Teams Tournaments Explained

Lists, Pairings & Score Normalisation (and what else makes teams so addictive)

If you’ve only played singles events, a Warhammer 40,000 teams tournament feels like someone took your favourite game… and added a second, brilliant game on top.

You still play normal 40k. You still score primary/secondary. You still try to win your round.

But now you’re doing it as a squad — building five lists that work together, navigating the captains’ pairing mini-game, and chasing the kind of results that win a weekend, not just a table.

And if you’ve been watching UKTC ticket drops lately, you already know the punchline: teams events sell out. Fast.

The Winter and Spring ITT are already sold out — and that’s not a surprise when they're the world’s largest 40k team tournament.

Let’s break down how teams events actually work, so you can stop “meaning to try one sometime” and start getting your team on the roster. This is the first in a series of posts going into detail on the teams format and why many consider it the best way to play Warhammer 40k.

What’s different about a Teams event?

1) You don’t bring “a list” — you bring a plan

In singles, you build for your own consistency.

In teams, you build five lists with roles, that include but are not limited to:

• The Hammer: aims to win big into specific matchups.

• The Anvil: aims to not lose big (and sometimes steal wins).

• The Tech Piece: targets a popular archetype in the meta.

• The Flexible All-Rounder: takes the awkward pairings and keeps you stable.

• The Wildcard: surprises people, forces draft decisions, or farms a niche.

  
  

You’re not just asking “can I go 4-1?”You’re asking “what matchups do we want to offer, avoid, or accept as a team?”

2) Your opponent isn’t one player — it’s five

Teams Warhammer is incredibly social:

• You travel together.

• You win (and lose) together.

• You spend the weekend hyping up clutch moments like it’s the top table at a super-major.

  
  

If you’ve got a club, a school group, a local scene, or just five mates who want a weekend of peak 40k energy… teams is where it’s at.

3) The captains’ pairing process is half the magic

In many teams formats (including UKTC teams events), captains pair the players within a team-vs-team matchup. That means the round isn’t “random opponent, good luck” — it’s tactical, negotiated, and very skill expressive.

More on that below.

Team construction at UKTC: the key rules (in plain English)

At UKTC ITT events:

• A team is 5 players.

• You can represent a club, school, nation, or just a friend group.

• Only one instance of each faction per team (so you can’t stack duplicates — each player must bring a different faction).

• Round 1 pairings are random, then the event proceeds in a win/loss format (winning teams play winning teams).

• Within each team-vs-team round, captains pair the players.

  
  

That structure is a huge part of why teams weekends feel so dynamic: you’re constantly solving new puzzles as the bracket tightens.

List construction: building five lists that cover each other

A good teams roster usually has three layers:

Layer 1: Coverage

You want answers to the big, common archetypes you expect to see. That doesn’t mean “everyone techs for everything” — it means the team has a whole toolkit.

Layer 2: Draft leverage

You want at least one or two lists that force uncomfortable choices in the pairing process — matchups where the opposing captain thinks: "How on earth do I answer that?"

Layer 3: Insurance

Not every pairing goes your way. You need lists that can take a bad assignment and still deliver a team-useful score.

Which leads us to the secret sauce of teams 40k…

The Pairings Mini-Game: how captains actually “draft” matchups

Even if you’ve heard the phrase “defenders and attackers”, it’s worth seeing what it means on the day.

Most pairing systems follow a rhythm like this:

1. Each team selects a Defender (a player they’re willing to put forward first).

2. The opposing team offers two Attackers into that Defender.

3. The Defender’s captain chooses which Attacker to accept (and “refuses” the other back into the pool).

4. Repeat until all games are set.

5. Depending on the format, there can also be a table choice element.

Why this rules:

• It rewards preparation and teamwork.

• It creates high-drama decisions (“Do we throw our best player into that, or do we protect them for later?”).

• It means every list has a purpose — even if it’s to be the perfect Defender into the field.

Pro tip: If you want the easiest performance upgrade a team can get, it’s this: Spend one evening doing pairing practice before the event. You’ll see immediate gains.

Score normalisation: why “losing well” matters (and winning big matters more)

In singles, a win is a win.

In teams, the margin matters — because most events convert your game result into a normalised score that feeds into the team total. This relies on the differential between the two scores, For each 5 VP difference, is another differential point to the winner. with the scale running from 0 - 20. If the difference is 0-5 points, that is a 10-10, for a gap of 6-10 points becomes 11 - 9, 11-15points is a 12-8... and so on.

The idea is simple:

• A close game shouldn’t count the same as a massive blowout.

• A narrow loss can still be a good outcome for your team if it keeps the overall round score tight.

A common approach (widely used in team formats) converts victory point difference into a scale where:

• very close games land near the middle (10–10),

• bigger wins push further towards the maximum,

• and true blowouts hit the ceiling (20–0).

What this changes in real games

It affects decisions like:

• Do I chase a risky play to flip the game… or do I lock in a controlled loss that protects team points?

• Do I sacrifice a unit to deny 5VP and keep the result tighter?

• If I’m winning, can I push for extra differential without throwing the game?

Teams scoring makes 40k feel like a sport: your squad is tracking live outcomes across five tables and every VP swing matters.

Why UKTC Teams weekends hit different

UKTC teams events aren’t just “a teams event”.

They’re the biggest in the world, with the Winter ITT running at a scale that’s frankly ridiculous (in the best possible way). When you’ve got hundreds of players, stacked rosters, national-level squads, first-timers, and club heroes all in the same hall — the atmosphere is unreal.

And because the team format is so social, it’s also one of the best weekends you can have in the hobby:

• huge shared moments,

• constant cheering,

• new friendships,

• and stories you’ll still be talking about at your next club night.

Also: they’re selling out. If you’re thinking “we’ll grab tickets later”… later has not been going well for people.

Ready to experience teams 40k the way it’s meant to be played?

If you’ve never done a teams event, this is your sign.

If you have done one… you already know why you’re reading this instead of quietly getting on with your week.

Check the UKTC calendar, grab your five, and get your tickets early. Because the only thing worse than a bad pairing is watching your mates’ team group chat light up with “we got in” while you’re stuck on the waitlist.

See you at the tables. 💥