GENERAL STRATEGY & TACTICS |
"FEAR IS THE MIND KILLER" By Daniel Custodio ( Chaplain Lucifer ) |
This kind of phrases can provide players with fun if they enter the spirit of the thing, or it can provide yourself fun and an edge over the opponent that doesn't have a sense of humor, in that case you won the mental match. |
Chapter: One Pre-gaming. If you know your going to battle your opponent with some anticipation, you can start spreading rumors... - You can spend the whole week talking about a new combo you just found out, but you don't reveal it. It doesn't matter anyway, it's just to keep the other guessing and worried. - Talking about a new unit you've just bought/painted/thought and say that you plan to use it. The other guy surely will include something on his army to counter it. The problem is that you'll not use it, so his "countering" unit won't have much effectiveness. - Cold War tactics. Loudmouth what you're going to use, he'll tell you about his counter unit. You add a counter-counter unit. This really doesn't work at all but sure is fun to do! Chapter Two: Making an "annoying" and/or fearful army. While making a army try to include units that instill fear and you reckon that can cause a reaction on the opponent. For Dark Angels these should be: - DA themselves! This Chapter is very underrated and is mostly underestimated by opponents. - Deathwing army. Only Eldar and Dark Eldar do not fear the Deathwing. This could be their downfall too, because they'll start to underestimate your army. The rest of the races fear the Deathwing mainly because it's composed of terminators and their fear an army with 2+ saves. - Other things most players are not prepare to handle is the fact that they are stubborn. Either they forget it or they worry about it. Either way you have the edge. - Ravenwing army. Mobility and annoying 6+ inv. saves. Should I say more? - Lots of small shooty squads! In certain situations they can be a handicap, but all those heavy weapons look menacing. - Robbed miniatures. These stand out from their squads and look more menacing that they really are. Even if you have a regular Sgt and a robbed minie in the squad the main concern will be on what the robbed minie does after all. - Deathwing detachment. It really stands out from most of your army and look very menacing indeed. For inexperienced players the different look of the unit will be a major concern. Tips for DA and other SM armies - This one is very "sleazy". Even if you have a regular Sgt. with bolt pistol and ccw, make sure your ccw is a sword and paint the blade in bright/striking colors. The objective is to make the ccw look like a power weapon. Even if the opponent gets a look at your army list before the battle, in the heat of the action, it will be mistaken by a power weapon, thus having effects on assaultiness "morale". Of course if the opponent asks, the effect disappears... - Conversions. Like different color schemes within the army, conversions can make models look more menacing, therefore making themselves a concern to the opposite player. - Uniformity. A "stealth" army (no conversions and/or nothing that really stands out) can make the opponent underestimate your army. As no unit or character stands out, they apparently pose no threat. Overconfidence can be the opponent's downfall. - There's nothing more menacing that look upon a BA army loaded with jump packs. The Golden-helmet jump-packers with lots of power weapons often go unnoticed because of the DC. - Marines outnumbering or equalizing other armies. Although it's difficult to pull this one off, your 'nid opponent will get very worried if he can't outnumber you! - All painted / Well painted armies. While the first one must be standard procedure, not all people have skills to accomplish both of the requisites. A skillfully painted army should impose respect over a "rag-tag" one. Chapter Three: In-Gaming attitude. Your posture as a player can be used to your advantage while playing. Being a correct but fear-inspiring opponent won't win you as many sportsmanship points as being all smiles and stuff, outside the battlefield you can show yourself has you truly are! For instance, looking menacingly will frighten a newbie player or someone you haven't played, but it won't scare your friends that already know you! I'll give some examples on behavior for various situations. Some of this are mine, while others were suggest by other people. When playing against a new or newbie player especially on a tournament the following can be very intimidating. - Appear calm and sure of yourself at all times, express no emotions. - Grin and/or scratch beard while the other guy is moving his troops and ask him if he is sure of what he is doing. - Wear dark clothes. Sunglasses can be very annoying because they can't see your eyes, thus making them believe you are staring at him at all times! - Grin while your moving your units and whistle the "Funeral Song" - Speak rarelly, always in behalf of your General/Captain. Ex: Captain Hephaestus would appreciate if you pass him that die please. This one is really annoying. One thing you have to remember is to always be polite and good sport. Just because your trying to intimidate someone, doesn't mean you have to be rude. Arrogance is acceptable, rudeness no! Either playing new people or old friends there are certain phrases that can really annoy people and break their concentration. The Black Tome (40K Rulebook) quotes are very good. Famous writers/personalities or your own can work really good too. The trick is to say the right thing on the right moment and you can demoralize or break the opponent's concentration.. Here's a few sentences that give you the edge. (And they're fun too!!!) - When making armor saves yell with conviction "My Faith is my Shield" I can tell you that I made 90% of the saves that way!!!! Besides nagging the other guy, I believe that if you really mean it, it really changes the flow of luck! If by some reason you fail the save and the other guy says something like: "not much fate there eh?" You quickly reply something like: "The Emperor works in mysterious ways!" or "He gave his life for his brethren to enforce the Emperor's will!" It is important to have the last word because that usually means you won the "mind-duel". - Another one is when rolling for invulnerable saves yelling "For the Emperor!" again if this is said with confidence can result often! - When firing plasma weapons quote Chaos Gate and say: "Starfire shall devour your black soul" - When initiating a game what better to say that the Chapter motto: "Repent! For tomorrow you die!" Of course a polite threat can also undermine the other guys confidence. This kind of phrases can provide players with fun if they enter the spirit of the thing, or it can provide yourself fun and an edge over the opponent that doesn't have a sense of humor, in that case you won the mental match. Chapter Four In-Game Tactics. Your actions in the battlefield can be as good as the tactics above. It is important that your appear confident and sure of yourself the moment you move or fire your units. What good it is you making all those poses above and when it's your time to move you ruin it? - Start to plan your moves during the opponents moving phase. - Don't hesitate when it's time to move or fire. It is better to take sometime before you begin to move to plan all that thinking the move and shoot of one unit after the other. - Do your crucial or more important maneuvres in-between other less important ones. This has the purpose of "covering up" the critical one so your opponent won't realize it before is too late. - While moving a unit do not focus on it's real target. Focus on a secondary target pretending to be your main concern. - Make an ordinary defensive (or cowardly by some standards J ) maneuvre look like it is not a big deal, or make it heroic! - If you fail a "to hit" or "to wound"/"AP" roll try to make it look like secondary and of no matter. Chapter Five Cautions Some of these elements I stated are very good amongst a gaming group of friends because they provide fun for everyone if they can capture the essence of the thing. It's great fun for everyone getting into character and to try to impersonate his or her race thoughts and actions. In a tournament against a complete stranger, this can give you a real edge if you're not afraid of making a fool of yourself. No matter what just remember that you can be a dreaded opponent because of your attitudes, but outside the game is your personality that really counts. By the way, if you think the other guy is being a jerk while your playing remember this: He may be using the same technique as you! |
