Note: S
= Strategy and CS =
Counter-strategy.Intelligence = Know your enemy
When you are ignorant of your enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle. Don't forget you "enemy" is not just the figures on the table. Get to know your opponent as well.
S - Read the Codex on your enemy's troops and watch them in action.
- Understand their System and
how to pull it apart- Know how to fight your
enemy unit by unitS - Watch your opponent play other games and note their strategy and tactics.
- Learn to get inside their
thoughts.CS - Get creative:
- Thoroughly understand your
troops and their capabilities; and,- Try out unusual tactics so
your opponents aren't sure what you're going to do next.Don't fight your enemy type for type
If you fight like with like you become "decisively engaged". In other words you lose your ability to manoeuvre.
S - Shoot enemy H2H troops from a distance
S - Don't fight strength with strength, fight weakness with overwhelming strength.
CS - Get your H2H troops into action as soon as possible:
- Run them behind cover; - Run them behind a screen of
cheaper troops;- Lay down a smoke screen /
Blind grenades;- Use moving vehicles as
cover; or,- Transport them in vehicles.[Note - don't forget to
provide covering fire, especially if your troops are
running]Maintain Unit coherency
This way you can reinforce one or other squad and can easily regroup if one squad gets heavily mauled. If you maintain this distance with line of sight (LOS) it effectively becomes a "clear" zone as you sweep across the field.
S - Keep squads within running distance of each other (usually 8".)
CS - Isolate your opponents units and attack until eradicated or routed.
Combined Arms
To maximise combat power combine units so that their weaknesses and strengths are balanced out.
Deception
There's an element of chance in war, but real success comes only with "Intelligence" (knowledge.) A good General, therefore, employs deception to foil the enemy's intelligence gathering. As your enemy in this case is your real life opponent the following strategies are in the "meta-game".
S - When ready to attack, look as though you're not.
- When moving units, look
disorganized or lacking in confidence.- When in striking range,
make it seem that you are far away.- When too far away, make it
seem that you are near.- Hold out bait to lure the
enemy into your traps.- Appear where you are not
expected.- Do something odd and
unpredictable, to cause your opponent to hesitate.- Disguise your Main EffortCS - Good Intelligence.
Manoeuvre
Current military thinking suggests that you should be moving all the time. This will confuse your opponent, make you difficult to hit and will often open up opportunities for you in your opponent's battleplan. Static forces lose as they become sitting targets. An onferior army can often gain an advantage by moving faster than their opponent.
S - Keep your forces moving - you'll need a good battleplan though as it's easy to lose control.
S - Disguise you destination - leave a number of routes open, even if this means you are moving slower than you would prefer, your opponent won't know your ultimate target.
CS - Overwatch
- Good IntelligencePsychological Weapons
Powerful weapons are often most effective when they totally overwhelm, and can often have a psychological effect on your opponent when used in mass. Some characters and vehicles will also disturb your opponent to the point that they move units out of the way to avoid combat.
S - Concentrate all of your Heavy Weapons fire from all platforms on your target.
- Herd enemy units into the
Kill Zone with frightening characters or vehicles..CS - You don't have to kill these all powerful units or characters, instead, tie them up with cheap troops that refuse to break. They'll then spend the whole battle bogged down in bodies but unable to score major points.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Building a superpowerful unit accompanied by pumped up characters boosted by wargear is risky. You can loose a lot if your opponent can trash it. However, if you have cheap troops available to you this may be a viable option, especially if you can build two of them.
S - Always keep some Reserves.
Depth
Don't stretch your troops too thin, long lines of troops don't work well. If you use depth you can still engage if your enemy breaks through your lines.
S - Keep Reserve units behind your Main Effort
CS - Flank Attacks
- ManoeuvreReserves
Use your Main Unit to engage and use your reserves to win. Always try to maintain some reserves, these units can step into any holes that appear in your battleplan. They can also attack any unforseen targets, defend the flanks of your main unit and provide the extra effort that is often required to win.
Placing these units behind
your Main Unit and Heavy Weapons can reduce the
temptation to commit them into combat too early Combat Resolution
Always finish your attacks and don't move on until the target is destroyed. You only get full VPs when you totally destroy the unit.
Fire Superiority
As soon as you get in range open up with everything you've got and keep shooting. Gain immediate fire superiority and keep it (not so easy in turn based wargames, but essential to winning ranged combat all the same.)
Envelopment
Always try to attack an enemy target from more than one side at a time. This will increase your fire superiority and combat resolution.
S - Use flanking moves
CS - Reserves
Support
Try to set up units to complement each other and counteract each others weaknesses.
Deployment
Consider the following when placing units:
- Location:
Will the Unit maximise its
skills?- Fields of Fire:
Do you have them? Do they
overlap with other units?- Support:
Put units that support each
other next to each other.- Speed:
Generally, fast units on the
flanks and slower units in the middle.- Infiltration:
Be cautious about places your
enemy can hide infiltrators in your midst.- Terrain
Use to protect your flanks
and set up your KZChoosing your Tactics
When you massively outnumber your enemy, surround them. If double their strength, divide them. If you are smaller, be capable of eluding them.
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