Maximizing Tabletop Fairness

Time is a flat circle. Everything we’ve ever done or will do, we are gonna do over and over and over again.

In the initial 40k manifesto , I introduced the idea that competition (yin) and immersion (yang) are both goals we can achieve in an ever-shifting balance (yin-yang). Both are required for the hype to truly manifest during a game of Warhammer 40,000 Actual. This is important in a tournament environment, where you may never have met your opponent and don’t know how they’re approaching their own hype actualization. For our events, we choose to embrace a set of rules that brings the hobby back, promotes immersion, and includes competitive norms.

Today, as a second (and hopefully final) 40k manifesto I want to talk about fairness in two important topics – time and scoring. These are the more competitive elements that keep us bopping along during a tournament (like the 40k GT at BOLTERCON 2025), make sure everyone gets their time to do some Warhammers, and that the results are transparent.

When the hype is real & present, we keep coming back to this game we choose to enjoy. Sometimes the competitive yin is too much, other times the immersive yang is overpowering. Models come, and models go. What I hope you see is that we’re striking a balance (maximum yin-yang) that keeps people coming back, over and over and over – forever. Maybe that’s too much but I’m going to keep it.

Anyway, onward!

Time & Chess Clocks

I cannot emphasize enough to all 40k players that the number one thing that helped me personally be a better player is to play on a clock. Chess clocks (literally purpose made for this) are cheap, easy to use, and only scary until you deeply consider how much they promote fairness in tabletop games.

For the sake of brevity, I will not address purposeful slow play (literal cheating) here. Yes, it is a thing. No, I don’t think it’s a problem if you are on a clock and ask your opponent to play on one.

In the Bolters at Dawn club we talk a lot about how tabletop games are two-way streets – two (or more) people agree to spend hours together to roll dice and do a Warhammer (or other system). Tournaments have a set number of games to complete in a set amount of time, so there is hopefully a TO keeping an eye on the clock so that everyone can play all their games. For casual settings, your game will be bounded by life responsibilities of the players. All games start and all games end, whether you are finished playing or not!

This is where the chess clocks come in – to ensure that within a window of time for a game both players get an equal opportunity to play. That’s it! Here the competitive yin is the dominant force (for the better) because the immersive yin does not give a hoot about finishing a turn – they’re here to embrace the grimdark.

If you’re at all familiar with chess, you’ll know it is an incredibly well balanced game. Part of what makes it that way is the general acceptance that time is an important factor. Look at any event and you’ll see clocks literally everywhere!

It likely feels intimidating to play on a clock if you have never done it. I get it, I was there too, but now I truly see that it isn’t about me at all. It’s about the game, my opponent, and demonstrating sportsmanship by fairly allotting time. All Bolters at Dawn staff and officers will play on clocks, and I highly recommend that all club members play on one as well. Let’s be the change we want to see in the world.

Scoring & Transparency

There are a ton of killer apps out there for your pocket computers to aid in playing a game of 40k. I will not get into them here or recommend any particular one as they all are fine. Compared to a paper-based system (both scribbling numbers and cards), the speed and convenience are big boons. However, due to some issues we have witnessed and heard about through the tabletop grapevine, we’ll continue to rely on paper scoring for the 40k GT and a dice-based process for generating tactical secondaries.

Like clocks, having a transparent and consistent way to generate secondaries levels the playing field during a game. We’ve all seen a stray card laying on the ground during a game day or tournament – how are you supposed to verify your opponent not only has the right number of secondary cards but also each one is correct? With an app, how are you supposed to verify when they’re clicking around that they aren’t tapping through a garbage secondary to get one they want? We’re going to eliminate all that by sticking with a dice-based secondary generation system using a d20 from our friends over at Gamescience . Roll dice, get secondary – easy peasy.

You’ll recognize the above section if you’ve played in our events before, and if you’re new to it then feast your eyes. Each table at the 40k GT will have two d20’s for you to use, and if you’re lucky a clubhouse dice tray to roll them in! The one downside is that later in the game you’ll be re-rolling a fair bit. But the major upside is complete transparency in how those secondaries come to be. Like with clocks, the competitive yin seeks clear & accountable scoring. The immersive yang can bring balance by pulling the players together (to do homework) for a sum that is greater than the parts.

You can see the whole scoresheet here, still very much in draft form. And before you get all complainy about having to do this, please understand that we see players find a fairly significant number of mistakes even if they have an app by going through this paper process. Give it a shot and you may find you agree with our approach.

Wrapping Up

At this point, I feel like I have been able to slap most of the words down to represent my personal thinking about how we are approaching the 40k GT at BOLTERCON 2025. Not all of this nonsense about yin and yang are things that Bolters at Dawn staff agree with – they are purely my own ramblings gathered and ensconced here for me to cringe at later. But that’s a future me problem!

My sincere hope is that you’re excited to come play with us and see for yourself what all our efforts are about. BOLTERCON is our annual gathering to get largely competitive-focused events lined up for all to enjoy. Throughout the year, we host all kinds of events in our blessed clubhouse for our esteemed club members. If you’re curious to know more, please join our Discord and make yourself known & consider a visit to play in the clubhouse!

Did I mention BOLTERCON 2025 is like 3 weeks away?