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How does everyone play with their armies to beat the other guy?

It's something I've been thinking about for a while after I read a post on talkwargaming about identifying your playstyle.

What I realized after playing a number of different wargames over a decade is that the slightest difference can give you a win or an epic fail!

What's everybody's opinion?

I'm a cavalryman, always have been. Slaanesh, Dark Eldar, Blood Angels, Unicron Clan in L5R, Imperial Aces in X Wing.

If it moves fast, hits hard and crumples like wet paper, odds are that it's my faction if I play the game.

Although in recent years I've started deliberately choosing factions and lists that represent other styles (cool minis allowing) in an attempt to both challenge and improve myself.

Gunlines. I guess I'm Tau at heart (For the Greater Good, yeah!).

I really dislike melee-based armies and prefer to pepper my foes from a distance, especially when they can't hurt me back.

If I do have to melee, I prefer cavalry and attempting to outmanuever my opponent instead of crashing straight into them and attemping to push through. It's worked for me in both X-Wing and Runewars, where I've outmanuevered my opponent several times, letting my "weaker" forces win the day because they couldn't get a bead on me.

Smoke & Mirrors

I usually go for the trixy faction in my games, Eldar, Circle Orboros, Alchemists, etc

I normally give up my centre and rely on strong left and right flank to outmanouvre and pincer - in theory should work but rarely ever does, lol.

Strong core. Not necessarily a horde, but I always favour the 'average' trooper over specialists, and infantry over armour.

Apart from anything else, it's an aesthetic choice. Having been raised on films and books on World War 2 and historical battles, a mass of infantry led by a hero or two, with only the occasional big thing (tanks, monsters etc.) just feels right to me.

In general, it also tends to be quite a player-friendly army – it's sometime a nasty shock to face an army that's very specialised – and most games I play seem designed to work with a core of troops.

I really enjoy the refused flank play style where you have a holding force hunkered down in the centre picking at the enemy whist the heavy boyz race down a flank and beat up the enemy piecemeal!

Not perhaps so relevant in 40k where battles are more decided upon army selection than positioning, but was fun in Warhammer fantasy where weaker units could redirect charges and create opportunities for flank attacks!

I have no idea.

I have wasted a lot of money on armies that I ended up not liking because their playstyle wasn't my thing. Also, my preferred method of playing doesn't seem to be consistent from game to game.

I really like flexibility - lots of units that can do lots of different things. Hence my massive Aspect Warrior-focused Eldar force.

Synergy and armies where they are greater than the sum of their parts. I get my little hit of dopamine from seeing three or four units stacking various effects to make something that was just ok into a brutal death dealing monstrosity.

Does anyone know of any good online online tests for play style?

depends on game and setting, in Confrontation, Rams: methodical and slow
Chronopia: Firstborn: hard hitting
Wrath of Kings: Goritsi, Fast and precise
LotR/Hobbit: Easterlings: solid with fast cavalry
AoS: just scream and charge so no real style
Malifaux: Arcanists: usually go with trickery and manuever
Warmahordes: Cryx: grinding and slow