the movement phase by moving quickly.

I also don't get into to many close combats which i find take more time than shooting does. Plus I play Tau so I am used to a lot of shooting.

Yeah, 2-3 hours for 1500 to 2000 points is usually fairly comfortable, once you know what you are doing.


Having said that, I've had a lot of casual 1500 point games that have spun out to 4 hours or more... but that's generally because we've gotten sidetracked talking about background fluff, or Star Wars, or upcoming movies, or computer games or... ooh, shiny!

I managed a 6 turn game of 6th ed in 2 hours.

Saying that, though - against some members of my club, I have to keep reminding them to FOCUS on our game, and not on everything else around them. Those games go on forever.

I think it really depends on whom you're playing with. I have a solid understanding of the rules, and most of the people I play with do as well. We can get a 1500 point game from start to finish done in under 2 hours. We come with lists, and we're ready to play... units in their own sections ready to be picked up and put on the table. None of, "I swear my plasmagunner was in this box, or was it my other box, or did I leave it at home?"

Really, if you're learning the game and playing 2000 pts plus... you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. Start small, learn the rules, and build up from there. At 500 points, there aren't enough models to need to look up more than a handful of rules.

If you like short games then Kill Team might be the game rule set to go for. I prefer playing short games, its more action orientated and fun for me. Also helps learn the rules of units over time. Plus Kill Team is played on a far smaller table to regular 40k.

**edit** If you can find an old copy of the 3rd Edition Rulebook that has some smaller scale missions in it where its just 2 troops choices vs 1, or similar break downs.

oh man, now I am self conscious, am I doing this wrong? My biggest game thus far was a 2600 (just for funsies) between wolves and templars and that only took just under 4 hours total, that includes set up, terraining and writing out lists out real quick with multiple interruptions from the FLGS owner and a few friends.

I can get through a 1500-2000 point game with my brother in about 2 and a half maybe three hours if either person manages to roll luckily on armor saves.

My 1500 point three way game took about 2 1/2 hours to play to the 3rd turn but that was due to players not being at the table, and a metric feth ton of shots from the IG allied with templars.

Depends on your familiarity with the game, your temperament as a gamer, and the type of army you're fielding. When our group first started playing 6e last year, we took about an hour per 500 pts + another hour for looking up and interpreting rules we were confused by (~4 hours for a 1500 point game). Nowadays, after playing a lot in the intervening months, we blast through 2000 pt games in about 2 hours. The first few games can be painfully long, but it gets better.

Kill team games are a good option for playing quickly, as well as practicing gameplay fundamentals. As long as you don't go overboard with analysis paralysis, you should stay under 30 minutes of playtime.

Vet player vs vet player
250 pts = 15 to 29 minutes
500 pts = 30 to 44 minutes
750 pts = 45 to 59 minutes
1000 pts = 1 hour to an hour & 14 minutes
1250 pts = 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 29 min.
1500 pts = 1 hr 30 to 1 hr 44
1750 pts = 1 hr 45 to 1 hr 59
2000 pts = 2 hrs to 2 hrs 14 min
Etc...

New players x2 the times above...

The first and second turn always take a lot more time then the last turn. Last turn is usualy just 10 minuts of play.

Also, you speed vil increase as you now many of your strategic options will be known in advance. At the moment you suffer analyse paralasys. This will improve.

All I know is that 40K takes an insufferable length of time to play. I like to play, but after about 1 1/2 hours, I'm done and ready to quit and either play another game or do something else.

I'm always amazed at playing Warmachine or Hordes and the length of time it takes. On average, I can play two or three 50 point games in the time it takes to play one 2,000 point game of 40K. :(

Going to Templecon and playing in a Privateer Press tournament in the same room as the 40K tournament really brings this point home. In years past, I've actually played in two Steamroller Tournaments and played 16 games and had a lunch and dinner break while the 40K guys will have just finished game three of day one with only one break.

Yes, 40K should not take that long to play, and it certainly drags on when it's with inexperienced players.

I like to think of it as 45 minutes per 500 points.

A gross oversimplification, perhaps, but it seems fairly effective.

1000 points, 3 hours.

Only because we talk so much gak during the whole thing that nothing ever really happens quickly. Not that it is at all bad, it makes for fun games, shooting the gak or doing elaborate battle impersonations (perceived accents for miniatures not mandatory but highly advised)

This is a very slow game, made slower by the endless need to check and re-check the rules for minor, unintuitive rulings on how gak works

If you want a faster game, go play Infinity, Kings of War, Warpath, or almost anything else out these days.

If you're looking to shorten your game I feel like you have two options:

1. Kill Teams. This game type is much shorten than regular games. It's also a great way to learn the rules. When there's only 10-40 models on the table at a time you deal with a fraction of the rules to look up.

2. Prepare for your games. Have everything typed up and ready to go for your army list (weapon and unit stats, special rules, etc.), and if your opponent isn't fluent in the game make sure they do the same. Your games will become much smoother, shorter, and in my opinion more enjoyable.

I've taught 3 or 4 of my friends in 6th. The best way is with a few games of Kill Team so they get a feel for the game (while having all the special rules and such written out). After a few of those, play a real game between 800-1000 points. After maybe 3 to 5 games my friends were pretty independent as far as knowing what they were rolling for.

we play 2K regularly.

2.5 hours is pretty normal. 3 if we get to BS'ing too much.

Kind of depends on the armies you're using too. I know that when I play my ravenwing or Berzerker armies games usually last about an hour even at 1500 points. But if I am using Imperial Guard it could take a LOT longer.

1850 takes me anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours with friends, and up to 4 hours with slow/new players. The time it takes to play a game will be determined by the rule knowledge of both players, and how much waffling they will do with rollling dice, and adding up attacks/shots.

I know a few players that will take 1-2 mins to work out the shots for their units, and others that will have prepared dice pools for each unit, so they can rapidly roll to hit and wound. I personally have got into a habit of holding a pool of dice for attacks my opponent makes, then removing dice as they fail to hit/wound. I also make small groupings of 5 dice to rapidly add up dice for a roll.

If you want to speed up your games it will happen naturally as you learn your own rules, and the attacks, and loadout of each unit you regularly use.

I am playing around 1200 usually.
We rarely hit the 2 hour mark, and we get distracted ALOT (by the cat, by pizza, by alot of stuff.)

750 points in 2 hours SHOULD NOT happen, it should be slightly over an hour probably.

I mean, how many units are even on the board?
Unless you are both horde players, something is really wrong with your game length.



EDIT: re-read. probably lack of experiance that makes you keep checking the rules. it will get shorter the more you play then, as things will naturally be memorized.

Something I've noticed about new players is that they don't plan their own turn in the opponents turn. They have plenty of time to think, look and weigh their options, but instead they just stand there. Far too often I hear "Hmm... What do I do now?" when my turn ends, and I just know it's going to be a long, long game. So my advice would be to start thinking sooner and it will speed up considerably. Also knowing the rules well allows you to speed things up considerably as well.

Don't get me wrong, I love 40k, but I like to see things progress as well.

Usually takes between 1.5 and 2 hours for 1750-2000 point games.

In 5th, though, the same sized games would take less than an hour.

Start with low points and build up slowly.

Maybe you should start with 500 Points games. You normally have 2 scoring 1 hq and not much more.

Play some of these small games and you quickly know all the rules and stats for the models involved. When you play comfortable playing these 500s and get them done in 20-30 minutes you should start adding points. 150-200 points in a step. Again play several games learning the mechanics and move on to the next.

Continue in this pattern and you should be able to play a game with 1500-1800 points in 1,5h-3h depending on army compositions without having to lookup every little detail.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I wanted to start with smaller points game - which is why my first game was 750pts. My friend however has been urging me to keep bumping up the points values which may be why I am not enjoying the game.

I have grown used to playing euro board games which usually run much shorter. I have also grown accustomed to the buying one game and everyone has everythign they need to play - but that is a topic for another day.

2k is the norm at the local shop. I expect a game with a good play to be around 2.5 hours. But we got a few guys that will push it to 6. Another will push it to 9+ and I refuse to play him because of it.

On zone of mortalis days it’s about under hour for the 500 point games. hour+ for 1000.

There’s a lot of things you can do to speed the game up.
Have your dice sacked up so it’s quicker to count out and role them.
Don’t be that guy and role dice one at a time like it magical changes the out come.
Have different color dice for different roles. Like white for bolters and blue for plasma.
Try to plan your whole game out turn 1 thur 5 and only change it as needed.
Pre-measure and check line of sight in your opponents turn too.

oftenwrong wrote:

There’s a lot of things you can do to speed the game up.
Have your dice sacked up so it’s quicker to count out and role them.

Thats a good advice. I have 2x12 Dice in red and green and 6 blue and 6 yellow dice.

I keep them together and if i have to roll 12 dice or 6 (say for 6 marines rapidfiring their bolters) i can quickly pick them up and roll them without even having to count. If its 11 or 10 dice i just leave one or two at the stack. If both players manage their dice fast you are already saving like half an hour in a game that only went into counting dice.

oftenwrong wrote:
2k is the norm at the local shop. I expect a game with a good play to be around 2.5 hours. But we got a few guys that will push it to 6. Another will push it to 9+ and I refuse to play him because of it.

On zone of mortalis days it’s about under hour for the 500 point games. hour+ for 1000.

There’s a lot of things you can do to speed the game up.
Have your dice sacked up so it’s quicker to count out and role them.
Don’t be that guy and role dice one at a time like it magical changes the out come.
Have different color dice for different roles. Like white for bolters and blue for plasma.
Try to plan your whole game out turn 1 thur 5 and only change it as needed.
Pre-measure and check line of sight in your opponents turn too.

I would also add to have your housekeeping in order, pack only the models you need and the list your taking. Make sure your the not the reason for any slow play. Make sure your ready for your turn, etc. All the responses on here are great.

Ive yet to break the 2 hour mark with a game 2k or lower since the opening month of 6th or so. Ask for help moving models if your playing horde, roll in batches, clearly walk through concisely what your doing so your opponent keeps on paying attention, all sorts of stuff. Mostly just practice the general flow of the game.

Another huge element is to not nitpick over every small thing unless your really really need to for whatever reason and the person is trying to take advantage of you. People will fudge moves from time to time unknowingly, forget rules, be careless etc. Simply afford a modicum of flexibility and be polite about anything. The behavior comes around and you will be a better person/player for it. In a tournament its a different deal however at normal game times your both trying to unwind and have fun, make sure you actually do that.