WFB Hobby: Coming Out of Semi-Retirement

Over the last two years my tournament WFB armies have been pretty much retired. They would come out from time to time to play friends or help folks out in tuning their forces up, but I have really not had much of an interest in playing tournament games with them. Mind you some of this is due to some absolutely horrendous sportsmanship at the first WFB ‘ard Boyz. Well, Minus 67 has talked me into pulling my oldest army out of retirement, which is now 20 years old. It is the one army I own that has the best chance of being competitive in the Daemon/Vampire dominated tournament scene, and one of the few armies that consistently shows up in the top ten rankings. That army is the Empire.

My Empire army is a multi-generational army that was started on the tail end of 3rd start of 4th edition. Its main core of troops was initially built using the figures found in the GW-Milton Bradley Game called Battlemaster. Many of those figures are still in my army, and yes they are absolutely tournament legal because they were made by GW. In 6th edition my army got its first real face lift with the figures that came out with the boxed set. Then in 7th edition, after the recent army book, I got the battalion box with the new style troops.

I’m sure that by now many of you are wondering what all of this rambling is about and I assure you that I have a point. I’m going to write a series of hobby articles revolving around rehabilitating this old army for tournament play. I will also discuss some of my thought processes behind unit selection and tactics. Overall, I will be focusing more on the hobby aspect of all of this because that is what I enjoy the most, and it will give me a framework for the hobby articles I have thought about writing.

I’ve designed a preliminary army. The build had a few main goals. They were: 1. Use what I have. 2. Make something fun to play and play against. 3. Make sure it has a chance to perform well. 4. Leave room for improvement.

With that in mind I designed the following list. It is far from perfect, but it looks interesting and should put up a decent fight.

Empire Army List

Arch Lector Of Sigmar on War Altar x1 w/ Wyrmslayer Sword, Armor Metoric Iron, Van Horstman's Speculum; 295pts
3x Battle Wizard Level 2 w/ Dispel Scroll x2; 450pts
Knights Blazing Sun x10 w/Full Command, Steel Standard; 290pts
Halberdiers x30 w/ Full Command; 170pts
Spearmen x30 w/ Full Command; 170pts
Crossbowmen x20 w/ Full Command; 180pts
2x Handgunners x10 w/ Marksman, Hochland Long Rifle; 210pts
Great Cannon x3; 300pts
Mortar x1; 75pts
Hellblaster Volley Gun x1; 110pts

Total: 2250pts 134 Models 8PD/7DD

The goal with this build is for the big units to act as meat shields for the casters. The Arch Lector is for general beat down, and I think it is pretty self-evident what the shooters are for. I realize that I spammed my artillery and casters, but I think that is a small matter. My greatest strength is guessing range, and I have enjoyed a lot of success with the big guns. Nothing brings a wider smile to my face than when my opponent walks into the mouth of the Hellblaster, or when my opponent thinks my ranges are off only to find that they have been hit by three cannons and a mortar.

I will be looking at ways to add a Steam Tank into this army. I may also look at some alternative builds, but for now it looks like I have a good starting point.

In my next installment I will face my shame publicly by producing the Portrait of Shame, or as I call it, “What I should’ve finished painting ages ago.” I will examine what exactly I will need to do to get this force fully painted and on the table. I will discuss how I will plan this all out, and I will look at what will need to get its paint stripped and what can just remain as is.

All right readers your turn! Have at my build. Also let me know what major army plans you are looking at for the 2010-2011 Tournament Season.

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‘ard Boyz Round 1 list and Battle Reports

‘ard Boyz Army Comp
Here is what I played for the first round of the ‘ard Boyz Tourney.

Ghazghull Thraka 225 pts
1 Big Mek SAG, Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole, Cybork Body, Ammo Runt 143 pts
8 Nobz ‘eavy armor, stikbombz, Bosspole, Painboy, grot orderly, Waaagh! Banner, 2x Power
Klaw, Truk w/ Armour Plates, Grot riggers, Boarding Plank, Reinforced Ram, Wrecking Ball, 383 pts
12 Kommandos w/ 2x Burnaz and Boss Snikrot 235 pts
15 Burnaz 225 pts
15 Lootas 225 pts
12 Ork Trukk Slugga Boyz w/ Rokkit, Stikbombz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole, Truk w/ Armour Plates, Grot riggers, Boarding Plank, Reinforced Ram, Wrecking Ball, Red Paint Job 214 pts
30 ‘ard Slugga Boyz w/ 3x Rokkitz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, bosspole 370
30 Shoota Boyz w/ 3x Shootaz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole 240 pts
30 Shoota Boyz w/ 3x Shootaz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole 240 pts

Brief Synopsis of Game play

Game 1 vs. Black Templars: Massacre +1 battle point
This game was fun and I enjoyed my opponent. This was as close to a “flawless victory” that I got. I garnered 21 points from this round. The main lesson that was reinforced for me was stick to your plan. Since this mission was “Seize Ground”, I decided to focus on securing each of the five objectives and keeping them clear of the enemy presence. I also knew that since I was playing a horde army I would have to play each round as if it were my last.

My opponent was foolhardy enough to run his entire army at me, and I took advantage of this by moving my forces forward. Once my forces were where I wanted them, I shot at him and caused all of his forward troops to move towards my lines. This allowed me to assault him on turn 1.

My ‘ard Boyz managed to turn out casualties against his chaplain and command squad and ended up locked in combat because of the Templar’s fearless in hand to hand rule. Ghazghull, the Nobz, and the truk boyz hit two squads of sword brethren and when the dust cleared a lone Templar stood, which I was able to consolidate into with both units because he poorly choose who lived. He was trying to pull casualties so as to disengage Ghazghull, but 1 model from old Thraka’s unit was able to consolidate into base to base thus dragging the whole unit along.

Turn 2 was where my opponent attempted a weak retaliation and brought in 2 of his three deep striking units. Luckily for me all of his shooting was being made by Star Wars Storm Troopers and I was left fairly unscathed. As we launched into the assault phase it was announced that we had 30 minutes left.

This time the tables turned for my ‘ard Boyz as they were charged by the Emperor’s Champion and friends. The fight was bloody and the ‘ard Boyz lost and were run down. The lone Templar was cut down but he at least took two Orks with him, after which the Truk Boyz ducked behind the hill out of sight, but within 3” of the objective. Ghazghull consolidated towards an objective near the Templar lines.

On my part of turn two Ghazghull and his squad moved to capture an objective. Both of my Shoota mobs moved in and captured 2 more objectives, while the Burna boyz moved up to clear my opponent off the fifth objective. Once the boyz had moved into position they opened up to gun down nearby targets. Between the Lootas, SAG, and two units of Shoota Boyz I managed to thin the EC and his unit down to just the EC and a mook. As I began my assault moves time was called. Oh well maybe next time I will be able to secure all of the objectives instead of all but 1. I was a little annoyed that Snikrot and his Kommandoes didn’t make it out of reserve.

Game 2 vs. Imperial Guard: Tie no extra battle points 597 VP Orks to 587 VP IG

Game 2 got started after lunch. Interesting note during our 1 hour lunch the kids playing in the tournament decided to have an impromptu who brought the best character throw down. It was fun to watch, and in my opinion really in the spirit of the tourney and the game.

Game 2 began with the IG player going first. My opponent was a teenager who was a very excellent opponent. Thankfully the dawn of war rules saved my keester in this turn, but he did get off a lucky shot which threw Ghazghull and his gang out of their truck. However he forgot to bring in his forces, which I also did for a few of my units on my first turn.

When my turn 1 came I brought my Burnaz on but forgot about the Lootaz. GRRR!!! I then moved just about everything toward his lines. I did get a bit luckier than my opponent and managed enough shots to cause two squads to take morale checks, which one squad failed. Not bad for an opening salvo.

When turn 2 hit, the Hellhound, 2 Russes, and storm troopers rolled on along with a flamer special weapons squad being deployed behind my firing line. It was impressive, and it managed to kill the SAG, take out half a Shoota Boyz squad and immobilize the last remaining Trukk.

Then the hurtin’ time came for the poor IG. Once againg Snikrot thought that Ghazghull had the battle handled, and sat on the bench. The Lootas came on and got into a position to assault the Flame throwers that were in my lines. All but one unit moved up in preparation of an assault. Ghazghull declared a Waaagh! and the IG were immediately knee deep in Orks. The Orks had assaulted six units, and only managed to get 2 kill points. I knew that the KP rules were going to anger me greatly. Needless to say, he was now down six squads.

His turn 3 came and well the other Hellhound rolled on, but not his last Russ (whew.) I was able to withstand the fusillade of fire that came towards my orks, but as it became my turn game was called. Curses! Snikrot benched by my dice again!

Game 3 vs. Orks: Minor Loss
This like the last game was an evenly matched brawl against a great opponent. There was so much occurring I could not relate it all. The balance swung on the second half of the second turn where I dusted his fire base off of his objective with Snikrot and contested it, but he captured mine with his Nobz Squad. The pivotal battle was where Ghazghull and his unit rolled snake eyes on the difficult terrain check and they were more than an inch away. Curses! That stopped me cold from earning 5 KPs.

Wrap Up
I tied for fourth, but won on VP so fourth place was mine. The nice thing is that the second place player will be unable to attend the next round, so I will be going to regionals.

The biggest thing that I learned was that speed is an Ork’s friend. I also had “remember the mission rules” lesson pounded into my skull. Hopefully it will stick. I may also see if I can round up a rules runt to help me look up pertinent questions in the book and to deflect all questions away from me that slow down my game play. Hope you enjoyed my ‘ard Boyz wrap up.

Cross Posted at

Adeptus Astragalactica
Austin Miniature Minions

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Tactics: Mob Rule

So today I was having one of those moments where I was contemplating the vicissitudes of 40k, and my mind began to circle the drain of the new Ork “Mob Rule” CSR (codex special rule.) Once it went down the drain it entered a very, very dark place. Let us look at the rule. It says, “Ork mobs may always choose to substitute the number of Orks in their mob for their normal Leadership value. If an Ork mob numbers 11 or more models, it has the Fearless special Rule.”

I think this is a genius rule. It accurately shows that the Orks are force of numbers, and as they get smaller due to combat attrition their morale begins to fail. Where I went with this rule was an attempt to make the first sentence work for the Orks in a new way. Many Ork players utilize this rule in its most direct “Gorker” method of use. I have never been a “Gorker,” but a “Morker.” This is evident in my clan of choice: Blood Axes. (If Gorker or Morker are unfamiliar terms for you do some research in GW’s Gorkamorka Game.)

I bet you are wondering how Orks can use “Mob Rule” cunningly. First we need to explain the most basic tenet of this rule all Orks have it. Second “may always choose to substitute number of Orks in their mob for their normal Leadership value,” doesn’t specify the lower limit. Therefore, an Ork mob of two may have their base Leadership of 7 (-1 if they are below 50%) or a Leadership of 2.

This rule is terribly helpful for getting large units of Gretchin tied up in close combat out of the way. Yes! I said exactly what you think I said. One can use this rule to disengage Gretchin mobs from combat. It is quite easy, and should only be done in your opponent’s close combat phase. Gretchin mobs use the Runtherderz leadership for Morale checks. Since at most there would be three Runtherderz in the mob, and they have the “Mob Rule” CSR… Basically, you are counting on the Grots loosing close combat, which they will unless your opponent is terribly unlucky. What it boils down to is tying up a unit with Grots, and when you are ready to assault your target with a proper Ork mob then you pull out the Grots and let fly.

My other “Cunnin’ Plan” has to do with using 3, 6 man Kommando Mobs. If at all possible infiltrate them 12” away from your opponent, and try to have them about 9”- 12” from your closest foot sloggers. Many players get nervous about units being fairly close to their lines, so they will send out a unit to deal with the threat. Hopefully, if they got first turn, and they assault this sacrificial lamb, then your chances are good at loosing the close combat. Make sure you pull your casualties so you are no longer engaged. That way when you “fail” your leadership test your opponent will be hanging out in the wind with no choice but to get hit by a ton of Boyz. At very least you have brought your opponent within reach of all of your 12” shots.

The key to playing “Mob Rule” effectively is to quit thinking like a Goff. Most Ork players want to get tied up in lengthy close combats where they are inflicting maximum damage. Effective use of the “Mob Rule” CSR requires pulling casualties to disengage your unit, careful positioning to ensure that you can easily break from combat, and small enough units of Orks so that you can break off combat without being below 50%.

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Battle of the Wagons

Codex Orks is upon us now and I will be writing up yet another review. However, I noticed something in my recent games with the new codex that I thought should be addressed because it deals with a larger, more important, concept. A thought began swimming in my head over the last few months. It was: why is it that my über points expensive, larger than life, battle wagon ineffective? I was thinking about fielding a Pez dispenser instead because at least the Pez dispenser would do something.

Well the thought finally dawned on me what the difficulty was. My Battle Wagon was suffering from a case of Multiple Purpose Disorder (MPD). MPD is an Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) that cannot settle on a battlefield role. What I mean can be seen in our friend the Land Raider. A Land Raider is a great transport. It is also a pretty mean tank, but it has trouble when it is being tasked to do both at the same time.

So how does this apply to my friend the Battle Wagon? Well I was arming it to the teeth with tons of upgrades thinking that I would drive forward, drop off troops, and shoot the tar out of my opponent. This in and of itself was terribly flawed thinking. The reason was that it was so expensive that I could only take one Battle Wagon, and so on turn one my Battle Wagon was a fire magnet/ points sink.

This has inspired me to revise how I look at the Battle Wagon. The Battle Wagon is not a tank; it is an infantry support vehicle. Let us take a close look at the upgrades it can be given and it will become painfully obvious how to use this vehicle.

Shooty Weapons
The Battle Wagon has a wide array of weapons available. What should be considered is the range on most of them. The Big Gunz and Big Shootas have comparable ranges. They can hit targets out to 36”. The Kill Kannon and Rokkit Launchas can strike targets out to 24”. The significance here is 24” is too short when it comes to ranges. Almost every army in the game will have longer range artillery/ heavy weapons and they will stomp the Battle Wagon into the ground.

If you were to take the maximum shooty weapon load out for the equally ranged weapons then you would be paying the following: 35 points for 36” ranged weapons and 100 points for all 24” weapons.

Choppy Weapons/ Upgrades
This is where the Battle Wagon gets ugly. The Def Roller, Wrecking Ball, Boarding Plank, and Grabbin’ Klaw make the Battle Wagon a juggernaut. These weapons exceed the strength of the shooting weapons, and are comparatively cheaper than the shooting weapons. They also give the Battle Wagon the ability to inflict major damage on opponent tanks and vehicles. The cheaper cost of these upgrades gives an Ork player the chance to have more battle wagons in their force.

Me Orky No Wat’s
Either option for the Battle Wagon is perfectly acceptable. If you are going to upgrade the guns to be Kill Kannon and Rokkits then by no means should this vehicle consider transport duties. It must shoot every turn and move as little as possible. Once your opponent has knocked the ordinance weapon off then it can be a transport, but not until it has been relieved of its ordinance weapon.

This battle wagon will excel at infantry support. What I mean is primary targets for this tank should be soft juicy infantry models, and not tanks. Let your opponent sweat the decision to target your Wagon or your Boyz, and let your wagon pummel your opponent’s infantry with high-AP-insta-kill goodness. The Shooty Wagon will run from 150 to 270 points, but that depends on the options and weapons you put on it.

For this warlord, my money is on the Choppy Wagons. I think that their ability to get the boyz to their destination will be invaluable. I also think that their ability to engage close-by targets will increase their threat ability. The big consideration is that fully loaded out for close up duties, with infantry killing guns, only costs at most 175 points. A lower cost will allow you to take two of them. Two Wagons will ensure that you will be able to use them beyond turn 1. Failing that, you will have distracted a lot of fire from your advancing horde.

When I utilized a little point manipulation I figure that I will be able to take two Battle Wagons in a 2000 point game.

So before you throw your Battle Wagons onto the field, take a look at what you want them to do. I feel that by avoiding MPD, and specifically tasking your Battle Wagons, you will be a force to be reckoned with.

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Laying Your Plans Part 2

In our last installment we talked about the various stages of the game and how to plan for them. I will continue using the stages of the game discussion to further develop my ideas on planning. Last time I touched on movement and this time I’m going to focus solely on moving your units.

The main idea of your movement is to be goal oriented. At the start of the game you should have a basic idea of how you want your units to move, and where they need to go. In Chess there is a school of thought called “Position over Piece.” This school of thought states that your control over a position on the game board is of primary importance. Thus the importance of any one piece, other than the king, is secondary to controlling your board position. What this means is control your positions at all costs. I bring this school of thought up because to obtain your position on the field you need to move there.

With this in mind we will look at two aspects of movement. The first aspect is offensive movement and the second is defensive movement. These aspects of movement will help you achieve and maintain your goals.

Offensive troop movement is the type of movement that we are the most familiar with. It is very straight forward movement. Its main goal is to provide you’re your troops with opportunities to attack. Ultimately this is what we will have to do if we are hoping to win.

When we make offensive moves there are a few considerations we will make. First we must consider how the movement will help our troops inflict the most damage. Next we think about how our move will help us achieve the mission objectives. Last we need to ensure that our movement doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of our other units.

As we probe into the first of our considerations, we look at few battlefield factors. Maximum damage is achieved through clear lanes of fire, reducing the opponent’s chances of taking cover, and maximizing weapon potential. A good example of this is moving a troop armed with bolt guns within 12” of an opponent in order to utilize the Rapid Fire rule.

The second consideration we need to make can make or break the chance for victory. Alpha level missions make the mission primary in importance. Failure to obtain the objective means a loss. For Gamma level missions and higher the victory points for the missions can ruin your chances for victory.

If we delve deeper into this subject we begin to see that there are some items that require some scrutiny. When we are moving towards the objective we should figure out an estimated time of arrival. If we estimate that it will take us four rounds to reach an objective purely through moving then it will be in our best interests to get there as fast as possible.

Once we have estimated the speed of our arrival then we look at how likely we will be able to hold the objective. If you lack the ability to hold the objective then it doesn’t make a lot of sense to move towards it. If this is the case then we might want to think about how we can time, or plan, our movement to deny the objective to our opponent.

Our third overall consideration is watching for how our movement can affect our army’s effectiveness. This seems like a “no-brainer” but I’ve seen how not taking this into account can hurt a force’s effectiveness. The most basic question to ask one’s self when moving is, “How will this stop me from shooting or assaulting?” By asking this question you will be able to make better moves. When you move your troops watch your lanes of fire, assault routes, and routes, toward the objectives. An example would be assaulting a wide formation in such away that the close combat blocks your other troops from obtaining targets in future rounds.

After talking about offensive movement lets talk about defensive movement. Defensive movement is a fine art that requires forethought, ingenuity, and a flair for the cut throat. The main idea behind defensive movement is preventing your opponent from doing something. There are three major actions we look at preventing: movement, shooting and assault.

When trying to move defensively we look at a few factors. We look at what battlefield terrain is on the table, and second we look at what troops and vehicles we possess that can fill this role. Terrain and vehicles do the lion’s share of the work, but troops may also be utilized for defensive movement.

Terrain serves many purposes. It can provide cover, slow movement, and block lines of sight. Creative use of terrain can potentially provide an extra turn of shooting, improved initiative in close combats, and excellent lanes of fire. Never underestimate what terrain can do.

Vehicles can assist your army in reaching their objective or your opponent. From main line battle tanks to the standard APC’s all vehicles can help your troops make it to their objective. For example a line of thee Chimeras nose to tail across the board can provide a 12” wall for your troops to run behind. Some vehicles can also claim objectives which can potentially be useful near the end of the game.

Troops can also be moved defensively. One of the most common ways is to move a unit forward to intercept a potential assaulting unit so the remainder of your force may escape. This will give your force a chance to take up a better firing, or defensive, positions from which to engage your opponent from. Also never forget the at least 1” away rule. This can help mange your opponent’s movement.

The big idea that I will leave you with is that movement can make or break you. Plan your movement. If you make and execute your plans then you will be dictating the actions of battle to your opponent instead of having your opponent dictate your actions.

Next time we will build on movement and move into the shooting phase.

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Creative APC Driving

There are many other uses for the Rhino besides the rolling pill box, portable wall, and instant terrain. Here are some other creative uses for the Rhino that I’m sure will give your Rhinos more mileage.

Long Range Rapid Fire
This is my favorite of all of the uses of the Rhino. Since you can’t assault from a Rhino if you have moved said vehicle you can certainly shoot. The 4th ed. rules on Rapid Fire made this a perfect tactic for any marine player. So what you do is jump your marines out after moving 12” deploy the 2” away from the door and light your opponent up. If you got first turn and they deployed at the front edge of their deployment zone then you most surely get some hits in.

This tactic is also very useful for increasing the range of our friend the melta gun. Especially if your opponent has vehicles deployed 24” from you. AP 1 means that if you hit all your penetration rolls will be penetrations. This tactic is especially useful in cracking open full Rhinos so your Devastator squads can ruin the squads contained within.

Bracketing
Ever find yourself in a situation where you are facing a particularly nasty IC. End your troubles with bracketing. What you do is create a very narrow lane of fire either between two Rhinos or a rhino and area terrain. Now you make sure that the only closest target is that pesky enemy IC in that narrow lane. Once you have done this gun away and watch that pesky IC disappear.

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The Miraculous Magnificent Multi-Melta

A not often used and usually ignored heavy weapon is the Multi-Melta. This weapon is usually overlooked because its range is terribly short when compared to the other heavy weapons. Also the move or fire component of this weapon limits this weapon’s usefulness to short range fire fights or one shot per game situations. These components along with power and utility of the other heavy weapons really make this weapon look like a weak choice.

Benefits
There are some real benefits that make this a weapon worth taking. The first benefit is its point cost effectiveness. In the new Dark Angel codex it is 10 and 15 points depending if you are fielding it in a Tactical Squad or Devastator Squad. This makes this weapon a good candidate for selection especially if you are looking to trim points out of your force.

The next benefit of this weapon is its power. Strength 8 AP 1 doesn’t seem like much but when faced nose to nose with a Land Raider you will always get a penetrating hit. Also the extra die of penetration will help if vehicles get within half the distance of your range. The low AP will allow you to get confirmed kills on anything you wound.

There are also some hidden benefits. A hidden benefit that I have found quite handy is so many folks treat this as a weapon of no consequence, and therefore they tend to ignore it as they are shooting at your army. This allows squads that are packing this weapon the opportunity to get close enough to use it.

The ability to establish a forward firebase is also something worth considering as a hidden benefit. What I mean by this is your opponent is most likely ignoring these deadly weapons, and therefore they are able to get up into position relatively unscathed. This enables this squad to dominate through firepower the position they take up. If you add this with a few supporting tactical squads you will find that you are wiping away the opposition with little resistance.

Applications
Now that we have covered the benefits lets talk about the tactical applications of this weapon. These applications are fairly sound and typically lack the flair for the broken that is usually seen with most tactical discussions.

I call this first tactic “Shoot and Slide.” Unfortunately this is a tactic that only a Black Templar Army may use, but it is a sound tactic. I came up with this tactic while fighting my friend’s Templar Army. I had noticed that his army lacked any real distance tank busting ability. This was hurting him because I was able to get my tanks and APC’s up close. His general response was that the army was a mobile force and didn’t have the time to wait for heavy weapons.

As I considered this I discovered a way that Templar players can have their cake and eat it too. “Shoot and Slide” basically relies on the Templar “Fall Forward” rule. What one would do, who is interested in this tactic, is place a unit that has a Plasma Gun and Multi-Melta in a spot that will draw the attention of enemy shooting, e.g. near a mission objective. Because you are grabbing their attention your opponent will want to shoot at you. In effect your opponent will be “reeling in” the squad with the Multi-Melta. This will drag your Multi-Melta into range without you ever making a conscious effort of moving, and you will be able to fire your heavy weapon because “Fall Forward” doesn’t count as movement for purpose of shooting.

The purpose and benefit of the Plasma Gun is two-fold. First it has the same range as the Multi-Melta and the bolters. Second it has the chance to overheat and kill the marine. Now I bet you have just read that last sentence more than once. Overheat is a good thing in this case. What you are doing is making your rules work for you. What you are hoping for is the gun overheating on you and forcing you to move closer to the enemy. This will at least help you inch ever closer to your opponents lines especially if he gets wise to you using your rules to your benefit.

There is a related tactic I call “Point Blank Fall Back”. This tactic relies on the Marine unit with the Melta weapon failing a fall back check. What you are hoping for is an enemy vehicle near enough to the fall back corridor that once the move is done you will be able to plug the vehicle with your Melta weapon at the start of your turn from within half the weapon’s range. Alternatively this can also be useful for getting back to your lines to deal with a particularly nasty unit in your deployment zone. (This Tactic wasn’t initially a tactic but a move of desperation made while loosing. It illustrates why you should play out your games because you can learn things not normally garnered from winning.)

Our next maneuver I call “Wall of Tank”. What we do to accomplish this maneuver is walk our Multi-Melta devastator squads up behind advancing tanks or Rhinos on turn one. On turn two if the vehicles are still mobile move the tanks out of the way and let rip with. If the tanks have been immobilized in some way chances are still pretty good that you will have something to shoot at.

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Laying Your Plans part 1

In any game of Warhammer Fantasy Battles or 40k you must plan your game. As the old adage says, “He, who fails to plan, plans for failure.” It may be cliché, but it is so true. With this in mind I am beginning a series on planning your battles.

In this first installment we are going to talk about the various stages of the game. The “stages of the game” idea is not new. In fact I’m borrowing it directly from the best strategy game man has ever created: Chess. If you want a better understanding of these concepts I would suggest going down to your local library and checking out any number of Chess books that they certainly have in the stacks.

In the game of Chess there is no fixed game length like there is in any variant of Warhammer, but there is an opening, middle, and an end. These are fairly distinct phases, and most experienced chess players know what phase of the game they are in. By knowing where they are in the game they are able to play accordingly.

In Warhammer you should have a rough idea about what you want your units to do while you are deploying them, but by the time your first turn occurs you should have a solid idea what each unit is going to accomplish throughout the game.

The Opening
The opening in any Chess game will make or break your game. Failing to complete your opening as you have planned will cost you the game. This school of thought in Chess was given to me by Gary Kasparov, and in any game of Chess I have ever played, as well as Warhammer, this theory has held true.

The point of the opening phases of the game is to position your pieces/ forces to optimize their mid game attacks. Control is the name of the game in the opening. You are working on obtaining the perfect position to strike from. You are moving to position yourself to capture/secure/achieve objectives. This is also a great time to create appearances. (I will get into that thought in a latter article.)

Game opening should never go more than two turns. If it does chances are real good you didn’t plan your opening. The main idea of the opening is positioning your units in such a way that in the mid game they will be able to get the most bang for their buck.

Now don’t think I’m advocating the idea that you should only move to the exclusion of all else. What I’m saying is get yourself in a position so that your units can shine, e.g. many experienced players will not place their units in the gun sights of a Vindicator so use that knowledge to help secure objectives.

Advice for Openings
In the opening turns of the game never give in to the temptation to react to the actions, or inactions of your opponent. Feel free to respond to your opponents actions but do not abandon your plan. When you understand the difference between responding and reacting you will begin to control your games.

The biggest regret that I hear from the losing side is, “I should have stuck to my plan.” This is any player’s biggest challenge and best hope for a win.

The Middle or Mid Game
The mid game is the point where the “rubber is meeting the road.” An old military adage that works here is, “The plan of attack will not survive contact with the enemy.” This is the point of the game where your plans combined with your dice rolls are making or breaking you.

The focus in the mid game is scoring units. If you can prevent your opponent from scoring you will win the game. Focus on taking your opponents units below 50%. Give special attention to forces that are near the objective. By keeping objectives opponent free you will force his troops to move, to get out of place, and generally make your opponent’s game life difficult.

Advice for Mid Game
While working on keeping your objectives opponent free make sure you have units ready and able to grab objectives. If you have a way to bring in reserves then make sure that you do. Reserves will help you respond to your opponent’s weakened forces and may help you grab objectives.

This is where you tweak your battle plan but don’t make such a large tweak that you spoil your overall plan. Use your master plan to make your adjustments.

The End or End Game
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of turn four and said, “I’m losing”? Well now you know how to spot the end game. It is the point within the game where every move every dice roll only solidifies your win or your loss. In my experience, I’ve seen the end game as early as the end of turn two, and as late as the final dice roll.

Success in this phase is totally dependent on your ability to succeed in your opening. What you set up at the start of the game will come to fruition at the end of the game. When you reach the end game ask yourself this, “Am I winning or am I losing?” The answers to this will dictate what you should do.

If you are losing then try and narrow the margin of loss between you and your opponent. Who knows? Maybe you’ll squeeze out a draw by the end of the game. This might help you especially if you are in a tourney. It is far easier to recover from a draw then a loss.

If you are winning then your entire goal is to clench your win by increasing your margin of victory. This may sound like a no brainer to you, but I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve watched my opponents drop the ball and give me huge wins or draws. The game isn’t over until the end of turn six.

Advice for End Game
Focus. If you keep your eye on the ball you will accomplish your goals

Next time... Plans for moving

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The Magic of Guessing Range part 2

In our last installment we talked about math and using parts of your body as reference in aiding you in guessing range. In this installment we are going discuss battle field reference points and advanced math techniques. It always helpful to have a scratch pad at your table for these techniques.

Battle Field Reference Points

This technique was garnered by watching the movie “Kingdom of Heaven.” In Warhammer Fantasy Battles you cannot pre-measure out into the field, but while you are deploying you can use a ruler to measure spacing between units and leadership radius. You know the depth of your deployment zone what you’re determining is the width. Get a rough idea where the middle of your deployment zone is. Get to know where the middle of each table quarter is. (It is real easy. In a basic game of WHFB it will be 12” in from the left or right table edges at the front of your deployment zone.) Make mental notes or written notes where these points are. Also make written or mental notes where these reference points are in your opponent’s side. (This is accomplished by drawing mental lines from your points to the front of your opponent’s deployment zone.)

Now that you have made a mental or written map where these point are you are ready to apply step two.

Advanced Mathematics

Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” summed up the principle we are going to use: Pythagorean Theorem. It states: In any right triangle the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two sides. Simply put a² + b² = c². This is where we combine techniques.

Using our battle field references, we can now determine where a unit is on the field plus or minus to the closest point. So now all we do is apply a little math and we will know exactly where they are.

Example: Enemy unit is 6” out of their 12” deployment zone and 6” to your left of the center line of the table. Your Empire Mortar is at 6” in your deployment zone and 12” from your right table edge. This means that your opponent’s unit is 18” to the left of your mortar and 24” forward. This makes their unit exactly 30” away from your mortar.

Tips on These Techniques

First and foremost: work on these calculations during your opponent’s turn. This will speed up how long you take during your turn. Next you want to practice. If you practice you will increase your speed, and after a while you’ll be able to eyeball ranges. Third don’t be afraid of over or under guessing you will improve with time.

Tricks of the Trade

Tip 1 A very common occurrence in WHFB is to see your opponent measure the distance between their missile troops and your troops to see if they are in range. This measurement works both ways. So the tip is never let any measurement get wasted. If you get quick enough you’ll be able to see potential charge distances, firing distances, and other items that are considered guesses.

For example I had an opponent not believe that I was in range with a Whirlwind shot I had made, and asked me to measure it out. I measured the distance for him, but as I was doing this I made mental notes of everything that I could possibly hit.

Tip 2 Mark your deployment zone short at the beginning of the game. You can mark it short, at most, by about an inch to an inch and a half. The human eye, and most casual observers, won’t be able to tell 10 ¹/₂” and 12” apart. It looks pretty close. If your opponent is working under the assumption that you deployed 12” in when you really deployed at 10” then you might experience a failed charge or they miss with missile troops. I’ve seen many a dwarf player do this so that they get the ability to charge.

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The Magic of Guessing Range Part 1

So have you ever played against anyone who seems to never miss with their artillery? Or played against a marine player that when you question his distance retorts with, "You're right it's not 48 inches it's 43 and 3/4 inches." What makes it worse is that they are right. Well dear reader I am about to expose the secrets and mysteries behind guessing range.

Ever wonder how ancient man made measurements? It was with his body. There are only two measurements that we'll need to concern ourselves with the span and the cubit. A span is the measurement from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky when they are spread out at their widest. The cubitis the tip of your middle finger to your elbow. The measurements are roughly 6 and 18 inces respectively. These are good reference guides if you need a rough idea of what 6 or 18 inches looks like.

The better method is math. Math is your friend. If math is too tough for you I repeat the instructions of the 13th Warrior, "Grow stronger." It is well worth your time and it gets you to pay attention during the entire game. If the unit is directly in front of you then by knowing how far on the table you deployed, plus how deep your opponent deployed, subtracted from the overall length of the table you will have the exact distance between you and your enemy.

Next time we'll look at more complex guessing and little dirty tricks to use.

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