Chess Lessons in 40K

Or how I'm trying not to be a douche while gaming.

Inspired by the BoLS post by goatboy in which he talks about having fun with the game, I started thinking about my own flaws when it comes to tabletop gaming. For the record, I really like goatboy's posts on BoLS and look forward to them. He's got some great things to say about the hobby and seems like he's found a way to balance competitive playing with having fun.

Huh. Seems like I forgot about that hilarious leaping ability.

In my own personal gaming style, I know I've got some ways to go before I'm that guy that people love to play against. I think I'm a good, fun player and a decent host, but I do have some faults and I'm really trying not to indulge in them! One of my faults is that I participate in the metagame-disruption tactics without even meaning to do it. For example, when an opponent makes a move that not only surprises me, but I think is less than optimal, I'll make a sound like "huh." It comes so naturally that until a friend called me on it, I didn't even notice I was doing it! Once he pointed it out, I could see how it was rather obnoxious and metagame-disruptive!

I think the habit comes from my youthful days of playing on the chess team. In competitive chess, you'd keep careful notations of a game with every opponent so that later you can go back and review what you did right and where it all went terribly wrong. In addition to the game tracking, you'd also apply short hand notes next to a move, like "?" or a "!". The "?" represents a move that really threw you off (though it can also mean bad move) and you can't see why your opponent would do it. The "!" was when your opponent pulled a brilliant move that you didn't see coming and ruined your day.

When playing chess with teammates/friends, I'd say "huh" and note the "?" in the tracker. Actually, more often than not, they'd do it to me as I was an average player that made lots of mistakes. It was just a verbal signal to the other player that I might ask about this later so try and remember the why. The critical step is that you didn't interrupt the game to ask why...you're supposed to be playing competively!


The practice was all about learning how to be a better player by learning from your opponent's thinking. I'm by no means the best 40k player ever, but I am competitive (some might say "really" competitive!), so I try to optimize my moves on the board to win the game. If the person across the table does something that throws me for a loop, I can't help wondering why and I have trouble suppressing the urge to be all like "What are you thinking here?". That's when the "huh" sound pops out and I participate in the metagame disruption! My friends understand that signal to mean "bad move, sucker," so they second guess their next move or they feel thrown off (or just write it off as Cawshis being a douche again!).


I just want to say that I don't mean "bad move, sucker!" It's more "what's the plan here? I figured you'd do something else!" Imagine a battlefield and the Space Marine captain is getting signals about enemy troop movements and he sees the latest report and he thinks "What is that damned Farseer up to? What did I miss?" I'm just trying to get into your head to determine your next step. And, also, to be honest, sometimes I'm also thinking "gosh. that's not what I would've done in your shoes…why'd you do it?"


I wonder what's the best way in a friendly game to make it so that you can exchange these "?" or "!" moments in play without sounding like you're being critical or mocking?

Charging these Tau was AWESOME!!! They barely Fight at all!

It's easy to remember the "!" moments. These "!" moments are when both sides of the table are all like "that was awesome!" and you celebrate them right away or talk about them while packing up. They're one of the reasons why we play 40k (along with the strategy and hobby fun!). I don't think any friendly game group has trouble talking about the cool stuff! Amazing rolling. Unlikely victories. Neat tactics. That's the next best part about a day hanging out playing 40K with friends!

What worked for the Tau doesn't work for the Orks.

But how do you bring up the"?" moments in play? Do you ask at the end? Do you ask while playing and give the player the opportunity to take it back? How competitive do you keep a friendly game (by not asking), but still allow for opportunities to learn how to play better (by asking)? Is every friendly game an "open game" where all moves are discussed? Do you set up "learning games" with friends to try out new army configs or units?

I don't have the answer, but I'm sure now that going "huh" in play isn't the way to do it! How do you talk tactics and strategy in a game without infringing on the fun of the competition? Do you separate the two types of game and make it clear? What personal flaws are you working on to ensure gaming with friends stays fun?

Crimson Fist Tactical Marines

As of this post, I have 3 full tactical squads painted (though they are missing the Fist icons on the shoulder pads). I don't really go for the names on each squad as some other folks do...mainly cause I easily forget them and cause I don't like to get attached to my marines.

They're supposed to die for the Emperor, after all. Why bother learning their names? Maybe after a few games with these guys, the stand-out marines who do well for me will earn their stripes...err...names!

For the first squad, I used a Sternguard veteran model as the Sgt. I figured if I field sternguard in the future, I can just grab him. He's my favorite model of the entire set...in a set of great models. His neck-armor and shoulder pads are just perfect and I'm now trying out ways to mimic his look on my plastic models. I think I can do the neck brace (you'll see an example later when I post my Devastator Sgt)...the thigh-armors have got me wondering if its finally time to try my hand at green stuff.

Here's squad two. All Black Reach marines except the Sgt. I wanted to mix up the look of the Sgts instead of using both Black Reach ones (I'll probably use the 2nd Black Reach sgt in my Dark Angels army!). I used the head from the Dark Angels set I think. Though it could be a devastator head.

Tactical Squad 3. All Black Reach marines (I shared two sets with friends. They got the orks. I took all the marines) in a standard Missile Launcher, Flamer formation.

This Sgt came out pretty nice for my first Crimson Fist model (I'm showing them in reverse order of painting). I used several washes for the face and even resurrected the old "Bronzed Flesh" color from GW. I can't say enough good things about the washes and foundation paints. They've really saved me time and heartache.

Since I wanted to keep them mobile, I added two rhinos to the armory and I plan to add a third.

I used to have a lot more citadel transfers on them, but they all seem to fall off minutes after I put them on. I'm exploring ways of keeping the damn transfers on until I seal the models. An astute Marine modeler might notice that the headlights are a little low on the model. Well, I glued them on wrong on my first rhino. Whoops! To keep the army consistent, all my rhino-chassis vehicles are going to have to have low-headlights.

As a former Tau player, I really like Tactical Marines. The versatility of their formations (different weapon load outs, transport options, Sgt. Customization and the ability to combat squad) really makes them a great Troop choice. They can do anything pretty required pretty well! Just don't ask them to stand up to specialized units like Assaulty-Orks or Shooty Guard. I like to field them as combat squads against horde armies (to divide up those assaults) and as full squads against other marines or necrons to improve their survival.

In play, my tacticals have a mission in my head supported by either some elites or support fire. Usually the mission is "take that objective and hold it." Sometimes it might be "Draw some fire" or "Destroy that gun" if I see something I don't like on the board but isn't relevant to winning the game (like an artillery unit not near an objective). I never send them out alone if I can help it...they're good enough to take a turn or two of punishment, but they need Elite or Fast Attack support to push enemies out of cover or to survive an opposing elite attack. I nearly always have two tacticals in all my lists, if not 3. They're just great bang for the buck! I've taken to always supporting them with Dreadnaught or two...for fluffy reasons (I'd expect the rebuilding of the Crimson Fists to involve a lot of Dreadnaughts leading the newly minted marines into battle) and cause I just love the model. I'll be posting the Dreads up next-ish.

Battle: Crimson Fists vs Orks

Recently, I had the pleasure of having Jimble's Orks over for a 1500 point battle. It was a standard seize ground mission, with 5(!) objectives. It was Jimble's first game with 1500 points of Orks and my first "serious" game against his orks (I had battled him before in a 500 point combat patrol...but that was with my Tau...and he trounced me!). This time, though, I had marines, so I was prepared...with a hastily-tacked together LRC!.

We had the basic setup of long table edges and I let Jimbles have first turn. Usually I prefer to have first turn, but I didn't want to give the Orks the advantage of knowing where I set up...plus I was debating keeping some of my marines in reserve.

Here's our lists (from memory):
Crimson Fists:
Chapter Master w/ Terminator Armor, Combiflamer
5 Terminators, Sgt w/ Power Sword
x2 Dreadnaughts w/ MMelta, Power Fist, Extra Armor, Hvy Flamers
x2 10 Marine Tacticals w/ Rhino, ML, Flamer
10 Marine Tacticals w/ Power Fist, Plasma Rifle, Heavy Bolter
Land Raider Crusader w/ Extra Armor

Orks:
Warboss w/ 10-12 Nobz w/ Power Claws, 2Hd Axes (choppas?), etc.
Warboss w/ Mecha armow w/ 5 Orks in mechaarmor/powerclaws
Trukk for 2nd Warboss.
Looted Wagon w/ Big Gun and armor.
x2 Ork Boyz w/ ~20 orks+nob+powerclaw+bosspole
Gretchin Squad w/ Herder
Gretchin w/ Barrage gun thing.

Here's a REALLY blurry photo from mid game. It's terribad blurry. It's also missing ~2ft of the table on the bottom and a good amount of my Crimson Fists, but it gives you an idea of where everything went on the first turn. I apologize. I should have taken the shot right after set up and made sure it was nice, but you know how it is. You just want to get playing!

(click the pic for larger version)

Not pictured are the Defcoptas that scout-moved to the middle of the board and then moved some more to blow up a Dreadnaught in the Orks first turn. Red dots are the objectives.

I won't go blow-for-blow as it was a game for fun and learning our armies, but I'll list a couple of things I learned in this game:

1. Land Raider Crusaders kill Orks. It's almost like that's what they are designed to do...Machine Spirit let's me fire both the melta and the assault cannon up to 6 inches AND the bolters get to fire. It's pretty brutal on those Boyz out in the open.
   
2. Defcoptas are more dangerous than they look. The T5, 2W and 4+save makes them tough to bring down. And the TL rokkits make them dangerous! Turboboosting scout moves should give them great targets right from turn one! I'd hate to face squadrons of them!
   
3. Terminators with Power Sword kill Orks in Mechasuitz. The ability to strike first meant my Termie Chapter Master killed 3 mechaorks in 1 swipe (1 wounded Ork+5 wounds on 5 attacks= Victory in Assault).
4. Power Claws kill Dreadnaughts. 3 of them to be exact. Never charge a Nobz squad with power claws.
   
5. Orbital Bombardment has failed to impress. I'm 0 for 3 in calling down the pain. I might stop paying those extra 25 points for it and just field captains. Or invest a few more points and get a character.
   
6. Extra Armor is kind of meh on Dreadnaughts. I'm finding that the Dreadnaughts either explode when they get hit at OR they simply don't get hit. I've yet to downgrade a stunned. Might be worth paying for Venerables instead.
   

If you're interested, I put up a simple slideshow of the better shots. Jimble's orks are beautifully painted...so nicely done that I wound up taking a lot of pictures of them! I really love the Ork aesthetic..but with a Tau army, a Dark Angels army and now a Crimson Fists army, I don't think I should be adding another.* I look forward to the next game against Jimb! He's a great guy to game against and a good friend. Check out his blog and encourage him to post more!

*Especially with the Imperial Guard coming out!