So, what kind of 40K player are you? Earth, Fire, Air, or Water?
Here's an interesting link that talks about these different play styles. It was written for 4th edition, so it badly needs updating. But I found it very interesting nonetheless.
I used to be an "Earth" player, standing still and trying to survive the rush my opponent sent across the table, with a bit of water thrown in when I could still infiltrate half my army using doctrines. Call it "Mud" if you will. :)
Since the IG-5 Codex came out though, I've transformed my army into a much more effective "Fire" force. Which is kind of odd, as I'm extremely shooty, but have almost no close-combat ability at all. My strength lies in short-ranged melta and template weaponry instead, combined with protecting myself from assaults through speed and armor. Hey, it works!
Farmpunk is thoroughly in the "Water" camp, however. Though he's been fiddling with other options lately, deep down he wants to react to what you do. Turning your blows against you and frustrating you into failure. Problem is, Codex-creep is slowly taking away his best water-options.
He used to happily run an IG drop troop army, but IG-5 has taken away the doctrines he depended on for that. Right now, Farmpunk's only option to get it back would be to buy a crate load of Valkyries. But that's an expensive route to take. I think he's stuck somewhere between going all-Fire with his Sisters, or trying to do something water-y with his Daemonhunters combined with IG. I'm still waiting to see what he comes up with, but maybe the DH info at the link will help. :)
I read that article not long after it was put up. Of course, the WH and DH forums on Librarium were all a-twitter for a while about it.
ReplyDeleteI found it to be an interesting read, but not a definitive tactica.
oddly enough, I AM mostly a water style player. All-out fire styles aren't what I like to do.
heck, I even tend to play primarialy water style with Sisters.
I think my new direction's going into induction land, with chimeltas, and russes... but I'll still play it like a water player. WH and DH are better at waiting for your opponent to make a mistake, and then using that to your advantage.
codex creep almost makes learning to react a necessity.
I honestly am stuck on which element that my playing style is.
ReplyDeleteI've only played you once, so I don't know where your heart is. But IG gunlines like yours are pretty much always "Earth" style forces. It's hard to do anything else without Chimeras or Valks to give you both mobility and protection.
ReplyDeleteI played the "Earth" style for a long time (10 years) in both Fantasy and 40K. And I came to the conclusion that while I might be able to out-shoot my opponents, superior firepower wasn't nearly as important as having the mobility to exploit weaknesses and dictate where the fighting took place.
And as the author pointed out at that link, it's just not that fun to always be giving the initiative to your opponent.
There were several Napoleon wannabes at the CU shop who would quote this a while back, so I gave it a once over to see what all of the hype was about. While I hate to admit this, I agree with Farmpunk it is an interesting read but not a solid tatica.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the author relied on modeling to his advantage and outright cheating in his own battle reports has made me even more suspect of his thesis.
By the way I fall solidly into the AIR camp, no real surprise there, as I usually try to win the game in the movement phase.
Somebody on LO a while back said that the key to winning in 40K is to control at least 2 of the 3 game phases (movement, shooting, assault). At my best I control movement and shooting, while denying assaults to my enemy.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with IG gun lines is they only control one phase, shooting.