Deathwing Assault - is it really an Assault

[Mr. Scrotato Head]

I've only just started my Dark Angel army. I got my codex the end of last week and have been pouring over it whenever I can squeeze together a few minutes. I'm an experienced player (Tyranids) so I'm familiar with the core 40k rules.

 

My question is in regards to Deathwing Assault. I've thumbed the codex and the FAQ and tried to search the DA archives but can't find what I'm looking for. Is the Deathwing Assault essentially just like any other Deepstrike, with the exception that it involves BA Terminator squads in the first turn? If it is, I'm hard pressed to understand how it can be an assault. Take one or more Terminator squads, most likely not Assault squads, and deploy them in/behind your opponent's ranks. If they're assault squads, stand there (or maybe Run somewhere) and absorb all the shots they can pour into you, then quite possibly be assaulted by multiple units that have potentially better Initiative. Then in turn two start actually fighting with most likely squads that are already depleted.

 

Please tell me I'm wrong with my interpretation. Please tell me that a Deathwing Assault truly does allow our deepstriking units to assault in the turn they arrive.

 

And if Deathwing Assault really is no better than any other Deepstrike, what strategies/tactics do you use to make the attack pack a punch equal to the name? Do you Assault with only standard Terminator units with upgraded weapons? A mix of Standard and Assault squads?

[pueriexdeus]

Deepstrikle and stand there. Yep, but don't be disheartened.

 

I have discovered that DSing on the flanks will prevent the op from using all his firepower to decimate the DW Sqds. Also I use them as combat teams of two or more Sqds working together this splits the op's fire and usually forces him to CC only one. Played correctly follow on turns you'll have the op tarpitted allowing great supporting charges from your LR's or other DSing DW. DPing Dreads come in handy here also.

 

On a side note a DW Sqd with 2xTH/SS will absorb lots of fire on turn one and still be viable for several turns. My last small game (1000 points) I had a single Sqd of 5 in the OP's backfield forcing two Sternguard Sqds and an Asslt Sqd to deal with them. They took over 60+ shots from the combined Sqds and took the charge from one SG Sqd and the ASS Sqd. My DW lasted till turn four. In a larger game I had two DW Sqds charge a 140+ Ork Green Tide mid field, they held them for four turns, by turn five I got two more TDA Sqds into support the three remaining DW, killing the 14 remaining Orks.

 

Just don't stick them in unsupported or in front of the whole OP army, particularly in front of lots of AP 1+2 wpns, or enemy units filled with PW's that will get the charge.

[shabbadoo]

Also, Deepstriking one squad behind another gives them a 4+ cover save; not a bad option if the rear squad isn't kitted out with storm shields(i.e. it can actually lay down some firepower when it shows up).

[Droma]

Edit: woot 400th post lol.

(your question does get answered but I figured I'd give you some general DW tactics advice as well)

At 2k lately I've been running this list.

 

Belial

DW: sarge, 4x th/sh, apoth, cml

DW: 5x th/sh, cml

DW: 5x th/sh, cml

DW: sarge, 4x pf/sb, cml

DW: sarge, 3x pf/sb, 1x cf/sb, cml

 

2x ven dreads, extra armor

 

3man bike squad pf, 2x melta

3man bike squad pf, 2x melta

 

Here is my general strategy for each of the 3 mission types.

 

Seize ground: Start with every thing but the bikes on the board and have the bikes outflank. The 3 th/sh squads+belial walk forward and capture objectives. The shooty squads guard home base. The dreads support weak areas. The bikes hunt armor and if they live late game contest/capture objectives with turbo boost.

 

Capture and Control: All of the terminators in reserve. Dreads on my objective. Bikes outflank. I deathwing assault the 3 th/sh squads as close as I can to the enemy objective and they just roll over any defenses he's got there. The bikes harass where I need them and my shooty squads I drop on my home objective and shoot anything trying to claim it. The dreads act as a good deterrent to anything wanting to try and swamp them in CC because they are such a good tarpit.

 

Annihilation: Everything on the board and castle up. Let them come to me. Bikes outflank once again. You want to form somewhat of a wall with the 3 th/sh squads upfront. You want to keep the dreads 6" behind them along with the shooty squads. The th/sh wall prevents first turn alpha strikes from melta vets in valks or podding armies toasting your dreads on turn one.

 

 

These strats can and do change depending on the army I'm facing but they serve well against most opponents that you'd face. If you run bikes or typhoon speeders never start with them on the board, they aren't very durable even with T5 because of 3+/4++(cover) at most and they're very often decimated turn 1/2 because they are a big danger to most opponents if they can have free run of the board. Th/sh squads as a mobile cover screen and charge deterrent are great. Most marine armies and a decent number of xeno's ones want to get close to you so using them as a mobile wall can be a good tactic. Also with the number of krak missiles you've got any squad you catch without cover can be very quickly decimated by focused fire for a turn. Try and keep long sight lines and force enemies to approach through open ground so you can whittle them down with instant death long range shooting, this will let your CC focused squads mop up pretty easily.

 

Hope this helps.

[Mr. Scrotato Head]

Thanks for the feedback. Sadly, that's what I thought. I appreciate the suggested strategies.

[Droma]

Yeah, deathwing assault isn't good enough on its own to generally be a useful tactic except against people very very new to facing the army. To get the most out of it you have to know exactly what your attempting to do with it and make sure you have things that support it's use in some form. Whether that's scouting bikes to make use of teleport homers or other stuff to watch your home base it needs to be used as part of a cohesive strategy, it is not a strategy on its own.

[march10k]

What worked VERY well when C:UM was shiny and new (so for quite a while after ours was new) was reserving exactly three (complex, we didn't have 3++ SSs) DW squads, and pairing those with eight bikes. Yes, eight. Six (fisting sergeant, pair o meltas) plus MMAB, plus an interrogator chaplain on bike. The chappy doesn't get a scout move, and strips it from any squadron he joins...so he deploys separately. Bikes execute their scout towards wherever you want to DWA, leaving a tail for the chappy to be able to link up on turn one. On turn one, drop both termie squads without scatter with each first model 5.9" from the bikes, putting the squad right on the edge of the enemy deployment zone. Then the bikes drive up, allowing the IC to join, in the movement phase. In shooting, the termies run, or shoot, depending...even a HF template reaches well into the enemy deployment zone here! Bikes shoot...meltas reach the back of the enemy deployment zone on turn one!!! In assault, the bikes charge (generally getting 4-5 bikes, not all six, stuck in, because of having reached back to reel in the chappy) to prevent the termies from being charged, make it harder for the enemy to shoot at the termies, and, well, because bikes aren't that bad in assault against anything that doesn't have more than one power weapon/power fist. Effectively, you're throwing 11 termies (including belial) and 8 bikes in the enemy's face right off the bat, to the tune of 1150-1200 points. How well that works against the flavors du jour, though....leafblowers would sweep those 19 models off the board on arrival, BA would be too fast and/or not even on the board yet, Razorspam would lose one razor+contents to the bikes before reacting...

 

The speed and firepower of the game are at a whole new level today...for this sort of DWA to work, the chaplain would have to get to scout with the bikes (he really is key to making them assault-worthy), they'd have to be able to turbo-scout (doesn't everyone else get to?), and the termies would have to get a normal move, or at least a flat-footed charge, on arrival.

 

Since we don't get that, I'm fielding mostly meched up DW instead (I have 4 bikes, mostly melta-happy, in the list, so the potential for a DWA is there on the rare occasion that it looks appropriate).