Yet another issue. Exams are keeping me busy with finding things to do for procrastination, this blog seems to be doing pretty well. I spoke to a few people on thursday and im pretty glad that everyone seem to be pretty happy with my posts. The number after the title is just to show which issue (or episode, or chapter, or something) you are reading.

I played my first game with the Necron codex against Jack’s Blood Angels, I lost, silly mistakes on my part joined with awesome deployment from jack meant I could take the win. I think I need some more practice with the codex. Lets take a break from Necrons today, lets have a chat about tournaments. This should apply to 40k, fantasy and even magic, so please pull up a chair and get comfortable.

I think we all know that our club is not the most competitive, not by a long shot. Im having flashbacks to the interclub last year where out of 15 games we didn’t get even a single draw, which is a some sort of notable record as i understand it. Many of us at the club believe that’s a good thing. Many would say (and I agree with them) that we are a very social club, we are more about getting together and rolling dice than crushing the guy on the other side of the table, I love that we aren’t out to just beat each other it is a game after all. However, it is a wargame, and winning is fun.

What does this have to do with tournaments? I have heard some debate over tournament play between members of our club throughout the time i have been there, many are just against it while others are afraid of an unpleasant experience. I haven’t been in the 40k tournament scene for long (pretty much just this year), but after 5 tournaments Im hear to tell you that tournaments are not evil.

Lets debunk some myths:

1. all tournament players are over competitive and take the fun out of the game. This is rubbish. I have played against pretty much every top ranking player in a tournament setting and every one of them were great guys. Sure, they are there to place well and they play to win, but if you ask me if you aren’t playing your best you’re cheating your opponent out of a challenging game. I have had one or two bad experiences but its never big enough that it makes me regret playing and to be honest it usually has nothing to do with the game, for example I once played against a guy and (without trying to be rude), he stank I avoided getting to close to him, it was really bad. When I played in nationals this year in the first round I played against Nick Worsley, he is competitive but is a really awesome guy, as some of you know I made a pretty big rules error which he could have easily used to get me kicked out I wouldn’t have blamed him he had every right to do it even if it was a genuine mistake. When I saw him talking to the judges I thought I was out, but then when i went to go speak to them it turns out he vouched for me and said he didn’t think I needed to be punished. A great guy who is a hardcore player.
2. They wont want me there, im not good enough. Absolute rubbish. You do need to have a basic understanding of the rules but nobody is expecting you especially if you are new to tournaments to know everything. Tactically speaking the same thing goes, whenever I get thrashed the other guy is always very understanding and helpful, telling me where I should have deployed and so on. If you finish early alot of the time you grab a drink and have a chat with your opponent, maybe ask them for some advice. They understand that not everyone is as experienced or serious as them, they also started as noobs. I have seen players get frustrated but its never because the other guy is inexperienced it because they dont know the basic rules or even worse their codex, you have to understand their is a strict time limit to games in tournaments and it seems a little unreasonable if you show up and you dont know why your land raider doesn’t have a wounds characteristic.

So why should you play in tournaments?

• Its fun. you get to play armies you may have never faced before and play games which you might not be used to. The fact that its a tournament makes games tenser and the prospect of winning a game juicier. Tournament play is just a whole another area of the hobby which quite a few people are not experiencing because they are worried about those 2 myths.
• Its the best way to learn. I learnt more in my first tournament than I had from reading the rules and playing the same armies over and over which my friends had. I cannot explain how much of an impact it has on your ability, just ask anyone of us who went to nationals this year
• Meet other players. Once you have gone to a few tournaments you start to become acquainted with quite a few people and they are really great people. Tournaments are more social than people think.
• Test your ability. Its nice to see you have improved and although its only a game placing well in a tournament is exciting.
• What else can keep you busy for a whole weekend for R100? Really. Movies are about R40 not including the R30 for snacks or whatever other costs you may have (girlfriends).
• It keeps the hobby alive. As soon as I played my first tournament (little big un, I placed 2nd last) I go really motivated to do better the next time, and i did, at Veterens I was ranked first after the first day until Brindley knocked me down a few spaces on the second day.

I know this wasn’t as entertaining as the previous issues, but I am really tired from studying and I think its important. Dont be scared of tournaments, they are your friends. Im sitting here at the end trying to think of something amusing to say, I dont want to post something boring… sorry I cant think of anything.

P.S. I found a little rumor about the Chaos Legions codex which is apparently coming out next year. Im sure you all know I love my chaos so this is quite interesting for me. The new codex will be written by… WARD!!!!!!! Fear chaos, think about what he did with the Grey Knights, now think about marines which have 10 000 years of experience + chaos powers