News:

Cammerz brings us some fantastically painted and customised Alpha Legion. Check out their work with detail shots and design insight.

Main Menu

How do I make the game more interesting?

Started by Waaaghpower, June 09, 2013, 02:10:25 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Waaaghpower

So... I'm starting to get just a little bored with 40k. It's a great game, but my LGS isn't exactly full of challenging opponents. The only decent player there has a mediocre army and horrible dice, so I haven't been challenged as of late. Even using sisters of battle, I generally trash the opponent.
However, I don't want to just use bad tactics or army lists to balance the games. Intentionally crippling myself is just as bad if not worse. So... what do I do?
Super Mario 3D World is The. Best. Thing.

crisis_vyper

Quote from: Waaaghpower on June 09, 2013, 02:10:25 AM
So... I'm starting to get just a little bored with 40k. It's a great game, but my LGS isn't exactly full of challenging opponents. The only decent player there has a mediocre army and horrible dice, so I haven't been challenged as of late. Even using sisters of battle, I generally trash the opponent.
However, I don't want to just use bad tactics or army lists to balance the games. Intentionally crippling myself is just as bad if not worse. So... what do I do?

I have the same problem as you this past year, and personally what I do is to use these weak opponents as a way to test out the things that may slip under my radar the first time round. Consider it as a training lab where you try to understand how the other units in the book works in synergy with each other. If your opponent is good, you are predisposed to take only obviously good units in a particular style of play, and ignore the potential of units in different styles of play. Make a list that is outside your comfort zone, but look out for the synergy between the units and make a strong list using those units. You actually might find something that plugs a weakness in your current list. If you can't have a challenge in your opponent, make a challenge for yourself.

This is how I actually get to understand how many units in the Dark Eldar army works. So far I am rather impressed with quite a number of units and wargears, except the Mandrakes and their Boss Mandrake (they are a lost cause) and playing around with ratios of different units allow me to understand how much is too much and how much is too little. Thanks to that I found a lot of weird unconventional solutions to problems such as IG gunlines and the likes.

Carrelio

You could also try forging a narrative.  The whole 6th edition rule set (literally just about every page) encourages players to think outside the box and make the game an adventure, not just play to kick the crap out of somebody else's army.  Make up (or buy/find) some interesting scenarios and interesting deployments (unstable planet with volcanic craters everywhere, and difficult terrain multiplying every turn, and smoke clouds, and noxious gas, and etc.! So much excitement to be had).  Use units you wouldn't normally use, and set your own special objectives beyond what the book has for you (write down a regular infantry target for an assassination and without telling your opponent who the target is, try to kill him... or make one side an undying horde, where when a unit is wiped out, it can come in from reserve).  There's tons of stuff to do to make the game more exciting beyond just thinking of inventive ways to handicap yourself while your stomp all over people's hopes and dreams :P

Waaaghpower

The problem with house gane types is that most of the players are still working on the rules for normal games. I might try fluffy army lists, but I also don't want to spend a lot of money buying crap units just for fluff's sake.
Maybe I should proxy? I don't like using units for things that they aren't, but it might at least shake things up a bit.
Super Mario 3D World is The. Best. Thing.

Carrelio

The game doesn't have to be any more challenging for the other players, there's a whole missions book dedicated to providing more interesting games with cool narratives and different objectives.  There's also a pdf floating around out there somewhere.  I played some of the missions when I was still learning.  It doesn't change the basics of the game, it just adds interest to what you're doing.  The only catch is that you have to walk to other person through the rules of the scenario (which shouldn't be hard to do), but other than that... it's still 40k.

Thantos

Back when I played more often, we would add narrative to games (echoing Carrelio) by introducing specalist games like =][= or BFG.

Off the top of my head:

Imperial SoB planet is under attack by chaos marines.

* Play a game of BFG weighted to the chaos players favour - chaos ships just have to make it past the imperials to make planetfall - amount of ships make it past determine how many points are in the chaos players army in the 40k game.

*Play a game of =][= weighted to the imperial players advantage where a tech magnus and retuine must activate the arcane systems of the monastary defence guns, chaos players warband must try and stop him. If the gun gets ativated, imperial player gets 1 S8 Ap2 ordanance blast shot per turn anywhere on the board, in the 40k game.

*Play the 40k game with the mods from the other two games.

Inquisitor is really easy to get into and great fun. You can play it with 40k scale minis and just replace all measurements in inches for metric cms. If you want a more challanging game of 40k at the end, make the other scenarios easier for your opponent so they get a bonus/ you get a handicap. Also Killteam works well for extra objectives.


Arguleon-veq

Are there no gaming clubs in your area? I went a long time when I was younger playing in one gaming club and having the some problem untill I found a few others nearby that had been around for ages but I never knew about, they turned out to be far more competative.

Id do a local search to be sure.

Failing that, going to a few tournaments will give you some competative gaming contacts who you can always arrange to meet up with again for a few games.

Me and a friend recently had some fun just getting a codex and rolling for what units we would include in our armies.
X-Wing Tournaments;
1st - 38
11th - 33

Waaaghpower

There's two gaming clubs: One populated by over competitive expletives, and the local GW. Guess which one I go to?
I might propose some fluffy games, see how that works.
Super Mario 3D World is The. Best. Thing.

Chicop76

Every time one of you lose a unit you have to take a shot of Chartreuse ad a floater of Barcadi 151 on top. It makes the game interesting.

If you lose and objective you have to drink a flaming Dr. Pepper.

If you lose the game you have to drink absinthe.


Arguleon-veq

You should try that competative club then as you are after more competative games, Im sure everybody there wont have a bad attitude.

You can always split your time between the two, if you want a competative game go to the competative club and if you want to try something fluffy you can play at your usual club.
X-Wing Tournaments;
1st - 38
11th - 33

Waaaghpower

I used to go to the competitive club, but of the people that went there, maybe four were friendly and they didn't show up consistently. I was accused of cheating at a tournament once because my opponent didn't know how WAAAGH! worked, and because he was friends with the TO I got followed around for the rest of the tournament by the organizer.(Who gave aadvice to a player I went against and changed what should have been a tie into my loss.) And then he said he'd kick me out if I cheated again... without even asking what rule was broken or verifying I did something wrong.
I'd rather have boring games.

And Chicop... I'd love to, but I'm underage.
Super Mario 3D World is The. Best. Thing.

Chicop76

Quote from: Waaaghpower on June 09, 2013, 08:30:07 PM
I used to go to the competitive club, but of the people that went there, maybe four were friendly and they didn't show up consistently. I was accused of cheating at a tournament once because my opponent didn't know how WAAAGH! worked, and because he was friends with the TO I got followed around for the rest of the tournament by the organizer.(Who gave aadvice to a player I went against and changed what should have been a tie into my loss.) And then he said he'd kick me out if I cheated again... without even asking what rule was broken or verifying I did something wrong.
I'd rather have boring games.

And Chicop... I'd love to, but I'm underage.

Was gonna say hire a stripper. I'll leave that one to your thoughts.

Well scream real loud and beat on your chest for every unit you wipe out.


Waaaghpower

Quote from: Chicop76 on June 10, 2013, 02:07:12 AM
Quote from: Waaaghpower on June 09, 2013, 08:30:07 PM
I used to go to the competitive club, but of the people that went there, maybe four were friendly and they didn't show up consistently. I was accused of cheating at a tournament once because my opponent didn't know how WAAAGH! worked, and because he was friends with the TO I got followed around for the rest of the tournament by the organizer.(Who gave aadvice to a player I went against and changed what should have been a tie into my loss.) And then he said he'd kick me out if I cheated again... without even asking what rule was broken or verifying I did something wrong.
I'd rather have boring games.

And Chicop... I'd love to, but I'm underage.

Was gonna say hire a stripper. I'll leave that one to your thoughts.

Well scream real loud and beat on your chest for every unit you wipe out.
I do yell WAAAGH! whenever I call one.
Super Mario 3D World is The. Best. Thing.

The Man They Call Jayne

Play for keeps.

Any unit that gets totally wiped out is handed over to the destroyer, who then gets to physically obliterate those models for good. It REALLY keeps you on your toes.
Jaynes Awesome Card Counter: +5

Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



Saulus

Well, there are two things I do when we want to have a good time and also maybe learn something new at the same time.

1) Create a 1700 point list where every unit is as close to 100 points as possible (in cases like GK etc, 200 for some. That's 2 HQ (200) 6 troops (600) 3 Elites (300), 3 heavies (300) 3 Fast (300). You use every slot, and get some pretty neat armies. If your HQ are too expensive, just cap it at 200 with one HQ.

2) Dont make a list for yourself, make your opponents list, and have them make yours. Go out fo your way to make it terrible! What's terrible for you might work out neat for them.

1) and 2) Learn new combinations that you never would have thought of, as the contraints you are given force creativity of play.
No fear. No mercy. No matter what.