Advanced Target Priority
A few weeks ago, I put up an article about a very effective method of determining target priority called Killhammer. Once you understand what to target first, though, there are still more steps. First, figure out what to target it with and why you are targeting it. Then, figure out if you can use your target priority in a strategic sense to further your winning of the game.

What should I hit it with?
On it's face, this seems like an easy question to answer. Target it with something that will damage it effectively. There are other considerations, however. If you have multiple weapons that could damage the target, you need to figure out of any of them could be used effectively against another target. If so, consider which targeting plan would give you the most benefit. For example, if you have 2 lascannons, 1 of which can see only one target and the other can see two, you'll be best served by having the single target lascannon fire first, then once you know the result of that shooting, decide which target the other lascannon needs to hit. (If the first one failed, decide which target of the two has the highest priority.) In general, you want to fire your weapons that have the fewest targets first. This is a fairly simple example, however.

It gets a little more complicated when you have multiple kinds of weapon and multiple kinds of target. Let's say there's a Demon Prince with 3W and a rhino and a small assault squad bearing down on you. You've got 2 Lascannons, a Missile Launcher a melta, and a Terminator squad (4xStorm Bolter, 1xAssault Cannon.) To simplify the example, each weapon can hit all 3 targets. At least one enemy unit will be hitting your lines, but if you can limit or choose the ones that do, you'll be better off. Let's have a look at what each weapon can do.

vs. the Daemon Prince
Lascannon, Missile Launcher or Melta: 0.275W
Terminator Squad: 0.96W

Vs. the Rhino
Each Lascannon: 22%
Missile Launcher: 16.67%
Melta: 30.5%
Terminator squad (Assault Cannon) 22%

Vs. the Assault Squad
Lascannon, Missile Launcher, Melta: 0.55W each
Terminator Squad: 1.92W, including roughly 1/3 chance of killing the PFist sergeant due to number of hits.

Okay, the Daemon Prince is probably the most damaging, and the Rhino squad probably has a slight edge on the Assault squad due to numbers. If you put the Terminator squad shooting at the Daemon prince, you'll take it down 26 times out of 27. Good enough for me. Starting with the Melta, start shooting at the Rhino next. If you end up firing everything at it, you'll have better than a 91% chance of immobilizing or destroying it this turn. If you get lucky and pop it early, you can turn a shot or two at the Assault Squad, but that's only if you get lucky. You might also choose to move the Terminator squad such that the Assault squad has to hit it. Depending on what it's other possible targets are, that might be your best bet.

Why am I hitting it?
Again, this seems like a silly question. You are presumably targeting this unit because it rates pretty highly in terms of Killhammer-style target priority. However, just because it has high target priority, doesn't mean it needs to be obliterated regardless of the expense. Unless you are very lucky (or at the end of a game) you will rarely have more firepower than you have targets. Keep in mind why you are targeting the unit to decide how much firepower it warrants. A Devastator squad, for example, will need to be killed, probably to the last man, to silence those heavy guns. On the other hand, you might be able to move vulnerable targets out of their line of sight or put something that is basically immune to them in front of them to block them. If you can achieve this, you don't need to devote ANY firepower to this target, since you have already neutralized it. A Leman Russ or a Predator has lots of nasty guns and can be pretty hard to kill. It only needs to be shaken to prevent it firing this turn, however. Instead of pouring all of your firepower into that one tank, shake it and move on to other targets.

How much should I hit it?
On the other hand, most infantry units need to be "killed until they are dead." This follows the kill-gap principle behind Killhammer. If the enemy has 3 Tactical squads with Missile Launcher, Plasma rifle and 8 Bolters, that's decent firepower. If you kill 3 or 4 from each squad, you'll still have 3 Missiles and 3 Plasmas shooting back at you next turn. If you focus on one squad, you can completely burn it down and only have 2 Missiles and Plasmas shooting at you next turn. That's a huge difference (33%, generally) in killing potential. Against smaller units, especially ones that have only 1 important member (such as the 5-man Assault squad listed above) you can also take pot-shots with multiple multi-shot weapons or squads of light weaponry, in hopes of taking out the one important guy (the powerfist sergeant in this case) that makes the unit viable. Once that's gone, you can probably safely ignore the unit until it gets close to contesting an objective. _Then_ you will have to burn it down to the last man.

Strategic Target Priority
Using Killhammer principles, you can figure out what targets you need to take out. Understanding the what, why and how of the targeting priority can give you an even better lead in creating a kill-gap. Then comes the strategic part. See if there's something you can do (with target priority) to widen the kill-gap further. For example, in my DeathWing army, AP1-2 weapons and power weapons threaten my Terminators. High Strength (8+) or Melta weaponry and Monstrous Creatures threaten my LandRaiders. If I notice that the opponent only has a few weapons that can threaten one of my target types, I should focus on taking those out and then use that target type to protect the other target type. Confused? don't be. Hopefully an example will help...

Let's say the enemy army only has 3 Lascannons or Meltas that can damage my LandRaiders, but it has lots of plasma or power weapons to kill my Terminators. If I can kill off those heavy weapons quickly, I can mount my Terminators inside the LandRaiders while I start chewing away at those plasma/power weapons. I could also move my LRs such that they block most of the weapons from my Terminators, then use my combined firepower to burn down 1-2 targets at a time. By creating a mis-match between weapons and targets like this, you can create a much bigger kill-gap. After a few turns, the opposing army will have almost no way of dealing with part of your forces, and you then shove those forces down their throat to keep them from hitting the part of your army they can damage. You are, in effect, taking out both the Lascannons and the Plasmas, since you are rendering them both useless.

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