Thursday, June 20, 2013

What Race Are You?



Ho,
Fly Molo back again.
I am a good guy. A genuinely good guy I would say. I do my best to help others, I consciously think about how every action that I do affects others, I have a strong moral compass and I plan on being good the rest of my life. Compare this to what armies I collect and play in Warhammer:


Chaos Space Marines
Necrons
Chaos Daemons
Imperial Guard (Traitors of course)
And when I started Necrons, they were the evilest of evil, none of this Dynasty business.
I ALWAYS played Horde characters when I played World of Warcraft.
Sith characters when I played anything Star Wars related.
I used to play Skaven and Ogres.

As I had mentioned before, we play Warhammer because it is loaded with history, culture, life, fantasy and imagination. The game system itself is far from perfect and that is an understatement. I bring that up because we don't play for the actual game system itself. Instead, the rules function as a way for us to play with our richly imagined models. Models we've worked hard on and pour an awful lot of creativity upon.
So why do I play the bad guys?
I wish I could tell you with certainty. I will attempt it without certainty instead.
I think at its face, I am a good guy in life all the time. Why would I want to be a good guy in a game? I'm a good guy all the time, why would I want to imagine that I'm some other form of good guy? Would it be any fun to imagine that my warlord Company Commander from Guard Regiment 233 is a father of three? That he lets his mother-in-law stay with his family rent-free? That he occasionally mows his elderly neighbor's lawn? That he's considering quitting service to the Imperium because he feels that eternal war is morally wrong?
Sounds like a blast! Count me in.
This goes along with the "European" style game, in which games are focused on cooperation and problem solving. Warhammer is not one of those games. Warhammer is an "American" style game. It has me versus you. I kill you, you try and kill me. I have a turn. You have a turn. 'Murica! Yeah! I have to say, I dislike "European" style games, I don't want to build a working pipe-line, I don't want to settle Catan, I don't want to run a dough factory or trade pelts.
I want to roll the treads of my tanks over the skulls of my enemies.
Ho hum.
My good buddy Jerren Osmar plays Imperial Guard in 40k and Empire in Fantasy. I briefly discussed with him about why he plays them. He said (paraphrased) that they are just the regular people in a universe of bizarre monsters, aliens and unspeakable evils. He likes the idea that they are staring these unbelievable odds in the face and are probably going to die while doing so. Seems heroic and characterful.
Then again, he also plays Tau and Eldar, and admittedly was playing them when they were "bad" in order to win games with something that wasn't supposed to be as good.
That's aside the point though.
There needs to be a bad guy for the good guys to defeat. 40k is pretty cool in the sense that there aren't really "good guys" in their universe. For some reason, most people relate Space Marines with something generally good, or at least as protagonists (even though they commit unbelievable acts of horror regularly). Either way, most of what they do is heroic. They don't even have fear, so much like the Imperial Guard, they stand in the face of unspeakable terror, yet, are bad-ass enough to overcome against all odds. But they need something to overcome against. They need something to stare in the face fearlessly. Maybe that's why I play the bad guy.
Maybe not. Maybe I have a suppressed Ego. Maybe that Ego wants to come out and be totally bad. I don't think this is the case though. I think  a suppressed Ego would manifest as more of a Win-At-All-Costs type player. That type of player would unleash their lack of control elsewhere in life in the form of Warhammer domination. This is their position of power. Not in the imaginary world, but in the very real world of social interaction through gaming. That's a bummer because those people are dickheads.
I am no dickhead. I just play one in a game! :)
That's not to say that I don't yearn to play other armies and races. I always wondered what it would be like to roll out some sweet custom Space Marines Chapter. I even went out of my way to write up a brief history and rule set for them. They were the Sons of Mars, an off-shoot of the Iron Hands, loaded up with all sorts of sweet mechanical upgrades. Their Chapter ship was lost in a far off sector of the galaxy while defending an important Forgeworld. There was even some questions as to if their chapter was run in some ways by the Adeptus Mechanicus.  Their chapter is greatly undermanned, and their distance from anything important and their lack of mobility on a grand scale mean they need to keep their vehicles and equipment running as best as possible. They have only a few Land Raiders, only a few suits of Tactical Dreadnaught Armor and do not have the ability to make regular Dreadnaughts, period. They have to reclaim destroyed vehicles at battles end and repurpose or repair back into service. Their colors were burnt orange and black. They would be freaking awesome.
I went as far as painting an awesome test model.
And then I quit the project and started rehabbing my Necrons.
Ho hum.
What do you play? Are you always the good guys? Are you always the bad guys?
What would you play if money and time were no object?


23 comments:

  1. Who is the artist that drew the Super Deformed Chaos Sorcerer?

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    1. I should check, rookie move on my part, got it from google imagines, I should credit where its due!

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    2. Came from WNxDredd from the "Warrior Nation" boards, not sure if he is the original artist or not though, he didn't mention or cite his source.

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  2. Similar position like You. I think I'am rather good guy irl. But most of my armies in WFB/WH40K are bad... Vampire Counts...painted... and unpainted and in boxes... Dark Elves, Demons, Warriors of Chaos... WH40K - Chaos Space Marines.
    But... I have some soft side apparently too, as I paint Empire too... and own substantial number of Lizardmen boxes, blisters and batallions;)

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    1. Sounds like you just have a miniature collection addiction like the rest of us. Hi, my name is Mike, and I am a Warhammer addict.
      *Welcome Mike!*

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  3. A Dark Angel. They're good guys, right? Or are they? I love that. Sketchy, secretive and just a little broken...

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    1. I love the history behind the Dark Angels. Why didn't they get a better book anyhow? I feel that's two editions in a row where they are under-powered. Ah well, doesn't make too much of a difference unless you're trying to win a GT or something.

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  4. Is it simply because playing the bad guys is so much fun?

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    1. Might be, but then why do people play the good guys? I mean, WHY?! :) I always thought the Alliance players in WoW were different than the Horde players... is there is a trend like this in 40k?

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    2. I generally play the good guys because playing the bad guys is the "in" thing. Bad guys are generally more characterful and unique than the good guys. Like WOW, you could be sweet undead, orcs who weren't your typical crazy, or giant walking cows. On the good side you had boring humans, dwarves, and elves, all overused and unimaginative.

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  5. Good article. I think I'm similar to you -- good guy in real life, so why would I want to be in a fantasy game? Actually I play a little bit of everybody -- maybe that speaks to my split personalities? I love Eldar and Chaos, also like daemons and dark eldar, and about anything else I can get. They each have their own merits and character that I like. I guess my "me" army is my crimson fist marines but I haven't been playing them much lately.

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  6. Nice article - I've been enjoying your posts man, keep up the great work!

    I tend to see-saw back and forth. The Guard are my first love and I always go back to 'em (mostly out of my love for tanks and the little guy fighting off gigantic acid drooling monsters), but whenever I need a break from painting guard I inevitably fall into the clutches of Chaos or Orks (depending on if I'm feeling Evil or just like a bit of hooliganism!).

    There's always a festering Genestealer cult in the wings too if I need to play guard but also be the bad guy! :)

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  7. I'm a Relictor player, good on the inside, dodgy to most on the outside but honestly, Relictors serve the Emperor.... just don't ask about the methods they employ to take down the enemies of mankind.

    The second army I need to paint but have a ton load of is Necrons. Metal Undead in Space. What's not to like!

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  8. I play Tyranids, and now have started Dark angels and Tau. I feel I like the "We're going to do this, you know we're going to do this, and you better get out of the way." They aren't really evil, just doing their thing and people just keep getting in their way.

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    1. Ha, true. Can't blame an animal for eating, right?

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  9. In our group, we also have a Theory that your main army fits your personality, the most.

    We have a very nice guy that love beer and to sing and shout, he plays the Wolves.
    An ex-goth who is quite restrictive about what is good: Eldar
    Myself thinking of the people around before myself: Guard
    A guy very proud of himself: Grey Knights
    Another one when he has a goal in mind, rushes to get it: Blood Angels
    Only the Tyranid player do not match. (May be he loves to eat^^)
    and the last one is the nice calm Tau player.

    We are thinking that there is much more than Good and Bad, in the process to choose an army.
    For example, the cost, my first army was High Elves, I was 16 and knew that it will be much cheaper to collect an elite army. Then when I start to get a salary, I immediately start to collect Orcs and love-love them so much, because they are so many and almost totally disregard my Elves.

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  10. I tend to play both good and bad in all games, but I think I generally lean towards the bad side (or the good side with a major flaw). I like how in Warhammer 40k, the line between good and bad seems to be crystal clear until you look a bit closer. Loyal space marines are the "good guys" but they really aren't that good (destroying entire planets just because they wanted to keep their own identity and culture). The Chaos marines are the "bad guys" but they were either decieved, learned that the emperor was lying to them, or were sometimes falsely accused and chased into the eye of terror (some of them are just evil for the sake of being evil though).

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    1. I agree that 40k blurs the line very well between good and evil. I had a theory that in the "grim-dark" future, everything is basically the same except everything got a generic evil sepia wash.

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  11. My main Army are Spae Wolves ad I like to think that I am a good guy irl (is there realy someone who dons't?)
    My other three armys are (crazy) evil:
    - Eldar Bieltan: I startet them because they chopp your head off for standing on their Turf
    - Necrons: My Lord has a sleigth malefunktion, thinks he's a C'tan and sends his warriors to reap souls for him ^^
    - Orks: nuf said o,o

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  12. I play Space Wolves primary, because I love their attitude and the fact that they are one of the few armies that respect basic human life and will stand up to anyone, no matter the odds. I also have a small allied continent of both Grey Knights and Imperial Guard (renegade but still loyal to the Emperor), so good guys with a hint of duo what you have to do to get the job done! IRL, I hope I'm a good guy, but think that nobody's perfect!

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    1. True, but if you're *trying* to be good, you're probably ahead of most. :)

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  13. I fell to the clutches of chaos back with the Traitor Legionarys were just released. Way cooler than "normal" marines. So much variety and character. Now 20 some years later and still Chaos takes my intrest first. BUT I did start a "good" army Space Sharks back a couple years. I just have gotten very far in completing them even thou its 90% all forge world guys. I did use chaos term torsos and claws on a few guys with catapract legs. I just dont want to be a "good" army but do dream of a all air mobil raven guard army as a change ro my usual marmy build which is pretty much the same regardless of army.

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  14. I play whatever i feel like :) I've got Tyranids, Dark Eldar, Space Wolves, mantis warriors and in later times Eldar.

    I guess i'm some sort of a nice guy in the end.

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