Post by Andrew on Sept 23, 2006 8:35:29 GMT -6
The Power of Cheese
By Ross Watson
Squig-at-Large
A Piece of Cheese in My Beard
During the genesis of modern wargaming, a slang word known as “beardy” came into being. The exact definition of slang words is never easy to pin down, but in general, the word came to represent the older, grizzled veterans who knew all the tricks to winning wargames. Over time, “beardy” migrated to America where it turned into “cheesy,” and both words are now somewhat different from their origin. Eventually, cheesy and beardy entered into Games Workshop slang along with words such as weedy, gubbinz, bitz, and Waaagh!
In general, both "beardy" and "cheesy" refer to the same thing. However, those words have recently acquired uses and meanings that do not accurately reflect their origin. Many new hobbyists may become confused when something is called “cheesy” or may misunderstand why the word keeps showing up in discussions (particularly on the internet). So, first lesson: “beardy” is from the UK, “cheesy” is from the US, got it?
What Is Cheesy?
Cheesy (also used in other forms such as Cheesiness, Cheesed-out, Cheddar, and Cheese-like) refers to an army, character, specific unit, piece of wargear, or tactic that is considered by the speaker to be unbalanced or unbeatable. Many times you may hear someone exclaim, “Three Eldar Wraithlords! That’s cheesy!”
Other often-heard examples include:
“Blood Angels? They are so cheesy!”
“It’s cheesy to keep your Khorne Berzerkers hiding in a bunker.”
“Cheesiness happens whenever my opponent brings out his Necron Veil of Darkness.”
An unfortunate fact about wargaming is that others' perception of your army and tactics will not often match your own. To paraphrase a very apt saying: “cheese” is in the eye of the beholder.
To define cheese, we have to look at the things the word refers to: armies, characters, units, wargear, and tactics. An army with several special rules (such as the Blood Angels mentioned above) is often thought of as cheesy. Composition options within an army (e.g., three Wraithlords) or wargear selections (e.g., a Veil of Darkness) are often thought of as cheesy. Specific tactics that prove to be extremely effective can also be labeled as cheesy.
Hold on…doesn’t every army have special rules, composition options, wargear selections, and tactics? The answer is “yes” – the uncertain nature of “cheesiness” lies in the perception of the observer.
An army that is book-legal and fun to play with or against already has the most important elements of the game. However, not everyone is going to see that army in that way. Labeling something as cheesy is in fact a form of peer pressure – the goal is to force a change in something (and often, someone) that’s cheesy to conform to the observer’s perception of reality.
The Non-Cheesy Standard
As you may have noticed, this article describes definitions of cheesy things only in nonspecific terms. Because cheesy is a term that is subject to any person’s perceptions, there is no real way we can sit down and make a list of cheesy elements. Individually, the onus is on us as hobbyists to treat ourselves and our opponents with respect…which includes refraining from casually throwing terms like cheesy around.
The standard for what is and is not cheesy is of necessity very vague. If you are confident in your ability to play a good game, believe your army is balanced, and are committed to playing a game that’s fun for both you and your opponent, you really have nothing to fear from being labeled as cheesy. You know better, don’t you?
What Can you Do About Cheesiness?
Rather than indulge in a bit of name calling (“Your army is cheesy!”), consider talking things over with your opponent. Discuss the value of a balanced army or the benefits of a wide array of different tactics. Communication can clear up many possible misunderstandings, and you may even find some common ground – a lot of cool people that are great to play against can be found this way!
Likewise, you can emphasize the fun aspects of a game. Even if you feel that your opponent is cheesy, concentrate on having a good time – the game will feel much more relaxed and enjoyable.
As mentioned above, it’s almost impossible to create an army that will never be called cheesy. However, you can avoid a great deal of classic cheesiness if you focus on a balanced army and play with a wide variety of tactics.
Ultimately, there is no easy answer for cheesiness. The wargamer community has a bit of an attitude that makes it difficult to avoid accusations of cheesy armies, characters, tactics, or even paint schemes. It is up to the more mature hobbyists to educate our younger peers about the true meaning of cheesiness (see below). It is our responsibility as hobbyists to keep the gaming environment a fun and exciting place!
What Cheese Should Be
At its worst, the word cheesy should represent good-natured teasing in an open gaming environment, or friendly instruction in a tournament or special event setting. Both "cheesy" and "beardy" are time-honored pieces of Games Workshop slang and should be respected as such. Don’t let a bitter or spiteful opponent ruin a good word!
What Cheese Should not Be
Cheesy and beardy should never be words that are used as a scathing rebuke, snide remark, or petty insult. We’re all hobbyists together, and we’re involved with these games for the same reason – to have fun! Remember that!
Why Do People Use the Term?
As discussed above, calling someone or something “cheesy” seems like the easy answer. Can’t beat an opponent? He's cheesy. A certain army or piece of wargear destroys your toughest unit? Cheesy. It is an unfortunate reality that, no matter what you select for your army, someone out there will consider it cheesy at some point. It’s all based on perception, remember?
A suggestion: don’t let “cheesy” become a convenient excuse for failure. Reexamine your army list, consider new tactics, ask for a friendly rematch, and be confident in your skills. Any army can be beaten…there’s always a way.
Sometimes, the peer pressure within the gaming community encourages people to throw around the “cheesiness” label casually. Calling something cheesy becomes a habit, a behavior that can almost become reflexive.
Another suggestion: change the habit of calling things cheesy. Stop reflexively labeling people’s armies and tactics. Are you really that sure? Have you actually played against the army, unit, or tactic? If you don’t have a solid foundation, try giving your opponent the benefit of the doubt. You may just be surprised at how balanced or fun an army you thought was “cheesy” can be.
The Unwritten Rule
“Thou shalt play with a balanced army.”
Wargames in general all have this unwritten rule as a central concept to their structure. The problem is, there are many differing opinions on what is “balanced.” Confusion about this definition is the source of many cries of “cheese!” If you are unsure as to what a balanced army entails, consider building from a small force with the minimum requirements. From there, you can ask any Hobby Center staff to help you explore the options to build a balanced force that can take on any other army with a good chance to win!
Balanced armies rarely contain only one kind of model. Ranged attacks are powerful, but must be backed up with solid hand-to-hand fighters in order to survive a counterattack, for example. Many other articles have been written on building a balanced force, so I shall not repeat them here. Suffice it to say, there are a great deal of resources available at any local Hobby Center, in White Dwarf, and on the Games Workshop web site on this very subject.
Cheesiness in Action
Every army has a multitude of neat options that make the army unique and fun. A large part of the enjoyment of the game comes from being able to customize a force to an individual player or playing style. Explore the options, pick cool wargear, select nifty units! That’s what the game is all about.
Another big factor of playing the game involves how you choose to utilize your army’s strengths and compensate for weaknesses. The tactics you use in battle are intended to help you enjoy the game and have a better chance of winning. Everyone likes to win, right? It is truly a shame, however, when your tactics are labeled “cheesy” because you win with them.
An unavoidable reality of wargaming is that different tactics must be used in order to defeat different armies. For example, sending all of your units ahead at full speed won’t be as effective against most Khorne Chaos armies as it would be versus a normal Tau force. When the same tactic fails against different armies, opponents often resort to naming an army “cheesy” – the hobbyist equivalent of pouting – instead of considering any change in their own fighting style.
Cheese at Home and on the Road
Games played against friends at home or at a local Hobby Center don’t normally have as many problems with “cheesiness” as games at events like Rogue Trader Tournaments or Grand Tournaments.
During open gaming (games played outside of a tournament or special event), almost any army is just fine, regardless of composition or tactics. In such surroundings, trial rules, VDR creations, and trying out something new are all part of the fun. After all, these games are just between friends! Some participants may grumble about this or that “cheesy” thing, but a different force can be fielded or a different tactic attempted next time.
Things are quite different in a tournament or special event environment. Places like Grand Tournaments are filled with hobbyists from all over the world. Many of the people you meet at these events will be strangers. It’s very important for everyone to have a good time at events such as these, which is why each event strongly emphasizes the value of good sportsmanship.
Most players are aware of what good sportsmanship entails: shaking hands, being a fun opponent, and so on. However, there is an important aspect to sportsmanship that is sometimes overlooked. That aspect is the idea that a good sportsman brings a balanced army to a tournament. A balanced army is an army that not only has a good chance of winning a game but also gives an opponent a sporting chance of winning.
Two concepts are central to tournaments and special events gaming.
A. Everyone who attends these events is there to have a good time.
B. Everyone who competes should have a decent chance to win.
Certain behaviors or actions can trigger the perception of cheesiness in a particular environment, such as the tournaments mentioned above. Generally speaking, it is preferable to put your best foot forward when gaming with strangers. The force you bring to a tournament or special event can be quite different than the one you play with at home. Most special event or tournament games require a single army list at a set point cost that cannot change between games. Thus, it’s vital to build a force for these events that is capable of taking on all comers…but in that flexibility, many armies become vulnerable to other armies' rules or composition choices. In other words, at special events, it’s possible to build an army that specifically takes undue advantage of these restrictions. Players who bring an army they have constructed in order to annihilate “take-on-all-comers” opponents are the epitome of cheesy – unbalanced and extremely difficult to beat.
While selecting the forces for your army is part of your ability to play the game, in a tournament, the victory should be decided by your tactical skills (such as keeping the mission objective in mind, proper use of terrain, and so forth) rather than how well you can put together an army list.
Thus, it is important in tournament games and special events to have a balanced army.
Again, many opponents at these events may cry “cheese” at your army or others that are there. If your army does not keep the two central concepts in mind, then your opponents may have a good point!
The examples given above (under What Is Cheesy?) are intended only to represent often-heard comments. The tactics, units, armies, and wargear mentioned in this article are not in and of themselves cheesy…at least, not in my opinion! Of course, that’s not to say that there won’t be many people out there agreeing with those statements either. In closing, just try to remember… what one person considers “cheesy,” another person thinks of as “tactically smart.”
By Ross Watson
Squig-at-Large
A Piece of Cheese in My Beard
During the genesis of modern wargaming, a slang word known as “beardy” came into being. The exact definition of slang words is never easy to pin down, but in general, the word came to represent the older, grizzled veterans who knew all the tricks to winning wargames. Over time, “beardy” migrated to America where it turned into “cheesy,” and both words are now somewhat different from their origin. Eventually, cheesy and beardy entered into Games Workshop slang along with words such as weedy, gubbinz, bitz, and Waaagh!
In general, both "beardy" and "cheesy" refer to the same thing. However, those words have recently acquired uses and meanings that do not accurately reflect their origin. Many new hobbyists may become confused when something is called “cheesy” or may misunderstand why the word keeps showing up in discussions (particularly on the internet). So, first lesson: “beardy” is from the UK, “cheesy” is from the US, got it?
What Is Cheesy?
Cheesy (also used in other forms such as Cheesiness, Cheesed-out, Cheddar, and Cheese-like) refers to an army, character, specific unit, piece of wargear, or tactic that is considered by the speaker to be unbalanced or unbeatable. Many times you may hear someone exclaim, “Three Eldar Wraithlords! That’s cheesy!”
Other often-heard examples include:
“Blood Angels? They are so cheesy!”
“It’s cheesy to keep your Khorne Berzerkers hiding in a bunker.”
“Cheesiness happens whenever my opponent brings out his Necron Veil of Darkness.”
An unfortunate fact about wargaming is that others' perception of your army and tactics will not often match your own. To paraphrase a very apt saying: “cheese” is in the eye of the beholder.
To define cheese, we have to look at the things the word refers to: armies, characters, units, wargear, and tactics. An army with several special rules (such as the Blood Angels mentioned above) is often thought of as cheesy. Composition options within an army (e.g., three Wraithlords) or wargear selections (e.g., a Veil of Darkness) are often thought of as cheesy. Specific tactics that prove to be extremely effective can also be labeled as cheesy.
Hold on…doesn’t every army have special rules, composition options, wargear selections, and tactics? The answer is “yes” – the uncertain nature of “cheesiness” lies in the perception of the observer.
An army that is book-legal and fun to play with or against already has the most important elements of the game. However, not everyone is going to see that army in that way. Labeling something as cheesy is in fact a form of peer pressure – the goal is to force a change in something (and often, someone) that’s cheesy to conform to the observer’s perception of reality.
The Non-Cheesy Standard
As you may have noticed, this article describes definitions of cheesy things only in nonspecific terms. Because cheesy is a term that is subject to any person’s perceptions, there is no real way we can sit down and make a list of cheesy elements. Individually, the onus is on us as hobbyists to treat ourselves and our opponents with respect…which includes refraining from casually throwing terms like cheesy around.
The standard for what is and is not cheesy is of necessity very vague. If you are confident in your ability to play a good game, believe your army is balanced, and are committed to playing a game that’s fun for both you and your opponent, you really have nothing to fear from being labeled as cheesy. You know better, don’t you?
What Can you Do About Cheesiness?
Rather than indulge in a bit of name calling (“Your army is cheesy!”), consider talking things over with your opponent. Discuss the value of a balanced army or the benefits of a wide array of different tactics. Communication can clear up many possible misunderstandings, and you may even find some common ground – a lot of cool people that are great to play against can be found this way!
Likewise, you can emphasize the fun aspects of a game. Even if you feel that your opponent is cheesy, concentrate on having a good time – the game will feel much more relaxed and enjoyable.
As mentioned above, it’s almost impossible to create an army that will never be called cheesy. However, you can avoid a great deal of classic cheesiness if you focus on a balanced army and play with a wide variety of tactics.
Ultimately, there is no easy answer for cheesiness. The wargamer community has a bit of an attitude that makes it difficult to avoid accusations of cheesy armies, characters, tactics, or even paint schemes. It is up to the more mature hobbyists to educate our younger peers about the true meaning of cheesiness (see below). It is our responsibility as hobbyists to keep the gaming environment a fun and exciting place!
What Cheese Should Be
At its worst, the word cheesy should represent good-natured teasing in an open gaming environment, or friendly instruction in a tournament or special event setting. Both "cheesy" and "beardy" are time-honored pieces of Games Workshop slang and should be respected as such. Don’t let a bitter or spiteful opponent ruin a good word!
What Cheese Should not Be
Cheesy and beardy should never be words that are used as a scathing rebuke, snide remark, or petty insult. We’re all hobbyists together, and we’re involved with these games for the same reason – to have fun! Remember that!
Why Do People Use the Term?
As discussed above, calling someone or something “cheesy” seems like the easy answer. Can’t beat an opponent? He's cheesy. A certain army or piece of wargear destroys your toughest unit? Cheesy. It is an unfortunate reality that, no matter what you select for your army, someone out there will consider it cheesy at some point. It’s all based on perception, remember?
A suggestion: don’t let “cheesy” become a convenient excuse for failure. Reexamine your army list, consider new tactics, ask for a friendly rematch, and be confident in your skills. Any army can be beaten…there’s always a way.
Sometimes, the peer pressure within the gaming community encourages people to throw around the “cheesiness” label casually. Calling something cheesy becomes a habit, a behavior that can almost become reflexive.
Another suggestion: change the habit of calling things cheesy. Stop reflexively labeling people’s armies and tactics. Are you really that sure? Have you actually played against the army, unit, or tactic? If you don’t have a solid foundation, try giving your opponent the benefit of the doubt. You may just be surprised at how balanced or fun an army you thought was “cheesy” can be.
The Unwritten Rule
“Thou shalt play with a balanced army.”
Wargames in general all have this unwritten rule as a central concept to their structure. The problem is, there are many differing opinions on what is “balanced.” Confusion about this definition is the source of many cries of “cheese!” If you are unsure as to what a balanced army entails, consider building from a small force with the minimum requirements. From there, you can ask any Hobby Center staff to help you explore the options to build a balanced force that can take on any other army with a good chance to win!
Balanced armies rarely contain only one kind of model. Ranged attacks are powerful, but must be backed up with solid hand-to-hand fighters in order to survive a counterattack, for example. Many other articles have been written on building a balanced force, so I shall not repeat them here. Suffice it to say, there are a great deal of resources available at any local Hobby Center, in White Dwarf, and on the Games Workshop web site on this very subject.
Cheesiness in Action
Every army has a multitude of neat options that make the army unique and fun. A large part of the enjoyment of the game comes from being able to customize a force to an individual player or playing style. Explore the options, pick cool wargear, select nifty units! That’s what the game is all about.
Another big factor of playing the game involves how you choose to utilize your army’s strengths and compensate for weaknesses. The tactics you use in battle are intended to help you enjoy the game and have a better chance of winning. Everyone likes to win, right? It is truly a shame, however, when your tactics are labeled “cheesy” because you win with them.
An unavoidable reality of wargaming is that different tactics must be used in order to defeat different armies. For example, sending all of your units ahead at full speed won’t be as effective against most Khorne Chaos armies as it would be versus a normal Tau force. When the same tactic fails against different armies, opponents often resort to naming an army “cheesy” – the hobbyist equivalent of pouting – instead of considering any change in their own fighting style.
Cheese at Home and on the Road
Games played against friends at home or at a local Hobby Center don’t normally have as many problems with “cheesiness” as games at events like Rogue Trader Tournaments or Grand Tournaments.
During open gaming (games played outside of a tournament or special event), almost any army is just fine, regardless of composition or tactics. In such surroundings, trial rules, VDR creations, and trying out something new are all part of the fun. After all, these games are just between friends! Some participants may grumble about this or that “cheesy” thing, but a different force can be fielded or a different tactic attempted next time.
Things are quite different in a tournament or special event environment. Places like Grand Tournaments are filled with hobbyists from all over the world. Many of the people you meet at these events will be strangers. It’s very important for everyone to have a good time at events such as these, which is why each event strongly emphasizes the value of good sportsmanship.
Most players are aware of what good sportsmanship entails: shaking hands, being a fun opponent, and so on. However, there is an important aspect to sportsmanship that is sometimes overlooked. That aspect is the idea that a good sportsman brings a balanced army to a tournament. A balanced army is an army that not only has a good chance of winning a game but also gives an opponent a sporting chance of winning.
Two concepts are central to tournaments and special events gaming.
A. Everyone who attends these events is there to have a good time.
B. Everyone who competes should have a decent chance to win.
Certain behaviors or actions can trigger the perception of cheesiness in a particular environment, such as the tournaments mentioned above. Generally speaking, it is preferable to put your best foot forward when gaming with strangers. The force you bring to a tournament or special event can be quite different than the one you play with at home. Most special event or tournament games require a single army list at a set point cost that cannot change between games. Thus, it’s vital to build a force for these events that is capable of taking on all comers…but in that flexibility, many armies become vulnerable to other armies' rules or composition choices. In other words, at special events, it’s possible to build an army that specifically takes undue advantage of these restrictions. Players who bring an army they have constructed in order to annihilate “take-on-all-comers” opponents are the epitome of cheesy – unbalanced and extremely difficult to beat.
While selecting the forces for your army is part of your ability to play the game, in a tournament, the victory should be decided by your tactical skills (such as keeping the mission objective in mind, proper use of terrain, and so forth) rather than how well you can put together an army list.
Thus, it is important in tournament games and special events to have a balanced army.
Again, many opponents at these events may cry “cheese” at your army or others that are there. If your army does not keep the two central concepts in mind, then your opponents may have a good point!
The examples given above (under What Is Cheesy?) are intended only to represent often-heard comments. The tactics, units, armies, and wargear mentioned in this article are not in and of themselves cheesy…at least, not in my opinion! Of course, that’s not to say that there won’t be many people out there agreeing with those statements either. In closing, just try to remember… what one person considers “cheesy,” another person thinks of as “tactically smart.”
