Try Hard Wargaming: The Plugging Leaks Series

Author: Ian W

Sept 2021

What does the term "leak" mean to me in the game of Warhammer 40k? A leak is a term I have carried over from my old college poker days. A "leak" is a fundamental flaw that a player has that makes them a far less profitable player than they might be otherwise.

The difference between the game of poker and Warhammer 40k isn’t as large as you may think. Fundamentally, they are games of imperfect information. In perfect information games, the optimal move for each player is clearly defined: at every stage there is a “right” move that is at least as good as any other move. Whereas in Warhammer 40k the optimal move is not clearly defined or is at least difficult to assess.

In the “Plugging Leaks” short form series, Try Hard Wargaming looks to shed some light on common leaks we see each and every day on the tabletop and find that elusive optimal move. Lets begin.

The Leak: “Spending” command points

Command points are finite resources spent to receive a positive outcome in return on the tabletop.

However, many players are frivolous with their command points. They aren’t considerate of any overall game state factors and they spend their command points at each and every opportunity to reroll that D6 damage roll against a 16 wound vehicle, reroll that 4++ invulnerable save for their favourite character or reroll that 10 inch charge because yolo.

Players must switch their mindset from the “spending” command points to “investing” command points. Players must get a tangible return from investing command points into the game. Ask yourself the following questions when you are considering investing your command points:

• Does it score you victory points?

• Does it deny your opponent victory points?

• Does it avoid a major loss condition from occurring?

• Does it create a major loss condition for your opponent?

• How reliable or volatile is the outcome of the next dice roll?

Suggestions for your next game:

1. Consciously consider every investment of command points as part of the entire game state, not just within a single interaction.

2. Restrict the use of the Command Reroll stratagem. This stratagem is arguably the most overused yet underperforming stratagem in the game.

Hope you enjoyed this short form series.

Best, Try Hard Wargaming

“For the players, by the players”

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