"Rommel, you magnificent bastard! I read your book!" - Patton
Read every codex you can get your hands on. It will prevent you being surprised.
crunchyjuice
· 5 months ago
INDEED.
Mike X
· 5 months ago
“Know thine enemy better than one knows thyself.” - Sun Tzu
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." - Sun Tzu
"The best offense is a good defense." - Anonymous
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
didn't Knute Rockne say 'the best defense' line? famous college football coach.
As long as we're quotin' stuff
· 5 months ago
“Had a slight weapons malfunction, but everything's perfectly alright now. We're fine, we're all fine, here, now, thank you. How are you?”
--Han Solo
helline9
· 5 months ago
lol
TSINI
· 5 months ago
hehe
LEGION3000
· 5 months ago
"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" - James T. Kirk
The proper use of cover saves and line of site are a game winning combo.
xbruthamanx
· 5 months ago
"GET TO THE CHOPPA!" - Arnold
When you are down to 1 or 2 troops in a squad, hide them near an objective, get them into cover and go to ground, or just generally run them away to save a kill point.
Flight Commander
· 5 months ago
Alea iacta est- Julius Caesar The dice is still just a dice and the entire game can depend on wheter those those nasty storm shield terminators get in in turn 2 or 5 or if they scatter in to a terrain piece and die Contraria contrariis curantur- opposites are cured by opposites always have something to take out those pain in the ass (deamon princes, land raiders, monoliths, three vindicators at 1500points)
Myu
· 5 months ago
Absurdly, I'm suddenly inspired to get 3 vindicators, just to say I've done that.
Atticus
· 5 months ago
"Boyz before toyz!"
The fewer tricks you rely on, the better chance you have to succeed. Sure, you can try to Lash a unit into perfect vindicator range, but you're better off preparing an army that can handle mech lists, hordes, etc. One trick ponies are only good if you have enough of them that you can rotate through before somebody realizes that they've seen it before.
"There is no overkill. There is only 'Fire!' and 'I need to reload.'"
If you want something dead, never assume that a given amount of effort will do it. Prioritize your targets, then fire at the first one until it is dead or crippled. Then proceed down the list. In the same vein, when delegating a task to a unit, never assume that you've put enough effort at it.
Just a couple of thoughts. Nice article, good to have a freshing tactica rather than a one-off trick.
Ginge
· 5 months ago
"Remember, tracer rounds work both ways"
Or, for 40k, if he just rapid fired at you, he's in assault range.
"Any ship can be a minesweeper - once"
I have no tactical advice to relate to this one, i just always liked it.
Agent of Change
· 5 months ago
"But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility."
Risk taking in any strategic game is essential to keep your opponent off balance and in siezing, or retaining, the tactical initiative. but a balsy move for the sake of making a balsy move is wasted, always take your risks when the rewards of success far out weigh the losses of failure.
"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."
Don't approach the battle to just rack up the highest kill count always focus on the objective, While it's true a dead enemy can't contest an objective niether can your own dead units. Eye on the prize, play to win.
"In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine."
The universal doctrine of any engagement should be overwhelming force where ever possible. This includes but is not limited outnumbering your opponent, out-gunning him, tactically sectioning the field of combat to your objective, Dirty tricks (outflankers, deepstrikers, et al), meet weak units with strong units, strong units with everything you can throw at them, and if an enemy unit is too strong but can be ingnored ignore it because you don't want to hand your opponent that one more round in the chamber.
All quotes from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
Myu
· 5 months ago
I agree totally. I would also add "Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning OR losing".
Losing once or twice can be a valuable experience against a new army. Look at the D-Day landings, if the Allies hadn't fought that one other disastrous battle, they wouldn't know what NOT to do. And the world might be a very different place now.
flight commander
· 5 months ago
my friend is saying that he is going to have six vindicators in planetstrike Asinus asinorum in saecula saeculorum - He was the biggest donkey in history. Just like that one
Myu
· 5 months ago
Holy S-. SIX? Still, I do have 6 dreds, so I guess I can't really fault him to have 6 vindicators... I do plan to have 3 myself eventually so I can field a line-breaker squadron.
fade_74
· 5 months ago
"If you beat me at this game one more time, I will be forced to come across this table like a drunken spider monkey! -me-
Always strive to have fun. Nobody wants to play against a serious sam. Smile and laugh....a lot. Don't cry, moan, whimper, curse god, or your opponent, just because you are losing. Wouldn't you rather take a loss at 40k than go ice fishing for the couple hours that game took. :)
"Ice fishing, the dumbest thing a man can do. You're sitting essentially in an out house and it's 30 below. You've cut a hole in the ice, and you're fishing for fish that you shouldn't eat, ‘cause any fish that is down there is f&^%ing stupid." -Lewis Black-
annon
· 5 months ago
"Don't cry, moan, whimper, curse god, or your opponent, just because you are losing."
I never feel bad when my opponent gets upset at an unlucky roll and has to vent a little, I just smile and think of the times my dice hated me. - That being said I think you're right about going overboard. I absolutely hate when people curse God when they play. I'd rather them tell me to F off.
That being said, I've found that being positive after my dice have hated me and things have been collapsing around me is one of the hugest tactical advantages I've ever taken. You are the moral of your troops and if you're pissed off and have lost a greater perspective then the game is as good as lost.
Staying positive will win you half the games you thought you would have lost.
Anon
· 5 months ago
I'd like to see the rest of the BoLS crew write insightful posts like jwolf's. This is a nice change from "check out this one-trick pony combination of wargear I found!" posts that I see a lot of on BoLS.
The difference being: jwolf speaks of strategy, understanding your advantages and limitations as well as your opponent's, staying alert and improvisation when your plan goes to hell. I find that most of the other Tactica posts are about ideas that are situational at best, require better-than-average-to-extraordinary dice, (most of the time you can count yourself lucky if you can roll even average dice) and often rely on your opponent being a blithering idiot who will do nothing to defend himself.
My thanks to jwolf, your post was quite refreshing!
SinCollector
· 5 months ago
The problem is that not everyone who is a great player is a great writer. Jon is very good at translating his thoughts and ideas into the written word. He's also extremely analytical and able to determine why a particular move or unit worked or failed. Some of the other Fly Lords are very competitive players whose cunning is of a more instinctual sort.
Sathos
· 5 months ago
the main difference would actually appear to be generalisation vs specification. commenting on the proper implementation of those one trick ponies is as important as a typical "jwolf general combat 101".
Those one trick ponies sure come in handy for the casual player who comes up against the "ex GW rep who brought 10 nob bikers to a friendly club"...if you just happen to have the polar opposite tournament style army with you that simply involves models you dont often use then it is handy to know how to combat the guy's army without simply looking at it and telling him what a prick he was for bringing it. playing him at his own game could teach him humility and next week he may bring a more appropriate force. if you didnt know how to do that before reading the article then that is 1-nil to your club as you just gained a player instead of sending one away.
Myu
· 5 months ago
Gaining players is always good ^_^
TSINI
· 5 months ago
"its hammertime" - MC hammer
hit the enemy hard from the very start of the game and don't let up until you win
"bring the rain" - dude calling in airstrike in transformers movie (1)
when your pawns are in play, i mean units, combine fire / combat onto important enemy units, don't rely on any single unit to do a job well
"hold onto your butts" - Ray Arnold (Samuel Sackson in jurassic park 1)
prepare to take heavy losses, the best laid plans can fall apart due to the enemies superior tactics, or just plain old luck.
"who the devil are you?" - Monty Burns
know what enemy units are specialised in, you need to study up on which units can take out vehicles, infantry etc.
"I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me... and it'll happen to you!" - Grandpa simpson
stay up to date with the rules, checking out the comments of BOLS is a great place to see general views on rules grey areas.
manton
· 5 months ago
"My cat's breath smells like cat food."-Ralph Ever notice how everything works out for Ralph? It's because while everybody else is wasting their time overthinking, he's stating the obvious and getting ahead.
GrimJaw
· 5 months ago
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. " - Winston Churchill
Use misdirection as often as possible. This dosn't mean cheat, but let your opponents imagination run away with them. They are likely to do more damage to themselves buy constantly worrying about your army that what they will do with theirs.
onFyre
· 2 months ago
One of my friends is convinced that my Dark Reapers will be able to damage his nice pointy Predator by so much as looking at it. At first I tried to explain how their guns work, but now I'm just happy to leave those guys in the middle as a massive deterrent.
Dash McBragg
· 5 months ago
The best luck of all is luck you make for yourself. -Douglas MacArthur
Faolain
· 5 months ago
"If the enemy opens the door, you must rush in." -Sun Tzu
If they make a mistake don't wait a turn to exploit it. Hammer them with all you have. I'm not referring to rules mistakes but movement mistakes, deployment mistakes, etc. If they forget to pop the smoke on those Rhinos, that's the time to hit them.
Trve
· 5 months ago
"Luck is the residue of design." -John Milton
Im really liking that Italian proverb by the way.
khanaris
· 5 months ago
Tactical advice is often significantly more useful than strategic advice. Strategic advice sounds nice when you deliver it, but in the context of 40k it can be a little vague. It is all very well to say "have a plan". But that isn't going to help if your plan isn't likely to work.
I like this article because the strategic precepts are backed up by tactical examples. People hear about baiting all the time. But using a cheap vehicle to bunch up an enemy unit may not occur to everyone right away.
I find that it is helpful when beginning a new army to force units into as many different situations as possible, to give you a better sense of what they are actually capable of. If you are going to lose a few games getting used to the rules anyway, it is best to make those losses as educational as possible.
helline9
· 5 months ago
Is that Paris Hilton reading... and reading the works of Sun Tzu, she must have the picture-book version.
I love the article though, just remember the game can be won or lost before a piece is even put on the table.
Joseph
· 5 months ago
Photoshop is grand isn't it?
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
Sun-Tzu? That's hot.
helline9
· 5 months ago
" Sun-Tzu? That's hot. "
..and thats wrong.
Agent of Change
· 5 months ago
Oddly enough I own an "Illustrated Sun-Tzu's Art of War"....
I do agree though well stated article, and dead on to why you can hammer certain people over and over who know the rules chapter and verse but lack a more complex grasp on strategical thinking.
Skragger
· 5 months ago
-"The best laid plans of mice and men, oft go a-glee" -crazy Scottish dude
-"No plan survives contact with the enemy" - a different, less Scottish dude
obsequiousmelon
· 5 months ago
crazy scottish dude = Robert Burns "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men oft gang agley."
Hwilam
· 5 months ago
different, less Scottish dude= Helmuth Graf von Moltke: "No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy"
Rift Knight
· 5 months ago
"Terribly sorry old chap but we don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner right now, was there anything else." British Junior Officer to german messanger after he said he wanted to discuss terms of surrender at Arnham Bridge.
Dr Henry Killinger
· 5 months ago
A similar line was used in Renegades in the Heroes of the Space Marines compilation.
Sathos
· 5 months ago
"You's a squig!" - Old Zogwort
The ability to turn your opponent's pride and joy army commander who could really save the day for him if it all goes bad, into something useless is as much psychological as it is physical...watch his entire gameplan fall apart.
Drew_Da_Destroya
· 5 months ago
I had something similar happen to me in my game last night. I sent my tooled up Wych Biker Drachite up against a pair of Oblits. Killed one, wounded the other, and then I failed the only 2+ save I had to make. An assault where I should have dominated, ended with my HQ as a dark, bloody smear on the ground. Ouch.
Lagduf
· 5 months ago
No quotes from the master himself, Carl Von Clausewitz?!?!?!
For shame.
Darkwing
· 5 months ago
Ok, random quote from Clausewitz: "Every engagement is a bloody and destructive test of physical and moral strength. Whoever has the greater sum of both left at the end is the victor."
jwolf_bols
· 5 months ago
I will do an article entirely on applying Clausewitz to tabletop wargaming to make up for it.
Fatherazhara
· 5 months ago
Excelent idea clausewitz is very applicable for 40k, good man for using mushahsi, i personally think that the book of five rings is an brilliant book for tabletop gaming
wkz
· 5 months ago
"OOoo. Look. Paris Hilton"
Sometimes something incredibly outstanding in your army (be it a very big model, well based, well-modded with lots of parts, beautifully painted or a combination) can distract the opponent enough to mess up his plans or advance your own.
An excuse for those power gamers to pursue the "hobby" side of the game, I guess...
Completely anonymous
· 5 months ago
"Incoming fire has the right of way." -Murphy's laws of Combat, allegedly
As always if the opportunity presents itself, don't give them LOS. This applies to almost every wargame out there. Say in Epic someone has a detachment of termies, don't let a company of 3 shadowswords get LOS until the termies are right on top of them. A clean hit from all 3 Shadowswords would instakill 3/4 the detachment. (Yes, I've been studying the Epic rules for a little while, I just have issues with opponents but enough of that).
Not convinced by the Churchill quote, we Brits use the term "pants" as shorthand for underpants. I'm not really convinced someone from that time would refer to underpants quite so readily. Trousers I would believe. Of course I could well be wrong, so don't flame me if I am. It just seems really quirky.
TSINI
· 5 months ago
winston churchill was definately reffering to underpants, its the first thing you would put on in the morning after getting out of pyjamas
churchill was actually a fairly crude speaker, and had a brilliant sense of humour, for example
Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea" Churchill: "Nanacy, if I were your husband, I'd gladly drink it"
James
· 5 months ago
I always liked when a woman accused him of being drunk, he replied "And you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober."
Zog
· 5 months ago
George Bernard Shaw, to Winston Churchill: I enclose two tickets to the matinee showing of my latest work. Bring a friend, if you have one.
Winston Churchill, to George Bernard Shaw: I am returning your tickets, as I regret I am unable to attend. Please send tickets for the second showing, if there is one.
Bennee
· 5 months ago
"Quantity has a quality all of its own" Josef Stalin.
TSINI
· 5 months ago
lol
Old_Paladin
· 5 months ago
a good plan for all the orks out there, but don't forget "boyz before toyz" and "everything counts in large amounts" plus those rhyme.
BrianGeneral
· 5 months ago
"He who defends everything, defends NOTHING!" -Commander Longknife, during Taros Campaign
This is the way I play Tau with decent success. Since I'm playing a hybrid-gunline army most of the time, my units are goign to be hit bad by fast assaulters. However I won't try to save teh breakthrough by sending up units to shoot at them, instead I'll take the time to move my units away from the breaking point to leave my going-to-die unit to make a last stand------it doesn't matter if you kill it, my other forces are intact from a distance away.
jwolf_bols
· 5 months ago
"He who defends everything defends nothing" is a quote from Frederick the Great as well. And if I'd taken 6 precepts (5 is the number to take, not 4, not 6, 7 is right out) I might have added that one.
GrimJaw
· 5 months ago
"In a man to man fight the winner is the one who puts an extra round in his magazine" -Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Prior Planning and Preparation Prvents Poor Performance - A British Military saying (the clean version)
Myu
· 5 months ago
"It also keeps the Tyranids from putting a Tyrant and 50 Gaunts halfway across the board. "
It's funny, but I used this exact same tactic with Necrons a while ago, but using a Destroyer Lord to keep the enemy away. I used a lord because he could move away quickly.
Miggidy_Mack
· 5 months ago
With necrons you can use a deceiver to do that really well. 20 man unit of warriors strung across the board then redeploy it.
Scout moves are also good.
Myu
· 5 months ago
Dude, that's evil :P And cunning...
LEGION3000
· 5 months ago
Evil, Cunning, one might say you are a Deceiver.
Myu
· 5 months ago
No no no, you misunderstand. I'm not a Deceiver I'm... er... a Space Marine, yeah, that's it. A Space Marine.
BuFFo
· 5 months ago
"Why does Chuck Norris only do missionary? Because he never F-s up!" - Vin Diesel.
Always stay on top of your opponent by controlling as many phases of the game as possible. Do not split your forces up 'just because'. Once your opponent gets on top of you, its a struggle to survive.
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
One of the tennis greats, Chris Everett, I believe- although I probably spelled her name wrong- once claimed she had no strategy for her matches. So how and why did she win so darn much? When asked, she had a great answer.
"I simply wait for my opponent to make a mistake, and then I exploit it."
BuFFo
· 5 months ago
Thats a strategy.
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
Actually, my contrarian friend, it's a tactic. I look at it this way- A 'Strategy' is like a 'plan'- it's your overall path to victory. 'Tactics' are the 'tricks' you use along the way....to victory ;) I've believed in this saying for a long time as a Tau player- we just can't force stuff, or power our way to objectives. We aren't tough enough. Killing exposed, unsupported units. Long Railgun shots on Marker-Lit targets. My opponent over extending himself in reaction/retaliation. PATIENCE is my strategy, as was Chris Everetts'. As long as I'm patient, and not trying to force something to happen, an opening may occur where I can pull off a tactic, which (hopefully) will lead to another opening, which (hopefully) will lead to..... you get the idea.
BuFFo
· 5 months ago
Her strategy for every game is a single goal of "exploit mistakes". The question is "what is your strategy" and she gave an answer.
Its a strategy, but thanks for the attempt at a vocabulary lesson dad.
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
*sigh* I've been meaning to tell you about the 'dad' thing... it's just that... the timing has never seemed right, y'know? but since you bought it up.....son, I just want you to understand...... Your mother is a very....loving person, y'see....and, well, we were drinking....y'know how it is....... but just think- BoLS just wouldn't be the same unless that happened, so something that would come to mean so much came from that night. *ruffling your hair* Now waddaya say we go get some ice cream, son? :)
Zog
· 5 months ago
"If brute force hasn't solved your problem, it's because you have yet to apply enough."
Don't be afraid to overkill targets. It's often more advantageous to make sure that you apply enough firepower to one target and overkill it than split fire between multiple targets and discover that you haven't killed any of them. If a Land Raider is worth shooting a single Lascannon at, it's worth shooting three at. If you're not certain one unit can kill that advancing Ork mob, pour fire in from a second unit, rather than fire the second unit at a different Ork mob. If that target was important enough to fire one unit at during your shooting phase, it's worth killing completely.
"Attack on ground where the enemy believes you will not, from an unexpected angle, at an unexpected time. Defend where your enemy believes you are not, and when your enemy believes you will run. Surprise is the key to victory, speed the key to surprise. For a soldier, speed is Life."
Manoeuverability is often king in 40K, particularly in 5th Edition. With units running and moving faster than ever, it's better to put your opponent in a position where they feel they have to hold ground in the middle game than where you have to hold ground. If it's a choice between holding that one objective in turn 3 with an over-extended unit or conceding it to the enemy, then concede the objective, and come back on turn 4 with more firepower/troops. Otherwise, you risk getting wiped out piecemeal fighting for ground that isn't important until turn 5 or later.
Every enemy unit locked into sitting in a particular position is an enemy unit you can potentially ignore; while all armies at the same point value are notionally equal, it's far better to apply 1,750 points of firepower from your army to the 1,250 points worth of enemy troops still moving while ignoring the 500 points camped on objectives in the backfield and going nowhere, than camping on your own objectives and meeting 1,250 points worth of mobile enemy with 1,250 points of your own army.
"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill." The Duke of Wellington If it isn't a closed list game, make a point of studying your opponent's army list. Don't just glance at it, look at each unit, work out what it can do, work out what you'd do with it, and be prepared to change your game plan. If you're in any doubt about anything, from the smallest upgrade taken to the existence of the unit in the first place, ask about it. The more you understand about your opponents army, the less likely you are to make a mistake your opponent can take easy advantage of. This is particularly important with armies like Tyrannids, who have incredibly customiseable units with equipment-like symbiotes that are't standard in any other army.
Rift Knight
· 5 months ago
"You can get more of what you want with a kind word and gun than you can with a kind word." Al Capon
No strategy, just a cool quote.
Rift Knight
Ulthanesh
· 5 months ago
"Never tell me the odds" - Han Solo
One thing I despise are players who constantly point out in-game probability theory. "Yeah, that's an average outcome for that roll,.." STFU!! You're still rolling dice. I lived in Nevada for 12 years, I know how craps works and I've seen players roll 7s and 11s for a dozen consecutive coming-out rolls. Make your own luck.
"You can't save them all, there will be casualties." - Spencer Harding, 40K Radio
Being overly conservative with high value units is just as dangerous as throwing low value hordes carelessly into a pointless meatgrinder. Ultimately each unit is there to serve a purpose, sometimes that purpose is to to die in order for another unit to serve there own.
Legionary
· 5 months ago
Speaking of odds... in these hallowed halls (read: BOLS comments section) I've seen somebody argue that on average, you're most likely to roll a three or four on a D6.
Ej
· 5 months ago
Tell that to the cases of dice I've nuked for rolling more than 10 ones in a batch roll.
SinSynn
· 5 months ago
I WISH I could roll 4's! On the vehicle damage table, a 4 is 'vehicle destroyed' when I add the +1 for using an AP1 weapon(Tau railgun). Since I can't roll higher than a 2 when it counts, however.......
Myu
· 5 months ago
Me too. Those 1's and 2's come up 50% of the time, I swear!
Myu
· 5 months ago
"They got ded big shooty guns dat'll kill tons of boyz" - Warlord Skarmork the Great Despoiler on the Tau Empire
(Codex: Tau, 3rd Ed, P: 30)
oni
· 5 months ago
Great read. I always enjoy articles like these.
Kwhale
· 5 months ago
"There are very few problems in life that can not be solved with the proper application of high explosives."
pnjrebel
· 5 months ago
"He who laughs last. laughs loudest".. not sure who coined it but I use it a lot.
guess the point being, even if your "best laid" plans seem to be falling apart early in the battle, Don't mail it in. One reason is that you never know how the dice will start to fall later if you stick to your plan. Secondarily, you may learn that your "best laid" plan wasn't so good. On the flip side, if you seem to be gaining the advantage early don't get cocky. you actually may want to worry bc your opponent may be setting you up for a reaming with his own plan.
Even, if you are not going to win the match you can use it as a learning tool to try tactics with the troops you have left and of course to learn what not to do against a particular opponent
Random Commenter
· 5 months ago
"He who laughs last, didn't get the joke"
mithril
· 5 months ago
i prefer the version from Ringo's 'When theDevil Dances" "He who laughs last, thinks fastest" because he if didn't think fast, he'd be dead and unable to laugh at all.
the moral of that one is simple. be ready to adapt your plan to meet the circumstances. sticking to a plan when it's gone to heck will only result in a loss.
Bulwark
· 5 months ago
"You know, if I kill all your models, I win." -- jwolf
Part 1) Sometimes you will face an opponant that just has so many trickes up their sleve that you cannot compete on the objectives. Think outside the box. Even if they have the ability to keep you from taking any of them, if they are dead, it doesn't matter.
Part 2) Never underestimate the meta game. If you have ever played jwolf, you know that as much of the battle happens above the table as on it, and I'm not talking about flyers. The mental game can turn a losing battle around before it even begins.
Old_Paladin
· 5 months ago
"The easy things are usually very hard; the hard things can be quite easy" - murphy's laws of combat. That objective 3-4 feet away, through the whole enemy army, is usually only protected by a crappy unit (10 grots, 5 sniper scouts, etc.), a last minute dash or deep strike can contest or even grab it. On the other hand, that objective 5 inches outside of your deployment zone will turn into a bloody slug-fest for the whole game (even if you grab it first turn).
"Friendly fire, isn't!" - murphy's laws of combat If your shooting that demolisher cannon/battle cannon, try not to have troops within 8-9 inches of the target (and don't shoot at a target only a few inches away!)
Ej
· 5 months ago
"Friendly fire, isn't!" - murphy's laws of combat If your shooting that demolisher cannon/battle cannon, try not to have troops within 8-9 inches of the target (and don't shoot at a target only a few inches away!)
Lies and weakness! The deaths of the Emperor's enemies are more important than the lives of his servants!
To be fair, most of the time I'm doing this is when my Guardsmen have been hit in assault and I'm firing at a nearby enemy unit and perfectly happy if it scatters. At that point, I'll have been in CC for 1 turn and probably not have too many guys left so unless I get really unlucky, I'll still wound more of the enemy than of myself. After all, the enemy unit I'm shooting against is more likely to be closer to the enemy in close combat than my troops in close combat, so the scatter distance favours hitting him.
Also, I love the idea of actually getting a shot off into close combat.
Gotthammer
· 5 months ago
I always liked "The easy things are always simple, and the simple things are always hard."
Taking an objective? Plant a squad on it.
Planting a squad on the other side of the board through the entire enemy army - that's a bit trickier.
Dutch Vigilante
· 5 months ago
"God does not play dice." -Einstein
Don't expect the dice to aid you, don't expect to make that crucial one-shot. Dice can't be in your favour because they are unable to be in anyones favour. They just follow the rules of nature.
"Always look on the bright side of life" - Unknown crucified singer.
Its a bloody game, don't lose your temper, don't be an poor winner/loser. Have fun.
crazyredpraetorian
· 5 months ago
My dice didn't follow the rules of nature last week.
Random Commenter
· 5 months ago
At least they didn't follow the call of nature and pee in your pocket...
Sathos
· 5 months ago
rules of nature? did you roll 2 d6s and come up with 42?
Pesh
· 5 months ago
Wonderful article. Great comments. Thanks to all.
But why'd it have to be Paris Hilton? I mean, I get the ironic humour. I do. But, Paris Hilton? I didn't think it was possible for her to be more overexposed... but here she is on BoLS.
It makes me die inside a little.
faultie
· 5 months ago
When you finally go, can I have your 40k stuff?
helline9
· 5 months ago
lol, faulty when he finally goes can i have his 40k stuff that you don't want? (now spam his email with Paris Hilton junk)
Pesh
· 5 months ago
Spam jokes are not funny, helline9. Especially Paris Hilton spam jokes.
You're out of my Will.
Pesh
· 5 months ago
Heh heh, Faultie. :)
No.
faultie
· 5 months ago
:(
niceas
· 5 months ago
"Remember - keep the right wing strong."
Carefully feigned weakness can often lead to victory.
atraangelis
· 5 months ago
Was there an article here? ..
Just couldnot get past Paris reading Sun Tzu....nice..
Bigred
· 5 months ago
Yeah, when I found that image... how could I NOT use it?
Dr Henry Killinger
· 5 months ago
"If at first you don't succeed, you fail." - GLaDOS
If something didn't work the first time, don't expect it to work the second. Be flexible, change tactics, try something new.
Gotthammer
· 5 months ago
"The easy way is always mined" - could be a weakness, but be prepared for a trap.
"If it's stupid and it works, it isn't stupid"
"Make it too hard for them to get in, and you can't get out" - especially suitable with Planetstrike - making a great fortress / defensive position is useless when you are essentially imobilised by all your own defences. Against some set ups an attacker in Planetstike may do well to bring a few of his own artillery pieces to shell the tightly packed ranks of infantry who can't escape due to the rings of walls and barricades.
In regular 40k don't concentrate so much on defending your own position that you have no time to reach out to damage enemy units / capture objectives.
"Incoming fire has right of way" - don't just check your own sight lines, check your oponents as well.
coal
· 5 months ago
Please don't put up a picture of this idiot woman again... Thanks.
VictoryPoints
· 1 month ago
"Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight. I take orders from just one person: me."
Command and control - if you have to tell someone you are in control it usually means you aren't. Make the enemy react to YOU - just because you won the initiative die roll doesn't mean you are acting as if you had the initiative.
All Comments
Read every codex you can get your hands on. It will prevent you being surprised.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." - Sun Tzu
"The best offense is a good defense." - Anonymous
famous college football coach.
--Han Solo
The proper use of cover saves and line of site are a game winning combo.
When you are down to 1 or 2 troops in a squad, hide them near an objective, get them into cover and go to ground, or just generally run them away to save a kill point.
The dice is still just a dice and the entire game can depend on wheter those those nasty storm shield terminators get in in turn 2 or 5 or if they scatter in to a terrain piece and die
Contraria contrariis curantur- opposites are cured by opposites
always have something to take out those pain in the ass (deamon princes, land raiders, monoliths, three vindicators at 1500points)
The fewer tricks you rely on, the better chance you have to succeed. Sure, you can try to Lash a unit into perfect vindicator range, but you're better off preparing an army that can handle mech lists, hordes, etc. One trick ponies are only good if you have enough of them that you can rotate through before somebody realizes that they've seen it before.
"There is no overkill. There is only 'Fire!' and 'I need to reload.'"
If you want something dead, never assume that a given amount of effort will do it. Prioritize your targets, then fire at the first one until it is dead or crippled. Then proceed down the list. In the same vein, when delegating a task to a unit, never assume that you've put enough effort at it.
Just a couple of thoughts. Nice article, good to have a freshing tactica rather than a one-off trick.
Or, for 40k, if he just rapid fired at you, he's in assault range.
"Any ship can be a minesweeper - once"
I have no tactical advice to relate to this one, i just always liked it.
Risk taking in any strategic game is essential to keep your opponent off balance and in siezing, or retaining, the tactical initiative. but a balsy move for the sake of making a balsy move is wasted, always take your risks when the rewards of success far out weigh the losses of failure.
"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."
Don't approach the battle to just rack up the highest kill count always focus on the objective, While it's true a dead enemy can't contest an objective niether can your own dead units. Eye on the prize, play to win.
"In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine."
The universal doctrine of any engagement should be overwhelming force where ever possible. This includes but is not limited outnumbering your opponent, out-gunning him, tactically sectioning the field of combat to your objective, Dirty tricks (outflankers, deepstrikers, et al), meet weak units with strong units, strong units with everything you can throw at them, and if an enemy unit is too strong but can be ingnored ignore it because you don't want to hand your opponent that one more round in the chamber.
All quotes from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
Losing once or twice can be a valuable experience against a new army. Look at the D-Day landings, if the Allies hadn't fought that one other disastrous battle, they wouldn't know what NOT to do. And the world might be a very different place now.
Asinus asinorum in saecula saeculorum - He was the biggest donkey in history.
Just like that one
Always strive to have fun. Nobody wants to play against a serious sam. Smile and laugh....a lot. Don't cry, moan, whimper, curse god, or your opponent, just because you are losing. Wouldn't you rather take a loss at 40k than go ice fishing for the couple hours that game took. :)
"Ice fishing, the dumbest thing a man can do. You're sitting essentially in an out house and it's 30 below. You've cut a hole in the ice, and you're fishing for fish that you shouldn't eat, ‘cause any fish that is down there is f&^%ing stupid." -Lewis Black-
I never feel bad when my opponent gets upset at an unlucky roll and has to vent a little, I just smile and think of the times my dice hated me. - That being said I think you're right about going overboard. I absolutely hate when people curse God when they play. I'd rather them tell me to F off.
That being said, I've found that being positive after my dice have hated me and things have been collapsing around me is one of the hugest tactical advantages I've ever taken. You are the moral of your troops and if you're pissed off and have lost a greater perspective then the game is as good as lost.
Staying positive will win you half the games you thought you would have lost.
The difference being: jwolf speaks of strategy, understanding your advantages and limitations as well as your opponent's, staying alert and improvisation when your plan goes to hell. I find that most of the other Tactica posts are about ideas that are situational at best, require better-than-average-to-extraordinary dice, (most of the time you can count yourself lucky if you can roll even average dice) and often rely on your opponent being a blithering idiot who will do nothing to defend himself.
My thanks to jwolf, your post was quite refreshing!
commenting on the proper implementation of those one trick ponies is as important as a typical "jwolf general combat 101".
Those one trick ponies sure come in handy for the casual player who comes up against the "ex GW rep who brought 10 nob bikers to a friendly club"...if you just happen to have the polar opposite tournament style army with you that simply involves models you dont often use then it is handy to know how to combat the guy's army without simply looking at it and telling him what a prick he was for bringing it. playing him at his own game could teach him humility and next week he may bring a more appropriate force.
if you didnt know how to do that before reading the article then that is 1-nil to your club as you just gained a player instead of sending one away.
hit the enemy hard from the very start of the game and don't let up until you win
"bring the rain" - dude calling in airstrike in transformers movie (1)
when your pawns are in play, i mean units, combine fire / combat onto important enemy units, don't rely on any single unit to do a job well
"hold onto your butts" - Ray Arnold (Samuel Sackson in jurassic park 1)
prepare to take heavy losses, the best laid plans can fall apart due to the enemies superior tactics, or just plain old luck.
"who the devil are you?" - Monty Burns
know what enemy units are specialised in, you need to study up on which units can take out vehicles, infantry etc.
"I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me... and it'll happen to you!" - Grandpa simpson
stay up to date with the rules, checking out the comments of BOLS is a great place to see general views on rules grey areas.
Ever notice how everything works out for Ralph? It's because while everybody else is wasting their time overthinking, he's stating the obvious and getting ahead.
its pants on. " - Winston Churchill
Use misdirection as often as possible. This dosn't mean cheat, but let your opponents imagination run away with them. They are likely to do more damage to themselves buy constantly worrying about your army that what they will do with theirs.
If they make a mistake don't wait a turn to exploit it. Hammer them with all you have. I'm not referring to rules mistakes but movement mistakes, deployment mistakes, etc. If they forget to pop the smoke on those Rhinos, that's the time to hit them.
-John Milton
Im really liking that Italian proverb by the way.
I like this article because the strategic precepts are backed up by tactical examples. People hear about baiting all the time. But using a cheap vehicle to bunch up an enemy unit may not occur to everyone right away.
I find that it is helpful when beginning a new army to force units into as many different situations as possible, to give you a better sense of what they are actually capable of. If you are going to lose a few games getting used to the rules anyway, it is best to make those losses as educational as possible.
I love the article though, just remember the game can be won or lost before a piece is even put on the table.
That's hot.
That's hot. "
..and thats wrong.
I do agree though well stated article, and dead on to why you can hammer certain people over and over who know the rules chapter and verse but lack a more complex grasp on strategical thinking.
-"No plan survives contact with the enemy" - a different, less Scottish dude
The ability to turn your opponent's pride and joy army commander who could really save the day for him if it all goes bad, into something useless is as much psychological as it is physical...watch his entire gameplan fall apart.
For shame.
Sometimes something incredibly outstanding in your army (be it a very big model, well based, well-modded with lots of parts, beautifully painted or a combination) can distract the opponent enough to mess up his plans or advance your own.
An excuse for those power gamers to pursue the "hobby" side of the game, I guess...
-Murphy's laws of Combat, allegedly
As always if the opportunity presents itself, don't give them LOS. This applies to almost every wargame out there. Say in Epic someone has a detachment of termies, don't let a company of 3 shadowswords get LOS until the termies are right on top of them. A clean hit from all 3 Shadowswords would instakill 3/4 the detachment. (Yes, I've been studying the Epic rules for a little while, I just have issues with opponents but enough of that).
Not convinced by the Churchill quote, we Brits use the term "pants" as shorthand for underpants. I'm not really convinced someone from that time would refer to underpants quite so readily. Trousers I would believe. Of course I could well be wrong, so don't flame me if I am. It just seems really quirky.
churchill was actually a fairly crude speaker, and had a brilliant sense of humour, for example
Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea"
Churchill: "Nanacy, if I were your husband, I'd gladly drink it"
Winston Churchill, to George Bernard Shaw: I am returning your tickets, as I regret I am unable to attend. Please send tickets for the second showing, if there is one.
but don't forget "boyz before toyz" and "everything counts in large amounts"
plus those rhyme.
This is the way I play Tau with decent success. Since I'm playing a hybrid-gunline army most of the time, my units are goign to be hit bad by fast assaulters. However I won't try to save teh breakthrough by sending up units to shoot at them, instead I'll take the time to move my units away from the breaking point to leave my going-to-die unit to make a last stand------it doesn't matter if you kill it, my other forces are intact from a distance away.
-Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Prior Planning and Preparation Prvents Poor Performance - A British Military saying (the clean version)
It's funny, but I used this exact same tactic with Necrons a while ago, but using a Destroyer Lord to keep the enemy away. I used a lord because he could move away quickly.
Scout moves are also good.
Always stay on top of your opponent by controlling as many phases of the game as possible. Do not split your forces up 'just because'. Once your opponent gets on top of you, its a struggle to survive.
"I simply wait for my opponent to make a mistake, and then I exploit it."
I look at it this way-
A 'Strategy' is like a 'plan'- it's your overall path to victory.
'Tactics' are the 'tricks' you use along the way....to victory ;)
I've believed in this saying for a long time as a Tau player- we just can't force stuff, or power our way to objectives. We aren't tough enough. Killing exposed, unsupported units. Long Railgun shots on Marker-Lit targets. My opponent over extending himself in reaction/retaliation.
PATIENCE is my strategy, as was Chris Everetts'. As long as I'm patient, and not trying to force something to happen, an opening may occur where I can pull off a tactic, which (hopefully) will lead to another opening, which (hopefully) will lead to.....
you get the idea.
Its a strategy, but thanks for the attempt at a vocabulary lesson dad.
I've been meaning to tell you about the 'dad' thing...
it's just that... the timing has never seemed right, y'know?
but since you bought it up.....son, I just want you to understand......
Your mother is a very....loving person, y'see....and, well, we were drinking....y'know how it is.......
but just think- BoLS just wouldn't be the same unless that happened, so something that would come to mean so much came from that night.
*ruffling your hair*
Now waddaya say we go get some ice cream, son?
:)
Don't be afraid to overkill targets. It's often more advantageous to make sure that you apply enough firepower to one target and overkill it than split fire between multiple targets and discover that you haven't killed any of them. If a Land Raider is worth shooting a single Lascannon at, it's worth shooting three at. If you're not certain one unit can kill that advancing Ork mob, pour fire in from a second unit, rather than fire the second unit at a different Ork mob. If that target was important enough to fire one unit at during your shooting phase, it's worth killing completely.
"Attack on ground where the enemy believes you will not, from an unexpected angle, at an unexpected time. Defend where your enemy believes you are not, and when your enemy believes you will run. Surprise is the key to victory, speed the key to surprise. For a soldier, speed is Life."
Manoeuverability is often king in 40K, particularly in 5th Edition. With units running and moving faster than ever, it's better to put your opponent in a position where they feel they have to hold ground in the middle game than where you have to hold ground. If it's a choice between holding that one objective in turn 3 with an over-extended unit or conceding it to the enemy, then concede the objective, and come back on turn 4 with more firepower/troops. Otherwise, you risk getting wiped out piecemeal fighting for ground that isn't important until turn 5 or later.
Every enemy unit locked into sitting in a particular position is an enemy unit you can potentially ignore; while all armies at the same point value are notionally equal, it's far better to apply 1,750 points of firepower from your army to the 1,250 points worth of enemy troops still moving while ignoring the 500 points camped on objectives in the backfield and going nowhere, than camping on your own objectives and meeting 1,250 points worth of mobile enemy with 1,250 points of your own army.
"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill." The Duke of Wellington
If it isn't a closed list game, make a point of studying your opponent's army list. Don't just glance at it, look at each unit, work out what it can do, work out what you'd do with it, and be prepared to change your game plan. If you're in any doubt about anything, from the smallest upgrade taken to the existence of the unit in the first place, ask about it. The more you understand about your opponents army, the less likely you are to make a mistake your opponent can take easy advantage of. This is particularly important with armies like Tyrannids, who have incredibly customiseable units with equipment-like symbiotes that are't standard in any other army.
No strategy, just a cool quote.
Rift Knight
One thing I despise are players who constantly point out in-game probability theory. "Yeah, that's an average outcome for that roll,.." STFU!! You're still rolling dice. I lived in Nevada for 12 years, I know how craps works and I've seen players roll 7s and 11s for a dozen consecutive coming-out rolls. Make your own luck.
"You can't save them all, there will be casualties." - Spencer Harding, 40K Radio
Being overly conservative with high value units is just as dangerous as throwing low value hordes carelessly into a pointless meatgrinder. Ultimately each unit is there to serve a purpose, sometimes that purpose is to to die in order for another unit to serve there own.
On the vehicle damage table, a 4 is 'vehicle destroyed' when I add the +1 for using an AP1 weapon(Tau railgun).
Since I can't roll higher than a 2 when it counts, however.......
(Codex: Tau, 3rd Ed, P: 30)
guess the point being, even if your "best laid" plans seem to be falling apart early in the battle, Don't mail it in. One reason is that you never know how the dice will start to fall later if you stick to your plan. Secondarily, you may learn that your "best laid" plan wasn't so good. On the flip side, if you seem to be gaining the advantage early don't get cocky. you actually may want to worry bc your opponent may be setting you up for a reaming with his own plan.
Even, if you are not going to win the match you can use it as a learning tool to try tactics with the troops you have left and of course to learn what not to do against a particular opponent
"He who laughs last, thinks fastest"
because he if didn't think fast, he'd be dead and unable to laugh at all.
the moral of that one is simple. be ready to adapt your plan to meet the circumstances. sticking to a plan when it's gone to heck will only result in a loss.
Part 1) Sometimes you will face an opponant that just has so many trickes up their sleve that you cannot compete on the objectives. Think outside the box. Even if they have the ability to keep you from taking any of them, if they are dead, it doesn't matter.
Part 2) Never underestimate the meta game. If you have ever played jwolf, you know that as much of the battle happens above the table as on it, and I'm not talking about flyers. The mental game can turn a losing battle around before it even begins.
That objective 3-4 feet away, through the whole enemy army, is usually only protected by a crappy unit (10 grots, 5 sniper scouts, etc.), a last minute dash or deep strike can contest or even grab it. On the other hand, that objective 5 inches outside of your deployment zone will turn into a bloody slug-fest for the whole game (even if you grab it first turn).
"Friendly fire, isn't!" - murphy's laws of combat
If your shooting that demolisher cannon/battle cannon, try not to have troops within 8-9 inches of the target (and don't shoot at a target only a few inches away!)
If your shooting that demolisher cannon/battle cannon, try not to have troops within 8-9 inches of the target (and don't shoot at a target only a few inches away!)
Lies and weakness! The deaths of the Emperor's enemies are more important than the lives of his servants!
To be fair, most of the time I'm doing this is when my Guardsmen have been hit in assault and I'm firing at a nearby enemy unit and perfectly happy if it scatters. At that point, I'll have been in CC for 1 turn and probably not have too many guys left so unless I get really unlucky, I'll still wound more of the enemy than of myself. After all, the enemy unit I'm shooting against is more likely to be closer to the enemy in close combat than my troops in close combat, so the scatter distance favours hitting him.
Also, I love the idea of actually getting a shot off into close combat.
Taking an objective? Plant a squad on it.
Planting a squad on the other side of the board through the entire enemy army - that's a bit trickier.
Don't expect the dice to aid you, don't expect to make that crucial one-shot. Dice can't be in your favour because they are unable to be in anyones favour. They just follow the rules of nature.
"Always look on the bright side of life" - Unknown crucified singer.
Its a bloody game, don't lose your temper, don't be an poor winner/loser. Have fun.
But why'd it have to be Paris Hilton? I mean, I get the ironic humour. I do. But, Paris Hilton? I didn't think it was possible for her to be more overexposed... but here she is on BoLS.
It makes me die inside a little.
Especially Paris Hilton spam jokes.
You're out of my Will.
No.
Carefully feigned weakness can often lead to victory.
Just couldnot get past Paris reading Sun Tzu....nice..
If something didn't work the first time, don't expect it to work the second. Be flexible, change tactics, try something new.
"If it's stupid and it works, it isn't stupid"
"Make it too hard for them to get in, and you can't get out" - especially suitable with Planetstrike - making a great fortress / defensive position is useless when you are essentially imobilised by all your own defences. Against some set ups an attacker in Planetstike may do well to bring a few of his own artillery pieces to shell the tightly packed ranks of infantry who can't escape due to the rings of walls and barricades.
In regular 40k don't concentrate so much on defending your own position that you have no time to reach out to damage enemy units / capture objectives.
"Incoming fire has right of way" - don't just check your own sight lines, check your oponents as well.
Command and control - if you have to tell someone you are in control it usually means you aren't. Make the enemy react to YOU - just because you won the initiative die roll doesn't mean you are acting as if you had the initiative.