Named Character Obsession

Why do some people seem obsessed with using named independent characters in their lists?

I was recently on DakkaDakka and somebody was asking for advice on creating a basic Blood Angels list, so I decided to add my opinions to the thread. This resulted in quite a heated argument with one person, who seemed a little too keen on using the sanguinor in any list picked from the codex.



Now I understand that people have differing ideas and play styles when it comes to building lists and playing the game, but when somebody asks for advice I feels it's best to get them started with a list of relatively cheap squads. Once they have tested this they can then move on to adding whatever fluffy units they wish.

Get the basics down then start playing around with what the army can do.

This is a quote from the discussion which made me laugh when I read it.


He can sweep a mob of battlewagon boyz boyz in 2-3 rounds of combat , granted theres a sanguinary priest standing nearby giving him fnp ... but who doesnt do that. Let alone how badly he slaughters hq units. 

You could take a reclusiarch and save some points, but then you have to pile an assault squad + him into the same target the sanguinor will redmist by himself. You think a reclusiarch could solo ghazgkull? 

No effin way, but sanguinor could  let ghaz waagh, that only delays his death, next turn he starts to go down like a chump.


Well this is the level some people think at.


Now personally I think 275 points could be better spent on a fully tooled up assault squad which would be able to deal with the unit mentioned above in 1 round of combat if you got the right rolls. 


But there you go some people seem to think just because a unit has a long list of special rules and a couple of buffs for your army they must be the best unit available. I myself stopped thinking this way having had my butt kicked too many times because I spent half my points on the shiniest character I could find in the codex.


I suppose the point I am trying to make is there are people who buy too much into the hype that comes from white dwarf and the website every time a new codex is released. At the end of the day those super shiny fluffy characters are only any good once you have the basics down, you need to learn your army and find the best way to use it before you can afford to spend those points on captain fluffy, until then get your core units working and then branch out.