Gaming tactics

BDA 2014-08-06, 13:28

Hi chaps, I thought I would share some for the tactics you can employ in our games.
Let me know if you think this is any use and I will try and do more over time.

class one: Sacrifice

regardless of the game system you play, be it moving peace’s around a chess board or giant robotic battle suits across a war strewn battlefield there are times that sacrificing units, objectives or even high ranking commanders becomes vital to win.
This does not mean you should make a list with the idea of getting your units killed but as games are played you will find situations that allow you to make the most the death of your units or situations where sacrificing a unit might just win you the game.

There are four kind of sacrificial ways units can be played, bait, strike, shield and distraction.

Bait:
In the case of sacrificial bait units or even objectives, the idea is to put a unit out there that the enemy is going to go out of their way to kill or take and as a result put themselves in a weaker position, be it out of cover or in range of some of your nastier units or even leaving a gap in their lines you can exploit.
While ideally your sacrificial bait unit won’t die you will have to just take it as a added bonus if it is still alive at the end of the game.Ideally the unit in question would be a unit that has lots of firepower and is well protected from shooting but will more than likely run or die from close combat meaning your opponent is going to want/need to get into combat to deal with them or tie them up. Tau fire warriors or path finders in cover are a good example.
You will also have to have a plan for when this happens and having units nearby or held in reserve ready to come on and help is a good idea but these can vary a lot on who you are facing and what they are using.
Commanders can make very good bait units as they are a cheap victory point if they are your warlord. That said they are prone to getting taken out by a lucky shot but adding them to a bait unit can make it all the more tempting for someone to go for.
In the case of a sacrificial objective it is the case of leaving an objective in the open for the opponent to grab. Ideally you want to do this with objectives that only have one unit near it that can take it but there for giving them the dilemma of holding it in the open and taking a beating or leaving it to try and deal with the units shooting them.

Strike:
Sacrificial strike units on the other hand are the unit that are going to go in and take out a key unit and probably die in the attempt. As a side effect of their actions they can become very handy as your opponent might well pull units back to deal with them.
Who you play and what you use can really dictate what strike unit you take but stern guard/dreadnought in a drop pod are a very good example of a strike unit that can cause all sorts of damage before being killed off in return. Other strike units might be in fast moving transports or infiltrating/outflanking into. Even a lone commander can make a fast moving strike unit if equipped right for the job. A good example of this I had in one game was when I charged a Wraithknight into a predator to kill it and so protect my scoring units that had nabbed a relic, to do this ignoring other units that I knew would kill the Wraithknight next turn but despite this it let me win the game.

Shield:
Sacrificial shield units are just that, they are there to go shield units that are about to score or are important for some other reason and probably die in the attempt. tying up a unit with your commander so one of your units can grab the objective is one example or a unit of little nids assaulting that gun line so your other units can move up for a turn without getting shot so much. even a unit just getting in the way so they grant the unit behind them cover saves and block them getting assaulted are idea. Vehicles are very good shield units as they block line of site to the unit they are protecting. A character in a unit can also be a good sacrificial shield as they can take the wounds to keep the unit in the game for example in a bound list a Chaplin could take the wounds for the squad he has joined ensuring you have a troop option there to take the objective at the end of the game, most people would try and keep the Chaplin but his is not always useful.

Distraction:
Sacrificial distraction units are come in all shapes and sizes and be it fast moving bikes threatening one flank, a heavy weapon team holding the back board, an imperial knight looming over the battle filed or your opponent getting distracted by mowing down a horde of light infantry their roll here is all the same, to distract your opponent from your objectives/key units. this can depend a lot on your opponent, for example if you know they hate a certain unit then this becomes a good distraction unit as they might well go out there way to deal with it, if they get distracted by killing units then you can feed some easy kill units their way. Distracting them with a fast moving unit they have to deal with is also good so bikes and deep striking units can come in handy here.

BDA 2014-08-28, 12:53

class 2:
Knowledge is one of the most important parts of the game.
Knowing what your own units and what other units can do allows you to put the right unit in the right place to get the best result and to target the unit that is the biggest threat.

Shooting:
Target priority:
you are best off shooting the units that don’t have any other targets first, this might be cos they are out of range of other targets or because there weapons are not suited to dealing with other nearby targets.
Once you have done this you can move onto your units that have mutable targets. This might allow you to finish off units that have just been weakened by the first batch of fire to gain points in maelstrom of war but target priority is very important here.
Targeting the unit that will course you the most problem is always advisable as are transports as this will allow you to target the infantry inside who are a priority target not to mention slow them down.
problem units will often be situational depending on what you are using and what you are facing as well as the mission, I would have to advice that anything that is big tough and fast moving be a priority target such as wraithknights and imperial knights as these will always be threat whatever the mission.
Once you have dealt with the primary threat you can work your way down the list and this is where knowledge really comes in handy, knowing that the little unassuming unit skulking at the back might be able to zoom forward and take an objective from you can mean the difference from winning or losing.
This can also work for you in reverse as taking something big like an imperial knight will attract a lot of fire and while he will probably die he will divert a lot of fire from your other units as they move into position to strike.

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Gaming tactics

Gaming tactics

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