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There is No Cheese - Galderon | |
| Arguments on this topic have raged for as long as there has been 40k. Way back in 1989 when I first started the term beardy was used, but as 2nd ed progressed and 3rd ed arrived the topic of “cheese” has intensified considerably to the point where it is a hotly debated topic, with most people taking the view that there is this thing called cheese. I do not believe that it exists, and the more I look the less tangible it becomes. The main reason for this is that there is no definitive explanation or definition of what cheese is. Instead the only explanations ever put forward have amounted to Individual Experiences, Interpretation, Opinions, Points of View and Mob Mentality, all of which are subjective in the first place. Games Workshop themselves often struggle to define cheese with no two people sharing the same definition. Individual ExperiencesThis is one is the hardest to determine. It has many categories and here are a few.The New Experience: This occurs in the situation where a relatively new player (perhaps a year or so) has the much dreaded experience of coming across an army that he or she has never played against before. This can often be compounded when the player with the new army is an experienced one, and knows every detail of his opponent’s army. The relatively new player receives a very nasty surprise at encountering a new army and new tactics and often find themselves struggle to cope. The experienced player on the other hand knows exactly what to expect and more importantly what he is doing. Frustrated the new player often calls his opponent’s army cheesy (inexperience would be the better term to use). New Tactics: For some reason and one that I will never comprehend some players refer to various tactics as being cheesy. War gamming is the epitome of skill and tactics. Ideally 40k is about tactics, so people who cry cheese due to tactics used, leaves me with only one conclusion. They themselves were tactically inept in some way. Some people are very creative in the execution of tactics and use then in the most unexpected, which can result in them winning the game. Tactics can never be cheesy, it is tactics (or lack of) that can turn a game to a win (or a loss). The Very Sound Defeat: This will generate a lot of complaints of cheese, whether by a new player or an experienced one. Being soundly thumped by ones opponent can and dose result in cries of cheese. More often than not these are unwarranted, but the accusations of cheese can persist for a long time, regardless of the army, its composition or tactics used. The One Sided Battle: Perhaps the best explanation of this is the following examples, A Marine Drednought in HtH combat with a squad of Howling Banshees, a Wraith Lord in HtH combat with a squad of Tactical Marines or a Killer Kan in HtH with a squad of Tau Fire Warriors. These situations generate endless accusations of cheese where one player is clearly fighting a loosing battle with no way to counter or at least have a chance of winning. The one sided battle is in fact a tactical maneuver and a viable one at that. The opponent on the receiving end however, will not see it as such and the cries of cheese will ensue. And yet, it is maneuvering of ones forces to make the most of the one sided battle that has been the corner stone of military tactics since time in memoriam. InterpretationThis is a very contentious, and is equally hard to define as very few people will be able to put forward identical interpretations. And where the interpretations differ conflict ensues. What one person may interpret as cheese some one else may disagree, which usually results in a conflict of some sort. Again it comes down to the individual with no clear definitions being agreed by either side.Opinions: Both personal or collective, like Interpretations, is extremely contentious and hard to define when it comes to determining exactly what is/isn’t cheesy. What’s more, opinions can often clash head on once sides have been chosen and lines drawn. And as people and or either side adhere to their own Interpretaion/’s the definition of cheese becomes very blurred and equally vague. Often both sides supporting their own opinion of what is and what isn’t cheesy based solely on their own point of view. Many people who argue that cheese exists are heavily reliant on the argument “you know it when you see it” but once again struggle to define it. Point of View: This is again very contentious, while people may share a similar interpretation of cheese it may alter with their point of view on the matter, once again there is no definitive answer as there are as many Points of View as there are players. In fact a persons’ point of view may change over time, or vary depending on the situation. Once again players will become entrenched with their own point of view, and the definition of cheese once more fades to gray. Mob Mentality: As it suggest, this often occurs when several people jump onto the cheese bandwagon with similar reasons, and stirs up a mob mentality. However the mob mentality tends to overwhelm by shear numbers alone, even when confronted by well though out and reasoned arguments. The mob mentality doesn’t need to relay on reasoned arguments but instead rely on the “Tyranny of the Majority” i.e. the dichotomy of democracy. In other words “we are right because we out number you.” What tends to follow is a cacophony of arguments, points of view and interpretations, and again the definition of cheese is lost in the middle of it all. The FluffThis can be boiled down to a single use that being army composition to either;A: Justify army composition. B: Justify what should not be in an opponents army Then there is the argument that cheese can be defined as army (composition) abuse, and yet that argument in itself is as varied and abuse-able as army list in existence. Every time a proponent of cheese is confronted with the question “define it” they always struggle to do so for all of the above reasons. It would appear that “cheese is a mythical beast without out form or reason. Additionally it is impossible to define, and has as many interpretations and definitions as there are players and armies. | |
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