I need some ideas for my First Tourney.

[supercrazy05]

Hey guys this is going to be my first tournament this weekend and the build is 1500 pts. I expect a lot of cheese as the people here have been clamoring for a tournament to show off there skills. I dont plan on being there stepping stone. So I need Ideas. I am thinking about LR Spam... or Maybe tons of troops with Dreadnaught support. Maybe some termies. Any suggestions?

[number6]

You have to go with what works for you. There are numerous ways to build your GK army and be successful. Land Raider "spam" is not the only way to win games. My usual armies don't use raiders at all.

 

FWIW, I had excellent success at an RTT held just a few weeks ago with my 1500 pts of pure GKs.

[ripath]

This isn't list advice but it is tournament advice that you can use no matter what list you have. Seeing as players in general need to be on top of their game or losing is a very real possibility.

 

Before the tournament

List building

Find the list that is right for you Silent Requiem has made a good point about his list

About my list; it is weak. But it fits me, and that counts for a lot more than any amount of mathammer.

and I think that should show the importance of understanding how you think and finding the list the utilizes your strong points and can avoid your downfalls. It's also important to get your list done early like I hope you are. Searching the forums, and looking at the bat reps can't hurt either.

 

Do your homework

If it's a club tournament and you know the regulars use that knowledge to your advantage. Beyond just knowing what your going to put in your list, also you can't account for people that you don't know of so be prepared for everything! You should have a good idea of how someone plays their own army if you have played them, remember this so that you can somewhat prepare yourself for what they might do. Also knowing what models they have is a good way to know what they can possibly play in the tournament.

 

Play test

Try your list out and figure out how to use it. If your list or one similar to it has never been tried when you show up on the big day you are taking a chance that you may not be spot on with your game. Play testing is invaluable during a tournament, because it gives you at least some experience with a list instead of none. While it may seem kind of ridiculous to do, setting up two armies and playing against yourself is a way to pick up another invaluable tool for tournament play: Insight. When you play against your own army played by yourself, the flaws of your army and how they can be exploited start to become much more visible to you. This lets you much more accuratly plan for how your opponent will attack you.

 

Prep work

Make sure that all of your models are legal to use in the tournament before you show up. A few general tournament rules 50% gw materials(paints and glues not included), painted at least three colors, textured bases, and what you see is what you get. When in doubt ask the person running the tournament, it never hurts to be sure.

 

Night before

 

Pack your stuff

Get everything that you will need including your codex, dice, templates and rulers into one spot, preferably into the bag that you will be using to transport it in. This prevents last minute scrambling to find your lucky dice and usual tape measure or ruler.

 

Sleep

Get a good nights sleep, gaming is about as strenous as a standardized test like the ACT. Here are some interesting statistics from an army study done on artillery crews proformance based on the amount of sleep they continually got over time. those with 8 hours of sleep, were at 100% efficiency. 7 hours showed 75%, 6 hours showed 60%, and just four hours showed 40% efficiency! if you played 40% efficiency that would be like playing with a 400 point army against a 1000 point army if you were fully rested. Sleep is also cumulative, staying up all week then sleeping for 8 hours isn't going to work as well as sleeping 8 hours every night of the week leading up to the tournament.

 

Day of the tournament

 

Dress comfy

lounging clothes or pjs work fine, personnal I like BDUs that are a size too big, because they are both comfy and they can hold a lot of stuff.

 

Beverages

Make sure to hydrate yourself constantly, use mainly water but a caffeinated beverage among a few liters of water won't hurt a bit. Always sip on your water! I can drink up to 2 liters of water during a tournament, so don't feel shy. Going to the bathroom normally isn't a problem either.

 

Food

Your probably not going to get time to eat during a tournament, you very well may but don't expect it. So eat a large breakfast beforehand. Putting a few granola bars into your pockets is also a good way to actually be able to eat in between or even during your games. Note that the more it sticks to your gut the better it is for gaming. Being in the middle of a game and being tired can throw you off more then you think, so stick to foods that don't burn off quickly.

 

And finally be on your game

Think about your game to the exclusion of everything else, don't get distracted. I'm not saying to ignore what the other players say but sometimes it helps to just nod your head and let it go in one ear and out the other.

 

well that is all that I can think of right now but I hope this helps you do your best in the tournament.

[supercrazy05]

Well I know for sure I will be seeing

Mechanized Lash Prince, Shooty Eldar, and at least 3 shooty Tau plus at least another 12 armies.

 

I planned on the following list but may switch it up to give me back my NFW

 

BC with PsyC AND UW

4 Termies 1 PsyC and 1 TH/SS

 

8 PAGK 2 Psycannon, UW

8 PAGK 2 Psycannon, UW

9 PAGK 2 Psycannon, UW Teleport homer

 

2 x Dreadnaughts with TLLC and ML Smoke

 

 

I alternatively was thinking about getting rid of the Psy cannons on the PAGK and the smoke since I plan on shooting with the dreads as much as possible. That should give me an extra 157 points since I was 1 under. Do I buy more PAGK or another dread?

[Prathios]

Another dread or drop a dread and add a LR. Against Tau those two dreads are likely to get smoked real fast leaving you with no anti armor weapons, perhaps add melta bombs to the PAGK Justicars or the LR cause at least it has a chance to not get popped by a rail gun. The poor Dreadys are pretty much screwed if they take a rail gun shot with no cover save.

[Uncle Mel]

Another dread or drop a dread and add a LR. Against Tau those two dreads are likely to get smoked real fast leaving you with no anti armor weapons, perhaps add melta bombs to the PAGK Justicars or the LR cause at least it has a chance to not get popped by a rail gun. The poor Dreadys are pretty much screwed if they take a rail gun shot with no cover save.

 

true but only one land raider is toast as well versus 3 railguns

 

three dreads on the other hand armed with tllc and ml dish out a lot of pain

[Prathios]

I'd give 3 dreads a lower chance of survival against 3 rail gun shots than a land raider. and 3 dreads is almost as many points as 2 land raiders. A Las/ML dready is what 160 points? LR or LRC 250-255? I mean think about it, to kill your dreadnaught hes got to roll his BS, followed by anything but a 1. and then gets a +1 on the dmg chart... against a LR at least hes got to roll a 5-6 to pin. Dreads just dont deal well with Rail Guns. Of course... nothing does :)

 

I think 1 dread and 1 LR is a good compromise cause then hes likely to focus fire on one or the other so at least one survives. Or you do well in the rolls and both of them survive as he fails to pin your LR. It happens...

[Uncle Mel]

valid points, my gk always roll in 3 raiders anyway for just those reasons.

 

i do however think that when taking gk heavys take them in numbers, that is just my philosophy