Killhammer 40k!
I recently read a fantastic tactica at the Bolter and Chainsword. It's called Killhammer 40k. It's a very good, logical set of principles about target priority and coherent army construction. While nothing it says is really ground-breaking, it takes a lot of information and puts into into a very useful format and gives a very coherent battle-plan. If you are interested in learning more about this, please check it out in in it's natural habitat: Killhammer 40k. Very few online tacticas impress me, and even fewer inform the way I play on a regular basis. Make sure you read all the links there to get the most out of it.

40k is a turn-based game. If you go first, you have the chance to damage the enemy before they get to damage you. If you damage them first, they won't be able to hit you back as hard, so you take less damage. While this is fairly obvious, it's not as obvious how big this "Kill Gap" can become. I'll give you a fairly quick example here...

2 armies of 1000pts. They do 20% damage to each other per turn.

T1 A:1000pts hits 1000pts for 200damage. B:800pts hits 1000pts for 160 damage.
T2 A:840pts hits 800pts for 168damage. B:632pts hits 840pts for 126 damage.
T3 A:714pts hits 632pts for 143damage. B:489pts hits 714pts for 97 damage.
T4 A:617pts hits 489pts for 121damage. B:368pts hits 617pts for 73 damage.
T5 A:544pts hits 368pts for 108damage. B:260pts hits 544pts for 52 damage.
T6 A:492pts hits 260pts for 98damage. B:162pts hits 492pts for 32 damage.
T7 A:460pts hits 162pts for 92damage. B:70pts hits 460pts for 14 damage.
T8 A:444pts hits 70pts for 88damage. B: B army is destroyed and can cause no return damage.

result: army A still has 444pts left, simply by doing damage first.

This is a great demonstration of the "Kill Gap," the difference between how much damage one army causes and how much damage the other army causes. As the game continues, the kill gap increases, putting Army B in a steadily worsening position.

So, if you aren't going first, you need to take steps to make sure that this doesn't happen to you. You need to protect what you have, so that you can still do enough damage back to the enemy army. You can achieve this by choosing to put your forces in reserve (thus denying the enemy anything to shoot at on their first turn.) You can also put units in good cover and out of line of sight to protect as much as possible of your damage capacity.

The example above assumes identical armies and that all units are equal in terms of point cost and damage generated. Not all units actually are equal, of course. Even units with identical points don't have the same damage potential. For example, let's say you have 2 units that run about 150pts. One is a 10 strong Space Marine squad with Missile Launcher and Flamer, the other is a Predator Tank with Twin-linked Lascannon turret, Heavy Bolter sponsons, Storm Bolter and a Hunter-Killer Missile. Except for a few, specific circumstances, the Predator has more damage potential. Using Killhammer principles, you would generally want to kill the Predator first, to cut down the damage you would be receiving.

Similarly, not all units with the same firepower are equal. A Devastator squad with 4 Heavy Bolters costs the same amount and has similar firepower. Depending on your weapons, one of these units might be easier to kill than the other. (Multiple shots with S7 or less weaponry, preferably with AP3 or better, shreds the Devastators but will probably never scratch the Predator. A single Lascannon, on the other hand, won't be able to do enough damage to the squad, but can easily neutralize the Predator.) You may also be able to neutralize one while you hit the other. (Move to give the Devastators no good targets and concentrate on taking out the tank, or take a potshot at the tank, hoping to stun it and then take out the Devastators.)

Not only do some units have more damage potential or are harder to kill, but some may take longer to achieve their damage (for example: a Berzerker squad on foot) or may take so long to be killed (for example: Biker Nobz) that it may not be worthwhile to do so, at least for the moment. You can also create situations like this by moving away from slower combat units or tying up uber squads with inexpensive or hard-to-kill units.

The Situation
That last bit brings up a very important thing: the Situation. The two remaining members of a Tactical squad, with no special equipment, will generally not show up on anybody's priority target list. On the other hand, if they are sitting on an objective and this is turn 6, you need to take them out first. That brings us to the Formula...

The Formula
Warp Angel, the author of this tactica, put all of this into sort of a formula. If you are math-phobic, don't worry, there's no actual math, it's just a representation....

Target Priority
[(Damage Potential)-(Time until they cause damage)]-[(How Tough they are)+(How long it will take to kill them)]+Situational Importance= Target Priority.
(Thus, the higher the damage potential, the faster they cause damage and the easier they are to kill, plus higher situational importance, the higher their priority.)

Army Building, Killhammer Style
That covers how to kill things more efficiently and create a kill gap in your favor. You can also use Killhammer principles in building your army list from the beginning.

Warp Angel starts out with a very important thing to keep in mind... "This is the Grim Darkness of the Far Future. Everything dies... you need to accept that every unit in your army is expendable."

Even his Bat-helmet couldn't save him from this many gaunts...

Every army needs to cover a certain number of bases with it's units, and lists created using the Killhammer principles are no different. So what do you need to have in your list?

1) Killers: As you might guess from the name, this is the most important type of unit you can have in your army under the Killhammer principle. Killers do exactly what it says on the lid. They kill. Lots and lots. Killers can ideally destroy or render useless most enemy units in a single turn of average dice. To be effective, they need some sort of ability to move where they are needed so that they can keep bringing the pain to the enemy and do it quickly. The best Killers are also hard to kill, so they can maintain their effectiveness for longer. They should be able to shoot and assault well, or be able to do one of them better than almost any other unit. Killers, by their very existence, create the kill gap all by themselves.

2) Defenders: Something in your army needs the capability to sit on an objective or a key piece of terrain and defy your opponent's attempts to shift them. Defenders need to be able to endure a lot of firepower. The best Defenders have good defense, a large model count and the ability to either break up a charge before it hits, or survive the initial charge. Defenders should generally be scoring units. They fit into the Killhammer philosophy by being something that your opponent has to commit a lot of resources to completely destroy. Defenders create the Kill gap by soaking up killing power that could be used to greater effect elsewhere. If they commit a lot of powerful units to destroy one of your less potent ones, they are giving you the lead.

3) Hunters: The Hunter's role is to limit your opponent's options and make enemy units less effective at generating a kill gap. They achieve this by presenting a very limited and focused threat that requires a significant amount of effort to neutralize. Hunters, more than other units in this philosophy, are expendable. You are expecting them to die, but to cause havoc out of proportion to their worth while doing so. They are used to limit your opponent's options while leaving the rest of your army free to act. Great examples of Hunters are Multi-Melta Landspeeders, Chaos "Termicide" squads (small deepstriking squads of Terminators with Multi-Meltas) or deepstriking Ironclad Dreadnaughts dropped into the enemy deployment zone. They may or may not kill a lot of stuff, but they have to be dealt with. Hunters generally don't directly create the kill gap, but they reduce your opponent's ability to kill effectively, and they can increase your killing options. Hunters will generally have very high movement or alternative deployment options.

4) Cleaners: Cleaners clean. They mop up after the Killers have swept through. Their most important ability is to finish off depleted units, eliminate smaller ones and assist your other units. High mobility is important here, so that they can assist different units on different turns in different areas of your battle space. Cleaners aren't potent enough to be Killers on their own, but their high movement makes them very valuable in this role. Basically, Cleaners keep the rest of your army alive longer by reducing casualties and assisting them in killing more of the enemy than they could alone.

5) Firebase: The Firebase is particularly vital in the first few turns of the game. If you can reach out and touch the enemy from the very beginning, you have a jump on creating that kill gap. In addition, being able to weaken enemy units early gives your Killers and Cleaners a headstart on finishing them off, and weakened units cause them less damage, so they can keep killing for longer. In the middle and endgame, the Firebase's range allows you to perform like a Cleaner unit, supporting different units across the battlefield. Firebases can create the kill gap on their own, or support other units in creating it.

One thing to keep in mind is that some units can act as more than one of these selections. A well equipped Troop squad might be able to act as a Defender _and_ a Firebase or even a Cleaner. Some of their roles may also change depending on the opposing army. (I overheard an Imperial Guard player at a Grand Tournament saying, "Against Gretchin I am like Space Marine! Charge!") Against an opponent with little toughness, Cleaners can become Killers. Against a very tough opponent (Death Guard or Nob Bikerz) Killers may become more like Cleaners, having to gang up to achieve their effective kills. Against an army with little antitank, that Ironclad Dreadnaught (Hunter) may turn into a Killer as it rampages through their lines.

What do you get for the guy who has it all? More ammo!

Another thing to keep in mind is versatility. If you have a choice between a unit that can handle different kinds of targets and a unit that is specialized, you should take the versatile unit every time. (That way you increase your chance of raising the S factor, the Situational Importance, more frequently.) Similarly, when looking at options that involve mobility or lack it, choose mobility. If you can't move it effectively, it can easily be neutralized. The more versatile your choices are, the more effective they can be in a variety of situations, and the better chance they have of increasing their Situational Importance.

The Formula, part two
Warp Angel also put the army building principles into a formula...

Army List Priority
[(Damage Potential)-(Time until they cause damage)]+[(How Tough they are)+(How long it will take to kill them)]+Situational Importance= Army List Priority.
(Thus, the higher the damage potential, the faster they cause damage and the harder they are to kill, plus higher situational importance, the higher their priority.)

While I think I've given a good overview of Killhammer 40k here, I'd encourage anyone that is interested in it to please check out the original set of articles at the Bolter and Chainsword. Even if you don't play some version of Space Marines, it's a fantastic resource.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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