[Epic] Tactic Critique: version 3

From: William Rood <wrood_at_...>
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 1997 14:07:16 -0400

Hello again. This tactic is called the Three
Front Swing Attack. It has some problems which I
do not have time to playtest out (and thus give
you a proper tactic summary). If anyone is
willing to work on this, please post the results
to the list. Of special interest to me is how
this withstands aggressive firepower (see *
below).

Name: Three Front Swing Attack
Goal: A slow assault unit delivery system

Needed: 4 detachments (yes, a lot, but read on).

3 detachments ("the fronts") in the range of
200-300 points. Decent armor would be nice, but
can be traded for quantity of troops versus
quality. Heavy Firepower / Super heavy weapons /
Specialists are not needed here. Simply basic
troops / transports that will soak up some
firepower, and if still alive can provide at least
an FP1 per troop.

1 detachment ("the swing") of X points that is
your main assaulting unit. This unit should be
specialists (assault), and contain 1 or more
psykers of your list allows it.

Concept:
The three fronts form an obtuse triangle in front
of the swing. The largest angle is the leading
point of the triangle, with the two trailing sides
on either extreme-side front of the swing.

            Front
Front Front
           Swing

The only limiting factor on separation of
detachments is range of weapons, and assault
range. Typically, you want the Swing to be able
to counter assault, as well as provide some
supporting fire in the advent of a close combat.

The three fronts advance on Assault orders. The
swing advances on Assault orders, but attempts to
position itself behind the largest front (which
will vary as the game progresses). On the turn
that the swing will be able to reach it's
objective, assault move the fronts so that only
one stand is in contact with the target point.
The swing then assault moves into close combat,
and will have the supporting fire of any remaining
units in the front.

The enemy is forced, by the nature of the front
structure, to concentrate his fire upon the
fronts. Hoping to inflict casualties/BM's, and
possibly break the fronts. If a front is broken,
move the swing behind the next largest front.
Effectively the broken front will be out of the
maneuver, as you do not want to delay the whole
attack while waiting for the broken front to
regroup, and catch up. If broken, attempt to
rally them, and move them into cover.

If the unit is going to be assaulted, attempt to
minimize the number of fronts participating in the
assault, preferring to continue the advance
towards your intended target.

With the amount of firepower that can be brought
to bear on detachments, it appears that the swing
detachment would have an expected lifetime of 2 -
3 turns maximum. This is why it is important to
choose to use this detachment during your setup,
and position the units as close to their intended
targets as possible.

One additional benefit - if there are survivors
amidst the fronts, this 4 detachment architecture
allows for morphing into the picket point defense
or the cusp point defense or the anchor defense
tactics.

* Note: I feel that the amount of firepower needed
to breach the fronts and start laying BM's and
casualties onto the swing detachment will far
exceed the total point costs of all 4 units (this
is the part I have not play tested yet). If this
is indeed the case, the opponent will spend more
efforts attempting to destroy the swing and
fronts, and ignore your long ranged attacks.

** Sub Note: I also find this tactic to be great
for drawing fire. Thus, I usually use it not to
obtain an objective or to target a detachment, but
simply to advance towards an objective, drawing
fire, while my real threats are moving into
position.

Regards,

//William Rood - Systems Development
// Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
//
// mailto:wrood_at_...
Received on Thu Aug 14 1997 - 18:07:16 UTC