[Epic] Tactic Critique

From: William Rood <wrood_at_...>
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 10:30:20 -0400

Last night saw the 5th time I used this tactic to
winning effect. I think this is generic enough to

be used by any army, but have only tested it with
the Eldar force I have. Please critique!!

----
Detachment 1: (approx. 265 points)
10 stands of Guardians mounted in 5 Wave Serpents,
2 warlocks, and nominate one of the warlocks as
HQ.
Detachment 2: (approx. 195 points)
10 Swooping Hawks, 10 Exarchs, 2 warlocks, and
nominate one of warlocks as HQ.
----
1.  Setup with Guardians in Wave Serpents, and
placed 15 cm ahead of the hawks.
2.  Set Assault orders on both detachments.
3.  Movement phase
Wave Serpents move 25 cm ahead.  If there is
cover, they move the extra 5 cm to maxout their
movement.  If there is no cover, disembark the
guardians into a protective screen around the wave
serpents, leaving the stands with the warlocks in
the back.
The hawks move 30 cm ahead, now with 10 cm
separating the guardians from the hawks.
4. Shooting Phase
For shooting, you have 3 disrupt shots (5 Disrupts
/ 2 due to assault orders = 2.5 actual disrupts),
and a FP of 10 from the guardians (20 FP / 2 due
to assault orders).  This setup will cause 2-4
BM's just from the Disrupt shots (1-3 Super Heavy
Weapons will cause 1 BM if they hit, and the
disrupts cause an additional BM on a 4+), and 1
more BM from the guardians!  For extra effect,
dump some artillery into the target unit.
5.  Assault Phase
In the assault phase, hawks move 45cm(or less)
into a close combat with your target detachment.
If the guardians are already disembarked, they
fork onto either of the target detachments flanks,
staying out of close combat, but giving supporting
fire by being within 15 cm - while the wave
serpents move straight up the middle to give
supporting fire to the hawks.  If the guardians
are not disembarked, the wave serpents move
forward 25 cm (or less) and disgorge the
guardians.  They can then move 10-25cm forking
onto either flank of the target detachment (but
staying within 30 cm of detachment hq), providing
supporting fire, but not going into close combat.
This is the desired route, as they can move upto
25 cm, and possibly out flank the detachment, and
limit their capability to respond with a retreat
move.
In the assault phase, the hawks "should" win with
a +2 or greater (they will have more psykers, the
other unit should have more BM's, possibly the
other unit will have 5 or more BM's, the hawks
will have a greater assault rating, etc.).  The
target detachment is broken, and if you positioned
your guardians correctly, they should limit the
enemies capability to retreat, thus destroying
them.
The critical task here is attempt to get your
guardians into a position to limit the retreat
move / still provide supporting fire / and stay
within 30 cm of the detachment hq.
-----
Historical Note:  I play against mostly Space
Marine Players, and one Ork player.  The Space
Marine players all have very large detachments,
with an equally large point cost.  This tactic
works wonders against the big detachments, as you
can break even the toughest opponents with a few
assault phases.  Also, this tactic just plain
"looks" cool on the table top.
--
// William Rood - Systems Development
// Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
//
// mailto:wrood_at_...

Received on Wed Jul 23 1997 - 14:30:20 UTC