Friday, February 15, 2013

How to win at Warhammer: A Warhammer 101 article

Hello true believers!  Crazy Gamer here to help you in an area that everyone cares about- winning!

Everyone wants to win, we all dream of holding a massive trophy of gold; encrusted with diamonds while being flanked on each side by a bevy of beautiful women.  The crowd chants your name!  Oh look!  Nike is calling, they want to offer you a suitcase full of money to pitch their products...

Or, more likely, you'll get a piece of paper and stand up in front of a bunch of geeks.

Anyway... how do you get there?  How do you claw your way to the top of the heap? 

The answer is, like everything else, complicated; especially if you're just starting out.

You may be attempted to be a WAAC player.  Like performance enhancing drugs for athletes the WAAC style offers a quick and easy(ier) way to the top, but just like with athletes the fall from grace is hard and painful. 

About now you may be asking yourself, " What the hell is he talking about?"

Please let me explain!

WAAC is a gaming expression that means Win At All Cost.  This style requires a player to seek out any and all game bending rules and combinations of units to win in spite of the spirit and intention of the games rules.  While this isn't illegal or cheating, players who indulge in this style of play push any and all advantages be they overpowered units, ambiguous rules, loopholes, and any combination of all three. 

My more cutthroat brethren may ask, "What's wrong with that?  Why shouldn't I find every advantage and use it?"

Bernie Madoff
Ponzi Scheme mastermind
WAAC Gamer
To you cutthroat brother I say, once you turn down that dark path, there is no coming back!
Excuse me, let me explain in a slightly less melodramatic manner.
As I've said before, I've been playing Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 since 1993.  In all that time I've seen countless killer armies come and go.  Today we have Cron Air, but it won't last.  One way or another, whether from rule changes or players adapting, this army will not be the killer list that it is today.  In a few months it will be something else, and then something else, and so on and on. 
This is not only a very expensive way to play the game (each Necron flyer cost almost $50.00 and you need a half dozen or more) it's highly likely that by the time you get them purchased and painted a new killer list will have emerged. 
More damaging for players, especially new players, is that you rely on the gimmick the list is meant to exploit.  Players don't learn true tactics, they learn a gimmick.  When the gimmick goes away, and it will, the player has no real skill to fall back on.  Usually this will see them leave the game in frustration. 
That's sad. 
I understand the competitive culture of gaming.  You want to win, losing to your friends or to some game store top weenie is a bitter pill to swallow.  I get it.  I really do.  But I promise you, if you're patient and apply yourself, you can become a consistently good player. 
But I don't just offer my opinion, though that is the title of my blog... I will help you become this consistent player. 
Tune in to Part 2 where I give you actual skills that you can use to improve your game.
See you then!  

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