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Recently there's been a revival of interest in the "Deathstar" theory of army construction (and by extension the WHFB board as a whole). I'm thinking of making a "Make the Best Deathstar list" thread, but I decided to preface it with a definition/discussion thread so I can see what page we are all on when we use this phrase.
DS Components
Unit: The core unit of the DS gives you both less and more than you'd think. Fighting strength actually isn't paramount, or anywhere close to it. The majority of the combat will be done by characters. In a typical DS the only guy in the front row who isn't a character is the standard bearer. Yet, most Death Stars are composed of elite units. This seeming contradiction is explained when we consider what a unit can add to a DS. 1. Special Rules: Stubborn, ASF, what have you, the unit can add special rules to the DS. 2. Standards: The unit standard is often key. 3. Large max size. Clearly you want your DS to be big. insures your chars get to fight when you are flank charged, allows you to charge more enemies at once, etc. This is esp. important if you can't get ITP in there. 4. Saves: Good saves are key to surviving flank charges until the chars get over there and start kicking tail. They also enable the unit to weather shooting attacks. 5. Max points invested. Since the DS's real purpose is points denial it has to eat up all the points in the list that aren't devoted to the chars. For all of these reasons, the unit itself will likely be an elite unit. Another unit specific question is whether the unit will be cav or infantry based. In most codexes, for a variety of reasons, the Cav DS is the better way to go. Undead armies can often get away with infantry DS's (Urgency/Vanhels), but the faster you can get the DS the better, and most armies have a heavy cav unit that's suitable. The Beast Cowers is a counter-argument, however. Challenger: This is the guy who throws up a challenge when the enemy charges in. He is most often the Lord. This guy has got to be able to stand the best of what the enemy can throw at him, then retaliate and obliterate their challenger. If the enemy feeds him a champ the Challenger has to be able to extract the max overkill. Typically the Challenger needs a Ward save, a good armor save, and a d3 wound weapon. Killing Blow is great if you can get it, as is ASF. BSB: This guy is just here to bring the best banner in the army, or just an extra war banner if the dex doesn't have 2 good ones. It's better to get the best banner onto the unit if its possible, but sometimes points force it to be given to this guy. The BSB also cuts down enemy troops, but that isn't his primary job, he's mostly here to wave the flag and give the associated bennies. Reaper: The other hero is here to deal damage to rank and file. A good armor save and a great weapon is the easiest way to do this (usually 2 casualties per hero is sufficient), but with all the armies points at your disposal you can also look at giving him a ~50 point weapon and trying to get a third wound out of it. He is also necessary for denying wounds to the enemy Lord if he ducks your Challenger's challenge and tries for rank and file. Spare: The last hero slot is most likely an extra reaper, but there are several other uses for him. You can put an invulnerable char in there (that is, deals no damage but rerolls his save or some such nonsense), if your dex has such a thing, or put a unit wide universal on him. (terror, MR, etc.)
DS Deployment
The DS's deployment is simplicity itself. Plunk it down opposite the most valuable piece of your foe's force and get ready to march. Hide your core as best you can and hope they don't have time to go contest your quarters. It's worth noting that the DS army will always finish deploying first (except vs. oddball lists like the Khazrak One Eye All-Ambushers list).
DS Formation
The big question is where the Lord goes. He needs to be in the middle if a dragon charge is in the offing (as it'll only touch 4/5 of the front rank, and may well elect not to touch the Lord if he's not centrally located), and on the appropriate corner if a flank charge threatens. It's also worthwhile to be careful about your standard bearer (typically the only R&F in the front rank). In extreme cases you might want to push him into the back and replace him with your champion, thus completely denying R&F to the enemy.
DS Movement
The Death Star needs to march towards the enemy every round, until it can charge, and even then it might prefer to march right up in their face, if flight seems imminent. It must be able to accept the enemy charging the flank or rear. Getting stuck in terrain is unacceptable as well, and the enemy target needs to be chosen with an eye towards avoiding such entanglements.
DS Magic
DS's have no magic of their own, due to lacking mages (and buying bound spells is a waste of time without mages to draw the dispel dice), and they tend to lack dispel dice to block the enemy's magic. MR is the saving grace of the DS, as it essentially amounts to dispel dice vs. every enemy spell. It's worthwhile to try for MR3 in a DS, many dexes have a way to get it.
DS Shooting
DS's have no time for shooting. Each round they must either march or charge. Ideally they are overruning into fresh enemies as often as possible. A good save vs. enemy shooting is a useful DS trait, as is being big enough that casualties don't force panic checks.
DS Combat
The DS is all about combat. You get charged, the challenger challenges, the reapers reap, the unit cheers and lends static res, the enemy breaks and you run them down. Losing a combat with the DS typically means losing a game, unless its a flank charge where your chars can't fight and you hold and go again next round.
DS VP Discussion
At the end of even an ideal game with the DS you are down one quarter (whichever of the enemy's you didn't get into). Frequently they'll hunt down your core, so you'll be down Core + 3 quarters, which is enough to lose by solid victory. In return, you are up whatever you killed. 2 units is usually enough to win a solid victory (not unusual if you are chasing the enemy down. It goes 1: March. 2: March, 3: Charge, 4: come back on board, 5: Charge, 6: turn) as standards/general make up for quarters. EDIT: BAWTRM points out that an enemy with sacrificial units can deploy them to block/redirect your DS at very little cost. Quite true. If they are feeding the DS units of any but the smallest proportions it's likely that the game'll be a tie, as throwaway units match up with the missing quarters. If the enemy made a concerted effort to destroy your DS the outcome of the game is determined by how that went. Even reducing it below half and killing a hero is usually too much for you to recover from, but the more common outcome is a massacre, one way or the other. If they destroyed the DS you naturally lose, and if you destroyed forces significant enough to have a shot they won't be able to make the points back up with their remnants.