After a long-ish break, I'd figure I'd come back to the blog swingin' with an article Hazon and I discussed awhile back regarding the different mentalities people bring in when they play these sorts of games.
This idea started when I went into our local GW one day where quite the frustrating mismatch had occurred. One player (the Tau Player) was clobbering the other guy, who was running Blood Angels. I know, I know, Tau are seen by many as the unstoppable-blue-bomber-juggernauts of this current edition that crush your spirits and ruin your hobbies! Don't get me wrong, Tau naturally are very good, and they can be pure cheese when the rubber meets the road, but they are by no means unbeatable. In this instance, it wasn't even a particularly nasty Tau list; one Riptide, one unit of XV8s, Longstrike, a few Firewarriors, Pathfinders, a Bomber, and an assortment of XV88s with both loadouts. Yeah, its shooty, but its also Tau: what'd you expect?
Back to the game, the Blood Angels guy was having an awful time, complaining and moaning about how Tau are so broken overpowered Tau are. His list was...what I'd consider far from optimized (let alone playable) was three door-to-door vindicators, a mob of Death Company, and finally two large squads of Assault Marines deep striking alongside a Land Raider Redeemer...deepstriking.
The walls of the Games-Workshop were practically caked with the curses such that his frustration was palpable to a new onlooker.
"Man, Tau are so broken."
My skepticism peaked at that remark, crooking an eyebrow in his direction as his assault squad deepstruck near the pathfinders. The Riptide had interceptor (a fact that wasn't hidden, mind you), and proceeded to wipe the floor with the poor assault marines. The second squad arrived near the Crisis suits. Thinking that he'd run them to avoid another costly Riptide barrage, he was instead content to fire his bolt pistols at the Crisis Suits instead.
Meanwhile, the cratered remains of his vindicators sat in the middle of the table, his Death Company near them in some terrain that the Tau could not see through. Apparently parking your vehicles in a tight formation is a bad idea.
I watched on for a few more minutes as the Tau player went. His Sunshark bomber pounded the remaining Assault Marines, killing seven through high strength, high ap blast weapons.
"See man? Broken. Even my buddy who plays Tau says they are."
Tired of the spectacle that was being made, I commented "Nah, I don't think they are. I just don't make excuses for poor tactical decisions."
That said, I don't claim to be the Patton of mini-wargaming; far from it, actually. The kind of wargamer that I am is one who enjoys the challenge of playing the game, regardless of what is being brought to the field (be it Forgeworld or Tau). Unless I straight-up don't like the guy, I'm down to play with my Death Guard in virtually any points size. I consider myself friendly, competitive, and a powergamer.
Firstly, what is a powergamer? I'd like to venture that this is someone who wants to win, but its not to be confused with the WAAC (Win At All Costs) gamer. By most accounts, we all play these games to win! Winning doesn't have to be a primary concern, though. For some of us, having fun comes first, adhering to a great theme and then executing that comes second, with winning comes third. Realistically if we didn't play to win, we could just put our nicely painted models on the table and admire them for two hours.
For me, I theorycraft the hell out of my books (Vampires and Chaos Space Marines). I build lists around themes, around units, one-off ideas, and whatever strikes my fancy. I also try and buck major trends when it comes to these armies. I don't run helldrakes, and only about a fourth of the games do I every bring a Terrorgheist (VC). Why? Well, helldrakes are ugly models and I don't think fit my Death Guard in theme. Sure, I could convert one, but its a bit too binary for my tastes in 40k. WFB I don't really care what I bring, since I pretty much have it all, its whatever strikes my fancy that day!
Bear in mind, nowhere in my previous statements did I say that I made "bad" lists. I play some pretty decent players (some tournament players, some casual players, and everyone in between) and my lists routinely give em a run for their money. Hell, my plague marines (coupled with the rising Forgeworld acceptance into normal games), that one of my regular opponents has switched to Armored Battle group. Ya know, the ones with s8 ap3 Instant Death blast shells on their tanks. Yikes!
Making the list in 40k and WFB are hugely important. I generally like all-comers lists because its a good test of the list, my ability to play the game, and overall more fun for both of us if we actually get to roll some dice! Many of us have been in the position where the other guy tailors the hell out of their list and it just breaks the game. I played a game with my Vampires for a local league where I fought an Empire player who cheesed his list so hard I'm pretty sure it was made in Wisconsin. 2 Cannons, Light Choir (3 level 1 light wizards, 1 level 4, War Altar) and a witch hunter. Not expecting such garbage, I brought a list with no screams and no ethereal units and I got smmmmmmuuuuussshhhed. It was also boring and frustrating, completely the opposite of how I want to feel after playing a game like this.
To bring this back around, yes, Tau are very powerful, but they only approach the cheese when the player playing them brings the WAAC mentality. This is true of ANY army (I bet I could make a Tomb Kings list that is wildly unexpected, fun, and mean!).
The Tau vs Blood Angels game I saw was a perfect example of when complaining about the other guy isn't justified, at all (especially when the Tau player wasn't being a jerk for tabling you). His list would have been pretty fun to play if you brought a balanced list, honestly. The other guy...well, I'd be surprised if he won too many with the way he played, let alone the list he brought.
TL;DR version: Have a health dosage of "Don't Be a Tool" when playing people you don't know, save WAAC for tournaments or players of the same mentality.
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