As 40k is a vast and sprawling morass of rules, advanced rules, rules supplements, mission packs, armies of renown, war zones, seasons, datacards, flashpoints, chapter approveds, balance dataslates, box set rules and (deep breath) white dwarf articles, it can be handy to know up front which of the above you’re using for your next game. If you’re playing matched play, this conversation is mostly handled for you: you’re playing the most recent Chapter Approved Mission Pack with the current balance dataslate. If you’re playing at an event, the organiser will (hopefully) detail the rules you’re using in advance.
But what if you’re going to your buddy’s place for a game Sunday morning? What if it’s a narrative campaign you’ve set up for the two of you? Narrative Play doesn’t have the same cut and dry definitions that Matched Play does. Are you using Crusade Rosters? Do they mind if you bring your tournament list? What if you want to try some off-meta picks: will you get your face stomped into the ground?
We laid out the Golden Rule of Narrative Play in a previous article, but how can you execute it?
Communication with your opponent
What this all comes down to is a need to have a conversation with your opponent before the game, and probably one more in depth than walking up to the table and discussing what each piece of terrain counts as. So what should that conversation look like?
What kind of mission are we playing? Who’s the attacker and defender?
Here’s my list: what do you think? Should I change anything?
What kind of table and terrain do we need?
The above would be typical questions I would ask, and the third you can even leave til you get to the table for simpler games. Discussing these questions before the game should do a good job of setting everything up and ensuring no one is caught out by wacky lists or skewed terrain. That’s not to say that everything will go according to plan – Narrative Play often involves experimental missions and rules that can have surprising consequences – but having that conversation beforehand and keeping the two golden rules in mind should help you navigate any hitches you come across.
What’s the mission?
Sharing the mission ahead of time so that everyone has a chance to digest is a courtesy you should be granting your opponent. I own most of the Narrative Play mission packs GW published in 9th Edition and I would often take a picture of the mission page(s) on my phone and message it over. This way my opponent can read it, suggest any modifications, or veto my selection. The key thing here is avoiding any quirkiness that could leave them flat-footed after we’ve started rolling dice.
If the mission has any weird gotcha moments, now is when I point them out to my opponent: i.e. “you need to be on all three objectives turn one, or I can easily win” or “taking less than three characters will make transmitting intel very challenging”. Even if the mission has some weird skew like the above, it still might be a fun game, as long as you both understand the intricacies. Or it might be better to just find a simpler mission.
Here’s my army
“Oh cool, you brought all tanks and on turn one killed my only lascannons, this’ll be a fun two and a half hours.” No, never happened to you? Just me?
Maybe I should just paint more lascannon havocs, but nobody wants to play the above game.
“But what if I want my list to be a surprise?” I hear you ask. Well, then I would direct you back to the Golden Rule of narrative gaming. Firstly, will surprising your opponent be fun for them? And, if it is, will it serve the story you’re trying to build. There 100% can be a time when your opponent wants to be surprised by your list, but that should be part of the pregame discussion.
The goal here is to avoid an unbalanced game against a skew list. If, after sharing lists, you think it will be a bad game, feel free to ask your opponent if you can change it up. And that goes for both if you feel you’ll get stomped or do the stomping. If it looks like your list is too skewed, try taking something more balanced. Or if you didn’t realise your opponent was bringing knights, ask if you can swap out your mortars for missile launchers.
The counterpoint to this is to not tailor your army to your opponent’s list so the scales swing too far in the other direction. There definitely is a fine line between ensuring it’ll be a close game and over-correcting to the point where you’re bringing a tuned army to deal with all the units of your opponent. Be honest with yourself and your opponent about what you’re each bringing and try to reach a good consensus.
(A fun example is during a recent team game where our opponent brought his tank company and told us to bring more anti-armour: which we brought in the form of tough-as-nails land raiders and dreadnoughts. Unfortunately, most of the opposing tanks had flamer and plasma sponsors with lots of anti-infantry turrets. It was still a fun game, but a very uphill battle for the tank company.)
Remember: the goal is to have a fun, close game, not to see who can trick the other the hardest.
What terrain are we using?
This question probably isn’t necessary for most pick-up/weekend hangout/let’s-get-a-quick-match-in type of games, but if you’re playing a bespoke narrative mission it becomes much more important. Also, if you’re doing a highly themed table, communicating that in advance is helpful. Some examples could be:
- I’ve booked the hive city at the store, so don’t bring anything wider than a rhino, ‘cause it won’t fit down the alleys.
- I just finished my trench table and I want you to defend, so bring lots of infantry.
- My terrain collection isn’t great, so we’ll be playing on planet Bowling Ball VI.
Similarly, if you want to play the type of mission that has you invading a fortress, but you don’t have said fortress, think about changing or adjusting the mission. Maybe instead one side has fortified an ammo dump with lots of barricades, or set up camp in a naturally defensible forest valley.
In most rulebooks, this is where it would say “This is a great opportunity to expand your terrain collection!” and while it certainly is, you’re probably also racing to finish painting the last unit of your list before the game and might not have time to scratch-build an eldar city: hence the suggestion to adapt the mission, or find a new one altogether.
Finally, if your terrain collection doesn’t fit the bill, you can always tweak the mission rules to account for any deficiencies. Don’t have enough line of sight blocking pieces? Put down a template representing a cyclone or tornado that moves across the battlefield, blocking line of sight directly over it and giving a penalty to any shots that are fired near it. Adapt night fighting rules to have a maximum range of all weapons of 12-24”, depending on the size of your table. These certainly aren’t a substitute for a gorgeous terrain collection, but things like these suggestions will work in a pinch.
Talk it out
Having a pregame discussion might seem obvious, but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve forgone it and had to sit through an awful game (or watched others do the same). Having simple conversations like this are always a great way to get hyped and ensure you’re going have a fantastic, memorable battle.