Define 'gimmick'

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[shockcoil]

I'm getting sick of all this gimmick accusation shit going on, no that company is not a gimmick just because it has a lot of the same unit, in most cases its smart company building to overwhelm someone by outlasting their counters.

I would say that a gimmick is something which will work at most a few times, something not inherently powerful but will catch people off guard and doomed to die out as it loses the surprise factor. Light vehicle spam is not a gimmick, its been here since forever and its going to stay. Tank spam is not a gimmick. Sniper spam is not a gimmick. Seriously people, if something is too powerful thats one thing but accusing someone as gimmicky because they build better companies than you is bs.

So enough of my ranting, what do you think a gimmick is?

[CrazyWR]

Agree completely.  A gimmick in my opinion is a company built specifically to counter one specific company.  For instance, in old EIR, I built a company that I only used when I played against Duckofdoom's raid assault airborne spam company.  It only was played against that one particular player.  I think that would be considered a gimmick, not what most people are calling gimmick companies now.

[EIRRMod]

I believe people see 'Focused build' as gimmick.

Gimmick to me is an *exploitation* of either the units in questions (too cheap for a good unit) or abilities / doctrine buffs to gain an uneven advantage (compared to the investment) .

[Tymathee]

Gimmick to me is an *exploitation* of either the units in questions (too cheap for a good unit) or abilities / doctrine buffs to gain an uneven advantage (compared to the investment) .

+1

[anthony210]

Everything you just said is a gimmick.  Any company that uses mostly 1 type of unit is a gimmick.  Easily countered if you know its coming.  Devestating if you dont.  Sometimes even requiring you to build a specific counter for said company.

I only use the term gimmick because its the popular word, and technically its true.  The problem with said companies is compounded when combined with other "gimmick" companies in the same game.

IE 3v3 with 3 allied light vehicle spammers. Or 3 terror with 2 KT's each.  etc.  Those are just two examples.  Both are easily countered if you know its coming.  But if you dont and you bring out just enough AT to deal with a normal start then your SOL and your whole starting call in will probably be sent retreating or destroyed.  And that sets the pace for the rest of the game at that point.

Another kind of gimmick company are companies designed solely for vet hunting.  The person who owns said company does not care about winning or losing or the veterancy on his units.  He only plays the game to grief his enemies by destroying vet.  IE companies with AP rounds and a ton of M18s.  Sniper spam is also effective at vet hunting.  Ive once seen an enemy have 4 snipers on the field.  Watching your vetted infantry get one shotted by a group of snipers sucks.

Back when you could create 3 differant companies on one account this wasnt so bad.  But now that you only have 1 company it has to be designed to counter just about everything.  Every company has its weakness but for the most part companies need to be well rounded.   If your the type of person that only plays 1 axis and 1 allied you cant design a company specifically to fight one person.  This is why IMO gimmick companies are so annoying these days.  Back in the days of Puddins sniper spam I had a special company just for him with tons of bikes.  When Dr. Nick played with his raid assault airborne I had a company for him too.

In the end it really doesnt matter whether someone uses a gimmick company or not.  Its their choice how they create their company.  But that doesnt meant its not a gimmick anymore!

[shockcoil]

No they're not, if they were gimmicks they would've died out a long time ago in old EiR. As it stands they're still powerful and genuine company builds. The fact that you need to modify your company doesn't make it a gimmick, it just means you need to build your company better.

I can see your case for Vet hunting and I would agree to a certain extent for companies build solely for griefing but to me thats not really gimmicky per se, its just gay

[Smokaz]

Theres a huge difference between a company that others have to modify their companies to counter and a company that itself has been modified to counter a specific company. The first leans towards being a overpowered combo if it consistently trashes other companies more than being a gimmick while the latter is definitely a gimmick because it wouldn't work under ordinary circumstances.

[anthony210]

No they're not, if they were gimmicks they would've died out a long time ago in old EiR. As it stands they're still powerful and genuine company builds. The fact that you need to modify your company doesn't make it a gimmick, it just means you need to build your company better.

I can see your case for Vet hunting and I would agree to a certain extent for companies build solely for griefing but to me thats not really gimmicky per se, its just gay

Just because gimmick companies have been around a long time doesnt mean their not gimmicks anymore.  Gimmick companies are not powerfull at all.  Like I said if you know they are coming usually they are very easy to counter.  The problem is you never know when your going to face one of these highly specialized companies.  If you bring a standard balanced callout you will usually get owned by a specialized call in.  


Also I dont really consider light vehicle spam a gimmick.  It would only be a gimmick if the entire spam consisted completly of staghounds etc.  Most light vehicle spammers use a combined force of M8s, staghounds, and quads.  And they have other armor as well.

[Smokaz]

Gimmick companies also take away from the actual play, "im sorry you dont have the right company to win this game because I poured all my x into y"

[shockcoil]

Theres a huge difference between a company that others have to modify their companies to counter and a company that itself has been modified to counter a specific company. The first leans towards being a overpowered combo if it consistently trashes other companies more than being a gimmick while the latter is definitely a gimmick because it wouldn't work under ordinary circumstances.

This. Put it way better than I did

[Chubba]

I would define it as a company which is unusual in nature, either in unit composition or in amounts of the units which make this company up. (for example, an entirely pioneer company would be a gimmick) I don't attach any negative connotations to the name.

How the word is being used now?

A company which beats my company despite all my vet and doctrine choices. (which is why I imagine 'gimmick' company players come up against such a wide variety of companies designed specifically in mind to counter them)

[Mysthalin]

I get accused of gimmicks when I use 3 M8s.

No, seriously, I use 3 M8s in this world of 8 T17 companies, and I'm a gimmick player? If you still haven't adapted to countering 3 freaking M8s when everyone and their mom goes T17 spam, you're doing something wrong, and just calling "gimmick" isn't right.

Seriously, I don't think there's such a thing as a true gimmick anymore - even puddin's stormtrooper army. 30 vOBM greyhounds - that was gimmick. 6 snipers, 7 rangers and 8 M10s - that was a gimmick. 3 greyhounds, stugspam or 6 shermans - that's not gimmick.
To put it straight - if a company uses more than 3 types of units, it's not a gimmick.

[NightRain]

I was accused of StuGspam once xD 8 StuGs.
Its not really hard to counter. StuG is the cheapest anti tank platform as well the most weakest in that case. 3 ATG shots its already out of your book of problems.

Plenty of Snipers. Goliaths, mines etc are kinda gimmicky if you aim vetted units only.

Calling out Entire force of M10s when you see just one Heavy tank is somewhat griefing if you just waited for that unit to come on field and chase it to destroy it ignoring everything else.

In my opinnion Gimmicking is simply to spam certain currently overpowered unit in numbers and chase down everything you can and its mostly veterancy. IE 3 Staghound calling or late game 4-5 Staghound call in to chase and destroy everything.