Rock, Paper, Scissors

In the last month I have managed to get in 5 games against 5 of my friends who all play very different lists with very different armies. Ork Speed Freaks, Necron flyer spam, Tyranid monstrous creature spam, Eldar Jet Bike spam and even an Eldar / Dark Eldar Beast Pack. Now, all of these guys are great players and all of them know their armies each of them have won local and regional tournaments and can regularly be found playing on the top three tables at any event they go to. In full disclosure I will say that I have been testing multiple ideas for a revised army list and not all of these concepts proved useful for what I am trying to do. That being said, my research lead me to a conclusion that I have been ignoring for the better part of 18 months now – the all comer list is dead.

I have been an ardent defender of the ‘all comers list’ concept for years. I always felt that a well balanced army played by a person experienced with that army – could win in any match up they were presented with. With great zeal and conviction I held onto that belief until recent events forced me to consider alternatives, the most horrific of which was Baron Von Pretty Pants flying round on his skateboard with a beast pack and a Farseer as they mulched my entire army by turn 5. Scissors ran into rock, a very big rock. The advent of 6^th edition introducing psychic powers, flyers, allies and all the myriad of combinations and choices has officially turned up the volume to 11.

Back in December I discussed a ‘punch list’ of things to watch out for and make sure your army had a solution for, the original list is HERE. Looking at that list now has lead me to the conclusion that while it does contain some good ideas to consider, the fundamental flaw in the list is that it relies on your opponent to be playing an ‘all comers’ type of army. Instead of assuming that our opponent will be a rational individual who is going to bring a balanced army like ourselves, we must assume that our opponent will be a nut case who will bring the most broke ass combination of units on the planet.

Once you accept that idea, the punch list of things your army needs becomes much shorter!

• At least four durable, scoring, units

• At least two units that can threaten the board from multiple angles (out flank, infiltrate, deep strike)

• At least five models with a range greater than 36 inches

• One ‘boogey man'

That is it – that is my new punch list for how I am designing my lists these days. Not overly complicated and instead of worrying about what my opponent will do and how I will react to him, I now look at how to impose my will upon my opponent. I do this by presenting multiple threats and problems through my ability to change my deployment from game to game. By simply outflanking one unit I can push him in off the edges or force him to castle up in one corner, by having deep strikers I can force the same. Infiltrators help me with initial board control and a big evil ‘boogey man’ keeps him from rushing forward to quickly. We will explore the idea of boogey men later – but just to illustrate the idea my current version of a boogey man is 11 Death Company with a single Thunder Hammer and a Reclusiarch in a Landraider.

Will it work for you? Hell – I don’t know. I know how I play and what works for me, and my previous thinking ain’t cuttin it! The only thing I can tell you is the ‘rock, paper, scissors’ aspect to 40k has been turned up to 11 and there are lists out there that you will not be able to deal with ‘defensively’, you are going to need ways to mitigate their advantages and get them out of their rhythm or they will mulch your army like so many others until they run into the paper to their rock.

If you are like me, and you enjoy playing 40k more as the thinking man’s game – the only way to keep doing it is to play the maneuver game and force them to react to you. More on this later as I continue to marinate, but the above list is a good start for now.

_still practicing

T