Your first team tournament

Start with five names in the club chat. Who fancies a weekend away, and which armies would everyone bring? That conversation is the beginning of a UKTC International Team Tournament. You’ll play your own games of Warhammer 40,000, while the results across all five tables decide how your team does in each round.

There’s plenty to enjoy before the first dice roll, too. Building the roster, trying match-ups at club night and choosing a team name give you something to work on together. Our introduction to teams 40K is a good place to get a feel for the format. Here’s how to turn that first conversation into a team ready for its weekend.

Find your five

Your team can represent a club or simply be a group of friends. Pick a captain early and agree the date before anyone books. If you’re looking for teammates, start at your local club or introduce yourself in the UKTC community on Discord. Say which event you’re interested in, what you play and whether this would be your first team tournament. Give people something concrete to respond to.

Each player brings a 2,000-point army. Build the five lists together: the current pack restricts sharing faction keywords across players, including allied units, with specific exceptions. Each of the five players must also choose a different Force Disposition. Write those choices next to the five names before refining individual lists. The current UKTC team tournament pack contains the full composition rules.

Give your captain useful information

The captain coordinates pairings, acts as the team’s point of contact with the organisers and makes sure the results are submitted correctly. Help them by being honest about your army. Which opponents have you practised against? Which games feel comfortable? Where do you struggle to keep scoring?

You’ll hear players talk about a “hammer” that can build a large lead, or an “anvil” that can keep a difficult game close. Those are useful ways to discuss what an army can contribute. They’re also a starting point for practice. Our roster and list-building guide explores those roles in more depth. Bring your own experience to the discussion, even if that experience is discovering a match-up you’d like another practice game into.

What happens during pairings?

Before the games, captains coordinate the choices that decide who plays whom. In the opening stage, each team secretly chooses a defender, then reveals that choice. Both teams offer two attackers against the opposing defender, and each chooses which attacker its defender will face. That settles two games. The process continues with the remaining players until all five match-ups are arranged.

Try this around a table at club night with names written on slips of paper. Talk through why you would offer each player and what you think could happen next. The pairings guide explains the thinking behind those decisions. For the current sequence and layout choices, keep the Games Workshop Teams Event Companion linked in the UKTC pack open beside you.

Support each other throughout the weekend

Once you reach the table, concentrate on playing your game and making the most of the scoring opportunities available. A close result can make a real contribution across the team’s five games. Enter your individual victory points in Best Coast Pairings, then make sure your captain completes the team score submission after all five results are entered.

Save tactical advice for before games and the conversation afterwards. The pack sets clear limits on captain and coach involvement once games begin. If a rules question comes up, call a judge and explain it together with your opponent. Our guide to using judges helps you know what to expect.

Between rounds, make time to catch up as people. Find out how everyone’s game went, get something to eat and give yourselves time for the next pairing. Those shared moments are a big part of the ITT experience.

Choose your first team weekend

If you already have an Autumn ITT place, your weekend is 14–15 November at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford. Autumn is sold out. Use the Autumn event page and current pack to prepare with your teammates.

For a new team planning its first trip, Winter ITT takes place on 23–24 January 2027 at the NEC, Hall 10. One Winter team ticket covers five players. Open the event details together, agree who’s coming and choose the correct game option when booking. Then put your first team practice night in the diary.

Artwork credit: UK Tournament Circuit.