Preparation for War!

Sometimes you'll be playing a game of 40k and somebody will come along with a truly nasty list or combo. They may totally wipe you out or make it seem like there's no hope of beating them. You can be annoyed they've got such a hard list, or you can step up and take the challenge of beating it.

If you are planning on taking on a super hard army or a nasty combination, understanding the army or combination helps a lot. Find out exactly what makes it so nasty and what the rules are. If it's something in the rules, read up on that section of the rulebook very carefully. It's possible that the other person has misunderstood a rule or forgotten something that would be relevant to the situation. As an example, a Morale check is a kind of Leadership test, thus anything that effects either Morale or Leadership would effect a Morale check. On the other hand, something that only affected Morale checks would have no effect on another kind of Leadership test. In addition, since the rules are interspersed with "fluff" or story that sounds good and gives flavor, but isn't actual rules, sometimes people will interpret rules incorrectly. (Before I started playing regularly, I thought you could shoot while you were in close combat, since the rules referred to melee being a flurry of slashes and point blank shots!)

If it's something in an army list, see if you can borrow or buy the codex and read it yourself. Read the appropriate rule or section, then check around to see if it is mentioned elsewhere as well. Knowing how the opposing army works is generally helpful as well. For example, a long time ago, Chaos Mike started using a Daemon Prince of Nurgle in his army. It had flight and Daemonic Stature and a bunch of other stuff. It munched through my Dark Eldar like nobody's business. In addition, his Dreadnaught was also very effective and they really crunched my army, in addition to Mike's Plaguemarines in Rhinos. At first I thought it was so unfair. Then I thought about it for a while and checked up on what I had that could kill it. After some thinking, I realized that I already had the solution to my problem: Dark Lances and Blasters. These are S8 AP2 weapons in the Dark Eldar army, and are almost the only heavy and special weapons they have, so there are lots of them. I needed to kill AV11 and 12 vehicles and a High toughness creature. The guns were just what the doctor ordered. I made sure that I focused them on the targets that I needed to kill first, instead of just shooting what was across from me. In addition to tasking certain units with specific targets, I also assigned some units to engage those targets, bringing the fight to them. I'm pretty sure I over-allocated (like putting 250pts worth of stuff to destroy a 100pt unit) but it worked like a charm. Those things didn't seem nearly as nasty after that. (In the picture below, the Daemon Prince is the sturdy fellow with wings and the Dreadnaught is the Mutated thing at the vanguard of his wedge.)

Make it yourself!
Once you understand it and you know how it works, look at it from the other side. Try building an army like your opponent's or at least one that uses the same idea. Look at how it is formed. Try to see how you would use that army or that idea. Look for things that would make it better, and things that would make it harder to use. Also look into ways to take more advantage of it. If you bring a certain kind of unit, does it make the idea stronger or weaker? Do you get more out of it if you take a different kind of unit instead? For example, if you are using (or your opponent is) a Dark Eldar Webway Portal army, you pay the same amount for the Portals whether you place one unit inside them or 10 units. Given that fact, you would probably get more benefit out of the portals if you deployed 10 units. Creating a list around a Webway Portal would also give you an idea of the things you need to have and the situations you need to avoid to have the list work effectively. You can then apply that knowledge when you next come across the army. You may also apply that knowledge by making adjustments to your own list that make your army more capable of handling such an army.

If it isn't so much an idea as a whole army, or you can't figure out why it's so tough, break it down. Figure out what was the toughest part about it or what did the most damage to your army. Maybe it was the Daemons of a Chaos army, for example. Figure out how Daemons work (Summoning) and how they can be killed. Daemon summoning is vulnerable because there are only specific places the daemons can come out. If you take out those icons, the daemons can't show up. Admittedly, a smart army will make that difficult to do, but you might be able to take out some of them. If you take out the icons in one area, the daemons will have to show up elsewhere. That may make them have to walk to the area where you are vulnerable and you might be able to shoot them on the way. Summoning is also subject to scatter and the need to be able to place models. If the Daemons summon into an area where you have models, they can only place the ones that will fit and still be more than 1" away from your models. Thus, you may be able to swamp an icon and kill off some Daemons without firing a shot. Daemons (to continue our example) also have invulnerable saves, but not regular saves (with the exception of Bloodletters.) This means that there's a chance that a Lascannon won't hurt them, but on the other hand, they are just as vulnerable to Bolters as they are to Lascannons. Therefore, if you are going to shoot them, hit them with something that has a lot of shots (such as a squad of Rapid-Firing Bolters) rather than bringing out the antitank guns.

Maybe instead of the way it worked, it had to do with the dice. Bad dice rolls aren't something that you can really prepare for, but analyzing it to see if the dice actually did have an effect will tell you if the army is really something to worry about, or if the other guy just got lucky. Dark Eldar armies, for example, are known for living and dying based on the roll for the first turn. If they get the first turn, they often have enough firepower (or assault power) to tear a big chunk out of the enemy army on that first turn before it can fight back. Once that damage is done, it is hard for the enemy army to recover from that damage and put up an effective fight. On the flip side of that coin is that Dark Eldar armies are typically so fragile that if they lose the first turn but didn't make allowances for that possibility, it may be nearly over for them. If you had gone first or second, would it have made a difference in the game?

If you think that going first might have changed the game, you have three options. The first is just to take it in stride and hope that you get the first turn next time. The second is to see if there is anything you can do to ensure that you do get first turn. I know that Dark Eldar and Imperial Guard both have things that will help them get the first turn, and I believe Daemonhunters do as well. There may well be others, but those are the ones I am familiar with. Finally, you can try to ensure that going second won't hamstring your army. Maybe you can use cover more effectively (a lot of players will deploy so that they can maximize their shooting or assaulting potential in case they get first turn, but that generally means that their armies are exposed to return fire or assaults if they lose that roll.) You could put some units in cover so that they will have cover saves if they are shot. You could deploy mobile units such as tanks behind terrain so they cannot be fired on initially, but can move out and shoot when you do get a turn. You might also use a Refused Flank deployment (putting your army off to one side or the other, instead of spreading across the board) to limit how much of the enemy army can see you. You might also put certain units in front of others. As an example, vehicles block Line of Sight, so you might park your Rhino in front of your Tactical squad so that they cannot be fired on first. Once it is your turn, you can drive the Rhino out of the way and commence shooting. You might also put damage-absorbing units in front, if you can't block your whole line. These would be units that can take damage (like Terminators or Wraithguard) or units that are inexpensive and so you can afford for them to take casualties (Spinegaunts, Grots.) Even if they don't block Line of Sight, they can force a Target Priority test, which gives the enemy a chance to not shoot the stuff you want to keep safe.

After you've analyzed what happened and carefully checked out the other army and the rules, then put together a plan to beat it. You may be able to beat it with the same army you used before, just using it in a different way or changing how you deployed. An example of this would be what I should have done when I played Nick's Armored Company. (Hi Nick!)

Tanks for the Memories!
Although I'd heard of Armored Company and had even considered playing one at one point, I wasn't totally familiar with the army. (It's tanks, how much familiarity do you need, I thought.) Analyzing our game, Nick had started by deploying along the board edge, which meant that I had more distance to cross than I normally would, but his guns still had plenty of range to shoot me. Second, I made very poor use of cover. Despite the fact that Tyranids move very well through cover, I generally moved straight toward him through an open area. While I was trying to cut down on the number of turns it would take to get me across the board, cover saves or blocked Line of Sight would have been much more effective. Essentially, I was still playing like I was a shooty army, as I was trying to make sure I had Line of Sight to his stuff, even though most of my weapons didn't actually have range or the strength to scratch his armor. I also deployed like I normally deploy. I put my Heavy Support Carnifi in front. These are the ones that are my antivehicle protection and really don't do much damage against most armies. Since my Elite Carnifi and my Hive Tyrants do more damage, I tend to put the Heavy Carnifi in front to protect the others. Against most armies, I'd really rather have them shoot my Heavy Support Carnifi, since they are less integral to my plans. Against Armored Company, however, they were the only ones that could actually damage Nick's tanks, so I should have protected them more. Along the same lines, I generally hide my Genestealers behind the wall of Monstrous Creatures to keep them safe until I need them to charge. In our first game, I did the same thing, hiding them behind the lines and moving them up at the same speed as my Monstrous Creatures. In that game, once I lost all my Monstrous Creatures, my Zoanthropes tried to move to cover and use Warp Blast and my Genestealers ran and fleeted forward into the teeth of the guns. Several of them reached his lines and I believe they actually destroyed one tank and damaged another (out of 5, if I recall correctly) before being shot to pieces.

Looking at Armored Company, what makes it nasty is the tanks (Captain Obvious Strikes Again!) Specifically, they have huge amounts of Firepower and have heavy armor that keeps them alive while they hammer your lines. AV14 in the front means that only things S8 or higher can damage them. In my army, that means Venom Cannons and Rending Claws, plus Warp Blasts and Monstrous Creature close combat attacks. While that may seem like a good chunk of my army, remember that I only had 1 or 2 Venom Cannons and 2 Warp Blasts in my army, and those close combat attacks, whether rending or Monstrous, need to get, well, close to be effective. Armored company consists almost entirely of vehicles. While vehicles can be hard to damage, once damaged, they are much easier to destroy, and you don't even have to destroy one to make it less effective. For example, if you get a glancing hit, it will almost always prevent the tank from shooting next turn. Even if you do nothing else to it, that's a good chunk less firepower that'll be coming your way next turn. (Remember, those tanks are expensive, so a single tank being glanced may account for 1/5 of his firepower at 1000pts.) Once you actually damage a vehicle, it gets less effective quickly. For example, if you Wound a Carnifex, it still gets it's full attacks and can still move and shoot. If you immobilize a tank, it doesn't get to run away from you anymore, you can hit it more easily in close combat, and you may be able to move so that it can't shoot you. Tanks also fire Battle Cannons, which use the large Blast templates, have a chance of scattering and use the Ordnance rules. While most of those don't directly effect my army, it was good to familiarize myself with them to know what they could and couldn't do.

Looking back at it, I could have been more effective even without changing my army design the slightest. I could have deployed in cover or entirely out of Line of Sight. Hiding behind a forest or building that might keep you from shooting a gun that is out of range of the enemy is a very effective tactic! If I had gone down one flank or the other of the board, it would have severely limited his Line of Sight due to terrain. Admittedly, if I had gone down one side, he might have been able to move to the other side as I approached. One option there would be a pincer attack. Split the army and put half down each side. This has the added benefit of allowing me the possibility of side or rear armor shots once I get close enough to fire. While my S6 Devourers can't hurt the AV14 of the front of a Leman Russ, they can damage the AV12 sides! I would, of course, allow my Genestealers and Raveners to fleet ahead of my Monstrous Creatures, but I'd definitely be running them through cover on the way. Guns and blasts are much less effective if they can't see the target. They are also less effective if the target is protected by trees or buildings. Finally, if I couldn't get out of sight entirely, I'd still use cover where possible, and I'd change what I had up front. If there was cover initially, I'd put my Tyrants up front. With 2+ saves, they'd be proof against Battle Cannon shots, and they'd still get their cover saves against Lascannons. In fact, that would greatly hamper the effective of the tanks, since they'd be about as effective as a lascannon squad, instead of their normal effectiveness. Behind them I'd hide the Elite Carnifi with their S6 Devourers. These can't scratch the front of the tanks, but unlike the Tyrants, they can damage the side armor quite nicely. Still, until they can close to their 18" range, they would basically function as cover for my Heavy Support Carnifi. The Heavy Carnifi would start out behind the Tyrants and Elite Carnifi and then move out slightly to be able to shoot at a tank. If I moved them carefully enough, they'd only be able to see or be seen by one tank, and they'd have a pretty good chance of making sure it couldn't shoot next turn. Finally, my Zoanthropes would be following along behind the wall as well. Once they get into 18" range for their strong Warp Blasts, they are very nasty against tanks, so I'd try to make sure that they survived the trip. There, now there are 3 Raveners that can be threatening his tanks on turn 3, 3-6 broods of Genestealers that can threaten them by turn 4, and 2 Zoanthropes and 1-3 Elite Carnifi that can threaten them about turn 3 or 4 as well. Finally, there are the Heavy Support Carnifi (or 'fex, depending on the size of the battle) that can start glancing his tanks from turn 1.

Even though it was difficult at the time, I have enjoyed working out ways to take out Nick's Armored Company (and any others I run into from time to time, there's at least one other player in the area that has one.) If you take the appropriate attitude, it can be a fun challenge to work out how to defeat that seemingly invincible army.

I ran into Nick the other day and got in a game against him. He's working on a new army and we tried it out. It's a Slaanesh army. It features Noise Marines, lots of Daemonettes and a Siren Prince.

Noise Marines are particularly shooty Marines, but it's mostly multishot stuff, similar to Heavy Bolters and Autocannons. Daemonettes are Daemons that have Rending Claws and Warp Scream, which lowers enemy Initiative by 1, so they go before I4 enemies. The Siren Prince is a Mostrous Creature with some sort of fast movement, I think it's Flight. He is very effective in close combat, also possessing Warp Scream and a high Initiative and being very good at killing things. He's also got Siren. Siren is a minor psychic power that is activated during the enemy shooting or assault phase and keeps the psyker (the Daemon Prince in this case) from being shot or assaulted for the rest of the turn. I did some research on the power. It is a Psychic power, which means you have to make a psychic test every time you want to activate it. In addition, I found that the UK and Scandinavian GTs are ruling that it may only effect one phase, either the shooting or the assault phase. Unfortunately, reading the rules for it, I can't find a good reason for this. While it does say that it may be activated in either the shooting OR the assault phase, it also says that it effects the psyker for the rest of the TURN, not the rest of the PHASE. (If it said the rest of the phase, I'd be all for the limitation, but despite GW's often loose wording, it does specifically say turn, not phase.) Note that minor psychic powers are rolled randomly, so it's possible to not get the one you want. The answer to that is to simply take the power a number of times to increase your chance of getting it. If you take it just once, you have a 1/6 chance of getting it. If you take it multiple times, you get to reroll duplicate powers, so if you take it three times and roll a 2, 3, 3, you can reroll the second three to try for that 6 again. At a guess, he has it between 6 and 8 times. That's enough rolls to nearly assure him of getting the power every game. I haven't done the math for it, but it should put it somewhere in the 95% range, which is good enough for non-government work.

The army itself at 1000pts was 2 squads of 6 Noise Marines. Each one had an Aspiring Champion, presumably equipped for close combat. They also had a Blast Master (High Strength weapon, with a couple of different firing capacities. If you think a cross between a Heavy Bolter and an Autocannon, you'll get the idea) and 5 Sonic Blasters. (These also have multiple fire modes. Think of them as a cross between a Storm Bolter and a Heavy Stubber.) There was the Prince as well, and I've more or less described him. The rest of the army was Daemonettes. There was a big squad of 12 and, I think, 3 or 4 squads of 6. With Rending attacks and invulnerable saves, Daemonettes are pretty nasty, especially since they are effectively I5. They are only Toughness 3, however, so they are vulnerable to damage even though they have an invulnerable save.

The bulk of his army is Daemonettes, and they can do a tremendous amount of damage, so it would behoove me to know how to handle them. They have good initiative and are dangerous, but my Genestealers are I6, so they can go first and they have S4 Rending attacks, so they are very effective against the Daemonettes. If I can keep the Daemonettes from summoning close to my lines, It'll be easy to shoot them all before they get there. In addition, Instability tests for Daemonettes will be nasty. Instead of Morale tests and falling back, Daemons get Instability tests. If they roll higher than their Leadership, one of them disappears into the warp for every point they missed it by. Given that I use 5 Psychic Screams, which lower leadership, that gives them a good chance of failing and large chunks of the squad disappearing into the warp. In addition, if anyone wants to charge one of my Hive Tyrants, that's another test that they'll be taking on reduced Leadership. That may keep his prince away and it will almost certainly get rid of some Daemonettes.

The Noise Marines are just extra-shooty Space Marines and the same things that kill Space Marines will kill them. In addition, most of their weaponry isn't as effective against my Monstrous Creatures due to relatively low Strength and poor AP. I'm not too worried about the Noise Marines here. The Daemon Prince, on the other hand, does concern me. Not only does he bring the Daemonettes with him, but he's very dangerous in close combat himself. Without Siren he wouldn't be nearly as dangerous, since I'd be able to shoot and assault him. Since Siren is a Psychic Power, he'll have to make a Psychic Test on his Leadership every turn to activate it. Once he's within 18" of my lines, he'll be at a penalty to achieve that. If he's within range of 2 of my Psychic Screams, that'll put him at Leadership 8, a 72% chance of succeeding. If he's within range for all 5, it'll drop him to a 5, a 27% chance of succeeding. If he fails the test, he'll get filled full of Devourer Grubs and then assaulted. If he doesn't fail the test, I've got to figure out another way to stop him. One possibility, though difficult with my army, would be to partially surround him with a spread-out unit (In my case I'd have to use Genestealers.) He can't pass within an inch of them during his movement phase, so he could be stuck there and forced to assault them. If they were well-spaced enough, I could limit his damage during the first phase so that he could only kill a couple. During his assault phase I'd lose more, but if the brood was a decent size, he might not finish them off. If that was the case, I could then reinforce the assault during my turn, since Siren isn't functional when you are in base contact with an enemy. Another possibility is to attempt to limit his attack routes so that he has to assault one of my Tyrants, which will force a Morale test that he might fail, potentially stranding him in front of my army for another turn.

Basically, his army is a version of the Daemonbomb. The Noise Marines are shooty units that sit back and support. The Prince moves forward (presumably unharmed) and drops off a massive number of Daemonettes which eat the enemy army. As it goes to higher points, I'd expect him to bring more delivery methods. The most common is Chaos Marines on Bikes, since they can turbo boost to get there quickly and have a strong invulnerable save. On the other hand, Nick might choose to have a Sorceror that also has Siren. This would be expensive, but would give him 2 daemon summoning points. I also expect that he will add a little more fire support, but mostly lots of Daemonettes. If I can interfere with the delivery method of the Daemonettes, I'll be in good shape.

In general, I think my army list has a better shot against the Siren Bomb than most other armies. Without being able to lower Leadership, he'd almost certainly always get Siren to work, and without Genestealers, those Daemonettes are nasty. With other armies, they'd have to focus on surrounding the Siren Prince to keep him from getting to the lines. Alternately, they could pull a trick or two out of the Imperial Guard playbook. One would be to set up your units far enough apart that the Daemonettes wouldn't be able to consolidate from one to the next. That will limit the damage the Daemonettes can do. (Spreading out individual models in a unit will limit the damage the Daemon Prince can do, too.) Alternately, they could use a split deployment or Empty Center formation. With only one Daemon Prince to deliver the Daemonettes, one side would be massacred, but the other side would be able to shoot the Daemonettes as they walked across from the other side of the board.

I have been giving strong lists some thought, and I'd like to see more of them out there that I can play against. To that end, I'm planning on running a Gladiator tournament at Discordia in a month or so. The idea of the tournament is pure carnage. Bring the nastiest list out there. There will be no painting scores and no composition rules. As long as it fits in a Force Organization chart and is a legal list, bring it! The only scores will be for battle points, but I'm expecting that nobody's going to be too big a jerk. Everything will have to be Wysiwyg and fully assembled, but it won't have to be painted or based. I'm hoping to make people think a little outside the box and come ready to rumble. I'm working up some scenarios for it that will be something other than "Last Man Standing," that way people will actually have to be able to move with their armies and claim objectives sometimes. If you are interested in participating and you are going to be in the Bremerton area, email me or contact Discordia Games for more information.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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