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.

How do?

So looks like my gaming group might be getting me out my 'not really gaming at the moment' rut, by trying to get me signed up for an organised event or two. And y'know, I'm up for this.

Already settled on a new army (GSC), which I do intend to paint (first 10 Neophytes getting tickled by the brush this week, hopefully), and even a couple of ideas of what I wants in my list (3 Manticores and a Master of Ordnance allied in...mmm...).

But, between now and the currently undefined 'then', lies quite the challenge. Getting me up to speed on the game itself. See, I've played exactly one game of 8th Ed, and before that, exactly one game of 7th Ed. So quite the knowledge gap to get filled in.

Other than the basics though (army painted, bring your books etc), is there anything else I need to be mindful of to help avoid ruining someone else's tournament experience?

INTENT.. "I am deepstriking this unit here .. the intent is that they are 10" away not 9" to avoid your specific ranged weapon.

if you announce the intent .. there's no misunderstanding.

otherwise keep your phases quick and to the point, have different coloured dice for different quantites

(10 - Red, 20 blue, 30-purple)

and otherwise ... don't go in with the expectation to win so you get frustrated ... go for the experience stay for the bloodshed.

wear deodarant (cologne/perfume is even better), bathe well before hand (use scented soaps and oils if you can, days can get long, nobody is going to make fun of you for smelling too pretty), be gracious in defeat and in victory. Apologise if you get short with someone in the heat of it.


Nothing else really matters as much as these points, some people handwave rules disputes, some people want to defend their interpretation, some people play super speedy, others can't keep up, stuff like this is all just personal and you needn't feel like you have to do any one or the other.

However, if you have been taking long turns and your opponent hasn't, don't be that guy who lets the game end with you up one turn and the round unfinished, it's not cool.

Fair points, thank you Also not one I'd have immediately thought of.

My intention of attending is to get more gaming in, socialise more, and hopefully be a memorable opponent! Will likely get my butt kicked, but that's fine. Long as I give a decent account of myself.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Except the hygiene! Cross posted. I am never smelly by dint of not trying!

Currently wearing a very nice Thistle and Black Pepper cologne.

Explain to your opponent forehand that you are new to the tournament scene, even if you also state you are familiar and comfortable enough with the game (if that's the case). People will be a lot more understanding of any "etiquette" misteps you make during the game.



Only in anime does your opponent lean back and say "well then, if that's the case then I'm afraid this is about to become VERY UNPLEASANT FOR YOU"

If the venue allows, bring water and snacks, otherwise the bars and cafes will be heaving during the breaks.

Make your intent clear as others have mentioned.

Don't be afraid to contest some rules. I've encountered very competitive players in the past who have come across as a bit forceful in their interpretation of the rules. Not aggressive, but very full-on, makes it a bit more challenging for some to question it. Ignore that, if you're unsure about it, question it or raise it with a TO if you're getting nowhere with it.

Don't be a jerk.

Be a good sport and have fun.

Know your rules, but be ready to show them if need be.

Only in anime does your opponent lean back and say "well then, if that's the case then I'm afraid this is about to become VERY UNPLEASANT FOR YOU"

that is because in places where people think like that, they are never going to say it out loud. They will just use it mid game and then explanining to a judge that has 30-40 other tables to look for that your new to tournaments and you didn't know is ruled in your opponents favour.


It is good to ask people around that have been to the event, if it is one in series. Or people that played in that place. It is better to not make a 150km trip to be kicked out, because your wearing your teams jersey and the event has a no sports rule in effect to avoid people fighting each other.

also don't grab someone elses models without asking them first, and if you do, only lift by the base


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Karol wrote:

Only in anime does your opponent lean back and say "well then, if that's the case then I'm afraid this is about to become VERY UNPLEASANT FOR YOU"

that is because in places where people think like that, they are never going to say it out loud. They will just use it mid game and then explanining to a judge that has 30-40 other tables to look for that your new to tournaments and you didn't know is ruled in your opponents favour.


It is good to ask people around that have been to the event, if it is one in series. Or people that played in that place. It is better to not make a 150km trip to be kicked out, because your wearing your teams jersey and the event has a no sports rule in effect to avoid people fighting each other.

when people are talking about how people behave at events, they aren't talking about YOUR toxic ass meta where people get into fist fights over rules disputes and tell brand new players that they refuse to match their points level, and all the other horror stories you've shared that go much worse than that. Not that I believe you anyway as people have called you out on your inconsistencies, but you know, in theory.

Reanimation_Protocol wrote:
INTENT.. "I am deepstriking this unit here .. the intent is that they are 10" away not 9" to avoid your specific ranged weapon.

if you announce the intent .. there's no misunderstanding.

It's actually REALLY sporting to do this with your opponent too. If you see them making a move or positioning a unit, clarify their intent. If you believe they are in error (perhaps they think they're in range, but they're actually not), let them know. Or in case a model gets bumped by dice or whatever, both players are clear on what was intended, and so that there is no issue. (This is usually less an issue in 40k, but it happened a lot when I played WH:Fantasy. I'd always be clarifying distances and arcs with my opponent, and clarifying which arc they intended to be in, or if they were in/out of my front, etc, which helped clear up a LOT of movement/positioning issues and made for smoother games. It probably worked against me more than once, but it also made for a much more enjoyable experience).

Beyond the usual hygiene tips, because I assume y'all are functioning adults:

Bring a water bottle. Hydrate. You have no idea how much you will sweat and dehydrate over the course of a day, so make sure you're drinking lots of water. This applies double if there is a bar.

Sit. My god, sit. If it's not your turn, or nothing urgent is happening, sit. Take a break, relax. If you stand for 8-10 hours for a two day event, you are going to be TUCKERED.

Be careful what you eat. And don't over eat, even if you think you're hungry. There's nothing like getting hit with a case of the browns in the middle of a game and having to use a bathroom that's probably only got 3 stalls but shared by 40+ dudes on a gamer diet for a weekend.

Bring at least two pens, if not more. One for you to keep and use, the other/rest to share. Also bring some spare paper, and keep track of your opponent for each game, and maybe what they fielded. Most tournaments will have a "Best Sportsman" vote at the end of the event, and they'll ask you to rank your opponents from first to last. Keeping a list will help you remember who you played. On that note, bring multiple copies of your army list. At minimum, one for each opponent, one for the judge, and one for yourself (so a 5-game event, you'll bring 7 copies of your list). Make sure your name is on the top.

Know your army inside and out. Know your Codex front to back and back to front, and at the very least, the stats of all the units and weapons you're fielding. Read all the FAQs and know the core rules. Know every other Codex at least in passing. Know generally what their stats are, what they do, how they play, how their weapons work. Read through their FAQs. Save yourself the time and trouble of not having to repeatedly ask your opponent "what does this do? what's their stat? what's this weapon do?". Or even worse, "hold on, let me look up my unit's stat/weapon".

Know when to call a judge. They are there to mediate games, and more often, it's better to let a 3rd party rule on an issue than to debate with your opponent. It will get heated, and sportsmanship will go out the window. You're not wasting anybody's time, that's what they're there for. Get the ruling, move on with your game.

On that note, if you're done your game and you're observing others, don't arm-chair general, and don't throw in commentary that will significantly disrupt or distract their game. It is a tournament on a time limit and you don't want to throw people off their game or take away time they might not have.

Also, take time to walk around and check out people's armies! I'm always finding cool inspiration from the armies that people bring.

Bring a lawyer to notarise each and every action you take with a unit so you have the upper hand when you inevitably get into an argument.

Also make sure to ask the TO what house rules are in effect.

Play short games where you don't care about the outcome but more about the situation.

Play the missions the tourney will be playing, and don't waste time on games that you make huge mistakes.

Don't be afraid to have your friends proxy units and models to run nasty netlists and such. Figure out how much time your actions can take so you don't waste time doing things late game that may cost you the match due to time.

BE the player that is over with their turn in 10 min or less, especially on turn 1. I've won SOOOO many matches because the hard core tourney gamer is not used to 5-6 round slug fests. Don't be afraid to concede assaults if it will speed up the round. (Know when to stick in and be stubborn and when you need another round of gameplay to win.)

Bring extra: Tape measure, water bottle, cell charger/battery. Make sure to chat with people and figure out group dinner plans! It's more fun to hang out and shoot the crap with fellow 40k fans.

I think the biggest change between your current state and "tournament ready" is your ability to play a game within the allotted time. If you come up against someone who there there for the first time for funsies then a slow and unfinished game might not matter, but if you draw someone who is trying to win the tournament and can only offer them a 3 turn game, that's not a great experience.

You get between 2hr 30 and maybe 3 hrs to do the whole game... which in theory boils down to you having about 15 mins per turn.

That is NOT a lot of time.

Realistically turns 5 and 6 might take literally 1 or 2 mins each if there's nothing left... but turns 1 and 2 can take an hour if you have tons of shooting, don't know your stats, get into complex melees with hordes etc etc. Your first couple of games will be 4 hours and it will feel impossible to do anything that fast.

However it is of course possible if you play a few times with the same units and try to get it all down.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
Bring a lawyer to notarise each and every action you take with a unit so you have the upper hand when you inevitably get into an argument.

Also make sure to ask the TO what house rules are in effect.

Got that covered. I am a qualified lawyer.

But I never bring work to recreation.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:

 BaconCatBug wrote:
Bring a lawyer to notarise each and every action you take with a unit so you have the upper hand when you inevitably get into an argument.

Also make sure to ask the TO what house rules are in effect.

Got that covered. I am a qualified lawyer.

But I never bring work to recreation.

It would be a conflict of interest, you need a neutral third party.

Here are some things that I do every tournament.

-Introduce yourself and exchange lists
-Point out any obscure units that you may have (some people have never played against certain codexs)
-If you have converted models that are out of the norm point them out (I like to convert/use FW bits a lot)
-Have plenty of dice on hand. If need let your opponent use them and vice versa.
-Note how you show wounds. Count down/Count up
-ALWAYS have your codex on hand. Battlescribe/the internet is not proof of your rules
-Never a bad idea to have your codex FAQ rules printed out
-Clearly voice your intentions. I.e. wobbly model syndrome or when making charges (need a 10" charge or w/e)
-Most importantly. HAVE FUN

Along with everything see that's been stated, wear comfy shoes that support your feet. I also like taking some ibuprofen before and after. I'm taller so bending over all day kills my lower back

"Hey, good luck. If you catch me doing something wrong please don't be afraid to let me know. Sometimes I get things mixed up and I appreciate you helping me to stay honest. If I do the same to you please don't take it as a personal insult."

"I'm trying to place this model out of line of sight. Could you confirm when you can't see it?"

 SHUPPET wrote:
(use scented soaps and oils if you can, days can get long, nobody is going to make fun of you for smelling too pretty)

JFC please don't do this. The only thing worse than a bunch of kind of sweaty gamers packed into a small space is a bunch of sweaty gamers trying to cover up the smell with competing obnoxious scents. It's like every pot smoker who thinks their house smells fine because they hosed it down with a gallon of air freshener, fooling nobody. Take a normal shower and be clean, but if people can smell your scented products from more than a few inches away you're being TFG.

Also, if you smoke, please stay home. You're gross, and the rest of us don't want to smell you from across the room.

Not sure if this applies to your particular tournament, but if they are serving alcohol moderate yourself. It's only happened a few times over the years but I have been to events when people get drunk. Even if they are not beligerant or boorish, this just slows the game down and trying to explain rule interactions to someone who can barely stand up is not fun.

Ironically the ones who I've seen get the worst are people who don't drink often and there for don't really know their tolerance.

I also recommend stretching the morning of. Your going to be on your feet for 8 to 12 hours and if your not used to that, your gonna be sore the next few days.

 Peregrine wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
(use scented soaps and oils if you can, days can get long, nobody is going to make fun of you for smelling too pretty)

JFC please don't do this. The only thing worse than a bunch of kind of sweaty gamers packed into a small space is a bunch of sweaty gamers trying to cover up the smell with competing obnoxious scents. It's like every pot smoker who thinks their house smells fine because they hosed it down with a gallon of air freshener, fooling nobody. Take a normal shower and be clean, but if people can smell your scented products from more than a few inches away you're being TFG.

Also, if you smoke, please stay home. You're gross, and the rest of us don't want to smell you from across the room.

Some people also have serious scent issues. Don't wear cologne or other scented stuff.

 Blndmage wrote:
Some people also have serious scent issues. Don't wear cologne or other scented stuff.

Maybe I am just old and "from another era" but if you have issues with "scents" such that you cannot function in a public environment, you shouldn't be in a public environment.

 Peregrine wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
(use scented soaps and oils if you can, days can get long, nobody is going to make fun of you for smelling too pretty)

JFC please don't do this. The only thing worse than a bunch of kind of sweaty gamers packed into a small space is a bunch of sweaty gamers trying to cover up the smell with competing obnoxious scents. It's like every pot smoker who thinks their house smells fine because they hosed it down with a gallon of air freshener, fooling nobody. Take a normal shower and be clean, but if people can smell your scented products from more than a few inches away you're being TFG.

Have you ever... actually used a bath bomb or scented soap before? They don't smell obnoxious, in fact you can barely smell it unless you're well within their personal space, it simply serves to keep your skin fresh for longer. Why am I completely unsurprised that you aren't aware of this lol?

Nobody is saying open the lid of a febreeze and lather it over yourself or something absurd.

As others have said. #1 is probably being clear in what your doing.
Something as simple as "these cultists (point at them) are shooting at those devastators, hitting on 3's". ect

When rolling yourself remove failed rolls and leave successes so your opponent can verify.
When helping if your opponent rolled a lot of dice remove success and hand them to him.

Practice plenty so you know your rules, looking up things you are unsure of it perfectly fine ofcourse.

A big change between laid back gaming at your club and a tournament is the time limit so practice that if you can.
Even just getting a stopwatch on your phone and timing your own turns, pausing when your opponent plays can be really good.

Clean clothes and take a shower the morning before going to the tournament. Also, put a deodorant can in your bag if you are one of the sweaty ones.

I'm lucky and betwen how cold it is where I live and the fact that... I don't know we are throwing dice not running a marathon I have never had a problem with people smelling bad and we have some guys (Very nice guys) that are... in the more obese side of things, but they wear clean clothes and bathe regularly so 0 problems.

Also the making your intent clear "I'll move this unit 6" so I'm 11" from you to fire my rapid fire weapons". it is not confusing because normally that will not happen with more than 3-5 units per turn, so is not like you have to remember dozens of "intents".
And never roll dice without letting your opponent check the results clearly and making clear what you are rolling dice for in the first place.

 SHUPPET wrote:
Have you ever... actually used a bath bomb or scented soap before? They don't smell obnoxious, in fact you can barely smell it unless you're well within their personal space, it simply serves to keep your skin fresh for longer. Why am I completely unsurprised that you aren't aware of this lol?

Nobody is saying open the lid of a febreeze and lather it over yourself or something absurd.

Obviously I'm not talking about using reasonable scented soap, but if other people in the room (who are not typically coming up into your personal space to give you a sniff) are aware of it then you aren't "smelling too pretty", you're being TFG with the bucket of febreeze. And unfortunately way too many people try to compensate for going too long without a shower by covering themselves in enough scented products to give someone a headache from across the table.

edited by ingtaer.

Rule #1 is be polite, you are expected to follow it at all times. Sniping at each other does nothing to promote discussion, keep it civil and on topic.

Thanks,
ingtaer

I think trimming down the time limit is going to be the main challenge.

40k hasn't changed it's bones that much since my heyday. Rules wise, it's just sorting through Edition Lag. How to move, shoot and fight is more or less as it always was. But doing that at a decent clip? Defo a focus.

Thankfully I've never been a fan of taking Hordes for the sake of taking Hordes. GSC for me is likely to be fairly well mechanised to boot (love the Goliath model!), so less time finnying about moving large squads.

Reckon I'll take it easy at first. Perhaps just set a definitive timeframe for the game a few weeks in (say, we'll start deployment at 12:30, last chuck of the dice 3:00), rather than stress about getting each turn down into 15 minutes etc?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, would anyone have even the slightest interest in a 'Chump To Champ' type blog, charting my development from inactive but enthusiastic, to fully painted bottom lapidater and terror of the tournament scene? (or indeed, well known 'red headed stepchild' of the tournament scene)

If your not a regular 40k player or tournament goer I'd just say enjoy the experience. You come across as a decent sort and therefore any bad etiquette isn't likely to come from you.
As above, people bickering over using aftershave (cologne if you like) or the amount means what you think is right against one person could be wrong against another.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Reckon I'll take it easy at first. Perhaps just set a definitive timeframe for the game a few weeks in (say, we'll start deployment at 12:30, last chuck of the dice 3:00), rather than stress about getting each turn down into 15 minutes etc?

Although chess clocks are not in common usage in the UK tournament scene, using one is very interesting to help understand where you are taking loads of time. They are just free phone/ipad apps so no investment required.

Give yourself 1.5 hrs each and swap when the other person is acting. You don't need to stop playing when your time runs out but you will get a sense for how much you might have overrun in a real "DICE DOWN, EVERYONE!" situation.

Also, would anyone have even the slightest interest in a 'Chump To Champ' type blog, charting my development from inactive but enthusiastic, to fully painted bottom lapidater and terror of the tournament scene? (or indeed, well known 'red headed stepchild' of the tournament scene)

Someone made a wildly successful podcase based on exactly this - The Best General by Adam Abramowicz. When it was good it was great, although it all went a bit "sports psychology" for me and it was clear he was doing filler episodes at times.

If you can write, can promote it and can sustain a blog then you will find an audience.


One more thing... Probably too soon for you unfortunately (Feb 9th and 10th so a month away today) but the tournament I am running near Manchester is a bit more casual, has longer round times and has equal prizes for painting as it does for smashing face. https://deathbeforedishonour.co.uk/