Editing List of 40K Cheese (section)

== 2nd Edition ==

====Chaos====
Like 3.5, just in general. Chaos was OP in this edition whose only hard counters were Eldar and Tyranids.

====Tyranids====
When their Codex hit, Tyranids in their entirety were absolutely insane. Units like the carnifex, which had 10 wounds(!), the equivalent of Terminator Armor in chitin (!!) and could regenerate [[bullshit|even from a negative total of hp (!!!)]], meaning it was nigh-on unkillable and would shred even a fucking Greater Daemons in tiny pieces given the chance (due to how CC worked back then only one combatant would get the chance to wound the other each turn, but since the 'fex regenerated the GD would have major trouble killing it for good even with a very good roll. Whereas on a poor roll, it would get cut to pieces.) Lictors were a nightmare to deal with (being basically undetectable until they entered CC), genestealers were already the genestealers we love (aka. fragile if spotted early, but close combat monstrosities able to butcher about anything in melee) and hive tyrants were just absolute beasts: [[rape|about as tanky and choppy as a carnifex, with decent dakka to boot and level 4 Psychic Mastery...]] On top of that, beyond how fast and tanky the models were in general, there came the army special rules. Tyranids didn't use wargear or strategy cards (comparable to what you could do during the game with CP in 8th edition), but they got something worse: instead of buffs, they made each enemy model/unit roll on a table with (potential) negative effects they would get right before the game started, to represent being harassed by bio-forms on the way and the planet's ecosystem reacting to the 'nids presence. on average, it wasn't ''too'' bad, the most common results being 'unit is fine' or unit's deployment is delayed one turn', but... special mention needs to go to ''Jones is acting Strangely'', which could instantly kill off the entire enemy unit if they didn't pass a dice roll and could entangle fellow squad members should they survive ''(there were also no rules to say that certain units were immune to the debuff, so anything from a [[Baneblade]] to a [[Bloodthirster]] or a whole squadron of Marines could theoretically be one-shot at the start of your enemy's turn if they rolled the debuff and failed the check, which could cripple entire strategies that were carried by specific units and [[Awesome|tilt the game in your favour]])''. Needless to say they were more than well equipped to curbstomp Chaos and Imperial armies AND go toe-to-toe with the other armies like the Eldar and Necrons that were also incredibly strong.

====Polymorphine====
Assassins (and anyone else with the access to the wargear) used to be able to magically appear in the middle of a squad via Polymorphine (killing a troop when you exploded out of his body, leading to such shenanigans as [[Arseplomancer|a Guardsman hiding a dude in power armor on a bike]]).  Then Jump Pack over and throw a Vortex Grenade and killing anything on a 2+.

====Virus Weapons====
The Virus Grenade was 50 points for a grenade with a 2 inch blast radius. Any model that was hit by the Virus Grenades (partial hits were on a 4+) was not explicitly stated to be immune (Space Marines, Terminators, Aspect Warriors and vehicles were immune) to said Virus Grenade would die on a 3+. So far, not to bad right? The problem with the Virus Grenade was that when a model was killed by it, every other model not immune that was within d6 inches would have to test, dying on a 4+ and recursively requiring every other model within d6 inches to test not to die on a 4+. Thus, a Virus Grenade could become something of a Grey Goo situation where the more enemy models are bunched up, the easier it was to spread out and kill them all. However, the real rage-inducer was the Virus Outbreak stratagem card, which acted like a Virus Grenade template that you just placed anywhere on the board without restriction; the writers went so far as to recommend that players tear up their Virus Outbreak cards from the Dark Millenium set since they hadn't intended on it being so powerful.

====Wolf Guard Crisis Suits====
Back in 2nd edition, the Cyclone Missile Launcher required the Terminator to replace his Power Fist with a laser targeter. However, when the Space Wolf codex first came out, it was entirely possible to make your army nothing but Wolf Guard Terminators, and to give each Terminator an Assault Cannon **and** a Cyclone Missile Launcher. Add in the fact that Terminators made their armor saves on 3+ on 2d6 (this game did use save modifiers), and it was possible for them to teleport in, weather most overwatch, fire all missiles and assault cannons, and only have to mop up the remnants from the burning wreckage. When the Space Wolf codex was reprinted, it explicitly banned Wolf Guard Terminators from going with Assault Cannon and Cyclone Launcher.

====Deathspinners:====
Deathspinners were a flamer template in 2nd edition, that had a "save or die" initiative check. Imagine an entire squad of Warp Spiders with Jaws in flamer form. Yeah.