Unveil the blade [Tactica on the veiled blade detachment]

[Darwhine]

INTRODUCTION

 

Hello. I'm embarking on this long-standing project that's close to my heart for several reasons. 
I hear a lot of criticism about Imperial Agents, and even more so when it comes to the Veiled Blade detachment. If you believe the online influencers, everyone agrees: it's a trash detachment, which is only fun in narrative or causal games. 
I've played this detachment and I don't share this opinion. 

I tried to defend it on French forums, and EVERYONE laughed in my face. 
What I've discovered since then leads me to believe the opposite of what's been said (even among tournament players): this detachment is NOT for causal players; on the contrary, its strength lies in its competitive game mechanics. 
The more I play this detachment, the more its gameplay takes on the form of a devious game where you use your tools to set traps ... both for the miniatures and the human beings in front of you. 
There's a form of psychological warfare that sets in, which represents the fluff of this detachment well: no raw power, but precise strikes and traps that serve your game plan and disrupt your opponent's play.

 

I'm not saying it's a top meta, but if you want to get the most out of it and appreciate this detachment at its true value, you need to know its mechanics.

I wouldn't write this tactic all at once; it's too big and there's a lot to cover. I'd like it to be as comprehensive as possible, so I'll add articles as I go along.

Note: 
I apologize in advance for any grammar and spelling mistakes; not being bilingual, I rely mainly on Google Translate to write this post.

 

Chapter 1: Techniques, tips and tricks to know

To understand what I'm going to talk about next, it's essential to understand some fundamental mechanics commonly used in competitive gaming.

In this chapter, I'll try to provide a brief, illustrated overview so you know what we're talking about. This is only a summary; by searching the internet, you'll most likely find better, more in-depth explanations.

 

 

1) Staging (shooting and close combat):

"Staging" is a secure position that threatens a strategic position (objective, firing lane, etc.). "Staging" can be threatening in shooting (unit with long-range weapons) or in close combat (unit strong in melee and within charging range).

In this example, the CK player takes advantage of his towering rule by positioning himself behind the ruin.

During the opponent's turn, he is not visible because he is not in the ruin.

On his turn, the CK player only has to place one foot in the ruin to have a line of sight on all the firing lanes beyond the ruin, as well as on the two nearby objectives. He thus forces his opponent to move hidden from ruin to ruin and complicates his objective capture.

 

 In this example we have essentially the same thing but with a melee unit: the impulsor is hidden in a ruin on the opponent's turn, which prevents it from being shot at. On the SW player's turn, the latter can land at 3 inches, move 6 and charge behind.

That is a threat range of 15 (9 + 6) inches, if we consider a charge at 6 as highly probable.

The opponent does not take the risk of placing his units in this 15 bubble.

 

2) Charge phase and combat phase: the subtleties.

Mastering your charges and the combat phase means anticipating:

- The path of the charge, through a wall to avoid the ow or not declaring a nearby unit in charge to "force" the positioning of your figurines by preventing them from putting them in their engagement zone.
 

-The activation at pill in; knowing how to put your most lethal figurines within engagement range (example the hammers of the Dw), "blocking" the engagement of non-lethal figurines in combat (example the frag cannon/shotguns/infernus dw) to allow them to pill/consolidate on an objective or another nearby unit.

 

-The opposing interruption; sometimes it can be a good thing for you if the opponent activates first and pill in towards you.

 

- Anticipate the opponent's response (especially in the case of several units engaged), know which figurines will be able to hit what (rule of the figurine in contact with a figurine of the same unit), know which figurines to withdraw in loss to limit the opponent's response.

In this well-known example of a technique, the first three subductors "lock" each other in close combat, preventing the fourth from reaching base-to-base contact; he therefore has the "right" to get closer to the scouts as long as he finishes his movement closer to the reivers than he was at the start.

He puts himself 1.4 inches from the scouts, which will allow him to engage them in pill in his activation and come and threaten the second objective.

 

3) Heroic intervention and its subtleties:

Heroic Intervention is not just about engaging the enemy to have a melee phase or gain movement distance during the opponent's turn.

Heroic intervention can be defensive and block the enemy's pill in by putting its models in base-to-base contact with the enemy's models.

The enemy charged by the intervention can no longer pill in with all of its models, since it now has terminators as models closer to some of its own.

This can save the charging unit, but also prevent the capture of an objective.

 

4) The Ruins: WTC (2 inch) and GW (1 inch) competitive rules:

Mastering the engagement rule of the ruins in competitive play allows:

- To protect yourself from charges through the ruins by placing yourself 2, 1 (WTC) or 1 (GW) inch from the walls; 

 

-To only be hit on one row by placing yourself 1 inch (WTC) or stuck to the walls (GW);

 

-To take advantage of the absence of base-to-base contact to be able to "slide" along the wall upon activation and gain ground with the pill in movement.

In this example, the CK cannot pass through the wall because it does not have room to place its base.

It also cannot charge the unit because it does not pass through walls during the charge phase and therefore cannot end up in engagement range even if it sticks to the wall.

By going around it, it is out of charge range.

 

5) The "lone operative" abilitie:

Mastering and anticipating the range of enemy units after their movement to position their lone op units allows them to counter fire staging, but also to move block or to staging themselves in exposed areas of no man's land.

Since lone op works figure by figure, it is also possible to protect yourself from only a portion of the enemy squad's fire (if you only want to kill a few figures with fire to make future charges impossible or eliminate lines of sight).

 

 

6) The "Move block":

Knowing how to anticipate the enemy movement phase and movement restriction rules (terrain for motorcycles/vehicles, prohibition of entry into the unit engagement zone, unit consistency, etc.) to be able to block all or part of a future enemy movement. This is a particularly important concept when you face IK and CK.

In this example, the CK cannot finish his move in the subductors' engagement zone.

Even if he has the right to pass over them thanks to his super heavy walker rule, the split placement of the subductors with their 1 ps engagement bubble prevents him from passing.

 

7) The wall of 25:

I call the "wall of 25" the defensive or offensive positioning with 25mm bases in the front row. The 25mm base is the only one measuring less than 1 inch. Any model in base-to-base contact with a 25mm model, itself within engagement range of an enemy model, is therefore itself within engagement range of that model.

 

In this example, the first rank of intercessors can hit either the voidsmen or the veterans; but the presence of the voidsmen prevents the second rank from hitting the veterans because the first is not in base-to-base contact with the veterans.

They are therefore forced to hit the voidsmen. In return, the veterans of the first rank with the hammers can hit because they are in fact within engagement range through the 25mm bases of the voidsmen.

 

 

 

 

Edited 59 minutes ago by Darwhine