Text & The 40K: Be Prepared

I received a text from Laur today for our impending Wednesday Night Gaming session, and it goes like this:

“Keep it simple. 1250 points. Roll for game type or agree now and gear lists to it?”

I thought about it, and I replied with the following:

“I say we roll on Wednesday night. This will mean we’ll have 2 bring balanced, take-on-all challenger lists. :) C u Wednesday!”

The reason for this is, after a long period of no Wednesday Night Gaming, I wanted finally return to the fray, to bring the pain and the hurt with my Guard... But I wanted to do it, Old Skool style.

This means Rulebook Vanilla, where we’ll set the terrain up then roll off for the Mission, and then roll off for the deployment. Also, this will mean we’ll have to focus on creating flexible lists, with a core of hardy troops in case Seize Ground and it’s like pop up, but still be able to handle good ol’ Annhilation.

Of course, there have been times my opponents and I agree on a pre-decided setup and mission, which results in interestingly skewed lists (e.g. if a straightforward KP fight is on my hands I end up with less Troops, and more Killer Toys). Also, to avoid Yawn of War as the sheer randomness of unit arrival makes planning a Strategic game (which we all like) harder to do, resulting in a ‘make- up the battle narrative as we go along’ free-for-all tactical sortie.

But I felt, after having played games ranging from Combat Patrol skirmishes and all-out Planetstrike missions, we should return to the way the game is *supposed* to be played as per the main rulebook. For now.

What I’d like to ask is this:

Do you and your opponents pre-decide your games before composing your army list (e.g. 'gearing' your lists)? And if so, do you find it more ‘fun’?