List Construction-build for 1st
The topic of list construction is one that I think I have beaten to death here on TheAssaultPhase, but this is a slightly different spin on the topic and I think it’s worth mentioning. Some people can count themselves out of a 1st place victory before they even roll their dice, because they have built a list tailored for minor victories(At this point in the article, you will need to open this link in a new window, listen to the song, continue reading and remember…there can only be ONE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgpylExfL0c ) This was the essence of my Chaos army. This is how I played my Marines and Necrons as well. I built my list(army) to win the game. I didn’t build my army to win the main scenario objective, side objectives AND bonus points. There’s a huge difference. The way I built my army was mainly defensive with offensive capabilities. I played a denial game and it gave me wins, but no 1st place tournament placing. This is a point that I really want to drive home with you guys, because a 40k tournament is not like a basketball game, or the superbowl or something. In the super bowl you can beat you opponent by 1 point and you win the whole thing. In a tournament you have to beat the scores of everyone else there.
In the future I want to write a piece on Actionary VS Reactionary play styles, but this idea that you build a list that works to dictate the pace of YOUR game is key in building for 1st. Its not about building a army so you can handle whatever is across the table from you, its about building an army that your opponent wont be able to handle. My Ork Horde is a prime example of this. I have a hard time with skimmers, high AV armor and really anyone Mech heavy. BUT everyone has a hard time with 164 Ork Boyz, that only give up a few kill points/ cover the entire table/ can span multiple objectives with one unit/ and the entire army is a troops choice. When your thinking about your army, think about how you would go about killing it! I know I know…its hard to think about the destruction of your master painted 40K army of choice, but if you can quickly think of several units or models that you have no response to, then your setting yourself up for disaster. Every codex(some are better then others) has a unit or two that is a little bit better then the points that the unit cost, find the cheese in your codex and use it to your advantage, give your opponent something he has no answer to. The word “cheese” is something you hear mumbled and spoken like a dirty curse word in the gamming world. And I used to think the same thing, now however I feel like “cheese” is just the cry of the unprepared commander. “Cheese” is jealousy, its people wishing they had the unit/tactic/special rule/commander/special character/ model/ lucky dice role/ whatever you have that they want…and I don’t feel bad packing every single bit of cheesy 40k goodness I can into my tournament lists (please note how I said TOURNAMENT list). Here is a quick checklist that might help determining if you’re built to place 1st at a tournament.
a) Can you control and maintain several objectives.
b) Do you plan on surviving with your force and playing a reactionary game, or commanding the pace of events?
c) Could you completely wipe someone off the board in 6 turns?
I know there are a million and one different factors that play into each of those 3 checks above, but if you don’t think about this, then at least know someone else is. What do you guys think about the article and which checks can you mark off?