My First UKTC Event - A New Players Experience
- Charles Gould
- Mar 16
- 4 min read
I can still remember my first UKTC experience, and I am sure many of you can as well. The excitement of going to the biggest event I'd ever seen, with the meta lists and player names that I had heard about online. I was hyped... A full weekend away dedicated to the hobby that I'd put so much preparation into. This is a feeling a lot of people are experiencing as more and more new people join the community and take their next step in their Warhammer journey.
We have had over 250 new players attend their first UKTC event this year alone. The community is rapidly growing and with each new face at a weekend comes that same excitement and unforgettable experience. I had the chance to chat with James about his first event, how he found it, what he was worried about and why he's already looking forward to his next one. So without further ado, thats enough from me, lets hear from him!
What made you decide to attend your first uktc event?
I have been playing for a while now, I mainly enjoy the painting side of the hobby but have been enjoying playing with my club mates regularly and attending a few local RTTs. I heard about this event through them really, and it happened to be on a weekend I was free and within driving distance so that I wouldn't have to get a hotel or travel too far.
I've wanted to play a 2-day event, mostly so I can play against different people and armies than my local games are. This worked out to be a good choice for me on several points so I booked it in.
What were you most excited about before the weekend?
Definitely all of the games, I don''t get to play much very often, only a few times a month - so I was looking forward to playing 5 full games over the weekend. I was slightly nervous about the time it would take and how I was going to focus for so long but I love my army and getting to play with it so much was much more exciting than daunting I would say.
Also it was a great chance for me to meet a group of like-minded people who also enjoy the hobby and spend time with the people from my local club, we planned a meal out together which was mostly spent talking about our games and how we had done that day. That was defintely a nice highlight and way to spend the Saturday night.
what were you most nervous of going into the weekend?
I think the biggest thing for me was worrying about my rules and not knowing all of the armies and all of the units in the game, I didn't want to have a miserable game where my opponent calls me out for every mistake and I get gamed by some weird rule interaction I've never heard of, but that turned out to be a completely wrong assumption.
Everyone I played against were so nice, friendly, and understanding. Happy to explain their rules and help me when I got stuck. the staff were all really friendly and helped us whenever we needed which was a relief as there were times when both me and my opponent didn't know the answer.
Moving onto the event itself, what were your first thoughts on the day
So I was a little bit nervous at the size of the hall and all the people there, definitely felt a bit out of my depth at the start - but once I found my table and having my gameplan prepared helped me settle in a lot. I had a bit of practice on the maps before that also made it a bit easier once we got going the nerves went away and I had a lot of fun. I liked having the time from pairings to the game to then figure out what they did, especially for the armies I'd never played before.
The event was really well run, like I said all the staff were so helpful and easy to talk to, it was nice to be able to call them to the table directly using the QR codes, that isn't something I've seen before.
How did you feel at the end of it?
Very tired, after two full days of thinking and playing, but as the rounds went on it felt more and more like I was playing against people that were the same level as me. I had so much fun and meeting everyone was one of the highlights. Though at the end of it I was tired I was very happy with the weekend and had some great moments in the games, I already want to book my next one in the calendar!
What would you tell someone else thinking about going to a super major?
Just go for it, that's it really. Dive in and have some fun, I had 5 great games against 5 good opponents. Highly recommended to anyone on the fence still. See if you have some friends going makes it better but I think I would be happy to go on my own and meet people there.
Where to find tickets
Thank you so much to James for taking the time to answer the questions and sharing his experience. If you were undecided and now looking to get your first spot you can find all our tickets for our upcoming events in the store:
The London Grand tournament
The UKTC season ends with the biggest tournament of them all - The London Grand Tournament is the biggest Warhammer Tournament in the world. Last year we had over 1000 players and in just 2 weeks we have sold over 50% of that already! It's also our 10th anniversary of the UKTC and LGT, so this year will be the biggest birthday in Warhammer, and you're invited! you can find out more and get your tickets at:
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