Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

BY ignoring the right units, that they are trying to get me to shoot. In a capture and control game if they hace no troops left they know at best the are playing for a draw. It leads to mistakes.

DarknessEternal wrote:

TheBlueRedPanda wrote:
My main point then is that the negative impact that such actions can have on others' perception of you generally outweigh the comparatively small psychological edge that they give you - however some games are so important that any psychological edge, no matter how small, is worth it.

The perception those people should be drawing is "I shouldn't be so gullible."

Perception might be the wrong word here, I think you mean to say 'conclusion', although in any case, yes, I agree & that was pretty much my original point. As a result of acting in the manner previously described you do not gain any real psychological edge (as you said, people aren't this gullible) - others' perception/opinion of you is merely lowered.

Give my opponant sound advice (which they think would give me an advantage )

TheBlueRedPanda wrote:As a result of acting in the manner previously described you do not gain any real psychological edge (as you said, people aren't this gullible) - others' perception/opinion of you is merely lowered.

That guy outsmarted me, therefore he's a douchebag?

That's the conclusion you're going with? That's a very sore lose approach.

One annoying psych out or whatever I can think of is something a friend did to me. Back in 3rd edition, the eldar had that thing which allowed them to move x", fire, then move x". As long as they didn't move more then 12" or something(I haunt actually played since third, so I don't know if they still have it). Anyways, he would hide behind cover and star cannon my termi's and pretty much anything else. He pretty much made me chase him around as he tore me apart. I hated it.......

As for what some of you guys said about rolling one save at a time and stuff.....I HATED that. My friend would always do that. I'm not a fan of stuff like that. Takes away from the fun of the game. If you have to make someone want to quite because your being obnoxious your wrong. Just not good sportsmanship.

vigilante87 wrote: One annoying psych out or whatever I can think of is something a friend did to me. Back in 3rd edition, the eldar had that thing which allowed them to move x", fire, then move x". As long as they didn't move more then 12" or something(I haunt actually played since third, so I don't know if they still have it). Anyways, he would hide behind cover and star cannon my termi's and pretty much anything else. He pretty much made me chase him around as he tore me apart. I hated it.......

As for what some of you guys said about rolling one save at a time and stuff.....I HATED that. My friend would always do that. I'm not a fan of stuff like that. Takes away from the fun of the game. If you have to make someone want to quite because your being obnoxious your wrong. Just not good sportsmanship.

I`ll roll single dice when its important, like if my commander has to make 4 saves and has one wound, but any other time i roll them as a group.

EagleArk wrote:
I`ll roll single dice when its important, like if my commander has to make 4 saves and has one wound, but any other time i roll them as a group.

Wait, what? How does rolling one dice four times differ from rolling four dice one time?
The only thing I would be able to think of is that that one die was a little bit special? As in modified not to roll a one.

Doomthumbs wrote:

EagleArk wrote:
I`ll roll single dice when its important, like if my commander has to make 4 saves and has one wound, but any other time i roll them as a group.

Wait, what? How does rolling one dice four times differ from rolling four dice one time?
The only thing I would be able to think of is that that one die was a little bit special? As in modified not to roll a one.

Dramatic effect, not for any bonus to me.

DarknessEternal wrote:

TheBlueRedPanda wrote:As a result of acting in the manner previously described you do not gain any real psychological edge (as you said, people aren't this gullible) - others' perception/opinion of you is merely lowered.

That guy outsmarted me, therefore he's a douchebag?

That's the conclusion you're going with? That's a very sore lose approach.

Maybe you haven't read this thread from the start

I am not arguing against psychological tactics at all, nor am I arguing against outsmarting my opponent. I LOVE outsmarting my opponent. However, the specific examples cited were:

1. Saying “Wait, you WANT to go first?" when your opponent chooses to go first in an objectives game.
2. Looking at your opponent 'with a bit of amusement' and asking “So you’re NOT going to outflank those?” when he doesn't choose to outflank his units.

Now . . If my opponent did theses things to me during a game, you're saying that he has outsmarted me? How so? (keeping in mind that saying either of these things will not cause me to change my tactics or decisions in the slightest - I already have a plan & I know what I'm doing with my units)

Hellions with a Stunclaw is a good way to psych your opponent out, especially if he really likes his HQ, and if you then use some scourges to throw down some fire on his elites, well then he/she is probably psyched out.

megabambam wrote:Hellions with a Stunclaw is a good way to psych your opponent out, especially if he really likes his HQ, and if you then use some scourges to throw down some fire on his elites, well then he/she is probably psyched out.

This is situational though.... this thread is discussing general tactics to psyche out your opponent. Be it acting like the 'lord of arrogance' or taking the 'aww shucks; i killed your HQ?! Really? Me?' approach.

A degree of empathy is required to work out what course of action is best in a game..... Just don't be a dick

1. Set up a Lash list of CSM at a tournament.

2. Bring a few snack bags of Cheetos. Don't mention them, but put them somewhere conspicuous on/near the table.

3. Admire your opponent's paint job before the game.

The orange fake cheese dust will do more to keep your opponent in the backfield than any amount of firepower ever could.

Unless his army is painted Orange. The Emperor's Tigers chapter, or the Skrap-o'Lanturn Waaagh!!.

infinitekarma wrote:
1. Set up a Lash list of CSM at a tournament.

2. Bring a few snack bags of Cheetos. Don't mention them, but put them somewhere conspicuous on/near the table.

3. Admire your opponent's paint job before the game.

The orange fake cheese dust will do more to keep your opponent in the backfield than any amount of firepower ever could.

Haha . . That is sheer brilliance, I could actually see it working perfectly.

A good tip is to wear reflecting sunglasses.

I recently played in a tournament with Grey Knights Karamazov.
His orbital strike and it´s ability to fire into CC without scatter really messes with the opponents plans.
He wants to spread out afraid of what potentially 3 S6 large blasts can do,
afraid of going into combat and afraid of being within 30" of an interceptor with its shunt move left.

A really good way of messing with your opponent is having a one use trick with enormous destructive potential and simply keep it for a better time.
Chapter Masters orbital strike, vortex grenade, shatter shard, blood strike missiles etc.

Beregond wrote:Oh and rolling saves. I'm a bit of a demon for saves usually. Wyches charged my 12 man fire warrior unit? I have to make 15 4+ saves? When odds are against me winning the combat that much, I tend to pass all of those saves... my record is about 16/16 in one go...

I started reading this thread and I HAD to make a comment about my Tau army after I read this even though it's only the third post. My save-making boils down to pretty much a select few units, and to make a long story short, my friends have learned to fear Stealth Suits. But of course I must give you a longer version. Here are a few examples; My tyranid friend who killed none of my stealth suits after 2 volleys of termagaunt shooting and a Hormagaunt charge. My suits holding on to an objective despite round upon round of double-tapping Necron warriors to contest it and win me the game.

Also a big thing which would rather fall under mind rape than a Psychological tactic is when your crisis suit squad fails to deal a single wound to an Obliterator squad yet the 4 gun drones in the unit shoot one off the table. The only thing I can think of that can top that is when I charged my Commander's squad into my Blood Angels friend's (old codex)Death Company squad with Lemartes. I was able to target lemartes with all my attacks. My suits once again do nothing, but my 2 surviving gun drones remove Lemartes' last 2 wounds(i shot him up a but earlier). We both literally stood staring at the dice for a solid 30 seconds before we look at each other and then proceed to roll on the floor with laughter. It's a bit strange when you do that in a GW store, by the way.

Hey man, don't knock the Gun Drones. They're beastly in CC. I once had a couple Drones from a Pirhanna wipe out a squad of Khorne Berserkers.

And there's a rather interesting post on The Word of Notch, the Minecraft creator's personal blog, about new mobs and the nature of Creepy (which should be able to go into this, as well)

But while trying to figure out what to do, he lit upon an idea- that Creepyness isn't something happening, it's trying to keep something[/i] from[/i] happening. Scary is very similar to Creepy, except you have less control over when something is going to happen, or how it will happen.

nectarprime wrote:Exclaim "JUST AS PLANNED" when something terrible happens to one of your units.

YES! love your siggy, by the way, it really makes a faithful follower of Tzeentch proud.
@above: As a minecrafter, I know what you're talking about. I like to keep a bloodthirster or GUO within 6" of fateweaver. That way, they re-roll all saves, and if fateweaver gets assaulted, they automatically attack due to "defenders react". Really makes someone think twice before assaulting him, which lets him focus on shooting. Not as much as a mind trick, as it is strategy. though there is a bit of psychology there.

SnaleKing wrote:I like to keep a bloodthirster or GUO within 6" of fateweaver. That way, they re-roll all saves, and if fateweaver gets assaulted, they automatically attack due to "defenders react".

Defenders react does not allow anything that isn't in the assaulted unit(s) to move, so that won't happen.

I like to sometimes make the Avatar advance up towards a squishy looking unit then proceed to dive and hide in cover for about a turn or two; draws a ton of attention that way it seems. Then just leaving two wave serpents up on a building and let them sit for a turn or two, generally until they're fogotten (kind of work out like controlled reserves that way).

Or sometimes disembark the Farseer and have it join onto the guardian squad, the transport then zooms off somewhere else and generally dies horribly delivering a squad at an objective. Then the guardian squad, which had not moved at all in the game prior to this, will proceed to walk up the field weaving through cover generally in the basic direction of their HQ; if the Avatar has been waiting nearby I generally get it to dive to some new nearby cover if too much attention goes to the guardian squad. Eventually once the enemy numbers have dwindled enough the wave serpents will zoom in behind the one unit I had decided to target with the Avatar near the start of the game. They go past this unit, wipe out the HQ as best as possible leaving the targeted unit for last in which it is assaulted by the guardians after the farseer leaves the squad.

Very rare I do all of it in one game though, generally its just the first couple parts (Avatar and Wave Serpents hiding around the place). Most of the time it would likely not work out at all. Always use the Avatar as a lure or bullet magnet rather than for killing things though. But, sometimes it needs to hit a few things to keep their interest in it.

I'm pretty sure that "Hm. Interesting" is only going to work against someone who isn't confident, or doesn't have a plan of attack. The best effect this will have on a seasoned tournament player is likely an amused smirk of their own.

I've seen this tactic attempted, and it just looks silly. If you just assume that your opponent doesn't have your army's best interest at heart, which should be common sense, I don't know why you'd care what they thought of your tactics.

Sometimes I'll leave a unit out as bait, which works pretty nicely. Last weekend someone tried to bait me. He left a squad of purifiers out on a flank, because he knew I had some outflanking scouts. It was capture and control, so he thought that I didn't have any more scoring units. He had unfortunately forgotten a squad of Marines that I had kept in reserve that ended up winning me the game. The moral of this story: If you are going to try stuff like this, make sure you're doing it right or it will only make you lose worse.

Here's one that I thought of a while back.

So, Blood Angels. Widely considered one of the Fastest Marine armies.

They're RED.

Orks think vehicles painted red go Fasta, and they do.

Every time I play a Blood Angels army in non-competitive play, I'm going to give their vehicles an extra inch of movement (I play Orks. I mean when I play against BA). Either they don't use it, and I lose nothing, or they use it, and hopefully forget about staying juuust out of attack range when moving.

Besides, it'd be fun!

I've had a profoundly different experience with mind games on my opponent. I've found that the best way to throw an opponent off their game and really mess with their heads isn't dropping well timed comments or questions: but with joking and laughter.

I come to tournaments confident in my own abilities and list, and know what I want. But most of the games I have been really successful in inside of those events are the ones were I get my opponent to laugh, joke, and generally take it down a level. Once the game gets more enjoyable for both of you, it really relaxes a lot of opponents because they feel more comfortable playing you. I've seriously watched opponents make mistakes or be more favorable in a "is that an obscured vehicle?" discussion just because they're too busy laughing to care. While nothing game shattering, the little victories on the table add up. It doesn't work with everyone, but it makes for a good game none the less.

Not to mention being the friendly guy to play at the tournament really helps any sportsmanship scores.

Anvildude wrote:Here's one that I thought of a while back.

So, Blood Angels. Widely considered one of the Fastest Marine armies.

They're RED.

Orks think vehicles painted red go Fasta, and they do.

Every time I play a Blood Angels army in non-competitive play, I'm going to give their vehicles an extra inch of movement (I play Orks. I mean when I play against BA). Either they don't use it, and I lose nothing, or they use it, and hopefully forget about staying juuust out of attack range when moving.

Besides, it'd be fun!

How is cheating a psychological tactic?

How is offering your opponent an advantage cheating?

Oh I see, you're saying if you're playing against a Blood Angel's army you will allow them to move another inch. Auxiliary verbs are important.

I thought the same thing when I first read it, Abstract.

I re-read it twice and figured out what he was getting at.

darkdm wrote:I've had a profoundly different experience with mind games on my opponent. I've found that the best way to throw an opponent off their game and really mess with their heads isn't dropping well timed comments or questions: but with joking and laughter.

I come to tournaments confident in my own abilities and list, and know what I want. But most of the games I have been really successful in inside of those events are the ones were I get my opponent to laugh, joke, and generally take it down a level. Once the game gets more enjoyable for both of you, it really relaxes a lot of opponents because they feel more comfortable playing you. I've seriously watched opponents make mistakes or be more favorable in a "is that an obscured vehicle?" discussion just because they're too busy laughing to care. While nothing game shattering, the little victories on the table add up. It doesn't work with everyone, but it makes for a good game none the less.

Not to mention being the friendly guy to play at the tournament really helps any sportsmanship scores.

+1

Have to agree with you, this is a good way to play AND it can often give you the edge. I find that if you come across as petty or annoying, then when a minor rules dispute arises you will generally not get the benefit of the doubt; conversely if you act in a manner that is friendly, outgoing & confident, then other players will be more likely to accept your side of things or to cede 50/50 decisions/disputes.

I look really serious and ask questions about my opponents forces like "your hq only has 3 wounds right?" or "did you paint the bottom of your whirlwind?" When theres no way I could reach it any time soon. Then of course I roll to see how I want to attack/defend and start counting which units I rolled to kill first. I'm told this gives me the illusion of that i'm a going to be a tough competitor and a sense of unpredictability because even I don't know what im going to do. This is done without any intent of psychological warfare, but thats what happens sometimes. It goes without saying this just makes the seasoned veterans take the gloves off and ROFLstomp me.