Playstyles - Simple

...and then the Grinch got a wonderful, *awful* idea!


I have been doing some random thinking and watching games played in the last couple of weeks at my local gaming club. Each player seems to have developed various styles of play and tactics. These tactics do not always suit the army being played but can be used as a base.


I do not think these are the only styles but this is the basis for my brain fart.

The basic mindsets can be broken down into:
Offensive
Defensive
Balanced

Theses are fairly simple as far as my theories start.

Offensive
An army that is straight forward in its approach. it want s shove itself down your throat. Armies like this tend to focus on an alpha strike. Hoping to weaken their opponent in the first couple of turns into submission.This can be done via firepower or strong assault units. Any transports or vehicles used are just force multiplies* (something I will discuss at a later date)

The biggest weakness if being able to blunt or avoid their attacks. Thus turning their strengths into a weakness. pure offensive armies tend to have few troop choices and makes objective games a bane.

Armies that do this well:
Dark Eldar, Blood Angels, Daemons, CSM, IG, GK

Defensive
You will not be able to kill them fast enough! These armies rely on being able to weather attacks and wear down their opponents. Masses of infantry and/or cheap units to cover the field. Minimal upgrades in favour of "more boots on the ground". Another approach is to take one "tough" unit and have it absorb fire.

Defensive armies suffer is a fast army is able to close the distance with the units or avoid the "tar pit" unit.

Armies that do this well:
IG, Tau, Eldar, SM, CSM

Balanced
This is 'common' approach to building a list, but can be hard to master. These armies usually combine defensive and offensive units or armies within an army. The combination leaves them able to 'deal' with most situations. Diverse units are also tooled to be able to accomplish primary and secondary role.

This balance can leave the army weak on 'killing' force and an elite army can take advantage by pressing a flank.

Armies that do this well:
SM, IG, Eldar, DE, Daemons, Tau
----------------------------------------------------------
Well that concludes this set of ramblings, for now.

***These examples are just my opinions and your mileage may vary.**

Stay tuned to a further discussion regarding the five elements. Yes, I said five.

No comments:

Post a Comment