Why I Like Smaller Games

Morning all.

Having managed to squeeze in two enjoyable games of 40K in on Monday night, I got thinking on my drive to work the following day about the games the night before and why smaller points games seem to be more enjoyable at the moment.

1. Clarity of Rules
One thing I've personally had is I'm still not 100% on a lot of 6th edition rules and no matter how much I read the book, it's not sinking in. I'm the sort of person who needs to play the game, encounter a scenario and then see how the rules work for that (with a bit of prep before hand of course).

Smaller games allow you that kind of freedom to check things and not impact the length of the game drastically. It also means you don't get so many of these instances cropping up all throughout a game.

This then means that when you start stepping up to larger games like 1500 - 2500pts you know how these units handle quite well and you're not wondering how a Chariot moves, or what distance a Beast unit falls back, etc.

2. Decisions Matter More
In a lower points game like Monday night, I found myself really having to think a lot more about movement directions, distances to and from units, weapon ranges etc.

Every casualty you take in a smaller points game is felt more. There's less units for your characters to hide in, less vehicles to target saturate enemy heavy weapon troopers with.

I was using a unit of 6 Dire Avengers on Monday night in a Wave Serpent and when it eventually got blown up (it took 1 and a half games to blow up though) 3 Avengers were blown up in the aftermath. Normally, for a full 10 man unit in a Serpent that's not THAT bad. When you only have 6 models, you've lost half of your unit and half of the available shooting power. Which for Dire Avengers is baaaaaad.

3. Cinematic Feel
In larger points games, the cinematic feel comes from two large forces sweeping across the table and the odd close up moment where someone facepunches someone else to death.

However in these larger points games with multiple units of the same type, multiple heroes and such it's easy to lose the individual narratives when unit Sergeants are just a Sergeant, rather than the cowardly Dire Avenger Exarch who fled after his unit was destroyed, the vein Jetbike riders who go for the glory of capturing objectives and the warrior Farseer holding up a unit of Terminators on his own.

You do still get these moments in larger games, it's just they're far more prevalent in the smaller points games with less things to distract you from them.

4. Learning Your Army Basics
This one is very key for me as I've got Multiple Army Disorder, where I own an army for most of the 40K races, but chop and change them every week. This makes games like 1500 and 2000pts pretty slow as I don't know how half the units work in 6th, how they work at all, how any FAQs affect them, etc.

Playing 500pts with the Eldar let me get a good grasp of their statlines, how the army plays and what most of the basic weaponry does. Next game I could be playing 750pts and know very well how the units I've used previously will work and then press on with newer units in the extra points.

My plan is to add in some War Walkers and maybe some more Dire Avengers, so now I know the core of the army I can start to play around with some things. One thing was swapping the Eldar powers for Rulebook powers and see how that works for the army, since in my first game I stuck with the Codex powers.

Obviously this isn't going to work if you want to run 400+pt Nob Biker units, Riptides and equivalents or Flyers. But it'll let you get a good feel for your army, know the core rules, stats and weaponry for them and then add in the flair units like those.

5. Multiple Games / Actually Finishing Games
One problem I've found in 6th edition is actually getting games finished. A 1500pt game shouldn't take 4+ hours to finish, even in a social situation. Half of the issue comes from 6th edition generally taking longer to finish games, and the other half comes from unfamiliarity with the rules, codex or in some cases, nagging from elsewhere.

On Monday night even though I was late to show up, we managed to fit in 2 full games of 500pts and be home for 11. Previously I'd be lucky if we were on turn 3 by that time, unless I was getting absolutely pasted by Slaanesh Daemons again.

I understand that 1500 to 2000pt range is the done thing and some point in the future I'll be able to finish those games through to Turn 7, then do that comfortably and get home at a reasonable hour.

However, I'd much rather get a game finished through to Turn 7 (if it gets that far) and see it's actual conclusion rather than calling a game half way through, since a lot of armies rely on late game pushes for objectives and other armies can deal a lot of damage in the early turns, especially when reserves come into it.

6. Conclusion
So that's my take on it all. I've enjoyed the last few smaller games I've played and I think from now on, the future when using a new / changed army is to start at 500pts and build my way up from there with a few games. Then by time I'm hitting 1500pts I know the army well enough to be finishing games on a club night and in any events.

The Death of "All Reserve" Lists in 6th Edition

Morning folks.


I was thinking about this one after buying the new Dark Angels codex last week and a conversation about it on Monday night. Then on the drive into work whilst trying to think what to do with my Dark Angels, I thought about doing this blog write-up.

For a while, I didn't realise this rules change was even in 6th until I mentioned it in passing about Deathwing and then checked the rulebook.

Changes to reserves in 6th edition were as follows (bear with me if some are wrong, doing this from memory):

• Always a 3+ to show up.
• Only 50% of your units can go into reserve.
• If you have no models on the table, you lose.

So. Those few little changes there make a big change to a few armies that relied on heavy Reserve and Deep-striking choices during 5th edition. I can think of a few examples that have got the shaft now...

• Deathwing Dark Angels
• Descent of Angels Blood Angels forces
• Outflanking / Spore reserve Tyranids
• Duke Sliscus' low orbit raid Dark Eldar
• All Drop Pod Space Marine armies
• And probably more I can't think of...

Personally, I used to really enjoy playing full reserve lists, especially my Deathwing. It meant I could mitigate the slow speed of foot slogging Terminators and could have a pure Deathwing list - no tactical marines, no Ravenwing, etc.

It also meant I could pin-point my strikes around the battlefield dependant on the other player's choices - Can you imagine Belial saying to his Deathwing terminators "Hey, Octavius and Romulus squads... Do you mind standing over here and watching this ruin whilst we Teleport in from somewhere else?". Key to the in-game story, I always felt my Deathwing were a precision strike force, now, only half the army feels like that.

To me, it's like I now have to pay a babysitting points tax and have units start on the board simply for the sake of having them there.

Now...Why was the change to reserves made? Simple...

Firstly, to get more models on the table earlier on, rather than having your 500pt HQ and bodyguard show up on turn 5 and not get to do much.

In addition to this, it's bad game design to have any player with Zero models on the table at any point, hence the "you lose if you have none" rules. I've played some games in older editions where players units came in 1 at a time, that unit got shot / assaulted / killed and next turn 1 more rolls on. Sewer Rats stratagem in Cities of Death springs to mind.

Secondly, my personal view, is to avoid less of the "Alpha Strike" gubbins where Player A would set up entire army, player B would drop a few inches away from them, massacre half an army in a turn, then we play the rest of the game.

On top of this, we have the change to how the reserves arrive. They've gone from being a decreasing dice roll depending on the turn they show up, to now being a 3+ every turn. Combine this with the fact EVERY army now has access to a +1 reserve roll modifier (Aegis with comms relay).

This would mean that there's a pretty decent chance you'd be facing the entire opponents army in Turn 2 teleporting down in front of your face, probably shoot a LOT and then the game doesn't feel fun and reactive. It feels like a sucker punch.

Don't get me wrong... I understand completely why these changes are there. I just think it shafts a lot of the playstyle and options of some armies.

I now feel like I'll have to spend points on Scouts, Tactical Marines or Ravenwing to start off on the board so that I can use my Deathwing properly. And I'll never get to use a full Deathwing list without having to sit 2 or 3 Terminator units in my deployment zone.

So... What does this all mean?

It now means you'll need "home guard" elements if you want to play these sort of lists.

• Deathwing require Tac Marines, Scouts, Ravenwing to be on the field or more Terminators to start deployed on foot.
• Tyranids can't go too heavy on the Spores or Outflankers.
• Blood Angels can't go all deep-striking Jump packs. Again, they'll either need ground troops or to deploy the Jump packs on the ground.
• Duke Sliscus' Dark Eldar will have to start half of them on the ground, which means half as many targets for the enemy to shoot at.
• And so on...

Or failing that, you'll need some cheap way of getting around it. Like a tac squad and a Rhino being 2 units for the 50% count, therefore giving you 2 Deathwing that can go into reserve. Although I'm not sure whether Ded. Transports are included on unit count for this.

To me, Terminators aren't the sort of troops I want sitting at the back of the board with a set of 24" guns and the odd heavy weapon. I want these guys right in the face of the enemy providing immediate threat to units.

Deal with it!

As with most stuff in 6th edition, it's just things you need to accomodate for now with these rules changes. It's just unfortunate that these "pure" lists then need help from other units or to hinder themselves by sacrificing their mobility options to deploy on foot.

My old 5th edition Deathwing list looked like this:

• Belial
• Terminator unit with Hammers / Claws and Cyclone missile.
• Terminator unit with Hammers / Claws and Cyclone missile.
• Terminator unit with Hammers / Claws, Apothecary and Deathwing Banner
• Terminator unit with Storm Bolters and Assault cannon.
• Terminator unit with Storm Bolters and Assault cannon.
• Deathwing Dreadnaught in Pod
• Deathwing Dreadnaught in Pod
• Land Speeder with Multi Melta
• Land Speeder with Multi Melta

Out of that list, the only thing I'd be happy with deploying at the start of the game would be the Speeders. The Dread is pretty useless without the Pod so they could make way for some Ravenwing bikers and Tactical marines.

Again, it's just changes that we have to work around in 6th Edition and once I get the Deathwing on the table, I'm sure they'll be fine. Just less "Deathwing" and more "Terminator-heavy Dark Angels".

//--------------------//
UPDATE:
As I say when I wrote this, I was doing it from memory. Apparently units that have to start in reserve (Drop Pods, Spores, Daemons) all ignore this. So it's still an issue for Deathwing and Duke Sliscus lists since they have the option... but it still doesn't answer the question of Marines.

And according to the rulebook units and their dedicated transports are treated as a single unit for this.

On top of that, Independent Characters count as a single unit, regardless of whether or not they're attached to a unit. So for Belial and 2 units of Terminators, you need to have 3 units starting on the board.
//--------------------//
Cheers,
SB.

P.S. If I've got anything wrong then please let me know. I've not looked at the 6th edition reserve stuff in extreme detail and don't have the rulebook with me whilst I write this up... It's just whatever spews from my brain on the drive into work.

[Orks] Response to "Why Orks Suck"

Hey all,

I've spent the past 2 days recovering from Britcon, so expect a (very hashed together) report coming soon. However, this morning while flicking through the Blogs I was following, I came across a post on Imperial Life forwarding and responding to a post on Yes The Truth Hurts called "Why Orks Suck".

So I thought I'd offer my opinion on the matter, purely from my own point of view and go from there. Here goes. You can see the original post here: Link

1) No melta weapons to knock out tanks.

Personally, this is a Non-Issue. Yeah, Vehicles are a bit more reliable, so the AP1 and (if you're close enough) 2D6 Pen helps. But not every army needs (or wants) Melta Guns.

In terms of knocking out Tanks, Tankbustas are, as the name suggests, extremely decent. Yeah, so only 1/3 will hit, and they're S8. But Tankbusta bombs in assault FTW.

2) No S9 weapons to knock out tanks.

As above. To me, S9 is only even an issue for dealing Land Raiders, Monoliths and other Battlewagons. For these, the only option is to get up close and personal. The way Orks should do anyway.
3) BS is exceedingly low, and even 'good shots' only hit 50% of the time.

They're Orks, that's the point. They're not Elite crack-shot Snipers. Make up for it with weight of fire, especially since the Interwebz says Shootas are awesome. So clearly, every army should be made up of them. This is why I go Big Shootas in my Mobs and leave the Tankbusting to be done in Assault.
4) The Trukk. When you build a vehicle that is worse by far than any other vehicle in the game, you've really hit a high note. What's wrong with the Trukk? It's open-topped, leaves no wreck when destroyed, does random 'ha ha funny' things when blown up, has AV10, BS2, a single non-linked weapon, and upgrades that can make the vehicle cost 2x it's normal value--and it still sucks!

I wouldn't say it's far worse than other vehicles in the game. Don't bother with the upgrades, except maybe Red Paint. It's a delivery method, same way as I see a Drop Pod.

Even the "ha ha funny" things can be helpful. In one game I remember, the Trukk someone was waiting to launch forward blew up, went towards enemy  battle lines, did well not to lose any in the explosion (still needing 5s to wound) and was then in line to move up, assault and take an objective late on in the game.

As for open topped, I don't understand why this is even an issue to debate? I wouldn't change the fact it's open-topped, I love the fact the Orks can assault out of it. If they couldn't it'd be turd.
5) Mono-build. Let's see now. You bring a Big Mek with a Kustom Force Field, or two. Maybe you bring a Warboss to give yourself a semi-reliable troop unit.

This is being judged based on the strength of HQ units and what they do. For me, there's a few Ork builds out there:
- Mek with KFF. Dreds as troops with Shoota Boyz, Killa Kans and Artillery.
- Ghazgkull with 4 Battlewagons full of Shootas
- Wazdakka (admittely very over priced) giving you an all bike option.
- Warboss and Grotsnik, to make an uber scoring Nob unit backed up by whatever you want.

Personally, the Warboss comes before the Big Mek in terms of priorities for me. But, that's personal preference.

6) With the exception of Lootas, Warbuggies, Deff Koptas, Kans, and Kannons...there is nothing remotely reliable in the Ork army for killing tanks or MC's at range.

That's still a fair bit of stuff listed there. 5 Units that are spread from Elites, Fast and Heavy. Also, Warbuggies mounting Rokkit Launchas are still only 24". Same as a unit of Tankbustas, so I'd consider chucking them into the midst. Thats 6, 2 from 3 different Force org slots.
7) Forced to CC. When you can deliver a whole mess of attacks, but hit like a girl and take hits like a girl, people aren't afraid of you. They line themselves up out in the open, and trade you units. Given it usually takes 2-3 Ork Trukk units to destroy one solid defender, you have serious issues.

2 - 3 Trukk units is the problem. You're still only 12 Boyz strong and a Marine unit can smack you off the face of the table before you even get a sniff. Now 20 - 30 Boyz charging in can roll a ton of dice, along with any shooting on the way in.
Yes, S3 basic is pitiful, but it's just something you need to work around as an assault army.

8) Dependence on cover. Hey, everyone has flamers. And Orks don't get move through cover. Ass.

Neither do Guard Platoons on foot. Flamers are just something to accept. Same way I can shift a unit of Eldar Rangers with a well placed Flamer, or some heavy weapon Guardsmen squads in cover. Even Tyranids get shafted by Flamers, with their Move through Cover.

9) Fearless. If you decide to bring a big unit of Troop Orks along, anyone that can out CC you (so, that's EVERY dedicated CC unit in the entire game) will annihilate you in short order. Worse, because you are so ungainly--it's possible to pull off multi-charges and instead of crippling one Ork unit--you can easily destroy two Ork units.

It still goes down to the dice. "Everyone dedicated CC unit in the entire game" can take out an Ork unit, but still goes down to rolling dice. On the flip side, I could charge in a big Ork mob and take out someone's big Thunderwolf Cav unit. I've weathered a charge off 4 Thunderwolves along with a Wolf Guard Battle Leader, leaving 13 Boyz from a 30 Mob, still standing, being Fearless and getting their attacks back. Killing 2 full Thunderwolves off.

Personally, I'd rather them not be Fearless. As combined with crap armour saves, it means you're basically taking another X amount of models off the table straight away.
10) Special characters that suck. Yes, you have the majority of them. Even decade old Grey Knight and Dark Eldar special characters look better and perform better than yours do.

Wouldn't say they suck, just that they cost a bit much.

Wazdakka offers some good options, since you could combine him with a Warboss and get 5 Troop Warbikers, along with a big unit of Nob Bikers as the core of your army.
Ghazgkull is pretty good, although again, suffers from over-costing. He's a force to be reckoned with if someone uses him well.

Grotsnik also fills a hole for your Mega Nobz, but again, you pay the cost for this.

11) Troops have a stupid 10 to 1 ratio for special weapons, because obviously the way EVERYONE ran their army before...with 3 weapons, a Nob, and 6 bullet catchers...was far too powerful.

I think this was more of a design choice to make people want to be taking more models, meaning bigger units. 5 Man Las-Plas was rife at the time and GW were aiming to move away from these multiple small units and put the emphasis for the Orks on big stuff.
12) When your old Codex is FAR more competitive than your new Codex, you should seriously ask GW what the hell happened. Besides wasting designer time on War of the Rings and Apocalypse, that is. Chaos, Eldar, and the Orks all thank you for these excellent games nobody plays. Just how are those sales doing, GW? Up in the UK, down dramatically everywhere else? That's not a good thing, fyi.

I have to say, before the 4th Ed Codex I never saw an Ork army in a tournament I went to, and it was an asbolute rarity to see one on a table somewhere.

Let alone if you look at where Orks placed in some tournaments compared to how they place now. They've just been shelved a bit by Imperial Guard by Numbers being rife, along with other "Meta-Game" builds.
13) Lack of survivability. Orks in Trukks can run forward and annoy people while in cover, but they can't actually survive if people focus on getting them out of it. Sure sure, you can go to ground and get a 3+ cover save against my Bolters, making you statistically as awesome as Marines. Which everyone can kill. But I digress. So what happens when the tactical squads charge into you in support of their Thunder Shield terminators instead of shooting at you? Oh yeah, you lose all of your Orks.

The same can be said of most units though. If someone wants your unit dead, they will try everything they can to make it so. Again, no major focus on the Orks as the same applies to pretty much any army. On the flip side, if I have my Nob Bikers charged by say, a ton of Gaunts that I just can't thin out, then chuck a Boyz unit into assault, there's no issue. The Gaunts are gone.

Again, if someone wants your unit dead, they will try everything possible to make it so. Same for Guard, Eldar and lil' Tyranids.
14) Back to the mono-build thing...virtually all Ork armies end up looking the same, because the Codex has clear 'this is better than anything else' units within it. Lootas, Nobs, Warbuggies, Kans...toss in some Trukks and KFF to try and annoy the enemy to death, and there you go--the build itself isn't terrible, but when every Ork army builds the same, plays the same, well...everyone knows how to beat it. You can be fucking awesome with them, and scrub01 will still kick your ass with a better Codex and a lower amount of skill, because Orks cannot surprise anyone. Just like Necrons, Chaos Demons, Chaos Space Marines, Vampire Counts, Warriors of Chaos, and soon--Eldar. The latter at least have a sharp blade, where everyone else is bringing their butter knife to the gunfight and wondering what happened. Eldar can still shiv you, but without a Codex refresh or a complete and utter change back to 4th edition rules--their days are numbered.

I'm not claiming to be some uber-competition winner, but the last builds I saw do well were 4 Battlewagons with a KFF Mek and Thraka, then a Meganob heavy army with Stormboyz and then my own Ork horde backed up by the Burna Wagon of Doom.

I don't use Lootas, Buggies or Trukks and still do pretty alright in things. Likewise a lot of the other people I've seen play Orks and do a lot better than me, don't always use those armies. Maybe it's a difference with the tournament scene or "Meta-Game" in the UK?

15) Lack of Terminators. Meganobs are pathetic. Even when you waste a HQ on boosting them with Mad Dok (who costs you a Nob unit as a troop, and usually the game) they still get their asses stomped because hey guess what? 5+ invulnerable saves on go-last terminator units is seriously shitty.

Lack of Terminators really isn't an Issue. Guard don't have Terminators (forget Allies), Eldar don't have Terminators, Necrons don't have 2+ armour save models, nor do Dark Eldar or other such armies.

Meganobz can be decent, although the lack of even buying the Cyborks or Painboy costs them for the Mad Dok, also robbing you of a HW choice. Stick em in a Wagon with a Warboss and pick your targets well.

And surely the argument of a 5+ inv on "go-last Terminators" is only even an issue nowadays because of the TH/SS combo that seems to be everywhere? Why not complain the Orks don't get their own Equivalent of Storm Shields. Like a Waaagh Shield.

16) In short, Orks suck because they can't reliably kill mech. They have 6+ saves, and heavy flamers kill ALL of them. Every single unit, dead. Meltaguns get delivered, and your vehicles, shoddy as they are, get blown to bits. That Battlewagon kit is a nightmare--you can't cover it, you can't stop side shots, and it's a big piece of shit until it RAMS you. Hey, isn't that clearly listed as a last-gasp tactic in the rulebook? Ah, that's the primary tactic. Right, here's the shelf you lot of green shitbags. Have fun watching my real armies get played, because you suck ass.

So basically, because an army can't "reliably kill mech", have low saves and heavy flamers do a lot of damage, they're canned?

The "reliably kill" statement is a bit redundant in a game that rolls dice. Even with your 3 Twin Linked Vendetta Lascannons of Doom, you can still miss or not destroy them. Deal with it.

Melta blow up your vehicle? You now at least know they're in assault range to hit them back. Accept it and charge in.
17) Did I mention Ork fearless rule is horrible, and is the easiest way to destroy Orks? Followed closely by their non-fearless LD7? When CC armies (I'm looking at you, Blood Angels) can wipe out your whole fucking army in the time it takes to get to you...well, your CC army probably sucks big cow balls.

Non-fealess LD7 only when below 8 models, admittedly, not a big deal at all, but still. If you're taking LDs on LD7 or less, then expect to be getting wiped out. It's as straight as that. Same way Gaunts outside of Synapse range or crapy Guardsmen get bum-rushed.

The main point of this debate seems to stem from the fact that Orks don't do Mech as well as Guard, nor do they have the reliability of a 3+ 4's across the board Spehs Mareeens, or the special weapons other armies have access to.

Oh well, if someone wants to play Orks, let them play Orks. Chuck 100 Boyz across the table at the opponent, watch as your Trukks explode and fly across the board or grin and bear it when a Heavy flamer batters your Boyz.

I've had plenty of times where I've felt absolutely Evil when I land the Burna Wagon within range of a decent target ("OUCH! 100+ hits on the unit????" said the Tyranids), so I can only accept the same can happen to me.

If you want an army that does Mech, has a top armour save, access to Meltas, can reliably survive Combat and gives you Terminators that have a better than 5+ save - play Codex: Space Marines and realise Orks are different. Comparing them is like comparing a Xbox 360 to a PS3. One might sound better on paper, one might look really nice, but it all boils down to personal preference and using them properly.

I'm not intending on starting an Interwebz flame-war here between Blog sites, I just thought I'd post my thoughts on the matter as a infrequent tournament playing Ork player, who is part of a gaming club. I get pasted a lot, but I also beat the snot out of a lot of other armies. It depends entirely on what mood I'm in, how the dice roll and how enjoyable the game is as a whole.

Peace,
SB.

[Editorial] Why do we play?

Hi all,

Angryman here with a question, Why do we play wargames?



Do we do it to satisfy any megalomaniac tendencies? Is it to indulge the child residing in us all? some do it to to get away from the wife and kids, others because they never really lose the geek streak!
I got back into the hobby because the gothic setting of the 40K universe with its dark and forboding character really appeals to me, Its something I've remembered from when I started playing as a kid. The tactical challenge the game brings, the socialising and the break from the kids are just a bonus!!
So, Why do you play wargames?

[Editorial] All Aboard The Bandwagon: Internet Lists

Afternoon one and all,

You may have read in a couple of other articles over the past few weeks about Conflict North 2010. This was my first tournament in about 8 months, and the first time I'd been to a tournament that's well publicised and lists are not vetted prior to the event, and the amount of Carbon Copy lists of what is popular on the internet, was apalling. Don't get me wrong, it was a good tournament and I really enjoyed the day, armies and respective players.

But, after seeing what's going on and inspired by some user comments to replies on other blogs, I thought I'd start a series of articles about the popularity of "trends" and "builds" in 40k at the moment - "All Aboard the Bandwagon".

So in this article, I want to talk about people using "Internet Lists", known around the Blogsphere as "Cookie Cutter" lists.

What is an "Internet List"?

An Internet List is generally a list of several people's devising that has been touted around the Internet, on forums or Blog websites, generally along with someone proclaiming a hefty Win/Loss record along with it.

Internet lists focus around the current trends or - a phrase I don't like to use - the "Meta Game", with a very large emphasis on unit spam. As an example, I'll use a list posted on BellOfLostSouls called "The Leafblower".

2 Company Command Squads – 3 Plasma, Medic, and Powerfist in each, mounted in Chimeras. An Astropath and a Master of the Fleet.

Elite Daemonhunter Inquisitor - Terminator Armor, Psycannon, Force Weapon, and retinue (Mystics, Hierophant, Sage).

Psyker Battle Squad – in a Chimera

Infantry Platoon – 3 Squads in Chimeras with Heavy Weapons, Command with 4 Flamers in a Chimera

2 Special Weapons Squads – Flamers and Demo Charge, Meltaguns and Flamer.

Veteran Squads – Meltaguns and Shotguns in a Chimera. Meltaguns, Shotguns, and Demolitions.

2 Valkyries – Multiple Rocket Pods.

2 Medusas – Enclosed Crew Compartments. 10/2 Ordnance Blasts are obvious.

2 Hydras – 72” range twin-linked no Moving Fast saves Autocannons are obvious.

Manticore – d3 10/4 Ordnance Barrage Blasts.

I've seen many, many, many worse off lists in terms of Spam, but this was the kind of Carbon Copy list that was on 4 of the 12 tables at Conflict North.

If the Internet says it will win, people will run out, spend their hard earned cash and then want to win games with it... It shows on the table as well. Half painted armies, hastily glued together to get on the table - for the sake of a Tournament Win. To me, it takes away the overwhelming majority of the hobby - building, converting, painting, basing - which only serve to enhance the enjoyment of the game itself.

Admittedly, there are people who want nothing more than to be the best at 40k - winning by whatever means. Trawling the internet in search of Uber Tactics to try and beat all the public players they come across. People are fully entitled to do this of course, it's their money and time at the end of the day. The same way I get enjoyment from seeing my fully painted army assembled and ready for picture taking on the tabletop, they enjoy winning at all costs.

The "Must Haves" in your List


This has become more and more prominent in the past couple of years, with the rise in Internet forums, the Blogsphere and "Codex Creep". Nowadays, lists are built around these kind of "Must Have" units:
- Eldar: Jetbike Seer Council, multiple small units of Pathfinders
- Guard: Veteran Melta Spam in Valkyries, Command squad Plasma Spam, Allied Inquisition
- Orks: Nob Bikers and Loota Spam
- Chaos Marines: Plague Bearers in Rhinos, Berzerkers in a Raiders, 2 Lash Princes
- Space Wolves: Thunderwolf Cavalry, screened by Fenrisian Wolves
- Blood Angels: Assault Squads, with the Jetpacks removed backed up by lots of Sanguinary Guard and Storm Ravens.
- Tyranids: Tervigon Spam with the Doom in a Spore
- Chaos Daemons: Skarbrand / Fateweaver combo.

Now of course, everyone is entitled to use these units, after all, they're in the Codex, and I myself use things like Nob Bikers and I bought myself 3 Valkyries because I love the concept of the models.

There are some units that when the Codex comes out, everyone looks at the unit and says "No thank you - that's way too expensive for what it can do." Then, the Internet lists slowly trickle in. 1 writer puts him in and claims an excellent win record and this multiplies and multiplies until slowly, we've got an actual name for that army "build", such as the "Blood-Weaver" list.

Conclusion

I guess what I'm saying in this rant, is that I'm getting bored of a certain Blogwriter here, Forum poster there, posting their army lists to large numbers of readers and it being taken as the Gospel Truth on what NEEDS to be in an army list from that Codex. It summed it up completely at Conflict North when the person on the table next to me said "It looks like some people have been on [A Certain Blog Site] rather than opening the Codex for themselves".

I don't like to moan via the Internet, nor do I like to argue with people or cause rifts. At the end of the day, it's a game of plastic Toy soldiers. Some people want to go out there with the sole idea to win and that's cool with me. What I personally don't understand is why people go out their with Carbon Copy lists they've found on forums as a "How to Win at 40k for Dummies" approach.

I'll relate it to an earlier time when I used to play Xbox games online. There was certain tricks and selections people would make, in order to get an immediate edge over other players, rather than play a game based on skill. For example, Halo 2 had what I would consider an exploit, where a Plasma Pistol shot would be fired at the enemy, then weapon switch to a Rifle and fire, by which time the Pistol blob would have hit the enemy - reduced them to 1% shield - and the Rifle finish them off. Within a week of me first seeing this in a game, it was everywhere.

Likewise, when I have played online sports games, I choose the team I've supported all my life - Manchester United. However, when certain games favour certain players or teams, these are always the ones that get chosen during online play.

Enough of the Computer Game references...

Why play a balanced* game of skill against 2 opponents, when you can give yourself an immediate edge before a dice has been rolled? Some of the excellent moments I've known of were:
- A Necron army getting into the 40k Grand Tournament, ahead of a very tournament orientated Chaos Marine army.
- My "How Not To Play Orks" approach at Conflict North managed to see me end up at Mid-Table.
- An extremely balanced Codex Marine army outplaying another tournament Orientated Tyranid list.
- Seeing a Black Templar list on the table at a Tournament...

Next time you think about writing a list, consider modelling opportunities, paint schemes and what else is actually in the codex, rather than what the Internet says is good and bad. Last night, I saw Biovores and Genestealers on the table. That's the first time in 4 years of playing 40k I've seen Biovores used, and at least 2 years since Genestealers - since the Monstrous Creature spam 4th Edition Nid lists were up on the net.

So have at it guys. If I'm wrong, then let me know what you think and why. This won't turn into a shouting match or a "my stick is bigger than your stick" competition. I'd like a serious and well thought out debate on whether the Internet has done more harm than good with lists.

RantComplete++

If RantComplete = 1 Then

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Endif

Peace,
SB

* I am aware 40k does have some balance issues, and favour certain things. But personally, I think the game is only as balanced as the players on the table allow it to be.