A Shortcut To Experience
Posted by admin on Wednesday Nov 17, 2010 Under General Gaming, Warhammer 40kThere are a finite number of army list permutations for a given codex just as there are a finite number of chord progressions for a given key structure in music. Before their latest codex, Dark Eldar had one or two viable lists. Grey Knights have two or three just as Necrons do. In 40k, as you go backwards from the newest release to the oldest release, the diminishing viability becomes more apparent. In music, it is quite the opposite – just ask the Axis of Awesome with their 4-Chord Song!
Turn here if you can't make your own list.
With the internet a basic staple in most households, it is quite easy for anyone to communicate their ideas and equally easy for someone to borrow/copy/steal those same ideas. Getting a net list from the internet can be good for many reasons provided your intent is not to stomp your local scene with tactics/ideas that aren’t your style. If you have run out of ideas or need inspiration, then a net list might be get you over the hump. It has worked for me on several occasions. I even hate to admit that I have also borrowed a net list (with a revision or two) because I was tired of trying to reinvent the wheel.
Many players new to 40K go to a net list because they lack experience. I firmly believe new players should have at least 50 games under their belt before using a net list. Going to the internet too soon provides a short cut past the valuable experience they need and takes them directly to what they think is the promised land. Often times the road to the promised land is paved with derision (if they have smart peers) or a false sense of winning (if they have not so smart peers).
These shortcuts are detrimental not only to you but your gaming club or group and quite possibly to 40K players world wide. The Imperial Guard Leaf Blower list virtually swept the world after the 2009 ‘Ard Boys tournaments. At Adepticon 2010, most Imperial Guard players had some variation of this list and most of their opponents had some list that could deal with the Leaf Blower because they knew they’d eventually face it at Adepticon. Now you don’t see the Leaf Blower too much because with the passage of time, it has invariably earned it’s reputation: flash in the pan.
In my younger days with 40K, I avoided using net lists because I knew I was not getting better as a player. When I faced net lists, I took great delight in defeating them. Now that I enter the veteran gamer phase, I do not have quite the same outlook anymore as I used to. I know now that net lists should be used as the salt & pepper of my gaming experience, not the meat & potatoes. Be careful of which reason you choose a net list for and bon appetit!
3 Responses to “A Shortcut To Experience”
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November 17th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I agree Richard, i dont use netlists at all never had goign back to my MTG days just didn’t interest me at all… That being said there is nothing wrong with looking at them and seeing if someone is seeing a UNIT in another light that you have not previously seen. but i never copy and paste my list…. With my IG i have alot of tanks but when i hit the table it’s assumed i’m using a leaf blower list when i dont. Nice article Richard.
November 17th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Well said, I thought from the opening lines this would be an anti net list rant but you make very solid points and made for a good article that makes the reader think.
I will periodically read net lists to see what people outside of my gaming group are doing. This is important as if you play the same people regularly you can get into a “group think” that overlooks things and can often take you down a path that is unwise. When you then play someone outside your clique you do very badly.
Big fish in a small pond would be an apt analogy.
So reading what others are doing elsewhere, reading thier battle reports, thier thoughts on tactics and thier lists can be valuable. Equally taking a net list and playing it, not for aggrandizement but to see how it feels on the table and how your friends play against it helps everyone experience something that none of you would have come up with and so broadens your horizons.
Sometimes you will find something in that list you like that you would not have tried and can sometimes find whole new builds that develop out of it.
My current fancy is the Loganwing list very similar to that played by the 11th company podcast guys. I played a Loganwing all terminator player from out of town at a local tournament, then when hearing the 11th Company talking about wolf guard (before they came up with thier list) it made me think and so I hit pen and paper and came up with a list, ironically only to find out they came up with a very similar list!
This is my problem with some of the net list accusations. Leafblower for example was just mechanized guard. Any idiot looking to compete would eventually go mechanized with thier guard and so suddenly as evryone brought Guard to Adepticon (because it was the most powerful codex not because BoLS are influential) it was decided that BoLS had tainted the game… bullshit! All they did was take credit for an inevitability.
So I would say before you assume your opponent stole thier list, ask them how they decided to use the units together. Maybe they got there before the internet, or maybe they just want to know what something different feels like.
Anyway great article, you guys go from strength to strength.
November 18th, 2010 at 10:52 am
net-lists are over-rated.
you get no-where with them unless you yourself know what you are doing.