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Going first or second


Skerr

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I was curious if folks playing Thousand Sons have a preference for going first or second.  I understand some factors such as mission, deployment etc could be factors.  I have not gotten to play much so wanted to hear others thoughts.

 

Going first looks attractive to move, get buffs off, hopefully get into range etc...    Though it can also be a double edged sword with some of our limited ranges, we might end up with our butts in the wind.

 

Thoughts.

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Going first is almost always best I think. Aside from wanting to get your various psychic powers off first it also gives you the opportunity to thin your opponent's models out before they can start striking back.

 

Plus anyone who wants to hold back will, as will anyone wanting to assault you come forward. That likely won't change, and they'd not willingly put themselves in range of powers unless they wanted to close with you quickly - which wouldn't matter as mentioned! So unless you're hiding away with a cunning plan worthy of original series Baldrick it's very unlikely you'll want to go second.

Going second could be a consideration if you're deliberately trying to have your opponent target, or avoid targeting, specific units and you're wanting to target their Alpha units. If they've only got one threat and it starts ofd the board it's sometimes worthwhile to wait.

 

My example would be Blood Angels dropping in Death Company. Going first you're targeting what they want but if you've got your hammer in reserves, or in a fortification, for reprisal you can damage what's essential to their force. It's never an easy call but I've been considering beta strike options a lot recently as alphas tend to do a lot of work against our Rubrics or chaff. Looking at Kharybdis builds to avoid CP requirements for Deep Strike, Daemon allies for 1 CP reserves on incursion to pair with my Tzaangors so I'm only spending 2 CP between them, etc.

 

My biggest issue is the targets I'm leaving on the table. Two Predators get swatted, two Mutaliths get targeted, etc. Leaves them both heavily weakened if minimal LOS blocking terrain is there.

 

That said, I've actually had benefit from Mutaliths being targeted. Doubling the buff range allowed me a Turn 1 Tzaangor bomb w/ Mutalith buffs on the unit after a somewhat lucky advance roll. Multi-charged in and used Cycle to clear a path for my Enlightened. Beasts are bullet magnets.

That's what I was thinking to.  I most cases yes we want to go first though there are some exceptions bring part of a larger strategy.   I was concerned about going first against say guard and then getting blown off the table before getting into meaningful range.  Again my xp is limited with 8th.  

Yes exactly.

Against shooting armies, getting first turn could be the difference between having your preds or daemon engines getting 2 turns of shooting instead of 1 as the enemy will definitely finish them off in two turns if they're trying.

 

Of course dedicated shooting could kill them in 1 turn! But that's why you have multiples for redundancy.

 

The Relic is a great exception to going 1st as you can position your army exactly where you know the enemy will be heading. Boom! Tzeentch knows! Haha

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