What’s the number-one most important thing to improving your 40K game quickly? No, it’s not studying lists, or learning target priority, or move-blocking, or any other game skills- it’s getting your sad little self on a team!
In this episode, we talk about teams- from tiny little two-person teams that you form to travel to tournaments to the big teams that dominate the ATC and ITC circuts, it’s no surprise that all of the very best players in the game are on one. Teams give you access to a wealth of resources that you can’t find by yourself, and for the truly competitive player they are an absolute must.
Whether it’s about list help, travel plans, forewarnings of meta shifts, practice partners, borrowhammer, or just plain old-fashioned camaraderie, the benefits of a team are many- but we don’t just talk about why you’d want to be on a team, we also go into how to get on a team, and if there isn’t one in your area, why not form one? Two heads is better than one and three is better than two, so get your act together and get yourself a team.
Episode Music: Dankmus
Icon Artist: Rylan Woodrow
Sponsored by: Mindtaker Miniatures
Our Patreon: In the Finest Hour
Website: https://www.inthefinesthour.com/
Directed by: Sean Morgan
Edited by: Shaylynn Allen
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This is a great topic! Teams are critical to upping your game and for just plain old friendship. I find they also help keep us all motivated and engaged in the hobby.
And yeah, literally all of the best players are on a team.
Haven’t listened yet, but do you, or will you , talk about what happens when you get kicked of a team, or are asked to leave a team?
No, we mostly discuss the benefits of being on one; I think the downside aspects are fairly obvious. (We do talk about forming your own team if there isn’t one in the area, though.)
My observation is most of the reason someone leaves a team is due to one a few reasons:
-Bad expectations mesh (being a partier on a no-nonsense team)
-Bad personality mesh (opposites attract to only a certain point being the one liberal on a conservative team may not be sustainable)
-Physical distance (moving out of an area)
-Movement out of the game (leaving the game means leaving the team)
-Drama (the most common reason)
-Toxic-Person Removal*
*- If you listened to the Lady’s Night episode (#14) where we talked about That Guy in our metas and how we address him. Kicking That Guy off your team is an example of this. Its not drama specific- its that the player in question is not behaving in a manner the team feels is honorable. Or they could just be a horrid human (from the same mentioned episode- the guy with the Porno!Rhinos in his Space Wolf army).
If you have experienced a “please exit the team” request- my advice is to see if you can find which of the above reasons apply to the circumstances. If you cannot pinpoint why, see if you can ask someone who is willing to identify them to you. Chances are you will not like what the answers are- the team as a whole had issues with you specifically. You need to give yourself room to react to the reasons emotionally and process that.
Once you have processed the emotional part- you need to look at the issues objectively, logically, impersonally. Analyze these reasons, find the underlying causes and start solving the problems at the core. There are occasions where the answer is “me and him are on the opposite ends of the spectrum- I doubt we will ever completely see eye-to-eye”, but the answer might be “I can achieve mutual tolerance with him, provided neither of us actively provokes the other”.
As a warning in that step- do NOT make excuses for yourself. There was a social issue centered around you and its entirely possible you have bad social habits that others find abrasive. The only way you can address these is by acknowledging them and accepting you must change and grow.
That said, if I was asked to leave a team- I would politely question why. “Oh man, I messed up big time. Can you please take a minute to help me understand what happened? I don’t want to cause more issues.” Assuming that I wasn’t already confronted on my behaviors. A good team leader/manager would have brought the issues to you before asking you to leave so that you would have had the opportunity to grow and change.
That said, if you are asked to leave. Leave. Its not fair for anyone if you try to impose yourself on that team and situation.