Vertus praetors 1st turn

[point_Zer0]

How do you guys deploy them? And what do you usually do with them 1st turn? My praetors were dead at the beginning of the 2nd turn 2 or 3 games in a row.

[MyD4rkPassenger]

I will 9 times out of ten put them in or behind LOS blocking terrain, as the 3 I have are usually prime targets for my friends.  I'll generally get them into position for much more on turn 2, as I treat them more like flanking cavalry and powerful skirmishers than my front line.  In my last game against AdMech I used them to draw 4 of the kastellan bots away from my guardian/warden block, as he knew their strengths, on turn 1.   Turn 2 I used their mobility to get back into position and mulch some infantry that were protecting the enemy warlord.

[antique_nova]

A few questions to ask yourself.

 

Do you have enough jetbikes running around?

 

Do you have something equally as terrifying as those bikes?

 

For example, what happens when you run into a hell blaster squad with an apothecary, a lieutenant, a librarian and a chapter master or captain nearby who are wrapped in the bubble of a few marine or scout squads?

 

Because I can tell you that you won't shoot the hellblasters, because that won't work, so you have to shoot the scouts and hope that you get the charge off against that plasma squad before the librarian null zones you to strip you of your saves and then the plasma guns tear you a new one.

 

The answer is you need some long range firepower to deal with threats like that, because while the jetbikes are one of the most powerful units in the game, their method of attack is stupidly obvious.

 

That's why I'd reccomend investing in a plasma leman russ and then your jetbikes can comfortably hide behind terrain or go after a different target without fear of being plasmad to death. The same reasonining applies to other enemy units such as dark reapers etc.

 

However, I'll normally deploy them in two straight lines parallel with the deployment zone is it's the standard one and place the shield captain in the middle at the back.

[dtse]

depends on if theres a threat and what mission is and whats the army, theres no single answer for every game.

 

If there's something that could wipe me (and there are a lot of those), i will deploy conservatively, even if i have the +1.  behind LOS terrain, or out of range. THey have so much speed, the game is 5-7 turns long, theres no rush.  If theres no threat, then deploy them on the line, no worries. 

 

The other thing is to setup your opponent for stooping dive, especially if there's a chance you get turn 1 charged. And yes, turn 1 charges still happen.  Put your little screen unit of guardsmen in front, put your bikes behind far enough away to not get piled into (watch those jump pack and 3d6 charges) but close enough for a reliable charge with stooping dive.  If you run multiple bike units, stagger them, so you dont get all 3 units tied up at once, cause then no stooping dive! Stooping dive is that good, it's literally game winning sometimes if you set it up.

[antique_nova]

Stooping dive is the only reason why people take a large squad of vertus praetors supported by smaller vertus praetor squads, because that's how they counter magnus the red stripping away your invul save, as no one is going to be able to survive a 8 or 9 man jetbike squad charging them. No one. Except Magnus the red with a +3 invul, but even then he'll only have like 4 wounds left on average.

 

A custodes player completely forgot about this when playing a Thousand Son's player who wiped the floor with him using that very same tactic. I have no idea how he forget that, because it's obviously the most powerful tactic and strategem in the codex.

[point_Zer0]

My problem is that if i put them somewhere on the front, i instantly make them the biggest firemagnet. If i put them somewhere hidden (if i somehow manage that, as it is quite hard to hide 7 bikes (2*3 and a cap)) - they do not do much, apart from tearing apart deepstriking units.

[antique_nova]

You have to accept that, because they will always be the biggest fire magnet. So stop trying so hard to hide them. It also sounds like you need to improve your math hammer to work out probabilities instantaneously, so you can start calculating your loses and seeing if it's worth it, because that's what top players do. They're constantly math hammering the hell out of everything inside and outside the game.

[kombatwombat]

If you can, use the beta rules for the Caladius Grav Tank and Telemon Heavy Dreadnought (or, if you can’t, hold out for the official Imperial Armour rules) to direct your opponent’s heavy firepower away from your other elements and/or lay down some supporting fire.

[point_Zer0]

If you can, use the beta rules for the Caladius Grav Tank and Telemon Heavy Dreadnought (or, if you can’t, hold out for the official Imperial Armour rules) to direct your opponent’s heavy firepower away from your other elements and/or lay down some supporting fire.

I do use the grav tank, but i use it as a very annoying fireplatform on the battlefield's edge, sometimes backing it up with captain on the jetbike. Because of 60" range and 8 shots 8 -3 D3 it can do a LOT of damage.

[MARK0SIAN]

Another option is to pay CP to deepstrike them. There’s good and bad sides to this but it guarantees they’re not wiped out first turn if you go second.