Dare to be Different!

Confound your Enemies
In Warhammer 40k, there are not a lot of opportunities to surprise an opponent. You can't hide models and ambush the enemy, since the other player can simply see you place them there. (Though I have heard of someone attempting to do something like this with a really good camouflage paint scheme and relying on the opponent to forget about a unit!) You can't catch your enemy unprepared while the tanks are still being refuelled. You can't outmaneuver the army and strike 'where they ain't.' So what's a good general to do? Surprise them with your army. If you show up with something out of the ordinary or with the ability to do something unexpected, you can catch most players off-guard. In a six-turn game, if they spend even a turn responding incorrectly to your army, you've got a significant advantage. One example of this is Matt Birdoff's Thousand Squats army. He made a 40k version of the Fantasy Chaos Dwarfs army, using the Thousand Sons army list. Because it was an unusual looking army and it was a lesser-known army list, most people didn't know how to play against it. As he puts it..."He wasn't sure how to play against the Squats, so ended up 'bouncing' off like most armies do- first trying to shoot me up, then realizing that he can't, then trying assaulting, then realizing that wouldn't work either, then shooting again... you get the idea." In the same way, Ken "The Fabulous Orcboy" Lacey has several armies that capitalize on being different. One of them is The Swarm. This was a 3rd edition Tyranid list that heavily used the Mutation rules and was based around Rippers. Most players, seeing the sea of Ripper bases, didn't know what to expect and mostly ignored them in favor of the Carnifi and Warriors that made up the support part of the list. Once the tide of Rippers reached their army, they reacted in horror as huge numbers of Rending attacks made a mockery of their best units. Even my Godzilla Tyranid list made use of that difference. Very few people expected Tyranids to shoot, so they were surprised when I didn't charge, but just sat back and shot at them. They were even more surprised at how effective the shooting was. The final surprise was when they tried to charge me, but got waylaid by a bunch of Genestealers! Each of these armies, to a varying degree, had an advantage in that it was unusual and different from what was expected. So, how do you go about being different?

Look beyond the obvious
One great way to do something different with your army is to make use of less-used abilities and rules and wargear. These are the things that people don't see very often, so they won't know what to expect when they see them. An example would be the various things that Sisters of Battle armies can do with Faith Points. Most opponents won't really know what to expect, or even if they have a vague understanding of the rules, they won't understand how nasty 10 Rapid-Fired Bolters with Divine Guidance can be! (I'll give you a hint, think modified Rending!) Grey Knights and Inquisitors also have some unusual rules or wargear that most people aren't familiar with, so even if they know you have it, they won't know how to deal with it. If you can combine some unusual choices that work well together, the synergy can really pay off in spades, as you'll have something that can completely blindside your opponent. One example would be a Tyranid army using 5 Psychic Screams (most players aren't used to seeing that many of them, so they won't be expecting to take Leadership tests at -5!) and a couple of Hive Tyrants in front when assaulters get close. (Very few people even think about the special rule for Tyrants called The Horror, which means a unit that wants to assault a Tyrant has to take a Leadership test to do so.) If the only target for the assaulters is a Hive Tyrant, and you have to pass a Leadership test at -5 to assault it, you'll probably get left out in the open in front of the Tyranid guns. While you won't make that mistake again, you've just lost a (presumably) expensive assault unit and now you have to scramble to catch up. Another example would be a Slaanesh Chaos army with lots of rhinos, each with a Warp Amp and a Blasphemous Rune. You drive the Rhinos forward in a tight formation toward the unsuspecting enemy. When you Tank shock them, they will be surprised to take their Morale check at -4. They'll be even more surprised when your tight formation forces their army backwards (since they can't get around the Rhinos) and eventually off the board. Surprise!

A Different List
You can also surprise people by using unusual codexes and armies. This might be a "sub-codex," an unusual variant list of some normal army, such as Ravenwing or Deathwing (still technically Marines, but they play VERY differently.) Or it might be a lesser-known army (Dark Eldar aren't a very common army, so people often have no real idea what they can do.) It might also be a Chapter Approved list such as Kroot Mercenaries or The Lost and the Damned. Each of these lists have a certain amount of flexibility to add uncertainty into the mix. Even if you are vaguely familiar with Kroot Mercenaries, you may not realize how fast the army can be, and that large chunks of it can Infiltrate or even fly. You may also not realize how nasty Shapers with Eviscerators are. (Muahahahaha!) Even with the more mainstream armies, the variants or subcodexes that aren't used as often can hold some nasty surprises. If you play Chaos Marines, everybody knows what to expect from Iron Warriors or Khorne or Slaanesh armies. Fewer people know what to expect from Thousand Sons. Even those that have some idea of what Thousand Sons can do may not be aware of some of the permutations of the army. As one nasty example, I came up with a list that throws 3 Pie Plates and 10-14 Lascannon Equivalents during the first three turns of the game. That's getting pretty close to Iron Warriors-levels of firepower, not what someone would expect from Tzeentch!

The Meta-game
You can also take a look at what people are expecting and plan or design away from that. For example, most people play some variant of Space Marine, Loyal or Chaos. Thus, most armies are designed to take on Space Marines and their equivalents. They'll have lower rate of fire weapons that have good strength and low AP, such as Plasma Guns and Lascannons. They will also have a number of weapons that are good at taking down vehicles, since many Space Marine armies are mechanized to one degree or another. (Or at least have Tanks as their support.) If you design an army with no vehicles, all those antitank weapons will be nearly useless. If you design an army that doesn't have Powered Armor, all those Low-AP weapons will be nearly useless. If you design your army to have lots of inexpensive bodies, you'll flood them. A lascannon costs a LOT more than a Bolter, but isn't really much better at killing a 5pt Spinegaunt or a 6pt Guardsman. (I still laugh about the reaction of the Dark Angel player I faced at the Seattle GT a few years back. Upon learning I had 108 Hormagaunts, he nearly cried in despair, "I brought Lascannons and Plasma!") Alternately, if you heavily weight your army in one direction, you can overwhelm the firepower the opponent has available. Most armies have enough firepower to handle 2 to 3 tanks. Few of them have enough to handle 5 or 6. If you've got Eldar, you can have a bunch of nasty Grav-tanks that will be able to laugh at the firepower thrown at them and can ignore most weapons on the battlefield. The same thing goes for Godzilla Tyranids. Most armies can handle 3-ish Monstrous Creatures. Very few will be able to handle 6 or more. Note that these armies are not Ultimate Uberarmies of Doom. They can certainly be beaten, but they will tend to be very resilient against most standard armies, since they can ignore a significant chunk of the firepower/assault thrown their way. That resilience translates into an advantage for the list. If you've prepared your army and tactics right, that advantage will be just the leverage you need.

Tactics
The final way to be different is to simply play differently. This might be something as simple as having a flexible army list that has the option of standing and shooting or rushing to assault. Gauge the opposing army to see what will most likely give you the best chance. (Hint, if it's Guard, charge them, if it's Tyranids, shoot them!) If you can also deploy so as not to give away your intentions, the enemy won't know what to expect and will be caught off-guard as they try to counter you. Alternately, you might design your army so that it does something unusual. One example of this would be an Imperial Guard army that specializes in assault. No one expects the Guard to fix bayonets and try to get to grips with them, so they'll be on the wrong foot when those Chimeras surge forward! Similarly, no one would expect a Thousand Sons list to have as much firepower as that one I mentioned above. Again, they'll be forced to respond to you and will have to play "catch up" all game, giving you that advantage again.

Different Tyranids
Okay, so I've given you a variety of examples of "Different" army lists. Let's take a look at one more. I'll be using the Tyranid list, but I'll be using unusual units, unusual special rules and unusual tactics, as well as taking advantage of the Meta-game bias toward Powered Armor! This list should surprise a few people :) What I'll be doing is creating a list based around Shooting Light infantry with Artillery Support.

First off, the unusual units. I'll be using Toxic Devourer Gaunts. These guys are 10pts each, which is pricey for a Gaunt, but much less expensive than a Space Marine. The unusual aspect to these guys is two-fold. First, almost no one uses Gaunts for shooting, which is what I intend to do. People will see 48 Gaunts and expect an assault. Second, the Devourer is a weapon that is rarely used on Gaunts due to it's expense. (Since most people use Gaunts for assaulting, paying a lot extra for a gun is counter-productive.) With 2 shots and rerolling failed Wounds, it actually does some pretty serious damage against enemy infantry, even if they are wearing Powered Armor.

Next, the unusual special rules. Pretty much everybody is aware of how Synapse works. Most people don't realize that if a Tyranid unit is outside of Synapse range, it may Lurk instead of moving, which still allows it to shoot. Lurking gives the unit a bonus of 1 to it's cover save. My plan is to have these units outside of Synapse range and Lurking in cover while they shoot. If they are in a Forest, that'll give them a 4+ cover save. In this situation, these guys can win straight shootouts with Space Marines!

Unusual tactics. Well, I've got a Tyranid list that mostly sits still and shoots, which ought to throw most opponents for a loop! Most armies will set up to sit back and shoot, then be stunned as I do the same. They'll be even more surprised at how effective the shooting is and how resilient my army is, and might belatedly have to try to close and assault with me, which puts me a turn or two ahead of the game. If cover is sparse on the board, the army can also "Wall up." The Monstrous Creatures can form a wall, with the Gaunts peeking out around the edges to take their shots. This is less effective, since the Gaunts are more vulnerable, but it's some added flexibility.

The Meta-game. As I mentioned before, people are generally set up to play against Space Marine-types, so having most of my models be significantly cheaper and use cover instead of Armor Saves will be a big step. In addition, the list also features 8 Monstrous Creatures, which can mostly ignore all but the biggest guns, and can sit in cover to help alleviate those.

211 Tyrant: BS4 S6 2xTwinlinked Devourer 2xTyrant Guard
211 Tyrant: BS4 S6 2xTwinlinked Devourer 2xTyrant Guard

113 Carnifex: BS3 2xTwinlinked Devourer
113 Carnifex: BS3 2xTwinlinked Devourer
113 Carnifex: BS3 2xTwinlinked Devourer

80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers
80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers
80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers
80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers
80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers
80 8 Gaunts: Toxin Sacs, Devourers

50 Ravener:RC/ST and Devourer
50 Ravener:RC/ST and Devourer
50 Ravener:RC/ST and Devourer

148 Carnifex: BS3 VC/Barbed Strangler
148 Carnifex: BS3 VC/Barbed Strangler
148 Carnifex: BS3 VC/Barbed Strangler

1835pts

That averages to 25.5 Dead Space Marines/turn, which is pretty substantial firepower.

For the record that's...

8.88 (Gaunts)
1.67 (Ravs)
5.83 (Devilfexes)
6.2 (Tyrants)
2.91 (Carnifi)

Is this the ultimate army list? No, but it'd be a surprise to just about anyone, which is a big advantage!

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