Post by Iron Warrior on Feb 17, 2006 21:39:29 GMT -5
An Interesting article I found. Give it a read.
Psychological Warfare in 40k
Submitted by: sephiroth87
Author: Automated Submit
Type: Tactics
Last Updated: July 12, 2004
Page: 1
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"I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy; but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you" - Niccolo Machiavelli
Psychological factors in 40k
(Editors note: This rather good article contains mild language. But I'm sure you're already over it.)
Warhammer is a psychological game of intimidation. You may say, “I’m a nice player! I don’t try to hurt anyone!.” Bullnuts, says I. Every competitive game consists of mastering your opponent. In essence, you aren’t beating your opponent’s army, you’re beating him/her. To think otherwise is to give up on strategy and resign yourself to rolling dice. Don’t do it.
40k is is not a game of chance, odds or even of having the best army units at the table. It’s about psychology and leading your opponents into submission through coercion and intimidation. Everyone has their own technique to accomplish this objective and it’s just as important to be aware of your opponents´ styles as it is coming up with your own.
First, you should always talk to your opponent before the match. Although he may smell of limburger cheese and body odor, you’ll find out very interesting and useful things just by having a short conversation. Ask as many questions as you can about his army and 40k in general, even if you know the answers beforehand. Never act overly knowledgeable, because it puts an opponent on his guard. Most people don’t like to ask tons of questions, but this is a great way to get your opponent to underestimate you. And getting your opponent to underestimate you grants you a huge early advantage. An opponent will likely make mistakes out of arrogance when he thinks that you don’t know very much. He will also give things away when you ask him simple questions.
As an example, I’ll talk about a recent conversation between an opponent and myself. My opponent deployed his wraithguard. I said, “Hmm…those look cool. What are they?” He told me they were Wraithguard, and that he just spent a full week painting them. I asked, “What do they do?” He told me that they were brutal enough to kill a demon prince in one turn. I said, “In hand to hand combat? They must be pretty nasty.” He told me that they were, and that I wouldn’t be able to shoot him due to the Conceal on the accompanying Warlock. I just nodded.
I asked other questions about other units, and he continued to effectively brag about his army and how good they were. I just nodded, then swarmed the Wraithguard with regular troops and demonettes. I knew that he was really proud of his paint job. I knew that he was overconfident in what they could do. And I knew that it was a point-sink unit that decreased the numbers on the rest of the army from the way he talked about them. He didn’t know it, but he effectively helped me to understand how to beat him. I demoralized him by killing his “pretty” unit and had him effectively beaten by the fourth turn. Everything after that was mopping up.
Another thing to consider is sportsmanship. An amateur at competitive intimidation will try to rattle you by being obnoxious, loud, or by being a rules lawyer. Never give in to the temptation to argue back or get angry. If you do it, he wins. If you believe that you’re right, always get a third party and explain your side. Don’t even try to argue with the not a very nice persons. If you try to be an not a very nice person and intimidate others by being rude, you’ll get very few opponents to play against, and we don’t want that. We want to become better players, and that comes by playing as many different styles and opponents as possible. An angry opponent makes stupid mistakes, and that’s just what he wants you to do. If you continually show good manners to your opponent (no matter how obnoxious the opponent), you gain a huge competitive advantage by learning how to stay calm under pressure. Also, while you should chat up your opponent before the game, you should refrain from engaging in extended conversation during the actual game. There are two reasons for this.
1. You will often concentrate less on the game and will not be able to outthink your opponent.
2. You intimidate your opponent by keeping your mouth shut.
If you only speak to say “your turn,” an opponent will get rattled, especially when you were extremely talkative before. This is the point that he finally figures out that he’s dealing with a good, thoughtful player and not a newbie. This is intimidating to an opponent. Underestimation breeds contempt, which means that you can destroy an opponent before he knows that he’s dead.
Learn from your opponent before the game. Get him to underestimate your skills and overestimate his skills by asking questions. Intimidate him during the game by staying calm and keeping your mouth shut. Win by using your opponent’s mouth and mind against him.
Psychological Warfare in 40k
Submitted by: sephiroth87
Author: Automated Submit
Type: Tactics
Last Updated: July 12, 2004
Page: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy; but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you" - Niccolo Machiavelli
Psychological factors in 40k
(Editors note: This rather good article contains mild language. But I'm sure you're already over it.)
Warhammer is a psychological game of intimidation. You may say, “I’m a nice player! I don’t try to hurt anyone!.” Bullnuts, says I. Every competitive game consists of mastering your opponent. In essence, you aren’t beating your opponent’s army, you’re beating him/her. To think otherwise is to give up on strategy and resign yourself to rolling dice. Don’t do it.
40k is is not a game of chance, odds or even of having the best army units at the table. It’s about psychology and leading your opponents into submission through coercion and intimidation. Everyone has their own technique to accomplish this objective and it’s just as important to be aware of your opponents´ styles as it is coming up with your own.
First, you should always talk to your opponent before the match. Although he may smell of limburger cheese and body odor, you’ll find out very interesting and useful things just by having a short conversation. Ask as many questions as you can about his army and 40k in general, even if you know the answers beforehand. Never act overly knowledgeable, because it puts an opponent on his guard. Most people don’t like to ask tons of questions, but this is a great way to get your opponent to underestimate you. And getting your opponent to underestimate you grants you a huge early advantage. An opponent will likely make mistakes out of arrogance when he thinks that you don’t know very much. He will also give things away when you ask him simple questions.
As an example, I’ll talk about a recent conversation between an opponent and myself. My opponent deployed his wraithguard. I said, “Hmm…those look cool. What are they?” He told me they were Wraithguard, and that he just spent a full week painting them. I asked, “What do they do?” He told me that they were brutal enough to kill a demon prince in one turn. I said, “In hand to hand combat? They must be pretty nasty.” He told me that they were, and that I wouldn’t be able to shoot him due to the Conceal on the accompanying Warlock. I just nodded.
I asked other questions about other units, and he continued to effectively brag about his army and how good they were. I just nodded, then swarmed the Wraithguard with regular troops and demonettes. I knew that he was really proud of his paint job. I knew that he was overconfident in what they could do. And I knew that it was a point-sink unit that decreased the numbers on the rest of the army from the way he talked about them. He didn’t know it, but he effectively helped me to understand how to beat him. I demoralized him by killing his “pretty” unit and had him effectively beaten by the fourth turn. Everything after that was mopping up.
Another thing to consider is sportsmanship. An amateur at competitive intimidation will try to rattle you by being obnoxious, loud, or by being a rules lawyer. Never give in to the temptation to argue back or get angry. If you do it, he wins. If you believe that you’re right, always get a third party and explain your side. Don’t even try to argue with the not a very nice persons. If you try to be an not a very nice person and intimidate others by being rude, you’ll get very few opponents to play against, and we don’t want that. We want to become better players, and that comes by playing as many different styles and opponents as possible. An angry opponent makes stupid mistakes, and that’s just what he wants you to do. If you continually show good manners to your opponent (no matter how obnoxious the opponent), you gain a huge competitive advantage by learning how to stay calm under pressure. Also, while you should chat up your opponent before the game, you should refrain from engaging in extended conversation during the actual game. There are two reasons for this.
1. You will often concentrate less on the game and will not be able to outthink your opponent.
2. You intimidate your opponent by keeping your mouth shut.
If you only speak to say “your turn,” an opponent will get rattled, especially when you were extremely talkative before. This is the point that he finally figures out that he’s dealing with a good, thoughtful player and not a newbie. This is intimidating to an opponent. Underestimation breeds contempt, which means that you can destroy an opponent before he knows that he’s dead.
Learn from your opponent before the game. Get him to underestimate your skills and overestimate his skills by asking questions. Intimidate him during the game by staying calm and keeping your mouth shut. Win by using your opponent’s mouth and mind against him.
