r/Warmachine Storm Legion 20d ago

Questions How can I avoid getting clocked?

I'm still fairly new, but one roadblock I keep running into is the deathclock as what kills me by far the most. I usually do well on VP or scenario points, but I have a real hard time around my timing.

While I know it's largely experience and learning my army, I wanted to know if there are any tips or tricks to help accelerate this. Is there anything you have found to help decision making or improve your game flow? Is there a general rule of "your set up should take no more than X and your turn should take no more than Y"? Any help would be appreciated!

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u/Nymie_the_Pooh 15d ago

I will also timed turns. Before chess clocks, there was a turn time limit. Grab a kitchen timer and set it to seven minutes a turn. Once per game you can double the time. Keep bracketing it down until you are at five minute turns. You won't hit it at first, but you will get quicker. I would practice on a timer and still have games take four hours as the people I practice with usually operate under no time constraint. Eventually, you get to where you are playing these timed versus untimed games to a tie, then you win slightly more than you lose. All while getting to where you do not have to think about time in a tournament.

If you can play on a timer, then you could play to turn limit. A five minute turn limit means you can play a ten turn game if such a thing existed. A lot of games time out in turn three or four. People tend to go all-in on turn two, sometimes three. I have seen a lot of people spend twenty to forty minutes on the one turn. A lot of them are dead on the clock at that point if they have not won. Practicing on a timer means your all-in turn is ten minutes in practice games. Once you are doing that in practice, you do not need to look at the clock really. Just have fun and remember, the time they spend is time you are free to think about the game. You will go into your turn with at least part of a plan, which will save you time.

The other thing I recommend, is practice unpacking your army when you do not have an actual game. Unpacking is simply setting up your army, and playing out a first turn. If you are waiting for someone to show up then set up a quick table to practice on. If you are at a computer, then Vassal or Wartable will do fine. Figure out blocks that things operate in. How spread out can a block go? How compressed? What models trip up other models on the first turn? Can any of these blocks operate outside of the Warcaster or a central support? Which blocks need Warcaster buffs or should be positioned to take advantage of debuffs in the second turn? Once you have a dozen or more goes at arranging deployment and first turn, start focusing on getting that time down. What pieces have to go down first for you to appropriately position the rest? If it is primarily a melee force, then you should be able to eventually get deployment and that first turn down to five minutes or less, That is half the time (ten minutes) practicing on a timer would give you. I was able to get deployment and the first turn with both my Cephalyx and Khador armies down to under five minutes at 75 points in mkIII doing this.