Metagame and Psychological Factors Written by T0nkaTruckDriver, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver Although important to all armies, Tau commanders can potentially glean even more benefit from a thorough understanding of metagame factors pertaining to 40k. What Exactly is a "Metagame"? The metagame is the game outside of the game. It's the understanding that there is a human across the table from you and that humans are inherently suceptible to strong emotion, subtle suggestions, and even mild taunting. Humans react to their surroundings. Humans are not 100% logical creatures. All of these facts can be exploited by the clever player to give them an advantage in a competative setting. In internet circles, the metagame often also refers to the general climate of lists that are being fielded in tournaments. For example, if through careful monitoring of online Army List repositories and researching recent tournament winners you were able to determine that Rhino Rushing Marine armies were "in vogue". Therefore by adding a few extra Missile Pods to your list in preparation for a tournament event, you might have an edge in this environment. Even though there's no logical reason to add these extra Missile Pods, and in fact against a more balanced list the points spent on the Missiles might be wasted. However becuase you understand the metagame, you were able to gain an advantage. This sort of strategy and thought process isn't the focus of this article; however, it has been mentioned for completeness. Using the Metagame to Your Advantage While the possibilities of subtle metagame manipulation are near endless, there are a few broader principles that bear mentioning. The Closest Enemy is the Biggest Threat As a general matter, people perceive the closest targets to be the most dangerous. This is especially true if facing off against another shooty army like IG or Eldar. Therefore, if you're looking to draw fire away from a potentially deadly (but fragile) unit, take care to make sure that there are several units in front of it. The Target Priority rules were added to the game to reflect this real-world tendency. However, even if your opponent consistently passes their Target Priority checks, you can still take advantage of the metagame by threatening them with proximity. The Unit that Rolls the Most Dice is the Biggest Threat Rapid-firing Firewarriors, Stealth Suits, etc always seem to garner sharp intakes of breath from opponents. If one of these units fires off a substantial salvo on turn 2, you can almost be certain they're going to receive more than their fair share of return fire on turn 3. If you stick your opponent, you'll inevitably awaken his sense of revenge and he's going to want to stick you back. This can be used to your advantage in two ways. If your heavy-hitters are fragile (Stealths, Firewarriors), be sure to limit his ability to generate return fire, because you know that if you allow him to, he's going to wipe them from the table. This means using terrain to limit his units that have LoS, or using jet packs to jump out of range or behind an obstacle. In essence, by hitting him hard, you are determining where he's going to put his effort in the next turn. Secondly, combining this principle with the one above you can include a durable, cheap distraction with a high rate of fire designed exclusively to pull attention away from your more valuable backfield assets. The 130 point Ion/Burst Hammerhead is an excellent example of this. Table Talk Works This is one of those skills that is more an art than a science. It brings out the Water Caste in all of us. By talking up a particular unit, you can get your opponent to overly fixate on it at a crucial moment in the game. This is of particular value during deployment. Talking up how much tactical utility the new Advanced Stabilizers add to your Broadside unit can result in your opponent singling them out with his anti-tank weaponry. This in turn can keep your Hammerheads safe from being penetrated before they get a chance to begin moving fast. If you accidentally leave a Commander in a position where he is the closest target to an enemy unit, shift your opponent's focus by talking about how afraid you are about that unit taking shots at something else. In general, table chatter can be useful to lighten the tone of a game, but it also has strategic value as well. Not all Devilfish are Created Equal Depending on the climate at your local gaming venue, you might not need to inform your opponent of the contents of your transports as you deploy them. In fact, this position is explicitly supported in the rulebook on p.81. Of course, a Devilfish placed late in deployment will likely contain Pathfinders since they're a Fast Attack choice. However if you have no Elites (or if they're all Infiltrating or Deep Striking) a unit of Pathfinders could be placed immediately following a unit of Firewarriors leading to the assumption that both Devilfish contain Firewarriors. Furthermore, units of Firewarriors need not all be the same size. Dumping a 'fish early in the game containing only 6 Firewarriors can lead your opponent to believe (consciously or unconsciously) that your transports aren't much of a threat. Then a few turns later dropping a full squad of 12 on him can be a real surprise. Just be sure you verrify the difference between the two squads with a pre-printed army list after the game! Having matching squad markings on your transport and on your army list is usually sufficient evidence. Finally, beware of your opponnents using these principles against you. If you see an empty transport rushing at you, it's not necessarily the first thing your Missile Pods should be targeting. The large unit of fleet Termigaunts aren't the bigger threat, just because they're in front of the smaller unit of Genestealers. Just because your opponent is continuously rattling on about how well a particular unit has performed against previous opponents doesn't mean it's going to perform well against your particular army. Weigh and consider everything on your own and come to your own decision on which targets are the most important on a given turn. None of these strategies are intended to cheat your opponent. By posting this article, the members of ATT are not endorsing cheating of any kind. Depending on your opponent, you might get some nasty looks by employing these strategies, but the fact remains that there is nothing illegal about them. You and your opponent must decide what sort of game you wish to play and how much "trickery" is acceptible. Each person has their own idea of what constitues fair play. Your morals may vary.