Warhammer 40,000 can be a really competitive, dog-eat-dog, cuthroat game to play. Anyone who's been to a major tournament can attest to the fact that competitors will take damn near anything to win. 2 Bloodthirsters and 3 flying Daemon Princes? Sure. 9 Leman Russ Tanks? Absolutely. Logan Grimnar and 30 Wolfguard in Terminator armor? You bet. You get a room full of sweaty, elitist, beardy old hobbyists who all brought their favorite Death Star unit to crush their opponents. These guys deliberate and obsess about their army list for weeks in advance of their next tournament, only to get totally shatterblasted by 17 Dark Lances and end up in 14th place or some crap. It seems more like work than an enjoyable hobby, and it looks exhausting. And if this sounds familiar then this post is for you.
To be free of this, what I consider to be the "dark side" or table top wargaming, I myself almost exclusively play friendly games in a league at my local game store. In our league it's all about having fun and playing an awesome narrative battle. It's more about playing the game and less about winning. To accomplish this, we all build armies using "Fun List" guidelines.
What this means is that our small brotherhood (and 1 sister... so a Brother/Sisterhood...?) of gamers has two simple unspoken rules - play to have fun, and don't be cheap. What this means in practice is that when we all make army lists, we add units that we think are cool rather than thinking of the min/max metagame. Dark Eldar Mandrakes, Space Marine Scouts with shotguns and Space Marine Dreadnoughts with a twin-linked Heavy Bolter are all common sights in our circle. Are these units the best possible expenditure of points available? No, but that's not the point. The points is to have a memorable, fun battle using units that we actually enjoyed building, enjoyed painting, and enjoy seeing on our minature battlefields. It's all about the "WOW, THAT'S AWESOME!" factor, rather than the "I'M INVINCIBLE!"
Now, that's not to say that things like Land Raiders packed with Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators are never seen - they definitely are. But you'll never see more than one of those, rather than 2 or 3 in a "competitive" list. Our "Fun Armies" try to be as diverse as possible, so as to explore the depth of tactical choices available to our army. In my Blood Angels army, for example, I have no more than 1 squad of anything. 1 Tactical Squad, 1 Scout Squad, 1 Assault Squad, 1 Devastator Squad, a Dreadnought, a Vindicator, and a Captain - because Space Marines are led by Captains, damn it, and not by frikkin Chaplains. (You never see a goddamned Chaplain leading a squad of United States Marines, do you? Hell no. Because they're Chaplains. They belong in the back, with the gear.)
I guess that I'm saying here is that sometimes it's better to have friendly game with a group of pals instead of everyone trying to one-up eachother and constantly comparing their Army Lists' penis size every 40k day. I'd urge everyone to change up your army lists every once in a while. The next time you meet up with the local 40k club, maybe both try playing a fun game. Use units and tactics that you wouldn't usually try. Stop turtling with your Rhino and charge those Space Marines across the battlefield like they've got a pair! Take ridiculous risks! Make an army list that flies in the face of common sense. I bet you'll have a great time. And you know what? You might actually even learn something about the way your army works, and be able to use that knowledge in the next competitive tournament that you play.
-Matt-
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