First or Second

[Hive Mind]

This barely qualifies as 'tactics' but...

Do you prefer deploying first and having the first turn or deploying second and having the last turn?

Personally I prefer going second if for no other reason than I don't like my opponent having the last say in a game and I don't like having to sit there passively while the final turn plays out.

[newtoncain]

all depends on the scenario, what I'm playing against and when time is called, its dice down or finish the currect round.

[DarkLink]

I prefer to simply seize the initiative whenever I feel like it.

[weeble1000]

I think that's highly dependent on the specific situation: opponent, terrain, scenario, etc.

If I had to generalize, I like to go first if only to pick which side of the table I play on. Playing second has significant advantages, but many, many times in a tournament situation I've come to a table that had a table edge I really didn't want to be on. Good deployment and movement can make the best of any terrain set-up, but it never hurts to be able to dictate to your opponent what half of the table he has to deploy on.

[armbarred]

If I am playing my daemons, I want to go second.
If I am playing for objectives, I want to go second.
If I am playing my Tau, I want to go first.
If it is Dawn of War, and I am playing an opponent with a lot of Heavy Weapons I want to go first.
If it is Dawn of War, and I have a lot of Heavy Weapons I want to go First.

It is all dependent on multiple factors.

[Bean]

As's been said, there are a lot of factors to be considered. If you always prefer the same option, you're probably doing it wrong.

If you're playing an all-reserves army, always go second. If not:

If you're playing Dawn of War you may want to go second.

If you're playing against an all-reserves army, you will almost certainly want to go second.

If you're playing kill points or against an army with a good alpha and one of the above conditions doesn't hold, you probably want to go first.

If you have a good alpha and one of the above conditions doesn't hold, you probably want to go first.

If you're playing for objectives, you should be comparing the value of last-turn objective manipulation against the value of your alpha.

If one deployment zone is substantially better for you or substantially worse for your opponent, you may want to choose to go first so that you can select an advantageous deployment-zone distribution.

That covers the relevant conditions I can come up with off the top of my head.

[Demonus]

Remember, if you're not first, you're last- Ricky Bobby

[schulzed]

Yeah, it definitely depends. But a lot of the time, in objective missions, I do prefer to go second. The last turn grabs are always important. I can usually hide well enough on the first turn to avoid any real damage.

[Father]

Like others have stated, it depends on a lot of factors. There are benefits to both, really.

[Soss]

I always like going second for most of the armies I play. I think you can get a battle plan that way.