I'd call it Gouda. But, mostly just to be funny.

What's cheese? The deliberate effort to exploit the rules to the detriment of the spirit of the game. Why is it cheese? Because it makes the game less fun.

This weekend, I played a kid who felt the need to apologize for using Arnis in a mixed force. As primarily a SC player, I didn't care. Told him so. Besides, I was packing Skariah (Thanks Tony). And my opponent overextened Arnis when he did his 24 inch charge. I ate Arnis alive. Shut him down twice. (Missed breaks and bad heat rolls didn't help). And won the match with 2 VC.

What's my point? No one should feel bad for using a strong piece. It's legal. Do it. The rules are being tuned. They'll fix it.

If someone runs Mechless, that is violating the spirit of a game called MECHwarrior. Hence, it sniffs of cheese. Picking a collection of figures for no other reason than they are a collection of over powered units? No theme or balence? <sniff, sniff> Yup, cheese.

Then again, I've played against cheese or "broken" armies. And it can be fun. In a Heroclix tournament, a player put a defend behind energy shields for an effective 20 defense (that's with 2d6). To translate, put Susan Drummond behind figures with decoy...... Hmmmm.

Anyway, they wanted to see what it could do. Well, I beat it. I had to get very lucky to do it, but that's what I did. One of the most fun games I've played. He had an idea to try and it worked. To a degree. He hated playing in a turtle, so he never did it again.

But, if we never try those combos, we never learn how to beat them. It gives variety to the game and makes us all better. Just like I like to eat cheese, but a steady diet of nothing but cheese would make me sick. In the game, I like to see what people come up with. Makes me play better, and that's why I play other people.

My $.05 ( way more than my .02)

I respec anyone in the current metagame that chooses not to go all out cheese and play faction pure, even if it involves arnis and 4 Donnars with a tank drpped etan, o well atleast it looks preety :)

I will always play my beloved HL (with a side of LI if i'm feeling like somthing differnt)

so hats off to all those faction purists

and a baseball bat to the head of cookie cutter/patch work armies every were

They don't ACTUALLY move in formation, I just expend all five orders to move them (When I hit Command). I keep the VTOLS close enough to Mason that no Mech Bases can fit thru to charge.

Tony

You can always tell cheese - its got a specific odor, victory.

My girlfriend calls MW figurines dolls, I try to educate her but she just don't get it.

How do you explain me then? I always play faction pure, VERY rarely lose, and have beaten some of the top players in the world.

I used to be one of the crowd that would like to crucify mixed-faction and effective players, but I since have become what I like to call enlightened.

Nothing is wrong with players playing to win. I am a Capellan Confederation player, but I routinely use SW J37s, SS AAAs, and the occasional Balac or Donar.

Why do I use these effective pieces that have earned the "cheese" stigma? Well, I became tired of losing, honestly. Yes, more thought was needed to be put into my pure faction CCAF armies, but I did not like the limitations and losing to those who did not enforce this artifical limitation upon themselves. Now I tend to place within the top three (sometimes first if Noeticist doesn't show up :)).

Let players play what they want. Let's stop these silly discussion of "cheese", please? Be content to play your way and to let others play by their own limitations.

Cheese On - Cheese Off

Good day, I have worried for the longest time what exactly is cheese. A friend of mine defined it best for me.

"The spirit of the game is broken when a person uses pieces or rules to win a victory without thought or regard to the players." (Remember the spirit of the game)

My two cents if everyone is fairly competitive by nature and wants to win. People don’t like to lose and usually will try to ensure victory by tactics, playing pieces and rules. I find that people forget the “FUN” part. The game is suppose to be fun and becomes a hassle when people abuse the system they play under. I play with some very excellent players who have unique styles but also play very completive. They use pieces, which hold distinct advantages. However, I have seen the same players lose when using these pieces against other who did not. I have seen incredible amounts of skill played by these commanders who try out new tactics just to see how they do.

Personally I play faction pure and usually with1 Vtol, 1 Mech, some infantry and either 1 piece of artillery or a vehicle. I like balance and have armor piercing units and some energy attacks to heat up mechs. I win about 50% of the matches not due to other people cheese but because of luck or being out maneuvered. I feel very honored to be able to play against these players and look forward to seeing what they come up with next. While I do encounter some table top generals who are not sporting and lame, I try and focus on what makes the game fun and a challenge for me.

Good luck

I use fast mechs, choppers and occasionally medium hover vehicles

What do non-cheese players play? I would never call a faction pure force cheesy (although SS could come close) first of all. It’s much harder to define cheese in terms of it IS, rather than what it ISN’T. I think someone who plays an Arnis or a SS AA arty isn’t necessarily cheesy. However when a person has been playing the same SS Balac/SS AA arty/Giggins with Fa Shih army in every event for the last 3 months then he is cheesy. Someone who never plays a single unit outside of the “gee maybe WK should have thought about actually playtesting this unit” school is cheesy as well. People should be honest with themselves, they know when they are exploiting broken units (want to know which units are broken? If it sells for more than $20.00 on Ebay and isn’t a LE then its broken) and broken tactics. MW isn’t a job and nobody is going to lose their home because they couldn’t win that new LE. Try to have a little bit of class even if it interferes with going 85-0 every month.