Reply To: Unit discussions and meta-gaming

[crazyredcoatParticipant 13642xp 2]

You’re deff not alone, mate. I much prefer to play a game for fun than for meta. Sure, I like balance in my games and not complete chaos, but when I get a new unit the only thing I usually do is check to see what the rules are for numbers. I got the Mandos for Legion for christmas and while I don’t have a playable army yet (I like the little fighting mans enough to just collect and paint) Legion is a game I wouldn’t mind playing in the future, so I wanted to make sure they were ‘usable’ units rather than ‘meta’.

Like @guillotine, I too am often given advise of ‘optimising’ my armies. I usually play 40k at the moment, so it’s sure annoying when I CAN’T win because of a meta that I don’t meet, but that doesn’t mean I want to be told what to buy to make my army better…what I have was expensive enough… My Bolt Action Brits, for example, I have built to a standard WW2 Platoon level, so 3 sections of 10 men, plus an officer with the Sergeant and the Radioman. I’m sure it’s not meta, but it’s what I want to play. I also refuse to shoot medics in Bolt Action because I don’t care if it’s a good ‘gaming’ choice to make, I just don’t think it’s right to do.

As I’m still currently in North America, I think the lack (at least from what I see in Southern Ontario) of gaming clubs drives the competitive nature of the hobby. Over here people tend to play to win in stores or tournaments, or they play at home with a few mates, so the only voices you hear are the one’s getting out there. The idea of a club where you more just hang out and are brought together by a shared hobby is much more of a European thing, I find, particularly with this hobby. A club is more likely to band together to play one big, fluffy game once or twice a year, and spend most of the rest of the time hanging out, discussing projects, ect. Two very different settings. A friendly game over a few beers and some pizza is much more my style. Honestly, I miss the idea of a space to just go an hang out with like-minded people…