Min-maxing is NOT WAAC

I'm going to be frank here: I hate it when people relate min-maxing to Win At All Costs. Being point efficient with your army because you want to be competitive does not mean you are a WAAC player. First, let me give you my definition of min-maxing and WAAC.

The min-maxer player is a competitive gamer that maximizes his army book and his army list.  He is first and foremost; a competitive player.  Not only does he understand the game, the rules, and his army book very well, he understands other armies very well as he believes that the key to victory, is game knowledge.  He likes taking units that best suits the needs of his army, often times being molded and shaped by the ever-changing metagame. He understands that the current meta has vehicles and thus melta weapons are the key at punching through armor at close range, just as an example.  The min-maxer also recognizes that to not take the most cost effective unit is to throw a wrench into a otherwise well-oiled machine (such as his army list) and thus he does not do so.  He is essentially the player that always takes what he views, is the best bang for your buck.  I am a min-maxing, power gaming, competitive player.


Now what is a WAAC player?  He is exactly as his name suggests:  Win At All Costs.  It doesn't matter if you're having fun, it just matters if he wins or not.  He is the kind of player that moves your/his models when you're not looking to gain an advantage.  He is the kind that measures so quickly and charges before you can confirm 6".  He is the kind that throws dice behind terrain so if he rolls a "1" for a Terminator save, he'll say it's been saved.  WAAC means simply that he's a cheat.  I've seen players like these and I've played against players like these.  They're arrogant, sleezy and downright pathetic to play against.  Truth be told:  I've seen a dude measure the length of his forearm and try to guess measure with it on the table before.  I mean come on, seriously?  Do you really need me to tell you that you're trying to measure cannon shots with your arm?  Give me a fucking break!  This is a game with miniature toy soldiers.  If that isn't pathetic enough (and awesome!), how sad do you have to be to cheat.

In RTS, the WAAC player plays with Map Hacks.  In FPS, the guy uses aimbot.  In Table-top gaming, the dude will bend the rules, fake his dice or do anything to win.  I don't know about you guys.. but here's how we handle cheaters in my neck of the woods:

There is a key difference between someone whose pushing his army design skills to the test and someone who measures with his forearm is quite apparent.  You can be a WAAC player that min-maxes his lists, but a person that min-maxes his army doesn't have to be WAAC.  That goes without saying that a WAAC player that doesn't know how to min-max and just outright cheats should be purged by fire.  With that said:  Never confuse the two and never relate the two in the same sentence.  It's both insulting and downright incorrect.