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Hi guys,

I wanted to run something by everyone here as I've encountered a few different opinions on this.

Do you promote/enforce WYSIWYG in your games (local or club/FLGS etc) and why?

Personally, I'm a lazy builder/painter, so I will try to build using the loadout that I will end up using most of the time. But, I'm not opposed to maybe giving one of my guys a different loadout as long as it's written down on my army list, so my opponent can make sure I'm not having them over. Geberally I will also point the model out in advance (if they all look similar, I mark one with a token or something) so as to avoid any sneaky mid-game model swapping.

Now I'm not talking about MFA here or using a baked beans can as a Land Raider, just plain old "he has a plasma gun, but it's not modelled on him".

At ours, we enforce wysiwyg as much as possible, but one or two units is fine. We usually limit it to that however.

At my FLGS most people are fine with whatever as long as it doesn't get too convoluted to remember. For most people we just use the honor system for keeping track of the "this guy has X" type stuff as almost nobody would stoop to cheating. The one or two people known for that kind of behavior don't get that courtesy, they also tend to not get games very often because of that.

I usually play late at night and the brain starts to lose efficiency after a few beers. For this reason I enforce WYSIWYG in my lists as with so many models (Iplay Guard) it's easy to forget who has what.

Life's too short to enforce wisiwyg.

I am fan of the "Just Don't Confuse me" rule I don't care if your all exotic xenos weapons are really bright lances instead of starlances just don't mix them. I can't tell the difference any way.
The stores around here don't enforce anything at all. GW stores kinda enforce using GW minis but that's it.

I promote the hell out of it, but I never enforce it. Certain units of mine have no choice, like my Flyrants or Dark Vengeance models but it does bug me when my own stuff isn't WYSIWYG. It actually doesn't bug me when it's someone else's stuff though.

I play very casually and couldn't really care much less about WYSIWYG. Ideally all equipment will be represented properly but to do that for all your units really ups the cost of your army and limits changing your list around. If possible it's nice to represent special weapons somehow, for example 'in this unit of Marines the flamers are actually plasma guns' or something similar, but I trust my opponents to remember who is carrying what and if I'm trying to manoeuvre so I can shoot some special weapons out of the squad or assault at the right angle I'll just ask my opponent which models are what. In a tournament I would expect almost complete WYSIWYG but I've never played in one and probably never will.

The consensus seems to be that as long as it doesn't take too much effort to remember and it isn't confusing, it's fine. I agree with this. I'll sometime proxy a melta-gun as a plasma gun or a storm bolter as a hunter-killer missile. When proxying, I believe that there can't be too many proxies, and they have to be simple proxies (similar to the sort of proxies I said I've used). Otherwise it becomes a pain in the back end.

For example, I remember playing against a bloke who proxied a whole bunch of Space Wolves and Inquisition models as CSM and Chaos Deamons, then he had two cardboard boxes as rhinos. I let it slide because I figured "How bad can it be?" (in all my Jeremy Clarkson wisdom). Turning out to be one of the most annoying games I've ever played simply because I could never remember what they were and what they were equipped with.

So (especially after the aforementioned game) I tend to keep as close to WYSIWYG as possible, but do allow for proxies.

I'm a massive fan of the modelling challenge in making my models look cool and be armed correctly. I love being able to look at my army and know what my army list is without having to refer to the roster itself. Stops me forgetting special weapons or abilities. Likewise, I think it's good sportsmanship to look at an opponents model and not have any "hidden" wargear that comes as a surprise. I'd rather be beaten by tactics from my opponent, and not forgetting that "oh this flamer is actually a melta gun, remember, I told you in deployment". I'm not accusing anyone of dishonesty, he's done well to get the melta gun next to my tank, but I'd have likely played differently if it was a model with a meltagun that was easy to remember.

That said in a friendly game if someone wants to try a new unit before they equip it (ie havocs with autocannons or missile launchers), I'm fine with the one-offs. I don't like it becoming a habit.

I promote WYSIWYG myself, too, but one or two units are ok. I ususally do fun games, so my opponents and I, even if we try to be WYSIWYG, aren't 100% WYSIWYG evertime.

I don't 'enforce' anything, but I do encourage my opponents to have accurately modeled armies. Visuals are a huge part of the game and having a properly painted and assembled army really enhances my enjoyment, and my opponents' enjoyment too.

I sometimes proxy a couple of models or units if I'm trying something new out, and I'm fine with my opponents doing the same. But that's only acceptable to me if it's a temporary state of affairs, and not something I have to face every game.

I'm a modeler before a gamer, so unless it's a particular counts-as model, it's WYSIWYG all the way.

It would be hard for my to play WYSIWYG because I have a ton of old metal guardians. Apparently they could have all manner of different weapons so many don't have weapons that look like shuriken catapults. Most people don't have a problem with that though as currently guardians can only use shuriken catapults.

As long as something is the correct size, shape etc I'm fine.
Has to be clear aswell.

So those 5 guys have lasguns, but they are plasma.
Then those 5 guys have lasguns, but they are melta.
If the label or convert them slightly I'm fine.

This is mainly to allow people to test new units a setups.



In a tournament though, has to be clear what it is.

The way I play it is if I decide to make a Leman russ battle tank an eradicator for a game ALL of the other Leman russ battle tanks are also eradicators. Or if I say that this model with a flamer is actually a melta gun. All other flamers are to be treated as Meltas. It makes things easier for myself and the opponent, as there is very little chance for confusion.

If I build an Imperial Knight, I am giving him the cool looking fist instead of the Chainsword. However, I am not going to use the Fists rules, I am going to use the Chainsword's rules. I don't see why that will be a problem. The fist just looks cooler, but it's rules are pants. Otherwise, I tend to use WYSIWG, within reason. My Honour Guard should have boltguns, but I can't find a way to model them.

 SharkoutofWata wrote:
I promote the hell out of it, but I never enforce it. Certain units of mine have no choice, like my Flyrants or Dark Vengeance models but it does bug me when my own stuff isn't WYSIWYG. It actually doesn't bug me when it's someone else's stuff though.

I'm the same. The biggest proxying I've done recently is my Icon of Slaanesh is a Legion Vexillia in 30k.

I've always built to mostly WYSIWYG standard. The handful of exceptions include putting a dozer blade on my Chimeras (cause its looks dope) but not actually buying/using the dozer blade wargear.

All of my guns are properly represented though, which I'd argue is the important stuff anyways.

I have no problem with proxies at all as long as they are clear and/or universal. I use and play against them on a regular basis and its never caused problems for my gaming group.

All WYSIWYG, all the time! Proxying is for poor and lazy peasants

Okay, negotiation is possible. If there is a good reason your model is not WYSIWYG, than it is fine as long as it isn't confusing. e.g. if you for some reason want to proxy a plasmagun as a meltagun, then either all of your plasma weapons or none of your plasma weapons are melta weapons. Not "this plasma gun is actually a meltagun, but this other plasmagun is still a plasmagun."

The only thing you need is consistency. All the Volkite weapons you brought are Grav Weapons? Sure, that's fine. Don't make some of them Melta and Plasma though.

I understand, as Grav Weapons look terribly silly.

In our gaming group its fine to use proxies.
But in my games i always try to follow wysiwyg bar grenades

We're actively enforcing a WYSIWYG rule at tournaments as it really makes playing easier / more transparent for everyone involved. There is room for alterations, but stuff like "I don't like how it looks so I changed it 'round" will not fly and you are not allowed to field the unit. Granted, since our tournaments play 5th with a few adjustments, there's way fewer options than the huge clusterfeck that 7th is.

Apart from that, however, in friendlies, do whatever your opponent is comfortable with.

Not-so-strict WYSIWYG here.

I mean, weird gun shenanigans are usually frowned upon, but noone is going to make a scene if you take the Black Mace on a sword-toting Daemon Prince or want to play your Novamarines with White Scars chapter tactics.

I have a fairly complicated system aimed at being a bit more lenient towards people who want to be creative, but also not so lenient that people just bring lazy gak to the table:

1.) If a conversion is impressive enough, I will forgive any and all WYSIWYG fumbles. For example a marine standing atop a mountain of corpses with visible battle damage would be excused if he is suppose to have a Combi-Bolter.

2.) If the model is clearly lazy, I won't even accept WYSIWYG (I may still play, but I would look down on you ). Like if you showed up to a game with an unconverted DV tactical as your Chapter Master in Artificer Armor and using the Teeth of Terra, technically he is in the correct equipment, but it's an extremely lazy move.

3.) As long as things are explained beforehand and models with different equipment are clearly marked out. If a model has a Heavy Bolter and you tell me he has a Plasma cannon, but just has him with a HB to break up the monotony, I am fine with that. Tell me that five identical tactical marines all with bolters actually has a plasma gunner among them is not.

4.) If a model is suppose to have some wargear, but actually modelling it on the model would make it look extremely cluttered or silly, then I'm fine with that too. This has gotten better with recent editions since most characters can't take as much as before, but back in 4th edition you could have a carnifex loaded up with a ton of biomorphs that all had actual bitz. Putting them ON the fex would make it look like a hilarious jumble mess, so I was fine with just a scything talon fex having Extended Carapace, Bonded Exoskeleton, and all that jazz, without actually showing it.

Basically I'm fine with it if you decided to make your models look nice instead of correct. If i find someone who was clearly using "no wysiwyg" for a jerkass purpose, I will quite literally use their face as a jockstrap.

All WYSIWYG for me.

I'm always WYSIWYG because I have standard loadouts.

That said, I will take stuff off sometimes that the character has because people want to play a different points level than what I planned for -but I never have something on the model that isn't there, just sometimes stuff that is on the model that I don't have in the list.

I make my list according to what I modeled, so yes most of the time.

The problem lies with daemons, they have random stuff each game. Sometimes my daemon prince swords are eatherblades and sometimes not, but my heralds of Slaanesh almost never swap out a reward for the lash, even though they are modeled with whips (makes them distinct from daemonettes though). I do have numbered tokens for which reward goes where though.

I do some degree of proxying. Early on I build all of my special weapon marines with plasma, but there are times I want the guy to have something different. I tend to have enough regular marines that my special weapons stick out enough, and I usually go the route of "all plasma guns are X" and I clarify before the game if anything.