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Ok what do people mean by this. iam told my space marine army runs spam beacuse i are un 4 tac squad and 4rhinos normaly.spam what and how does this happen.

Basically having the same unit for each foc slot, so for example a dark eldar army with 6 units of 5 warriors w/ blaster in venom with 2x spliter cannon is a spam as it just takes what is percieved to be the most optimal configuration for that slot.

Other reasons are preference for units, theme or lack of choice as well as wanting redundancy.

Right. Basically people refer to something as "spam" if it comes in large and redundant numbers. Like email spam.

Some folks use the term pejoratively, meaning they find repetitive units/builds boring or annoying. Other people use it neutrally, just as shorthand for "there are a bunch of x", without including a value judgment.

It means your army is carved out of blocks of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam

This is a good thing because when you get tired of 40k you can just eat your army.

Fielding a bunch of the same units = Spam

Basically what others ahve said. Usually 'spam armies' just use the optimal units for each slot and ignore anything else - like DE venomspam, which is 6x5 warriors in Venoms, 3 Ravagers and 3 units of Trueborn w. blasters in venoms. Flierspam also falls under this definition, like 9 Vendettas.
4 tac squads in Rhinos isn't game-breaking or optimal (but what other troops do Marines have?) , but yes, it could be considerewd 'spam'.

TL;DR: The same unit taken multiple times is spam.

Ok so if i took 6tac squad with 6razor backs with all same gun that be spam. once in blue moon i take 4razor all with asc and 3vins and 3drop pod dreads is that spam

Any time you are fielding multiples of the same unit (like, 6 tac squads with the same wargear, or 6 Russes, or 10 squads of 20 IG Infantry Vets each, etc) it's spam.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but that's what is considered spam.

This means I could get yelled at a lot then. I like taking units that are redundant because I have "OCD" to the point that my squads have to be symetrical.
(ie: 3 mobs of ork boys ALL have to be shootaboys, if they take nobz they all HAVE to have the same upgrades.)
I also like taking units in sets of 3 most of the time. So this coupled with the symmetry means I am a spammer because I take 3 squadrons of warbuggies all with the exact same upgrades.

Yeah... though, again, it's not necessarily a bad thing to everyone, it's just a short-hand way of saying "that's a lot of dudes with the same kit". Of course, if the opposing army has something that is a hard-counter, or just extremely super-effective against, your spam-elements, you're kinda handing them the battle.

So, here's a question: are these the same friends who constantly lie to you about the rules so they can win?

No i have found some new people who are help me o understand this game better. i just like to run a lot of redundancy in my army so some people view that as spam right.

 Da Kommizzar wrote:
This means I could get yelled at a lot then. I like taking units that are redundant because I have "OCD" to the point that my squads have to be symetrical.
(ie: 3 mobs of ork boys ALL have to be shootaboys, if they take nobz they all HAVE to have the same upgrades.)
I also like taking units in sets of 3 most of the time. So this coupled with the symmetry means I am a spammer because I take 3 squadrons of warbuggies all with the exact same upgrades.

yell at you all they want, but orks have to spam to be useful.

That being said, your troop choices are not something I would define as Spam lists. You need those choices to capture objectives and form the backbone of your army. Every army is a spam list if your troop choices being redundant is considered spam (though I do see the definition fitting razorback spam in cases like BA where they are dirt cheap with assault marines)

Spam lists for me are things like longfang spam, battlewagon spam, War Walker spam or anything that is in other FOCs that are spammed to create a lasting advantage on the battlefield. Ravenwing, Deathwing, ork bikers as troop choices, etc. I don't really consider spam as these are different ways to flavor your army troop selections. Though taking something in order to add more of the same unit (i.e. noisemarines as troop choices) could be considered spam. (this may seem hypocritical, but its about intent here for me.)

but 4 tac units in rhinos is hardly spam in my book. I've seen Far far worse to even consider that spamming of any sort. thats just you protecting your troops in a metal car. I think for most the whine about spam has more to do with the redundant use of exceptionally good units to overwhelm the opponent.

Plastic, resin, and metal work better for hobby modelling than spam does. It is quite greasy and messy.

frogy27 wrote:
No i have found some new people who are help me o understand this game better. i just like to run a lot of redundancy in my army so some people view that as spam right.

Yes, but spam isn't a bad thing.

Its just a type of army-composition.

Redundancy is usually a good thing, in fact.

If someone sees a lot of the same thing in an army. It can be called "spamming" as in you play a lot of tac squads. There isn't anything negative in that context. Someone "spamming" flamers and screamers in a Tzeentch army specifically because it was dang near auto-win after the WD update is an example of the negative context of the term. As long as you can go to sleep at night, play your army how you like.

I have nine drop pods for my Raven Guard, some folks absolutely hate seeing them. As long as I start with a scout squad stuck somewhere on the table, I'm okay with it...

Well if those tac squads are all equipped identically then it could be said to be a spam but I wouldn't call it a spam even then as they are your basic troop choice. Troop choices are in my book the unit that you "can't" spam.

If you're winning, you're probably playing cheese or spam, easy as that.

9 obliterators for the win....

So would takeing 5 lr be spam

frogy27 wrote:
So would takeing 5 lr be spam

Yes it would.

I don't think I'd appreciate my opponent running these as rhinos~

Then again they'd be delicious~

4 tacs in rhinos isn't spam.

6 5 man squads in 6 razor backs is razorspam.

1 dread in a pod isn't spam, 3 or 6 is.

More specifically its taking the most point efficient/effective unit and filling the FOC with it.

I wonder what the dimentions of a spam tim are, and what unit you could use it as a counts-as?

 Nevelon wrote:
I wonder what the dimentions of a spam tim are, and what unit you could use it as a counts-as?

They come in all sizes. Brings me back horrible memories of my grandparents "cooking" me dinner. Fuel depot is the least imaginative for a can, but it's generally what I go with because it's easy to do.

 Byte wrote:


More specifically its taking the most point efficient/effective unit and filling the FOC with it.

That is commonly called good listbuilding

In general the troops section is ignored in most armies (especially Marines, Orks and Tau, since they don't have much in the way of options for troops) when it comes to defining spam unless it's obvious you're fielding heaps of a really powerful unit (Necron Night Scythe spam, triple Tervigon spam, 5th edition Razorback spam, etc) to be "cheesy". (another somewhat poorly-defined term)

Spam is not bad. It serves some good purpose.

1. As an opponent, I look for the biggest threat to my army. If there is only one, I can easily deal with it. Two is questionable. Three gets very hard. (3 Vindicators. 3 Helldrakes. 9 Vendettas...)

2. Outfitting squads the same makes it easier to concentrate on what the opponent is trying to do. For instance if I outfit a tac squad with a Melta and Multimelta it is going to excell at short ranged anti-tank. If I out fit a tac squad with a Missile Launcher, Flamer and Combi-flamer it is going to great anti-personnel with a little bit of anti-tank. I don't have to worry about which squad is where. I just know the strength and weakness of everything.

3. Some armies it actually pays to spam. Single mark CSM and Demons come to mind but also special characters... Logan, Belial, SM Bike Captains, Vulkan, Pedro, Sammiel, Wadzakka, OrK Warbosses (nob bikers).

KingDeath wrote:

 Byte wrote:


More specifically its taking the most point efficient/effective unit and filling the FOC with it.

That is commonly called good listbuilding

Agreed, not saying its good or bad. Just calling a duck a duck. However, depending on your point of view. Some fluffy players just hate it. To each their own, I guess.

2 kind's of spam in 40k imo.

First kind of spam, is where you use a lot of the same stuff, such as your example of multiple tactical squads. Nothing bad about that, actually, it's rather fluffy.

Bad kind of spam, is say, the old demon codex's white dwarf update, where almost every (Tournament daemons) army was

3x9 screamers (max)
3x9 flamers (Max)
Anything else to fill the points.

It's finding one unit, that can win anything, and running as much of it as you can to abuse it. This is the spam that is complained about. But running lot's of tactical marines? Nothing wrong with that at all, they are your only scoring unit, you are actually pretty smart to do so.