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So, here's the deal. I'm pretty new to 40k. I've played 11 games so far, ranging from 1250 to 2500 points.

I play in a local compaign, i've played 3 games against "competitive players", and some other random friendly games on a sunday afternoon.

I'm posting this thread...as I just keep winning. I'm not complaining mind-you. I'm worried more than anything else. By all accounts, I shouldn't be winning this much. I play Eldar, fragile foot eldar, and quite often table my opponents at turn 5. I'm new, playing a largely bad codex.

Of my 11 games, i've won 9 out of 11. Losing to a GK tournament army (which I later beat through tabling 2 weeks later), and I lost to a necron tournament player (yet to re-match). Other than that, i've played and beaten - (well, it's in my signature).

Is it my local scene thats not great? I'd like to think i'm good at the tactics side of things, I do think quite a bit about what i'm doing, but no more than my opponents.

I don't play a highly competitve list in most of my games. Hell, I take along 2-3 squads of guardians to every game.

My typical list usually consists of;

Eldrad/another Seer
Autarch w/ Jump Pack
2-3 Squads of guardians
Fire Dragons in a Serpent
Dire avengers
Pathfinders
3-4 Jetbikes
2 Wraithlords
War Walklers with Scatter lasers
Warp Spiders

Sometimes, Scorpions, a Falcon, Swooping hawks get thrown in.


Can I expect to do well in a tournament?

There's a thread in my post history with my planned tournament army is anyone wants to have a gander.

Not really sure what response i'm looking for. Just posting for people's opinions on a newbie that keeps putting the hurt on more experienced players...

Thanks

LOL... another one of these "oh guys, I just don't know WHAT to do... my D is just too huge" threads...

This is like the 3rd one this week

All of this has happened before.

Congratulations if it works for you, but I wouldn't say your list is even remotely scary... Perhaps you have a hidden knack for the game. By all means take it to a tournament if it works, but don't expect too much. This list looks like it'd suffer to Flyers, a lot.

 jifel wrote:
Congratulations if it works for you, but I wouldn't say your list is even remotely scary... Perhaps you have a hidden knack for the game. By all means take it to a tournament if it works, but don't expect too much. This list looks like it'd suffer to Flyers, a lot.

yeah, hence the loss to necrons. I've gotta get myself a quad-gun.

 Xenocidal Maniac wrote:
LOL... another one of these "oh guys, I just don't know WHAT to do... my D is just too huge" threads...

This is like the 3rd one this week

+1

Pat yourself on the back I suppose...

To answer your question seriously, I'm going to assume most of the people at your club are casual gamers that don't play tourneys all that often. I know at my club we ha e a few guys that just enjoy looking at their beautiful models that they converted and painted up. Very fine way to play, but in a competitive environment, I don't see your list getting too far. I may be wrong, and you may be tactically amazing, and that's possible too... But I would suggest going to a GT amd seeing how you do.

Good luck

P.s. I would be more then happy to play you if you lived near PA


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Never mind.. Your not from the US lol

I don't know why a majority of the people here are taking this the wrong way...Read his post and you will see that he is legitimately asking why he is winning so much and is wondering if his list is actually a tourney list. Chill out guys... +1 to the sheep.

Play better players.

Play in local tournaments

Travel to a GT.

40k is a lot like chess in that most people who know how to play the game are not very good at it, and as soon as you start to think you are good you discover people on a whole different level Stop clubbing baby seals and start hunting polar bears

It might be helpful if you post battle reps in the bat reps forum so people can see howw you and your opponents play.

You may be tactically gifted but equally you may have just had a good run of dice.

Congrats on your wins though and good luck in the future.

D

Belly wrote:
I'm posting this thread...as I just keep winning. I'm not complaining mind-you. I'm worried more than anything else. By all accounts, I shouldn't be winning this much. I play Eldar, fragile foot eldar, and quite often table my opponents at turn 5. I'm new, playing a largely bad codex.

Not really sure what response i'm looking for. Just posting for people's opinions on a newbie that keeps putting the hurt on more experienced players...

You may have a strong knack for the game.

If your enjoying it and want a challange, I suggest start attending larger events. If your in the United States, look for events like Adepticon, Bay Area Open, and NOVA. There you will find players that will give you a more expected win-loss ratio.

The new guys tend to be winning alot.

My very first time was in a combat-patrol tournament, with 5th edition tau, having pretty much only the battleforce, and I took 3rd place.

Why?

Because the environment was seriously noncompetitive, only a handful of players attempted to max out their lists, and as a new guy I was under the impression everybody does. so I maxed out my list (as much as I could in these days) to dish out the most punishment I could muster, and the casual lists could not match.


After that event, a few friends of mine also joined in, and we all grew in army sizes, a few more guys joined in (6th edition relase brought new life to the LGS), and the old guys patched up their lists to match to the newcomers that tended to mill out power.
These days I am having a far harder time to win (more fun this way though), and many of my games are a win or loss by the result of a clever T4-5 maneuver done by one player, and how the other managed to react.

You see, in a stale group the game level tend to slowly decline as everybody knows everybody, nobody comes up with anything new and things become expected and predictable, a new player tends to stirr things up, bringing a new playstyle and at times a new army they are not used to, so they once more begin to think and come up with counters and reactions.

The more new guys show up, the stronger will be th effect of play level going up. (or players that tend to mess around with new lists alot, they cause other players to get creative too)

It is entirely possible you are winning "too much" not despite you are new, but because of it.
Once your playstyle and army will be more well-known to the local players they will manage it better.

As for "Can I expect to do well in a tournament? ", this really depends on the level of play an WAAC there, if the level is sane this army can work nicely, if the level is super-competitive with Cronair and the likes, it will get decimated.

GTKA666 wrote:
I don't know why a majority of the people here are taking this the wrong way...Read his post and you will see that he is legitimately asking why he is winning so much and is wondering if his list is actually a tourney list. Chill out guys...

+1.

Just because a person is new doesn't mean he isn't good. When I first started off playing 40K, I started off with Daemonhunters, which back then were considered probably one of the worst armies around (or a lower-tier army at best). I started playing them because I loved the models and the idea of an ultra-elite army. They were a challenge to play but I found ways to win with them.

Eldar isn't necessarily a bad army. Actually, they can be quite good, especially if you bring in their dark brethen (Dark Eldar) as allies (or vice versa). However, they are not an easy army to play. You kind of have to be more strategic when playing them because they lack the "tools" that some of the newer armies have. Thus, to be able to succeed with them, I think you kind of have to have an aptitude for tactical play. If you have such an aptitude, then whether it be eldar or whatever army, you can still succeed. A good player is a good player, no matter what army he is playing.

Now I don't know the experience level of your group, but if you find that you are winning against them consistently, then you should probably reach out and try to find other people to play against as well. Definitely take your army to the local tournament. After that, take them to larger tournaments like a GT. You won't really know how good you are (or how bad your playing group is) until you've played some successful and seasoned tournament veterans.






Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Bad_Sheep37 wrote:
To answer your question seriously, I'm going to assume most of the people at your club are casual gamers that don't play tourneys all that often.

I wouldn't make this assumption.

Rather, I'd just assume that the OP is good compared to the people he plays against. But now, it's time for the big (but new) fish to leave his little pond to see how good he really is.

Two of my buddies recently started 40k and have been on a tear within our group.

I think sometimes new blood can really shake up a gaming group because they approach the game from a different angle, or take lists that the group isn't used to facing.

If you continue to dominate your group/local scene, then I'd try to branch out. Also, as you get more experienced with other armies, you might be able to give your opponents some advice, just be gentle.

Did you come from other games? Both of my buddies were very good SC2 players. They picked up 40k extremely quick. After maybe 1 or 2 games, they had already optimized their lists.

 Red Viper wrote:

I think sometimes new blood can really shake up a gaming group because they approach the game from a different angle, or take lists that the group isn't used to facing.

This is definitely true. Long, long ago, I used to play Street Fighter III 3rd Strike competitively at some of the most hard-core arcades in the world (Tokyo, UCLA, etc). I mean, we're talking I went up against (and sometimes beat) some of the top players in the world. I don't think there was any formal ranking system, but I'd guess I was top 100 in the world for sure.

And then I would get my ass handed to me by some 8 year old just mashing buttons. It was the most humiliating thing. It was because they were mashing buttons, I couldn't predict their movements and I couldn't run my usual traps, setups, counters...

But it was always really embarrassing

A similar dynamic could be at work here, I suppose.

 Xenocidal Maniac wrote:

 Red Viper wrote:

I think sometimes new blood can really shake up a gaming group because they approach the game from a different angle, or take lists that the group isn't used to facing.

This is definitely true. Long, long ago, I used to play Street Fighter III 3rd Strike competitively at some of the most hard-core arcades in the world (Tokyo, UCLA, etc). I mean, we're talking I went up against (and sometimes beat) some of the top players in the world. I don't think there was any formal ranking system, but I'd guess I was top 100 in the world for sure.

And then I would get my ass handed to me by some 8 year old just mashing buttons. It was the most humiliating thing. It was because they were mashing buttons, I couldn't predict their movements and I couldn't run my usual traps, setups, counters...

But it was always really embarrassing

A similar dynamic could be at work here, I suppose.

Nah, that kid was probably a prodigy. Maybe he's rank #1 by now.

Go BRUINS!

To the OP:

1. Welcome to 40K and DakkaDakka!

2. As an Ork player I'm obligated to respond: who cares?!?! A serious answer would be that the majority of armies are FotW or Space Maine Equvilants. T4 3+ armor save. Playing Footdar is essentially a wild card right now. Enjoy your streak while it lasts and never apologize for winning if you played hard and fair.

Good luck out there!

Pretty standard stuff, really. If opponents don't know to target the war walkers early and often, it can put 40K on easy mode for Eldar players.

I've been playing now for 3 years (2 of them playing one game a week and within the last year I've been going to a local tournament every other month and doing the NOVA Open starting last year) and have just started winning as many games as I loose - literally just started noticing that.

In my group it's mostly highly competitive players with at least 7+ years of experience, etc, etc. What I have found is that I'm a far better player because I've played way outside my weight class most of the time. My suggestion would be to expand your group of opponents and seek out more advance players. I think I'd give up the ghost if I won every game just because it would no longer be a challenge.

Why are you keeping a ghost hostage and what does that have to do with 40k?

Congrats...

Eldar, for being an old, tired codex, are pretty amazing at straight up WINNING. They have amazing psychic defense in a landscape of psycher heavy lists, super fast units for line-breaker, and war-walkers are pretty great at getting (or giving up) first blood. Honestly, if you don't table a decent Eldar player, you're probably looking at a loss.

Nothing against the OP...just pointing out that his "not remotely scary" list has everything it needs to WIN at 40k.

How is this a new take on eldar? In what way is his list suprising or different from every eldar list on the net? Eldrad, dragons in a wave serpent, gaurdian Jbikes & multiple wraithlords & walkers. Seriously folks? Maybe this is just the rare stream of internet positivity & optimism. Or the people he plays against are 12 & have to concede turn 3 when their mommy comes to pick them up.

Luck. There is very little skill on 40k - certainly not enough skill to justify such a long winning streak. Or tell your opponents that it's an objective game, and once they realise you only have 2 squads of unmeched guardians, you're boned.

Skill generally makes the difference between, imo, about 40% of games.

I didn't say it was bad, I said it was standard. The Eldar codex is a codex of peaks and valleys. They have some great stuff, and then valleys of garbage units. This list has some nice units in it that will win a lot of games.

However, don't be too upset the first time a hardcore IG or Tau shoots you off the table.

That much early success would cause me to go to a tournament.

It may well be true that your local players ARE less competitive. Maybe. And Maybe not. But it really makes no difference because when you're at tournies, two things change:

1. The level of focus changes. Everyone is FAr more aware of what they are doing. This turns even a bd player into a mediocre one at tims. So much of the game is mental that the focus counts for something.

2. The lists aren't friendlier. People take what will justify their expenditures. They come ith a list that isn't the stuff they like to play necessarily. Its the stuff that gets the job done.

So casual encounters will nver truly emulate those two things, no matter the opponent.

So go take your chances. If I had 11 wins or whatever, I'd throw your hat in the ring.

Winning tournies is how I AFFORD my hobby, so I kinda go into them with a lunchbucket mentality. "Time to go to work". Lol.

And enjoy the wins. All this crap about Seals and Polar Bears means nothing. A win is a win. Go get more and dont apologize for whose expense they may be at.

Good luck.

What part of Australia are you from. We can orgainse a game if your reasonably local to me. I'll play a take all comers list and let you know if its you or your gaming group.

Tell yea what. Come up to Canada. Birth place of true warriors. I mean. Birth place of the only men in the world who could handle Vimy Ridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge

And my Tyranid army will give yea a pat on the ass while you talk sexy Kiwi to me.

Stormbreed wrote:
Tell yea what. Come up to Canada. Birth place of true warriors. I mean. Birth place of the only men in the world who could handle Vimy Ridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge

And my Tyranid army will give yea a pat on the ass while you talk sexy Kiwi to me.

Where in Canada? If your in my neck of the woods I'd game you sir!

PS. Me = Vancouver Area