Re: [GZG] Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!

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tournament is typically 50 or so gamers getting together for a weekend
of gaming and having fun. There's some element of competition and
bragging about achievements. There's an opportunity to meet some new
gamers and try some of your tactics, maybe learn some things about the
game and the hobby. The competitive aspect isn't any different from a
poker night. If that's not your thing then you are not alone, but it's
an aspect of the hobby people enjoy.

Principles apply--whether a tank flies or not is surprisingly
irrelevant to how one uses it.  Flanks are flanks, massing fires is
massing fires, and keeping a reserve ALWAYS matters regardless of
whether you've got WWII paratroopers or orks riding pigs--unless
you're playing with some sort of extreme time limit.  The
tactic-breakers tended to be the more fantastic elements--teleporting
eldar commandos with instakill weapons that ignore cover, giant
demons, etc.  Seriously, is a Vindicare assasin (that's the one with
the spiffy rifle, right?)  that much different from a sniper team on
the rooftops of Baghdad? At least when it comes to effects, that is.
Space Marines are tougher than normal infantry, but WWII and modern
tactics generally worked with them.  Then again, my force was built
around tactical squads with heavy weapon and armor support, rather
than flying chainsaw troopers.  And even those are easily equated to
the traditional cavalry role, just with technological replacements for
the horse.

You are right, I have seen many historic and modern tactics applied in
40k. Refused flank, attacking in escellon, concentration of fire, use of
APCs to protect the dismounts from anti personell fire. Combined arms
with infantry, vehicles and supprting gunships works really well. Sniper
teams make excellent cover fire units and can pin down enemy units.
The teleporting commandos of doom are now gone. The speed of attacks has
gone down now and really fast attacks have to be conducted by very
lightly armoured vehicle mounted units. They are a tough army to field
if they get it wrong they get caught in the open and shot to bits. An
aerial assault in Huey's Nam style won't work if you end up going into a
hot landing zone.
It is possible to field armies that are hordes of fanatic infantry
hopped up on drugs with ill maintained equipment "Orks". It is also
possible to field jump troops with short range assault weaponry but they
can be countered by supprting you frontline units with counter assault
units.
Some realworld tactics have been simplified to try and make it a fun
game.
Some of my gaming group tried dirtside and enjoyed the generic nature of
the rules but found after a few games that the games seemed to have
artillery as the god of the battlefield producing some very WWI games
where you needed heavily concealed infantry to sport for ther artillery
that then hammered anything that was seen.
What mechanisims attracted and retain your enjoyment in Stargrunt?