CALLING EVERYONE what is the best way to play Warhammer 40k

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**Jancoran**

Silly...yet lots of answers.

I said no to 40K for ten years because it ws expensive even then. then I saw Robotech in a box (Tau). suddenly, I became the most dedicated 40K player you'll ever find.

So the idea of playing an army you don't CARE about seems... absurd. Why bother? Just to win? Psh. Done the winning thing. It's fun. WAY more fun with a cool army.

As for strategy, my personal success has been due to judicious use of reserves and sneakery. I find that, as in the Battle report I put up on the 40KUnorthodoxy blog, that I am loing in the early going and pick up steam as the game goes on. What looks like certain defeat turns into gratiying victory by allowing the enemy to choose its poison instead of trying to choose it for them (read: instead of forcing thundr and lightning down their throats and hoping the dice gawds favor you).

I like making the dice as IRRELEVANT as I can by creating the worst possible mismatchs at the right time. The movement phase is where my games are won.

**xlEternitylx**

azazel the cat wrote:
thunderwarrior wrote:So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play Warhammer 40k is with a pretty girl.

Both players should be using the least durable units possible, with the house rule that all players remove an article of clothing every time you lose a unit, and take a drink every time you kill one of your opponent's units.

I have no idea which army will be triumphant, but I can assure you that everyone wins.

EDIT: This thread is ridiculous.

Sig'd this so hard.

On topic: The best way to play is by following the rules I find. No really. You feel way better if you win having been honest as opposed to smudging the dice here and there.

**DonerStoom**

The best way to play is to punch heads in combat.
Because the best things in life are to see your enemies driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women!

**shogun**

greyknight12 wrote:
And then there is the forum format issue: people disagree. If I post that "mech guard are the bomb" in your general army list thread, 3 other people will rave about how foot gunline guard are actually the best then someone will talk about necron air then 2 other people will come back to defend mech guard and 2 more people will comment on the specifics of necron air before another guy brings up the banner of devastation.

Yes, because everybody got a different experience. Are you playing tournaments or only at your local Gaming store? Do you play 1500 points or 2500 points? What kind of rules? (At the dutch grand tournament the only allow 4 flyers/flying monsterous creatures but also allow forgeworld this year).

If you want direct answer: Be shootie, Be tough, Have enough scoring units and know how to use the rules (especially against the 'rock' to your 'scissors' .

At a tournament:

crappy army + crappy player = crappy result
good army + crappy player = below average result
average army + good player = above average result
good army + good player = your at the top 3
good army + good player + a little luck = tournament winner

So get in the game!

And please don't listen to those remarks like:

The best way to play is to play the army you like, the way you like and to have fun.

You're not asking about the most 'fun'-way to play 40k because thats up to you.. You want to know the best way to defeat your enemies!!!!!!!!

**Ixidor13**

There are THREE keys to playing the game, having fun, and sticking with an army (not buying one then another over and over).

You have to like the looks.
You have to like how it plays.
You have to like the fluff.

Do that and you'll love the game.

**Evileyes**

If you want to win, pick an army that fit's your style.

The worst army in the game, with a player who enjoys them, knows them, and has experience with them, will beat the player who dislikes his playstyle, but got his army because the internet told him it was an unbeatable army.

**shogun**

Evileyes wrote:
If you want to win, pick an army that fit's your style.

The worst army in the game, with a player who enjoys them, knows them, and has experience with them, will beat the player who dislikes his playstyle, but got his army because the internet told him it was an unbeatable army.

I dont agree. A player will never use a play-style he dislikes. He could however get a "unbeatable" army from the internet, win a lot of games and really like this play-style.

**greyknight12**

Shogun, you're partially right, and that's Evileyes' point: people will take a list from the internet, and use their own playstyle. Thing is, their playstyle might not match the list. So they take Draigowing and sneak them around, or an ork nob biker mob and shoot you with them. That's why you pick an army that fits your playstyle, and go from there. I would say that nearly every army has a "power build" that functions in the theme of the army, so picking what you enjoy will lead to more wins in the end because you'll more readily pick up on and play to the nuances of how that army works. And furthermore, the game changes. The necrons will probably suck in 7th edition, and everyone will be running pyrovore spam. If you're going to invest the $1000+ an army will often require then you want your investment to last, and be something that you will enjoy for several years.

**Ailaros**

The idea of there being A best army with THE best list is preposterous. Even if it did exist, the extremely marginal gain you'd get relative to other strong lists is nothing compared to the fact that you roll SIX-SIDED DICE to determine the outcomes of your games.

As such, I agree with the general idea that the best way to play 40k is to be found in the meta. How nice your minis look, what kind of awesome things the dice decide that they do, what nationality the cigars you're smoking are from, how drunk you are, how many one dollar bills you're shoving into a stripper's g-string while you're playing, etc. etc.