40K: Are Tournaments All About Winning?
When we talk about tournaments, it’s all about getting the best from your army, crushing your opponents and generally winning. But being on the top tables isn’t everything.
Adam from the Space Wolves blog explains how being on the top tables at the tournaments is overrated while the midfield is where it’s at.
The Tournament Experience
You never forget your first tournament. You’re excited and nervous in equal amounts, eager to get your lovingly painted army on the table and at the same time terrified about what and who you might be playing.
But the important thing is that a tourney is a fantastic way to play all manner of armies, make new friends and battle your way through two straight days of Warhammer 40K.
My first tournament was back in January 2005 when the tourney scene was still fairly casual. So casual in fact, that I came 3rd with my old Deathwing army!
Since then I’ve taken Necrons, Chaos Space Marines, Deathwing, Tau Empire and Space Wolves to all manner of tournaments from fun days to full on weekend affairs.
In recent years I’ve found myself on the top tables. I managed to claw my way near to the top whilst playing Tau Empire and have done a heck of a lot better since playing Space Wolves.
However, when it comes to an enjoyable tournament experience, my gaming buddy James (often mentioned in my articles) beats me hands down every time.
Love the Game
I don’t believe that tournaments are about beating face and winning at all costs. In fact, I’ve seen and played against some incredible armies and amazing players over the years.
The best games in my mind were the close games. The battles when an extra turn could have made all the difference, the outcome of the game rested on a single kill point or a hard fought objective.
These are the games that make us better players and help us to understand our armies and not the cut n’ paste Meta lists pulled off the internet with a 2-Dimension strategy.
However, these close fought games aren’t very rewarding when it comes to scoring points in the tournament. As a result, players who find themselves in these tough battles find themselves with a few good points in the middle tables.
So why does James have a better tournament experience? Because he’s one of these players who finds himself on the middle tables.
Me? I’m clinging on to the top tables for dear life, looking worried when I end up on Table #1 after a victorious slaughter, then spend the second day bouncing up and down the rankings like a yo-yo. Although I still get a few close fought games.
Meanwhile, my gaming buddy spends the whole weekend playing well balanced armies with a little personal customisation and enjoys a series of hard fought games against people who genuinely love their armies and stick with them through thick and thin.
It almost makes me wish I’d kept my Tau Empire force…almost.
Getting a Good Game
So how does he stick to the middle tables? Well, for starters, he’s playing a well rounded army list. It’s not optimised to be as perfect as it can be and he hasn’t analysed the cost to performance return of each and every unit.
He’s put together an army that’s coherent, suits his playing style and a has a mixture of units designed to support one another and then fine tuned it over the years as the game has changed.
There are no gimicks, first turn strategies or hard hitting combinations. The force is simply solid, forgiving and fairly flexible.
For really competitive play, it’s missing a few things. There are no Assault Terminators and there are no Space Marine special characters to give the army various abilities.
But because there are none of these power units to fall back on, he’s a much better player because of it.
It makes me wonder how much better he’d do in tournaments if he played more often and with one of the stronger armies. But he seems far happier with small victories and draws on the middle tables than slaughtering and being slaughtered on the top tables.
Honing Your Skills
Maybe the secret to becoming a better player is to take a weaker army and hone your skills in the middle tables?
It certainly worked for me when I used to play Tau Empire and couldn’t afford to make a single mistake, while the Space Wolves are fairly forgiving by comparison.
So do you think tournaments are really all about winning? Where do you normally end up in the tournament rankings, and are the middle tables really the best battle grounds, or is the grass simply greener?
