Posts Tagged ‘40k’
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
With all of Drew’s great Imperial Guard content on our blog lately, it inspired me to poke back with some guard info of my own—mostly on how to SMASH THEM! This post will kick off a new series for me, “vs”, where I’ll give you some battle-tested techniques for taking down enemy lists.
 Know Your Foe. Guns and tanks, that’s about it. Guard armies are one of the easiest to plan for because you know, with only the most bizarre of exceptions, that you’ll be up against these two things. Guard rely on a massive amount of artillery to get the job done, and the have easy access to huge templates en masse. While the fusillades of heavy weapons are devastating, their large infantry platoons can be just as effective due to their numerous special weapons and model count.
However, the guard does have a few Achilles’ heels that you can exploit:
- Feebs. The only thing that dies faster in close combat are gretchin. Guardsmen are like lambs to the slaughter for almost any army, which means that if you can get into assault—you’ve probably won.
- No Psychic Defense. Let those powers loose. Blood lance, lash of submission, jaws of the world wolf, fortune… any and all will give you an edge, especially those which provide cover saves to protect you from the hour-long shooting phase you’ll endure.
- Swarms. Units of guardsmen may as well be swarms, because even a standard flamer will take a huge bite out of their numbers. Since they love to hide their huge squads behind vehicles or area terrain, flamers are a handy tool to wipe out their scoring units, of which they can field countless.
- KP Heavy. All those vehicles the guard will bring can catch up with them in the long run; their lists sometimes offer you a KP ratio approaching 2:1!
Beware. When you’re staring down the barrels of a dozen tanks, it can be intimidating, but some things are definitely meaner than others.
- Company Command Squad: This HQ will be buffing up the entire army throughout the game, and it’s usually very tough to do anything about it. Guard players love to keep their HQs very will protected, because their almost as easy to kill as regular infantry. In my experience it is better to leave them be because of the difficulty in getting to them and the certain counter attack to follow if you invest in a tactical strike against them via deep strike, etc. Work on taking down things you know you can get instead.
- Infantry Platoons & Chimeras: While easy to kill on both accounts, guardsmen can surprise you if they catch you in the open. Their transports are rugged and versatile, while many guard players can manipulate the structure of their platoons to wiggle in a variety of special weapons.
- Valkyrie/Vendetta. Probably the best all around vehicle in the guard codex because of their reliable, precision firepower and their speed. A big priority because if anything is going to get a shot on your vehicle’s side armor—it’s this.
- Hydra Flak. These suckers can run in squadrons and put out huge light-armor shots, easily chewing through monstrous creatures and transports.
- Executioner. Do you play marines? Then take this thing out quickly. One round of it shooting will wipe the floor with your toughest, most badass, and expensive unit with massive amounts of plasma!
Tactics. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned to send the guard packing up early.
- Turn order? Unless you have tricks that bring in reserves fast, I recommend that you always take the first turn with the opportunity. A full round of guard shooting will not only give them an early edge, it takes FOREVER! You could instead decide to go second and keep everything in reserve, but unless you’ve got tricks to bring them in quickly I don’t recommend it. Guard shooting at your whole army is bad, but the guard shooting at only a few units as they mingle onto the board is worse.
- Speed! Get in close as fast as you can. In every game against the guard I’ve played it’s been like trying to storm a castle wall; as soon as the line breaks, they fold.
- Target Priority. This is probably the most important aspect to being a general against a guard army. You will have so many targets that it can be hard to pick and choose. In general, it’s useful to take down the things that will keep you from getting to the guard’s front lines, because once you’re there you’ll be in fine shape. Know where you’re vulnerable, and kill whatever the guard has that will exploit that weakness.
- Parking Lot. This is a great tactic to screw with guard players because it uses their tools against them. Position your army in tight formations so that the guard’s gunline becomes less effective. In general, you’ll want to go in the direction that his big guns aren’t, this way he’ll bunch up in an attempt to get line of sight to hit you. You’ll get easy cover saves, and in the best case find all his weak units in a row for a multiassault.
- Outflank. Guard players will usually have their heavy ordinance sitting in their backfield, where it shoots over anything to deny cover. They rarely move these vehicles, since their range is so huge and they don’t need line of sight—which means that they are vulnerable to sneaky assaulters.
Tags: 40k, CMO, games workshop, Warhammer 40k
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Thursday, October 27th, 2011
There are so many reasons why we should hate Space Marines, at least those of us who don’t play them. As GW’s poster boy, they get the most attention, the best rules, the most face time, the largest space on the shelf, and in general—the most everything.
 The first step in my understanding of Space Marines. I started playing 40K with the Tau because I loved their style and flavor. Super precision guns and awesome jetpack battle suits made it a no brainier for me to start them. Imagine my surprise when I found at that marines have almost as many guns that are cheaper and more accurate, or that their special characters give the entire army special abilities, or that they can deep strike more precisely than anything in my army… and so on.
I felt cheated. It seemed patently unfair. Everything that my army was supposed to do well—they could do better. This was only reinforced as I played more games, and made especially painful when the updated Space Wolves codex was released. Again and again my Tau guns, Ork power klaws, and Chaos sorcery bounced right off anything space marine. I hated their codex. I hated their models. I hated the develops for creating a fundamentally biased and flawed game. But then something changed.
I think it happened the first time I actually beat the Space Wolves with my Orks. I didn’t just win—it was a face-crushing landslide. It proved that they weren’t indestructible; it just took smart playing and smart list making. Again and again the Wolves went down under the boots of the Orks, and the boyz actually surprised the gimmicky Blood Angel players at the recent Grand Tournament.
 Goal setting can be very important. In fact, this may have been the turning point. I realized that in the hands of a skilled player, no army is significantly better than another. Once you learn the Achilles’ heel of your opposing list (and player), you can exploit it. In my case, what goes around comes around, and I’ve only lost one game against Space Marine armies (codex, angels, grey knights, wolves, or templars) in the past 6+ months. In fact, I’ve kicked their asses. So if you’re feeling a bit of angst towards GW for a perceived unfairness in the rules, realize that you have the tools to beat them, if you can find right way to use it.
While I do definitely think that the Marine-centric prevalence of GW’s models (and slowness to update armies) hurts competition in the long run, this just makes smoking space marines that much more satisfying—and remember that this is coming from someone who owns a space marine army. I like rooting for the 40K underdog, even though I love my marines now, too.
Don’t give up. Experiment. Reflect on what works and WHY it worked. Know your foe’s weaknesses, and you’ll find that power armor isn’t as tough as you think.
 This is pretty much how I view Space Marines now.
Tags: 40k, CMO, games workshop, Warhammer 40k
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Crashing through everything from land raiders to carnifexes are the ork deff dreads, three stories of skorcha-spewing, tank crushing INSANITY!! If you haven’t had the joy of letting lose these clanging monstrosities than I feel sorry for you, because it’s a blast. Very few things in the 40K universe can kill things big and small as quickly as a deff dread, and they look exceptionally handsome in their orkiness when doing it. Let’s see why.
 Time for a dread stompin'! Deff Dread Basics:
- Dreads are very good at killing things in close-combat. Anything. Their numerous dreadnought close-combat weapons give you many attacks that are incredibly strong, so don’t be afraid to be aggressive. If you aren’t attacking with your dread when you have the chance you’re probably making a mistake.
- Deff dreads can form an excellent spearhead for your foot-sloggin’ ork army, going right for the tough stuff so the boyz can stomp face with infantry.
- Deff dreads are cheap compared to other walkers, so you can field many of them without impacting your army list too much. Even minimally equipped they’re a big threat.
- Deff dread shooting attacks are mediocre, so the best dreads are those with extra close-combat weapons. Running will get you closer faster so you can get their sawz and drillz and clawz on your target.
Advanced Tactiks:
- Deff dreads are their most fearsome when deployed in groups, and when paired with a big mek equipped with a kustom forcefield. This will protect them as you charge, keeping your impact as strong as possible.
- Dreads in the vanguard make great screens for advancing infantry. Keep a group of boyz nearby so the dreads don’t get caught up in a tarpit of weak troops.
- Be leery of charging monstrous creatures or other walkers that beat your initiative. Your dread will probably take some serious punishment from these opponents.
- Instead of getting your dread in the thick of things, try keeping it held back to protect an objective alongside a group of troops. Attackers will think twice before charging your position if they know they’ll have to fight the dread. If they shoot the dread on their way in then it means they’re ignoring the boyz, which means you can charge them on your turn.
 WAAAAGH!!! Wargear
Deff dreads have a solid list of weapon options, and only a few pieces of wargear. This makes them easily to drop into nearly any list. You’ll need to take two weapons, which will slightly change the way your dread behaves.
- Extra CC weapons: This is usually the way to go, especially when you’ve got a kustom forcefield to defend the dread. The dread is really only good at fighting things, so you might as well give it the tools to make it its most lethal.
- Big shootas: Two big shootas can make a mess, but remember that you’ll only hit with two shots on average. Great if your short on points.
- Rokkit launchas: Two rokkits are actually worth considering, but only if your dread is going to be on the defensive. With them you can blast incoming troop transports to make infantry vulnerable. Otherwise you’ll probably be running every turn.
- Kustom Mega-blasta: Not worth their price, since you’ll only hit with one out of three shots and the range is so close that you should be charging into melee instead of shooting anyway.
- Skorcha: Definitely the best choice for a ranged weapon. With it you can flush out mobs of enemies that would tie up the dread in close combat with their numbers. And it’s cheap, too!
- Grot riggers: Useful only if your dread is away from a big mek, which isn’t too advisable. Still, a dread that can’t move is practically worthless.
- Armor plates. Handy to keep your dread on the move, and probably more useful than grot riggers, but this will drive up the cost of your dread. It’s better to keep him in a forcefield or behind a battlewagon.
Off the Sprue
The new plastic kit GW gave us last year for the deff dread is an ork player’s dream come true. It’s big, it’s bad, and it’s got a ton of personality. The model will probably steal the show when your opponent sees it riding high over your mobs.
Bits are somewhat barebones though. You won’t get much in the way of orky parts that you’ll want to save for other projects; however, the dread does come with enough weapons for any combination of wargear. This will give you lots of leftovers for arming future projects with very cool looking gunz. All in all a great kit, that while expensive, is a huge improvement over the older metal version.
 It's about to get messy.
Tags: 40k, deff dread, games workshop, orks, Warhammer 40k
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Thursday, September 8th, 2011
Our 40K campaign, “Jailbreak at Khasak Prime”, is off and running. Let’s recap the story so far, this will give you an idea of how the actions of a game can create an interesting narrative:
The eldar farseer Eldrad Uthlan is the captive of the cunning ork big mek Wazhdakka Gutsmek, locked in a prison-fortress on Wazdakka’s junkyard world. A group of elite eldar led by one of Eldard’s apprentices—Nolrandir—is inserted behind enemy lines to infiltrate the prison and rescue Eldrar. However, they must first make their way through the junkyard wastelands and evade Wazdakka’s warbiker gangs. Led by the ambitious war boss Skazzgut, these boyz are eager to stomp some heads to prove themselves worthy of leading their own waaaagh!!!
The eldar first needed to knock out the ork’s defensive perimeter, which consists of several searchlights scanning the wastes. Though the ork artillery did a good job of crippling the eldar fire-base, Nolrandir played a cunning offensive. He kept his forces safe behind terrain, allowing his banshees and avengers to easily take the first tower. This baited the overzealous Skazzgut into a fight he had no way of winning, as he and his bikers charged. Though they overran any eldar in their way, Skazzgut’s gang was shot to pieces by scatter lasers, and then finished off by a countercharge of avengers. Nolrandir then went on the offensive, sending in his wave serpents and howling banshees to assail the other towers. Too scattered to mount a counterattack, the orks were powerless as the eldar slipped right through their lines, further into their territory and ever closer to the prison.
Results. Though the mission was technically a tie, with each army holding one objective, the eldar cleaned house in Campaign Points.
We decided that this should count as an eldar victory for the purposes of determining which branch of the ladder to progress down.
We also got to select several of our units to award veteran abilities based on their performance. This can also give you an idea of how actions in the game help develop character and story!
Eldar:
- Howling banshees (feel no pain): This five-woman team single-handedly slaughtered an entire mob of boyz, though almost died in the process. The exarch tends to her bloodied sister’s wounds, as they swear that they shall endure any pain until Eldrad is free.
- Dire avengers (hit and run): These heroic warriors kept up with Skazzgut and his warbiker gang in melee, proving their speed and ferocity in combat.
Orks:
- Big Gunz, Kannons (tank hunters): It’s not often that gretchin do anything to distinguish themselves, but this group of screaming cannoneers did an excellent job crippling the eldar’s offense from the moment they came into their sights. Without them, the pansies’ warwalkers and wave serpents could have easily swept into the field, claiming all of the watchtowers.
Mission 2: Desert Ambush
1,000 points
The eldar have penetrated the ork defensive line. With a group of ork reinforcements in hot pursuit, the eldar commander splits his team into two forces. He leads one group to infiltrate the prison, while his second-in-command must delay Skazzgut from launching a counter-attack.
 Skazzgut's convoy is about to fall into Nolrandir's trap! Deployment
Set up terrain.
The ork player chooses one of the short table edges to be his escape route. From the escape route board’s edge, measure 36” back down the center of the table, then create a 6” wide rectangle that stretches lengthwise to the other short table edge. This is the ork deployment zone.
The eldar deployment zone is everywhere else on the board, but no model may be placed within 18” of the ork deployment zone (except infiltrators).
Roll-off to determine deployment and turn order.
Reserves come from the owning player’s long board edge.
Primary Objective—Ambush Victory (5 CP)
The player with the most kill points at the end of the game wins.
Secondary Objective—Battlefield Interrogation (3CP)
Intelligence on your foe’s combat capability could prove vital in future missions. If you defeat an enemy HQ unit in close-combat then you gain 3 CP.
Bonus Ork Objektive—“Smash through, boyz!” (variable)
You gain 1 CP for each unit you move off the board via your escape route. Dedicated transports do not count towards this total.
Bonus Eldar Objective—“Slow them down at any cost.”(2 CP)
If you immobilize or destroy every ork vehicle with a transport capacity, you gain 2 CP
Special Rules:
Infiltrate. Deep strike. Random game length.
Junkyard dangers: The ork world is brimming with ancient debris and hazardous waste. Before deployment, players take turns transforming 2 pieces of terrain each into piles of sharp junk or pools of toxic waste. These areas have a 6”x6” footprint and count as area, difficult, and dangerous terrain.
Tags: 40k, games workshop, gaming, Warhammer 40k
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Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
In the Warhammer 40k universe, your grunts are equipped with the Lasgun. It is ubiquitous. It is a reliable, solar-rechargeable, power-adjustable engineering marvel that will incinerate targets when its laser touches them. And yet, in the Warhammer 40k universe, it’s most widely known as a “flashlight.”
Your Infantry Squads will need other weapons to keep them in the fight, and they have a variety of special weapons available to them. For this article, I’m going to leave out discussion of heavy weapons, because that’s a different mess to untangle. In 5th Edition, mobility is important. The Imperial Guard need to move to claim and contest objectives, as well as to position themselves for vengeance after a squad of their comrades gets eaten by some alien menace. Special weapons allow you to move, shoot, and assault all in the same turn. Couple this with the almighty Chimera, and you’ve got some serious options here. Let’s take a look at your options for your Infantry Squads, in what I consider best to worst order:
Flame Thrower (Rating: A)
What if I told you that you could have a 7″ gun that hit everything in front of you at S4 AP 5. Looking at Lasguns, which at best give you 3x S3 AP- shots at 12″, you’d be pretty excited. Now what if I told you that you didn’t even have to roll to hit? Flamers are pretty underrated, because the Boltgun is considered “average” in 40k games, and they have the same profile. For the Imperial Guard, they’re way more exciting. Flamers are way stronger than Lasguns, ignore 5+ armor AND the omnipresent cover save, and ignore our mediocre BS3. What’s not to love? Naturally, this weapon works best if you plan on getting up in the enemy’s face; I wouldn’t put it in a squad that is just going to sit on an objective with a heavy weapon.
Grenade Launcher (Rating: B+)
The Grenade Launcher is a close second. It could have a terrible damage profile, and I’d still want to take it. The Grenade Launcher’s most valuable trait is that it’s the only man-held weapon that can move and shoot 24″. This effectively gives you a 48″ threat bubble around the carrier, which is something that people will learn to take note of. The damage profile isn’t underwhelming either, for the 5 points you’re paying. Shooting a Krak grenade will allow you a S6, AP4 shot. This is useful for insta-killing or ignoring Feel No Pain on T3 troops. It’s useful for threatening light vehicles and transports. It meshes very well with an Infantry Squad who’s also sitting with an Autocannon, which has a very similar damage profile. The Frag grenade allows you to hit a bunch of troops. While the AP6 will only make Kroot and Orks shudder, the S3 will wound most enemies on 4′s or 5′s, just like your Lasguns. The difference is, you may get to roll 5 times to wound, and don’t need to roll to hit.
Plasma Gun (Rating: C+)
It’s funny that a Plasma Gun is a mainstay in so many other armies, but rated so low in ours. I’m personally not a fan, because S7 AP2 has one of two roles: threatening light vehicles or threatening heavy infantry. For the former, the Imperial Guard have a lot of other army options. You can take Sentinels, Valkyrie/Vendetta squadrons, or any other host of scary weapons to terrorize anything with an AV of 12 or below. In terms of threatening heavy infantry, your options are to either take away their save or make them take a ton of saves. I’m not a fan of trying to beat 2+ saves, because there are too many other factors to consider now. In 5th Edition, almost everything seems to get a cover save. With Terminator Squads, they can mix in enough Storm Shields to get 3++ saves. Your other option is to make them roll dozens of 2+ saves, just waiting for a few 1′s to come up. Guess what? You have dozens upon dozens of Lasguns that are eager to fell some enemies, numbers is your game! This makes the Plasma Gun a weak option for us, in my opinion, especially at the heavy cost
Sniper Rifle (Rating: C-)
I usually don’t advocate Sniper Rifles, for a few reasons. Snipers used to be way cooler, back when I played…they hit on 2′s and wounded on 4′s. There was even a time when they had rending. Now they don’t have much of a role, unless your Codex happens to have special rules or a lot of high-BS infantry with free Sniper Rifles. The only real thing a Sniper Rifle offers you is a 5-point way to reach out at 36″. Moreover, there’s always the slight chance that you can cause a wound and a pinning test, which isn’t something to be counted on. It can change the tide nonetheless, as your opponent never really expects to fail them either.
Meltagun (Rating: D)
Let me start this by saying I’m a huge fan of the Meltagun in general. It’s a fun, flavorful rule and has a definite place in pretty much every army. Unfortunately, this is not the place for an IG army. Your Infantry Squads will only be able to bring 1 Meltagun for every 10 bodies. Even if you blob up some squads, and throw in a Commissar with some anti-vehicle gear, you’re wasting dozens of Lasguns just to get a few BS3 Meltagun shots off. Meltas belong in Veteran Squads or Command Squads, period. Stick them in an Infantry squad and you’ll either be wasting the Melta or wasting the Lasguns, assuming you ever get the chance to fire it.
Tags: 40k, games workshop, imperial guard, warhammer
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Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
The Imperial Guard Chimera is one of the best transports in the game. For a mere 55 points, you 12/10/10 armor, six firing points, and a couple of weapons that can really do some damage. So with all of the options, how are you supposed to outfit your Chimera? Let’s take a look at the things you should consider for your Chimera when picking out a weapon loadout.
Cargo
The first variable to consider is what’s going to be in your Chimera. A popular option is to load up a Veteran squad with special weapons, leveraging their BS4 to run around spraying Plasma or Melta fire at things. Since there are 6 firing points, you can get all 3 special weapons (and some Lasguns) off. It’s possible that you’re just using your Chimera to actually transport infantry squads, to hold objectives. You need to have a plan for your Chimera, because you’ll have a good idea of how far away enemies will be. You need to know if you’ll just use your Chimera as a pillbox for a heavy weapon squad, or if you’ll be driving it into the thick of things.
The Multi-laser
You start with a free multi-laser as a turret weapon. The multi-laser puts out 3 shots, which is a boon given the Chimera’s BS3. It’s puts out those shots at S6 AP6 at a 36″ range. That’s a decent amount of firepower, but leaves a pretty glaring hole in the armor penetration department. Everyone except Orks and Kroot will be taking saves against your multilaser, which makes it pretty sub-optimal for mowing down infantry. The high strength value, however, makes it great for poking at light transports and walkers, and will wound most infantry on 2′s. It also helps add volume to those targets that usually get a save (i.e. Terminators) and just need a volume of fire. Another important fact to consider is that S6 will insta-kill any T3 units — Eldar bodies, small swarm bases, etc.
Heavy Bolter
You get a free Heavy Bolter on the hull, and can even replace your turret Multi-laser with one for free. The question is, should you? The Heavy Bolter has a similar profile, putting out 3 separate S5 AP4 shots at the same range as the Multi-laser. As we all know, the Heavy Bolter will mow down infantry. Because of its lesser strength, you won’t be wounding on 2′s against MEQ’s. Its better armor penetration will allow you to negate the saves of Guardsmen, Eldar, Firewarriors, and even Scouts. It should be pointed out that in 5th Edition, where cover saves are abound, the better AP value may go to waste. The Heavy Bolter is less desirable though for shooting at vehicles. You can expect 0.16 penetrations per hit on AV10 with the Heavy Bolter, whereas the Multilaser will give you 0.33.
Heavy Flamer
The Heavy Flamer has the same profile as the Heavy Bolter, just with a flame template. I’m a huge fan, because it allows you negate the Chimera’s poor BS and automatically hit. It also ignores the ubiquitous cover save that every unit seems to have at this point. The limiting factor with the Heavy Flamer is obviously the range. I use my Chimeras to move Melta veterans around, so I know that at some point my Chimera will be in range of something that can use a blast of prometheum. Being able to automatically hit 4-5 models with an S5 AP4 weapon is a scary thing, and shouldn’t be ignored if you know your Chimera will be near enemy lines. I would like to point out that taking double Heavy Flamers isn’t really viable. The only time you’ll shoot them both is if you stand still, which means that anyone that survives your blast will automatically hit you in close combat. You also place the template from the tip of the gun, which is substantially further back if on the turret.
 Heavy Flamer turret, not recommended. Defensive Weapons
None of the weapons listed above are considered “defensive weapons” per the rulebook. This means that if you’re not parking your Chimera and using it as a pillbox, you’ll only be able to shoot one of the aforementioned weapons per turn. You do have the option to add pintle-mounted weapons, which I’m personally a fan of. For a mere 10 points, you can add a defensive weapon that can always shoot. The Heavy Stubber is a preferable option, as it shares a range with the other guns on your Chimera. Those extra 12″ and the third shot are far more important than one point of armor penetration.
Putting It All Together
There are only a few loadouts you can take. Your turret can be any of the guns, your hull weapon can either be a Heavy Bolter or a Heavy Flamer. If you know that you’re going to just sit your Chimera and shoot a heavy weapon team out of it, then I would load up with a Multi-laser and Heavy Bolter combo. They’re both somewhat effective against infantry and light vehicles, and it might be a bit too good if we could have a hull Multi-laser too. If your Chimera is going to be on the move at all, I’d highly advise a Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer combo. Since you’ll be on the move, you can really only shoot one weapon at a time. If you need to shoot at a vehicle, you’ve got it. If you need to soften up an immediate threat, the Heavy Flamer can take care of that. Always remember that you’ve got Smoke Launchers for a turn if you need them, and that your passengers can shoot a different target than their transport!
Tags: 40k, games workshop, imperial guard, warhammer
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Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Since one of the most fun aspects of the 40K hobby is reveling in the game’s morally ambiguous and gothic universe, it is only natural to attach narratives or backgrounds to the battles we wage. I find that creating a cohesive flow of missions can go a long way in giving a realistic feel to games, making victory, losses, and events a sense of purpose.
Here are some observations I’ve made on how to make a campaign work.
Story:
Dig into the lore in your codex and find something that appeals to you. These ideas are meant to be basic so that you can apply any army’s flavor to it easily. Keep in mind that a good campaign should never have a one-sided story; in other words, there needs to be a goal for both players. One player shouldn’t be sidelined to portraying a one-dimensional villain to the other player’s heroic army—both players should have a story element which drives their play throughout the missions. Here are a few iconic plots:
- Territories: War engulfs entire continents as the two armies battle for land and resources.
- Siege: One army launches an all out attack against an enemy stronghold. Missions recreate various aspects of the siege.
- Unexpected Threat: An army explores a planet previously thought uninhabited, but in reality is occupied by a secret force of an enemy army. One army must escape the planet before the opponent can capture them and use their resources against them in future battles.
- Old Enemies: The two leaders of the armies have faced each other before, and wage a war of vendetta with the only goal being to personally kill the other. Battles emphasize elite subterfuge and board-clearing annihilation.
- Behind Enemy Lines: A small strike force of one army infiltrates the opposing army’s lines on a covert mission. These battles recreate the steps the strike force must take to succeed on their mission—or escape with their lives.
Scope:
Consider how many games you want the campaign to span. Since 40K games take hours to resolve, it’s better to keep things concise. Four to five games is about right, since it gives you room for variety, but also keeps the focus of the story. Also, vary the size of the lists in these battles to emphasize different mission types and strategy—and for the sake of variety!
Structure:
The best campaigns I’ve played in follow a branching “tree” organization, which gives you an ordered structure but allows for the narrative of the campaign to adapt based on the results of missions. To prepare for this, get a basic idea of what the story is, then develop a logical series of missions based on the results of mission types. For example, after an Annihilation-type mission, the next mission might pose one army as pursuing the fleeing army. The winner of Annihilation game is trying to cut of their escape, while the loser of the Annihilation game is simply trying to get off the board.
Missions, Objectives, and Scoring:
One of the coolest things about campaigns is that it’s a perfect excuse to play unique mission types. Getting creative here changes a lot in how the game plays, and allows you to create unique lists which you might not normally use in a straight Kill Point game.
One thing that becomes important is the scoring of the missions. It’s generally not advisable to keep the score limited to wins:losses, because one player may jump ahead early on which will make subsequent games irrelevant. Rather, use a point-based system which gives room for players to accumulate points without necessarily “winning” the mission. This will allow players to turn losses into success in the long term, as well as offer the possibility to keep the campaign’s score more competitive for the game’s duration.
Another fun consideration is applying veteran abilities to your units which will carry through the story. These are listed on page 263 of the hardcover 40K rulebook, and are a lot of fun because they can give your units a personality and legacy.
Weird Stuff:
Campaigns are the perfect excuse to create your own unique rules and mission types, so get creative. So long as the new rules are balanced for fairness they can add a lot to your campaign. Exploding objectives, hidden units, special equipment, shifting terrain… it’s all fair game.
In the coming weeks I’ll be posting a model campaign, along with story elements and new missions you could use for your own games! Until then, find some cool elements in your codex to start generating ideas for a plot!
Discuss this article in the forums
Tags: 40k, campaign, games workshop, warhammer
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
I’ve been posting a lot of Imperial Guard articles recently, so it may not seem like I’m qualified to talk about what makes a successful charge. Well, being an IG player on the receiving end of Wych, Kroot, and Ork charges, I’ve picked up a very important lesson on what makes a charge into a successful combat: when it ends.
As an IG player, the best-case outcome of me getting charged is that I sacrifice an infantry squad and shoot my attacker to pieces in the following turn. This doesn’t always work out so cleanly: if the defending squad survives the first round or doesn’t break, combat can drag on. This can lead to the terrible outcome of combat ending just before your opponent’s turn, which you don’t want. Let’s examine the distinction between a combat resolving in your and your attacker’s respective turns.
Your Turn
When a combat ends in your turn, you have no way to react to a radically altered battlefield. Whether you won or lost, there is only one unit on the field where there used to be two. Anything in a 12″ range may be in danger, depending on terrain and other tricks (faster units, fleet, etc.) Because of the I-go-you-go system in 40k, there’s a problem when the combat ends on your turn: you can’t react to it.
Your opponent will have a full turn of moving, shooting, and charging before you can do a single thing. This could mean moving the tip of the spearhead out of rapid-fire range, pulling back to buy them another turn. It could mean blasting the tip of your own spearhead to pieces if you were the one charging. It could mean that they get to assault another squad of yours, allowing them to pinball around your deployment zone with relative impunity. This is the worst-case scenario, because you never get a chance to shoot them up. Your best option is to counter-charge with other units in your deployment zone.
Their Turn
If combat ends at the bottom of your opponent’s turn, things are different. You get to dictate what happens. If you’re on defense, then you can proceed to shoot the snot out of whatever just ate a squad. You can maneuver delicate squads out of harm’s way, or initiate a charge of your own. Be wary of this trap, because sometimes by focusing on the immediate threat you’re giving the rest of your opponent’s army precious time to get into position.
If you’re the attacker and combat ends in their turn, then you get the same options. You can now splash into another unit, dodging an entire round of shooting. It used to be in older editions that after winning a combat you could immediately consolidate into another squad, initiating another combat. We don’t have this option anymore, so the only protection a squad will get is a d6″ move into cover.
Planning the Charge
It’s so simple to design your squads and do some mental math to prevent this from happening. As always, you’ll be at the mercy of the dice, but never underestimate how helpful it is to plan this from the beginning. The biggest factor is squad size. If you’re going to charge with Assault Marines, consider how many of them are going to be “too killy.” If you’re going to win combat on the turn you charge with them, then you’ll get shot to pieces in your opponent’s upcoming turn. It’s better to go with a smaller squad that will take two rounds to whittle down your target. Of course, you also have to consider survivability and getting them in combat, how well they can use terrain, etc.
Save yourself some points. Do some mental math and figure out how many MEQ’s and GEQ’s you can kill per round of combat with your assault-focused units. If you can expect 3 dead marines, how long will this combat take? Which player will have the advantage afterwards? If you need to buy time or speed up the process, you can consider throwing another squad into the fray. Likewise, if your opponent doesn’t consider when combat will end, make him pay for it. If you know that your squad will get slaughtered or routed in one turn, let them take the charge. Sacrificing a unit for a free round of rapid-fire shooting can be a valid tactic.
Discuss your charges and counter-tactics in the store forums
Tags: 40k, games workshop, warhammer
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Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Having spent the last article talking about the oft-underrated Scout Sentinels, I want to talk about something that almost everyone has in a respectable Guard army: Platoon Command Squads (PCS). The PCS differs from the Company Command Squad in three main ways: you can have more than one, they have less orders, and they don’t have veterans (and thus fire at BS3).
 No, not this guy. These are a few important things to keep in mind as I talk about how I like to equip my PCS’s in-game. A PCS is a squishy blob of Guardsmen that can easily get expensive, but still needs to provide some value. I use the PCS in one of the following ways:
Static Firebase
This PCS is meant to sit still and support a gunline by providing orders. Plop it in cover, so you’ll get some kind of save, in between other squads that will sit and shoot. Equip it with a heavy weapon, preferably an Autocannon or Heavy Bolter to keep the costs down. A Lascannon will cost almost as much as the basic PCS, and remember you’re firing at BS3! Some people will add special weapons to complement the heavy weapon (grenade launchers for AP4 heavy weapons, plasma guns for Lascannons) but this starts to get really pricey. Remember, they’re only 5 Guardsmen, and their support to the rest of your squads (read: First Rank Fire/Second Rank Fire!) will make them a high-priority target. I’m less inclined to use this model, because of the value of mobility in 5th Edition and the expense required to make this unit powerful in such a role.
Close-Combat Support
This PCS moves alongside infantry squads, or more commonly an infantry blob. The idea is to give them order support as they move into rapid fire range, or to get a charge. A PCS escort can give them a better go-to-ground save, make them run faster, or get 50% more Lasgun shots. I run this sometimes alongside a 20 or 30-man infantry squad with a Commissar for morale. They’re great for taking and holding objectives, for rolling oodles of dice against elite units, or as a tie-up unit. I equip this squad with Laspistols and close-combat weapons, which are free and give them an extra attack, and a power weapon for the Officer if I can afford it. This gives some teeth to the blob in close combat, and can bail them out if need be. Meltabombs can be a good idea to ensure that your unit doesn’t get bogged down by a silly Sentinel.
Special Weapon Squad
Depending on how you play it, being able to fill the squad with special weapons is an exciting prospect. Things like Plasmaguns or Meltaguns are too expensive in my mind, especially given that you’re rolling at BS3. There are two intriguing options, however: flamers and grenade launchers. Flamers are a great choice because they’re dirt cheap and allow you to ignore the PCS’s mediocre BS. Not rolling to hit with a S4, AP5 template weapon is a big deal to a little Guardsman. Any time you can drop 4 flame templates on a squad, even if it’s a T4/3+ body, you’re going to do some damage. God forbid you get to use it on Orks, Eldar, or other Guard. I’ve tried using the flamer squad as a counter-charge unit: feed someone a sacrificial Infantry Squad in combat so that when the combat ends, the flamers open up. This requires a bit of timing and luck to pull off, because you must ensure that your PCS is in range to let loose with the prometheum, and on your own turn. This may work well as an escort unit, as described above.
The other option is Grenade Launchers. No other hand-held weapon for the Guard can move and shoot 24″, which alone makes it an interesting idea. Sure, you have to worry about rolling to hit, but the ability to lay down 4 blast templates or lob 4 Krak grenades is pretty exciting. It’s also great for terrorizing AV10 vehicles and transports, namely those threatening Trukks and Raiders. This unit, which costs the same as the flamer unit, can move as an escort and lob supporting fire along the way. They can also bounce around a static gunline, providing support where needed and keeping the advancing tides at bay.
Wrapup
The PCS is something that most armies are going to have to buy. It’s still a squishy group of guardsmen, but since it doesn’t carry the same expense, ballistic skill, and powerful orders as your CCS, you can afford to be a little more blasé with it. Don’t be afraid to leave the protection of the nest, but remember that they will fall in a single round of shooting, which can affect the rest of your army. A lot of these tips and guidelines change when you start talking about your CCS, so remember the difference between them when you’re writing your list!
Discuss it here, in the forums.
Tags: 40k, games workshop, imperial guard, warhammer
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Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
If you’ve been following my (Re)Starting 40k Series then it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the lowly Sentinel, as a model. I mean, look at how beautiful it is:
 Every pistol you see here can harm it. I mean, I love an AT-ST lookalike as much as the next guy, but my tendency to build armies around the models I like best leaves me in hot water on the tabletop. After all, these units are 35 points of Armor-10 paper mâché. I’m going to discuss a few of the options you have available if you want to include these little guys, and some of the drawbacks you need to think through before you take the plunge. Please note that I won’t be discussing Armored Sentinels here; that’s a debate for another day.
Small Games
Sentinels are great in small games. Below 1000 points, be sure to bring other vehicles. In small games, people can’t afford many vehicles and anti-vehicle weaponry, so the Sentinel’s survivability goes way up. They can be used to tie up infantry, since hidden powerfists are usually too expensive for such games. In larger games, a lone Sentinel can easily be punched in twain by a bored Sergeant with a powerfist or a plasma pistol that has nothing better to shoot at that turn. As a result, I’m not sure Sentinels will scale well into full-sized games. Moreover, in larger games you may need those Fast Attack slots! This leads me to…
Fast Attack, Squadrons, and You
The first thing you’re going to wonder is whether you even have room to fit Sentinels in your army. The Fast Attack slots are pretty valuable for the Imperial Guard, as every time you choose to take a Sentinel squadron, you’re limiting how many Valkyries, Vendettas, or Hellhounds you can take. As I put it in Part 3 of my column, you’ve got to worry about what else is in your army. If you need your Hellhounds for anti-horde, then Sentinels won’t be doing a better job. If you need your Vendettas and Valkyries to shoot high-priority targets or scoot infantry around, Sentinels can’t do that either.
If you do want to include some Sentinels, one option is to put them into a squadron. I would highly advise against it though. As mentioned, they’re paper thin. Anything S4 and above can touch them, meaning masses of small-arms fire or tough hand-to-hand troops will ruin your day. The real problem comes with the S6-S7 weapons, which can tear through a Sentinel and also usually come with a larger number of shots (Multilaser, Autocannon, Assault Cannon, etc.) Having 3 Sentinels in a squadron will allow your opponent to target one squad, making extra shots spill over onto other models. If you have extra Fast Attack slots, putting each Sentinel in a lone squadron prevents this.
Outflank
When you can, outflank. Being able to come in from the side of the board, and choose exactly where, makes it really easy to get side and rear armor shots. While you can’t rely on getting the side you want, there’s a 2/3 chance you will. Don’t count on your Sentinels coming in as soon as possible. Don’t count on them to pop that artillery piece on Turn 2. Don’t count on them entering from the left flank and tying up that 30 termagant swarm. Most importantly, your opponent won’t count on them just showing up in the backfield and wreaking havoc on their precious rear armor. If Sentinels disrupt the enemy’s gameplan, they’ve done their job. If they tie up a squad or blow something up, it’s gravy. Remember, this guy is only a 35-point investment!
Weaponry
Being so cheap to take, we need to keep these Sentinels cheap. There’s also the consideration of poor ballistic skill, which means that single shot weapons are too unreliable as your Sentinel may not live to see two shooting phases. This narrows down your weapon choices to the default Multi-laser, the Autocannon, and the Heavy Flamer.
The Heavy Flamer isn’t something I’d normally take. An Imperial Guard army should have no trouble dealing with masses of infantry, due to the huge number of shots (and templates) they can bring to bear. That being said, a Heavy Flamer could be worth the meager cost if you know you’ll be facing such armies and want to soften up a tie-up unit. The best part is that it allows you to ignore the Sentinel’s paltry ballistic skill.
Autocannon vs. Multi-laser is a heated debate. Numerically speaking, you can expect the same number of penetrations at BS3 against AV10, which you should be seeing a lot of thanks to outflanking. On the one hand, the Multi-laser has the advantage of being cheaper and having more shots (thus making it less susceptible to a fluke roll). On the other hand, the Autocannon has additional range, better penetration against AV11 (in case you hit side armor or some tougher vehicles), and can do some damage against 4+ save troops. On the other hand, it costs a bit more. Both are great options, and you should consider whether you need the points or the additional firepower, based on what else is in your army.
In Summary
You don’t see many netlists making use of Sentinels, reserving those FA slots for a Valkyrie/Vendetta. True, a Vendetta can bring 3 twin-linked Lascannons to the fight. But for around 2/3 the cost, you can have a set of outflanking walkers that can take potshots at rear armor and tie up weak infantry. Of course, the Vendetta’s usually a high-priority target, whereas Sentinels usually fly under the radar (once). At the end of the day, a Sentinel can add some awesome tactical options to your army and some more pretty models as well. If you plan accordingly, they’re a great unit to take!
Discuss Scout Sentinels in the forums
Tags: 40k, games workshop, gaming, imperial guard, warhammer
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