List Building for Advantage

This week, I'm going to talk a bit about something that comes up for every miniatures gamer: list building for advantage. Now, I don't mean building strong tournament lists or taking the strongest net-list. In fact, what I want to talk about probably wouldn't work well at tournaments at all. I'm going to use my Space Wolves for Warhammer 40,000 in my example but this kind of list building can take place in any miniatures game (or even card games with a deck-building element).

Rather than continuing to talk in broad generalities, I'm going to present a situation. One of my regular opponents has recently started a new army (Tyranids). He asked me if I wanted to play a 1000 point game. I agreed and now I need to make my list.

Most of the time, I would take my generic list at the assigned points value. I have lists for 1500, 1750, 1850, and now 2000. Each game, I tweak them a bit (mostly fiddling with the load out for my Wolf Guard) but the majority of the list stays the same. This is where I run into a problem; I don't currently have a 1000 point list. Looking at things in a black and white perspective, I have two options: I can make a generic 1000 point list including melta guns, scouts with melta bombs, etc (which loses a lot of effectiveness); or I can load out my list with flamers and mech (which is very effective against 'nids).

Players face this choice almost every time they schedule a friendly game. Should I bring my all comers list or specialize my list specialized to my opponent? Ultimately, I chose something between the two extremes. I took a list without Wolf Scouts (a usual staple of mine for their anti-tank capabilities) but I didn't overload on 'nid killing elements. I expect my opponent to do the same; don't take units that are going to be useless against your opponent but don't be a jerk either.

I've been on the receiving end of a list designed specifically to kill my army. I was my first game with my Space Wolves and I was playing against IG. It was a small game, so my options were limited. I put together a fairly standard list and while I would have liked to take meltaguns, I didn't because I wanted to play WYSIWYG. On the other hand, he took 3 veterine squads in chimeras with plasma guns to cut down my marines. To make matters worse, his plasma vets were all proxied meltaguns and grenade launchers. I was not an enjoyable game (though the list was not the only problem).

So, to sum up my thoughts: list building for advantage is OK as long as both players are on the same page. If you want to play WYSIWYG, agree with your opponent; if you want to run the hardest list you can, let your opponent know ahead of time. If you're unsure what your opponent expects, follow one simple rule: don't be a douche bag.