List or Mission first?

[Blackcloud6]

Which way is it supposed to be played: players write up their army list first or choose the mission first?

Which way do you prefer?

[Morgrim]

Army list first, I think you're supposed to roll for mission once you have an opponent? At least that is the way my LGS does it. Honestly I'm kind of fuzzy on missions because since I play DE and don't have the durable troops needed to camp an objective everything tends to turn into 'kill everything else before it kills you' game for me anyway.

[clively]

It's supposed to be:
1. Players agree on points.
2. Players write their list.
3. Roll for mission
4. ....
6. Profit!


Regarding preference.. depends on what we are doing. If it's a map based campaign then we usually know the "style" of mission, including whose defending vs attacking before anything - other than knowing the names of the armies that are playing.

For pickup games, I prefer that the lists are ready to go before we even decide to play each other. It's faster to get a game going.

[Wolfshade]

As suggested above. It stops tayloring of lists, though if you and your opponent are happy for this then why not.

Also, in narrative campaigns it is often known what the battle will be like before it happens so that might influence a unit selection.