Dave Cooper's Tournament Kit Roundup

Today's article comes to you from Dave Cooper. We noticed a few people were asking about things they needed to bring to their first tournament - and clearly the question is common enough that Games Workshop decided to beat us to the punch and write their own article about it! 

Dave: Hello! I thought I'd take a break from our usual speculative or analytical style articles to go over my tournament kit. This tried and true bag of goodies has been honed over many tournaments.

 The newest kid on the block is not really a bit of kit at all, but it's one of the most important things to consider - it's what you use to write your lists. 

Until recently we were all stuck with the tyranny of Battlescribe, but we wanted to take the chance here to plug something that has made our SBG leaves all the easier and more pleasurable - it's the Tabletop Admiral modular list builder. It is frankly stunningly easy to use in comparison to the alternatives, and makes building and reading lists an absolute breeze. 

We are not affiliated with them in any way, but we're so impressed with the list builder that we felt the need to spread the word. Go and check them out and support them if you are equally smitten with it!

Making a list like this takes about 30 seconds, and it can be exported in an easy-to-read format just as easily. 

It also goes without saying that you'll need to take a rules manual, any specific army book and supplements needed for your army, and we strongly advise a copy of the matched play guide, too. 

It will vary from tournament to tournament, but it's generally a common courtesy to bring a few copies of your list printed on a piece of paper, which you can hand to your opponent. At the end of a long gaming weekend, when someone reads their list out to you, it tends to go in one ear and out the other - so having it printed lets your opponent read through at their own pace. 

Now on to the real nuts and bolts (or more accurately - screws and Rawl plugs). One of the more recent additions to my tournament prep-  the IKEA Fixa screw and plug set!

Okay, not the screws and plugs, but the box itself. Put all the gubbins in your tool kit, or whatever your DIY storage solution permits, and remove the orange tray entirely until you're left with just the box. This is your new best friend for organising your stuff for tournaments or game nights!

We're going to take all of our SBG bits and bobs and stick them in this (and a backpack for a few other bits like Rulebooks). Here's how mine looks once all my bits have been added inside.

Pretty snug, but has every thing I need for games of SBG! I'll go over what I keep in mine so you can see why I like having it all nice and enclosed in a little case.

First off, I have a selection of measuring tools. A couple of 6” sticks for general purpose movement, an 8” stick, useful for Heroic Marches, a 5” stick for my own movement, and then a couple of “fancy” ones with a 6”, a 4”, a 2” and a 1” side, these ones in particular are very useful - the folks at Counter Attack are very easy to work with to create customised rulers. As well as these, I always bring 2 tape measures, just so I have a spare should one break.

Next up, I have my dice bag. This is actually a makeup back my daughter gifted me, but its the perfect size for a good amount of dice. I have a lot of dice, but specifically I make sure I have multiple dice in multiple colours (to distinguish different models in a duel or different special strikes). The keen eyed among you might spot 2 d10 in the centre of the picture. Since I often play Moria, it's very handy to have something I can track my dead pile on, so these are used to count up to my break point.

Two pens is next, and these ones are 4 colours each so I can make my scribbling a bit more readable at a glance. Not much to say about these, they're probably one of the most important things in the kit (behind dice and measures) since tracking Might, Will and Fate is so important. 

A lot of people use the wooden stat trackers, but honestly, I've found that paper and pen is far quicker - and it also encourages you to take an active role in tracking your opponent's stats too, which helps both for making decisions, and for doubling your odds of remembering to mark off heroic stats, which is easily forgotten when you and your opponent are both suffering from 'tournament brain'. 

I have a small selection of tokens next, I keep losing them so it's in dire need of a restock, but in here I have some tokens that can be handy to keep track of things. Heroic tokens, wound counters and a penny with some cabochons on, you can never have too many tokens. Again - a lot of players don't use tokens, but I've lost more than one game by forgetting a status effect or spell that would have tipped things in my favour. By the end of a 2-day tournament, Murphy's Law is in full effect, so anything you can do to relieve some of the mental burden is a good idea.

Note to newer players - loom bands are plentiful at any tournament, so don't bother buying them! Just ask your opponent nicely. 

Magical Power cards and Loom Bands next, these are super handy to have. As you can see, my cards are sleeved and I can write the range and casting value on each one without damaging the card. These save a lot of time finding the spells in the rulebook and are also handy for having a quick reference you and your opponent can see at all times. You'll notice as well, the three cards pictured each have a different colour of loom band in the sleeve, this is so I can easily mark models under the effect of each particular spell. Handy for you, and also for your opponent.

Finally, I have a fresh tube of Super Glue for any breakages that may happen. It will also make you best friends with any tournament attendees who have brought any metal models - looking at you in particular, Shelob...

The glue sits in a small baggy to (hopefully) catch any leaks. 

All this stuff fits pretty nicely in the FIXA box, and goes in my bag with my army book, rulebook and pad of paper.

Honourable mentions that go in my backpack for every event;

Two words for you: Hydration and Perspiration. Always make sure you're drinking water throughout the day, and having a can of deodorant in your bag is something your opponents (and the rest of the venue) will be thankful for! Don't blast up in the middle of the room, else you make in smell like a highschool boys changing room, but after each game, I'll usually go somewhere a little quieter to let my brain mellow for a moment so I usually have a spray there.

What did we miss? What often-overlooked bit of tournament kit can you not live without? Let us know in the comments!