Fittsy with more than one article in a week? Well… the weather is shit outside and it’s a good time of year to stay inside playing Age of Sigmar. In case you’re unfamiliar with Tabletop Simulator (TTS), it’s a software that let’s you play board games and tabletop games on your computer.
Of course, this ends up feeling very different to playing in real life. Different doesn’t mean bad though and although I don’t think this should replace playing games face to face, TTS gives a new opportunity to get games in. If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, check out my guide over here.
I’ve played a few pick-up games but was finding it hard to find opponents at a time when I could play. So naturally I signed up for the Woehammer Fate of Denatre campaign, I won’t be covering each of the games individually here but am reflecting on how it was to play a tournament in this sort of format. For details check out the article about how the tournament was run.
I will throw in some pictures and try and capture the turning points in each of the matches. If you want more details on lists etc. You can just check it out on Ecksen!
What’s it feel like Playing AoS on TTS?
It does feel different for me… one of the big reasons for me getting into AoS was the social aspect and that’s just not here in the same way. I miss the handshake before the game starts and the feeling of ending a game in person. Maybe with time it will feel more familiar, for now, I miss the natural feeling and knowing the etiquette around the game online.
There is of course a community around it and that part is sort of fun. Watching how the other games go and chatting on Discord about it has been an unexpected side benefit.
Wow do I sound fucking old! I just want to say it feels different but it’s not all bad. Onto some of the more concrete differences!
What’s different to a regular tournament?
No chatter and meeting up with people I mentioned the social aspect around games above, of course, this is missing. Itäs a large part of what I mean by TTS not replacing real life games. It is in the end a completely different way to play this game.
A lot of prep time instead of having a few minutes to assess and adapt after seeing who you’re paired into, you’ll have a week to look at the list you’ll be up against and with the battleplan. I sort of liked this… it did mean I spent a bit of time looking at the list and how I would want to deploy and play against each of them which is a good habit to work on.
The games are spread out. This makes it feel a bit more like a league playing a game every couple of weeks rather than the 1 dayers and GTs that I’m more used to. This was good for reflecting on how each of my games had gone and thinking about how I change and learn from my mistakes.
What’s good?
Get in games against armies you don’t see as much in the local community. This isn’t just good from a “getting better” perspective but it was also cool to play against armies I rarely play against! Bit like heading to a tournament in real life too though I guess.
Get games in against really good players. The tournament had a great mix of some really top players, middle-fielders, and some newer players. I definitely saw that playing against some strong players pushed me harder than the luck of the draw at a 1 dayer event.
You play from home when it suits you / no transporting your army around. This cuts down on a lot of the logistics around getting games in. Especially for those living a bit further away from opportunities to play in tournaments this could greatly open up opportunities to play competitively.
Practice and prep. This one links up with the spread out games and the longer prep time and it really reminded me of Roma’s approach to league games (check out Dudes of Sigmar, it’s one of the best Podcasts out there!). This means you might go as simple as reading the list, you might try a deployment, you might work out turn 1-2 ideas… or you might even play a practice game against that army on that battleplan by yourself (Roma style) or with a mate.
What’s bad?
Stuck with one list for however long it runs. Of course, because it’s spread out you’ll pick your list and be stuck with it. Similar to problems with Path to Glory or Leagues that means if you’re unhappy with it you won’t be motivated to keep going.
Some of the stakes are reduced… Motivation is clearly different to physically being there in front of the tables when things aren’t going well and of course life is always there competing with your time to play Warhammer. I could see that for others with drops especially at the end of the tournaments. But I also felt it personally, I’m happy with my result but for sure it didn’t feel as important as turning up in person and winning those games standing on the other side of the tabletop to your opponent.
Trying to schedule games. For me, this was the worst and hardest part about it all. I had the good or bad luck of pairing into players all across the world but this meant it was really hard for me to find times to fit my games in. Between work, family, and other commitments, my calendar is a jigsaw puzzle with too many pieces. Finding those times to play was as real headache and a surprising amount of work. Thanks to all my opponents for their patience!
Will I keep doing it?
When I think I can’t get real life games in… this is a nice replacement. I have found that it’s started to impact whether I play in real life… I’d have a chance this weekend and instead I will end up stuck in my office playing games on TTS. So that’s something I want to balance better.
Before writing this article… I did register for a team tournament, Release The Beast, but more on that later 😉
I think I like the middle ground of the new Woehammer ladder league which will be starting soon is about right for me. It cuts out some of the problems of scheduling the games one after the other. That one is just about to start but if you’re interested in general, come and join us there I’m sure we’ll have another one coming up as soon as that one’s finished.
