Tournament level and meta

MrPros

Hi guys, first ill say im relativly new campaign player and i wasnt as invested in multiplayer as many of You probablly are.Recently i had a chance to join a newcommers tournament but due to lack of time i couldnt catch up but i really want to start playing on a competetive level. Can You guys give me some ideas what is good (for example missile cav builds) and what is actually a good builds? ive heard that infantry heavy builds doesnt work out that well, thats why im asking for help. Can You guys give me any idea how to build my armies so i wont get stomped in every game? ^^ Ani advice is welcome and i could really appreciate Your help, especially premade builds that doesnt intend to counter enemy but to take the initiative to the opponent ^^
Many thanks and regards
Cheers some bugman!

Valkaar#2507

So, you seem to be asking a lot of different questions at once, which are difficult to answer without writing a book.

I think what you may want to decide, is what you want to get out of MP.

Would you just like a decent win-loss ratio?

High Ladder Rank?

Tournament Competition?

^^There are different build suggestions for each of these things. Ladder Rank can be achieved by mastering a few competent cheeses. Consistent/Comfortable winrate without cheesing is more suited to learning a single race and knowing 1-2 good builds per match up for the race you want to learn. Tournaments have their own sets of rules and restrictions which not only vary tournament to tournament, but are completely different from the builds used on ladder. In addition, you NEED to know multiple races to compete in tournaments, as in a series you usually aren't allowed to play the same race twice.

None of these is 'better' than the other. Each is their own kind of skill, and different type of fun. Whichever sounds the most fun to you is the one you should go for.

I think for MOST players, getting a good winrate with a single race they enjoy playing as is the most common scenario. But it's all up to you.

IF for example, the good winrate with a single race is your aim, then we will need to know what type of race you want to play. There aren't 'overall' effective strategies that transcend all races. Dwarfs for example, do not play an aggressive 'come at you style'. Both Lizardmen and Wood Elves DO play an aggressive style...but their build frameworks are totally different. Whereas High Elves can do both "Dwarf", "Lizardmen", and "Wood Elf" style play, based on your personal taste.

If you are preferring an aggressive/mobile playstyle, that may narrow down the types of races you'll likely enjoy playing as.

IF for example, Tournaments are where you want to focus (You can always do tournaments occasionally/casually, without dedicating yourself to playing that way)....but if you do want to focus on tournaments....you'll probably be best off joining a clan/discord and practicing with community members who like to play by tournament rules.

No matter what you decide to do....just understand that you will lose a lot in the process of learning. There is no quick fix to this, especially when most of the community as been already playing MP for a couple years now. I think I lost my first 40 games before I won one. Basically....you're doing good by asking for input....and I hope you get the feedback you're looking for.

Just don't expect the feedback to turn your play/winrate around overnight/start to discard feedback just because you didn't see it immediately start to pay off.

Be patient, stick with it, and WELCOME ABOARD

TL;DR: You'll need to give us more specifics if you want specific build advice tbh.

MrPros

Thanks for responding man!
Well, asking for lizard or skaven build is pointless now, as soon as dlc comes out the builds are going to change completly. I want to focus on tournament type of play. i really like those tournament rules as they kinda remind me of a tabletop rules :P. I guess the TK, Empire and High elves seems like a my type of play, they can go shooty, they can go cav/monster heavy or completly box. Micro isnt a problem here, Its the draft phase and building a army that i problem for me.
Anyway, Thanks for help and quick response. Hope to meet You at the battlefield someday man!

Pippington#5795

There's a tournament discord here:

https://discord.gg/M5G9bmB

where public tournaments are announced on a regular basis. The best way to learn is to sign up and play!

Kayosiv#7489

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss multiplayer tactics or try out some low-pressure competitive practice.

eumaies#1128

There's no one type of dominant build in competitive play (though you can watch Turin on youtube for some ideas on what's popular and some strong tactics).

Every matchup between each of the ~15 races in the game is unique and in competitive play merits a tailored strategy and build. Which is awesome.

About 30% of the game is learning the commands/interface and 70% making good armies. And of course included in making good armies is having some idea of how to play with them

I recommend either getting to know a race and all its matchups or working on your favorite matchup vs each enemy race as a way to get started in competitive play.

I wrote a complete guide to dwarfs including sample builds in case that race is of interest:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BxZPd8D1TRxVamjn1KqFy5UU15Yv-fvL3k_kI25_RpA/edit?usp=sharing

yst#1879

Dwfs a good start, u get the feel of being bashed all the time. Lots of line holding learning lessons.

Factions like nosca, orks, or even chaos in general r a bit tougher if ire new as they can easily get exploited. I mean not bad too if u wanna see how they deal with them.

I mean generally u really wanna play all 15 to know inside out the str and weakness and how your opponent approached those match up.

Its a game with 15 factions, last thing u wanna do is to get pigeonholed into a couple, at least thats my opinion. Ull be missing out truckload of fun not playing all of them. Most importantly gives u a lot of perspectives on all the match up.

Dracklor#9977

What I recommend you is take a faction that will become your main, know all the ins and out of this factions, all the matchups and how to use their tricks and abilities. Play some 1v1 in normal MP lobbys and make friends to practice with.

As for the army composition I can't really help just like this as it all really depends on the faction you pick, as heavy guns will be really good for the dwarf, heavy infsntry/monsters for chaos and Lizardmen, balanced armies for empire, HE etc...

You can honestly make pretty much everything work

TlaxtlanSoothsayer

@MrPros To answer some of your questions:

"Can you guys give me some ideas what is good (for example missile cav builds) and what is actually a good build? ive heard that infantry heavy builds doesnt work out that well, thats why im asking for help."


I don't think that there is one dominant strategy or best playstyle in Total War : Warhammer. It really depends on your personal preference and the faction that you want to play.

All of these strategies are viable in one or the other way:

• Melee rush with a lot of infantry, a lot of heavy cav or a lot of monsters (and only few skirmishers)
  
• Kiting with a lot of cavalry, a lot of ranged skirmishers and mainly mobile units
  
• Playing defensively with some artillery pieces and a static formation
  

Of course different factions excel at different playstyles, Dwarfs or the Vampire Coast are good at forming static formations. Woodelves or High Elves are better at kiting. Chaos and Beastmen are more aggressive and rely on melee combat. Then there are factions that are very versatile and can use any strategy such as Dark Elves or the Empire.





"Can you guys give me any idea how to build my armies so i wont get stomped in every game?"


You mentioned premade builds that don't try to counter your opponent. To a certain extent you always want to "counter" your enemy. Let's say your favourite faction is Tomb Kings: Then you need a different Tomb King army when you fight Chaos than when you fight Wood Elves.

MrPros said:

I want to focus on tournament type of play. i really like those tournament rules as they kinda remind me of a tabletop rules

I highly recommed you to join the Dedicated Warhammer Discord:
https://discord.gg/yv6xx9

You can keep track of future tournaments there, to just watch them or to sign up yourself.

Because a lot of your questions were about army builds. There are also several channels on this Discord to discuss army selection such as "Theorycrafting" or "Rate my build". And there are usually plenty of people online to answer questions.



I would also like to give you an off-topic advice: Don't get frustrated too easily. When you're new to the game, then you will lose a lot of battles. Even experienced players lose quite often (outside of quick battles). Defeats help you to learn something new about the game. Don't give up too early, TW : WH is a quite complicated game, but once you get used to it, it's also a quite entertaining game.

I hope this information will be helpful for you.