Jump to content

PNW 40K "Etiquette"

indytims

By indytims
in Warhammer 40,000

 Share

Recommended Posts

indytims Newbie

indytims

Posted
Posted

Howdy!

 

I moved to the PNW not too long ago, and am now settled enough that I've started to unpack my GW stuff and am hoping to jump back into some non-competitive 40K/WHFB/LotR gaming. Yay!

 

That being said... I've been around the proverbial block with GW games since 1988. I've played with many groups over the years in various parts of the country. One thing I've noticed right away is that lots of places use houserules, and lots of places have 'common practices' that are accepted in different areas.

 

Since I no long player 'competitively', I am more than happy to observe houserules/practices that will keep me out of hot-water in the eyes of my fellow players. For example, I've played in areas where named characters were frowned upon, but I've also played in stores where they were a dime a dozen. So in an effort to 'fit in' with the gaming crowd (especially in the Vancouver area), I was hoping to find out what some general 'thoughts' are regarding 40K here in this part of the country.

 

Match size - what is the most common game size for pick-up games at, say, Dice Age? 1500? 2k?

 

Named characters - as above, are named characters generally frowned upon? Perfectly accepted?

 

Painted figs - 80-90% of my armies are painted. I personally have no problem with my opponent using painted or non-painted stuff (as long as I can tell what the figs are). Are people pretty hard-core about painted figs here, or are they fairly accepting, in general, as long as figs are assembled?

 

WYSIWYG - Are folks in this area pretty hard-core about models being armed with the weapons their troops/characters have paid the points for? If I have a warwalker or a carnifex modeled a certain way, but I pay the points for a different weapons load-out - are people going to freak about it as I am explaining that before the game? Or are folks generally fine with a model being relatively close to what it's supposed to be on the roster?

 

'Cheese' - I understand some places are more accepting of 'beardiness' than other places. I play strictly to have fun, and often use army lists that might make some folks laugh at how simple/plain/uncompetitive they are. But I also realize that there are -some- loadouts/models/units that make some people want to vomit. For example, reading this forum the past couple days, I noticed one guy said he won't even play against Eldar *at all*. Are there armies/army types that people generally frown upon, or simply refuse to play against? My main army is Eldar... but I don't 'do' mecha-Eldar or trick out lists in order to 'win at all costs'. I often use models I just think LOOK cool, whether they suck or not in-game. But the last thing I would want to do is create a list I think would be 'cool', only to learn that in the local gaming arena, such a list generates the hatred of a thousand burning suns. Are there Eldar units in particular that I would be advised to keep in the minis case?

 

My second army being Tyranids, I would ask the same questions. Are there 'Nid units/models that generate evil glares by the mere mention of their names?

 

Is there anything else I should know about as I dip my toe into the GW pond in the Vancouver/Portland area?

 

Thank you for your time. :)

 

-Tim

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lord Hanaur Rookie

Lord Hanaur

Posted
Posted

Match size - what is the most common game size for pick-up games at, say, Dice Age? 1500? 2k?

 

Named characters - as above, are named characters generally frowned upon? Perfectly accepted?

 

Painted figs - 80-90% of my armies are painted. I personally have no problem with my opponent using painted or non-painted stuff (as long as I can tell what the figs are). Are people pretty hard-core about painted figs here, or are they fairly accepting, in general, as long as figs are assembled?

 

WYSIWYG - Are folks in this area pretty hard-core about models being armed with the weapons their troops/characters have paid the points for? If I have a warwalker or a carnifex modeled a certain way, but I pay the points for a different weapons load-out - are people going to freak about it as I am explaining that before the game? Or are folks generally fine with a model being relatively close to what it's supposed to be on the roster?

 

'Cheese' - I understand some places are more accepting of 'beardiness' than other places. I play strictly to have fun, and often use army lists that might make some folks laugh at how simple/plain/uncompetitive they are. But I also realize that there are -some- loadouts/models/units that make some people want to vomit. For example, reading this forum the past couple days, I noticed one guy said he won't even play against Eldar *at all*. Are there armies/army types that people generally frown upon, or simply refuse to play against? My main army is Eldar... but I don't 'do' mecha-Eldar or trick out lists in order to 'win at all costs'. I often use models I just think LOOK cool, whether they suck or not in-game. But the last thing I would want to do is create a list I think would be 'cool', only to learn that in the local gaming arena, such a list generates the hatred of a thousand burning suns. Are there Eldar units in particular that I would be advised to keep in the minis case?

 

My second army being Tyranids, I would ask the same questions. Are there 'Nid units/models that generate evil glares by the mere mention of their names?

 

Is there anything else I should know about as I dip my toe into the GW pond in the Vancouver/Portland area?

 

Thank you for your time. :)

 

-Tim

Howdy Tim..Standard sized games are 1850, though we casually play 2,000  VERY often in my area (Olympia) so in my area you often see "Scalable armies" that have about 150 points we can drop on a dime to conform if someone wants to play that 1850 size.

 

Named Characters are in, here.  No one cares.  They used to.  They don't now.  Like ever.  Though I will share this with you:  My hate for Mephiston is eternal.  Killing him is the only victory I need.  I'll throw the game to kill him.  Lol.

 

Painted Figs:  to be honest, I meet very few who care enough to say a word.  I am sure we all want a person to play with painted stuff but I really...  REALLY...  don't think a few unpainted figs will phase most of us.  Tournaments will require it though.  Kinda big on that.

 

WYSIWYG is pretty popular here.  No one likes surprises and there's a lot of models on the table sometimes; so keeping it straight is important.  Here again, as long as you tell your opponent whats going on and its not "This Ork is a Sea horse" type stuff, then I don't think anyone would flip a table on you over this either.  At tournaments its pretty much required though.

 

Beardiness factor:  Around here, the beardiness isn't popular.  No one really likes it and lots of tournaments employ house rules.  Sometimes they are just for variety, suich as the one this morning which will have no super heavies.  Others are ITC type complex.  But regardless, the idea of beardiness is frowned upon pretty severely in these parts.  The OFCC itself has to approve your list and rates them to keep teams able to compete with one another and create fair fun match ups, as an example

Now I am going to tell you though:  Self interest drives this a LOT.  There tends to be some serious Chicken Little reactions to every codex.  It's a running joke that someone HAS to say "This is going to ruin Warhammer" after ANYTHING comes out.  It's tradition.  But I think if you're being fair to the guy in the mirror about it as to whether the list is "a bit much" or not, you'll fall on the pleasant side of that distinction more often than not.  

 

Frankly, not being a Douche when you play helps.  Even if you play hard lists, so what.  Most people will forgive it if you're not freaking out over everything and mocking their efforts to beat you.  People have a bad day once in a while, and i think everyone acknowledges that.  the TSHFT tournament, for example, allows one "Bad game" rating to slide because its a competitive game and sometimes people just like to tank your score.  If you get two "bad game" marks, bad things happen.

 

So yeah as this goes, its a big big thing.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
derek Newbie

derek

Posted
Posted

Dice age is pretty open to whatever you wanna bring. We are an open gaming group most of us just in the game for fun not to cheese out and be those guys. There's a few eldar players and they're all cool easy to get along with. if you're interested in dipping your toes in and don't wanna stress about the game a whole bunch then dice age is a great place to be on mondays from 6-9pm maybe earlier if you wanna get a game in before it's later in the evening

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Welcome.

 

As for your questions, basically "whatever" is presently being allowed. If playing competitively (as in, playing with priority of winning) there are certain units and related which are more reasonable than if playing casually (as in, playing with a goal of mutual fun with you and your opponent).

 

Of the things that tend to bother casual players, Super heavies, the Invisibility psychic power, D weapons, and a few others. Building an "all comers" list will often be enough to tone down your army for casual play. You can still use the units that bother casual players, but you should try to ensure that the ones you field are the more reasonable versions.

 

Competitive players tend to build an overspecialized list, not unlike Magic the Gathering players. Very often you will encounter armies with very few models or units, with their few being focused on having units that just don't take damage while you take considerable damage.

 

Mind you, the main distinction is in how the game is played, not what they bring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...