Part II. Cavalcade • A Fresh Look on Tactics & Strategy for 40k 5th Edition

Okay so in the first part of htis article I discussed elements of the game that I have seen others claim are a detriment to competitive play. This included composition, sportsmanship, & FAQs. These deal primarily with tournaments but can also apply to leagues as well. If you play at often at the same shop you will be affected by the atmosphere projected by others who play there. Often you will find discussion on the Internet that deals with certain types of gamers you will often encounter. The TFG (that f*cking guy) is always a subject of much discussion. The term TFG could apply to WAAC (win at all cost) gamers, cheaters and other types that people generally do not enjoy playing. TFG is somewhat of an archetype. We have all run across them. Often they are also referred to as cheesy or beardy. Rules lawyers also fall under the heading of TFG. Personally I think most of us progress through various players and at some point we will decide what direction we focus upon... Some players like the background of their armies and focus upon building armies that they believe represent this aspect. Others will decide to focus upon competitive play to the exclusion of other aspects. Of course background and competitive are just two poles, most gamers fall somewhere in between and there are also the hobbyists that focus upon modeling, conversions and painting. I am a competitive tournament gamer plus I am into building nice looking armies. I also like to build unique armies.

To me and my way of thinking if you want to be a competitive gamer that wins a lot then it's important not to get hung up on the issues I discussed in the first part of this series of articles. If you decide to play in a tournament then you have in effect agreed to abide by the terms and rules set forth by the TO (tournament organizer). If you don't like comp for instance then why waste your time participating in a tournament or league that uses comp? Good players can make due with these various aspects and do well. I prefer to play in tournaments because they are competitive. Anyone who plays in a tournament that does not like competitive play is bound to not have fun and will most likely not be fun to play against. Let's face it, this is a game so there will always be winners and losers. Losing is a great opportunity to learn and improve your game.

I tend to avoid tournaments that favor the local players. I play at a lot of different stores so I run across all kinds of gamers and tournament formats. The more you can play different people the more you can improve your game.

So one little rant then I will focus on the main emphasis of this series of articles. Sometimes you will run across a gamer who plays armies that are built around some subtle rule. I often find these gamers to be rules lawyers and they will bend some rule in order to win. While I don't enjoy this type of gamer playing against them can help you to improve your grasp of the rules. If you want to be a competitive gamer then you must learn all the rules of the game and know them inside and out, otherwise you will be in for some unpleasant surprises. That is why players who build entire armies around some subtle interpretation of a certain rule are people I don't enjoy playing. They are hoping to exploit the rule in such a manner to help them win. Seriously I think this type of gamer is in actuality not a true good general since they rely upon tricks to win.

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