I got to thinking about instead of making lists for the mission, I might try making lists to fight particular enemies. But now I'm thinking I should do it for particular tables! I'm not sure really how to do it for either of those things! Some missions have a very particular specialist or equipment that might be needed. Like a hacker or Anti-Material weapon. But most missions that need a specialist can still be done by any specialist. Tables are either high or low density terrain, so that's fairly easy to think about. The hardest thing for me is breaking down some forces to how to deal with them. Like Hacker heavy vs. no hackers. Or a lot of camo vs. little to no camo. I would ask advice from the sages, but instead I'm asking you guys I'm also adding a poll to this. Do you play to the Mission, Table, or the Enemy?
N3 I used to make lists purely to handle missions. N4 lists are constructed to handle opponents first, and then consideration is given to complete the mission second.
So if you don't know exactly who your opponent is, do you make your list then and there or do you have them pre-made? Every time I try making a list before the game, I do poorly.
I have multiple folders full of lists that I carry with me. I usually just pull one from there. In the event of a tournament situation, my lists are made to cover each other as best as they can.
Answer gear checks i.e. do I have a list that doesn't get pinned by a Grenzer, list that has a better chance to play into hackers/guided threats, etc
Depends on the mission spread for an event. Some missions do not overlap very well or have very specific requirements. Not playing to those missions is a terrible idea. If the missions overlap enough I'll usually build two lists that can handle all or most of the missions and give one an extra long range gun and the other more zone control, for open and closed maps respectively. S I think playing 'to counter the faction' is generally a bad idea as the factions are not really penned into specific archetypes or styles, theres too many factions to tech against, and theres generally no top dog that you will run into repeatedly with an Achilles heel to lean on.. Instead make sure your list hits all the gear check requirements - can it negate -6, can it hack, can it killer hack, etc, and then try to leverage what you have in game rather than trying to like stack up multiple visors for Ariadna or something. Edit: That said I think there is some merit to the idea of two similar lists using two different primary forms of attacker. Playing into the weaknesses of certain factions might pan out but its not something I've invested much thought into. I imagine the same 'everyone can do everything' aspect that makes counter teching ineffective negates this concept too.
For me the mission is the primary concern while list building. It affects the types of specialists You need to take (or leave home in case of some scenarios), special deployment rules that have/don't have sense (large exclusion zones/bonuses for parachutist, etc). Army lists have so many options, that planning for a particular enemy is difficult - unless You know You are playing a good friend who doesn't leave his house without a linked Unidron plasma sniper - in which case a hard counter for it is rather usefull ;) Planning for a table - in experience - is limited to the information, weather a boarding action table is possible. If it is, I tend to take less sniper rifles and missile launchers, and that's that.
The current lists I am working on are a pair that are meant to be swapped based on faction matchup and/or table setup. i picked “enemy” in the poll, but I could’ve clicked all 3 as they would’ve all been applicable to some level.
Depends of so many factors: missions of course, the army you're playing mostly, and if the event is local you might have some knowledge of tables/expected match-up for which you might want to adapt your list. One thing I've noticed, however, is that It's often better to play something you're comfortable with rather than bend yourself backward to include tools in your list when you don't know how to use them.
I’ve been playing in online leagues recently and I’m finding that I really want to build a custom list for each matchup—since faction, mission, and table are all known in advance—which has led me to the conclusion that I want to play Vanilla next time I’m in a TTS league. For events where the table and opponent are unknowns, I can’t see a way to do it other than playing the missions and trying to cover my bases for potentially necessary tools.
I should probably clarify for weekly games our group will have the mission selected ahead of time. So I have the opportunity to have several lists prepared for the night.
I've been thinking more of making lists to fight certain enemies. Other than the missions that need anti-material, YJ can make do with almost everything else. So I'm thinking of making lists based on likelihood of them having more or less hackers. But then other than Ariadna, every faction has at least some hackers. Haqqislam isn't known for many hackers but what they do have are really good. Tohaa either but they do have a lot of stuff that effects BTS.
For Tournaments I normally have one all-round list and one list tailored to the most esoteric mission in the lineup.
