Formations, Shooting, and Assault

[Lysere]

Some years ago, on a different forum far away, myself and a few others discussed the idea of moving squads around in certain formations to make use of 5th ed rules. Sadly 5th ed rules didn't do much to make this actually more then a fluff idea. However given the changes to both assault and shooting and how casualties are rolled it might be good to revisit this idea. So I wish to bring this topic from its origins on another forum to here, to aid my brothers in war, (loyal and traitor alike) against the many other xeno out there. I will bring up each formation idea, how to use it for assault, and how to use it for shooting. (Not all of these are as easy to do as marines, but all are useful)

 

The Box. It is roughly square (given terrain) and about as long as it is wide. It works well for keeping weapons safe but can leave some models out of assault if you roll poorly or the enemy charges you. It is not very strong but not weak in any big areas. The only true advantage of the box is that in one movement phase you can easily change it to just about any formation allowing you to prepare for what your enemy might throw at you, while maintaining forward movement. Many of the following formations can easily make another, but not most without losing distance that turn.

 

The Rectangle. Like the square the exact shape will vary based on terrain but this formation tends to be wider then it is long or vice-versa. This can be good to protect weapons in back or bring weapons to bear more easily depending on facing. While it can be strong in both shooting and assault, more maneuverable enemies can eliminate the strongest part of the the formation easily. This works best with larger squads.

 

The Circle. Like the box a circle formation can be easily adapted to deal with threats, and shields special or heavy weapons well. While it can be weaker when assaulting, it works well for counter attacking and shooting given most the squad will be at around the same range. It also prevents faster enemies from hitting a thinner spot and taking out just the models they want. This one can work well even with a smaller squad.

 

The circle is not good for assault unless you roll well beyond the distance you need as your own units can easily get in the way, but when getting charged it either limits what they can hit on their turn, or will allow the whole squad to pile in with ease. Both of which are a win for you.

 

Half-Circle. Like the circle, but using impassable terrain can allow you to create a larger buffer around your key models. Although you can lose some shooting or assault effectiveness with bigger squads this way. Can also be turned around to be used for assault by presenting a flat line to increase the models reaching CC.

 

Triangle. This is one of my favorites as it blends both the general purpose nature of the box while remaining adaptable like the circle. Best used with several units near each other. Keep a point moving towards the enemy squads to increase the number of models they need to get through to reach your main weapons, and charge units that are facing one of the flat sides. Can be made to be less vulnerable against blasts by spreading out a bit, but easier to lose key models that way as well.

 

The Diamond. Like the triangle, but more of an assault focus, especially with a larger squad, plenty of directions to charge. Less effective against faster targets as they can still get to the middle of the formation more easily. (At least with a smaller squad)

 

Any other formation you can think of can work well, just remember the basic idea for the shapes. Flat edges (Or a concave one if your feeling creative) make it easier to get models into CC or fire lots of short range of template weapons (Offensive), while rounded sides can act as a buffer to heavy weapons better while allowing models to shoot the intended target. (Defensive) Not all of these work well with smaller squads, but many of them do. Experiment, try them out and see which works well for you.

 

I know I often don't think about how my models are really placed, but it can help a lot to think about it.

 

If anyone has anything to add to one of mine or a new one feel free to share it. There really isn't a limit to these formations. You could place them in a wavy line and call it The Bacon Formation if you wanted. (Mmm... Bacon) Another popular one is "The just jumped out of a land raider and am trying to get as close as possible for the assault phase," formation.

 

The idea is finding ways to place and move models that benefits them in a way that another formation can't quite do.

 

That's my idea anyway.

[Marshal van Trapp]

i like this as it is very helpful with the new 6th edition rules, if i might i would like to add a personal favorite of mine:

 

The Staggered Box/Rectangle. This formation functions similarly to the box or rectangle formation mentioned above, with the exception of instead of lining up all models in neat rows you stagger them in order to get the maximum distance between models possible. This formation is most useful for smaller shooting squads meant to hold objectives. It allows you to keep a large distance between the models in the squad, meaning they can cover a larger area, giving them the ability to avoid mishaps from blast markers, below is an illustration of said formation:

 

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Comm_Nagrom/staggeredformation.png

in the image, each blue line represents the maximum unit coherency distance for models (2") while each red line is the horizontal distance between models in the same "row" which comes out to 2.828..." (or sqrt(8) for math peoples) thus meaning a small blast can hit at most one model when centered over it (if it scatters it changes but also makes it less likely to hit a lot of models) the yellow lines factor in to be the same distance (if you place all models at exactly 45 degree angles) and are only differently colored to show different directions

 

i have used this formation in past editions to great effect (ML up front, taking wounds from the back) but with the proper adaptation it can be used to hold objectives efficiently with smaller squads, and has a duel role of being able to change to another formation without losing much area/distance

[ShinyRhino]

You might want to take a look though this document: