We can’t win every game, but knowing how enjoy the small victories can make any game worthwhile. Let’s discus how we find those little nuggets of fun.
Hello BoLs, this is ZombieJoe and I am very proud to announce that this is my first post ever! I hope we have a very long and committed relationship together.
For my first post ever, I think it would be prudent to discuss something that really defines me as a wargamer; knowing how to find the small victories. We can’t always win our games, no matter how hard we try. Even the most brilliant plan can be laid low by chance. So it’s best to understand where else we can find our success. There are two ways to approach this concept. First is the analytical or mathematical approach. It usually takes place after a game where we sit back and look at the events that have unfolded. The other way is done by having a strong understanding of fluff. Being able to get into your army and see things their way.
Except in the worst cases, where we are annihilated from the board, we can always sit back and appreciate where one particular move went well or an unexpected outcome occurred. For example, let’s say a Tau player finishes a game with a Tyranid player, which they lost. The Tau player sits back and says, “Wow I cannot believe that my Fire Warriors beat your Genestealers in close combat.” Or in another case, “How did my one Vargulf hold back your six Dragon Ogres for five turns?” This happens more then we realize where something happens that is, by all logic, improbable. Learn to appreciate these moments and you’ll find that losing isn’t always so bad.
Getting your head into the fluff of an army is my favorite way to play the game. Thinking from the level of your army has all kinds of advantages, ranging from shaping your strategies to taking losses better. Traditionally, when you appreciate a small victory from a fluff perspective you do it during the game. You know that those Emperial cannons won’t actually kill your Daemons, they may lose their material forms but soon they will return from the Warp to do more havoc. So for now slaughter as many humans as you can. I played in a three person 40k game once where I really was able to get behind my army’s mentality. You see the issue with three person games is that usually one person gets ganged up on. That person was me. I was between Daemons and Eldar and losing fast. By turn three it was obvious I stood no chance of winning. So I decided that since the greater victory was lost I might as well grab a lesser one. I turned my last ten man squad of Berserkers on Kugath and charged. Blood for the Blood God! To my amazement I took him down with enough troops to, in my next turn, take the fight to a Greater Daemon of Nurgle. Here I was pressed to sludge under its massive folds, but not before I knocked it down to one wound!
It is easy to get far-sighted as victory looms farther and farther out of reach. But Warhammer is a game. And sometimes it’s more fun just to see how much damage you can inflict in desperation before you’re pulled down into the ranks of the dead.
What about you guys? How do you learn to appreciate the smaller victories with your respective armies?
