Preparing for Warhammer at Adepticon

The Warhammer Fantasy Championships is one of, if not THE largest Warhammer tournament in the US. It boasts 140 players and has a reputation of being a serious step up in competition for the average wargamer. Last year I scored 23 out of 140 players and expect to perform better this year, but to be able to do that I need to prepare. Hopefully this article will give you a look into Adepticon's tournament process and help you prepare for it as well as any other local tournament.


The first step to success at any tournament is to check out the tournament pack. Adpeticon this year is VERY different than last year for two very big reasons off the bat. Special characters ARE allowed, and Forgeworld: Tamurkhan Chaos Dwarfs are allowed. It is very important to know the armies you will be facing and now you will have to research Tamurkhan as well as expect the likes of Teclis, The Masque, Skulltaker, Crone Hellebron, Thorek Ironbrow, and Khalida. Also be prepared to face the brand new armies that have been released and now how to combat Mournfang Cavalry, Vampire Count Ethereal spam, and the many Warmachines of the Chaos Dwarfs.

Next, lets look at the breakdown of scoring for the Championships.

Battle Points - 60 points (35%)
Bonus Battle Points - 20 points (12%)
Bonus Objective Points - 20 points (12%)
Appearance - 25 (14%)
Sportsmanship - 48 (27%)

It is very important to understand that while defeating your enemy's army is important, completing your objectives and soft scores are just as important if you want to be at the top of the list after 4 games. Bonus Battle Points may include defeating the enemy BSB or General, or keeping your largest Core unit alive. Bonus Objectives may include having the most Fortitude points within 12" of the center of the board, or having a Core unit in your opponent's deployment zone at the end of the game.

As far as soft scores go, it should be very simple to know what you need to accomplish to score points for painting: their checklist is in the tournament pack. Three color minimum will not stack up, but it states what exactly you need to get that important checkbox for every single point as it relates to unit details, highlights or shading, army cohesiveness, matching painted and based movement trays, and even a painted themed display board.

Sportsmanship can always be a tricky subject, but I think the Adepticon crew does a good job to minimize the tanking of soft scores. It is a mixture of subjective points and a checklist, so at the very least if you do the basics required and play like a decent human being you will score well for sports. It is a very important category that scores you 27% of your overall!!

Aside from preparing for the different armies in the game, be prepared to face any scenario in the rulebook as well. Last year on table 1 of the final game, someone lost their chance to win the Championships because they did not include enough Fortitude points in their army. He lost first turn after a stone thrower killed his General and broke his army. The table next to me didn't even deploy his army, as he didn't even have enough Fortitude points to play the game!

Hopefully this quick look at the tournament pack will help you prepare for Adepticon, or for any other local tournament in your area. The most important thing is Warhammer knowledge, which comes with PRACTICE. We will have that covered next month, as I am attending 2 separate Adepticon Championships Primer events. I will post up results and give some final thoughts on my list building as they wrap up and we get closer to Adepticon.

That's it for now, because I still have another 40 Skavenslaves to paint!

link to the Adepticon Fantasy Championships tournament pack

-Rhellion