++Valerian's Guide to Army Building, 8e++

[Valerian]

BATTLE PLANNING

 

The battle plan that you formulate, and the method that you intend to use to defeat your opponent should vary greatly depending upon your Mission, the Enemy you are facing, and the Terrain upon which you will fight. I caution you against buying units for your army with a specific presupposed plan on how you will use them before you have analyzed, and fully understand these three critical factors. I often see newer players submit an army list for critique, who will then describe the tactics with which they will use their forces, when they do not yet even know what enemy they will be fighting, or what the scenario will be. Instead, I recommend that you make choices that give you effective fighting forces regardless of the situation at hand. Unit selections that are inherently versatile will be the most effective in any given situation.

Although all players will come to the game with a few ready tactics and trusty techniques in mind, most battle planning will occur very rapidly, when analyzing the Terrain on the battlefield prior to deployment of forces, when the Mission is determined and any objectives are placed, and when you have the opportunity to ascertain the disposition and composition of Enemy forces once he has deployed them. Only then can you truly begin to determine how you intend to defeat your opponent.
 

 

YOUR MISSION OBJECTIVES

 

Five of the Eternal War missions require at least some offensive maneuver, as they are objective-based, and those objectives are placed either in the enemy’s deployment zone, or in the “no-man’s-land” between the deployment zones. These are generally good missions for Space Wolves when facing “shooty” armies, like Tau or Imperial Guard, who may be less willing, or less able, to go on the offense to control objectives in, or near, your deployment zone. Conversely, these missions can be troublesome when opposing “horde” armies, like Orks or Tyranids; at some point you will have to move toward those objectives, and therefore toward an enemy that generally has both superior numbers and superior close combat ability.

‘No Mercy’, however, is all about destroying enemy units and claiming the Victory Points derived from that, thereby allowing maximum freedom toward picking either an offensive or a defensive scheme of maneuver. It should go without saying, but when given the opportunity, select a scheme of maneuver that gives your army the advantage.

Of the thirty-six Tactical Objectives associated with the new versions of the Maelstrom of War missions (pgs. 224-227), most of those also require you to control objectives by the end of your player turn, in order to achieve Victory Points.  These, too, then require at least some degree of offensive maneuver to remain competitive.

 

I cannot overemphasize this point: always keep your mission objectives foremost on your mind.  Every movement made, psychic power attempted, shot fired, and assault initiated, should be in support of achieving your mission objective(s); don’t lose sight of your goal!

 

 

Schemes of Maneuver:

Offensive:
In general, you will usually want to adopt an offensive scheme of maneuver against a “shooty” enemy, such as the Imperial Guard, the Tau, and certain Eldar builds. These are armies that will typically attempt to fix you in place and destroy your forces with ranged firepower. Traditionally, these forces make their move toward objectives late in the game, when they have degraded adversary forces such that the opponent can no longer effectively oppose them.  Those “shooty” forces, however, are typically weak in close combat, thus you will do well to come to grips with them as rapidly as possible, and dominate them in an assault.

Defensive:
Conversely, you will usually want to be defensive when opposing “horde” armies, such as Orks and Tyranids, that are vulnerable to ranged fire, stronger at close combat, and bring strength in numbers.

These are not hard and fast rules, however, and sometimes the Mission will dictate that you do otherwise. Regardless, you should always choose forces that can be effective in either an offensive or defensive scheme of maneuver, which I will discuss in greater depth later in this article.
 

 

THE ENEMY

 

Information:
Foremost, an effective commander must know his or her Enemy. This begins with a detailed familiarity with the Indexes/Codices for all opposing forces, particularly if you plan on conducting open, or tournament play. For friendly games, you should at least be well versed in the codex of your regular opponents. You should have a good understanding of their armies’ capabilities and vulnerabilities. Look carefully through your opponents’ manuals and try to determine how you would fight with their available forces. You might even consider lurking around the forums for those army types and get a feel for how others play with those forces, and perhaps even submit an army list or two to elicit feedback. Once you’ve gained some degree of mastery on the subject of your enemy, you will be well armed to use your own forces to defeat him.

 

With the initial consolidation of all factions into five Indexes at the launch of 8e, this should be much easier than it was in 6e and 7e, where the proliferation of Codices, Supplements, and Dataslates, as well as the liberal use of allies, made this all but impossible.  Do what you can to learn about your adversaries, and place yourself at an advantage over your opponents.

Observation:
The initial deployment of units provides your first opportunity to observe some, if not all, of the forces that the enemy is bringing to bear. Understand first that your enemy will place forces in response to three factors: his mission objectives, the terrain, and your own placement of forces (if you have placed yours first). Regardless of who deploys first, your goal in this phase is to try to determine from the placement of enemy forces what the enemy commander intends to do with them. Understanding the intent of the enemy commander, and conceptualizing his likely scheme of maneuver (his plan for implementing firepower and movement to accomplish his mission objectives to defeat you) will better allow you to deploy and then use your own forces in a manner which is more likely to disrupt his plan, while at the same time developing your own scheme of maneuver for accomplishing your mission objectives. If, at the end of the deployment phase, you haven’t reasoned out why the enemy forces are placed where they are, or what he intends to do with each unit, then you might already be in trouble.
 

 

THE TERRAIN

 

Although you may not be able to influence the Terrain upon which you fight (at least not beyond the initial placement of terrain, before Deployment Map and Deployment Zones have been determined), you must understand how it can, and will, affect the battle.

Open Terrain:
Open terrain, that offers plenty of long-range fields of fire and line-of-sight across the battlefield will generally favor the defender, allowing him to cause casualties on the approaching enemy force at the maximum ranges of his weapon systems. Any available cover in the defender’s deployment zone would only add to this advantage by offering protection from incoming fire from the attackers by adding to the defenders’ saving throws.

Closed Terrain:
A cluttered battlefield that offers a variety of cover or concealment across the board generally favors the attacker, offering him a protected approach to the opponent’s positions; once again, in 8e, this generally adds to the attackers’ saving throws. If you are using the optional Battlefield Terrain rules from the Advanced Rules section of the book (pgs. 248-251), certain types of terrain (woods, craters, and obstacles) will hamper mobility somewhat and slow the advance, but the protection offered by line-of-sight blocking terrain is often worth the costs of a slower paced attack. When you are fighting a mission that dictates you use an offensive form of maneuver, do your best to ensure that your opponent doesn’t shirk you on the proper amount of terrain on the table, particularly terrain that will obstruct his view and reduce his fields of fire into your approach.
 

YOUR AVAILABLE FORCES (UNITS)

 

Now that we have examined a few important details about how the Enemy, Mission, and Terrain will affect each battle, let’s discuss the one variable of the battle that we directly control – our choice of Units.

Versatility:
One should build units that are versatile enough to be effective regardless of the situation that fate and the vagaries of war present you. This is particularly true of the tournament army, in which you will likely face a variety of Enemy types, and perhaps also conduct a variety of Missions, using a single, fixed, army list. However, even if you do not intend to fight in tournaments, most players want to buy, assemble, and paint as few units as possible, while still developing an effective fighting force. Having thousands of points worth of units to select from is very resource intensive, in terms of both time and money. Therefore, whether you intend to use your army for tournaments, or just friendly play, you will still want to build a comprehensive list that is effective in both the offense and defense.

Army vs. Unit Versatility:
It is important to note at this point that I am a proponent for versatility of the entire army, rather than for each individual unit. Please allow me to explain. The army, as an entity, should be built in a manner that it has such inherent versatility that it can easily adopt either an offensive or defensive scheme of maneuver and be successful. To put it simply, every unit must ably fulfill a role in either scheme of maneuver. That is not to say that one should try to make every individual unit good at every role (for example, mixing heavy weapons for defensive firepower and special close combat weapons for offensive assault capability in a single unit). Such a unit may well be versatile and even effective in both roles, but it will not be very efficient, as the assault capability will be wasted when the unit stands-fast to fire, while the ranged firepower will be degraded if the unit is on the move toward the enemy, and completely forfeit when locked in combat. Instead, the versatility that I speak of is a comprehensive versatility that is inherent in an army list that is built with each unit having specific complementary capabilities that are useful in helping us accomplish our mission, regardless of whether we choose an offensive or defensive battle plan. It is okay to have units that are specialized; when they are used in a way that they support one another and combine effects on enemy forces, they will be much more deadly.

For example, a Land Speeder Tornado is an effective, and fairly points efficient, light support vehicle that can provide a significant contribution to our army whether we are attacking, or defending. Likewise, a dedicated assault unit (such as a pack of Thunderwolf Cavalry) is essential in an attacking force using an offensive scheme of maneuver, but also fills the vital role of a counterattacking or reinforcing unit in the defense.  Ultimately, regardless of the situation at hand, we want every unit in our army to have a clear job to do, and we want to give each unit the resources (i.e. the right options and upgrades) to do that job well.


Analysis of Units:

When making selections for an army list, a player should conduct some analysis to determine which units will be most effective. Such analysis should help focus the player and aid him or her in making choices that are based on reason, and not on emotion (or good marketing). Such an analysis will aid the commander in selecting the units that are most helpful to the army, while helping him or her to avoid choosing units because they appear to be nifty. What follows are a few techniques that might be useful in conducting such an analysis.

A technique one can use in army selection is to conduct a point-by-point evaluation of potential selection choices to evaluate how effective the choice might be for your army. I’ll offer the following categories as a start for your evaluation: Firepower, Protection, Close Combat, and Mobility. Rating each of these categories using a simple scale from 1 to 5 is a technique that is easy to implement.

Firepower:
In the Firepower category, one can assign ratings for the amount of lethal, ranged fires that the unit or vehicle can place on the enemy. This category is probably the most subjective, as you will have to factor in multiple variables, including weapon ranges and strengths, AP ratings, damage, and any other effects. One might assign a Blood Claws pack a firepower rating of a 1, a Grey Hunter pack with Bolters a 3 (or 4 when within rapid fire range), and a Long Fang pack a 5.

Protection:
For Space Wolves, the majority of your forces will have similar Protection ratings, since the armor value is the same for most of your models. One might assign models with a 3+ save a rating of 2. Wolf Scouts might be rated as a 1, whereas Swift Claws might be a 3, considering the increased Toughness, and multiple Wounds.  Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor would be a 4. Vehicles, of course, have improved Protection, when compared to standard infantry models, thus we would assign most vehicles a rating of 5 (or use an extended scale, beyond 5, to account for the significant difference in Protection afforded by their high Toughness and high Wounds characteristics).

Close Combat:
In this category we assign value to the Assault potential of our units. Ratings could include a Long Fang pack at a 1; a Grey Hunter pack with Chainswords, Wolf Standard, and a “hidden” power axe at a 3; and a Wolf Guard pack with multiple Special Close Combat Weapons at a 5.

 

Mobility:
Mobility is arguably the easiest category to determine, as it is the least subjective, since every model now has a fixed Movement characteristic. The standard movement for regular Space Marine infantry is 6”, which we can rate as a 3 on the 1-5 scale. For most models, moving this distance does not significantly reduce performance. I would rate a standard Grey Hunter pack as a 3 in Mobility, while a Swift Claws Bike pack would be given a 5. A Long Fang pack, however, would earn a 1 for Mobility; although they have the same standard movement rate as the Grey Hunters, making such a move reduces the unit’s effectiveness for the remainder of that turn. Obviously, selecting a transport for the unit may improve its Mobility, but may have a negative impact on its performance (for example, Long Fangs cannot shoot while riding in a transport).

 

While we are on the topic of mobility, I’d like to take the opportunity to emphasize the importance of this attribute in 8e games.  A casual inspection of the mission scenarios (Eternal War and Maelstrom of War) should demonstrate how critical mobility is in the game: 5 of the 6 Eternal War missions require each player to move his forces to specific points on the battlefield to seize and control objectives.  A considerable number of the Maelstrom of War tactical objectives for each turn do, as well. Mobility is certainly necessary in an offensive plan, in which our forces speed forward 1) to secure mission objectives, 2) to deploy within rapid fire range of the enemy, or 3) to come to grips with the enemy in close combat (an assault). However, mobility is also necessary, albeit to a lesser degree, in the defense, where we will need mobile forces to reinforce threatened areas in our defensive lines. Mobility is also helpful in the defense in enabling forces to move forward or laterally out of our deployment zone to secure a piece of advantageous terrain, (such as a wooded hilltop, with good fields of fire, upon which we can establish a base of fire in cover), to conduct a spoiling attack, or to allow our Reserves to exploit opportunities for advantage. Even with the option for all of our units to ‘Advance’ in the Movement Phase, an entirely “foot-slogging” force will likely have a very difficult time under most mission scenarios due to an inherent lack of good mobility.

 

Mobility can be categorized in multiple ways, but I will describe two of them here.

Operational Mobility:
Operational mobility encompasses the manner in which a commander deploys his forces to the battlefield, to dictate the terms by which he will engage the enemy. A Space Wolves commander’s ability to precision deep strike or infiltrate up to half of his combat power offers him a tremendous degree of operational mobility. Additionally, with the return of their Behind Enemy Lines unit special rule, Wolf Scout packs also have excellent operational mobility. Operational mobility is particularly important in the attack, and Space Wolves are therefore well suited for that scheme of maneuver.

 

Tactical Mobility:
Tactical mobility describes the degree to which forces are free to move about on the battlefield. Forces with a large number of “foot-sloggers” (models in 8e with a “low” Movement characteristic) have poor tactical mobility, whereas models with high Movement characteristics (such as jump infantry, bikes, flyers, and transports) provide a great deal of tactical mobility to our forces. Tactical mobility is vital in allowing our forces to seize objectives, assault the enemy, or to reinforce threatened positions.

I would submit that versatile army lists should include a mixture of units that all come with some degree of either operational and/or tactical mobility.  Armies with low mobility are almost guaranteed to be outmaneuvered, outgunned, and outplayed.

 

BATTLEFIELD ROLES

 

The utility of following through with a classification scheme for units using the evaluation criteria of firepower, protection, close combat, and mobility should become apparent as one begins to determine which units to select to fill the various army list Battlefield Roles. When building a force, the commander should have an appreciation for the various roles that need to be filled in order to field an army that has mutually supporting capabilities. I will provide and discuss several of the Battlefield Roles immediately below, but it is important to highlight that the following list is by no means meant to be exhaustive.  You are very likely to identify specific Battlefield Roles that are unique to your own army, your play-style, or that are specific to the requirements determined by the adversaries that you routinely face. 
 

Consolidation Force: A unit that can effectively secure or control an objective. Assault Forces will often seize an objective then hand it over to a Consolidation Force, thus freeing themselves to move on to seize the next objective. In previous editions, this Battlefield Role was associated with a force organization chart limitation: typically, only Troops choices could control objectives (although other units could contest them). In 8e, however, all units now have the ability to control objectives. The player with the most models within 3” is considered to control the objective.

 

Of all the Battlefield Roles, the Consolidation Force must be the most well-rounded, as all of the four attributes are essential in getting to, and maintaining control of an objective. Because of these requirements, one of the best Consolidation Force units in our current Index is a Grey Hunter pack that has a Transport (Rhino or Drop Pod). Thankfully, the "ultragrit" weapons load (bolters, bolt pistols, and chainswords, as well as both frag and krak grenades), and the ability to add: a special close combat weapon on the Pack Leader, two special weapons, a Wolf Standard, a plasma pistol, and a Wolf Guard Pack Leader with additional special close combat weapon, pistol, and combi-weapon options, the Grey Hunter Pack is the ultimate Consolidation Force. Not only is it highly effective, it is also very reasonably priced, and therefore points efficient. I recommend taking several Grey Hunter packs, as they can also fulfill several of the other Battlefield Roles quite admirably. 

 

Base of Fire: A unit that establishes long ranged fires to destroy enemy forces, or to fix his forces in place, thereby limiting his opportunity for maneuver. The most important attributes for this force are Firepower, followed by Protection. Examples of good Base of Fire units include: Predators, and Long Fang packs, and even Razorback transports with twin weapons.

 

Thankfully, Long Fangs packs are very reasonably priced and make for a very attractive Base of Fire option; in fact, they were so capable in filling this role, they became the default choice in most 5e and 6e army lists.  They fell out of favor in 7e, but I see nothing to indicate that they won’t be filling this role again for 8e Space Wolves army lists, especially now that they can split fire without restriction, and they have gained a degree of tactical mobility with the new core rules that allow heavy weapons to move and fire, albeit at a -1 To Hit.  Their new Fire Discipline unit ability makes them even more effective in this battlefield role.

Tank Destroyer: A unit tasked with protecting your force from the effects of enemy armored vehicles (or monstrous creatures, or any other high-Wound models); usually this is accomplished by simply destroying those enemy units. Mobility is certainly helpful, for either getting the Tank Destroyer to the enemy vehicle to destroy it in close combat, or for getting within range to the enemy vehicle to destroy it with ranged firepower. 8e has revolutionized how certain models in the game are treated; vehicles that once used Armor Values, Hull Points, and Damage Tables have been integrated into the same system as has been used for regular infantry and monstrous creatures, but have been given a lot of Wounds, a high Toughness, and good Armor Saves to compensate.  Clearly, unit capabilities that include high-Strength and especially high-Damage weapons, with a decent AP value, whether ranged or melee, are requirements for effective Tank Destroyer options.  Examples of decent Tank Destroyers, when equipped appropriately, include: Swift Claws Bike packs, Land Speeders, and Wolf Scouts operating Behind Enemy Lines.  Long Fang packs can also serve as reasonable alternate long-range Tank Destroyers, depending on heavy weapons selected, but they do lack the mobility necessary to be a reliable primary Tank Destroyer force.

Rear Guard/Flank Security (RG/FS): A unit tasked with protecting your “backfield” from enemy outflankers, deep strikers, or any enemy forces that have successfully maneuvered forward on the battlefield and penetrated your lines. Generally, the Rear Guard must be able to protect either an objective in your deployment zone, or friendly units that are vulnerable to close combat, such as your tanks (Predators), artillery pieces (Whirlwinds), and similar Base of Fire forces (Long Fangs). The most important attributes for the RG/FS forces are Mobility and either Firepower or Close Combat. Examples of good RG/FS units include: Land Speeders, Swift Claws Bike packs, Thunderwolf Cavalry, and Sky Claws Jump Infantry packs. A Dreadnought can also make a good RG/FS unit providing that lateral mobility in your deployment zone is not essential for protecting your objective or Base of Fire units (i.e. by placing the Dreadnought near the unit/location that needs protecting).

Mobile Reserve: A unit that is available for the commander to commit to exploit any opportunity that might present itself. Certain Mobile Reserves can be held off-table, in “reserve”, or can be on the battlefield, conducting a secondary task until committed. The most important attributes for the Mobile Reserve are Mobility (obviously), and Firepower. Examples of good Mobile Reserve units include: Land Speeders, and Swift Claws Bike packs.

 

Assault Force:  A unit that will close with and assault an enemy force to destroy it (force-oriented), or that moves forward to seize an objective (terrain-oriented). The most important attributes for this force are Mobility (tactical) and Close Combat. The Space Wolves Index contains many options for decent Assault Forces. Examples now include: Wulfen Packs, Thunderwolf Cavalry Packs, Swift Claws Bike Packs, Sky Claws Jump Infantry, Blood Claws Packs with a Transport (Rhino or Land Raider variant), Grey Hunter Packs with a Transport (Rhino or Land Raider variant), Wolf Guard Packs (in Power Armor or Terminator Armor) with an appropriate Transport, and even Fenrisian Wolf Packs.

 

Obviously, some selections will be more effective than others, and you must weigh in your personal preferences in addition to considerations of efficiency (cost versus value) and effectiveness when choosing your Assault Force(s).

Assault Force Note. It is probably appropriate to take the opportunity here to make an important point. Because of all of the excellent and attractive Assault Force choices available, it would be easy to become overzealous and go overboard with selections from this category. If you include multiple Assault Forces then you must sacrifice in other areas, weakening your ability to fill certain other important Battlefield Roles, and making your army less able to accomplish other tasks. Additionally, selecting too many Assault Forces might "pigeon-hole" you into an offensive scheme of maneuver that may not be to your advantage in every situation, or versus every Enemy.

 

Sniper:  With the significant change in how Characters are treated in 8e, another important battlefield role in the new edition is the Sniper, or Character assassin.  Characters now provide army and unit enhancements via a variety of “buffs” auras, which are usually based on a radius from the Character.  They can be significant force multipliers when placed properly on the battlefield.  Although they can no longer join units, enemy forces generally are not allowed to target Characters, unless they’re the closest unit.  However, units and weapons with the ‘Sniper’ keyword can override this targeting restriction, and can attack vulnerable Characters regardless of whether they’re the closest unit.  This makes Wolf Scouts with sniper rifles (our only in-action choice) a critical asset for taking out these vitally important enemy units.  The Vindicare Assassin, outside of our Chapter faction, but still very much a part of the Imperium faction, is a standout choice.  The other Imperial Agent Assassins are good choices, as well, but will simply do their job in close combat, rather than via shooting.

 

Retinues:  Conversely, there are certain units that can provide additional protection for otherwise vulnerable Characters, and will aid significantly in their survivability.  Unfortunately, the Space Wolves did not get any units with this retinue capability in the existing Index.  One would hope that the Wolf Guard will get such an ability in the future 8e codex.

 

 

Disruption Force:  A unit designed to disrupt an enemy's attacking force, preventing them from bringing an overwhelming number of forces to bear on your defending forces at one time. Achieving disruption will allow the defender to focus the fires of his forces on the attacking units as they approach in succession, rather than together.  See below for an expanded discussion of this concept.

 

 

DISRUPTION

 

When on the offense, the attacker typically prefers to attack a vulnerable position with multiple units simultaneously. The objective is to overwhelm the enemy force at that point and then move on to exploit the advantage gained. If the attacker can isolate the defending force at the point of its attack from supporting units, all the better. The attacker is attempting to use mass by bringing his numbers and combat power to bear against a weaker and therefore vulnerable force at the point of penetration.

The desire to overwhelm the enemy is why most players adopting an offensive scheme of maneuver will send everything they've got at the defender at once, rather than sending in units one at a time in a piecemeal fashion. The defender would love that, as they could focus the fire of all defending forces upon each unit in turn as they approach in succession; this would place the advantage of achieving mass on the defender's side, rather than on the attacker’s. However, it is unlikely that an attacker would operate in such a way, intentionally handing the advantage to the defender. Therefore the defender must attempt to disrupt the enemy's approach, causing the attacker to assault in succession when he does not want to.

In the real world, this effect is often achieved with Disrupting obstacles (as opposed to Fixing, Blocking, and Turning obstacles), which are designed to disrupt attacking enemy formations, causing them to lose synchronization at the point of attack. On the battlefields of the tabletop, however, we have few such obstacles (other than the occasional piece of difficult terrain) to use for this purpose. Instead, we have to look elsewhere to achieve our goal; enter the Disruption Force. The Space Wolves have several good alternatives to achieve disruption.
 

 

Spoiling Attack:
One alternative toward achieving disruption is the Spoiling Attack. Now that ‘pinning’ is gone, one of the only ways to stop an enemy unit's forward movement is to lock it in close combat. Relatively easy to do, choosing to make a Spoiling Attack is often a difficult one for the defender, because it usually means the sacrifice of the unit sent forward to execute the task. Desirable attributes for a good Spoiling Attack force are that the unit is cheap enough that it won't be missed when it has ultimately been destroyed, and that it is not a critical part of the main defenses. Additionally, the force should have enough Protection to keep it around long enough to effectively lock the enemy unit in place for a turn or two. A minimum-sized Swift Claw pack makes a pretty good Spoiling Attack force; it has good Mobility, decent Protection (with the T5 and multiple Wounds), decent Close Combat capability, and does not cost so much that they will break the bank when sacrificed.

 

However, an even better alternative for this is the Lone Wolf. The Lone Wolf is the perfect unit with which to conduct a Spoiling Attack, and therefore achieve disruption of the enemy. Firstly, equipped properly, the Lone Wolf is robust enough to lock down an enemy unit by himself, and probably do some significant damage before ultimately being overwhelmed. The cost for a Lone Wolf in TDA in 8e has gone up quite a bit from the previous edition, but his characteristics have also improved considerably, and his 4 Wounds and A Glorious Death ability make him quite resilient. 

 

In 8e, units can now choose to Fall Back in their own Movement phase, so it is much harder to really lock them down in close combat, however, a unit that chooses to Fall Back sacrifices its ability to shoot or charge in their turn afterward, so the disruption effect is still achieved.
 

 

 

AUGMENTATION

 

Some units, particularly Characters, usually found among the Headquarters selections of an army list, contribute to your army in what I’ll call an Augmentation role.  They often are not able to fill a Battlefield Role completely by themselves, but are exceptionally well suited to position near other units to increase those units’ ability to do their assigned tasks much more effectively.  For example, a Long Fang pack executing the Base of Fire task transitions from an effective force to a potentially more devastating force, when you support it with Wolf Lord that allows re-rolls of to hit rolls of 1.  Likewise, a Swift Claws pack acting as an Assault Force has its close combat effectiveness enhanced considerably, when you support it with a Wolf Priest whose Oath of War that grants re-rolls of failed hit rolls in the Fight phase.

 

Keep in mind, however, that some of these Augmentation forces are relatively expensive, and therefore may come with a large opportunity cost associated with their inclusion.  However, several of them are quite powerful units in their own right, particularly in close combat.  Also, their enhancement auras aren’t limited to a single “joined” squad anymore, so several nearby units can take advantage of their benefits.  Thus, you’ll have to judge for yourself how best to incorporate Characters to take advantage of their augmentation for your other units.  That being said, I would offer the advice that If you think that a unit can do its job reasonably well on its own, then you should let it.  This will help you preserve points.  Leave the self-sufficient units to do their jobs on their own, while applying your augmentation abilities to those forces that need the additional support to achieve their missions.

REDUNDANCY

 

Remember that any and every unit in 40k can be destroyed; nothing is completely invulnerable in this game. Furthermore, your opponent will (presumably) be a thinking and adaptive adversary who is using all of the assets at his or her disposal to destroy your forces and defeat you. With that in mind, it is essential that you build redundancy into your army when selecting units to fill the various battlefield roles. For example, if you field only a single Land Speeder with a Multimelta as your sole Tank Destroyer unit, and the enemy manages to destroy that asset in the first turn, you might have a difficult game ahead of you, particularly if the enemy force includes several armored vehicles or monstrous creatures.

There are a lot of Battlefield Roles that you may need to fill, and it is not likely that you will have enough points available to select two or more units to fill every role. However, certain units may be flexible enough to easily slip into accomplishing a secondary mission, when required. For example, a Swift Claws Bike pack makes an excellent Assault Force, but can easily transition to fill the Tank Destroyer role (if properly equipped), should the need arise. At the same time, however, if you do need to change its mission thusly, you must understand that you now have one less dedicated Assault Force than you started with (at least temporarily, until you can free them of this secondary task, and reorient them back to their original mission).

To reiterate the point on Redundancy, don't depend on a strategy that relies on a unit that might not be available anymore when you need it; everything can be destroyed in 40k. Instead, build your army lists toward filling the various Battlefield Roles, thus providing mutually supporting units, while achieving as much Redundancy as possible.

I encourage you to conduct your own analysis of these roles and any others that you can think of, and of the various unit types that you might select to fill those roles in your army.

SUMMARY
 

I have attempted to make it clear that one should pick forces for his or her army list that are effective in both offensive and defensive tasks. That is not to say, however, that every individual unit needs to be built to maximize firepower (for the defense) and at the same time close combat capability (for the offense), as such a unit is individually versatile and perhaps effective, but it will not be very efficient. Instead, my recommendation is that every unit chosen be able to effectively (and efficiently) fulfill a Battlefield Role in both offensive and defensive scenarios.

This versatility is necessary as we cannot create our battle plan, determine our proposed method for winning the battle, or choose our scheme of maneuver (either offensive or defensive) until we are able to examine, and gain an appreciation for 1) our Mission, 2) the Enemy we are facing, 3) the effects of the Terrain, and lastly 4) the capabilities and limitations of our own Units. Any of these may advantage either a defending or attacking force. Each of these four variables will combine to influence the game, and should assist us in identifying the appropriate scheme of maneuver in our battle plan.

We, as players, will only be able to affect in any real way the final variable, our Units, based upon the choices we make when creating our army list. Thus, I offer my final recommendations for versatile, mobile unit selections that avoid the pitfalls of the "points sink". In this way you will build an army list that can be effective when defending or attacking, as the true test of a formidable army list is one that can excel regardless of the given situation.
 

 

Valerian

 

 

 

 

[Warpsbane]

Awesome stuff, thanks from a new 40k SW player.

[Wolf Guard Dan]

Excellent read. 8th is so much better than 7th in my early opinion. The 2 games I have played are so much more tactical and less of a rock-paper-scissors of what lists are being played. Your article is something I am going to use in 8th. Thanks for the write-up. I can't say enough how much I think it will help my list-building and game-play.