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So, our local store is having some heated debate over local tournament rules. I probably don't need to mention that there are some who want to ban super heavies and other stupid things, and people who USE super heavies and the like who think their army is unplayable, and then it devolves into a giant mess where people fight.

Then it occurred to me that nearly every 40k discussion becomes a fight. I have never seen so much angst generated by a single game, ever. Magic might be a close second.

Then I started thinking how much I enjoy 40k, despite it not being my chosen favorite game (mostly for the above reasons, as well as the root cause of poor rules and balance). When two people sit down to a friendly game of Warhammer, and they have an agreement on what should be fielded... it can be a lot of fun. In fact, you can "balance" the game yourself among friends and everyone has a good time. Tournaments simply can't work that way. The goal is competition, and if a game isn't created around that premise you tend to get fights and arguments and hurt feelings.

So tell me, COMPETITIVE players of 40k, why is it we keep trying to jam a square block in a round hole? Why do we try to make 40k into something that it is not? I play another game now for my competitive fix, though that is just one of many choices. "I like the fluff/models/etc" is a fine reason to PLAY the game, I'm completely down with that. My issue is why we keep trying to PLAY the game... competitively. It doesn't work. In some cases it is like playing a hockey team against a football team in a nice game of basketball.

Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?

This post isn't aimed at casual/hobby/fan boy types, I am just curious why competitive players try so hard to make a non-competitive game competitive instead of simply moving to a game that already caters to our playstyle. I play both, but I have learned to not waste my time playing tournaments because it simply isn't conducive to keeping friends.

Nerd Rage.

 Achaylus72 wrote:
Nerd Rage.

lol. I guess so.

I'm not a tournament player, but I'd guess it's at least partly about the investment - yes, you could play another game (with tighter, more balanced rules), but if you've already forked over hundreds of notes for your current army, there's not much incentive I think.

I don't see much point to it now since 7th is such a trainwreck. I imagine most tourney players want to try and work around 7th is because they have the models, they've played for years, their friends play and they used to be able to play competitively without much issue. Unfortunately, you just can't do that with 7th and it is very frustrating for all involved.

Because a lot of people play it non-competitively.

I don't think I've ever met a competitive 40k player who wasn't a scumbag of a human being (apologies if you do exist) because people who play games competitively for the challenge and the tactical choices...just don't play WH40k. The rules are too busted, the tactics too shallow, too many rules are made overly random for cinematic craziness. People play 40k competitively to pick on the people who do, because in other competitive games you'll still lose about half the time, even if you're really REALLY good. In 40k a competitive army will beat a non competitive army 100% of the time. If you have the best army, you need not ever lose.