Why the hate on "spam"?

[Shavnir]

Spam is just a sign the codex in question has good choices and bad choices. Balance the game and spam mostly dissipates.

[scadugenga]

It depends in part on the point size of the game, because eldar units are so specialised, some simply wont be suitable for a given opponent, so if you know who you are to be playing against, then you might double up on certain aspects.

For myself, I just find that only taking one of each unit annoys me for some reason, I like taking things in pairs, there is symmetry in it. It is tactically flexible too, I can either send one down each flank, or keep the two together, for example.

I like some duplication in my eldar armies, but it's not just feasible to duplicate a lot of things. (Like shining spears) that are point heavy to begin with.

Where I find my duplication in eldar is the role I need them to fill: CC? You have scorps, harlies, banshees & Spears. Anti-mech? You have Dragons, Reapers (to an anti av12 extent) & Walkers/Prisms/Vypers. Anti MC? Pathfinders/Seer Council, etc.

So you can have deviaion while still filling duplicate roles.

[Melissia]

also it looks boring and isnt realistic

That's funny, I think armies where every unit is unique looks ugly and unrealistic.

Uniformity is an important aspect of military operations.

[Unlighted]

Everyone has the right to dislike the composition of an opponent's army, but the only army you have any say in how it is made is your own.

It's kind of like the playing against unpainted models argument. If "spam" really annoys you that much then you don't have to play that person, but at the same time you don't have the right to heap a bunch of abuse on that person for their personal choices.

Everyone should just chill and have fun playing this great game.

[scadugenga]

everyone should just chill and have fun playing this great game.

qft

[BlacknightIII]

I enjoy playing against most spam lists as they tend to be one trick ponies and I tend to play more balanced lists. All I do is play to the weakness of the spam army and victory usually isnt to difficult. By spam I dont mean every troop is the same. When you see three baal preds three vindicators, and two assault squads on the other side of the field then i call spam. 2 loota squads, a squad of kommandos, 2 max ork troops, 6 killa kans and a deff dread a spam list does not make! The ork list has good synergy amongst the units while the blood angels list all serve overlapping roles imo.

[DarkLink]

also it looks boring and isnt realistic

"but fuzz in real life all soldiers have the same guns" (sorta)

You're not a military man, are you.

The USMC, for example, follows a standard organization, as do essentially all organized military forces. A battalion has three rifle companies, one weapons company, and one HQ and supply company.

Rifle companies all have three rifle platoons and a weapons platoon. Weapons companies have a mortar platoon, an anti-armor platoon and a heavy machine gun platoon.

A rifle platoon has three squads.

A squad has three fire teams and a squad leader.

A fire team has four members; a fire team leader with a grenade launcher, a rifleman, a machine gunner and an assistant machine gunner.

This is effectively constant. It does not change. It is standardized, and organized as such, in order to be effective in as wide a variety of situations as possible, without require extensive resupply and reinforcement every time the unit redeploys.

Military units are not a hodge-podge of random tanks and weapons.

in real life soldiers dont have power armour and mini RPG machine guns and dont fight souls in mechanical bodies that strip you down atom by atom and are lead by the grim reaper.

What does this have to do with anything whatsoever? In fact, if anything the power armor and mini rpg machine guns that Space Marines wield would mean that there is even less call for specialization than in real military units, as a Space Marine would be able to face nearly anything with the standard load out. Meaning a force of Space Marines would be very standardized.

[Marshal2Crusaders]

I like what DarkLink said.

Me and my friends attempt to play all our games along some form of TO&E. Unless its my buddies Orks or Nids, there really is some precedent somewhere in 40K for a standard grouping of you army.

[LidlessPraetor]

I totally agree Melissa. First off, it's hard to build a theme to an army without duplcates. Take away the "'spam" units, and you generally destroy any cohesive theme that the army was building. I personally spam plasma cannons in my army, and it adds alot to my theme. To me, it says that my guys are willing to use whatever it takes to destroy the enemy, even if a self-sacrifice is needed from time to time.

Also, quite a few armies are left with only a pair (or even less) of troops options, but with the system being so dependant on scoring with troops, players are left with little option other than to take duplicates of the same units, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Paul]

I agree entirely with what is being said here.

My Armored Company has a standard loadout:

3x Vanquishers with Lascannons
"But Paul, why don't you make a couple of them Leman Russes with lascannons?"
Because, logistically, having to supply HE AND AP rounds to a single squadron makes less sense than just AP rounds.

3x Demolishers with no upgrades
"But Paul, why don't you make one an Executioner (or the like)?"
Because they're siege tanks, in war they'd be used for line-breaking. As good as the Executioner is, it isn't good against bunkers / walls / fortifications, so doesn't fit with a siege squadron.

3x LRBT with Hull HBs, HBSponsons
"But Paul, take 3x more demolishers / executioners / whathaveyou!"
They're the Guard's main battle tank. What armored regiment doesn't have one full company (10) as well as a squadron in each of its other companies (six more)?

Veteran Squad with Flamers, Heavy flamer, chimera
"But Paul...MELTAGUNS ON VETS IS TEH PWN OMGBBQ"
Flamers make sense in an armored company; the mech platoon will get caught up in close quarters fighting in built up areas (where the tanks have trouble). Also, Armored Company's (to my knowledge) don't usually rely on the infantry to engage enemy armor.

Veteran Squad with Plasma Guns, Chimera
"But plasma sucks! Why don't you get METLAGUNS ON YOUR VETS OMGBBQ"
It makes sense that some sort of long-ranged (relatively), anti-infantry and anti-light vehicle weapons would be issued to the Mech Platoon to defend the ground they hold. Our tanks should engage their tanks; ours will win 85% of the time.