Lessons Learned

The Gentlemen's GT was only my second 5 round tournament that I've played in and I learned a few lessons about tournaments, myself and my army over the course of two days.  Instead of hoping that I remember them for next time, I thought I'd write down as many as I remember so I can review it before Adepticon.

Play with your list before the first round of the tournament.
I not only didn't play with my list beforehand, I had two units that I had never fielded before (Thunderwolf Lord, Wolf Scouts).  Understanding their theoretical capabilities is not the same as understanding how to practically employ them.

Don't be so hungover.
I believe that this lesson and the previous lesson combined to cost me my first round on Saturday.  I don't know if it caused the loss in the first game on Sunday because I was pretty over matched but I'm sure it didn't help.

Play faster in the early turns.
The rounds were only two hours and fifteen minutes but not having enough time to play a 6th/7th turn could have had major consequences.  I felt pressed for time in all my matches and I know at least once it caused me to make a mistake that I'm sure I would have avoided if I hadn't been trying to cram in the final turns.

Terrain trumps lists.
On paper, my list stacked up poorly with at least half of the lists in the field, including at least three that I had to face throughout the weekend.  Luckily the terrain on the tables had a good mix of area and blocking terrain and I was able to neutralize many list advantages through cagey tactics.  The biggest boon was definitely largish blocking terrain located near the center of the board.  I would have gotten blasted off the table by the Razorwolves and both Guard armies if we had played on less populated boards.

The meta game is real.
I've always been a proponent of building lists that you like and damn the consequences but going to big tournaments makes me reconsider just a bit.  Going to the Chicago area and facing the competition that I did makes me realize that if you are planning on taking unconventional lists, have a plan for the major meta net lists or don't expect to win a lot.

Going to ground is how heroes are made.
Going to ground is the least used and most helpful rule I have ever seen.  Going to ground with units that would otherwise be wiped out saved me against the two Guard armies I played as well as helping a great deal against the Razorwolf army.  I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "But Noah, going to ground only saves 1-2 models who are going to get killed the next turn anyway!"  While that may be true, that is still one more unit that has to allocate its fire to a remnant unit rather than a more effective unit somewhere else.  If they ignore the two remaining soldiers, opponents can be devastated to learn how much damage a couple krak grenades can do.  Twice I had melta Grey Hunters survive an Executioner plasma tank only to later kill it or another vehicle.

That's all I can think of for now (see, already forgetting what happened this weekend), I may add more later but I doubt it.

-Noah S.