Tips for Teaching Warhammer 40k.
The holy grail when teaching anyone anything is to figure out what someone already knows, then help them build the essential understandings that would empower them to continue on their own.
In Warhammer 40k, I think these fundamentals are:
A strong sense of the core rules and gameplay loop.
Knowledge of the etiquette and norms that players can’t find in their rulebook.
A framework they can use to start developing their own strategy.
This is really, really hard to do in a game as complex as 40k, though. More often than not, we fall into some common teaching pitfalls.
In my time as an elementary school teacher, I would see students showing interest in rich subjects like The Fibonacci Sequence only to be handed a connect-the-dots worksheet of the Fibonacci Spiral, or a video that was most likely made for college students. The “connect-the-dots” approach showed students what a Fibonacci Spiral looks like, but didn’t enhance their understanding of it. Meanwhile, the college-level video was authentic and comprehensive, but usually left students feeling confused and unsure how to continue on their own. What they needed was an explanation of the basic math the sequence is built on.
In 40k the same thing happens—our gut tells us the best way for someone to learn is by experiencing a “real game” (a full-sized matched play game), but the most common result is that the learner ends up spending all their time trying to make sense of datasheets, a revolving set of secondary objectives, and an unfamiliar list of stratagems. After five hours, the game is still at the bottom of turn two and the person teaching is still telling the learner what their wound rolls are.
The learner knows what a game looks like, but they still can’t make sense of the basic mechanics on their own.
The Importance of Paring Things Back
There’s a time limit to the human brain’s capacity for focused learning (about 15-40 minutes), which means no matter how good or patient you are as a teacher, someone brand new to 40k cannot contend with the full panoply of core rules, army rules, and unit rules in their very first game.
As teachers, our puzzle is to ask what things would be most helpful to learn alongside another human, and what someone can study on their own afterward, once they have a basic understanding of the game.
Focus on Building Blocks, Not Point Values
The biggest way we can reduce the cognitive load of the game without completely compromising the authenticity of it is to give someone the important building blocks they would need in a normal game, rather than insisting on playing at an arbitrary points value.
Those building blocks might be…
A character
At least one “anvil” (defensively focused unit)
Some “hammers“ (offensively focused units)
One or two units focused on objective play
A unit that can deep strike
Thinking about units in terms of these roles (and explaining them in this way to someone who is learning), can help them begin thinking about some of the strategy underpinning the game.
Here are the lists that Wei and I brought to a recent intro game:
Wei’s Death Guard list included a lot of chunky “anvil” units. He used his plague marines in a rhino as a “hammer” that could swoop in to punish objective-holders, and the Deathshroud acted as flexible deep strikers. Pox Walkers (not pictured) were used for objective play.
This was my teaching force. Storm guardians were my basic objective holders, the aspect warriors were my hammers, and the wraithlord acted as an anvil. My Autarch was a deep striker that could be held in deep strike for objective play.
Other Teaching Tips for 40k
Help Decode the Unwritten Rules
It can’t be understated how important it is to do things like wish your opponent a good game before the first turn begins and communicate openly about your army’s rules, but these aren’t explained in any rulebooks. Help learners out by emphasizing the importance of these social components of the game, rather than assuming they’ll figure them out on their own.
Play a Simplified Mission
It’s already challenging for a learner to grasp the fundamental flow of holding objectives rather than trying to kill everything in sight, so it’s probably alright to leave out the random secondary objectives. For someone’s second or third game, or if they’ve already done a lot of studying, think about mixing in one or two secondaries.
For a simplified mission that emulates the feel of a current matched-play setup, see our in-house 40k Learning Materials.
The Waystone 40k Learning Materials include phase-by-phase cards to reference throughout the game, as well as a simplified mission.
Ask Questions
Asking someone what they already know, and what style of gameplay they’re most interested in can save you time, highlight competencies they already have, and ensure that you touch on the expectations and rules differences that might be specific to their intended style of play.
Asking questions is also essential during the game—rather than telling someone what to roll with every attack, you can empower them to figure out the basic mechanics on their own by asking questions like, “do you know what you’re going to wound on?”
Limit the Number of Stratagems
A first-time player will probably be at a big disadvantage trying to keep track of all the core stratagems, six of their own stratagems, and your six stratagems. For their first game, simply give each player access to Command Re-Roll and Overwatch, and consider layering in other core stratagems as they come up. If that feels too bare bones, allow them to pick 1-2 of the staple stratagems from their detachment.
Don’t Focus on Winning
This should be obvious, but a learning game isn’t an accurate test of balance or skill. It’s also not an opportunity to test a newly optimized list or add a notch to our win records.
New Private Learning Experience At Waystone
For new folks seeking a curated learning experience, we are now offering private, paid learning experience with Stefan or me. Those who sign up will be provided with a fully painted force in a faction of their choosing, 4 hours of instruction on the essentials of Warhammer 40k in a private, off-hours session, and a full month of Waystone membership so that they can get their own army started at a discount. More info here.
Hopefully y’all find this helpful as you begin roping more and more poor unsuspecting strangers into the grim darkness of the far future. See you at the club!
All the best,
Dustin
