How to win

[Admiral-Badruck]

I guess that is some good advise all around... I think Mikes advice is the best if you want to win take an army that you are sure your opponent will not be expecting never take MEQ to a tournament unless the there is a new Dex out that is far more popular in the area... if you do then you are sure to have trouble as every one is tooled out to kill you... On should really try to bring a different kind of army to each event all though there is not much that can handle 200 foot slogging Ork Boys with Mad Doc and a Bigmek with KFFG... in a 1500point list unless you end up fighting GI you are fairly guarantied a win...

Thats right guys get ready for the horde amy from hell... have been painting orks for the last few weeks and I have to say it is really fun...

[Primarch]

now that would be scary

Not really, they all do different jobs and have different priorities.

Anyway, we've wandered way way way off topic here. MODS where are you?

Tips for winning, not p1ss1ng contests about whose list is best.

Another piece of advice:
When you get to the end of each phase, stop, take a breath, look at the table, MOVE/SHOOT/ASSAULT with the unit you forgot about. The number of times I've forgotten something, or my opponent has far exceeds my ability to count (even with my socks off).
Badruck and his Gargant will know what I am talking about here.

Remember the rules. Sounds dumb, but sometimes people forget, misremember or just plain make stuff up. The rules are there for a reason and even though some of them may be broken, remember them and know what they do. The next time your opponent tries to assault AROUND cover, point out that he cant do so and should now make some difficult terrain checks.

[Admiral-Badruck]

Knowing the rules helps out a lot...
I also think knowing how to use the rules to your advantage is very key to wining... but it sure is not very fun if you do not know the rules and lose because your opponent knows the rules better that you do and has taken advantage of that...
The best way around this is to really study the rules and ask about rules before you make the play you are planing on doing... You may not be able to do what you had planed but at least you will not be standing in the wind with your pants down.

[Mike the Pike]

Knowing the rules helps out a lot...
I also think knowing how to use the rules to your advantage is very key to wining... but it sure is not very fun if you do not know the rules and lose because your opponent knows the rules better that you do and has taken advantage of that...
The best way around this is to really study the rules and ask about rules before you make the play you are planing on doing... You may not be able to do what you had planed but at least you will not be standing in the wind with your pants down.

I can't believe you just wrote that Admiral. If I am not mistaken, you have 'beaten' me twice in the last year or so, only for it to be later revealed that the rules were misunderstood at a critical juncture in the game.

I do however agree that knowing the rules properly is a big advantage.

[Mike the Pike]

BTW I was, to a degree, joking about the the whole 'take an unexpected army' thing.

Such armies tend to be very 'Janken-y' i.e. very rock, scissors, paper. Sure you bushwhacked me with 150+ Boys when I was expecting a more balanced Army but if you had come up against Tyrannids or IG in a tourney with that lot things would have gone differently. Then there was that whole 'gone to ground' fiasco, but that's another story.

The same goes for my experiences with The Boss Puppy and Nigel the Weatherman (a.k.a. Ragnar and Njal). Sure I was surprised and annihilated the first time around but I learnt a thing or two and I'm sure things would go differently next time (Hear that Prim? That be a challenge!) Next time I came across a similar Super Captain, Vulkan of the Salamanders, I just asked my Wraithlord to stand on his head and that was that.

[Mike the Pike]

Back on topic...
M_i_J also has a good point about redundancy i.e.having more than one unit that can do the same job. When one of them gets chomped or blown away, you still have someone there that can gun down a hoard, punch out a Tank etc. How you work that redundancy into your list into your is the problem though.

[Colonel Voss]

The danger of rock, scissors, paper army is a big problem. Yeah, loading up extremely one way will work but it won't hold out forever.

However taking the unexpected is still a good idea. Even one unit that people aren't familiar with can throw a monkey wrench into peoples planning. How does that unit work again? What type of a threat is it? It makes them more cautious and if it pulls a devastating surprise, they'll focus way more attention on that unit than they probably should.

Know your units, and know them well. Even an underpowered unit can become outstanding if the user knows what to do with it. Think outside of the box when making selections and try things out, not once but at least five times to be sure you give it a good chance. And actually analyze the results of the battles. Don't go, well this unit didn't make it's points back so it's not worth it. Look at why and what it did, maybe you deployed it wrong or maybe the enemy avoided it like the plague (and thus gave you a huge room to maneuver for other units around it).

[Primarch]

Know your units, and know them well. Even an underpowered unit can become outstanding if the user knows what to do with it. Think outside of the box when making selections and try things out, not once but at least five times to be sure you give it a good chance. And actually analyze the results of the battles. Don't go, well this unit didn't make it's points back so it's not worth it. Look at why and what it did, maybe you deployed it wrong or maybe the enemy avoided it like the plague (and thus gave you a huge room to maneuver for other units around it).

I have to agree with the Colonel here. Every opponent who comes across my Crimson Fists landspeeders dismisses them as a threat because they're only AV10 skimmers with some heavy bolters. In every game they have been worth their points as they tend to annihilate units whilst dancing outside of the opponent's range. Hopefully people now have some respect for the humble landspeeder.

Another bit of advice I can offer is 'Stay focused on a target' If you start trying to kill a unit, make sure it dies. A dead unit is better than a casualty in every unit. Dont leave one guy standing (especially if its a scoring unit). One lone guy can still contest an objective or tie up your advance if he's lucky. Tau gun drones on vehicles are especially annoying for this.
If you can't kill a unit try to make it take a break test at the very least. Even against LD10 units, you can still break them 1 time in 12.

[me_in_japan]

Another bit of advice I can offer is 'Stay focused on a target' If you start trying to kill a unit, make sure it dies. A dead unit is better than a casualty in every unit. Dont leave one guy standing (especially if its a scoring unit).

I said dat already...

However taking the unexpected is still a good idea. Even one unit that people aren't familiar with can throw a monkey wrench into peoples planning.

This only works against inexperienced players. Really, a half decent opponent should be reasonably familiar with anything they might come up against. Not necessarily have memorized the stats, but they should at least be aware of what any given unit will and wont be likely to do. Stats, of course, should be supplied when asked for. However, I would agree that this rule applies well to tactics. Things like putting a unit of harlequins in front of a unit of pathfinders will provide a 2+ cover save for the pathfinders, and since the harleys are buggersome difficult to target, you effectively have a really nice sniper pit which can be placed wherever the heck you want it to be.

OK, this is cheesemongering in the extreme, but in a tourney situation itd be fair game. There are lots of horrible combos like this out there, and they do tend to throw people. After a turn or two of having their chaps popped in the ass and having their return fire ping off invisible harlequins, people tend to get cranky. Cranky opponents make mistakes (and then throw tantrums and punch you, granted, but at least youd win the game...)

The same goes for my experiences with The Boss Puppy and Nigel the Weatherman (a.k.a. Ragnar and Njal). Sure I was surprised and annihilated the first time around but I learnt a thing or two and I'm sure things would go differently next time (Hear that Prim? That be a challenge!) Next time I came across a similar Super Captain, Vulkan of the Salamanders, I just asked my Wraithlord to stand on his head and that was that.

I think this example perfectly illustrates the most important rule: Learn. Don't just sit hypothesising about nice ideas. Try em. Get beaten. Learn from your mistakes. Don't make the same one twice. You may whup me once with a three land raider army, but it aint gonna happen twice...

[Colonel Voss]

This only works against inexperienced players. Really, a half decent opponent should be reasonably familiar with anything they might come up against. Not necessarily have memorized the stats, but they should at least be aware of what any given unit will and wont be likely to do. Stats, of course, should be supplied when asked for. However, I would agree that this rule applies well to tactics. Things like putting a unit of harlequins in front of a unit of pathfinders will provide a 2+ cover save for the pathfinders, and since the harleys are buggersome difficult to target, you effectively have a really nice sniper pit which can be placed wherever the heck you want it to be.

It works quite well against experienced players. People get complacent especially if they are use to fighting the same units again and again or the same style of list again and again. If they haven't faced a particular unit often or never at all, it catches them off guard. The unexpected can have a major psychological effect even on the most experienced of opponents.