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I have been playing Imperial Guard since before the new codex, but was lucky enough to only have to endure the old one for about 4 months or so until the latest edition came out. Soon afterwards I concocted an all-comers Guard list that began to dominate my local tournament scene. For 6 months I took 1st place five times and 2nd once in our monthly tournament. On the seventh month I took 3rd after losing the final round to a good friend of mine and have since stopped playing in the tournaments. I stopped because I seriously began to notice a lot of condemnation about my Imperial Guard army. Many of the people at my FLGS have branded me as the "Leafblower" Guard player and it seriously frustrates me, instead of "Hey, great game man, you played well" I get "Hey man, I am not surprised I lost against another Leafblower." My list does have some of the same characteristics of Darkwynn's list, but with some major differences. To give you guys a bit of a brief example, I will throw up my 2000 point list:

CCS w/ 4 plasma + Astro+ OotF in Chimera

x2 Infantry platoons with autocannons in the Infantry squads and x4 Flamers in both PCS with the PCS squads in Chimeras

Two Vendettas

Executioner

Eradicator w/ plasma sponsons

Leman Russ

x2 Melta vet squads with one heavy flamer which ride in Dettas

x2 Penal Legion squads

PBS in Chimera

To compare, Darkwynn's list can be viewed here: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2009/09/40k-ard-boys-armylist-leafblower.html


I have been running this list since well before the "Leafblower" ever existed and have been very proud of it. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that any Mech Guard player who ever has success will always be branded as running a Leafblower list. Have any other Mech Guard players out there run into this problem? Is it really fair to use this brand in the first place? Is this list a Leafblower?!?

I don't think of that list as a traditional leafblower, since it's missing the obligatory long range high strength, low AP pie plates for artillery and honestly, you're a little light on Chimeras.. I can see where people think of it as a leafblower list though. These days, you'll get folks who scream leaf blower every time they see a bunch of armour and/or Guard skimmers.

A couple of points for you though. First, folks are going to have their own ideas regardless of what you do. Getting into the "Is it or isn't it a leafblower?" debate is much like getting into an argument with someone who thinks your bicycle is the wrong shade of blue. Every one of us is going to have labels put on us at some point in our lives. Some will be merited and some won't be. We have to deal with them regardless. I'm going to venture that leaving a tourney you enjoy due to a label is probably not the best idea in the world. If you weren't having fun in the first place, sure it's probably time to pull pitch and find a new group of folks. If you were enjoying yourself though, I'd say stick it out. If you want a tourney where nobody cares what you play, just come up to the Gamer's Lair in Barrie. We're a pretty easy going group.

Your second option is that you could just rejig your list and bring something different to each tourney. Now, I'd only really do this if bringing a variety of lists is fun for you. If it's not and you either don't have the models or you run your current list because you really like it, the you can pass this section by. Guard especially though; one of the best things about Guard is the sheer amount of stuff you can do. At the highest level you can go mechanized or you can go infantry. When you boil it down though, the amount of potential builds you have is huge. Your current list actually looks pretty fun, but even here, you can probably make a swap here and there to try other things. I tend to do this with my Orks. In fact, one of my most entertaining tourneys was with my "Worst Unit" list. Pretty simple here. If the internet consensus was that it was a crappy unit, I stuck it in the list. It was great. Grotz, Flash Gitz, Looted Wagons, War Trakks, Skorchas (two of three lost in Turn 1 going over a hill), etc.

Anyway, a couple of long winded thoughts for you Manstein. I encourage you to stick with the tourney if you're having fun though.

Thanks for your reply Mr. Giggles! Your reply was certainly not long winded and I rather enjoyed reading over it.

What I ended up doing was taking over organizing our local tournaments and for the past 3-4 months I have been one of the TOs. My primary concern was just wondering if this "Leafblower" brand is happening to a lot of other Guard players out there.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling that any Mech Guard player who ever has success will always be branded as running a Leafblower list.

Of course you will.

Because people are idiots.

Ignore them.

Really, expect anything guard field to be called a 'leafblower wannabe' since the internet rages and never forgets. Just field it how you want and don't worry what it's called. I started throwing 1 lash sorc in my CSM army and I'm rarely hearing 'oh another lash list...' How you play the list shows your tact and skill.

I'm not speaking now of large events, or national tournaments, but at small, local events populated by relatively average gamers, IG is simply the most powerful army.

I've played IG for about seven years, and once you learn how to play, and build a solid list (which isn't hard at all), you can go toe to toe with anybody.

Your list is a very fifth edition list, built to win. If your tournaments are attracting people with older lists, 4th edition mindsets, or simply non-competitive types, you're going to keep winning.

I'm in a similar vein. I've been winning a lot of smaller local events, and I've noticed that at my two main gaming stores, I think there is a growing resentment towards my Mech IG. There are a lot of approaches you can take, but I think showing up with a different army, or at least a different list, might help them think you're just playing a net-list. ironically, you're list includes some units that I'd never play, like the Eradicator and basic LRBT. I'm guessing those are tailored to your local meta game.

Basically, if you want people to stop thinking you're only winning because of your list, beat them with something else.

The big problem is if you've simply gotten "Better" than the rest of the group is comfortable with. It can be hard when you've advanced list construction and skill, and nobody else wants to move past pushing models around.

Yes, and locally you'll find just as many idiots as you will at tournaments. People whine about "leafblower" or whatever the current "bad" term is all the damn time. Other terms in this list are "herohammer" and "spam", etc.

The problem is that warhammer is a social game. If you're gaming with friends, or even if you want to have a collegial atmosphere during events, sometimes you have to conform to social norms you don't agree with.

there is nothing wrong with showing up, beating ass, and moving on, and I'm not condoning those that play the "cheese" card, but there is a reality to deal with.

Polonius wrote:The problem is that warhammer is a social game. If you're gaming with friends, or even if you want to have a collegial atmosphere during events, sometimes you have to conform to social norms you don't agree with.

Or you can just ignore them and become your own person instead?

Especially when the social norm doesn't involve bathing. I am NOT going to start conforming to THAT social norm.

1. I wouldn't listen to everything on the internets or from strangers at a tournament. Many whine just to whine.

2. I used to completely hate my friends Eldar list back when Starcannons had 3 shots several years ago. He did not lose. Period. A scrub finally cloned his army and thought he could just walk in and win with it. He lost several games in our turnaments against average players because he didn't have the tactics down. We never saw him after that. Point: it takes more that just a list to win (unless you are playing Space Wolves... ) so don't worry about the whining.

3. The only reason you might consider changing it up is if your dominance is hurting tournament tournout. Sure, you may want to win, have a great list, and nothing is wrong with that... but if people quit playing... you can't win a tournement that doesn't take place.

4. Where are you playing? I would love to see a tournament every month!

I like how you post a reply that's a disagreement to part of my post, when the very next paragraph made a very similar point. do you really just look for fights?

Of course you can be your own person. Since the OP is looking for advice, I'm guessing he wants to figure out if he was in the wrong, his colleagues were, and what can be done about it either way.

There is also a huge difference between being your own person and ignoring or violating every social norm that annoys you.

Polonius wrote:There is also a huge difference between being your own person and ignoring or violating every social norm that annoys you.

Not for me

edit: Yes, that was intended to be humor. Also no, I wasn't looking for fights. Nor did I post just to disagree with you . I just quoted that because it segued into my own position.

Honestly, be your own person... though don't be a donkey. If people feel uncomfortable facing your list, don't use it, use something of a balanced list, or use a different race.

If you use a cheesy list, and say feth to the norm, than you actually are being TFG.

If it impacts turn-out, just use a weaker list, or go on a give-the-winnings-to-poorest-spree.

Or offer to be a ringer if you just enjoy the tournament scene. So you can't win, though you will probably get the chance to play.

Thanks for the posts on this one guys, the advice has really been helping settle my nerves a bit on the issue, especially Polonius' post.

As to switching up what I am playing, I think I may have to do that. I love my Guard to death and the idea of putting away the Chimeras and lowely Guardsmen makes me shudder a bit... stepping out of the box and bringing something else to the table is most likely a good idea (if not to prove a point to the other gamers at my FLGS).

I have about 4k points worth of Tau I got cheap from a friend a while back, perhaps I will try and see if I can do anything with them.

Tau are a hard pill to swallow as one turn can swing the entire game against you, as are several armies from the older editions. I'd recommend staying mobile always through devil fishes and try using broadsides instead of a hammerhead, as more railguns > better than 1 easily disabled one. Good luck with adapting to not throwing waves of guardsmen at a problem anymore, hope you have better luck than my friend and his thrice destroyed SM chapter...