Tactica Deepstrike
by Interrogator Chaplain Ignacio

Since I came up with the 2000 point Army List designed for Deep Strike, it would be rude not to explain some of the tactical thinking that went behind its creation :)    Note that this rambling is specifically directed towards using the "Drop Pod" rules in pg. 5 of Codex: Space Marines and the Planetfall mission in pg. 43.

I've picked a 2000 point limit as I think it gives the most Tactical leeway for a Commander without necessarily bogging the game down. It also gave me the chance to pick some units that I normally wouldn't choose :)   

Well then, the Planetfall scenario dictates that the entire Space Marine force arrives on the first turn via Deep Strike. With Deep Strike being what it is in its randomness, you'll do well to remember not to spread out your desired Drop Zones too much. If your opponent's Hidden Set-up markers are fairly dispersed, this gives you a problem. At the same time, he would be putting himself in a quandry as well since the more he spaces out his units, the less mutual support he would receive from each.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to team up my forces. So in the case of my army list, I'm actually looking at 5 separate teams comprising of the following:

1. Chaplain with Death Company / Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Heavy Bolter 
2. Librarian with Honour Guard / Tactical Squad with Flamer & Lascannon 
3. Tactical Squad with Missile Launcher & Plasma Gun / Devastator Squad
4. Landspeeder / Landspeeder Tornado
5. Dreadnought / Furioso Dreadnought

Notice how each team has is capable of handling both troop and vehicular targets. By teaming up these teams, you will be able to concentrate a significant amount of firepower into relatively manageable portions of the board without worrying too much about unit dispersion due to Deep Strike.

If you don't believe the value of having your squads work in teams, just take a look at the Black Templars Battle Report where they Deep Striked in an attempt to capture the Ork Warboss. Widely planned Drop Zones and unfavourable scatter dice meant that the Black Templars were on the back foot the moment they hit ground zero. Mind you, I do quite like that list as it includes a good number of troops, always a good choice in any Space Marine army :)    In the early stages of WW2, fighter pilots learnt the hard way that singletons are easy meat... this is true as well of your squads in this scenario. Drop them all over the place, expect the enemy to outnumber your squads individually and your Marines will die lonely, useless deaths.

Another important thing to note about Deep Striking is that you're without transports. For a lot of Blood Angels commanders, this is a strange and uncomfortable situation to be in :)    Which means a couple of things: Firstly, you need a lot of troops to soak up a lot of weapons fire. Secondly, you cannot move (but count as having moved) for the purpose of firing heavy weapons. Thirdly, you may not assault in the turn you arrived.

Does that mean we're sitting ducks? Well, yes and no; and that is the difficulty of playing the Planetfall Mission. The defender would have ideally surrounded his HQ units so what you want to do is to Deep Strike as close as you dare (within 12") to large concentrations of Hidden Set-up Markers. Since you count as having moved, most of your weaponry will be limited to 12". That is a big disadvantage as it means you'll most likely be assaulted in the next turn. This also means that whatever firing you're allowed for this turn, it HAS to count.

In the shooting phase, your firing should concentrate on the closest enemy unit that your squad's weapons can damage. If such an enemy unit is not available, next in line I would say will be his Close Combat Specialist units. These tend to be quite susceptible to shooting most of the time, so I would place priority on them as well. 

This is probably as much priority as you can give to your units since it is impossible to gauge what kind of set up your opponent chooses. But as a rough guide, an area with quite a few markers would most likely be his HQ and supporting units while isolated units near or in cover would most likely be his fire support ones.

Dreadnoughts dropped into the midst of his army is always a threat to the enemy, and since they're your only form of vehicles apart from Landspeeders, expect that they receive a lot of firepower. You can try to Deep Strike using cover, but the vagaries of Deep Striking tend to make this moot. Again, look to achieve maximum firepower on that first turn because if the Dreadnoughts survive to the next turn, it's a bonus.

If the enemy is so intent on killing your Dreadnought, you've just presented him with a wonderful dilemma of having a lot of units in a small area, thus achieving local superiority. Look to consolidate on this for the next turn, as you can expect his other nearby units to come racing to the rescue.

This is where your Landspeeders and the Devastator Squad come in. I would think that because of the former's mobility and the latter's range, the need to deploy them as close to the enemy as the troops is not such a necessity. They will then take up the blocking force role, to delay enemy reinforcements to where the main battle is taking place.

Again, looking back at that Black Templars Battle Report (and assuming that both sides used 2000 points with fairly similar Ork Hidden Set-up), I would say that apart from Teams 3 and 4, the rest of the army should look to come in on the right side of the runway (where Chambers' Battlewagon eventually was) since that area held the most number of Hidden Set-up chits. 

Of course, that was a 1500 point game, but the concept remains the same. Had the majority of Deep Striking units gone towards the right of the runway, then they would be in the midst of all the Orks, and the Looted Basilisk on the left side of the runway would have to think very carefully before opening up.

Teams 3 and 4 would then attempt to clear the left side of the board before supporting the others on the right. I chose 3 and 4 because both have large areas of influence. The Devastators have the long range, while the Landspeeders have the speed. The rest of the teams would try to wreak as much havoc on the squads before the end of their turn.

Beware, everything in this scenario hinges on the first turn for both players. It is not for the faint-hearted but it can be pulled off with some thought and a good bit of luck! There's just about one saying that I can think of for Brothers looking to explore this Scenario: Be Bloody, Bold and Resolute :)    Happy Gaming!

by Interrogator Chaplain Ignacio