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Hi all, I was wondering if any of you guys had any story to tell about using psychology against your opponent in 40k, be it successfully or not. I was wondering if this could work against some people, purely for scientific reasons of course. I don't have any example where this has happened in my games, so I don't really know what kind of tricks could be used to deceive your opponent, without cheating, so I'd like to hear some examples.
I have seen a guy ask another guy to drop a game, because he needs the small points to get in to top 8. They were both psychological and physical about it. The asked dude was from my school, and a year older then me. The dude asking was in collage, and his friends too.
If you have to kill, then kill in the best manner. If you slaughter, then slaughter in the best manner. Let one of you sharpen his knife so his animal feels no pain.
I've seen people goad others into charging a specific unit to get them off an objective. I have also done this before.
My opponent was winning but wasn't going to get enough points to win the tournament or even make top 2. I had a low model count unit left and it was my last unit on the board. I knew he wanted to get more points by tabling me. I got him to charge the unit and when the dice were rolled he whiffed them all and got stuck in combat off of the objective, which ended in my victory because we were so close. It was a competitive game and I knew the person but yeah it happens.
Aaranis wrote: Hi all, I was wondering if any of you guys had any story to tell about using psychology against your opponent in 40k, be it successfully or not. I was wondering if this could work against some people, purely for scientific reasons of course. I don't have any example where this has happened in my games, so I don't really know what kind of tricks could be used to deceive your opponent, without cheating, so I'd like to hear some examples.
Why yes sir I do use phycollogical warfare. Mostly through my paint scheme. You can arrange the colors of your army to distract or disturb your enemies.
As well as tactical acumen. In combination you can Cowtown your engines easily.
Aaranis wrote: Hi all, I was wondering if any of you guys had any story to tell about using psychology against your opponent in 40k, be it successfully or not. I was wondering if this could work against some people, purely for scientific reasons of course. I don't have any example where this has happened in my games, so I don't really know what kind of tricks could be used to deceive your opponent, without cheating, so I'd like to hear some examples.
Why yes sir I do use phycollogical warfare. Mostly through my paint scheme. You can arrange the colors of your army to distract or disturb your enemies.
As well as tactical acumen. In combination you can Cowtown your engines easily.
Oldest trick in the book. The moment you realize that you *want* your opponent to shoot at the Defiler... is a monumental moment of understanding for the blossoming war gamer. But seriously, having a big scary looking model can take a lot of pressure away from more important and fragile elements of your list. It relies on psychologically messing with your opponents target priority. For maximum effect you stack durability buffs on the distraction carnifex and push it in your opponents face. Using the Defiler example, you take a cheap Defiler. Cast Delightful Agonies or Weaver of Fates on it, Warp Time it as far forward as you can, and pop smoke in the shooting phase. On your opponents turn they have a Defiler in their face, and they will have a strong impulse to kill it. Any shots trending towards the Defiler are shots not at more fragile pieces. In order to really work the Distraciton Carnifex needs to soak the same type of damage your list is afraid of. For example a Defiler can help Hellbrutes, Predators, or other less durable vehicles, but will not help much distracting anti infantry fire.
Don’t know if this counts but playing Dark Angels I had a tactical squad reduced to 1 model, which I promptly moved into the corner of a ruin and then never moved again. I never looked at him or did anything to draw attention to him. I was doing great at objectives but losing models by the handful. At the end of turn 7 my opponent finished of what he thought was the last of my units and declared victory. I then reminded him of my lone marine and the points total.
Crazy Jay wrote: Don’t know if this counts but playing Dark Angels I had a tactical squad reduced to 1 model, which I promptly moved into the corner of a ruin and then never moved again. I never looked at him or did anything to draw attention to him. I was doing great at objectives but losing models by the handful. At the end of turn 7 my opponent finished of what he thought was the last of my units and declared victory. I then reminded him of my lone marine and the points total.
I hope your promoted that heroic tac marine
Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two
Oldest trick in the book. The moment you realize that you *want* your opponent to shoot at the Defiler... is a monumental moment of understanding for the blossoming war gamer. But seriously, having a big scary looking model can take a lot of pressure away from more important and fragile elements of your list. It relies on psychologically messing with your opponents target priority. For maximum effect you stack durability buffs on the distraction carnifex and push it in your opponents face. Using the Defiler example, you take a cheap Defiler. Cast Delightful Agonies or Weaver of Fates on it, Warp Time it as far forward as you can, and pop smoke in the shooting phase. On your opponents turn they have a Defiler in their face, and they will have a strong impulse to kill it. Any shots trending towards the Defiler are shots not at more fragile pieces. In order to really work the Distraciton Carnifex needs to soak the same type of damage your list is afraid of. For example a Defiler can help Hellbrutes, Predators, or other less durable vehicles, but will not help much distracting anti infantry fire.
My Tartaros Terminators/ Relic Salamanders Contemptor/ Armigers are purposefully put in the face of my enemy so they pay attention to them and not anything else.
But on the flip side I generally see thru the "distraction" and just focus on what's tactically feasible.
Crazy Jay wrote: Don’t know if this counts but playing Dark Angels I had a tactical squad reduced to 1 model, which I promptly moved into the corner of a ruin and then never moved again. I never looked at him or did anything to draw attention to him. I was doing great at objectives but losing models by the handful. At the end of turn 7 my opponent finished of what he thought was the last of my units and declared victory. I then reminded him of my lone marine and the points total.
I hope your promoted that heroic tac marine
I don’t specifically remember promoting him but I did finish painting him so that’s like a promotion
Aaranis wrote: Hi all, I was wondering if any of you guys had any story to tell about using psychology against your opponent in 40k, be it successfully or not. I was wondering if this could work against some people, purely for scientific reasons of course. I don't have any example where this has happened in my games, so I don't really know what kind of tricks could be used to deceive your opponent, without cheating, so I'd like to hear some examples.
Why yes sir I do use phycollogical warfare. Mostly through my paint scheme. You can arrange the colors of your army to distract or disturb your enemies.
As well as tactical acumen. In combination you can Cowtown your enemies easily.
Humans play the game, humans are subject to psychological warfare. Humans get tired, forget things, get distracted, are victims of biases, etc. Psychological tactics are more about exploiting unconscious tendencies or biases than anything else.
I know a guy who has a pathological fear/hatred of wraithlords. No matter what happens, he'll always try to down them first. Total distraction carnifex. Knowing that he has a tendency to do that lets me position them in hard-to-hit areas to draw him out, or act really aggressive with them to put him on the back foot. We also play a lot of 2v2 games and I know he views me as a bigger threat, so he'll target my guys first almost always...so I intentionally can take very durable units and play with that. Or, another example: you're playing with a guy who gets upset/defeated easily, so you target down his baddest boy on the table first, and be as spectacular about it as possible. He gets frustrated, starts paying less attention, makes more mistakes, and unintentionally throws the game.
Not that I think these are necessarily good practice for friendly games, but it's a real thing that happens.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2018/07/02 23:23:31
HuskyWarhammer wrote: Humans play the game, humans are subject to psychological warfare. Humans get tired, forget things, get distracted, are victims of biases, etc. Psychological tactics are more about exploiting unconscious tendencies or biases than anything else.
I know a guy who has a pathological fear/hatred of wraithlords. No matter what happens, he'll always try to down them first. Total distraction carnifex. Knowing that he has a tendency to do that lets me position them in hard-to-hit areas to draw him out, or act really aggressive with them to put him on the back foot. We also play a lot of 2v2 games and I know he views me as a bigger threat, so he'll target my guys first almost always...so I intentionally can take very durable units and play with that. Or, another example: you're playing with a guy who gets upset/defeated easily, so you target down his baddest boy on the table first, and be as spectacular about it as possible. He gets frustrated, starts paying less attention, makes more mistakes, and unintentionally throws the game.
Not that I think these are necessarily good practice for friendly games, but it's a real thing that happens.
Someone told me a story about a GT a few editions ago, where one dude from one team was asked to stop a dude from Warsaw winning overall. He couldn't win normally so he used a trick, the warsaw dude had his army on the table edge, and he placed it on his case on the edge of the table they were playing. The models got catapulted in to the air, by the higher mass of the case. Dudes army was broken, and because the round was already started he wasn't able to be ready to play, and the dude from our town won 13-0, as if the warsaw dude droped out.
If you have to kill, then kill in the best manner. If you slaughter, then slaughter in the best manner. Let one of you sharpen his knife so his animal feels no pain.
HuskyWarhammer wrote: Humans play the game, humans are subject to psychological warfare. Humans get tired, forget things, get distracted, are victims of biases, etc. Psychological tactics are more about exploiting unconscious tendencies or biases than anything else.
I know a guy who has a pathological fear/hatred of wraithlords. No matter what happens, he'll always try to down them first. Total distraction carnifex. Knowing that he has a tendency to do that lets me position them in hard-to-hit areas to draw him out, or act really aggressive with them to put him on the back foot. We also play a lot of 2v2 games and I know he views me as a bigger threat, so he'll target my guys first almost always...so I intentionally can take very durable units and play with that. Or, another example: you're playing with a guy who gets upset/defeated easily, so you target down his baddest boy on the table first, and be as spectacular about it as possible. He gets frustrated, starts paying less attention, makes more mistakes, and unintentionally throws the game.
Not that I think these are necessarily good practice for friendly games, but it's a real thing that happens.
Someone told me a story about a GT a few editions ago, where one dude from one team was asked to stop a dude from Warsaw winning overall. He couldn't win normally so he used a trick, the warsaw dude had his army on the table edge, and he placed it on his case on the edge of the table they were playing. The models got catapulted in to the air, by the higher mass of the case. Dudes army was broken, and because the round was already started he wasn't able to be ready to play, and the dude from our town won 13-0, as if the warsaw dude droped out.
breaking someone's army to win? christ why didn't he just send a goon to break his kneecaps well he's at it
Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two
HuskyWarhammer wrote: Humans play the game, humans are subject to psychological warfare. Humans get tired, forget things, get distracted, are victims of biases, etc. Psychological tactics are more about exploiting unconscious tendencies or biases than anything else.
I know a guy who has a pathological fear/hatred of wraithlords. No matter what happens, he'll always try to down them first. Total distraction carnifex. Knowing that he has a tendency to do that lets me position them in hard-to-hit areas to draw him out, or act really aggressive with them to put him on the back foot. We also play a lot of 2v2 games and I know he views me as a bigger threat, so he'll target my guys first almost always...so I intentionally can take very durable units and play with that. Or, another example: you're playing with a guy who gets upset/defeated easily, so you target down his baddest boy on the table first, and be as spectacular about it as possible. He gets frustrated, starts paying less attention, makes more mistakes, and unintentionally throws the game.
Not that I think these are necessarily good practice for friendly games, but it's a real thing that happens.
Someone told me a story about a GT a few editions ago, where one dude from one team was asked to stop a dude from Warsaw winning overall. He couldn't win normally so he used a trick, the warsaw dude had his army on the table edge, and he placed it on his case on the edge of the table they were playing. The models got catapulted in to the air, by the higher mass of the case. Dudes army was broken, and because the round was already started he wasn't able to be ready to play, and the dude from our town won 13-0, as if the warsaw dude droped out.
I'm sure this person later proclaimed how much of a strategic genius he is at the game
The lengths some people go to win a game of plastic toys...
"Courage and Honour. I hear you murmur these words in the mist, in their wake I hear your hearts beat harder with false conviction seeking to convince yourselves that a brave death has meaning.
There is no courage to be found here my nephews, no honour to be had. Your souls will join the trillion others in the mist shrieking uselessly to eternity, weeping for the empire you could not save.
To the unfaithful, I bring holy plagues ripe with enlightenment. To the devout, I bring the blessing of immortality through the kiss of sacred rot.
And to you, new-born sons of Gulliman, to you flesh crafted puppets of a failing Imperium I bring the holiest gift of all.... Silence."
- Mortarion, The Death Lord, The Reaper of Men, Daemon Primarch of Nurgle
Haven't played much this edition but back in 5th through 7th even taking one drop pod and a quick comment could make most of my opponents rethink the way they would deploy. Then again, there is always the good old fashioned, "hmm, you could".
Aaranis wrote: Hi all, I was wondering if any of you guys had any story to tell about using psychology against your opponent in 40k, be it successfully or not. I was wondering if this could work against some people, purely for scientific reasons of course. I don't have any example where this has happened in my games, so I don't really know what kind of tricks could be used to deceive your opponent, without cheating, so I'd like to hear some examples.
Why yes sir I do use phycollogical warfare. Mostly through my paint scheme. You can arrange the colors of your army to distract or disturb your enemies.
As well as tactical acumen. In combination you can Cowtown your enemies easily.
My favorite tactic is demoralization via deepstrike. I let my opponent fight my list till turn 3, waiting for him to get comfy in the fact it has been going even...Before I deesptrike 60ish Bloodletters into the field. The amount they deflate even though I told them about it beforehand is astounding.
Crazy Jay wrote: Don’t know if this counts but playing Dark Angels I had a tactical squad reduced to 1 model, which I promptly moved into the corner of a ruin and then never moved again. I never looked at him or did anything to draw attention to him. I was doing great at objectives but losing models by the handful. At the end of turn 7 my opponent finished of what he thought was the last of my units and declared victory. I then reminded him of my lone marine and the points total.
breaking someone's army to win? christ why didn't he just send a goon to break his kneecaps well he's at it
Was to busy gathering his stuff, and if he tried anything they would call the police and at best kick him out of the event. There was no way for him to prove that our dude did in on purpose, and post event it doesn't matter.
I'm sure this person later proclaimed how much of a strategic genius he is at the game
Not saying he did not do that, I have been 4 at that time. But no one here had problems with it, we don't like people from warsaw and people from out rown won some nice prizes. Win/win.
If you have to kill, then kill in the best manner. If you slaughter, then slaughter in the best manner. Let one of you sharpen his knife so his animal feels no pain.
Crazy Jay wrote: Don’t know if this counts but playing Dark Angels I had a tactical squad reduced to 1 model, which I promptly moved into the corner of a ruin and then never moved again. I never looked at him or did anything to draw attention to him. I was doing great at objectives but losing models by the handful. At the end of turn 7 my opponent finished of what he thought was the last of my units and declared victory. I then reminded him of my lone marine and the points total.
Heh I did similar thing with orks on mega battle recently keeping my big mek as lone survivor from my army scoring personal points netting me like 4th place out of 10 for personal results despite having my army wiped all but for that big mek
Just kept him behind ruin all game.
Albeit helped there was no point for anybody to bother dealing with it.
On last turn just for fun ran top of ruin to have him survey the battlefield.
Doesn't really matter as long as it gets you a win.
If you have to kill, then kill in the best manner. If you slaughter, then slaughter in the best manner. Let one of you sharpen his knife so his animal feels no pain.
Was to busy gathering his stuff, and if he tried anything they would call the police and at best kick him out of the event. There was no way for him to prove that our dude did in on purpose, and post event it doesn't matter.
I'm sure this person later proclaimed how much of a strategic genius he is at the game
Not saying he did not do that, I have been 4 at that time. But no one here had problems with it, we don't like people from warsaw and people from out rown won some nice prizes. Win/win.
That donkey-cave is the one that should have been kicked out of tournament. And called in police.
He's miserable no life loser and waste of human life for breaking other persons miniatures for sake of silly tournament.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/07/03 07:47:56
No. I don't bother with psychological gimmicks. The only people they work against are inexperienced or weaker players, and you don't need gimmicks to beat them. Just play your normal game and take your win.
There is no such thing as a hobby without politics. "Leave politics at the door" is itself a political statement, an endorsement of the status quo and an attempt to silence dissenting voices.
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