Power Klawz
05-30-2013, 10:19 AM
So a recent article on this site got me thinking about the assault phase. With so many different unit types and special rules running around the whole ordeal can seem quite confusing and even scary, so I'd like to start a thread discussing good assault etiquette, or rather the most effective methods for delivering hate-fueled death to your enemies via the business end of a chainsaw.
This is a complex topic so I figured I'd dice it up into a few segments. Very basically they will consist of the following:
1. Assault units: This will focus on what actually constitutes an assault unit, what makes them effective and what basic options exist for the many different armies in 40k.
2. Positioning and movement: This will discuss how to properly maneuver your assault units into advantageous positions, reducing the amount of incoming firepower and improving the likelihood that you will be able to assault on your terms.
3. Fighting an assault: Once you get stuck in, how do you go about the dirty business of lopping off heads and keeping your own?
These will constitute my thoughts on the matter and I invite everyone else to chime in with there own thoughts and strategies, as well as point out any flaws in my ideas. Hopefully this will engender an interesting and well thought out conversation on the topic.
Assault Units
What is an assault unit? Very broadly one could say that an assault unit is any unit stuck in an assault, which would open up the category to basically everything that isn't a non-walker vehicle. In a sense this is correct, as even the humblest of guardsmen might pull out a win over mighty space marines if there are enough of them. In that sense we must always keep an eye towards the possible applications of assault, no matter which unit we are considering. If assaulting is likely to lead to victory or tactical advantage, even heavy weapons teams and firewarriors might find themselves plunging into battle, although the circumstances under which this becomes advisable are sure to be rare indeed.
However more specifically an assault unit is one which is equipped for an assault role. At its most basic incarnation, an assault unit is one with more attacks than a non assault unit. Take for example storm guardians. Definitely up for what might be considered the humblest of assault units, but they possess the barest rudiments of what is needed to be considered as such. Along with more attacks there is a high probability that the unit will possess an increased mobility as well, and perhaps shorter ranged support weapons to lend utility. Assault type grenades are also rather common, although strangely not universal. Anti-vehicle grenades are seen quite often in these units as well, giving them the ability to assault pretty much everything and have a non-zero chance of success.
Higher tiered assault units tend to possess greater survivability in the form of either higher armor saves, invulnerable saves or even both. Improved cover saves are available to some units as well, mostly those concerned with infiltrating. They also tend to have higher strength attacks with higher AP values, when combined with their higher volume of attack and greater survivability this creates some of the premier assault units in the game, a perfect storm of ultra-violence if you will.
Generally along with their increased capacity for close quarters mayhem comes a decreased shooting capacity. Pistol weapons are standard armament on the majority of assault units, generally limited to single shots and 12 inch ranges. These weapons exists merely to help balance out overwatch losses before the charge, although they can be counterproductive if they kill too many models and suddenly put your target out of charge distance. Ideally you'd like to move as close to your target as possible, open fire and then charge the short distance, however such tactics are difficult to pull off at times due to the inevitable return fire you're likely to suffer.
Certain elite units have both ranged and melee devastation capacity, Space Marine Terminators are prime examples of this. They have more attacks than standard marines which are stronger and cut through more armor, as well as potent ranged weapons and access to heavy weapons. These all-in-one units tend to come at a very high points premium, and for good reason!
Here are some archetypical assault units I feel express key elements of assault philosophy.
Hordes
These units are designed to win through sheer volume of bodies and attacks. Individually they will not be very survivable and will tend to have no armor piercing value in assault. They force copious amounts of saves and threaten all kinds of units through the weight of inevitable attrition.
Ork boys are the gold standard of the horde assault unit. They are amazingly cheap and provide extremely high volumes of attacks. To a lesser extent such units as Chaos cultists with hand weapons and pistols and even storm guardians fall into this category, although storm guardians are on the outer edge of what could be considered "cheap horde infantry."
Jump Pack Assault
This is a favorite of power armored armies the galaxy over. They tend to be quite survivable (as space marines often are) and mobile. At their most basic they are simply marines with jump packs and one more attack than normal, at their most advanced they are clad in artificer armor and armed with master crafted power weapons.
The benefits of jump packs are obviously an increase threat range and the ability to deep strike. These options change your tactics considerably. I will discuss deep striking and jump pack movement later on.
Elite Assault
This sort of unit consists of high volume, high accuracy and generally high AP attacks. They are generally somewhat expensive and so must be protected until that fateful moment when they can charge headlong into gloriously one sided battle. They might have jump packs and also fall under that category, or they might have to walk or ride in a transport.
Such units as Dark Eldar Incubi and Ork Nobz fall into this category. I would reserve terminators and their equivalents for another category, although dedicated assault terminators could fall into this category, especially Deathwing Knights which do not possess the same ranged capacity as other terminators.
Terminators
Terminators perform a unique role in their lists. They are extremely survivable and pack both ranged and close combat punch, as such they tend to become primary targets for any firepower in range. They are equipped to absorb enormous punishment and then to dish out the same.
Grey Knight paladins really encapsulate this ideal, as do Deathwing terminators. These units can deep strike and fire heavy weapons on the move, they present a great threat to anything in range and are considered by some to be the pinnacle of 40k assault troops.
Assault Characters
These tend to be HQ choices geared towards overwhelming close combat aptitude. They have esoteric wargear that makes a mockery of their foes, obscenely high volume of attack and statlines which are the pinnacle of their race. They are walking beatsticks that concentrate an inordinate amount of killing power into a single model.
In addition to their overwhelming combat prowess they generally also possess abilities which improve the troops around them. Warlord traits have many interesting and unique effects if you choose to make these characters your army's leaders, and many bestow such effects as fearless or zealot onto their underlings. This combination of localized death nexus and force multiplier tend to make assault characters high priority targets, ranged targets of course since battling it out with your opponents characters is exactly where these guys want to be for the most part.
Many armies have HQ choices which lend themselves to a dedicated assault role. Ork Warbosses and Chaos Lords spring to mind immediately. Eldar autarchs make fine challenge monsters and even the humble Lord Commissar will put some dents in foreheads if the need arises.
Monstrous Creatures
In many ways monstrous creatures are the embodiment of assault in a single, musclebound package. Of course not all monstrous creatures are meant for arm wrestling with Godzilla, especially since the advent of 6th edition tau there are some which prefer to sit back and drop bombs from range. The one's we're concerned with here put the monster back in MC.
Tyranids and Daemons have monstrous creatures coming out their various inhuman orifices. They tend to be overwhelmingly powerful in close combat and very hard to bring down (though not impossible, strength 10 fire tend to be effective as well as massed poison or sniper fire.) this make them huge fire magnets. They can take a licking and keep on ticking, but you don't want to let them hang out to dry for too long or they will be shot to pieces eventually. Many monstrous creatures possess improved mobility in the form of flying, which does tend to help them survive those inevitable fusillades of firepower and get stuck into bloody melee as soon as monstrously possible.
Bikers
Bikers operate similarly to jump infantry but have a few key differences that make them more survivable and better able to redeploy to distant threats. Assault oriented bikers tend to rival terminators in flexibility and cost, and also tend to be quite survivable.
Being able to turbo boost lets you set up on the other side of the board if needs be, this can facilitate turn 2 charges on units that thought they were safely tucked away in their deployment zone, or redeployment late game to assist in assaulting units off of objectives.
Eldar Shining Spears, Dark Angel Ravenwing Knights and Ork bikers are all premier assault bikers, and all of them have formidable shooting capability as well. Turbo boosting gives them great cover saves even out in the open, and they are tougher and better armored than their non-biker contemporaries.
[Cavalry and beasts]
A rare sight on the battlefields of the 41st millennium, cavalry and beasts move faster than infantry and tend towards vicious charges. Chaos daemons field some pretty scary cavalry in the form of juggernauts and seekers, and Imperial guard have a very quirky unit known as rough riders that I've never actually seen in play heh.
Next I will discuss deployment and movement, hopefully within a few hours. Please feel free to add or detract from what I've posted thus far!
This is a complex topic so I figured I'd dice it up into a few segments. Very basically they will consist of the following:
1. Assault units: This will focus on what actually constitutes an assault unit, what makes them effective and what basic options exist for the many different armies in 40k.
2. Positioning and movement: This will discuss how to properly maneuver your assault units into advantageous positions, reducing the amount of incoming firepower and improving the likelihood that you will be able to assault on your terms.
3. Fighting an assault: Once you get stuck in, how do you go about the dirty business of lopping off heads and keeping your own?
These will constitute my thoughts on the matter and I invite everyone else to chime in with there own thoughts and strategies, as well as point out any flaws in my ideas. Hopefully this will engender an interesting and well thought out conversation on the topic.
Assault Units
What is an assault unit? Very broadly one could say that an assault unit is any unit stuck in an assault, which would open up the category to basically everything that isn't a non-walker vehicle. In a sense this is correct, as even the humblest of guardsmen might pull out a win over mighty space marines if there are enough of them. In that sense we must always keep an eye towards the possible applications of assault, no matter which unit we are considering. If assaulting is likely to lead to victory or tactical advantage, even heavy weapons teams and firewarriors might find themselves plunging into battle, although the circumstances under which this becomes advisable are sure to be rare indeed.
However more specifically an assault unit is one which is equipped for an assault role. At its most basic incarnation, an assault unit is one with more attacks than a non assault unit. Take for example storm guardians. Definitely up for what might be considered the humblest of assault units, but they possess the barest rudiments of what is needed to be considered as such. Along with more attacks there is a high probability that the unit will possess an increased mobility as well, and perhaps shorter ranged support weapons to lend utility. Assault type grenades are also rather common, although strangely not universal. Anti-vehicle grenades are seen quite often in these units as well, giving them the ability to assault pretty much everything and have a non-zero chance of success.
Higher tiered assault units tend to possess greater survivability in the form of either higher armor saves, invulnerable saves or even both. Improved cover saves are available to some units as well, mostly those concerned with infiltrating. They also tend to have higher strength attacks with higher AP values, when combined with their higher volume of attack and greater survivability this creates some of the premier assault units in the game, a perfect storm of ultra-violence if you will.
Generally along with their increased capacity for close quarters mayhem comes a decreased shooting capacity. Pistol weapons are standard armament on the majority of assault units, generally limited to single shots and 12 inch ranges. These weapons exists merely to help balance out overwatch losses before the charge, although they can be counterproductive if they kill too many models and suddenly put your target out of charge distance. Ideally you'd like to move as close to your target as possible, open fire and then charge the short distance, however such tactics are difficult to pull off at times due to the inevitable return fire you're likely to suffer.
Certain elite units have both ranged and melee devastation capacity, Space Marine Terminators are prime examples of this. They have more attacks than standard marines which are stronger and cut through more armor, as well as potent ranged weapons and access to heavy weapons. These all-in-one units tend to come at a very high points premium, and for good reason!
Here are some archetypical assault units I feel express key elements of assault philosophy.
Hordes
These units are designed to win through sheer volume of bodies and attacks. Individually they will not be very survivable and will tend to have no armor piercing value in assault. They force copious amounts of saves and threaten all kinds of units through the weight of inevitable attrition.
Ork boys are the gold standard of the horde assault unit. They are amazingly cheap and provide extremely high volumes of attacks. To a lesser extent such units as Chaos cultists with hand weapons and pistols and even storm guardians fall into this category, although storm guardians are on the outer edge of what could be considered "cheap horde infantry."
Jump Pack Assault
This is a favorite of power armored armies the galaxy over. They tend to be quite survivable (as space marines often are) and mobile. At their most basic they are simply marines with jump packs and one more attack than normal, at their most advanced they are clad in artificer armor and armed with master crafted power weapons.
The benefits of jump packs are obviously an increase threat range and the ability to deep strike. These options change your tactics considerably. I will discuss deep striking and jump pack movement later on.
Elite Assault
This sort of unit consists of high volume, high accuracy and generally high AP attacks. They are generally somewhat expensive and so must be protected until that fateful moment when they can charge headlong into gloriously one sided battle. They might have jump packs and also fall under that category, or they might have to walk or ride in a transport.
Such units as Dark Eldar Incubi and Ork Nobz fall into this category. I would reserve terminators and their equivalents for another category, although dedicated assault terminators could fall into this category, especially Deathwing Knights which do not possess the same ranged capacity as other terminators.
Terminators
Terminators perform a unique role in their lists. They are extremely survivable and pack both ranged and close combat punch, as such they tend to become primary targets for any firepower in range. They are equipped to absorb enormous punishment and then to dish out the same.
Grey Knight paladins really encapsulate this ideal, as do Deathwing terminators. These units can deep strike and fire heavy weapons on the move, they present a great threat to anything in range and are considered by some to be the pinnacle of 40k assault troops.
Assault Characters
These tend to be HQ choices geared towards overwhelming close combat aptitude. They have esoteric wargear that makes a mockery of their foes, obscenely high volume of attack and statlines which are the pinnacle of their race. They are walking beatsticks that concentrate an inordinate amount of killing power into a single model.
In addition to their overwhelming combat prowess they generally also possess abilities which improve the troops around them. Warlord traits have many interesting and unique effects if you choose to make these characters your army's leaders, and many bestow such effects as fearless or zealot onto their underlings. This combination of localized death nexus and force multiplier tend to make assault characters high priority targets, ranged targets of course since battling it out with your opponents characters is exactly where these guys want to be for the most part.
Many armies have HQ choices which lend themselves to a dedicated assault role. Ork Warbosses and Chaos Lords spring to mind immediately. Eldar autarchs make fine challenge monsters and even the humble Lord Commissar will put some dents in foreheads if the need arises.
Monstrous Creatures
In many ways monstrous creatures are the embodiment of assault in a single, musclebound package. Of course not all monstrous creatures are meant for arm wrestling with Godzilla, especially since the advent of 6th edition tau there are some which prefer to sit back and drop bombs from range. The one's we're concerned with here put the monster back in MC.
Tyranids and Daemons have monstrous creatures coming out their various inhuman orifices. They tend to be overwhelmingly powerful in close combat and very hard to bring down (though not impossible, strength 10 fire tend to be effective as well as massed poison or sniper fire.) this make them huge fire magnets. They can take a licking and keep on ticking, but you don't want to let them hang out to dry for too long or they will be shot to pieces eventually. Many monstrous creatures possess improved mobility in the form of flying, which does tend to help them survive those inevitable fusillades of firepower and get stuck into bloody melee as soon as monstrously possible.
Bikers
Bikers operate similarly to jump infantry but have a few key differences that make them more survivable and better able to redeploy to distant threats. Assault oriented bikers tend to rival terminators in flexibility and cost, and also tend to be quite survivable.
Being able to turbo boost lets you set up on the other side of the board if needs be, this can facilitate turn 2 charges on units that thought they were safely tucked away in their deployment zone, or redeployment late game to assist in assaulting units off of objectives.
Eldar Shining Spears, Dark Angel Ravenwing Knights and Ork bikers are all premier assault bikers, and all of them have formidable shooting capability as well. Turbo boosting gives them great cover saves even out in the open, and they are tougher and better armored than their non-biker contemporaries.
[Cavalry and beasts]
A rare sight on the battlefields of the 41st millennium, cavalry and beasts move faster than infantry and tend towards vicious charges. Chaos daemons field some pretty scary cavalry in the form of juggernauts and seekers, and Imperial guard have a very quirky unit known as rough riders that I've never actually seen in play heh.
Next I will discuss deployment and movement, hopefully within a few hours. Please feel free to add or detract from what I've posted thus far!