On Killing

[Warp Angel]

Warhammer 40k is a game about killing things.

 

I'm not going to pretend to solve the differences of opinion here about what the best means for killing things is, but I am going to provide some guidelines about how to apply killing power.

 

Rule I: Concentrate firepower in the shooting phase. This is a pretty straightforward rule. You want to apply as much firepower as you can reasonably spare to turn an enemy unit from an effective combat element to an ineffective one (or better yet, a smoking crater). While the concept is simple, execution is more difficult. Most MEQ armies have relatively limited firepower in each unit. This means that you'll often need to combine the firepower from units together to achieve this goal. You can do this by placing a couple units in close proximity so they can shoot together, but you can also do this by having longer-ranged units firing from supporting positions across the table.

 

Rule II: Win assaults. This doesn't just mean winning the assaults that you get into, but refers to the need to seek out assaults that you can win and do so. A tactical squad shooting will realistically produce 2 casualties from bolter fire against MEQs on average, and maybe 1 or 2 more wounds from heavy/special weapons. That might not even be enough to force a morale check. An assault from MEQs is going to result in 1 or 2 shooting wounds and a similar number of wounds from the assault. And if you're getting into an assault you can win - say, against a depleted squad, you're forcing leadership checks which can result in additional wounds and/or crushing a unit entirely by sweeping advance. Choosing WHEN you assault or allow yourself to be assaulted is key.

 

Rule III: Force morale checks. The more times your opponent has to roll for leadership, the more opportunities they have for failure. The corrolary to this is that you want to force negatives to those leadership checks whenever possible. Inflict 25% casualties in shooting, win assaults, tank shock, and do whatever else you can do to hurt the enemy. Even if they recover the next turn, it puts them out of position to shoot what they want or make that assault they were thinking about. If they're below half strength, they usually never recover, and if you chase them off the table (either by a long run on your opponent's part, or by staying close enough they can't reconsolidate), you have turned a little bit of shooting into a lot of casualties.

 

So now you just need to figure out what needs killin' first. And that's what Killhammer is for. :sweat:

[mowglie]

I love Tank Shocking. It's one of my favourite things. Often, my opponents hit a Vindicator with a Weapon Destroyed, then say to themselves "that isn't a threat anymore".

 

Tank shocking my opponent off an objective with an empty rhino on my last turn. That's even better!

 

You have to scream "TAAAANK SHOOOCK!" when you do it though. It's a Rule.

[Warp Angel]

I'm going to have to remember that rule.

[minigun762]

In regard to Rule 1, I think part of that is factoring in how much you can effectively kill in the assault phase.

 

As you said, Tac squads aren't very scary in assault, but SW or Chaos might be able to focus less firepower on a given target when they know that they can wipe it out effectively in the next phase.

[Warp Angel]

Don't look at it as a single unit shooting for Rule 1. It's about making sure you bring enough shooting to the table to make the unit ineffective or deleted entirely. Ineffective units could be described as ones that you can easily assault though. So from that perspective, the definition of ineffective would vary from army to army.

[Shard]

I'm a fan of your tactica Warp Angel. I just faced off against a heavy ork-boyz army last night and wiped a huge number of them off the table using these concepts. I still got overwhelmed at the end, but that was a result of a poor unit choice and a couple tactical errors on my part.

[Warp Angel]

I'm a fan of your tactica Warp Angel. I just faced off against a heavy ork-boyz army last night and wiped a huge number of them off the table using these concepts. I still got overwhelmed at the end, but that was a result of a poor unit choice and a couple tactical errors on my part.

 

I make tactical errors on a regular basis - usually around the timing on taking objectives. It happens. But when I'm following my own advice, I win far more often than I lose. Unit choice for me has been VERY stable for more than a year now though, at least for my loyalist Marines. Find an army that works well for you, has a good balance, and master it. It'll make things a lot more forgiving when you do make mistakes (though boredom can strike - which is why I have a lot of playable armies.

 

Ork, Guard, Chaos, BA, SW, DA, Daemonhunter, Loyalist Marines...

 

Of course, the way I really keep things fresh is Apocalypse. Lots of fun killing things in batch lots and not caring about the outcome as long as stuff dies in batch lots.

[greatcrusade08]

I have to admit ive never used killhammer, basically due to the amount of maths involved (its not that im not able, just cant be bothered)... i do however have to show respect for it, its a solid tactical treatise with measurable results.

 

That being said i think these three points are actually more brilliant than they first appear, it sounds simple when written up like this but these are some of the major principles every army must use to win games.

 

to address point 1, sometimes you just have to roll the dice and hope you cause more casualties than mathhammer suggest (i hate mathhammer btw).. but knowing roughly what each unit is capable of is important and you need to have a redundancy to deal with troublesome units...

For me this means 'joining' a bolter scout unit with a ccw one.. that way if i get first turn "alpha strikes" the bolters can do 2/3 MEQ casualties meaning the ccw scouts have a greater chance of winning combat.

Combat tactics can be a pain in countering this, but if you can get a unit of snipers to pin the squad it will prevent them running away, also using Telion to snipe unit leaders pre assault can ensure combats are won (lower Ld too)

 

My favourite tactic involves thunderfires.. if you blow up a transport, make use of the fact that the guys are bunched up and get maximum hits, its not uncommon to get 6/7 kills even against marines with a single t-fire (ive managed it a few times)

 

rule 2 is equally fun, but in some cases you dont want to outright win combat, in my experience you want to win combat in your opponents turn and sweep them or destroy them then.. that way you have a greater chance of affecting the game with that unit and they dont get wiped out by your oppoennts application of rule 1 :)

 

Rule 3 for me revolves around clever uses of LSS teams and cerberus launchers, generally they dont stick around for long so you have to get it in early.

I like to "divide and conquer" my opponents, by taking down tranports early game giving me the edge in movement and control, if i get first turn (its easier that way) i will then gang up on certain units, usually on one side of the table to reduce the counter attack possibilities.. combining bolter/sniper scouts shooting with close combat from ccw scouts out of a LSS and those on foot.. if i can rid myself of two tac squads or a tac/assault squad combo then its a good days work.

I then use the t-fire/typhoon combo to take down any mobile units close enough to counter my first turn move and ride out the game to get a win..

 

IMO games are won with deployment and the first turn or two, i take alot of inspiration from brother tuals, reaction and control tactica.. and despite some people saying scouts are a fire army i do use the basic tenets of way of the water warrior.. and it seems to work for me...

 

Anyways i got a little carried away there, i hope you can garner something that makes sense here.. its been a long night and i need sleep ;)

 

edit bad spelling