Elementary, my dear Watson
I recently ran across an interesting discussion online that categorizes 40k armies in terms of the basic elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water.) Like almost any classification system, it does break down at some points, but it is pretty consistent and offers some very good insights into the various types of armies. I'll be doing in-depth articles on each one in the coming weeks. When I have finished the next one, you will be able to click the link here. If you wish to check them out from the start, please click here.

Air Armies
Air is everywhere and nowhere. You can't pin it down. Whereas Fire armies can be fast, Air armies concentrate on their tactical mobility. While straight-line speed is very useful, Air armies also use lateral movement and other movement modes that give them greater flexibility. In fact, Air armies generally spend most of their points on their mobility. This tends to mean that they have limited numbers on the board and seem more fragile than most other armies.

The Archetypal Air armies would be Ravenwing or a Dark Eldar Air Force. Utilizing fast movement or mobility to outmaneuver an opponent and create localized pockets where the Air army will have a massive superiority is the goal. Unlike Earth armies, which tend to focus on shooting; or Fire armies that tend to focus on assault, Air armies don't have a particular tendency to go either way. They will generally have a specialization in one or the other, but their focus is mobility and they use that mobility to achieve their superiority in their specialization. One final thing to keep in mind: Not all Air armies are fast. Sometimes they will simply have alternate movement modes, such as an assault move (like Tau Empires Crisis Suits or Eldar Jetbikes, for example.)

Air Tactics
Air tactics revolve around outmaneuvering their opponent and creating limited engagements where the enemy cannot counterattack. This typically includes flanking and disengagement strategies. These work a bit differently, so I'll cover each in a separate section.

The distinction between Flanking and Disengagement strategies is primarily that of damage over time. An army that focuses on Flanking attacks will be able to inflict a lot of damage in a short amount of time. While that typically means elite assault specialists, it can also mean extremely high damage weapons, usually short-range. On the other hand, disengagement style tactics involve playing keep-away. Doing a small amount of damage consistently while taking very little damage in return is the heart of Disengagement strategy.

Flanking Attacks
The Flanking Strategy is to hit the enemy in a small area with most or all of the army, and to do enough damage to keep the Air army safe from counterattack. While mobility may be used in terrain-hopping, it will probably also be used more dramatically in Redeployment; moving the whole army from one side of the board to the other to leave the enemy in the wrong position. The Air army will not have the numbers to absorb damage if they get caught.

Numerous High Toughness Creatures/Numerous Vehicles
Using multiple Vehicles or High Toughness creatures increases their survivability. If you only have a few, it will be easy for enemy heavy weaponry to pick them out, concentrate on them and annihilate them. If you have a lot of them, they can hide behind each other and their sheer numbers overwhelm the enemy Heavy Weapon capabilities. In addition, less-important Vehicles/Creatures may be used to interpose themselves between enemy heavy weapons and more valuable targets (either other vehicles or an important unit.) Vehicles in a Flank Attack army are often used to keep infantry safe, either by acting as transports and thus keeping the infantry under the protection of armor or by interposing themselves between shooting or assaulting units that might be able to counterattack. High Toughness Creatures can be used in the same way, though they typically have less maneuverability than their vehicular counterparts.

Shooting
The purpose of shooting in a Flank Attack army is to concentrate on and eliminate strategically important enemy units. Flank Attack armies with a focus on shooting will use their devastating firepower to concentrate on and eliminate one section of the enemy army. Even those armies with a focus on assault will have some shooting available. These armies will use shooting to snipe specific targets, whether they are heavy weapons that could harm the army, or they are

Elite Assault
In a Flank Attack army, Assault is handled differently than in Earth or Fire armies. In those armies, assault is typically initiated by Cannon Fodder troops, and then the Elites follow on. In the Flank Attack army, there are no Cannon Fodder troops. The assaulters in this case are the elites and have to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. If they cannot wipe out the enemy enough to prevent a counterassault, they will generally avoid the assault until they can.

Target Denial
Target Denial in a Flanking army mostly consists of keeping out of range or Line of Sight from the bulk of the enemy army, often by concentrating into a single flank or wedge. An additional level of Target Denial can be achieved by first limiting return fire, then obliterating what can shoot, either through powerful shooting or an Elite Assault.

Disengagement
The Disengagement Strategy revolves around keeping out of reach of the enemy. Damage done is almost secondary to the goal of keeping the army intact. Damage done will usually be focused on ways of keeping the enemy from counterattacking or achieving objectives. In this style of army, movement is based around staying away from the enemy army and possibly staying out of sight of them where possible.

Numerous High Toughness Creatures/Numerous Vehicles
Similar to their use in the Flank Attack Strategy, taking numerous high Toughness Creatures or Numerous vehicles increases their survivability. I won't repeat their uses here, but I'd like to say how important this extra survivability is to a Disengagement style of army. Lists like these tend to operate on fairly narrow margins, in terms of victory points or objectives or anything else. Anything that can slightly increase those margins is a good thing. In terms of victory points, bundling up a bunch of them in one very-hard-to-kill package gives you a good margin. In terms of objectives, having an extremely durable unit that can contest objectives in the face of heavy firepower gives you a good margin as well.

Shooting
The shooting in a Disengagement style army focuses around Sniping and Plinking. Sniping takes out specific high-value or strategically important units, either destroying their ability to damage the Disengagement army or simply increasing their margin of victory through points or by taking out objective-takers. Plinking is shooting designed to do a little damage to the enemy while taking very little in return. A variation on plinking involves limiting line of sight to the non-special portions of an enemy squad (ie: in a 10-man Marine squad with Lascannon, Plasma and Powerfist Sergeant, it would be limiting line of sight such that only the Bolters can see the Disengagement unit, then shooting some of them. The opponent is unlikely to take any casualties on the special members of the squad, so there will be a few less to return fire (and, of course, the special members won't have line of sight on the Disengagement unit in their turn.)

Target Denial
Even more than a Flank Attack army, a Disengagement army relies on Target Denial. Ideally, nothing in the enemy army should be able to assault or shoot at a Disengagement army. While this isn't always possible, it's possible to severely limit return fire. Ideally, the limited fire can be directed into a unit that it cannot affect. Alternately, perhaps the only unit that can fire can be neutralized. (Thus, maybe a Heavy Bolter squad is forced to fire at a heavy vehicle. Or, failing that, maybe a tank is the only unit that can shoot, but it is targeted by all the heavy weapons in the Disengagement army.

Tank Destroyer units
Barrage weaponry is particularly dangerous to a Disengagement army, as it can attack them even without seeing them. Thus, Disengagement armies sometimes use surgical strike units to take care of particular enemy units capable of such attacks. Depending on their makeup and the value or protection of their targets, they may or may not be considered suicide units. (In some instances, the target may be important enough to be worth the trade, in others, the unit may be able to take out the enemy unit and then continue functioning for more of the game.)

Playing against an Air Army
Playing effectively against an Air army means attacking their mobility. If you can cut down their transports, an Air army will be hamstrung. Alternately, if you can stay in one small wedge, the Air army will be hard-pressed to isolate and thus destroy a portion of your army. In addition, if they attempt to damage a portion of your army, having the rest of your army in close proximity means that you should have a good deal of return fire. Air armies are typically designed to fight against Earth or Fire armies. Against other Air armies, it can be a very tactical game, where the first mistake will generally spell the end of the game for that player. The flexibility and mobility of Water armies makes for a challenging game as well, though with a bit more margin for error on both sides.

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