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Nothing. I tell them nothing. Even in a casual game.

Generally, which army and the points level.

I mainly play my son, and we have a few unspoken rules

- No named characters*
- Patrol detachment only (normally)
- no Super-heavies/Lords of War without mutual agreement (I’m the only one with such units).

* I just got Chapter Approved 2018, and we’re considering allowing Battle Honours and built characters based on some sort of campaign system we’ve still to cook up.

I don't really care as long as they aren't going to surprise me with something exotic like a titan or something. (which used to happen frequently). And I mean TITAN. Not a Knight or other 'common' Lord of War.

I appreciate knowing what level of competition I'm going up against, that way I can bring an appropriate list and be in the right frame of mind. Otherwise, knock yourself out and surprise me with your crazy build.

Here is what I do:

"My army is X, Y and Z. Do you have any questions on how things specifically work or do you know already?" and then answer any questions they have. If they don't ask about what range my shooty units have or ask how fast my choppy units are and then get annoyed mid-game about it, that's on them.

The same information is available to all players, the onus is on the players to make sure they know it.

Like with card games as well I generally say what I'm playing when we're organising it or before we actually meet up. It's in case they're tired of what I'm planning to bring or wanted to match up against something else to see how that goes.

But, I just also feel like letting them know cause I'm looking forward to it after tinkering with a list. Other than that we don't really have any restrictions as far as list building cause we're generally a pretty balanced group.

For a friendly game, I'd say at least a general idea. Not necessarily full army comp, but at least the army. I prefer to bring take-all-comers lists though rather than try to tailor a list.

My personal opinion is that if you're bringing a super heavy or like a lot of flyers, and it's a friendly game, not tournament prep or something, it's courtesy but not required to let your opponent know you're bringing it, just to avoid a situation where you bring 4 flyers and your opponent has no anti-air or catch them by surprise. Not because you need to, but because catching someone by surprise when they have zero ideas you might bring that, and thus no idea to prepare, often results in an unfun lopsided game.

My method has always been I'll tell you what faction I'm using After that, you just have to guess.

It made for an interesting arms race back when we were all younger; I'd turn up with a new tank one week, next week they'd have added a lascannon to a tactical squad, etc.

While I know this doesn't really have anything to do with "Friendly" games, I read a post about someone doing this once. IMHO, it's a great idea especially if you have the space to carry this many models. This was in a "TFG" thread...

So, a guy would bring three armies and two lists per army. His opponent would roll a D6, and whichever number it landed on, he'd play that list. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was a full disclosure at time of play kind of thing.

Turns out the TFG at that local gaming shop loved to beat people and rub it in. But, he would never play the guy with the three armies and six lists. It was completely random on what you would play against, so I couldn't see it as more fair.

As far as an actual "Friendly" game goes. I'd talk to that friend and say something like, "I'm bringing Dark Angels, what are you bringing?" Knowing the guys at my local GW, they'd be happy to tell me what they were bringing. And, that would be that. For me personally, I wouldn't even mind sending them a very detailed list of my army because I'm just there to have fun. If I don't win, then I don't win. I would hope my opponent would be just as open.

SG

If they ask, I'll tell them. If they don't, I keep schtum.

Saying what army you play beforehand is no brainer and i would say good manners. You dont want to come with anti tank vs horde because you wont have a good time. Both people supposed to have fun.

I say im playing Craftworlds. Then i say im not taking hemlocks/crimson hunters so they are aware im not doing hardcore competative list. And hope they are picking up what im putting down and likewise tobe down..

 Argive wrote:
Then i say im not taking hemlocks/crimson hunters so they are aware im not doing hardcore competative list. And hope they are picking up what im putting down and likewise tobe down..

NEVER assume that your opponent interprets your view of units the same way as you do. Many people don't hound the forums and pick up the latest online view of what "broken" models are or what constitutes a "competitive list" or a "power list" etc...

If you want to be less competitive say it, be very clear about your impressions and interpretations of the statement and what you want from the game. Otherwise you and your opponent can still come to the game with very different interpretations of the expectation for the match.

Half the time I bring 3-5 lists, and roll a d6 for what I want to play that day at the table, then do a full list breakdown for my opponent while I unpack.

But I generally tailor the strength of the list to the strength of my opponent unless we declare we're doing Tournament Prep, and then all bets are off.

I'll admit that I don't tell opponents of planned games what army I'll be playing ahead of time because most of the time, I don't pick what faction I'll be playing until I'm actively packing said faction into my vehicle or until after they've already shown up if we're playing at home. Then I'll print out one of the various prepared lists I have saved for that faction or spend a few minutes building and printing before heading on my way.

My faction ADD is strong enough that even if I pick ahead of time, I'll probably still end up grabbing a different set of cases.

If people built all-around balanced TAC lists, this wouldn't be an issue. Though, to be fair, knowing in advance would dictate whether my 4 Heavy Bolter Devastator squad saw the table or not.

 Overread wrote:
NEVER assume that your opponent interprets your view of units the same way as you do.

Not sure I would be as loudly (for lack of a better word) vocal over it, but I agree. If I bring my IK + IG army to the table for a "friendly" game, and that friend doesn't know what he's going up against before he/she comes to the table... that could turn them away from ever playing with you again. This could be especially true if they have just finished several months of painting their new, fun army only to be tabled before Turn 2 ends.

I think it's definitely a better idea to share what you're going to be playing first, and try to stay away from assuming that your opponent has the same opinion as you about a certain unit or model. If I had just finished painting my IK + IG army, I'd love to take it to the table. But, if my opponent simply doesn't have any army that can deal with three IKs with like 50 bullet catchers in front of them, I'd be happy to offer to bring something different (maybe Dark Angels, T'au, or Tyranids). If they wanted to try out something new that leans more toward the competitive side, then I'd try to give them a good game by maybe bringing my IK + IG list (maybe throw a Smash Captain in there if I had the points).

To me, it's not only kind and good manners but almost vital to share your list with the opponent during a "friendly" game so that you and your opponent can enjoy the game. Tournaments or Tournament practice... COMPLETELY different story.

SG

 ServiceGames wrote:
While I know this doesn't really have anything to do with "Friendly" games, I read a post about someone doing this once. IMHO, it's a great idea especially if you have the space to carry this many models. This was in a "TFG" thread...

So, a guy would bring three armies and two lists per army. His opponent would roll a D6, and whichever number it landed on, he'd play that list. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was a full disclosure at time of play kind of thing.

Turns out the TFG at that local gaming shop loved to beat people and rub it in. But, he would never play the guy with the three armies and six lists. It was completely random on what you would play against, so I couldn't see it as more fair.

As far as an actual "Friendly" game goes. I'd talk to that friend and say something like, "I'm bringing Dark Angels, what are you bringing?" Knowing the guys at my local GW, they'd be happy to tell me what they were bringing. And, that would be that. For me personally, I wouldn't even mind sending them a very detailed list of my army because I'm just there to have fun. If I don't win, then I don't win. I would hope my opponent would be just as open.

SG

I do that sometimes too when I'm in the mood to haul stuff.

I'm of the opinion that either nothing should be shared, or everything should be shared.

The "you should tell me your codex tho" folks almost always play an army that has many possible options and builds. If I tell you I'm bringing harlequins you KNOW that nothing over t5 is hitting the table, you KNOW everything but AP-1 is useless, and you KNOW I'll be relying on a few very specific rules for my anti-tank.

It's really really easy to tailor against certain factions that are forced into a skew list and designed around having access to fairly skewed abilities. GSC do not function if your opponent spams anti-deep strike. BA do not function the same way. Tyranids very rarely work against an army spamming dakka. Knights don't work against 2000 points of lascannons.

If you're playing pure harlequins, your army is simply not designed to go up against anti-infantry spam, and there's no "counter-tailoring" you can do if your opponent is, say, guard. They can bring nothing but punisher russes screened by guardsmen and you will lose, period.Your army is costed around getting some advantage out of your invuln saves and mobility.

To me an ideal game is either two players being as competitive as possible, leaving each other no excuses to blame the loss on resulting in badfeels, or as collaboratively as possible, sharing all details and both players constructing their lists specifically to create as even a match as possible.

Basically, either make listbuilding a factor towards winning the game, and consider that something that helped you win, or totally remove it, and rely solely on tactics on the board.

 Overread wrote:

 Argive wrote:
Then i say im not taking hemlocks/crimson hunters so they are aware im not doing hardcore competative list. And hope they are picking up what im putting down and likewise tobe down..

NEVER assume that your opponent interprets your view of units the same way as you do. Many people don't hound the forums and pick up the latest online view of what "broken" models are or what constitutes a "competitive list" or a "power list" etc...

If you want to be less competitive say it, be very clear about your impressions and interpretations of the statement and what you want from the game. Otherwise you and your opponent can still come to the game with very different interpretations of the expectation for the match.

Umm okay... Because making a point of informing my oponent that im not taking the best/arguably broken unit in my codex doesnt send a clear message.

Thanks for the preach but If someone doesnt get it, or gets it and decides to bring their top A game vs my list it will be more of a challnge for me.
I have no expectations and I like going in as an underdog so im not going to be dissapointed. Its a dice game at the end of the day.
Personaly as a base line, Im always going to assume a friendly game unless someone specifialy says they want to have a competatiove match to practice for a tourney. If yourte serious about practicing for a tourney then playing a toned down list wont help so you will be making it obvious.

This is an excellent example of why you should stick with competitive. I want my opponents to bring the stupidest, jankiest, most over powered BS list possible. It makes me a better player when they do. They can’t hurt my feeling at all, ever with any legal list. The onus is on me to be prepared for it, not for them to make me feel bad for what I brought to fight it.

Do whatever is fun for the two people playing.

End thread.

 JohnnyHell wrote:
Do whatever is fun for the two people playing.

End thread.

How profound.

Reemule wrote:
This is an excellent example of why you should stick with competitive. I want my opponents to bring the stupidest, jankiest, most over powered BS list possible. It makes me a better player when they do. They can’t hurt my feeling at all, ever with any legal list. The onus is on me to be prepared for it, not for them to make me feel bad for what I brought to fight it.

I have the exact opposite reaction. I don’t find it an enjoyable pastime to be curbstomped when I’m just looking for a way to kill an afternoon. It has been the primary reason I stay away from tournaments and tournament players.

 Stormonu wrote:

Reemule wrote:
This is an excellent example of why you should stick with competitive. I want my opponents to bring the stupidest, jankiest, most over powered BS list possible. It makes me a better player when they do. They can’t hurt my feeling at all, ever with any legal list. The onus is on me to be prepared for it, not for them to make me feel bad for what I brought to fight it.

I have the exact opposite reaction. I don’t find it an enjoyable pastime to be curbstomped when I’m just looking for a way to kill an afternoon. It has been the primary reason I stay away from tournaments and tournament players.

If you ARE a competitive player though, then you either never get curbsomped, or if you do you appreciate it because you need to figure out why it happened and what you can do about it next time.

I'm with Storm. Not everyone enjoys the super competitive thing. Sometimes you just want to spend time with your pals, roll some dice, and move some models around. Maybe you saw some neat models and wanted to give a new unit a try, just to see what its capable of. Plenty of reasons not to want to only play competitively.

I took this from my mega out of date HH review but I feel like parts of it apply here so apologies for the spelling.

"LORDS OF WAR:
This part of the review is mainly on ettiquit than on the lords of war choices themselves, i will start by saying that lords of war is not an optional rule as some believe it is, it works exactly the same way as allies but "unlocks" at certain points sizes, this in essence mean you can take a lord of war choice but your opponent does not have to.
This is where the ettiquit comes in, taking say.. a Baneblade to a standard game is not what some would call fair, but letting your opponent know before hand that you will be using the lord of war choice will allow them to use there own, no one wants a super heavy or primarch dropped on them out of the blue.
this is the real world and "knowledge is power, guard it well" doesn't apply here. "

In all cases I think just saying what faction/codex your bringing is just a curtsy which should be likewise returned so that both players can begin to internally strategize.

If you game plan depends on surprising your opponent with a Horde, or mechanised min max spam in either direction then is it even a game plan?

Competitive setting, no.
As long as you’re in more friendly company, you should probably at least say what faction you are using out of a codex.
I’d also be specific in some scenarios. If I said I was bring Astra Militarum, the other player would probably expect tanks and artillery. Then they’d be wholly unprepared for when I brought Militarum Tempestus, alpha striking the crap out of them.

I had some donkey-cave switch armies on me before the game started to gain advantage.

We agreed to play a game, I told him I had Dark Eldar and he told me he was going to bring out his Chaos Marines. I went to go eat lunch and then we were going to set the game up when I got back.

I guess he saw that my army had a lot of splinter weapons so he deliberately decided to switch to a tank company imperial guard army when I was out eating. When I got back I think he had something like 18 tanks on the board.

So that was a fun game...

Which edition was it where part of the formal process of starting a game was to inform each other what codex you were using before building the army list? Am I just misremembering the good bad ugly old times?