Recently in a 40K Facebook group I'm part of someone asked why does it matter if models are proxies or aren't WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). He felt that as long as he told his opponent what the models were meant to represent it didn't matter if they were the right models and that anyone making him do so was just trying to get him to spend more money. There was a lot of discussion on the issue so I thought I'd talk a little about my thoughts on it.
I don't think most of the issues I'm talking about apply to smaller games like Malifaux where models don't have different equipment they can take, but it all applies to games like Shadow War as well where you can equip the same type of unit different ways.
All the armies lists I make are WYSIWYG though and I think it is important unless you have conversions or custom made pieces. The biggest reason for me writing my lists that way is because I want my opponents to do the same. I should be able to look at your models on the table and know exactly what unit is where and what weapons they have. Fine you could show my your list but in the middle of the game I might not remember which unit is meant to have a lascannon and which has a heavy bolter. I think that it is my opponents responsibility to make sure I can tell in the heat of battle what units and weapons are where not my responsibility to remember from what they told me 2 hours earlier when we went through their list.
Without being able to tell what model represent what you can easily get confused and make tactical mistakes that you wouldn't have done if you new, going back to the lascannon and heavy bolter example, if I needed to move tanks down one flank and the two units are there I'd want to be shooting at the unit with the lascannon, if I got confused and though the model proxying the heavy bolter was meant to be a lascannon and shot that unit instead only to get my tank blown up next turn I feel that is my opponents fault for not making it clear enough to me which was which.
Proxies can also lead to some cheating, but less so in the new 40K with the controlling player removing the casualties, but other wargames it can still be a problem. If an army has a lot of proxies there is nothing to stop the player claiming the weapon or model he needs is still alive when it was actually destroyed. In games where casualties have to he removed from the front for example you could claim the special weapon was at the back when the actual model you originally picked to represent it was at the front. Even with 8th Edition 40K it is possible, if I killed the unit of Tactical Marines that had the lascannon what is to stop you turning around and saying that it was the heavy bolter unit that I destroyed? Honestly I don't worry about this as much as I do confusion, I don't think any of my friends I play with would purposefully cheat and I wouldn't be playing anyone again that did. But it is possible that my opponent forgets which unit is meant to be which as well, that is another reason I always write WYSIWYG lists, because I know I'd forget which model is meant to be which.
My other issue is theme. I think that WYSIWYG helps bring out the theme of the game I'm playing and that is part of the reason I play. I like seeing the models with their weapons there and trying to remember what they really are breaks that for me which means I enjoy the game less.
There are some times I think it is OK, for example at the moment I have watched a lot of 8th Edition battle reports where people are having to say that the unit is armed slightly differently because it was set up in 7th and the load out is really bad in 8th now but they haven't had time to buy or re-arm the models yet. I'd be happy to play someone like that if it was just a temporary thing while they get their army ready for a new edition.
I'm also not to worried if it is just one model or something and there is nothing to confuse it with. For example if you had one unit of Eldar Skyrunners and the models all had scatter lasers but you told me you had actually brought shuriken cannons for them all I could deal with that because it isn't too hard to tell apart from the other models. If you had 3 units of Skyrunners and all the models had scatter lasers but only one unit had skuriken cannons in your list then I would have an issue with it because you are leaving it to me to remember which is which when I am trying to pick targets.
There is also the issue with GW and other companies that sometimes not all the models they release have all the weapon options that are actually available. This is normally only the case for character models and so isn't normally too much of a problem if I know your character paid for a weapon and I know which model is your character I can deal with that providing you don't have 3 of the exact same model all armed differently.
So yes I think WYSIWYG is important in wargaming and while I agree that it can be expensive to have to buy the models the tactical advantage you can get from your opponent being confused or the possibility to cheat means that you should still be trying to get as close as possible to WYSIWYG. These days you can magnetise most models to get the most from the weapon options and keep costs down so if that is a concern for you I think that is the option you should take.
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