Was ist der Boogeyman?

My last article gave rise to some questions about the concept of the boogeyman, and yes – for you readers in England we did add an extra O to the word! So, what is a boogeyman? In its most basic form a boogeyman is simply a shiny object used to attract attention. A perfect, and very recent,  example of a boogeyman either the Wraithknight or the Riptide. Both of these units are intimidating on the table top because of their size in comparison to other models and they are both durable because of their high toughness and wounds. Both of these units are fast on the tabletop and they both pack a fairly lethal arsenal of weapons. So why are both of these very good examples of boogeymen?

Rock, Paper, Scissors

In the last month I have managed to get in 5 games against 5 of my friends who all play very different lists with very different armies. Ork Speed Freaks, Necron flyer spam, Tyranid monstrous creature spam, Eldar Jet Bike spam and even an Eldar / Dark Eldar Beast Pack. Now, all of these guys are great players and all of them know their armies each of them have won local and regional tournaments and can regularly be found playing on the top three tables at any event they go to. In full disclosure I will say that I have been testing multiple ideas for a revised army list and not all of these concepts proved useful for what I am trying to do. That being said, my research lead me to a conclusion that I have been ignoring for the better part of 18 months now – the all comer list is dead.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Helldrake

You can’t hunt what you can’t kill. Pretty simple concept really, if your opponent can’t do any damage to your unit – you are free to do what you want. What are we talking about? Why the Helldrake of course! Everyone’s favorite barbeque and vector strike specialist custom made for taking out 3+ armor and almost anything else that gets in his way. Previously I talked about the effect this little guy has had on the game and not over reacting and reminding everyone that there aren’t 3 Helldrakes waiting for you around each corner. Now, let’s talk about some of the tools we have that we can use against this marine killing machine.

Helldrake Stage 5: Acceptance

Let start out by saying this is not a rant about how Helldrake is broken, how it ruins the game, or how I crapped my pants and learned to like it when I see that God Forsaken critter on the other side of the table. If you are still anywhere in stages one through four, skip this article and move on to another author who might be in one of the same stages of Denial, Anger, Bargaining or Depression as yourself. Those of us here have already moved on to Acceptance and are quietly plotting the death of our enemies and ways to neutralize them.

40k Tactics - Defining the Battlespace

In 1984 NATO adopted a doctrine of battle known of as ‘Air Land Battle’. This doctrine divided the battle space up into a three parts - the Rear Area, the Main Battle Area and the Deep Operations. Generally speaking, different elements in the force were given responsibility for separate areas with clear boundaries on those areas. The areas given to specific units generally fit the capabilities and limitations of the forces assigned to those areas. For example a B-52 would have responsibility for targets in the Deep Operations area because of its ability to deliver large amounts of highly explosive ordnance from the relative safety of high altitude but its inability to actually hold any ground. An Infantry Company or Tank Platoon would be given responsibility in the Main Battle Area due to their relatively short range, compared to the aforementioned B-52, and their ability to take and hold ground, which the B-52 lacks. Artillery with its longer range and high damage potential but relatively low survivability, compared to the Infantry and Tanks, is more suited to the Rear Area where it can support the Main Battle Area with relative safety.

Now, I know that right now you are doing one of two things. You are either:

A)     Wondering who in the hell cares about all this mumbo jumbo.

B)      Already categorizing units in your army based on the above criteria.

Target Priorities in 6th Edition

Recently I got in a game against one of my friends who is preparing a list for a national tournament soon. He told me to bring a no-holds barred list because he wanted a good test for the army he was looking at taking. Happily I obliged with my usual Drop Wolves with a squad of Stern Guard in a pod as well. After the dust settled we totaled up the points and I managed to pull out the victory despite loosing all the Sternguard – opps! We can get into speed bump units, multiple Troop choices or even the merits of Drop Pods some other day. What we are really here to discuss is target priority – because at the end of the game my friend was puzzled with me as to why I was shooting what I was shooting with what I was shooting them with!

Building Better Allies in Blocks

Working through small ally contingents for use with my Space Wolves has led me to thinking about a system of putting together ally forces in a concept of building blocks. The concept of building blocks follows a simple format that creates a single ‘base block’ being your primary detachment. The’ base block’ starts at a bare bones 1,000 point list with no frills and no gimmicks, just wholesale pain at discount prices. To this base block we add detachments of allies that are preformatted into ‘task blocks’ depending on the situation. These ‘task blocks’ fall into three categories: offensive, defensive and operational. In my system ‘task blocks’ only requirement is to be less than 750 points, this gives you a package at the most common point value of 1,750 points.

Drop Pod Defense: 101

I have talked about this at length previously and I find myself once again going back to a foundational principle in order to discuss a proper defensive posture for an aggressive Drop Pod army. The essence of warfare is a violent struggle between two hostile, independent, and irreconcilable wills, each trying to impose itself on the other. War is fundamentally an interactive social process. Clausewitz called it a Zweikampf (literally a “two struggle”) and suggested the image of a pair of wrestlers locked in a hold, each exerting force and counterforce to try to throw the other. War is thus a process of continuous mutual adaptation, of give and take, move and countermove. It is critical to keep in mind that the enemy is not an inanimate object to be acted upon but an independent and animate force with its own objectives and plans. While we try to impose our will on the enemy, he resists us and seeks to impose his own will on us. Appreciating this dynamic interplay between opposing human wills is essential to understanding the fundamental nature of war.

40k Tactics - List Building

Whether you realize it or not everyone has a checklist. When you get up from the table after eating at a restaurant you check your pockets to make sure you have your keys, your phone and your wallet. Everyone does it even if you don’t realize it; your brain is constantly cycling through checklists. It should come as no real surprise that your army lists usually come out with similar tactics and similar qualities, because your brain is automatically using a checklist on you – even in army list building. So what’s in your checklist and how do you figure it out?

Warhammer 40k Tactics - Strike Packages 2.0

In my previous discussion I laid out a list of qualities that I think are essential in a solid strike package – durability, mobility, lethality and adaptability. I like to think of these qualities as a starting point that I use when putting together what I refer to as a ‘strike package’. Keeping in mind that in my definition a strike package is a unit that is used to target specific portions of an opponent’s army and eliminate them quickly and efficiently without resorting to using the famous ‘make it fit wrench’ of simply tossing the kitchen sink, or a hammer, at the problem. That being said, strike packages are very much a ‘maneuver warfare’ based concept and people well versed in ‘attrition warfare’ will probably find the concept foreign, and or useless, to them. 

Maneuver Warfare - He's got it!

Warhammer 40k Tactics - Strike Packages 1.0

The strike package – what are they and what do they do? In the ‘real world’ strike packages are put together to deal with threats of a certain level, threats of a level you don’t typically want your standard infantry units to deal with. In the world of Warhammer 40,000 these threats take the form of things like 20 Lootaz dug in behind an Aegis Defense Line. See, I really don’t want a squad of Imperial Guard Veterans or a Squad of Tactical Marines trying to move up and take that out. It’s a specific threat that is difficult to deal with and requires more than the typical ‘square peg – round hole’ solution on the table top, enter the strike package.

Less than optimal Strike Package

6th ED: Wolves and Pods

I love drop pods. The lists that I always enjoyed playing in 5^th used 3x Drop Pods and would deliver 1x squad with Rune Priest, Wolf Guard and 8x Grey Hunters along side 2x pods full of a Wolf Guard and 9x Grey Hunters. I found this to be hit and miss (because sometimes that 3^rd pod just won’t come on!) and while survivable because of its high numbers – it lacked an ability to run up and punch you in the face. In games against armies using long range supporting fire like Tau and Heavy Marine (thunderfire) armies it did very well. But against mobile armies it could struggle because as Mars always tells me ‘Drop Pods are only fast once’ and every once in awhile my guys would find themselves struggling to keep up with faster armies.

Gaming: Mass x Velocity = Momentum

Momentum can be defined as "mass in motion." All objects have mass; so if an object is moving, then it has momentum - it has its mass in motion. The amount of momentum that an object has is dependent upon two variables: how much stuff is moving and how fast the stuff is moving. Momentum depends upon the variables mass and velocity. In terms of an equation, the momentum of an object is equal to the mass of the object times the velocity of the object.

Gaming: Timing is Everything

The other day while discussing 40k tactics with some friends the subject of timing came up. Timing of assaults, timing of turns and timing of games in a tournament setting are all critical to success or failure - yet we never discuss them. Sure we talk about math hammer, we discuss point cost efficiencies, evaluate movement distances, whether to reserve or deep strike and we even talk about how to game wound allocation, all while totally skipping perhaps one of the most difficult to master and critical parts of the game. Timing.

After Action Review: Fighting Grey Knights

I had the pleasure of playing against a couple of Grey Knight armies this weekend, both played by very capable gamers who are experimenting with their lists. Both of the two lists I had the opportunity to play were dramatically different and yet kinda similar. One game was a win, the other a loss. Both games offered some great insights into how the Grey Knights work. Below are some of my general observations about the games and what I learned about Grey Knights during them.

Game Time: Speed Vs. Survivability

Roland over at Kirb your enthusiasm posted an interesting article last month about 1850 Point IG Armored Company lists using the current IG codex and offered several different ways to build such a list. Given my penchant for mechanized warfare, the Imperial Guard and tanks in general - I was intrigued to say the least. My only problem would come in pairing them down to the 1500 point level, but being as stingy as I am, I didn't think it would be a problem.