Local Superiority

What It Is
Local superiority is something that military commanders try hard to achieve through their tactics. The focus of tactical thought is to arrive at local superiority, one way or another. Local superiority is the focus of power on one place. More specifically, it is focusing more of your power in one place than the enemy has available. If you both have the same quality of soldiers, outnumbering the enemy is a big advantage. With differing kinds of units and models, concentrating more power in one place is the advantage. In the abstract, we can talk about point cost as an indicator of power, and Point Concentration as our goal.

Point Concentration is when you have more points invested in a small area or a single unit. They will have a tendency to be able to focus their power more effectively than a big unit or several units. Space Marines are a prime example of this. At 15pts for a basic marine, the point density of your units will be fairly high, meaning that it is easier for you to concentrate your power (in terms of points, anyway) than, say, Dark Eldar Warriors at only 8pts each.

Why It Works
If you can put 500pts of your troops vs 300pts of the enemy's, which side will likely have the advantage? Of course yours will, assuming that both sides are using their units effectively (not charging with a Heavy Weapon squad, for example.) Obviously, 300pts of Heavy Weapon teams and 300pts of shock Assault troops have very different styles of combat, but they can both project their force, and even work together, depending on how you use them. When there is a big difference between two units or forces in one area, it is more than just a straight number advantage. Since the side with local superiority will be more effective at the beginning of the combat, the combat will resolve more quickly, meaning fewer losses.

As an example, consider the following. In this example, each model is identical and strikes at the same time, having a 50% chance of killing an enemy model. 1st turn: even numbers, say 100 per side. 50 each are killed. 2nd turn, 50 per side. 25 each are killed, etc. On the other hand, if side A has 500 and side B has 300, things will be different. Turn 1 A:500, B:300. 250 of B will die and 150 of A will die. Turn 2: A:350, B:50. All of B will die, and 25 of A will die, leaving A with 325. The larger the disparity in initial forces, the greater the casualty reduction will be.

How To Achieve It
There are several ways to achieve local superiority. They include Mobility, Range, Deployment and Delaying Actions, among others.

Mobility is using the movement of your units to concentrate on one area of the enemy line or force. This is the classic Flanking maneuver, among others. When you flank the enemy, not only does it concentrate most of your force on a small part of theirs, it also gives you other advantages. By concentrating to one side, you may leave units at the other end out of range to effect you, or by engaging some of their units, you may prevent the rest from getting line of sight to your army. In addition, their own units now are in the way of the reinforcements, which further slows the enemy response.

Deployment is when you place models on the tabletop. You may be able to deploy your models in such a way that you start with local superiority. Perhaps the opponent has a large terrain feature in their deployment zone, and they deploy to either side of it. If you put the bulk of your forces on one side of it, they may have difficulty reinforcing that side. You may also be able to persuade the opponent to deploy in a long line formation, while you place your troops in a wedge on one end. (This is sometimes accomplished by putting one unit out on the far side of your area, then placing the rest of your units on the opposite end. That single unit will be outnumbered, but the enemy forces will be spread thin, letting the bulk of your army run through them more quickly.)

Delaying Actions are when one unit holds up the advance of one or more enemy units, particularly when those units are much larger or more powerful. This can be used to prevent reinforcements from reaching the main combat area in time. The most useful units for delaying actions are ones that are either totally expendable or are very resilient. (A mob of Grots might be an example of the first, while a Wraithlord might be an example of the second.) Keeping a powerful enemy unit tied up for a few crucial turns means it is effectively out of the game.

Simply having more points in an area than the enemy is not the sure way to victory, unless those points are used effectively. Even if your squad of Devastators with all those Lascannons is very expensive, they won't be an effective unit in assault with the enemy. Note that you can use this to your advantage, by shooting assault troops and assaulting the shooty troops, since they are less effective if they are not used in their intended role.

So, get out there, use your deployment, mobility and delaying actions to position your army for local superiority and they won't know what hit them.

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