Tactica: Flesh Tearers parts 1, 2 and 3
Part 1 the flesh tearer versus the blood angel : at a first glance the lists seem similar , with the noticable differance of only having one tank , but gaining some cool sounding death company dread noughts. Actaully , the flesh tearers are more different than the blood angels than most people think. Blood angels may safely stick a power weapon or fist on a veteran sergeant and make a tactical unit a great assault backbone. Flesh tearers however cannot , as 50% of the time the sergeant has to join the death company. Of course you know this. So what you are asking? Well. not having the ability to rip through armour severly handicaps the tactical unit. Being unable to deal with more extensivly equpied units such as terminators or a charachter's retinue without bieng expectantly crushed , where as the blood angels can take a vet with a power sword and safely kill 1-2 of the terminator unit and suffer no attacks back (none left in BTB contact) as these squads are generally small. The flesh tearers only have two units that can effictively death with such a unit in the inevitable assault phase( which we love so much ) The honour guard - armed with 1-2 power weapon marines and around 7 man strong (after the vet joins the DC) and with terminator honours. Lead by a leader with a power sword or fist , and terminator honours. now this unit is not as tooled up as most blood angels honour guard , with all char upgrades , sporting power fists and the rest with power weapons just leaving 1 normal marine incase a 4+ is rolled for the DC. This is beacause of two reasons: 1) we have a 1/3 chance that more than one member will join , needlesly wasting points , and 2) beacuse of that 1/3 chance , there is a possibility that one of the key units will loose too many members to the death company and be handi capped. The second unit that can fullfill our assault role is of course the death company. the flesh tearers death company will be larger than the normal BA death company , but normally not untill games of 1700 points+ are bing played , and we can afford to bring veteran units into battle that can loose 3-4 members and still be able to perform with acceptible results. however there is not much of a difference in size between games of 500-1500 points , and thus is not any more effective than the normal BA death company. some players may be tempted to pour all thier points into 5 man scouts
squads , a tooled up chappie and some cheap fire support , going for the
uber death company. THIS IS A VERY and i cannot stress this enough VERY
bad idea. relying on one single unit to do the job especially with a unit
as random as the death company will often result in failure.
part 2 selecting the forces(hq and troops now , others later, im getting tired): 1) an HQ choice is mandatory , and thus when i construct my lists i start here. Basic HQ break down: With leftover points , frag grenades and melta bombs and even a 10 point
death mask are a nice addition to a charachter's arsenal.
1) HERO I personally dislike the hero. However the Leader can provide a suitable cheap HQ choice to lead an honour guard unit. The commander is a bland generic 2wound medium priced HQ , and sure the force commander has 3 wounds , but the extra points are not worth the extra wound and additional leadership points. especially when compared to the other HQ selections which for equal to slighly more have abilities that can help them greatly in HTH combat that we excel in. suggested wargear: Power sword / fist and a bolt pistol / plasma pistol and terminator honours. Iron halo if left over points. 2) CHAPLAIN this is comparitively expensive when compared to the standard marine chaplain. However according to the DC army list , they are worth 19 points a model. he comes with 5 average meaning his DC worth is 96 points , or 143 points with jump packs , leaving the rhino mounted DC chaplain costing 35 points (taking into account the the free rhino with extra armour and smoke) , and the jump pack chaplain costing only 57 (taking into account the cost of the jump pack) as we can see the BA chaplain is actually much cheaper than the normal chaplain in unit cost , but the overall 180 - 120 point cost respectively is a hastle at times. suggest wargear: His free crozius and rosarius , and a bolt pistol /
plasma pistol , (or a powerfist of thunder hammer if you have left over
points) and terminator honours. Jump pack if desired.
2) LIBRARIAN The blood angel / flesh tearer librarian is more close combat orientated than his dark angels , codex marines , or salamanders counter part. The librarian has the same points cost as a force commander , but trades his extra wound and point of leadership for a very potent psychic power known as quickening , giving him the highest amount of attacks in any marine army , with a possible 9 attacks. Suggested wargear: Pair of lightning claws (especially deadly when paired with a sanguinary high priest....) or a power/force weapon and a bolt/plasma pistol, terminator honours , and an Iron halo. Take a psychic hood if you are expecting to face eldar. Jump pack if desired (i reccommend the jump pack option greatly) The librarian with paired lightning claws , termi honours , iron halo and jump pack comes out to only 125 points , and it has got double its worth or more in every game i have played him in. 4) SANGIUNARY HIGH PRIEST 15 points more than the force commander for -1 wound , point of leader
ship and balistic skill. He gets apothecary only wargear , but this is
not a big factor as most people will take a sang. priest with exsanguinator
in an honour guard if they really wanted one (and most people don't)
Suggested wargear: Paired lightning claws (though not as effective as on the librarian , it is still a gread combo if a bit expensive) or a power weapon/ fist and a bolt / plasma pistol , terminator honours , and an iron halo(if you are not using a librarian , in which he should get it not the SHP.) If used in combo with a librarian for an UBER assault combo , give him a bolt pistol and close combat weapon and let the librarian handle the talking. Jump pack if desired (reccomended if with an honour guard , as they are more effective on jump packs) 5) DEATH COMPANY: should be accompanied by a chaplain , and should never ever be equipped with bolters. I prefer the power fist when a vet joins , but power weapons are nice , and i have a few models with them. a 2:1 fist : weapon ratio is good , as the fists are hidden , and can kill tanks and charachters. Rhino or jump packs? Well in a game of 1500 points or less , and with
4 or under troops and no elites , and if the table is 4x4 or less , than
the rhino is the superior choice. However if any of those specifications
are off ,(like in most games) you are better off taking the jump packs.
Jump packing DC offer an excelent screen for a jump packing honour guard
, as they are extremely resilient to small arms fire and much cheaper than
an honour guard marine. HG and DC make a terrifying combo when thrown into
HTH together.
HQ Suggested order: The first HQ is the chaplain. He is all around good and if you want
death company he is your man. The second HQ is the librarian , assigned
to an assault unit. If playing with detachments 2000+ , i would take a
sanguinary high priest with honour guard. Only take the hero of a cheap
char is needed to lead an honour guard.
Toops break down: TACTICAL SQUAD: the back bone of any marine army , these provide the masses to take hits , and deal a fair amount of damage back to the opponent. Note: unlike BT's and BA's our tactical units are not good at spear heading assaults as they lack armour defeating HTH weapons. (see part 1 for explination.) These squads will provide the back bone of most of your fire support , and should be equipped with both a heavy and assault weapon (rockets and meltas are my fave , but flamers and lascannons are also good. I do not like plasma cannons , as my tactical units often perform split roles , and the plasmagun is only really effective in solid fire support roles.) These squads often provide close in support for my powerful assault units like DC and HG , poping transports and dread noughts with meltagun blasts , and softening up the enemy with boltguns and flamers. Suggested squad size: 8 (explainted later) , or 5 in a dedicated fire support role. (6 if in razorback) Suggested upgrades: Veteran sergeant , has a 50% chance of getting a power wep / fist in the DC and if not , gives an extra two attacks to the combat phase. Lascannon , rocket , melta or flamer.
Suggested Quantity: 1000 points: about 20-25 marines in total
2) BLOOD ANGELS SCOUT SQUAD I much prefer tactical squads to these guys , as even though they recive an extra attack , they cannot surive repeated Anti Infatry fire (such as heavy bolters) and unless infiltration is alloud , they are going to have to wait a fair bit to get into combat , as they cannot buy transports. Suggested Squad Size: 8-10 Suggested upgrades : Veteran scout sergeant , shotguns if desired. Suggested Quantity: 0-1 squad per 1000 points. May be substiuted for a tactical unit if you wish. 3) SPACE MARINE SCOUT SQUAD One of these units can be okay. They can disrupt enemy plans , if given a weapon that can threaten armour , and if infiltration is used. I like using them to pin enemys with sniper fire , and so equip them with 9 sniper rifles.Use these guys for long range support. Close range and HTH combat can be covered by BA scout squads and tactical squads , and thus should not be equipped with shotguns , or BP + CCW. Suggested squad size : 10 Suggested squad upgrades: Sniper rifles , veteran scout sergeant , autocannon or missile launcher. Suggested quantity: 1000+ points: 1 squad Suggested Troop order: first is tactical squads. Do not buy scouts until you have a back bone
of two of these , with at least one in a rhino. Then a space marine scout
squad or ba scout squad (if you know there will be infiltrating.)
3) Elites 1) TERMINATOR SQUAD: Basic veteran marine stats , with every member wielding a power fist and a storm bolter. These guys are proably the best equipped unit (aside from thier assault brethren) in the whole army list. And of course this equipment comes at two very high prices. Suggested squad size: 5-8
1) 42 points per model with a 1/2 chance of joining the death company and becoming a marine worth 19/29 points , and a 1/3 chance of rolling again. 2) While able to deep strike , this is unreliable , and most scenarios dont use the rule. Meaning if they are to be able to get into range to unleash the devastating assaults they are capable of , they must be mounted in a 250-255 point vehicle , and combined with thier already steep cost of 220-386 points per squad of these bad boys , youve already spent more than 1/4 of your points limit. They will have to maul alot to make up for thier points. 2) TERMINATOR ASSAULT SQUAD same as above but with a key difference: 1) They are more potent in HTH combat which we excel in and are best
mounted in a crusader and led by a charachter with weapons that compliment
the squad.
Suggested squad size: 5-8
3) VETERAN ASSAULT SQUAD assault squad that gets +1 leader ship for +3 points. However they may be equipped with terminator honours and made a great light troop eater. alteritavely , they may have a limited squad size with meltabombs , and paired meltaguns to hunt down any armour. Suggested squad size: 5-10
4) VETERAN SQUAD see above - except they trade jump packs for rhinos. Suggested squad size: 8-10
5) DEATH COMPANY DREAD NOUGHT Well this is the FT only 135 point HTH monster. On paper these look great , and they add to the element of the FT army. Problem is.... well.... they aren't that great. These guys will have to slog it across the field , and even if it is a 4x4 table , it will still be a minumum of 3 urns before it sees combat (provided it doesnt rage , in which case with some luck it can do it in 2.) And you can bet people will shoot at this. This is good if you are using drop pods , or offer a jucier target for your enemy to shoot at , but with a medium armour of 12 , it can and will go down. The good part is that it does ignore stunned and shaken and will be able to keep on coming at full efficiency towards the enemy. It can suffer one weapon destroyed result , but then it's useless in HTH as well. Immobilization really ruin's this guys day. Overall i say take one. They are fun , and can distract fire , and are
DEAD NASTY if they reach hand to hand combat (drop pods and city fight
are great with these guys but other wise...)Just dont count on that happenening
to often.
Suggested upgrades: (none)
FURIOSO DREAD NOUGHT if you really want the HTH dread nought take the DC dread nough. Suggested upgrades: (none)
Elites Order: All the elites are interchangeable , though i would think the dread
noughts are a bit less useful , and thus if it came to it would take the
vet squads or term. squads over them. Again elites are pricy , and i would
make sure that in 1000 points i could really spare the points before i
select any units from this section. 1500 points offers a good limit to
play some vets and perhaps a DC dread.
Fast Attack 1) BIKE SQUADRON this has a 5 man max limit on it. NOT GOOD. even losing one of these
to DC will start to limit these guy's abilites.
suggested upgrades: (none)
2) ATTACK BIKE SQUADRON Wow! a 2+ armour save , can move 12" and fire a multimelta and NO abolutely NO chance of loosing them to the DC! I like them myself , but i prefer the land speeder. However some prefer the attack bike as it sacrifices armour value and mobility to be able to hide behind other units of troops and the such. It is your choice. Keep the squad at 1 bike , and if you must take 3 , use up three different slots , as you can shoot 3 different targets and plug 3 different holes. However if you are really tied tight , take 2 to a squad. Suggested Squad Size: 1-2
3) SCOUT BIKE SQUAD See bike squad. Just as useless , perhaps even more so. suggested upgrades: (none)
4) LAND SPEEDER SQUADRON WOW WOW WOW! may favourite fast attack choice ever! these are just really great. if the move over 6" you have a 1/6 chance of destroying them! Plus they can move 24" and trade firing for a chance to get into a better position. I prefer these over the attack bike , but would strongly suggest that you take at least two of one or the other armed with multimeltas. Suggested squad size: 1-2(same reason as attack bikes)
5) LAND SPEEDER TORNADO I like these alot. I think getting a heavy flamer on these is just wonderful. Especially against armies like tau and nids. It is worth the extra 25 points in my book. Take these instead of land speeders if you have points to spare , and remember , One tornado can sometimes fill the roles of two normal landspeeders, provided positioning is right. IE: getting close to a tank , and firing the multimelta and the heavy flamer at it , with an enemy infantry squad standing in front of it. The tornado is far more flexible than the normal speeder , and you pay for it. But i like it. Suggested upgrades: Multimelta
6) LAND SPEEDER TYPHOON the same points as the tornado , but is geared more towards anti infantry
role , which it can be good at.
Suggested upgrades: (none)
7) ASSAULT SQUAD these guys are good , and can provide a fast moving mass for dealing out hits in HTH. Makes a good cheap guard for HQ's in smaller point games. Suggested squad size: 8-10
Heavy support 1) DREAD NOUGHT well well. Heres a good choice. This is basically 2 choices in one , a heavy support fire base , and an assault monster. It can keep up a good rate of fire and move forward at the same time , but like the other dread noughts is relatively east to destroy. Missile launchers , though taking away the assault element , is a great way to make this machine into the most solid form of firing we have. Able to rage , AND fire with full efficency. Suggested upgrades: Missile launcher , TLLC , TLHB
2) DEVASTATOR SQUAD dev squads are kinda iffy , and i prefer using tactical marines as my fire base , but there are times when that isnt just enough , so... Suggested squad size: 10
Notice i have skipped the tanks. Well that is because of our special rule. I will adress them below. Which tank to pick? Well lets start out with the whirlwind. Most marine armys love the whirlwind. It eats troops , and is only 75
points! however , it ONLY does troops. and since we only get one tank ,
and our army already muches up troops , we should leave this at home UNLESS
we know that our enemy is going to be vulnerable to this.
Next up is the vindicator: A nice tank with good armour and a devastating gun. Will definitely
attract lots of attention , which can be good. Has capability to blow up
armour and infantry , and is pretty cheap. However it is risky , as it
can be popped off easily if the enemy sees it side or rear armour , and
it must be close in range. I say take it in games of 1000-1500 points ,
where it can do alot of hurt , but not be missed too much if it gets popped.
Then the pred A this is a good chice , giving us armour busting fire power that we need so much. THis is good and solid and reccommended. Pred D 20 points cheaper tan the pred A and it can destroy lighter vehicles BETTER than the A can. it can also kill off more infantry.comparable points cost to the vindicator. Whichever pred you choose , it is good to have LC sponsons. Baal Pred Not good. it owns light and medium infantry. Problem is , the rest of our army does too! leave it at home. Land Raider Good option if you have the points to spare. Same accuracy as the pred A and it has anti infantry guns to boot. Problem is it costs 250 points! The best part of this is that it can carry terminators , or an honour guard , and with its high armour it is a choice transport for an HQ if you are willing to sac the speed of a rhino , or the mobility of the jump packs. Land Raider Crusader THe anti-infantry / transport version of the land raider.
Enclosed is also a copy of the guide to space marine armour , by me , at an earlier date. It may help your descision. THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SPACE MARINE ARMOUR
Introduction: The space marines have different
armoured vehicles than most of the imperium. Instead of having battle tanks
like the Imperial guard , the marines focus more on the "infantry support"
role. Providing cover fire , anti armour / anti troop , or quick transportation
around the battle field.
Part 1: Marine Vehicle Upgrades Codex: Astartes Standard Vechile Upgrades. Availible to all marine chapters. Dozer Blade - A fair upgrade. I think it is a bad idea for HTH armies like Blood Angels or Space wolves to use these on thier rhino's though. They should be moving more than 6" a turn , rendering them useless. Buy these for support vehicles that will be movign through difficult terrain. Smoke Launchers - These are great. For one turn in the game , your vehicle has a much better chance of not being blown to smithereens. This is pretty much a mandatory option for any vehicle that can take them. Note: Support vehicles that deliver long range punch and that will be firing every turn from the start of the game will probably NOT benefit from smoke launchers. Extra Armour - Personally I like this upgrade , especially on my rhinos , where not bieng able to move can really ruin your day.Limited use on anything but rhino's and razorbacks , as well as possibly the vindicator. Search Lights - Useless unless your playing night fight. These are best
taken on transports , as you wont want to divert attention to your more
valuable Support tanks. For 1 point they can provide balance incase you
do wind up playing night fight.
Pintle Mounted Storm Bolter - Never found much use for this. One on a land raider blew up an Ork buggy once. It is just to expensive for what it does , and most tanks have enough fire power to live with out 2 S4 AP5 shots a turn. Hunter killer missile - Wow. 15 points for a one shot weapon that has a 66% or less chance of bieng usefull. This never really justifies the cost for me. Upgrades in codexes other than Adeptus Astartes. Available to specific chapters only. Rienforced Ceramite (Salamander's Chapter) - Good upgrade , I find it worth the points for things that have to get close ie: dreadnought , Pred w/ Heavy flamers , vindicator. Not worth the points on rhino's though , as S8 melta weapons will rip through them without the +d6 pen. This upgrade is GREAT on land raiders , making it almost unstoppable. Over Charged Engines (Blood Angel's Chapter) - Vehicles that can take them come with them. No choice here , but it seems to be more of a benefit than a drawback. Feel free to ICQ me if I missed anything : 106023427 Part 2: Space Marine Light Armour Land Speeder - Marine's best friend. These are great. 50-65 points gets you a good anti-infantry / vehicle platform. I love the speeder , they are great at assault support or just bieng a nuissance. Moving over 6" glancings are great too. Exellent stalls. Land Speeder Tornado - Basically a speeder with another heavy weapon. Makes sense. A bit expensive though for a vehicle that can be blow up with a lucky bolter shot! heavy flamer + assault cannon makes a great assault support platform. However If you are going fast (12") you can only fire one weapon. Basically the assault cannon closing , flamer once stuck in. Land Speeder Typhoon - A land speeder with a wierd missile launcher
on the back. Model looks cool enough. Not very practical though. The launcher
is basicaly another anti infantry weapon the heavy bolter you got for free
could do as well if not better. My advice is to leave this at home.
Rhino Armoured Personnel Carrier (see rhino tips and tricks at back of section for uses)- A great buy. Smoke and Extra armour will help here. This gives you speed and mobility with your troops and renders them invulnerable to annoying small arms fire (lasguns...) and means they wont be turned into juice by starcannons as fast. I think most squads should have one. Razorback Infantry Fighting Vehicle - Basically a rhino that carries 6 guys and has a gun on top. See rhino for useful upgrades. I reccommend the Twin heavy bolters (free and have a nice rate of fire and accuracy) or lascannon and twin linked plasma guns. Multimelta is good for up close armies like blood angels or Salamanders. Twin Lascannons are just to expensive in my opinion. Two ways to use these. 1) as rhino , dropping off load , then providing supporting fire 2) standing starionary with it's squad to form a fire base. Space Marine Medium Armour Dreadnought armoured walker - These guys are incredibly cool. I don't recommend the missile launcher upgrade though. Twin heavy bolters lay on sever smack down on horde armies , and outrange and are better shots than the assault cannon. Multimelta is nice but only gets 1 shot at close range. Plasma cannon is great. Can keep back , and though only gets one shot it is a blast! (literally) I would always take the heavy flamer. IF you are gonna sit back and shoot (ha) Take the missile launcher. Reccommend heavy flamer , TL heavy bolter , plasmacannon , multimelta , or lascannon , xtra armour and smoke. Blood angels only: Furioso pattern dread - great for hand to hand. comes with pretty much everything it needs except for XA and smoke! give it a heavy flamer. Flesh Tearers only: Death company pattern dread - bigger badder form of the furioso. Comes with XA (rampage) and cant use smoke =( but oh well. Space Wolves + Iron Hands only: Venerable dreadnought - King of all dreads. WS + BS 5 , steals first turn , AND in a pile of bushes has a 1 IN 36 chance of bieng destroyed PLUS it can be taked as an HQ. Big suggestion to ANY army that can take them. See dreadnought for reccomended upgrades. Space Marine Heavy Armour Preadator Destructor - Great for anti infantry use (intended) but most players prefer to give it lascannons. Then it becomes and anti- light vehicle nightmare. Heavy bolters are extremely effective if you want to get rid of horde armies , but the dominace of marine players (and soon necron players ...) thouroughly puts a cap in thier effectiveness. Salamanders only: Heavy flamers. Said to be completely ineffective. It has worked for me in the past though , performing drive by's against tau firewarriors. It's all about positioning. (your only gonna get to fire one flamer to be effective though.) Reccommended upgrades: extra armour , smoke , rienforced cermaite for heavy flamer ones. Predator Annihilator - You pay +20 pts for an anti armour gun , so you better take the side lascannons for the punch! if your gonna take heavy bolters , There is a thing called the destructor .... Blood Angel's only: Baal Predator. Basically a VERY close in support tank. See destructor for upgrades. This tank is best off with a pair of heavy bolters. (If you take flamers it has NOTHING to fire as it closes into AC range.) Land Raider - Ah .. the land raider. This tank is great , but not in games under 1500 points! Then it is a big pointsink. THe standard arnament gives a blance between anti-armour and anti-troop weapons , + you get the machine spirit and the ability to transport a squad of normals or termies in. All around great tank. Give it ceramite if you are a Sal , it's worth it. Other wise , XA + smoke combo (possibly a dozer if you can model it!) works best. Land Raider crusader - Built for up close and personal fighting , all its weapons are short range (NOTHING with over 24") However it can carry up to 8 terminators or 15 guys (mostly used for termies though!) makes up for this. Plus it can move 6" and dring its full arsenal to bear. And it can always fire its hurricane bolters. This tank is all about mobility. XA is standard so all you have to do is throw on smoke. (also , the squad inside essentially gets free frag grenades!) Land Raider Prometheus - I own one , never used it.. Its command systems
that allow a re roll one failed reserve are okay , and it has considerable
anti infantry power. I prefer the crusader however. (but a lander raider
that counts as an HQ choice is tempting.)
Whirlwind Support Battery - Makes a very good anti troop weapon , and plus it's cheap. It has good range (as far as marine weapons get.....) and has a good area of affect. However it's strength is not high enough to destroy vehicles , and its AP4 makes it more of a liability than a benefit against marines. Recommended upgrades: Since this thing will be hinding behind a rock , it really dosent need anything. Vindicator Assault Support - This tank is not effective for its gun
, it is effective for the pure fear it causes. Driving one of these up
the field with a few rhinos filled with guys will REALLY psych out the
opponent. This thiny probably draws even more fire than the Land Raider.
And if the decide to shoot at other things , you get to drop a nice S10
AP2 blast on them. IF the shoot the vindi , which is a hard nut to crack
, most of your other important things will gun unscathed. This is a GREAT
terror weapon. Reccommended upgrades :
Rhino Tips and Tricks 1) rhino's as a shield - Drive up the rhino , turn sideways , and drop troops off on side away from enemy. Launch smoke. Next turn , drive away and shoot that wriath lord with the Lascannon / meltagun in that squad. (works great with dev squads , especially with those that get close ie: Multimeltas.) 2) Rhino's as a moving screen(<POWER GAMING ALERT>) . Most veterans will know about this , but here goes anyway. Drive the rhino up so that it blocks LOS to YOUR devastator squad. Make sure the only model they can see is the (chaplain , librarian , commander , archon..) in the group. Pop him one. 3) Rhino as a moving baracade - Take a few rhino's (4 porably) and box in a unit completely. (try this with guardians , warriors + archon) as the have few or no guns that can hurt them. Once boxed in pop up a flamer and roast. This works great against enemy rhinos. Block all sides and shoot a meltagun at it. 4) Road block - Drive your rhino and turn it sideways at a bottle neck , Causing enemy troops to halt. If they shoot it , and it blows , tip it over and it becomes difficult terain. Good tactic for defending a strong point. conclusion to part 2: selecting your forces. The exeptions to the rule. Well you've read the article , and realized some of the models you own / already have , have been declined , and also , you think some of the units i have reccommended against will do you great in certain situations. Well thats because they do. There will be times when the best tank for the job will be the whirlwind. Perhaps if facing a tyranid gaunt horde army , or when you have enough anti tank support from devs and tacs to do the job , and want the no LOS shooting. There will even be times when the surivability and mobility of a bike squad will be useful , such as in holding an objective , or setting up a crossfire. my point is: This is a guideline to selecting an adequate force to face general armies , and not a set in stone set of rules that must be followed. SO feel free to experiment with some of the options i've down talked , and see if they serve you more than they did me , and by all means have fun with your armies.
Part 3: Deployment " No... put that rhino back behind that clump of trees...
Despite what you may think about the flesh tearers simply running into hand to hand combat in a straight up rhino rush , picking the clearest path to the opponent as possible , all i can say is , in all respect , this is a horrible idea. I know that 1 tank can cover two behind it as hull down , but all your plans in deployment can be screwed over by a single dice roll. When deploying , always assume that you will go second. Deploy transports in a suitable location , NOT in clear view of the enemy heavy weapons. Basic rules for deployment of forces: 1) Hug cover. Try to block enemy LOS to as many of your units as possible. 2) if you have a unit you wish to use to pin an opponent down , IE you have made your opponent deploy first. He places a rhino behind a building. Feel free to place that Pred A where it covers that building , so that if it moves , it will have a good chance of bieng popped. 3) When placing units , you should , in your head , already have a plan for beating the enemy. Mabye you are planing to make a daredevil drive through the building you are behind to disembark that squad into that bunker. Perhaps you want to fly your speeders of your building and his to get a shot off at his rear ..... Setting up terrain. The game can be won or lost here. This is a key phase in the game. Selecting the killing grounds (for either YOU or or your enemy!) Basic things we want to accomplish during terrain deployment. 1) Firing lanes should be blocked at all costs! Despite how pretty it looks to have symetrical sienic terrain deployed on your battle field , you will find your force much more effective if you have something to hide behind! So place terrain , practice at home estimating distances , so that you can plan your course , and have the terrain there with you so that you will be covered and safe. 2) Blocking your opponent's plan. If you see that your opponent is placing terrain in a certain fashion (IE setting up a covered route to send his armoured coulumn down , by all means , place a patch of trees or rocks in his way! remember: Sometimes it is better to worry about your opponent's side more than your own. 3) Blocking movement. If you are assigned to defend a position , then
try to place terrain in a manner that will force the enemy to walk into
your guns and ambushes.
AN easy way to accomplish both objectives 1 and two is to place as much terrain in the center as you possibly can. We can take a risk , and drive straight through it! If you aren't willing to take risks , then you sohuldnt be playing the game, as EVERY move is a potential risk. Number three is also accomplished by obvious means , putting boulders at a choke point into your position , ect. REMBER. THE HARDER YOU MAKE IT FOR HIM TO GET IN , THE HARDER YOU MAKE
IT FOR YOU TO GET OUT.
to be continued...... VoX333
|
