Objective Secured... a sisters' guide to maelstrom

[oreaper84]

Ok so its easy for me to say, Maelstrom of War is far and away my favorite way to play 40k. Its dynamic balanced (well as much as THIS game can be in scenarios) and can turn on a dime which is the way a war game should be. So get of your board edges, cuz this tactica isn’t getting shot off by no ten-year-old tau/dar!!

 

Composing your sister squads

                First, let me say that we have a real advantage in this type of battle. With 6 objectives, we are going to get close to something. Easy access to objective secured transports allow  a multi pronged assault, making capping and contesting fairly straightforward. So we have to take 2 sister squads. I usually prefer 1 sister squad per 500 but that’s just me.  1^st thing we have to do is get these squads where the need to be either running or hitching a ride. Either way works, but it primarily boils to what type of unit your sister squad will be. I believe that sister squads  can be effective in 2 functions, either a spear or an anchor.

 

Spear- This squad has a function of destruction in mind before it even reaches the battlefield. Either loading on melta or flame, throw this unit at the target its designed to kill as quickly as possible. Now the funny thing about this “crazy” tactic is what your theory-hammering in your head right now. They are fragile little T3 chicks in an armor 11 transport (or they are slogging) so they will get obliterated before they get there. Your right, they would…. If the enemy decided to shoot them. We can bring other things to the enemy that they will likely find more threatening (dom’s, P engines, repentia, exo’s…) which will take the majority of attention. I have found that most of my games consist of taking much of my “cool” units off, while I have been left with most of my sister squads intact till later game. A mistake I used to make was to play conservatively with my sisters using more terrain at the cost of a quicker advance. This left my faster elements without much support, and it game my opponents time to deal with my hard hitters, and then my sister squads. Throw caution to the wind with a spear unit of sisters they excel in a overwhelming saturation style of play.

 

Anchor- This is the type of squad that finds a spot on the battle field, advances to that spot , and refuses to move.  The basic sister of battle squad can do this very well. We have 3+ armor and access to zealot IC that can be sprinkled across our squads. If they do get us into combat then we can reroll our saves. This makes a “priest’d” unit of sisters very hard to move. You may find that mixed special weapons useful in these units as well due to they variety of targets they may face.  Either 9 in a transport or 15+ on foot is what I have found effective for this type of unit. This is dependent on the composition of the other units in your army (remember about overwhelming saturation, you don’t wanna foot slog 20 sisters when the rest of your army is across the board). Where this is a hardy unit, it is NOT a camp on a backfield unit of chaos cultists. We have invested too many points for this. Advance steadily and let you guns roar. You’ve paid your 12 points for a bs4 bolter and power armor, so use it! Priests are almost a must in these units (ok im going to say they ARE a must, haven’t run sisters without priests in so long I cant remember). In a giant central anchor Jacobs really shines, 5++ and extra faith is a bargain at 100 pts.

 

So one thing that I have found as a change in 7^th is that I buy a transport for each and every BSS if I can. Even if the squad is too big for its transport, another objective secured gun on wheels is always welcome. Just ask the space marine player that brings empty drop pods.  Immo’s work wonders in this role. You may think that an armor 11 transport is begging to be 1^st blood….but who cares!! If its not target you have an 18 inch range capture machine that can be independent of the rest of your army.

[oreaper84]

Using the Sister Squads

 

So now that we have composed our troop choices to fit the rest of our army…. How do we use these squads effectively? Well that’s a great question, and just so happen to have prepared an answer.

 

The 1^st thing to know before attempting to use you sister squads is that they have one common aspect among all different tactics of battlefield application. They ALL require support. Put a lone sister squad at a target and I hope you had something up your sleeve elsewhere in the table b/c sisters have real trouble acting independently with more than an annoying presence. Oh you got your dual melta squad in range huh? Well guess whose failing an act of faith and rolling some ones this turn… Now when sister squads overlap their force (and this is just BSS, other units in the dex just make efforts even more effective) they become both the nail and the hammer. An immo melta squad supported by a rhino squad pop a transport and the dakka the contents or run to protect said squad b/c they have flamers and a priest., ect…ect… The point is that sister units need to work well together to ensure that their designed task is completed, with extreme prejudice.  I will highlight a few of my favorite styles of play to give examples of unit support.

 

“the pile driver/battering ram”

 

This is a style which favors aggression and throws you units at the enemy forcing tough target priority decisions. Some may remember it akin to the old rhinos rush of years past but with a new flare. The basic setup is to have a lower priority unit in a transport up front and the high priority transport behind. Priority of the unit is based on its equipment load out and the desired target. Often times ill find I do this with 2 rows of transports next to each other, doubling the desired effect. 1^st turn is flat out… plain and simple. No smoke, no shooting, nothing. Now being that you are in your opponents grill, they will be forced to make a decision, do they retreat their juicy target, or unleash the fury upon the armor in their face. Some opponents will try both and fail, a good opponent will put all his effort in one.

 

If the opponent runs, then you are controlling the board and this can be great factor in winning the game.  Whatever survives the turn you will want to advance drop troops and pop smoke (unless they ignore cover bs) You now have a possible 4-8 objective secured units in their deployment zone, congratz! If the opponent decides to hold their ground, then get your 6+ invul’s ready…this is gunna hurt a little. So we’ll assume that your front transport(s) will get popped unless you’ve got the devils luck. So that’s gunna leave you front squad(s) exposed.  If the opponent has more to shoot they either shoot the exposed squad or give cover to the tank behind. Now if you were clever and equipped both squads with some overlapping weapons loadout, then the opponent will likely target the sans-transport sisters. Now the trap has been set. Shoot the trailing transport 6 “ forward, unload the squad inside a further 6” and deliver them to target range. As an added bonus, if any of the front squad is left, feel free to load them in the unoccupied transport (after that beating they will thank you for it). Again the opponent must choose to target the fresh squad or a covered transport.

 

“the bait and switch”

 

This setup can be done with transports or not (with most things transports makes it easier).  Its fairly straight-forward in that you deploy with a strong anchor unit or few  in the middle and a flanking unit on each extreme edge.  Everything moves 12 and pops smoke (or runs if its on foot). Now the opponent wil see this supposed “pincer” move coming and will commit to on flank or the other side. Though it may seem cruel you will leave this poor unit to its fate L. The other flank will advance and unload while the central elements full advance (either 18 or another run). This will put the majority of your advancing force on the enemy’s trailing elements, and in their deployment zone no less!

 

“special delivery”

 

This is more of a auxiliary or supplementary tactic that can be used in conjunction with other elements of your force. The basic setup is to have an anchor unit in a transport with a heavy weapon in the squad. This can easily be your lead unit of a ram or it can be on its own. 1^st turn you advance the unit 18 in anticipation of the squishy transport being popped and your nice 24 inch multi-melta shooting unhindered during your next turn.  Nothing says no tred zone like multi-meltas deployed in the middle of the battlefield.  Now you can stretch the remainder of the unit to get in various ranges of objectives using the heavy weapon as a stationary pivot point, allowing for focus fire with other elements of your army.