More hyperbole and DISCORD

I swear, the people on the Internet are so prone to hyperbole and over-reacting that it makes me wonder sometimes if we really should embrace "freedom of speech" as it is right now, or at least take responsibility for the stuff we're saying. If I offend people, I'm going to say sorry, and I'll be cautious not to write racist and insulting stuff. But honestly, I feel that many comments, particularly in what should be a fun hobby and gaming epxerience, are straight-out toxic, hyperbolic and grossly self-entitled.

Many of us are most likely looking forward to the release of the Lord Discordant. I know I am. He's an amazing miniature, with cool details and awesome-looking weapons. But there are quite a few know-it-all people clambering onto the Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page and complaining about the model's rules instead of, you know, actually building it, painting it and fielding it. Imagine that. Complaining about how useless a unit would be before it gets released or played by anybody (other than the play-testers).

Just take a look at some of the comments.

"He’s useless because you gave him 12 wounds. End of....."

"nope, he’s useless and he’ll die turn 1/2 in all but the friendliest of games. Any well composed competitive army will straight up slot him almost immediately. It’s embarrassing how useless he is. Yeah ok, the warlord trait and the -1 prayer and half a dozen other things will male him slightly more difficult to deal with but then you’re building your list around a mediocre character who’s only real strength is in combat where he will hardly ever get. 


TL:DR - we have so much more points efficient stuff to choose from without the risk of loosing it straight away. At 180 points a daemon prince does sooooo much more." (never mind that the opponent will be spending 200-300 points trying to shoot a 180-point model, and that the Lord Discordant has a 2+ armor save as opposed to the Daemon Prince's 3+, and 4 more wounds, and a lot more attacks, and can heal himself both through auto-regen and eating vehicles, which the Daemon Prince can't - I'm not sure what this guy's issue is - are you expecting Daemon Prince MKII or something?)

"Character with >10W that is not superb resilient won't last long."

"nope. It's still t7 12w 3+. It will die 1st turn from unit of slanesh Havocs (chain guns) or any anti tank unit." (I have no frakking clue how 24" range Reaper chainguns are supposed to kill the Lord Discordant in the first turn - this is hyperbole at its finest, never mind that he got it wrong and the Lord Discordant has a 2+ save, not 3+. And moreover, that's the job of an anti-tank unit, to kill tanks, so why are you whining about anti-tank units killing a tank?)

"In alpha-strike hammer 40k, he's definitely dead first turn." (in alpha strike, your whole army is going to be dead anyway, not just the Lord Discordant)

"Alexander Cragg And what is mind boggling is is why the designers/play-testers can’t spot the obvious flaws that the averages player spots after a single read of his rules.🤷‍♂️ 

The response shouldn’t be “hey send your comments to the studio” AFTER release, GW needs to move towards more beta releases and rules previews PRIOR to printing: the player base at large is very good at spotting things that are off or that are going to make a unit underwhelming, etc. Why they don’t use it more is beyond me..."

" and maybe hire some game designers to write and playtest the rules.
It always feels like the people writing the rules do so in a vacuum."

-> The top two comments, particularly...the two who wrote them obviously do not recognize the irony in their statements. "Average player spots obvious flaws" - the model hasn't even been released yet and they're already treating it in a vacuum and assumng it'll get shot off the table first turn no matter what and thus he is useless. BEFORE PLAYING A SINGLE GAME. For Emperor's sake, you haven't even played him in a single game and you're already claiming that you know the rules better than the playtesters and can spot the obvious flaws. Best of all, "do so in a vacuum" - isn't that exactly what you're doing? He has 12 wounds, therefore he can be targeted, and therefore he'll be destroyed first turn. What the hell, man? That's vacuum if I have ever seen one.

Actually, why the hell are you playing this guy like he's a Character? Yeah, he buffs your Daemon Engines. Yeah, he's a HQ. But why are you all assuming he should be played the same way as a Chaos Lord, or a Sorcerer or Abaddon? Or even a Daemon Prince? Of course if you're going to park him at the front of your army and charge your opponent, then he'll die. But perhaps that's not how you're supposed to play him? How then? I don't know, I'll need to actually play him in a real game and find out instead of just theoryhammering and dismissing a unit as trash because he has more than 10 wounds?

"This guy should really be named the lord disappointment"

"for player this is trhowing money in the trash can" (I wish I could throw YOU into the trash can - and it's spelled "throwing," not "trhowing.")

"did you forget that that means he can be picked off first turn by literally anything?"

Now, this is the most ridiculous and self-entitled comments I've ever seen. Basically a good number of players are going, "WAAAAAAAAAAH! He has 12 wounds! This makes him ABSOLUTELY USELESS! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" and rolling on the floor, throwing a tantrum and kicking the trashcan while at it. No seriously. Take a deep breath and then look at the comments you're spouting. It's utterly childish and juvenile. From the way they're ranting, you would think that a Lord Discordant having 12 wounds heralds the end of the world.

Yes, he can be shot off the table in the first turn. But if that makes him useless, then basically anything with over 10 wounds are useless. So people shouldn't take vehicles? I mean, Tank Commanders in Leman Russ tanks have 12 wounds too, but Imperial Guard players are not throwing a fit and screaming, "TANK COMMANDERS ARE USELESS!" Magnus and Mortarion have more than 10 wounds, but you don't see Thousand Sons and Death Guard players shrieking at Games Workshop about it. For a time, the Daemon Primarch Smash Bros were even popular in tournaments, despite the fact they could be targeted. Imperial Knights have over 20 wounds, but people still take them. Look at the damned Knight Castellan in every Imperial Guard list. Okay, maybe the Knight Castellan doesn't buff anyone, but the point is that he's not useless just because he has more than 10 wounds and can be shot off the table. The same measures you take for a Knight Castellan to improve his invulnerable save, you can probably take for a Lord Discordant, like Cursed Earth, making him Tzeentch and using the invulnerable save Stratagem. By the way, 3 Lords Discordant cost about 60 points less than a Knight Castellan if you take the baleflamers, and 120 points less if you take the autocannons, to put it into perspective. So if your opponent is sneering about his Knight Castellan nuking him off the table, you turn around and laugh inwardly at how he invested 600 points into killing a 180-point model (or more if he shoots the plasma decimator at something else, but I don't know what and I doubt it'll even be half of his points). Just as planned by Tzeentch. Furthermore, this guy will give -1 to hit to a Knight Castellan because he's a vehicle (granted he has to be within the 6" Aura of Discord or something, though). The thing is, the Lord Discordant will heavily damage even melee Knights like Knight Gallant if he charges into them, for less than half their points. Think about that.

Particularly in 2,000-point games, a single Lord Discordant is less than 10% f your total points. So what if your opponent focuses him down? That's another unit he's not shooting. Moreover, you can bring three of this guys, considering how cheap he is. The thing is that people are treating him like a Character who buffs Daemon Engines, and howl about how useless he is when he gets shot off. Sure, his buffs are good, but if he gets shot off, your Daemon Engines don't. And don't tell me you automatically lose the game without those buffs. Just charge your surviving Daemon Engines into them. To take this guy out, you'll need dedicated anti-tank stuff, or even plasma. And those are expensive. Havocs with lascannons are about 170 points, Predator Annihilators are 180 points. To take out a 180-point model. So it's not like your opponent is getting free shots off.

How do people use Leman Russ Tank Commanders? I don't scream and concede the moment my Tank Commander gets shot off the table. I don't pretend that all my Leman Russ tanks have suddenly become useless just because their commander is gone and they can't receive orders. I just hammer them with my surviving Leman Russ tanks because that's how they are played. Why should Lord Discordant be any different? Why are you acting like they should be played like...I don't know, Daemon Princes? They have different roles. If you want a Daemon Prince, then use a Daemon Prince, don't complain that a new unit is not a Daemon Prince. Like, what the hell, man? Why would you want a unit that basically does the same thing as a Daemon Prince (only better)? No point creating a new unit then. And run him alongside units he synergizes with. Yes, he buffs Daemon Engines. But your entire strategy should not rely on those buffs. If he gets shot down, your other Daemon Engines should just laugh and pile in. And force them to make a choice. Bring 3 of them if you're so afraid of competition. Or ally them with Knights - if they shoot your Lord Discordant, then your Renegade Knights can charge in and are free to rampage arund. There's so many strategies you can do with this guy that you don't need him to have less than 10 wounds and be a Character just to run away from being nuked. Besides, why aren't you worried about Snipers and stuff like the Transquranic Arquebuses spam or the Primaris Eliminators or Vindicare Assassins? You assume that your opponents have alpha strike lists and anti-tank weaponry and lascannons, but you assume that they don't have sniper weapons? Right...

All I can say is, stop descending into hyperbole and dismissing stuff as trash or useless just because he doesn't do what you want him to do (as opposed to using him for what he is intended to do - like the other Daemon Engines, and if he dies, then your other Daemon Engines will fill the void). You haven't even played with him yet! Are Tank Commanders trash? Are Knights trash? No, they are not. So stop all this hyperbole and self-entitled whining, and actually learn to play the game properly instead of demanding that the model changes to your specifications. Most likely he's not useless, you're just using him wrong. I've been using Leman Russ tank commanders for years and have no complaints about them - in fact, they've won me countless games. The Lord Discordant is so much better in terms of stats, survivability (2+ armor save, regen, 5++ invulnerable save, BS 2+, WS 2+), and you're whining about him being useless?

The nerve of some people, honestly.