Warhammer 40K: Goatboy’s Lessons Learned in 2024
Goatboy here with a look back at the biggest Warhammer 40K tips and lessons learned in 2024 as a competitive player.
Maybe a better term for this piece is “a player trying to improve their play competitively”. You would think with this many years slinging dice I wouldn’t be learning anything new but surprise – surprise! This old dawg learned some new tricks in 2024 that has made me a better player. Here they are:
Tip #1 – Playing the Same Army Consistently – will make you a better consistent player
You would think this is the easiest thing to learn but if you know me I will constantly play a different army from event to event. It was such a “Goatboy” thing to do with shifting an army and play style on the fly. It worked a bit when I didn’t have kids and played a lot more. But as I got older, grayer, and became a dad it started to get a lot harder to keep all the rules in my head for whatever army I wanted to try out. Almost the entire year of 2024 I played World Eaters and while I didn’t win an event I did win a lot more than lose which is pretty much all I can ask for right now.
Tip #2 – Write Cheat Sheets – rework them before every event
I always talked about writing cheat sheets for your armies and I have found doing it for every event forces you to look at things anew, remember stuff more easily, and just have more information to play your game. I really hate coming to a tabletop and having to constantly look up things, forget things, and then sadly gotcha people when you find something out while searching the app. Heck the Gotchas you do to yourself, are even worse! So “studying” your army a bit before an event will always be helpful.
Tip #3 – Balanced Lists Work Better Than Skewed Lists
Skewed lists should only be saved for Team events where you can try to hide from bad match ups and bounce on those games you need to win big. Having a balanced list – some shooting, some assault, and enough bodies to do missions seems to be the best way to play Warhammer 40K. Just having options to do stuff seems to be important for anyone who doesn’t get to play a ton and needs all available abilities to play and learn the game available to them. It’s why I have shooting in my World Eaters as while going hog wild into the army is fun – having ways to clear holes, force players to hide, and just create a different play experience is a lot more exciting. Having a broad toolbox of units makes you a better, more responsive player.
Tip #4 – Don’t Forget – You HAVE to Score Points to Win
I know this should be something we all think about but you need to score points to win. In 10th Edition if you are going to score 0 for your secondary points you should swap one of your missions cards in hopes to score it. You should also expect any mission you don’t get to score right away or at the end of your turn a mission you can’t score so drop it or know you will get a CP for it. You can’t get too far behind in a game, so any turn you get 0 or very little points just puts you so far back it is difficult to catch back up.
Tip #5 – Stage Your Assaults and Your Armies
The game is 5 turns and you don’t have to go hog wild the first 2 turns. You can’t move up super aggressively, stage your turns, and hopefully draw your opponent out into a bad trade. As long as you have something you can score on the secondary side of things you are better off to score just a bit instead of trying to get the full amount but leave your army so exposed you get wiped away too quickly. This game is deadly and trading can be hard when you don’t have a whole lot to trade. Plan ahead, and mentally game out ALL 5 turns
Tip #6 – Have Dice That Are Easy to Read
I saw this as someone that has had to up their glasses prescription as they have gotten older. Have dice that are easy to read and the opponent can see across the table. It makes the games easier to follow, a heck of a lot more fun to play, and just more enjoyable. If you have a symbol for your 6 make sure the opponent knows what it is.
I am sure there are other things I have learned this past year and I hope this next year I can use them to try and get to the World Championships at some point. It would be fun to play some games, lose a bunch I am sure, and just have a good time this next year. Both my boys are getting older and I hope they get interested in this game and wreck me on the tabletop.
Happy Gaming in 2025!
