So I’m turning things around a bit this week and not looking at how I can get better but rather at how to either make that little step up from the bottom tables to the middle of the pack. After my last tournament, as an exercise, I went through the sort of things that I could see either working for those players or where they could do something differently that could help up their game a little.

I’m lucky to have an active community in my area at the moment with a bunch of people who are playing in their first AoS tournaments (and they’re also getting dangerously competitive). We ran a bunch of tournaments over the last two years as well and got to see a lot of people in the region develop and lift their game up. This made it an interesting reflection to make and I thought that I would help share this as a part 1. I figure I’ll follow this up with an interview with someone trying to make their way up the placings and maybe also catch up with a real coach and see what they have to say 😊

Regardless to say, my personal options for getting better over in the Getting Good article are probably all valid here. These ones are just a little more specific and tailored towards small changes to rise up in the pack!

Use a Chess Clock

Ok… if you’ve read some of my other articles, you’ll know I sometimes why away from using one. However, that approach is flat out wrong! Practice with a chess clock, get familiar, and use it every game. This means that when the opponent wants to use one, you’ll be fine with using it and not put at a disadvantage. It also means that you’ll play on a more even footing with all types of opponents. This is a weird one to start with but small steps added up together can make a big difference.

Write a Diary

Keep some sort of games log. This can be as simple as recording your game on your phone, or a little book where you write down the results. This could be as detailed as a turn by turn summary of what happened in your games. Just doing it is what I see as the most important step. Next step is to look back on it, reflect what you think you did well and what didn’t go well. In my coaching with Onwards AoS, I took this a step further by recording both of those and the mistakes I was making. I ‘ve been naughty and not keeping my diary up to date… but I’ve been busy writing articles like these 😛 Ok, shitty excuse, get back to it Fittsy!

Stick it out with one army

Now… this is one which has been easy for me in the past because I was so shit with Skaven when I tried a second army. This doesn’t mean you need to play every game with the same army but I’d say rule of thumb to get at least 3 out of 4 games in with the army you want to take to tournaments. This one has real proof on the tables, you’ll see people who really focus on one army across an edition perform better than they “should” just by knowing their own army, how it plays on different battleplans, and how it should play into different matchups. Now is a great chance to at least play out the edition with one army and do this last GHB with a focus. Avoid the temptation to switch armies!

Battleplan plans

Now… I feel a bit shitty because when I started out, I know I read or watched something which helped me before going into my first tournament but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. But! I do remember a key piece of advice which was to learn all of the battleplans before going into the tournament with the advice of playing at least 1 game on each battleplan shortly before the tournament. Back when I started, somehow I had more time to play and I would play a couple of games on each battleplan beforehand with my old sparring partner (who stepped away from the game for a while but is back with a vengeance now… you know who you are 😉). I also used to practice my deployments on the table with terrain proxies and nowadays I try to go through the battleplan check out 1-3 deployment options beforehand and when I’m a good boy, even write down notes about my turn 1-2 options. This one will help remove some of the decisions in your early game and keep that brain fit for the tough decisions come turn 2-3.

Change that Mindset

Hah! There really was a reason for Eye of the Tiger up there… this is a song which I sometimes use to hotwire myself into a state of competitiveness (wow, that sounds a bit wanky… but hopefully you know what I mean). Back when I was on the lower to lower-mid tables, I would play lists I liked the look of and avoid deployments that looked silly because I wanted my horses pointing forwards. Forget all that! Focus on what you’re trying to do on the table and try to leave those thoughts to one side. Remind yourself that it’s ok to want to win (that’s also one of the things Onwards AoS has really helped me with).

Find your killer instinct! If you’re reading this, you’ve already got it in you!

Get out there and play games

It’s one thing to read this but at the end of the day, you need to put it into practice. Maybe you’ll find it’s other things that really help you instead, you’ll only find out by trying. I’d normally finish this article with a statement about getting wins. But hey, just playing is already a win, every game is practice and if you get out there and play against good opponents that’s even better practice.

Now get out there and get your practice in!