Tweaking a Net List to Fit You

So this is a small follow up to my previous article "How I Build an Army List". I wanted to touch lightly on "Net Lists" and tweaking them to fit you as a player based on your personal play style. I realize the few people who read my blog so far probably already know how to do this but I'd like to have the information in case someone newer to the scene out there drops by.


Now a there are quite a few people out there on the forums who are hung up on how horrible the idea of "Net Lists" are and how they are destroying our hobby. Personally I think it's silly to assume that with the amount of information out there and how easy it is to get now that good ideas won't spread at the speed of light. I've found that the internet can sometimes provide the kernel of an idea for an army or a new slant on something I'm looking at running. . Not to say there isn't a lot of piss poor advice out there (maybe even mine!) but there is a lot of good info out there too. The trick is how to adjust what you see online and like into something that fits you.

First thing you need to do is figure out what kind of player you are. Now there are an unlimited combination of styles and most people aren't a single style of player but let's touch on a few of them to in case it opens up some more ideas for anybody out there. Some of the broad stroke styles I've seen include:

1. Aggressive
2. Defensive
3. Cautious
4. Range Oriented
5. CC Oriented
6. Denial

Most of the time players will be a blend of the above as well as have several more added levels of personal style and approach. But I want to touch on a few of them and how they affect adjusting "Net Lists" to you. First all the armies on the internet are obviously going to be heavily biased toward that creator's personal style of play. If you've visited http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/ then you'll notice that Steleks lists tend to be very range oriented while you'll notice over time most of my lists tend to be very in your face aggressive. Knowing this allows you to start from the right place to adjust it to you.


So we've covered the first step in you knowing what type of player you are and the second with knowing the type of player that creates the internet list. So let's move onto how you make something yours. Now the good online lists with have internal synergy which you'll break up if you adjust it willy nilly on the fly. So it's important to identify what, if anything, about a list you think might be missing for you. Next identify an area that you feel the original list has taken farther than you feel you need. For example you're an aggressive, range oriented player but you know that CC units work well for your aggression units. You might drop that third devastator/loota/trueborn squad in favor of a cc unit. This could place the synergy of the list at risk but if it's done correctly all you've done is make the list more useful for yourself by giving yourself the tools you feel most comfortable with.


I'll use an example. When I got back into my Daemons I was looking around and found Stelek's Ard Boyz Daemon list (http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2010/03/chaos-demons-ard-boyz-approved.html). I liked the look of the list but it didn't quite fit my style. The troops were literally just place holders designed to survive. I also tend to have terrible luck with rending so I wanted something a little more deadly in CC and a little more survivable. The fast attack for me were pretty much a no go as that was pretty much where most of the extra 500pts were coming from so this is the list I shifted to and took to 2 GT's this year and it did pretty well for me:

-HQ-
Tzeentch Herald-100
Bolt, Gaze, Master of Sorcery, Chariot


Tzeentch Herald-100
Bolt, Gaze, Master of Sorcery, Chariot


Tzeentch Herald-100
Bolt, Gaze, Master of Sorcery, Chariot


Tzeentch Herald-100
Bolt, Gaze, Master of Sorcery, Chariot


-Elite-
6 Fiends-180


6 Fiends-180


6 Bloodcrushers-245
Musician


-Troops-
5 Horrors-95
Bolt


5 Horrors-95
Bolt


5 Horrors-100
Bolt, Changling


7 Plaguebearer-105


-Fast Attack-
5 Screamers-80


-Heavy Support-
Daemon Prince-160
Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt, Gaze


Daemon Prince-160
Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt, Gaze


Daemon Prince-200
Mark of Slaanesh, Pavane, Sporific Musk, Iron Hide, Breath of Chaos


As you can see from the above list in comparison to Steleks it's not extremely similar. A few of the things I'd been considering since the codex came out like the Tzeentch Heralds but the Tzeentch Princes were something I hadn't considered so I stole that. But I had noticed over playtesting that I wanted my DP's to be slightly more well rounded so I added Gaze since MC's can fire twice and it made it possible for them to seriously hurt units like Long Fangs on the drop. My Heralds have Master of Sorcery for the same reason. I also added a CC oriented prince because I noticed the need for it in my list. I considered wings but the price tag soared and the rest of the list couldn't fit it. I love Fiends but found that a unit of Bloodcrushers can have a massive psychological impact and their survivability is unmatched in the list. I added Screamers since they have a tendency to draw fire away from my heavy hitters against a mech list and I took troops that can kill tanks or put out a massive number of shots. Basically I tweaked the list to my style and it doesn't reflect the kernel I got it from almost at all. I hope that helps illustrate what I'm trying to get at in this article.


Which brings me to my last and most important point. Play test your list. I can't emphasize this enough. If you can't look at a list and see where the style breaks from yours don't be afraid to play it and find through experience where it does. This key thing is to play with it often and this is why I laugh when people say the internet stole the individuality of lists and that all lists are the same now. The internet is helping give people the spark for their creativity sometimes off the template or certain unit from armies they read online. Hope this helps guys J