Welcome back Rangers! Today I am going to give you some advice on how to prepare for your first Tournament

1: Read a Book! Know your rules and the core rules.

This seems to be something that needs to be addressed before we can move on in any form of tournament preparation. Some of us like to joke that we go to tournaments to learn our armies, this does not mean we go to tournaments to learn how to play a system. With access to information in the palm of your hand, there is no excuse any more for not having at least skimmed through the rules to get your head around what is going to happen. Give the rules a read and have a good idea of what the system has in store for you, also don’t stress the complicated stuff you will have a TO who will be there to assist you.

2: Practice games make perfect games!

This goes back to the previous rule, you should have a general idea of where you are going to place your units on the table, and who needs to do what. This will vary on mission, opponents and deployment type, however you are getting surprised by those, then you need to practice the deployment phase a few more times. If you can’t find someone to play with, if you know which missions you are going to play at the event then you can just set up the missions and try to think about where you deploy here. We are developing a few new drills that can help you think and approach deployment in a different aspect.

3: Hydrate, Snack, Hydrate

Another tip that doesn’t even involve what army you are playing with! Hydration is the essence of life, so you need to make sure that you are keeping up with the water. Electrolytes are important, however we aren’t exactly breaking a sweat all day from exercising our muscles, so keep up with water before you drink any Gatorade. Eat a good breakfast and bring lots of little healthy protein pack snacks to keep you from getting too hungry. Lunch is important as well, don’t get something that is going to weigh you down for the rest of the day. Eat light, eat often and stay away from lots of sugar. Caffeine is something that you need to moderate, once you start with caffeine you are going to need to keep it going or it can cause you to crash. 

4: Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Something that I don’t think mentioned enough is to exercise your body and stay active with walks or jogs throughout the week. You are going to be standing for the majority of the day, and sometimes two day events. If you are not used to being on your feet this much, neither are your joints! This can cause a large amount of stress on your body, so we can prepare by staying in shape so that when we get to round 3 of a one day tournament you aren’t feeling as worn out as someone who has not put the effort in throughout the week! Jogging for 20-30 mins every day or whatever you can make work for your schedule is going to help you out, throwing in some sit ups and push ups is only going to help you more. 

5: Meditation and Good Night Rest

Planning out all your moves and understanding how your army functions will leave you without a whole lot to think about, so the night before a tournament you should tuck away a little earlier than normal. Don’t fret about what you don’t know, just prepare your mind by giving it time to unwind, a little meditation before bed can help you calm down too. 40k is a mental marathon, and any thing that has been unresolved will just be a speed bump for when you are playing the game.

6: Take Pictures and Take Notes

Taking pictures every turn and writing down the key moments of each turn can be really handy when you are rushing to tell everyone in the world about how your game went. However all of that information can be reflected upon and we can determine what might have been a better play. We can also look back upon how we played well and if there was any way we could have scored those extra 3 points to flush out the full 100 point win. This is all free information that is waiting to be captured and processed, it just takes some practice to remember to write all this down and take the pictures, as getting wrapped up in the game is really easy.

7: Have fun, and be fun to play against!

The last but most important rule about playing in tournaments, just go and have fun, win or lose, fun is always on the table. This can be achieved by setting realistic goals and not getting carried away with what is happening outside the table. Yes the edition is not perfect and eldar is winning everything, however neither you or your opponent are playing eldar in your match, so again how is their over tuned index causing you to lose? Just be courteous to your opponent and just be honest and tell them that you are new to tournaments, does this mean they might hold back punches? I couldn’t tell you, but what I can tell you is that I’m not going to hold you to knowing all your rules like a veteran should, and that if I see any room for improvement I’ll ask you if you want to know that. My goal as a veteran in this hobby is to cultivate a meta that will be full of competitive players, who respect everyone in the game.