So following several discussions lately on twitter and from reading forums (I don't actually converse on forums as I gave up trying to fight the masses long ago) I thought I'd post a couple of thoughts on Wargamers and trying new things.
First up, Comp. Yes that terrifying creature of the dark that Wargamers both hate and (apparently) cant live without.
As I find myself in a pretty unique position having played Warhammer for a substantial period in three countries plus the ETC over the last few years, I was going to write up a post comparing different comp systems, but I realised something part way through....
Warhammer is fun!!! Whatever the system and whatever the tournament style, you will have fun if you want to, or you will hate it if you don't. I think honestly alot of wargamers prejudge a certain comp system if it differs from what they usually play under and either won't play it or go in wanting it to fail without ever really giving it a chance. I've seen it in every country and its always the same. I've had this issue with NZers vs Aussie judge style comp (yes, this included me), Aussies vs Hard-comp, and everyone vs no-comp. Yet I can count on one hand the number of players who've actually tried it the other way. (I'm ignoring ETC hammer as that's just an abortion of Warhammer, and not really the point of the ETC imo).
I personally think they all have their own positives and negatives, and for the record certainly none are perfect. All I can say is that rather than sitting there saying you'd never play no comp or whatever system, give it a shot and then make a judgement. Odds are you'll have fun. Shocking, I know!
The second thing I wanted to talk about is my own attempts to change things up and try something new.
| When in doubt, always go with a flying offensive |
With the release of the new High Elf book I've decided to go full Attack with my army lists. Under the old book I found that I was very much stuck in defence mode. Pewpewpew for two to three turns killing off chaff and then take down one-two main units if possible while avoiding the worst units like Deathstars etc. While effective, I found that I was getting rather bored with it, so I've decided to change things up.
Over the weekend I ran a Dragon, Eagle BSB, double Phoenix list supported by White Lion block. It was fast and aggressive and frankly a joy to play with, however, my results were average at best. I think alot of it was the list and me trying to force Phoenixes into a combat role they aren't meant to fill, but I also found that the push it forward style I was embracing can be prone to error (and beer...), as I kept miss-reading countering units and leaving myself in bad positions while trying to engage.
The Highlight of this was missing a Terror check from a Stonehorn which my blocking Reavers promptly failed and let the Gutstar rip into the White Lions I'd pushed up to force the game. At the end of the day, the Banner of the World Dragon does not make White Lions a Gutstar equivalent, I still need to be careful with my units, and just because I'm trying to be aggressive doesn't mean I don't need to put as much thought into things.
Also of note, Beasts of Nurgle are fucking horrible, Banner of the World Dragon or no. Seriously its not hard to block up one unit with Furies and Nurglings while the Beasts seriously wreck the rest of the High Elf army (including Star Dragons when you can keep up +3T on them for two straight game turns...)
So thats it from me for now. Get out there, try something new and and do it with a positive attitude. Life will be good!
Agree to a point James....however subjective comp, peer or panel was the norm in NZ until 2011.
ReplyDeleteIt was then realised to be adding nothing to the game but a level of whinging and was discarded for hard caps.
While caps are subjective, the advantage is that everyone goes in with eyes wide open.
Sure panel/peer comp is different but then so are bronze weapons.
Evole or stagnate :-)
Panel comp isnt my favourite either but it does have the benefit of rewarding the more left field lists which mean people actually take the not so great units.
ReplyDeleteHard comp merely punishes players for using sub-optimal units and leads to their complete nonexistence, which isn't the best imo...
James,
ReplyDeleteYou've played at a Tempest evenet, so sure you'll recognise that not all hard comp packs are equal too. Personally I'm increasingly moving to a 'lets get rid of comp' mindset and I had recently written up a big monologue of my meandering thoughts over actually having fun whilst playing warhammer. Comp didn't even come into it, it was all about the mindset of how you play. Like you I've largely played defensive armies for years or if not defensive then skirmishy avoidance.
I recently played a TK list with 2x4 snakes and 8 GW Ushabti and had awesome fun pushing it forward and wrecking stuff/my own list and really enjoyed my games a lot more than the sit back armies. That said my other favourite TK build is the 3 spinx one and it gets shoved at people too.
Another list I've tried is the triple tree woodies or dragon & 2 trees version too. As combat armies go it's actually rather soft but still awesome fun to play most of the time.
So I totally agree warhammer is fun first, restrictions second and a lot of people lose sight of that. Speaking of which I'm off to the 6 nations in a couple of weeks to back board edge my dwarfs and shoot people. If it wasn't the ETC I'd not ever consider playing the list but the team asked me to fill in so I answered the call.