Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TACTICA
By
Deathless Draich
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donation for its upkeep, the PayPal Account where this
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COPYRIGHT DEATHLESS DRAICH 2009
1
CONTENTS
Page
1. ESTIMATING DISTANCES
Using known distances
Perspective and angle of sight
Using measured distances and terrain
2. DEPLOYMENT
7
7
9
10
12
4. TURN 1
12
12
13
14
15
16
16
17
18
20
21
22
22
23
23
24
25
25
27
27
29
32
32
34
34
39
39
43
45
6. MAGIC
54
61
65
7. SHOOTING
106
Move or shoot
Target selection
Concentrated shooting
Rounds of available shooting
3
106
106
108
109
109
Hills
Buildings
Shooting in Cover
Warmachines
112
Protecting warmachines
Shoot or escape
Distance estimates
Foregoing shooting with artillery dice
115
8. COMBAT MANOEUVRES
Winning a flank
Anchoring a won flank
Lure and Ambush
Behind enemy lines
120
120
120
121
122
124
127
129
Increasing Attacks
Reinforcing a weakened unit
Slowing down the enemy
131
132
133
9. COMMON TRAPS
141
141
141
143
Skirmishers
147
148
150
151
153
156
11. ENDGAME
157
157
157
158
158
160
161
162
Decisions in turn 5
Changing tactics in the last turn
12. PROBABILITY
162
163
165
Rule of a quarter
166
168
170
183
185
201
203
Appendix
205
Probability tables
Probability when rolling 5 or 10 dice at the same time
Improving your dice rolls
1. ESTIMATING
DISTANCES
One of the most important basic skills of Warhammer. Games are lost or
won on the basis of good distance estimates. Indeed, the best players are
able to estimate distances to an error of less than 5%.
How would you improve your distance judgement skills?
Practice is a certain but slow way. Here are a few short cuts based
on common sense.
U
4
B
A
You are required to estimate the distance between unit (U) and the
line (A). The width of unit (U) is 4 wide and this could be used to assist
your estimate. There is a better method outlined below.
Place your finger at the midpoint between U and line (A). The line
(B) represents this mid point between the front of the unit and line (A).
By comparing the known 4 width and the distance of the unit to (B), it
can be seen that (A) is in fact 8 away.
I am not of course suggesting that you draw lines on the battle table
but no one would object if you place a finger at point (B) as you estimate
the distance.
Wheeling distances
In the diagram below, the player is trying to find out whether a
charge declaration for unit (A) would succeed. The charging distance
includes a wheel of 45o plus the shortest distance from the (A) to (B)
D
A
The charging distance is 7.1 and will succeed if the unit has M4 or
better.
If the wheel needed is slightly less than 30o, the wheeling distance
is two inches giving a total charge distance of six inches.
Width of unit
5 wide 20mm (4)
6 wide 20mm (4.7)
7 wide 20mm (5.5)
5 wide 25mm or
cavalry (5)
6 wide 25mm (5.9)
Ogres 3 wide (3.6)
TABLE 1.1
Angle of the wheeling arc
o
30
45o
60o
2
3.1
4.2
2.5
3.7
5
2.9
4.3
5.8
2.6
4
5.2
90o
6.3
7.4
8.6
7.9
3.1
1.9
9.3
5.7
4.6
2.9
6.2
3.8
A2
A1
A1
A1
A1
A2
A2
A2
D
D
Woods
F
Deployment zone
Warmachines tend to remain where they are for most, if not all of
the game. Every time a distance is measured by you or the other player,
remember this distance and the two points they were measured from. This
will help you in estimating similar or possibly the same distance in
subsequent rounds, especially for your own warmachine or archers.
Many players tend to ignore the measurement of a ranged attack
when it is obviously in range. There is nothing to stop you from checking
that range and using that information in the next turn.
10
Cavalry
Archers
Warmachine
Many players are only too aware of this and will make the
targeting measurement very quickly allowing very little time to compare
the tape measure with other distances. There is no harm and it is perfectly
fair to verify these distances yourself, especially since the rules state that
this distance must be checked.
11
2. DEPLOYMENT
Choosing the right spells
This is undertaken just before deployment.
If you have a choice of spells, then choose the ones that are most
effective against your opponents. Do not stick with a favourite spell but
always assess the enemys weaknesses and strengths
To illustrate this with a few examples: Lore of Light is stronger
against Undead and Daemons. Against Bretonnians, spells with hits that
negate armour saves are preferable. Rain Lord and Howler Wind are
effective against shooting armies. A low Leadership army is susceptible
to Panic or Fear causing magic.
There are more details in the chapter on Magic.
Order of deployment
Deployment is a cat and mouse game that will affect the entire
battle.
The maxim of deployment is: Wait and see i.e. watch what and
where your opponent deploys.
The most dangerous units or the unit most likely to be targeted in
the first few rounds should be deployed last. Similarly there will be units
that have to defend against these enemy units. Wait and see! Do not be
too proactive but react to your opponents deployment. There is no need
to take the initiative here. Both you and your opponent will be hoping for
easy units to blast away with shooting; or weak, but points heavy, units
within easy reach of strong elites.
There are three important considerations during deployment:
A) Shooting: How effective is the enemy shooting and how susceptible is
the enemy to your shooting?
If you are deploying a gun-line, wait until the favoured targets have
been deployed. If facing a gun-line deploy the units out of range,
sheltered or deploy the shooting absorbent units first. On the other hand
if the gun-line has not been deployed you could pre-empt its deployment
by temptingly exposing a unit.
Large targets must be deployed so that they can move quickly and
at the same time not be unduly exposed to shooting.
You might want to shelter a chariot from potential S7 hits, but it
will be absolutely useless stuck behind some woods.
12
B) Speed: How fast is the enemy in general and what problems will its
fast units pose? Conversely how effective are your fast units.
This is the most crucial consideration as it is the most difficult to
rectify if you have made a mistake. Flyers can easily spoil any good
deployment. Fast heavy cavalry could easily dominate one flank and
sweep through the centre. Pick the unit to defend against them (usually
another cavalry unit) and deploy this unit after the fast moving enemy
unit has been deployed.
C) Combining forces: Some units have to be deployed close together to
be effective. Three blocks of infantry marching abreast down the
battlefield is a common feature and sometimes very effective.
As soon as you have deployed one combat unit, create a mental picture of
where the other units should go. Make sure you have left sufficient space
for them and no units are unintentionally isolated.
Types of deployment
Key for diagrams in this section:
= Cavalry unit
HC
= Heavy cavalry
= Warmachines
= Infantry unit
= Archers
= Skirmishers
= Flyers
13
Standard Central
This is the common deployment for balanced armies with a mixture of
fast units, slow units, shooting, magic and combat.
14
Refused Flank
If the opposing army moves reasonably fast (or faster) and has
more units, then this deployment is a suitable option.
C
W
HC
15
Weakened Flank
This is a different version of the Refused flank. One or two units are
placed in one flank while the majority of the army is deployed on the
other side of the deployment zone.
S
S
Abandoned Flank
This may appear to be similar to the Weakened and Gambit
deployment but has important differences. It is a tactic most suitable for
armies with at least one or two flying units or fast or manoeuvrable
cavalry.
16
The idea here is to trick your opponent into thinking that the
majority of your units will be placed in the later abandoned flank, on the
right in this case. No units should be deployed in the other flank until all
the units in the abandoned flank have been deployed.
I1
I1
F1
F2
17
C1
C
I2
W
C
A
C1
C2
I1
I2
I
I
C
A
Gun lines
Many of the principles here apply to shooting units in general and not just
gun-lines. There are some obvious rules in deploying gun lines:
18
W2
C1
Charge
W1
C1
Overrun
A1
W2
A2
A1
W1
A2
Woods
Woods
Building
Region of enemy
infiltration
Building
Hill
Impenetrabl
e
G
G
19
iv) Balance the need to protect the gun line and to support your combat
troops. This balance will be in constant flux throughout the game. A
Slayer character for instance, might be initially deployed to protect
Dwarven cannon and Bolt throwers. If these warmachines face imminent
destruction, then it might be better off for the Slayer to support combat
elsewhere.
Gambit deployment
This again appears to be similar to the Weakened and Abandoned
flank deployments but has important differences.
The solitary unit, the Gambit, is placed in this flank acting merely as an
annoying thorn to draw away the enemy. Its survival is secondary as its
main function is to distract the enemy. To do this, it cannot merely be a
weak sacrificial unit e.g. Snotlings. It has to constantly harass the enemy
so that they feel compelled to destroy it.
I
G
Defensive bubble
This army is centred around an important unit or character e.g. the
Hierophant of a Tomb King army, the Vampire Lord or possibly the
Cauldron of Blood.
The protected unit is (H) in the diagram below. It is protected on
all sides from shooting and does not have to engage in combat. It usually
improves the ability of some or all units around it or in the case of a
Hierophant, is too fragile and must be protected at all costs.
The idea of the defensive bubble is to maximise the benefits of the
central unit at the same time protecting it from attacks.
The army does not have to remain static and could actually move
forward while still retaining the bubble formation.
C
W
I
H
C
I
21
22
23
It will be impossible to provide cover for all your units behind one
piece of terrain. Partial cover may be good enough as it still benefits from
the Soft or Hard Cover rules. A unit is considered to be in cover if at
least half of its models are in cover.
Archers
Woods
C1
I2
Woods
D3
D1
Building
D2
Building
Hil
24
Woods
Buildings
The bane of an all cavalry army. Buildings are not only conducive
to shooting units but some combat units as well. A small unit of elite
skirmishers placed in a building is almost invincible. Their main
disadvantage of not having ranks etc has been removed and combat is
determined solely by the number of wounds inflicted.
On the other hand, such a unit can easily be ignored as it cannot
charge out of a building. Slow moving units also benefit by moving in
and out of a large building rather than around them in consecutive turns.
Unit I1 moves D1 into the building. In the next turn, it moves out
of the other side and proceeds a further distance D2. The total distance it
has moved from A to B is further than the distance it would have marched
in 2 turns. At the same time it gains from the shelter of a building.
25
D2
A
D1
Building
I1
26
4. TURN 1
Re-deployment and Closest proximity comparison
The first step after deployment is to re-assess your deployment. It
is unlikely that your deployment would have been perfect and some fine
adjustments are needed. For instance some units will be too exposed,
some units could be too far away and your elite units could face the
prospect of having to take on worthless sacrificial units.
What are your options? Changing your deployment might wreck
your whole battle plan but some changes in the initial position of some
units may have to be made.
Before rushing to make these adjustments, there are two simple
checks.
1) Check your warmachines and shooters. They must have as at least one
viable target and as many shooting rounds as possible. Make sure they
have targets or enemy units that will move into their shooting arc (see
Gun line diagram) in future rounds. If not, they have to be moved. The
first turn is probably the only time when your targets may be out of range
and is therefore the best turn to move your shooting units if necessary.
2) Next is the more important aspect of closest proximity comparison.
Mentally move all your units and enemy units the maximum
distance they can move straight ahead. For each of your units, look at the
enemy unit immediately in front of it. Compare the strength of your unit
with the enemy unit in combat. Repeat this with all you other units
If you are stronger all along the front line, a straight forward frontal
rush seems appropriate but this would be highly unlikely. You will
probably be stronger in some areas and weaker in others. Your strategy is
to take maximum advantage of your strengths and simultaneously reduce
or overcome any weakness by changing the position of certain units in
turn 1 which I shall term re-deployment.
The simple example below will illustrate this.
27
PLAYER B
C
IE
IU
I1
I2
I3
I4
I1
C4
I2
I3
I4
C5
C2
C1
C2
PLAYER A
The final positions of all units that are expected to move in the first
turn are shown when they move their maximum distance. Warmachines
and archers are ignored for the moment. Terrain has been ignored for
simplicity.
Compare each unit with the enemy unit immediately opposite.
Let us consider one army at a time and take the case of the army on
the lower side of the board, Player A. Proceeding from right to left, C1
and C2 have to be compared, in close combat, to enemy unit (C5) on the
right. If they can hold or possibly defeat the single enemy cavalry unit,
then their deployment is sound. I4, I3,I2 and C3 have to be compared to
the four enemy infantry units (IE, IU etc).
Player (A) can see obvious strengths in his deployment. I1 for
instance faces no opposition and can march unchallenged into enemy
territory or support a neighbouring friendly unit.
(C1) and (C2) could overwhelm the right flank. The only apparent
weakness is the left flank where the enemy cavalry unit (C4) threatens the
warmachine near the bottom corner.
Other than units, I1, C3 and the warmachine, there is no other redeployment needed for player As units.
Now, let us consider player Bs position. Although Player Bs
position may look weaker, Player B actually has more options.
28
29
5) Plug the gap (next to I1) in his right flank with a rightward shift of
units as they move forward or ignoring that gap and hope to break
through the centre with fewer units than the enemy.
How the above can be carried out is discussed in isolation in future
chapters. Once you are conversant with the basic strategies, come back to
this section and try to produce a good general strategy. A complete
strategy of course will depend on the army you are facing.
Speed
If your opponents units are faster and more manoeuvrable
(Skirmishers are more manoeuvrable than ranked up infantry while Fast
cavalry is more manoeuvrable than heavy cavalry), then your scope for
re-deployment is limited. In this case your strategy must be to slow down
the enemy while you prepare your traps and ambushes. (see Combat
manoeuvres and Common Traps). At the same time use your fast units to
bait the enemy, win a flank, move behind their lines, dominate or restrict
space and support your slower units.
Obvious sacrificials
It might not be your intention to sacrifice any unit/s but after
deployment it may be obvious that a unit or two has to be left
unprotected.
30
Characters
Since they are deployed last and because of their obvious strength,
characters can easily distort the balance of power in Turn 1. It is best to
be out of range of certain characters who have nasty special abilities like
an Alter Noble, Vampires or Charm of Jaguar Scar Veteran. Always note
where they are in every turn and if you have them, they have to be
preserved and sheltered to make full use of their abilities.
I have not included combat considerations as this would be obvious
once Close proximity comparisons is completed.
31
5. CHECKS &
MANOUEVRES
During your Movement phase and especially the Remaining Moves
phase, before you finalise all moves, it is wise to make the following
checks. Since you might change your mind quite easily during this phase,
it is advisable that you place markers (I use dice) at the positions of each
unit, either at the original position or at the point where you want to move
them. This then helps you to visualise the final position of all your units
C3
B1
B2
I1
I2
I3
The diagram above shows a player who simply moves all his units
straight up without checking. He hopes to engage each one of his units
with one enemy unit. All 3 units could be charged but the combat is not
necessarily a one to one combat. By not closing the gap between itself
and I2, I3 has exposed I2 to another charge. I3 has allowed I2 to be
flanked charged by C3.
32
LOS
F
Building
I1
C1
I2
Flyer (F) has flown into the midst of the enemy. It may seem that
the flyer is threatening to rear charge I1, flank charge, cavalry unit C1 or
charge the warmachine (W).
I1
F
C1
Building
I2
33
4) Some units could be pushed quite far into enemy charging range as
sacrificials or to bait the enemy. (See Common Traps). Make sure that
they are orientated so that they minimise Panic if they have to flee
through friendly units. (See Lines of Pursuit and fleeing)
Retreat is a finely balanced consideration and depends on the speed
of your enemy units. If the unit has to be selective in combat, then it must
be able to retreat easily from the advance of dangerous enemy units in the
next turn. (see Retreating and Advancing options).
C3
I1
I3
I1
I3
A2
Units I2 and I3 initially shield the archers from the enemy. When it
moves the archers can now shoot at their full strength
2) This requires some forward planning. Rather than charging at the first
opportunity, it is better to move into position for a flank charge in later
turns. This check probably wins the game if done properly and requires a
good knowledge of all the strategies outlined in this book.
3) Any forward movement will immediately increase the space your army
controls. Increasing this space ensures greater manoeuvrability and a
wider arc for shooting and magic. However there is no real gain in space
34
if units cannot retreat if they want to. This is covered in more detail in the
sub section on Space below.
In you next game, go through the 7 checks as you are planning
your moves.
It will slow down your game somewhat but you will be assured of
not making some obvious mistakes. I am sure you will have heard stories
of how a player or perhaps you yourself overlooked an obvious charge or
threat which cost him or you, the game. Take your time at the start of the
movement phase. The best military strategy will be ruined from an
obvious oversight. So check, check and check again before moving! After
sometime these checks will be second nature to you and will greatly assist
your planning.
35
C3
B1
B2
I2
I1
I3
C3
B1
B2
I1
I2
I3
I2
I1
I3
B) Ignore I2s plight and assume that it breaks. Position I1 and I3 to take
on B2 when it breaks and pursues I2. Alternatively only I1 is positioned
to flank charge B2 while I3 moves up to deter C3.
36
C3
B1
B2
I1 remains where
it is or moves here
I3 moves here
I2
I3
I2
I3
I3
I1
C) Assume that I2 will probably hold in the ensuing combat. Move I1 and
I3 out of the charge range of all enemy units (in this case B2 and C3) but
position/orientate them so that they can combine and charge B2 (or any
other enemy unit). This is a defensive choice.
C3
B1
B2
I
I2
I1
I I3
I1
D) This is the most defensive option. Do not charge with I2 but move all
three units, I1, I2 and I3 out of enemy charge range.
C3
B1
B2
I2
I1
I1
I2
I3
I3
37
the enemy and position the other two units to combine charges and flank
charge in your next turn. (See Common Traps)
C3
B1
B2
I3
I2
I
I2
I1
I3
F) The last option is what happens if the enemy flees! This is quite easily
overlooked by a beginner who is eager to crush a seemingly weak unit.
First of all, do you think unit B2 is likely to flee. Remember that if it is
Immune to psychology it cannot.
The reasons for fleeing are explained in the next section.
You have to balance the prospect of losing I2 in the next round with
forcing B2 to flee.
If you do not want to lose I2 easily, then do not declare a charge.
If B2) does flee, all is not lost. You could still make it dangerous
for B1 and C3 to flank charge I2.
B2
Flee!
B1
Too dangerous to
move here or
charge?
B2
Too dangerous to
move here or
charge?
I2
I1
1
C3
I2
I3
I1
I3
38
Hold or Flee?
The third option for charge responses is Stand and Shoot. There is no
reason why a unit should not Stand and Shoot in preference to a Hold
charge response.
The main dangers of fleeing are being caught, failing to rally or
causing Panic. I have omitted detailed considerations of Panic below
because that will depend on the positions and Unit strengths of the units
involved and their Leadership values but keep Panic in mind when you
make your decision. (See lines of Flight and Pursuit)
There are 6 reasons for a unit to elect to flee:
a) It will lose combat easily
As the Skaven wise men say he who runs away lives to fight
another day. Instead of being slain too easily and quickly, a fleeing unit
has at least a chance of rallying in the next round. This has to be balanced
with reason (b) for holding. See below.
b) It has to avoid combat and has sufficient distance or speed to escape
Sometimes it is necessary to flee just to evade combat e.g. it is too
risky to engage in combat at the moment or the line of flight might take
the unit into a favourable area (fleeing into difficult terrain against a
charging chariot) or it is turn 6 and other considerations have to be
weighed. See the Endgame Chapter.
The underlying principle here is to flee successfully and try to rally
in the next round.
39
Maximum
fleeing
distance
Average
fleeing
distance
I
Charging
distance
Charging
distance
C
C
The unit can flee successfully if it is far enough from the chargers as
shown above.
Unit (I) has a better chance of not getting caught in the left diagram
whereas the diagram on the right shows that unit (I) has no chance of
escaping. It should hold as a charge response unless it is being used as
bait.
A successful flight could also be achieved if the fleers are fast
movers and use three dice for fleeing. Compare the charge distance with
the most probable dice roll. (Table 12.5)
c) It is an obvious sacrificial or diversionary unit
The same principle as (b) applies. Flee if the unit can escape and
hopefully rally. If the units sole function is to divert dangerous enemy
units, it is normally not a unit that is strong in combat. Fleeing and
rallying gives it a chance of creating another diversion in the next round.
d) It is a warmachine
This is one of the consequences of the 7th edition rules. A
warmachine crew that elects to flee is never caught, at least initially. The
chargers have to end up in base contact with the machine. It will of
course overrun and could then force the crew to flee again or catch them
Charging unit
must stop and
attack the
machine
Crewmen
in combat
A
A
A
C
C
C
Fleeing
crewmen
C
C
40
I
S S
S
S
SS
S S
S
S
C
SS
The order of the charge declaration made above is, (C) charges the
Skirmishers (S) followed by (I) charging (A). By fleeing unit (S) has
forced (C) to end up in (I)s charge path. (I)s charge now fails.
Some delicate estimates have to be made to arrive at this situation.
(S) has to have sufficient distance to escape and (C)s failed charge has to
be estimated correctly to take it into (I)s path.
In a different scenario with the units at different distances, it is also
possible for (S) to flee so that it is caught. (C) would then move its full
distance which would take it into (I)s path.. This is much easier to
estimate since no fleeing dice is used.
The correct sequence of charges above should have been 1) (I)
charges (A) followed by 2) (C) charges (S).
See also EITW Traps.
41
Average
fleeing
distance
Charging
distance
Charging
distance
In the diagram on the left, the unit (W) will be obviously caught
and the charger (C) is now off the board. The diagram on the right shows
the failed charge distance falling just short of the board edge. This has the
same effect as the diagram on the left, if the charger does not have 360
Line of Sight. Charger (C) will not be facing any enemy units and cannot
charge in the next round.
The reasons for holding as a charge response are simply opposite to
that for fleeing. A unit will hold as a charge response if:
a) It will win combat
b) It will be destroyed if it flees
Flee
A
Charge
C
Pre-calculations
The importance of Static Combat Resolution
It is important to note that it is Combat Resolution (CR) which
wins combat and not killing as many models as possible. The enemy
breaks after combat resolution which involves several factors other than
wounds inflicted.
Static combat resolution is a calculation of combat bonuses before
combat commences.
43
44
Area
controlled
by A
Area
controlled
by A
A
Hill
Hill
Dead
Space
C
Area controlled
by C
The diagram on the left shows unit (A) and its controlled space.
(For simplicity I have used a semicircle instead of the correct segment)
The diagram on the right shows an introduction of an enemy unit.
Both units are equally strong but possibly in different ways. (C) might be
a Cavalry unit armed with lances. It can inflict many wounds when it
charges but not many when being charged. (A) might be a fully ranked up
unit with Great weapons and again will inflict more wounds when
charging but will probably lose its number of attacks when being charged.
Neither unit wants to risk being charged. Therefore neither unit can
venture into the square-shaded area. This now becomes dead space
Sometimes shooting (or magic) units could create dead space. If
unit A has very effective shooting, then it has LOS to any enemy unit on
the hill. If unit (C) cannot withstand this shooting, the hill now becomes
dead space, controlled by neither unit.
45
Area
controlled
by A
A
Hill
Dead
Space
Area controlled
by C
E3
E2
P
E1
E3
E2
C
A
The diagram on the left shows the enemy front line is far away
from shooting units (A) and (B). The movement of (E1), (E2) and (E3)
has been hindered because some of the space in front of them is
controlled by enemy unit (C). (C) is not march blocking the enemy but
still discourages them from advancing.
46
(C) also has a good chance of reaching area (P) which would be
highly dangerous to army (E).
Units (E1), (E2) and (E3) have a bigger distance to travel and will
therefore be subjected to more shooting and magic.
The diagram on the right shows (C) remaining where it is after
deployment. (E1), (E2) and (E3)s unfettered march has increased the
space they control and reduced (C)s space. Fewer rounds of shooting are
available and more importantly (C) is stuck and unable to move to its
highly prized area (P).
4) For Fleeing and Retreats
There will be some units in your army which you do not want to
engage in combat with some or most enemy units. These very same units
will be soft targets which the opposing player will relish disposing off
quickly and easily. Therefore your opponent will move as close to them
as possible. If these units cannot retreat or flee, then they would be killed
too easily.
Flee
E1
E2
Flee
Charge
E2
Charge
E1
C
C
C
47
C1
Notice, units with faster movement control more space (C1) and
(C). The space controlled by units extends sideways as well as forwards
which will be highlighted later. The shooting range of the 2 warmachines
extends the area controlled backwards. Strictly speaking this area is not
controlled but let us assume that the warmachines shooting is so
effective at short range that enemy units will be reluctant to venture into
that area and therefore this area can be regarded as being in control of the
army shown.
48
C1
C1
C
C
The area behind (I), (A) and (C) is shaded slightly differently
because it is not actually controlled by the army but is too far from the
enemy to be of any consequence.
The advance of the units has nearly doubled the total area
controlled. They now have more freedom to turn, retreat or march.
The next diagram shows what would happen if they marched their
full distance. The area controlled is even bigger.
49
Notice as well that the two cavalry units have moved inwards
slightly. This enables them to maximise the space they control towards
the centre.
Any increase in the space you control, automatically reduces the
space available to the enemy. The simplest way of achieving this is by
moving straight ahead and spreading your units out but doing just this
without considering where the enemy is and where they could move will
be a fatal error.
The space that is within reach of your units is not the space it
controls. It is only a controlled space if it deters enemy incursions.
When advancing to increase space watch out for the following:
1) The front line must be preserved and impossible for the enemy to
break through.
2) Enemy flyers/fast movers must be taken into account
3) The strength of enemy ranged attacks. If it overlaps with the area of
one or more units, then the unit can only be in control of that area if it can
withstand the ranged attacks.
4) Inability to retreat
The diagram below shows the first 3 points:
W
C
I
W
F
I
I
I
C
50
B2
C3
Charge
range of B2
B2
C3
I1
I2
Charge range
of C3
Dead areas
simplified
I
I
I
E1
E2
E4
E2
E4
E3
A3
A1
A2
A4
E2
E4
E2
A1
A2
E4
E3
A3
A2
A4 A4
It shows how unit (A1) sacrifices itself to create space on the left
for another unit (A2) which now threatens the centre. Notice how (A1)
orientates itself so that the double charge of (E1) and (E2) will progress
52
away from the centre. (E1) and (E2) are being channelled away from the
main combat arena. Although unit (A1) will be destroyed, it will take 2
units to remove it.
Space has been created in (A)s left flank. (A2) can now safely
swing around to the left and threaten the centre. It can flank charge (E3)
if it breaks (A3) and pursues; or it can simply create even more space by
moving behind enemy lines, a very dangerous manoeuvre for army (E).
Notice too that (A4) simply slips out of charge range of (E4) while still
threatening (E3) and guarding the right flank.
Without looking at the next diagram decide what you would now
do if you are playing army (E)
The overall situation is army (A) now threatens to wrest the centre
away and then sweep right
E4
E1
E1 E2
E2
A1
A2
E4
E4
E3
E3
A4
The other units of army E now has to take this into account. (E1)
and (E2) will have to charge (A1) and hope for an immediate victory.
This is better than charging with only (E1) as (E2) still cannot manoeuvre
past (A1). Charging with both units also guarantees +1 for outnumbering.
Both (E1) and (E2) should pursue when (A1) breaks doubling the
chance of catching it and also enables both units to swing around behind
army (A) in the latter half of the game.
It is likely that unit (E4) will turn to face (A2). It should move as
far towards the centre as possible again to regain some of the space that
(E3) has lost. It should threaten (A4)s flank if (A4) charges (E3). At the
same time it should not be within (A4)s charge range. This move by (E4)
is crucial to army (E) and has to be precise.
Unit (E3) will pursue when (A3) breaks and hope that it will
somehow hold against a flank (or rear charge!). Army (A) is dominating
the central space at the moment but it will be more evenly contested when
(E1) and (E2) enters the fray.
53
Army (A) has averted disaster and gained the upper hand
temporarily all because (A2) has gained space through (A1)s sacrificial
move. Gaining and using space correctly as you can see is imperative.
Advancing safely
Units need to advance to get into combat quickly; increase the
space controlled by their army while reducing the enemys and set up a
good charge for itself or other units.
In order to advance successfully, a unit must estimate
1) The charging distance of the nearest enemy unit
2) The distance it can retreat.
All this may seem too obvious but once you have gone through the
examples below you will fully appreciate the importance of advancing
safely.
The tables below summarises this for units with different
movement rates (M). Fast units have a huge advantage in advancing
forward as can be seen in the table below
The table below shows how close to the enemy a unit of movement
rate (M) can move.
54
TABLE 5.1
M4
MINIMUM
M5
SAFE
DISTANCE M6
FROM THE
ENEMY
M7
AFTER
M8
MOVING
(Shuffle
M9
retreat)
(Minimum 1
M10
rank of 5
models)
Fly
MOVEMENT RATE OF
CLOSEST ENEMY UNIT
M4 M5 M6 M7
M8
M9
M10
Fly
10 22
38
38
10 12
14
29
10 12
14
16
10 12
14
16
18
36
36
10 12
14
16
18
20
20
10 12
14
16
18
20
20
10 12
14
16
18
20+ 20+
26
30
34
33
37
37
Slightly
bigger than
8
E1
Slightly
bigger than
10
Bigger than
10 charge
range
Slightly
bigger than
8
E1
I
Backward
shuffle of
2
I
I
(E1) however, could charge (I) in its next turn. It may appear that
(I)s movement has put it in jeopardy but this is not so. (I) can safely
shuffle back 2 out of (E1)s charge range in the following turn as shown
in the diagram on the right. Therefore its advance in the previous turn has
been safely executed.
M4 advancing towards M6:
Notice however that if (E1) has M6 the backward shuffle is
insufficient. Table 5.1 shows that a M4 unit can only advance to within
22 of a M6 unit. This may seem unnecessarily large and simply moving
out of the charge range of 12 is sufficient for the M4 unit. This is
tactically unsound as the M4 unit will be trapped in the next turn! The
example below illustrates this.
(I), which has M4, in the diagram below has decided to move just
out of the charge range of (E2) which has M6 i.e. 12 (Left Diagram)
Mo
E1
Slightly
bigger than
12
12 charge
range
I
I
Slightly
bigger than
8
Backward
shuffle of
2
The diagram on the right shows how the M6 unit easily counters
this by moving to just outside (I)s charge range, 8, in the next turn. (I)s
backward shuffle now does not take it out of (E1)s charge range!
(I) is now trapped and cannot safely shuffle backwards or move out
of charge range. (I) has not advanced safely and has exposed itself to a
56
charge. The player controlling (E1) could charge (I) in the next round or
choose a more dangerous option.
(E1) could simply manoeuvre to a more favourable charging
position! This can be done because (E1) should always be able to charge
(I) in all future rounds. (I) cannot escape from this predicament without
the aid of terrain or other friendly units.
Place the two units on the gaming table and experiment and you
will find that it is true that (I) cannot prevent a future charge by (E1) no
matter how or where it moves. It cannot march out of charge range unless
(E1) makes an error in movement as shown below.
E1
Safe region
Movement or
marching
allowance must
be at least this
distance
The diagram above shows the only possible mistake. Unit (I) slips
past (E1)s closest approach because (E1) has not moved to the correct
final position. It is too far to the right. When (I) moves to the Safe region,
it not only has escaped from (E1) but could seriously threaten a flank
charge. The charging arc must be correctly estimated while advancing
and it is vital that enemy units do not slip past this arc.
The movement needed to escape and get to the safe zone, i.e. (I)s
marching distance, is measure from the back of (I). The whole of unit (I)
must get to this zone and not just its front. The diagram shows this
important distance that you have to estimate.
Notice, in the diagram above, that if (I) is a small
cavalry/fast cavalry unit e.g. has less than 5 models, it could escape from
(E1)s approach even more easily.
57
Example:
Unit (A) approaches to within 16 of unit (B) which has M8. Table 5.1
shows that this approach is the closest safe approach if unit (B) has 5
models in 1 rank.
However if unit (B) has only 3 models or less, it can slip past unit (A) to
the safe zone shown in the diagram above even if unit (A) is correctly
positioned right at the centre.
Wheeling distance = 2.4
Length of unit = 2
Straight Distance to reach the safe zone = 11.3
This gives a total of 15.7 just under the marching distance of 16.
TABLE 5.2
Movement Rate of unit
Maximum number of models
allowed in order to escape to the
safe zone
M7 M8 M9 M10 Fly
2
3
4
4
Var.
The table above shows the maximum number of models needed in a unit
for this to occur.
Flyers are normally skirmishers and have different base sizes and
therefore their abilities vary but in general they have a better chance than
cavalry units of escaping using the method shown above.
Skirmishers have an advantage in this situation as each model
moves directly to the safe zone. The model furthest from the safe zone is
the critical model. The whole unit will be safe if this model can reach the
safe zone.
One note of warning if you are facing this type of move by
skirmishers i.e. you are controlling unit (E1). Make sure your opponent
measures the distance moved by the furthest skirmisher model. Quite a
few players are lax in making sure that skirmishers move properly and
often inadvertently allow some models to move further than their
movement allowance.
Going back to Table 5.2, it can be seen that M6 units are more
dangerous to a M4 unit than to a M5 unit. If you observe the movement
phase of an Ogre Kingdom army (nearly all M6) against Orcs (nearly all
58
M4), you will find that, in a one on one confrontation, the Ogres could
easily charge, pulling off a Bull charge, dominate space and restrict the
Orc army. However in an Ogre Kingdom army versus Elves battle, the
Elves could more easily avoid being charged.
In Table 5.1, the advancing unit is prepared to only shuffle
backwards as a retreat. A unit could also turn and move backwards.
Table 5.2 shows the corrected distance of closest approach for the
maximum possible retreat. The difference is small as you can see but you
also run the risk of being charged in the rear if you wrongly estimate the
enemys charge distance.
N.B. The two tables for closest approach are for units of at least 1
complete rank of 5 and assume that only cavalry size bases can move 7
or more.
TABLE 5.3
MOVEMENT RATE OF
CLOSEST ENEMY UNIT
M4 M5 M6 M7
M8
M9
M10
Fly
M4
10 21
37
37
MINIMUM M5
SAFE
M6
DISTANCE
FROM THE M7
ENEMY
M8
AFTER
MOVING
(Maximum M9
retreat)
M10
(Minimum 1
rank of 5
Fly
models)
10 12
14
10 12
14
16
10 12
14
16
18
36
36
10 12
14
16
18
20
20
10 12
14
16
18
20
20
10 12
14
16
18
20+ 20+
25
29
33
It may seem that slower units have little chance of avoiding being
charged by significantly faster units. This is true in the main, but slower
units are usually cheaper and can be fully ranked up. They will have +3
ranks and outnumber against a fast unit like cavalry with one exception -
59
The Bret lance formation will have 2 ranks usually but since it
requires more points, there will be fewer such units.
Fast moving units could maximise their movement advantage by
moving as fast as possible. They could be in enemy territory and
challenging enemy space within 1 turn.
Looking at the table again and using M5 as an example, there is a
huge difference when a M5 unit has to advance towards M7 than when it
advances towards M6. A M5 can approach to 12 of a M6 unit but must
stay away double that distance, 24.3 from a M7 unit.
This is bigger than the separation at deployment.
Does this mean that a M4 unit should not be deployed directly in
front of an M7 unit with only flat open terrain in between?
Yes and No. Yes, if it does not want to be charged within 2 turns
and does not want to retreat in the first turn. No, if it can withstand a
charge or can retreat, instead of advancing or fleeing to set up other
charges.
Notice as well that it is practically impossible for M4 or M5 units,
which will include nearly all warmachines, to avoid M10 or Flyers
without appropriate terrain or intervening units. M10 and Flyers will be
within charge range of these units after 1 turn of safe advance.
One simple but very important rule emerges from all this:
A unit can advance as close as possible to the charging distance of
the closest enemy unit which exceeds its M allowance by 1
i.e. a M6 unit can safely approach to just over 14 of a M7unit
a M5unit can safely approach to just over 12 of a M6 unit etc.
Against much faster enemy units, the first move after deployment
needed to avoid being charged, is to retreat! i.e. a M5 unit directly facing
a M7(or faster) enemy unit, at deployment, cannot stop being charged by
the M7 enemy unit by turn 2 unless it retreats in the first turn.
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b) Ranged attacks
This always deters any incursions. The ways of dealing with this is
covered in the Shooting chapter
c) Diversionary units
Horde armies often incorporate these units with or without
shooting. They can either march block or divert charges by sacrificing
themselves. (See Combat Manoeuvres Chapter)
d) Neighbouring units
Placing a M7 unit next to a M4 unit is an effective way of
discouraging any enemy unit from advancing to within 8 of the M4 unit.
e) Relative strengths and weaknesses of units, in combat have to be
balanced against its ability to advance safely. As I stated at the start of
this section, I have omitted the case of a powerful elite unit that is certain
of winning combat. A unit like that does not have to worry about closest
approach against weak enemy units.
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E1
E2
G
B
Unit (A) and (B) have broken unit (E2). If both units pursue they
could easily be flanked charged by (E1). Pursuit is then best avoided.
However if (E1) is at (G) then pursuit may well take both (A) and (B) out
of the charging arc.
The pursuit direction is relative to the unit with the biggest Unit
Strength. Units (A) and (B) can use this fact to their advantage.
E2s failed
charge
E2
E1
B flees
E2
1
Move 1
E2
1
B
Bs
pursuit
By pursuing with the weaker unit (B) (right diagram), a trap has
been laid for unit (E2). If (E2) declares a charge, then (B) should flee and
(A) would flank charge (E1).
It is often better to pursue in the games early stages as it could
create a break in the enemys frontline or enable a unit to move to the rear
of the enemys frontline. This as usual depends on the situation. The basic
criteria to assist you in making a decision are covered in the next
example.
62
E2
E1
E1
E3
E3
E2
A
B
Unit (A) breaks unit (E1) and pursues safely through. (A) ends up
in a safe zone regardless of whether it catches (E1) or not. (Left diagram).
Your analysis should not end there. Try to think why before reading on.
The diagram on the right shows the limitations of the decision to
pursue. Unit (E1) has rallied and unit (E2) and (E3) have positioned
themselves for a flank charge in the next turn. Pursuing with (A) does not
look an obvious choice now.
Therefore before deciding to pursue, you should visualise how
your opponent will move his units in the next turn. It is quite easy for the
pursuing unit to be isolated and therefore susceptible to multiple chargers
as shown in the diagram.
Once again your analysis should not end there. Analyse the
situation again more carefully before reading on.
After visualising the situation in the diagram on the right, these
possible outcomes have to be balanced:
i) (A) could declare a charge against (E1) in the next turn. which might
lead to (A) being destroyed by a flank charge by (E2) if (E1) does not
break.
ii) (A) could charge (E1) and most likely destroy it, pursuing out of
(E2)s range
iii) (A) charges or stays in position with the intent of drawing (E1), and
either or both (E2) and (E3) out of combat in other places or set up
charges of other units e.g. unit (B).
Pursuing (A) may not be as bad as it looks. All 3 possibilities have
to be finely balanced before deciding to pursue with (A) in the first
combat.
63
E1
E1
E2
Flee
direction
when E2
charges
64
E2
F
Flee
direction
Safe
region
6. MAGIC
Magic is somewhat fickle in Warhammer and any over reliance on
magic is often frowned upon. However some armies especially Tomb
Kings rely heavily on magic for success and it should be viewed as an
integral part of the game. Games can be won or lost solely because of
magic.
65
66
to help you plan a general strategy that combines shooting, magic and
combat.
I shall first briefly summarise the strengths and weaknesses of each
lore of magic before going on to discuss strategies used in the magic
phase.
67
This does not mean that Titillating Delusions is not a good spell
but an attempt to incorporate a particular spell into your strategy needs
some care.
Magic missiles however can be cast without any consideration of
this factor as only its range matters and it will not enhance or be enhanced
by any special manoeuvres.
F) Overall assessment and good spell combinations
The total effect of the lores spells on a normal game, how much
they complement or support the army, how they restrict the enemy or
inflict wounds etc. will be assessed here. The so-called buff spells
which do not affect the opposing army will be discussed here. Some of
these spells, e.g. summoning Undead are extremely powerful in their own
right.
Remains in Play spells may seem very good but they are negated
when the caster attempts to cast another spell. Therefore they are best
used by a caster who does not intend to cast in the next turn. Although
they can be dispelled in your opponents magic phase, this will use up
some of your opponents power dice.
I shall also briefly touch on spell choices here, how to use
particular spells and mention against which army, if any, the spell or Lore
is most dangerous.
Lore of Fire
A) Except for the default spell, all spells have a high casting value.
B) A standard magic missile which is a good default spell.
C) All the spells have long ranges and it is possible to cast them in nearly
every turn
D) One of the best Lores in inflicting wounds against the enemy as all but
one spell does this. Rolling for spells should not cause much
disappointment.
E) This is one of the best lores for its non dependency. All the spells are
effective without any consideration to other factors.
F) Five good spells and one mediocre spell, Burning Head, makes this a
good lore. Conflagration of Doom is one of the very few tabletop spells
68
that can inflict wounds against the enemy but has a very high casting
value. Use it to target units or characters who are hiding behind terrain
and are not within LOS.
Wall of Fire is a Remains in Play spell and if you manage to cast
this, it could destroy a whole unit as every model takes a hit every time
the unit moves.
Flaming Sword is also a Remains in Play spell and is most
dangerous when cast on a lord who is also a spell caster e.g. a Daemon
Prince. +3S, hitting on 2s and a +1A will transform any character into a
model that can inflict many wounds.
Lore of Fire is very effective against enemy units of low
Toughness 3 or less. If the objective is to maximise on inflicting
wounds, then Fiery Blast and Fireball together is a dangerous
combination.
All the spells have Flaming attacks. This causes double wounds
against Flammable models and prevents regeneration but High Elf
Dragon armour is immune to this lore.
Lore of Metal
A) Low casting values except for Spirit of the Forge
B) Rule of Burning Iron is one of the best default spells in the game. It
can be used to snipe characters, especially those with good armour saves
e.g. Character geared for combat on a barded steed. There is no Armour
save against this spell. Unfortunately its strength is reduced by a lack of
armour. It is not as useful against wizards who normally do not have any
armour
C) All spell ranges are good 24. Commandment of Brass affects only
chariots and warmachines while Law of Gold affects only a unit or
character with a magic item but is still generally a good spell.
D) A good default spell and Distillation of Molten Silver is a powerful
magic missile.
E) Transmutation of Lead requires units to be in combat and lasts for only
that turn. Both Rule of Burning Iron and Spirit of the Forge should be
cast on units/models with good armour saves. Commandment of Brass
has been mentioned above.
F) Therefore there are three good spells Rule of Burning Iron and
Distillation of Molten Silver, Law of Gold (if used correctly), two
69
mediocre spells Transmutation of Lead and Spirit of the Forge and one
below average spell, Commandment of Brass.
Spirit of the Forge is very good but like all highest level spell, its
casting value is very high. If you have sufficient power dice then choose
it as it could potentially devastate a unit of heavy cavalry with 2D6 hits.
The strength is reduced by a lack of armour like the default spell.
Although I have categorised Commandment of Brass as below
average, it is obvious that you should choose this spell when facing
armies with many warmachines and/or chariots. Most armies will have at
least one of these but if there are not, then you have to substitute this with
the default spell.
Law of Gold should either be used against characters with the
popular magic item e.g. Wood Elves Helm of the Hunt, Bow of Loren,
Dark Elves Pendant of Khaeleth, Dwarves Runes on characters and
Warmachines etc. A list of popular magic items can be found in the last
chapter. If you are uncertain, then targeting a magic user and getting rid
of Dispel Scrolls is a useful ploy.
Lore of metal is effective against Bretonnians, other cavalry
dependent armies and Dwarves with Ironbreakers
Lore of Shadow
A) Casting values are evenly distributed 5,6,8,9,11 and 12.
B) An unusual but good default spell because of its huge surprise factor.
It can be used defensively to remove a character in danger or offensively
to enable a character to charge a long distance in the magic phase.
Beware that this will expose your isolated charging character.
C) One spell can be cast at any time and Remains in Play Shades of
Death. Two spells have good ranges Pit of Shades and Creeping death
while two have short ranges Unseen Lurker and Crown of Taidron.
D) Shades of Death is best cast by a wizard who probably will not be
casting many spells for the rest of the game. Unseen Lurker and Steed of
Shadows have to be used with careful consideration but would then be
devastating. This is discussed in (F). The target of Pit of Shades should be
units of low Initiative if there are any.
70
Lore of Beasts
A) Excellent for this category. Casting values range from just 4 to 9.
B) A very good default spell. Remains in play and will turn any character
including wizards into a fighting machine with a minimum of 4 S5
71
Lore of Heavens
A) A normal spread of casting values but low values for the lowest 3
spells.
B) A below average default spell. Re-rolling 1s is only effective if a unit
has many dice to roll.
C) The wound-inflicting spells is only limited in range by LOS. All the
spells except possibly Portent of Far can be cast from turn 1. This makes
the Lore of Heavens one of the best for range and availability to cast.
72
D) Two spells which are very good at inflicting wounds. Fork Lightning
requires only 6 to cast but its LOS range enables the target to be a unit of
the spellcasters choice. Uranons Thunderbolt has a similar range with a
great bonus of negating Armour saves.
E) The Comet has to be cast with some care. If the comet does not strike,
it creates a region to be avoided by both armies and could endanger one
of the casters units. Portent of Far has been mentioned in part (B).
F) Four good spells, Second sign, Celestial shield, Forked Lightning and
Uranons Thunderbolt. Second sign enables D3 re-rolls which can be
used for any unit during any phase. Comet of Casandora is capricious and
its high casting value makes it a mediocre spell. Like other high casting
value spells, it becomes more viable with more power dice and higher
level wizards. It is worth noting that Portent of Far can also be used by
shooting units but the problem is you cannot predict which unit is going
to roll that disappointing 1!
The Lore of Heavens is a very balanced lore overall in terms of
attack and defence. The two offensive spells are the best but if you fail to
get them, Celestial shield, which grants a whole unit a 4+ Ward save is
very good defensively while Second Sign can affect both defence and
offence.
Lore of Light
A) Excellent casting values for the first four spells and reasonably low
values for the last two.
B) Good default spell which is excellent against Undead and Daemons
C) All the spell have short ranges except for the default spell. This is not
a problem considering the nature of these spells. Dazzling brightness can
only be cast on a unit engaged in combat. Healing energy is only worth
casting after a model suffers wounds. This makes only 3 spells that can be
possibly cast from turn 1 onwards
D) Two good wound inflicting spells which are elaborated in (F).
E) Both Phas Illumination and Guardian Light are Remains in play spells
while both Dazzling Brightness and Guardian Light do not require LOS.
Healing energy is a tabletop spell. This greatly simplifies the tactics
required when using this Lore. Not much movement on open ground is
73
required of the spell caster. The short range of some spells is also
compensated. Spell casters could be sheltered and do not have to undergo
complicated manoeuvres to be within range.
F) D6 S4 from Burning Gaze and D6 S5 per unit from Cleansing Flare.
Both benefit from S6 against Daemons and Undead making them almost
a must against these armies. Cleansing Flare has two additional huge
bonuses of affecting units in combat and affecting all units within 12
range.
Phas Illumination is a weaker version of Bears Anger or Flaming
sword but with a poor bonus of negating magic weapons. It is unlikely
that you will cast this on a fighting character and just as unlikely that you
will hazard a combat between a wizard with this spell and an enemy
fighting character even without his magic weapon.
Healing energy is often underestimated but it has a very low
casting value and in addition to characters and the obvious multi-wound
models, it will also benefit warmachines and chariots.
Guardian Light is useful when your army has to face Fear causers
or your army has some units which are low in Leadership and susceptible
to Panic.
There are two very good spells, Burning Gaze and Cleansing Flare
and three mediocre spells with Guardian Light being good under certain
conditions. This a good lore against Daemons and Undead especially.
Lore of Life
A) A normal spread of casting values but the last three spells have a low
casting value opposite to the Lore of Heavens
B) A below average default spell since water features are rarely chosen as
terrain. The 12 range without the water feature does not improve this
spell as the caster has to move close to the unit that he intends to target.
Cavalry can easily cover this distance and so can many Ogre sized units.
Flyers and Ethereal units are not affected by this spell. It could be of
some use to a Wizard who is mounted or moves quickly and can get close
to the enemy or even behind enemy lines.
C) Rain lord has a good range and with the right terrain so do Master of
Stone and Master of the Wood. Howler Wind and Rain Lord are useful
defensive spells against heavy shooting. The Gift of life cannot be used
for chariots or warmachines and is limited to other multi wound models.
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D) There are two wound inflicting spells - Master of the Wood and
Master of Stone. If enemy units steer clear of hills and woods then they
can still be cast at a range of 12
E) Keep units that are easily destroyed by shooting, close to the caster of
Howling wind or alternatively keep a unit that is meant to charge enemy
shooters under this protective umbrella. If you intend to use this lore and
can choose terrain, then choose appropriate types - water feature placed
as close to the centre as possible, ruins, at least one wood and one hill.
F) There are 2 definite good spells, Master of Wood and Master of Stone
with a possibility of two more against shooting armies Rain Lord and
Howler Wind.
Rain Lord is better than Howler wind if the enemy can shoot. It has
a 50% chance of making a warmachine half as effective or causes a -1
modifier to shooting hits. It also lasts the whole battle while Howler wind
is a Remains in Play spell affecting only S4 or less shooting. Gift of Life
is much weaker than Healing energy from the Lore of Light since it has a
very short range and a higher casting value even though all wounds are
restored.
This Lore could potentially be very good if defence against
shooting is needed but only if you manage to get the last three spells.
Master of Stone will deter the enemy from deploying close to a hill and
Master of the Wood is always a danger to hiding skirmishers like Skinks,
Beast herds, Scouts who shoot and a thorn in any Wood elf army.
However, for this lore, the danger of not rolling for at least one of the
four good spells is an almost useless default spell.
Lore of Death
A) High casting values for the intermediate spells but a relatively low
casting value for the last spell. Five spells require 8+.
B) A good default spell which is a standard D6 S4.
C) Three spells have good ranges, two of which Dark hand of Death and
Wind of Death are magic missiles. Doom and Darkness also has a range
of 24 but is only worth casting if it is known that the target unit will be
taking a Leadership test. Steal Soul, Walking Death and Drain life all
have a short range of 12. Therefore only the two magic missiles can be
possibly cast from turn 1 onwards.
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D) Dark hand of Death, Wind of Death and Drain life inflict wounds.
Doom and Darkness does not affect units that are Immune to psychology.
Walking Death is identical to Shades of Death from Lore of Shadows.
Other than Doom and Darkness which requires some form of prediction
for its target, the other spells simply require proximity for effectiveness.
E) Four spells could inflict wounds on the enemy. The two magic
missiles are S4. Drain Life is S3 with no armour saves. Steal Soul
automatically inflicts a wound with no armour saves.
F) Four good spells here, Dark hand of Darkness, Steal Soul, Wind of
Death and Drain Life and two mediocre spells, Walking Death and Doom
and Darkness.
Steal Soul is especially dangerous and could slay characters since it
has no targeting restrictions or any rolls to wound. If there are no
characters close by, unit champions or indeed any model will suffice.
Wind of Death and Dark Hand of Death are the equivalent of
Fireball and Fiery Blast from the Lore of fire. However they do not
benefit from being Flaming attacks but could be used against High elves
Dragon armour.
Drain Life, S3, is a weaker version of Cleansing Flare, S5 or S6,
but it is still a good spell since it has the same bonuses of being able to
cast into combat and it affects all units within 12.
The two mediocre spells are very effective against low Leadership
armies. Walking death could create a few Terror causers in one army. It
could help a huge block of infantry win outright by the Outnumbering
Fear causer rule or could prevent it. It is useful when facing a low
Leadership non Fear causing unit or when facing an army of Fear causers.
Doom and Darkness is best cast on an enemy unit that would
predictably lose combat in that turn. However it can also complement
some Daemon Gifts, Banshee targets, Lizardmen Rod of Storms etc i.e.
any ability or magic item that requires a Leadership test is enhanced by
this spell. In addition if you are certain that a unit would have to take a
Panic test from shooting etc, Doom and Darkness can similarly increase
the chance of Panic.
The Lore of Death has similarities to other laws like Lore of Fire,
Lore of Shadows and Lore of Light. It is best used by spell casters of at
least level two and above since all the spells except the default spell
requires a casting value of 8 -10.
Some armies that can use this Lore tend to ignore it because it
really has only 2 unique spells Steal Soul and Doom and Darkness. For
Dark Elves, only Doom and Darkness is unique as Steal Soul is the same
as Dark magics Soul stealer. Vampire counts are more effective if they
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use the Black art. Chaos armies sometimes have to use their own lore
because of their restrictions. High Elves, Empire and Lizardmen can
choose other lores but should consider whether they want Steal Soul
and/or Doom and Darkness.
through woods and there many skirmisher units in Wood elf armies.
However an immunity to all non magical missiles has an important use
e.g. on the popular Alter Kindred character that wishes to charge a
cannon.
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times, especially on the enemy generals unit will force the enemy to use
up its dispel dice. The remaining power dice can then be used to cast any
one of the remaining four good spells available.
Overall the lore of Slaanesh is a very good and dangerous lore that
supports the friendly army and is effective against most enemy armies.
that they can choose spells from the main lores with greater effect on the
enemy.
Glean magic comes into its own when the enemy has good magic.
If the enemys magic is poor or non existent, it becomes useless.
Dark Magic
A) An almost normal spread of casting values with the two middle spells
being slightly too high but the +1 to cast bonus makes it easier to cast.
B) A good default spell, a S3 magic missile which prevents the target unit
from shooting if it is wounded.
C) Except for Word of Pain and Chillwind all the spells have a range less
than 24. Word of Pain is a better version of Nurgles Poxes. It can be
cast into combat and reduces BS and WS to 1 and can therefore target
enemy combat and shooting units. The enemy unit will need 6s to hit
D) Doombolt, Chill wind and Black Horror will inflict wounds against
the enemy. Doombolt is S5 while Black horror requires a Strength test
from models under the large template. Dominion affects even units
immune to psychology.
E) Only range causes a problem otherwise all the spells, excepting Word
of Pain, could be cast from turn 1 onwards.
F) Four good spells, Chillwind, Doombolt, Dominion and Black Horror
and two mediocre spells.
Soul stealer is deadly if the Sorceress is close to an enemy unit as
every model takes a S3 hit and the Sorceress than gains wounds up to
double her original wounds. Any combination of the four good spells
guarantees a good magic phase. Since there is a good chance of getting
one or two of these spells, Dark Elves tend to use this lore instead of the
Lore of Shadows or Death.
Gut Magic
A) The best casting values possible. 3+ for every spell, doubling if
already cast once and tripling etc.
B) There is no choosing of spells and all spells can be cast.
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High Magic
A) A normal spread of casting values.
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Skaven Magic
A) Low casting values for the first few spells.
B) Skitterleap is better than Steed of Shadows because of the distance
moved but the skitterleapt character cannot charge. This can be used to
escape from a dangerous situation (an impending charge or a back rank
retreat from a combat) or to move a character to a more threatening
position or to cast magic shoot or charge. Warlock engineers know only
Warp lightning making it the default spell for them.
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Prayers of Sigmar
A) No casting values since they are cast like bound spells
B) All spells are available.
C) Two prayers are limited to the priest only, Soulfire and Unbending
righteousness while the first three can be cast on champions or characters
within 12.
D) Only Soulfire inflicts hits directly against the enemy. Enemy units in
base contact with the priest suffer D6 S4 hits with no armour saves while
Forest Spirits, Daemons and Undead are hit at S5. Hammer of Sigmar
enables one model to re-roll hits and wounds.
E) Soulfire requires the priest or model to be in combat while Healing
hand has to be cast after the priest or model suffers a wound. Hammer of
Sigmar need not necessarily be cast in combat. It could also be used for a
shooting champion or Engineer.
F) There are two Remains in Play spells, Hammer of Sigmar which
enable re-rolls to failed hits and wounds and Armour of Contempt which
grants a 4+ Ward save to the model. Prayers follow Remains in Play
rules.
Unbending righteousness makes the priest and his unit
Unbreakable. Again how this works if the Unbreakable priest joins a unit
of Flagellants and then the spell is dispelled is a debatable issue and has
to be discussed.
All the prayers are good bound spells and are very effective against
Undead, Daemons and Forest Spirits. Two or more priests in the army
improve the chances of activating these prayers. The warrior priest should
be given priority when choosing which model to cast the prayers on,
especially Armour of contempt, 4+ Ward save and Healing hand which
heals all wounds.
C) The range of the magic missile is 18. Ranges for the other spells are
12 for Liche Priests or the High Liche Priest, 6 for the Tomb King and
the Tomb Prince can only cast them on his unit. Liche Priests and the
High Liche Priest can cast all the spells while The Tomb King or Prince
cannot cast Djedra Summoning. At least one unit has to suffer wounds
before Djedra Summoning can effectively be used.
D) One magic missile of D6 S4 which has a slightly short range of 18.
However both Mankaras Incantation of Urgency and Horekhahs
Incantation of Righteous Smiting can be used to good effect against the
enemy.
E) Although Urgency and Smiting Incantations can be cast several times
a unit can only be affected by the spell just once. Djedra summoning
however can be cast as many times as possible on the same unit.
F) A great set of bound spells which complement the Tomb king army
very well. Magic in fact is essential for the success of a Tomb King army.
Horekhahs Smiting can be cast for extra shooting or extra attacks
in combat. It is often used on the Screaming Skull catapult. The estimated
distance from this magical shooting is then finely adjusted for the same
estimate in the shooting phase. If the Screaming skull previously misfired
and loses a round of shooting, making it shoot in the magic phase uses up
that missed round. The catapult will then be available for shooting in the
shooting phase.
In combat Horekhahs smiting cast on a chariot creates 4 attacks
per chariot as both crew and steeds get to attack.. Characters and
champions are allowed only one attack. It is a good idea to use this
against an enemy unit that is easily wounded because if the magical
attacks causes enough wounds to cause a Panic test, the Tomb king unit
may pursue, hopefully into another unresolved combat.
Mankaras Urgency Incantation is even more dangerous. A unit
could declare a charge which fails and then charge again using this spell.
It has to be attempted on the same unit as many times as possible until the
enemy fails to dispel or cannot dispel. By doing this, the unit can often
manoeuvre into position and then flank charge. However a careful
calculation of the enemys dispelling options is necessary.
Djedra summoning can restore wounds to all units. Since Undead
units sometimes break units by outnumbering as a Fear causer, it is vital
to maintaining the size of combat units.
Any Tomb King army has to maximise the number of Incantations
by having as many characters as possible and choosing the appropriate
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magic items to complement this. The short range of the Incantations also
forces Tomb Kings to adopt a bubble formation in the early stages of the
battle.
If a Casket of Souls is present it has to be protected throughout the
battle as it often comes to the fore from the middle turns onwards. It has
to be deployed so that it has the maximum distance between itself and
enemy units.
When facing a Tomb King magic phase, do not give in to the
relentless magic. Try to ascertain which spell and on which unit, the
Tomb King player vitally wants to succeed in casting. Focus on dispelling
the spells which affect that unit.
If a Casket of Souls is present, always reserve some dice to dispel
it if your army has a low Leadership. Try to position units so that the
minimum number of units are facing the Casket. If you are certain of
dispelling it, then you may allow units to face it without further
consideration. It can be destroyed in combat with a reasonable combat
unit or even a lone but strong character.
Big Waagh
A) A normal spread of casting values
B) Standard D6 S4 magic missile is a good default spell.
C) Two spells have a range of 24, Gaze of Mork and Eadbutt. Two
more have a shorter range of 18, Bash em Ladz and Fists of Gork.
Gorks warpath is a tabletop spell and range is immaterial for the last
spell, Waagh. Bash em Ladz can only be cast on a unit in combat which
then strikes first and can re-roll missed hits.
D) Four spells inflicts wounds directly. Gaze of Mork is the default spell.
Fists of Gork causes every model in the enemy unit to suffer a S4 hit on a
roll of 4+ (effectively half the unit). Gorks Warpath inflicts D6 S6 on a
unit with a possibility of inflicting hits on another unit on a roll of 5-6 (a
roll of 1 inflicts hits on an Orc or Goblin unit). Eadbutt can target a
character or model within a unit but inflicts only a single hit of S5. The
no armour saves bonus improves this spell.
E) No significant restrictions here other than range and Bash em Ladz
has been discussed above.
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F) Five good spells. Bash em Ladz is mediocre but has a low casting
value which improves it slightly.
The Waagh spell requires a 12+ to cast and units move only 2D6.
However unlike Wood elves Call of the Hunt or Lore of Beasts The
Wolf hunts, it affects every unit. In addition units in combat are able to
strike first and can re-roll misses. One small disadvantage is that
warmachine crew have to abandon their machines.
The Waagh spell, if successfully cast is less unpredictable than the
Waagh as no tests are required and you will know that every unit has to
move. By roughly estimating where each unit will probably end up, you
will know whether it is worth attempting to cast it or not.
eadbutt should be used to snipe characters while the powerful
Gorks Warpath can easily be used to destroy any vulnerable unit which
is sheltered, isolated characters and any unit which is hiding behind
terrain.
Big Waagh is very much an attacking lore which can severely
injure the enemy. Its miscast table however is not forgiving and could
wound or destroy the caster and sometimes other models in base contact
with him. It is possible for an Orc Shaman to have two or more offensive
and very damaging spells but the high casting values of Waagh and
Gorks warpath restricts these two spells. A combination of Gaze of Mork
and Fists of Gork is probably best for a level two Shaman.
Little Waagh
A) Casting values are strangely higher than Big Waagh on average.
B) D6 S2 default spell seems weak especially at a shortened range of 18.
However no armour saves are allowed and this improves the spell
C) Three spells have a range of 24, Brain Bursta; Gork will fix it and
Hand of Gork. Two spells have a range of 18, Gaze of Gork, the default
spell and Mork wants ya. Foot of Gork is a tabletop spell. Gorkll fix it
can be cast into combat and changes all rolls of 6 to hit, wound and
armour saves to 1s.
D) There are two magic missiles, Gaze of Gork and Brain Bursta which
inflicts 2D6 S4 hits. Foot of Gork is the most powerful spell from this
lore inflicting D6 S6 hits on an enemy unit anywhere on the battlefield.
Mork wants ya inflicts D6 S10 hits after a failed Initiative test. It has a
slightly short range of 18 but there are no targeting restrictions and it
could easily destroy a character in a unit.
90
C) 3 spells have a range of only 18. However Rot Glorious rot affects all
enemy units within 18 Curse of the Leper and Buboes are 24 while
Plague Squall requires only LOS. Fleshy abundance and Curse of the
Leper can be cast into combat.
D) All the spells except Fleshy Abundance inflicts wounds on enemy
units
E) Magnificent Buboes requires LOS to the enemy model or character.
Cloying quagmire is effective only against low armour and low Initiative
units and has no effect on Flyers, Aquatic or Ethereal models.
F) Three good spells, Rot Glorious Rot, Magnificent Buboes and Curse of
the Leper.
Rot Glorious Rot affects all units within 18. This is a bigger range
than Cleansing Flare from Lore of Light but requires a bigger casting
value. D6 S6 hits with no armour saves, enables it to inflict a large
number of wounds and is effective against armoured units
Buboes can easily remove armoured Heroes and Wizards after 2
successful casts. Curse of the Leper is a Remains in Play spell which
could easily destroy a whole unit. Its casting value is low considering it
affects the whole enemy unit over several turns. If cast into combat, it
enhances the probability of breaking the enemy unit in combat.
The enemy is therefore compelled to dispel both Buboes and Curse
whenever they are cast.
One mediocre spells, Fleshy Abundance. Fleshy Abundance grants
Regeneration but only until the next magic phase.
Cloying Quagmire and Plague squall are also mediocre to below
average spell depending on the opposing army. Cloying Quagmire
requires 2 Characteristic tests and is only effective against units with low
Initiative and low Armour saves. However since it affects every model in
the unit, it becomes more effective against large infantry units.
Plague Squall inflicts 3D6 hits with no armour saves but only at S1
and could wound the caster if it misfires. It definitely has a use against
horde armies but the caster requires some form of Ward save or
Regeneration.
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A) A normal spread of casting values with spells (4) and (5) slightly
below the normal casting value ay 8+ and 9+.
B) D6 S3. Lower strength than usual but this is compensated by
preventing affected units from marching.
C) Two spells Aura and Hellshriek have a range of 18 only but
Hellshriek affects all units within range and Aura affects friendly units.
The spell range for this Lore is therefore relatively very good. Aura and
Hysterical Frenzy can also be cast into combat.
D) Two spells inflicts wounds on the enemy , Lash of Slaanesh,
Hysterical Frenzy and Ecstatic seizures. Hellshriek incurs a Panic test
while Titillating Delusions effectively removes an enemy unit from play.
Overall this lore could be devastating against the enemy.
E) Hysterical Frenzy and Titillating Delusions affects only units not
Immune to Psychology.
F) One good spell Ecstatic Seizures and two possibly good spells,
Hellshriek and Titillating Delusions.
Ecstatic Seizures causes every model in the unit to take a
Toughness test and the model is slain outright if the test fails. With a
range of 24 it is quite easy to use this spell to inflict several wounds.
Hellshriek and Titillating Delusions are only very effective if the
whole opposing army is not Immune to Psychology. Hellshriek causes all
units within 18 to take a Panic test. Titillating Delusions is a Remains in
Play spell and the affected unit is forced to move as quickly as possible to
a selected point. This would not only remove that enemy unit for that
duration but could easily obstruct other enemy units.
The other spells are mediocre.
Lash of Slaanesh is a D6S3 magic missile that prevents marching if
it suffers casualties.
Hysterical Frenzy is a double edged spell that can be cast on
friendly or enemy units. The unit is Frenzied but takes D6S3 hits as well
every turn since the spell Remains in Play.
Aura of Acquiescence causes the unit or caster to cause Fear but
lasts only until the next magic phase. If it is cast into combat it could help
the friendly unit break the enemy via an outnumbering Fear causer. In
combat, the enemy also has to pass a Leadership test before it can allocate
attacks. It is useful when facing a low Leadership non Fear causing unit
or when facing an army of Fear causers.
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that your opponent knows or can easily anticipate that you can cast this
spell several times and he might let an early attempt of this spell through
Example 2:
A Wood Elf army has 4 Tree singing spells one bound spell from the
Treeman, one from a Branchwraith and 2 from two level two Spell
singers plus Twilight Host and Fury of the Forest. The army wishes to
target a woods for Tree singing and all casters are within range. The
enemy has 7 Dispel Dice and at the most 1 Dispel Scroll. (See Defending
against magic to find out how this is ascertained). 7 Power dice plus a
bound spell against 7 Dispel Dice and a Dispel Scroll sounds daunting
but it could be done.
Decide what you would do for each army before reading on.
The wrong approach and order of casting would be this:
1) Spell singer uses 2 dice to cast Treesinging Dispelled with 3 dice
2) Second Spell singer uses 2 dice to cast Treesinging Scrolled
3) Bound spell level 3 Treesinging from the Treeman Dispelled with 2
dice
4) Branchwraith has 3 dice but can only use 2 to cast Treesinging
Dispelled with the last two dice.
Notice I have been generous with the dispel dice and assumed the
Wood elf opponent is not taking any chances with dispelling. He could
for instance used just one dice for a 67% chance of dispelling the bound
spell.
Success is by no means guaranteed in the magic phase as luck does
play an important role.
This would be a better approach and order of casting which would
increase the Wood elves chances:
1) Treeman bound spell level 3. Dispelled with two dice.
Since bound spells are automatically cast, using them first forces
your opponent to dispel. To be very certain of dispelling he would use
two dice. If he uses one, he faces the prospect of facing several spells on
top of this important spell he has let through. Using a dispel scroll would
be extravagant as there are a few more spells yet to come.
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98
99
Likely number
of high casting
value spells
cast per phase
Likely
number of
low casting
value spells
cast per phase
12
10
10
100
Probable
minimum
number of
dispel dice
needed to
dispel
13
The table is not at all prescriptive but a rough guide. It all depends
on how your opponent handles his magic phase. He could gamble on the
high casting value spells in every magic phase or choose to cast only the
default magic missiles several times.
Few armies can have as many as 9 dispel dice or more in a
2000point battle. Therefore it is important to plug that shortfall with
dispel scrolls but use them sparingly and only at the right moments. This
is further discussed in the latter half.
The most important consideration in magical defence is to identify
the dangerous spells and concentrate on dispelling them.
The first important step is to estimate how many power and dispel
dice are at your opponents disposal and compare it with your own. Wait
until he has rolled for his spells first. Then count the number of spells
which are especially dangerous and you have to dispel. Examples would
be an Arch Lector with Cleansing Flare, a Grey Seer with Plague,
Warplightning, 2D6 S4 magic missiles, tabletop spells like Gorks
Warpath.
Lets say you want to dispel Cleansing flare as much as possible.
This requires 10+ to cast but has a range of only 12. In each of your
opponents magic phase identify where the caster is. If he is within 12 of
several units, then reserve 4 dice or so or a dispel scroll to dispel
Cleansing Flare. If the caster is outside the 12 range, then use your
dispel dice to dispel other spells.
Finally look out for opportunities to kill a wizard by magic,
shooting or combat. This has a two fold effect of improving your magical
defence (less power dice generated and possibly fewer spells to face) and
attack (less dispel dice to overcome your power dice).
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Bound spells
If you have bound spells from magic items, do not be tempted to
use them immediately in turn 1 especially if your opponents seems to
have good magical defence. You could delay unleashing bound spells till
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later rounds. Your opponent would have allocated dispel dice to each of
your normal spells and suddenly casting a bound spell late could easily
upset the balance in your favour.
The enemy would could also use the same tactic and conceal bound spells
for later turns. Pre-empt him into using the bound spell early by
threatening at least one wizard with early attacks, if you can.
Using Dispel Scrolls
Magical defence in the first half should be aimed at evading the
most dangerous spell/s. Use the dispel dice judiciously. Use a dispel
scroll only when absolutely necessary e.g. to dispel a high dice roll of a
dangerous spell. One or two scrolls in the first three rounds is about right.
Save one scroll for the latter half of the battle if you can. Always use a
scroll of a wizard that is most likely to engage in combat or is the most
threatened first. This will prevent any scrolls from being wasted if a
wizard is slain.
The size of important combat units should be kept as large as
possible by either sheltering them from magic or dispelling spells aimed
at them. Your wizards and the units they are with should be preserved
while at same time harassing the units that enemy wizards are in. If at any
time a wizards unit is depleted simply move him into another unit. Do
not move a wizard out of a unit in the early stages of the battle unless you
have absolutely no choice. It is difficult to prevent an isolated wizard
from being attacked and it will definitely attract the enemys attention.
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Example 3:
You have Cleansing Flare, Two Burning Gazes and Healing Energy. 6
Power Dice against your opponents 4 Dispel dice and no scrolls. Which
spell should you plan your strategy around?
Try to decide for yourself before reading on. Cleansing Flare is the
most dangerous while Burning Gaze is the easiest to cast.
Your strategy should be based on Healing Hand! It is the one spell
that your opponent will probably allow to go through as it is does the
least harm (or none!) to his army. Therefore move the wizard with this
spell to within range of the most important character or multi-wound
model that has lost a wound or more.
The spell order should be:
1) Cast Burning Gaze with two dice Dispelled with 3 dice to make
absolutely sure
2) Cast Healing Hand with two dice your opponent will ignore this and
an important model or character will regain a wound.
For your opponent: If however the model affected is important e.g. a
BSB, then it may be best to dispel this with two dice and accept whatever
comes for the last casting attempt
3) Cast Burning Gaze from the second wizard with two dice Dispel this
with 2 dice and hope it succeeds!
There is a good chance of one Burning gaze being successful. This
is not your primary objective but a bonus if it happens. Note that
Cleansing Flare which is the most dangerous has not even been
considered as it requires 10+ to cast and therefore 3 dice is needed to cast
it successfully. You could gamble on casting this if you like but theres is
a likelihood that this will fail and all your other casting attempts will be
dispelled.
A scenario like this shows that saving one dispel scroll for the
latter half could be very useful. Unfortunately preserving that scroll
caddie (a wizard whose main purpose is to have scrolls) to the very last
might well prove to be difficult.
It is possible for wizards to leave units in the last few turns when it
is clear that it would be difficult to target them. In the very last turn
wizards should actually leave units so that they can move freely and can
easily be in range of their spell targets.
Finally in the last turn some spells are reduced in importance.
Celestial shield for example may be redundant because there are no
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7. SHOOTING
Move or Shoot?
Are your warmachines and shooters within the right range? If not
they have to be moved. Look at the large spaces where the enemy will
probably infiltrate.
Woods
Woods
Building
Region of enemy
infiltration
Building
Hill
Impenetrabl
e
G
G
Target selection
Several factors will determine the target you select.
If a units shooting negates armour, then it is a good idea to use
that unit to target heavily armoured enemy units like cavalry. Choosing
targets for this type of shooting is quite obvious so I shall be
concentrating on ordinary missile weapons of S3 and S4.
If the shots are S3, then it would be far more difficult to wound T4
models. Sometimes you havent got a choice and you might have to target
T4 or more models. The probability of wounding is then reduced to 17%.
There are other factors as well - how many shots are available and
ballistic skills.
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TABLE 7.1
No of wounds from a S3
missile
T3 target
T4 target
No of wounds from a S4
missile
T3 target
T4 target
BS 2
1.7 (1.1)
1.1 (0.7)
2.2 (1.8)
1.7 (1.4)
BS 3
2.5 (1.7)
1.7 (1.1)
3.3 (2.8)
2.5 (2.1)
BS 4
3.3 (2.2)
2.2 (1.5)
4.4 (3.7)
3.3 (2.8)
BS 5
4.2 (2.8)
2.8 (1.9)
5.6 (4.7)
4.1 (3.4)
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Concentrated shooting
If you have more than one shooting unit, then it is far better to
concentrate all your shooting on one enemy unit. Your shooting units do
not have to be deployed in one area for this. Simply make sure they are
within range of the general area where the juiciest targets are or are
expected to move towards.
The diagram below illustrates this
B
SHOOT!
E2
E1
The two archer units (A1) and (A2) are deployed on opposite
flanks but they will be targeting the same unit (E1) in the centre. This
carries on in the next round and possibly the next two rounds. Only when
(E1) is sufficiently weakened should (A1) and (A2) select a different
target e.g. (E2).
This is far better than distributing shots from (A1) and (A2) on
both (E1) and (E2). After two rounds of distributed shooting it is possible
that (E1) has lost 4 wounds and (E2) has lost 2 wounds. Concentrating all
108
shots on (E1) for two rounds could have inflicted a massive 8 wounds.
That will probably render it incapable of performing up to par in combat
in the third round.
109
players try to extend this to 3 ranks by placing one rank on the flat and
the other two ranks on the hill.
Hill
Archers
First rank is
not on the
hill
Gnoblars
Large
Target
20 shots
5 shots
W
Hill
Buildings
Buildings are important for shooting units as they offer ample
shelter and allow 360o LOS. On the other hand buildings are also a good
stop over point as you charge up to warmachines and shooting units.
110
C
C
A
Woods
A
Building
The unit of archers (A) on the left diagram tempts the cavalry unit
(C) forward. It then retreats around the wood while shooting the cavalry
unit in the next turn. Finally it moves (not marches) into the building
leaving a frustrated cavalry unit clutching at straws.
The next diagram shows a unit of skirmishers (S) hopping from
one terrain to another as it makes its way towards the Bolt throwers (B1)
and (B2) and longbow archers (A). Notice it approaches from one side so
that when the bolt throwers and archers can finally shoot, only (B2) is
able to do so.
B1
B2
A
Woods S
Building
S
Woods
S
The player controlling (B1), (B2) and (A) has made three mistakes.
What do you think they are?:
1) He has deployed the bolt throwers and archers in a straight line
allowing a single unit to overrun through his gunline
2) He has not moved the long bowmen who can move and shoot at all.
This is necessary to maximise the number of rounds of shooting.
3) He has not taken terrain into account during deployment.
Archers
W1
A Woods
Building
Warmachines
Warmachines in general have a higher strength missile and longer
range than ordinary archers or bowmen but many of the principles
mentioned above also apply to warmachines concentrated shooting,
target selection and rounds of shooting.
For instance, when you consider target selection for cannons, bolt
throwers (not the multiple shot variety) or stone throwers, remember that
they will both negate armour saves and cause multiple wounds. You can
therefore use them on Dragons, Chariots, heavy cavalry etc to good
effect.
Concentrated shooting also applies focus on one target, reduce its
numbers sufficiently before moving on to the next.
Protecting warmachines
Warmachines tend to be soft targets for combat units, in particular
flyers, tunnellers etc as mentioned in the next section. Sometimes a cheap
warmachine, like a Spear chukka will also serve as bait whereas
expensive warmachines like a Helstorm Rocket battery, cannon, Casket
of Souls, have to be protected. There will not be more than a couple of
units available to do this so you will have to maximise the area the
protecting unit covers.
The diagrams below show where the warmachines should be
deployed and where the protecting unit should be stationed.
112
Unprotected
area
W1
W2
W2
W1
Shoot or escape
Sometimes it is impossible to stop a charge against a warmachine.
During the shooting phase you will have to consider shooting the
chargers or moving the warmachine out of charge range. This is yet
another balance consideration. You have to balance the survival of the
warmachine with the wounds it could inflict when it shoots. Consider
carefully:
1) All the shooting options of the warmachine. It might have many units
it can shoot at and not just the one unit threatening it as shown in the
diagram below.
B
FC
Threatened
Charge!
Threatened
Charge!
B
W1
Shooting the Fast cavalry unit (FC) with the warmachine (W1)
could inflict only 1 wound at the most with a warmachine like a Bolt
113
2 wheels needed
to charge here
C
A
A
W1
3) Could the crew escape if it flees from the charge? If it cannot then fire
away!
Distance estimates
Stone throwers, cannons and a few other specialised warmachines
rely on good distance estimates. The trick here is to always remember
your previous estimate and use it in the next round. The model or spot
you should aim at should maximise the number of enemy units affected..
If the shot from the warmachine is scattered by an artillery dice then the
ideal spot would be the centre of a circle of 10 radius that contains the
most number of units.
114
115
TABLE 7.2
Estimated minimum unit size when facing 10 shots per round and 3
rounds of shooting plus Stand and shoot
Strength of missile
S3
Toughness
Toughness
of target T3 of target T4
11 (8)
8 (5)
BS 2
Strength of missile
S4
Toughness
Toughness
of target T3 of target T4
15 (12)
11 (10)
BS 3
17 (12)
12 (8)
22 (19)
17 (12)
BS 4
23 (15)
15 (11)
30 (25)
23 (19)
BS 5
29 (19)
19 (13)
38 (32)
28 (24)
The figures in brackets are for units with armour saves of 5+ while
the figure outside are for units with no armour saves.
A simple way to estimate the required size for 20 shots is by
doubling the figures given, tripling for 30 shots and so on.
The table does show one of the reasons why infantry blocks of 20 30 are quite common in Warhammer Fantasy as they have a reasonable
chance of withstanding shooting before they get into combat.
Maximum
Shooting
range
Maximum
Shooting
range
A
Woods
SHOOT
B
Woods
116
The diagrams above illustrate this. The diagram on the left shows
what will happen if only one unit is exposed to shooting. The enemy
shooting units will simply concentrate their shooting on unit (A). Unit
(C), although in shooting range, poses no threat whatsoever and is
therefore ignored.
Diagram (B) shows how enemy shooting can be mitigated. Units
(A), (B) and (C) have moved into good positions. (A) and (C) threaten to
charge (P) while (B) has moved deep into enemy territory and is able to
shoot. Unit (A) (or C) might still be devastated by shooting but it has
nobly sacrificed itself for the common cause and assisted the other two
units to move into good positions.
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
Units (E1) (E6) march straight up towards the archer units (A1)
and (A2). Even if one or two (E) units are destroyed, at least one will
survive to charge the archers. Not only are the archers under threat but
some of their shooting would have been removed from important units
further away.
The size of units (E1) (E6) is best kept to the minimum e.g. 5.
Any unit that Panics will have no effect as it flees through friendly units
This does not matter for some units used in this way like Zombies or for
different reasons Gnoblars.
117
Screening units
This is popular with Lizardmen armies. Skinks are used as a
Screening unit for their more dangerous cousins, the Kroxigors. Cheap
skirmishers are ideal as screens but a cheap ranked up unit arranged in 1
or 2 ranks is just as good.
The cheap unit acts as a screen and absorbs all the shots while
keeping the important elite unit behind them intact.
W
SHOOT!
B
B
A
A
When these units do charge however, they tend to be even stronger than
tunnellers and can expect to destroy warmachines etc in one turn. Using a
protective unit, properly chosen, also works well against the units above
or you might have no choice but to shoot at them.
Flyers are the most variable in their ability to threaten
warmachines. The obvious strong ones, like Greater Daemons and
Dragons will wreak havoc on warmachines and shooters once they
charge. Weaker flyers like Harpies should not be written off as they are
effective against T3 crews who do not cause Fear. All flyers however,
like the Miners and Ambushing units above, will be exposed to one round
of shooting at least before they can charge. These units have to be strong
enough to withstand one round of shooting plus possibly one round of a
stand and shoot charge response. Use table 7.1 to determine whether they
can survive this and still be strong enough in the ensuing combat.
119
8. COMBAT
MANOEUVRES
Winning and anchoring a flank
Flanks can be won by either outnumbering the number of enemy
units or having units which move faster.
Although (A) and (B), in the diagram below, are individually
weaker than (E1), by sacrificing unit (B), (A) has won the left flank.
N.B. Sacrificing (A) would lose both the flank and unit (A) as Bs rear
would be exposed and unguarded.
E1
Q
E3
E1
A
B
C
E2
120
A
E1
S
S
S
Compare this with (E1), the enemy unit that thinks it has won the
opposite flank.
(E1) has not won the right flank (or the left flank relative to its
armys starting position). It is trying to dominate the more central spaces
and has severely compromised its armys advantage of winning a flank. It
is not properly positioned and is not firmly anchored. There is a gap (P)
which enemy skirmishers (S) can move into. Once these skirmishers
move into (P), they will dislodge (E1) by threatening a flank or possibly a
rear charge. The flank has been lost by (E1) to (S) because (E1) failed to
anchor itself correctly.
Unless a unit is firmly anchored in a flank, the flank cannot be
considered to have been won.
E1
E2
E1
E2
S
A
S
121
Flee direction
when E2
charges
Flee direction
when E1charges
E2
E1
A
S1
S2
(E1) flees!
(A) is then flank charged by (E2). (A) cannot afford to flee as (E2)
could declare EITW against (S) and possibly destroy both units.
Both armies have lured and ambushed but the final result favours
(E1) and (E2).
122
any other unit suitable for this purpose can take on the enemy
warmachines etc.
Any fleeing enemy unit can also be easily destroyed as it has to
flee again when charged. These units can easily be caught or chased off
the board if you position your unit correctly behind enemy lines. The
diagrams in the next section show all this.
A
E1
E2
E3
B
C
A
C
Unit (A) has moved past (E1) and (E2) and now changes formation
into a long line behind them assuming it is a skirmisher, flying or fast
cavalry unit. If it is not, any unit that can squeeze in between (E1) and
(E2) will fulfil the same role.
Unit (B) is in combat with (E1) and has a good chance of breaking
them. If (E1) does break it will be destroyed as it flees into (A).
Unit (C) moves forward and threatens to charge (E3) in its next
turn. (E3) cannot flee as a charge response as it will be destroyed if it
makes contact with (A).. It also cannot retreat as (A) has prevented it. If
(E3) turns to face (A) it will be rear charged by (C). The prospects of (E3)
are bleak indeed.
The example above shows the huge advantage of surrounding the
enemy and the danger of being surrounded. Fear or Terror causing units
will exacerbate army (E)s predicament. Units (E2) and (E3) might fail
their Terror or fear tests and flee straight into an enemy unit which
destroys them!
123
Move 3
Move 1
B
B
C2
Move 2
A
Building
Move 4
Move 4
C2
C
B
C
B
Building
124
C2
B
C
B
Building
(C) is forced to turn around and (B) dances back into the building.
(C2) in the meantime has moved closer to the building and (A) moves
away in response. Unfortunately this means that now both (C) and (C2)
are march blocked.
Since march blocking is effective at a distance of 8, it may take at least
two turns for both cavalry units to move out of the march blocking range!
C2
C2
C B
C
B Building
(C) and (C2) then moves to opposite sides of the building to try to
cover as much of the region surrounding the building as possible.
However this is impossible as (B) can emerge from any point in the
building and can easily choose a spot to threaten (C)s flank. As (B)
emerges, (A) simply slips back into the safety of the building.
(C) is forced to turn back to meet the threat. It is march blocked
and cannot escape the constant harassment of (B). (C) and (C2) have
taken 5 player turns to reach this position and has gained no advantage.
Instead (C) is being threatened with a flank charge.
125
Although I have used 2 cavalry units and two infantry units, the
Barn dance could also be applied to other units under certain
circumstances e.g.:
A) When the units outside the building will probably lose the assault on
the building:
i) (C) could be a diminished unit of 1 Ogre and a Butcher while (A) could
be a unit of Dryads. The Ogre unit will be reluctant to charge the
Building because 5 Dryads with 10 attacks could direct their attacks on
the Butcher while the other 5 direct their attacks on the lone Ogre.
N.B. There are no charging bonuses and the Dryads who have a higher
Initiative will strike first.
C
C2
A
Building
ii) (C) and (C2) could be large blocks of Saurus warriors or Spearmen
while (A) could be a small block of Bestigors or White Lions any unit
with US 10 and multiple attacks of high strength and/or high Initiative..
The Saurus warriors would be reluctant to assault the building as they
lose their static combat bonuses and only wounds count. Spearmen also
do not benefit from fighting in extra ranks.
B) When the units outside the building can assault the building but the
unit inside wants to avoid combat:
i) (A) stays in the building even when (C) is within charge range. (A)
would flee when (C) assaults the building. (C) can never catch (A)
because it has to occupy the building. (A) rallies in the next turn. (C)
cannot charge out of the building in the next turn.
When (C) emerges from the building, it could threaten (A) but (A)
simply moves back into the building in its next turn.
126
C
Move 1
Charge!
A
C
Building
Move 3
Move 1
Move 2
A
Flee and escape!
ii) Whenever (C1) moves to within charge range of the building, (A)
leaves the building on the other side. Should (C1) then move around the
building and threaten a charge, (A) can either move around the building
or into it so that it is outside LOS or charge range.
C
Expected
fleeing line
C2
A
CG
BG
The diagram shows the general (G) switching units to make sure
that unit (A) has a chance of rallying after it flees.
The order in which you rally units is also important. This is the
right order:
127
1) Rally the generals unit first if his Leadership will bolster the
Leadership of other units.
2) a) Rally units whose fleeing line will not take them into units that have
already rallied. These tend to be more central units.
b) Rally units so that any Panic effects are minimised. This might happen
because they will be destroyed by enemy units or terrain.
3) Rally units that are so close to the boards edge that they will most
probably flee off the board if they do not rally, last. These units should
have no effect on other units when they fail to rally.
The main principle above is to prevent Panic and make the best use
of the general or characters Leadership as shown in the example below:
Arrow indicate
fleeing directions
A
C
G
D
E
C
The diagram above shows the right order of rallying. Either Unit
(G), the generals unit is rallied first or unit (A) is rallied first.
Rallying (G) first enables the generals Leadership to be used but
unit (A) will have to be rallied next. If it fails it will flee through the
generals unit which could then Panic. You have to weigh both outcomes
and choose.
Unit (B) is rallied next. If it fails it will not affect any unit. You
could also choose to rally this unit anytime after the general has rallied
for that reason.
Units (C), (D) and (E) are the difficult units.
Rallying (D) and (E) first: They could Panic if (C) flees through them.
128
Rallying (C) first: If this succeeds there is no harm done. If it fails, then
(D) and (E) have to be placed beyond (C) if they fail to rally too. (D) and
(E) will end up off the board if they fail to rally. This is an unlucky
circumstance as 3 units have to fail to rally consecutively.
It seems that rallying (C) next is the better alternative but rallying
(D) followed by (C) and then (E) is also possible. (D) will benefit from
the generals Leadership while (E), being too far, will not.
C1
C2
E1
E4
E3
E2
C1
E1
C2
A
E3
A
B
E4
The left diagram shows a thin front line which is on the verge of
collapse in the centre. The diagram on the right shows how the fast units
129
(C1) and (C2) quickly surround one half of the enemy. Units (E3) and
(E4) are too slow to swing around to assist (E1) and (E2) who are now
doomed.
The next diagram shows (C1) swinging around after destroying a
unit and threatening (E1)s rear.
When you are under threat from superior numbers or have lost a
flank, it is necessary to regroup and present a solid front. It is too late to
try to win space and trying to do so will thin your lines further.
Consolidate your position and prevent the enemy from surrounding.
Once again try to visualise how you would do this for the scenario
above before reading on.
C1
C2
C2
E3
E1
C1
E4
E3
E4
E1
E1
E4
E2
A
B
C
C
130
Unit (C) is a strong and fast unit kept slightly behind the front line
as the rest of the army advanced. If (A) should break from unit (E2) or is
on the verge of doing so, then (C) moves into position and threatens to
flank charge unit (E2).
A thicker front line has been formed.
Army (E) has staggered its units slightly to also create a thicker
front line. This is not always necessary but may have to be done out of
prudence. If you are certain of breaking through the enemy front line,
then there is no need to reinforce your front line.
Increasing Attacks
To gain ranks bonuses a unit should be at least 5 models wide.
Since the maximum rank bonus is 3, the minimum needed in a unit is 15
models.
A unit more than 15 strong with 5 models wide can suffer a few
losses without losing its rank bonuses. This is fine for units that rely
heavily on static combat resolution to win combats.
Some units, e.g. elite units like Swordmasters, Chosen, Khorngors
etc are able to inflict several wounds in combat. Their number of attacks
should be maximised. These units are best if they are 7 models wide or at
least wider than the enemy unit they wish to engage. On the charge they
will have a good chance of inflicting a large number of wounds and
prevent as many enemy models from hitting back.
E1
E2
A
S
S
More attacks from
these units
131
S
S
Skirmishers gain this advantage nearly all the time. When charged,
they could always be wider than the charging unit when the battle lines
are set up simply by making sure that as many models as possible are
within charge reach.
When they charge, only models within the right distance will rank
up in front. It is possible, therefore, to end up less than 5 ranks wide. If
the skirmisher unit is being moved in preparation for a future charge, try
to move as many models as close as possible to the enemy unit so that
they end up wider when in combat as shown above.
If an elite unit faces an inevitable charge from a weaker unit and
wounds alone inflicted (by the elite unit) could win the combat then
change formation so that the elite unit is wider than the charging unit - it
should have 1 or 2 extra models in its frontage.
E1
E1
E2
Unit (E2) is down to just 5 models. Unit (E1) is fully ranked up.
Enemy unit (A) is wider than both and is threatening a charge which (E2)
cannot retreat from. Simply placing (E1) and (E2) so that their fronts are
touching, forces (A) to charge both units. This occurs because (A)s final
alignment will bring it into contact with both units no matter how it is
adjusted.
132
If (E2) is a strong elite unit, then it could inflict wounds while (E1)
provides the static combat bonuses. If (E2) is a weaker unit, it could
ensure that (E2) and (E1) outnumbers (A) at least. This might be
necessary if (A) is a Fear causer and (E2) has to hold after the first round
of combat. (See Using Psychologically, Fearful armies)
In addition (E2) could position its champion and if it has a
character, the character as well, in one corner in base contact with (E1) to
increase its chances of inflicting wounds (See Common Traps, Forced
clipping).
133
E2
E2
E1
Swarm 2
Flee direction
against E1
Swarm 1
B
A
E2
E3
E1
S
Units (B) and (S) have been positioned to deflect the charges of
(E1) and (E2) away from the centre.
(B) and (S) could be expendable units or fast moving units that
could outrun the enemy. By deflecting the charges of (E1) and (E2), (A)
can now move unchallenged into the central area
The next diagram shows how a charge can be blocked and
deflected at the same time
E3
E1
Flee direction
against E3
Flee direction
against E1
Unit (S) is spread out across (E3) and (E1)s frontal zone. (E3) is
prevented from charging (A) even though it is within charge range. It is
not worthwhile for (E3) or (E1) to charge (S) as it has a low victory point
value.
(A) and (B) have moved into charging position and threatens a
double charge on (E3) who is facing imminent annihilation. Note (E3)
135
cannot declare EITW against (A). (S) will flee to the right of (A) in th
direction shown by the arrows and (E3) and (E1)s charge direction has to
follow suit.
There is 1 correct order of charge declaration which forces (S) to
hold. Try to evaluate this correct order and what should (A) and (B) do
consequently, before reading further.
(E1) declares a charge against (S) while (E3) declares a charge
against (A). To prevent this (A) must make sure it is out of (E3)s charge
range.
S
S
C2
1
S
S
136
S
S
Skirmishers
The diagram shows a skirmisher model (S) placed at the exact spot
and prevents unit (A) from wheeling by more than 30o. The exact angle
for a 20mm, 5 wide, 20 model unit is about 29.8 degrees and will vary
according to the base size and unit size.
The principle above is used in the Wheeling arc trap in the next
chapter.
I1
I2
S2
C2
I3
S1
Building
F
E
C
137
W1
The diagram above illustrates the deployment. The unit of Flyers (F)
is deployed just behind the building (to shelter it) and directly in front
of elite enemy infantry (I1) and (I2) who have M4.
In turn 1, after the enemy has moved, the Flyers fly behind their
lines and spread out. They will be 8 from 3 units, (I1), (I2) and (C2).
These 3 units will be march blocked.
F
C1
S2
I1
S1
I2
C2
I3
March-blocked units
Building
B
W1
Meanwhile the rest of the army swings away from these march
blocked units and maintain a distance of 20 from (I1) and (C2) and
about 16 from (I2).
F
C1
S2
I1
S1
I2
C2
I3
16
Building
20
B
W1
(I1) has M4 and will take 5 more turns to arrive in the main combat
area (shaded Z). It could possibly never encounter any enemy units!
(I2) also has M4 but fares slightly better, taking 4 turns since it is
closer.
(C2) has M7 and will take 3 or 4 turns to arrive in area (Z).
Therefore (C), (D), (A) and (B) can enter are Z and engage enemy units
(E3), (C2) and possibly (S1) or (S2) with impunity and a good chance of
success.
138
C1
I1
C2
I2
I3
C3
S1
F
E
W1
The enemy wishes to swamp its right flank with cavalry units (C1)
and (C2) and later thrust their infantry through the middle in support.
(C3) moving to protect the armys left flank.
(F), the flying unit flies into the midst of the enemy centre, march
blocking units (I1) and (I2), 16 or so, away.
March-blocked units
S1
F
I1
C1
I2
I3
C3
C2
E
D
139
W1
March-blocked units
S1
F
I1
C1
I2
I3
C3
C2
E
D
A
B
W1
140
9. COMMON TRAPS
Anvil and Hammer
E1
A very well known trap. Dont fall for it! Unit (B) tempts the
enemy to charge by moving into charge range but only just. When unit
(E1) charges, (B) will flee as a charge reaction leaving (E1) stranded.
In the next turn units (A) and (C) can flank charge (E1). Both units,
(A) and (C) could do this or only either (A) or (C).
There are different variations of this trap. Sometimes (B) does not
flee but holds (it is the anvil) and (A) and/or (C) charges in the next
round.
E1
E2
B
A
141
Unit (B) is a weak unit that is dangled in front of enemy units (E1) and
(E2). It is moved so that (E1) and (E2) can charge it. More importantly, it
can charge (E2). This is such an obvious bait that (E1) and (E2) will
ignore it. Meanwhile unit (A) has repositioned some models within itself
- which will be explained later.
Turn 1 (E):
E1
E2
B
A
(E1) and (E2) recognises the obvious bait and does not charge (B)
in the next turn. (E1) and (E2) readjusts themselves so that (E1) now
threatens a flank charge
Turn 2 (A and B):
E1
E2
B
B
A
A
The character and champion in unit (A) moved to the left corner in turn
1(A and B). The character (L) is strong enough to inflict a few wounds
and unit (A) is also a strong unit.
142
E1
E1
E2
S
S
S2 S1
S S
S
S1
S2
S
E2
A
The diagram on the right shows what happens after the double
charge has been moved into position. Only (S1) and (S2) are within
charge distance and therefore only two of them rank up. Notice more
models from unit (A) are now in base contact with (E2). There will be
more attacks from the stronger unit (A) and less from the weak unit (S)
creating a better chance of breaking (E2).
Charge or be Charged
There should be ample opportunities to set up this trap especially in
the early stages. An expendable, fast moving unit is the best lure for this
trap but any unit within the right distance could be used.. There are 3
versions of this trap but they all rely on having units which are faster than
the closest enemy unit.
The basic idea here is that the unit offered as a bait is too
dangerous to ignore as it could charge other units further behind.
143
First let me illustrate the situation where this trap cannot be used.
W2
E1
Charging
distance of
(L)
L
A
The diagram shows (L) being used as a simple bait. (E1) could just
ignore this worthless bait and move forward to engage (A)
The next diagram below shows the correct Charge or Be Charged
Trap. (L) no longer functions merely as a bait but is a threat that can no
longer be ignored.
a) Basic version
W2
E1
Charging
distance of
(L)
L
A
Unit (L) at first sight appears to be a bait for unit (E1). When faced
with an obvious bait like this (E1) will quite readily refuse it.
On closer inspection, it can be seen that (L) is not just baiting (E1). (L)
could charge the warmachine or weaker unit (W2) behind (E1)!
This is the trap that (E1) faces. Instead of a Lure and Ambush
scenario, (L) itself acts as an aggressive unit. The difference here is that
(E1) cannot simply move away and avoid unit (L).
The enemy units[E1] have to charge or be charged.
Unit (A) has a choice of remaining where it is or moving into
(E1)s flank zone. If (E1) charges, then (L) will flee and unit (A) will
charge into (E1)s flank. It could even overrun into (W2). If (E1)
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declines to charge (L), then (L) charges (W2) and would probably destroy
it.
b) Fast Cavalry
In the previous example (L) had 2 options of charging or just
holding. If (L) is a Fast cavalry unit, then it has the huge advantage of
moving again if it rallies after fleeing. There is also something else a Fast
cavalry unit could attempt in the situation below.
W1
E1
E2
Gap is big
enough for one
model of unit
(F)
Charging
distance of (F)
The Fast cavalry unit could slip past (E2) and (E1). The gap needs
to be at least one model wide to allow (F) to pass through. It is able to do
this because Fast cavalry can reform as often as it wishes while marching.
(F) is then placed as close as possible to (E1) and (E2).
(E1) is threatened by a charge from (A) and cannot retreat or flee
as it would be destroyed when it makes contact with (F). (F) in turn
threatens to charge (W1)
As in the previous example, if the gap between (E1) and (E2) is big
enough, (F) could charge (W1). (F) could also move close enough to bait
(E2) and (E1) as in the Basic version.
c) Skirmishers
W1
E2
Charging
distance
of (S)
S
S
E1
S
S S
This diagram is similar to the Fast cavalry version but one model is
placed in the gap between (E1) and (E2). This prevents (E1) from
145
wheeling more than 30o to face (A) because in doing so it would make
contact with (S). (E1)s space has been stifled and it has little room to
manoeuvre to escape (A)s threatened flank charge.
W2
S
S
S
E1
S1
S
S1
A
A
E1
E1
A
O
Minimum
forward
distance
moved (d)
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EITW Traps
i) Fleeing into a charge path
This will not occur very often and depends on a mistake by you
opponent in estimating fleeing distances or just a bad dice roll not
allowing a unit to flee very far. If it does happen then capitalise on the
situation as you could destroy more than one enemy unit.
Consider the diagram below carefully and try to work out in which
order you should declare charges and against which unit.
Chargers
Skirmishers
Unit 2
Chargers
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Chargers 2
Flight path
2
Skirmishers
Flight path
1
Chargers
1
This charge is
unable to reach
Unit 2 and
declares EITW
Unit 2
E2
E1
149
E2
E1
E2
E3
E1
Building
F
F
150
The unit of flyers (F) move from the right and shelter behind the
building. In the next turn they move to the left flank threatening (E1)s
flank. (E1) and (E2) moves to prepare for (F)s charge but (F) flank
charges (E3) instead.
E1
Impassable
E1
L
The character (L) is in a weak unit that cannot retreat from (E1)s
future charge. The character on his own could inflict several wounds
while the unit he is with has good combat resolution bonuses ranks,
outnumber etc.
The unit shuffles towards the impassable terrain so that only the
character is exposed. When (E1) charges, it can only fight the powerful
character.
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Minimising attacks
Forced clipping could also be used to minimise attacks on one unit
in a multiple charge. These could be attacks by the charged unit or the
charger.
Ch
Exact charging
distance
E2
B
Exact
charging
distance
E1
Ch
E1
A
152
Normal charging
distance of Ch and C1
Ch
A
C1
Ch
Woods
B
Flee!
B
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Skirmishers
Building
Frontal
zone
The Skirmisher unit above is close enough to charge unit (A) and
declares a charge. Most of the models of the skirmisher unit (S) is in
(A)s flank zone. Therefore the skirmishers must rank up in (A)s flank.
However there is insufficient space for even one model in unit (A)s
flank.
Therefore the charge fails!
(A) could charge the skirmisher unit in the next turn.
Frontal
zone
Skirmishers
Building
Flank
zone
(A) could simply position a character in the top right hand corner (L) to
deal with the skirmishers.
Denying space can also be used to prevent charges as seen below.
Archers
B
Insufficient
space for the
flyers
B
Flyers
cannot
reach these
areas
Unit of
Flyers (F1)
E1 is in As frontal
zone
A
E1 has to reach
this side when
charging
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Unit (A) moves towards (E1) so that (E1) is still in (A)s frontal
zone. There is more of (E1) is in (A)s frontal zone than there is in (A)s
flank zone. By the rules (E1) is in (A)s frontal zone.
(A) has moved slightly past (E1) as shown above. It is now
impossible for (E1) to charge (A). It has to move backwards to reach
(A)s frontal zone. (A) however, threatens to charge (E1)s flank.
(A) can charge (E1) but (E1) cannot charge (A)!
(E1) is march blocked and will find it difficult to move out of this
predicament. It cannot turn and cannot pivot and can only move straight
ahead enabling (A) to move to its rear or flank again.
E2
E4
Building
E1
Woods
Woods
The areas marked (X) are ambushing areas. (C) is a cavalry unit
while (A) and (B) are infantry units. (C), (A) and (B) dare not venture
into the ambushing areas because of a certain flank charge.
Moving into the woods is an alternative but it will slow down these
units considerably. They are effectively stuck. Only a unit that can hold
against a flank charge by (E1), (E2) or (E4) can move into area (X).
Sacrificing a unit in that area is the other alternative for (C), (A) and (B).
156
157
a Panic or Fear test is inevitable, then angle and position your units to
avoid the calamity of Cascading Mass Panic.
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
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within the Frenzied units charge range. When the Frenzied unit charges,
it will be flank charged by a strong unit.
F1
F2
A
C
A
Unit (A) is moved to within charge range of Frenzied unit (F1) and
(F2). (A) is angled to lure (F1) and (F2) into unit (C)s flank zone.
Notices that Unit (A) is not simply luring (F1) but has moved close
enough to force (F2) to declare a charge as well. If the enemy has a large
number of Frenzied units like a Khorne army, you could use just one unit
to lure several units away by expanding into a longer rank.
When (F1) charges, (A) flees away from the unit with a bigger unit
strength, (F2) in this case. (C) flank charges (F2) with a good likelihood
of overrunning into (F1).
(C) does not even have to charge. Instead (A) could simply keep
baiting (F1) and (F2) all over the battlefield as explained in the example
below.
BT
BTs
charging
distance
can still charge (B). In this case, (A) should have been placed about 19
away from (BT) and all other units have to be more than 20 away.
If you do not want to engage (BT), then you could keep feeding it
as many cheap units as you can afford.
BT
E2
E1
BT
A
P1
P2
BT
BT
The diagram shows (BT) being led all around the battlefield away
from the main arena. First (A) is within charge range. It flees to safety
when (BT) declares a charge. Then (B) is moved to within charge range
and flees as well. Finally (A) who has rallied is offered again to the (BT)
and flees again. Three turns has seen (BT) chasing shadows. It has failed
to do what it does best engage in combat.
Since (BT) moves 20, you must employ this tactic at turn 1. By
turn 2 onwards (BT) could be within the midst of your army. Since it
would then have several charge options it will be practically impossible
to lure it away.
One Fast Cavalry unit is sometimes sufficient to lure frenzied units
away if you can arrange its line of flight to avoid enemy units. A Fast
Cavalry unit is able to move on the turn it rallies if it has fled from a
charge. This makes it readily available for the purposes of fleeing.
Stupidity
If you are unfortunate to have units that suffer from Stupidity, then
there are ways of minimising its effects.
a) Compare the Leadership of the unit subjected to Stupidity with that of
the general. It will probably be much lower. Keep the Stupid units close
to the general to benefit from his Leadership. At the time of writing Dark
Elf Cold One Knights are one of the very few units who could have a
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Leadership higher than the general. They therefore can move away from
the general.
b) Deploy Stupid units so that they will not obstruct other units if they fail
their test. Try to maintain this throughout the game.
E1
S1
S2
S2
B
S1
The two units (S1) and (S2) have both failed their Stupidity test.
(S1) is positioned correctly while (S2)s poor position results in a
disaster.
(S1) blunders forward without causing more problems, (S2), which
positioned itself for a flank charge has obstructed unit (A) and prevents it
from charging. (S2) itself could now be flanked charged with a possibility
of the enemy overrunning into unit (A).
When you have units subject to Stupidity, do not incorporate them
as part of your main/important plans in the turn. Use them to support
your intentions.
Other tests
Animosity, Waagh, Impetuosity, Unruly are not psychology tests
but I will briefly mention them here as it is the most appropriate chapter.
Orc and Goblin units of US>5 and not in combat have to test for
Animosity or can declare a Waagh. A roll of 1, stops the unit from
moving or doing anything and a 6 gives them an extra D6 move, making
them highly unpredictable.
Knights Errant have to take a Leadership test (Impetuosity) if they
are within charging distance of an enemy unit. They are forced to charge
if they fail. This makes it possible to lure them into a charge.
Beast Herds test for being Unruly (Leadership test) at the start of
the compulsory movement phase. If they fail they must charge.
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11. ENDGAME
Unlike chess, Warhammer is not easily split into an opening, the
middle game and the end game. All the turns are more or less the same
for Warhammer, except for the very first and last turns.
The very last turn six offers a few game winning opportunities
which are sometimes over looked by beginners.
Decisions in turn 5
The moves executed in turn 6 have to be prepared for in turn 5.
Normally 500 or more Victory points hinges on decisions made in this
vital turn. Ask yourself the following questions at the start of turn 5:
1) Which units are too far away to engage in combat in the next
two rounds and what is the biggest unit size of these units in
each table quarter?
These units are best kept safe and moved to occupy table quarters.
Table quarters are contested by any enemy unit of US equal to or greater
than 5. Each table quarter which is not contested gets 100 victory points.
Decide whether your units will engage in combat or not. If not then make
sure that you contest or occupy as many table quarters as possible.
3) Where are your Terror causers or where are the enemy terror
causers?
There is nothing more frustrating than failing a Fear or Panic test in
the last turn. A flying terror causer is especially dangerous as it can easily
reach any unit that has not yet been submitted to a Terror test. Look
carefully at the possible positions of Terror causers in the next turns. If
possible move any vulnerable units out of range. Create deterrents for
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164
12. Probability
Why use probability and is it really necessary to calculate during a
game you may ask? The alternative is to ignore it and the game will then
be dependent entirely on chance. How many times have you seen a
double 1 rolled for Insane courage or a double 6 for irresistible force?
Yes, they do occur but hoping for these dice rolls too often will
result in more defeats than lucky victories.
By using probability, the element of chance is not eliminated but at
least a player has partially wrenched his destiny out of the hands of the
dice gods.
If mathematics and statistical analysis is as unpalatable to you as
my mother-in-laws cooking, then I would suggest that you jump straight
to the section entitled Rule of a Quarter.
Is it more likely to roll a 6 or a 1 with a single dice?
Answer: Neither. A balanced dice will roll as many 6s as 1s but only after
a large number of dice rolls.
Roll a dice 6 times and it is highly unlikely that each number would have
appeared once. Roll it 12 times however and it becomes more probable
that each number from one to six will appear at least once.
The actual number rolled or the number on the top face is known as
the outcome in this chapter.
The probability of getting a 1 or a 6 on any single dice roll is 1/6
but the outcome cannot be determined or calculated.
This is the inherent weakness of the theory of probability. It only
works with a large sample. Fortunately there are many occasions in
Warhammer where a large number of dice are rolled simultaneously or in
sequence.
The two most important numbers in rolling to hit or wound are 3
and 4. The probability of rolling a four or higher is half. Therefore the
probability of rolling a four or higher twice, is a quarter. This brings us to
a common simplified rule the rule of a quarter which is discussed in the
next section.
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Rule of a quarter
This rule is best applied for a quick calculation of whether shooting
or combat will be effective. It is not perfect and should only be used if
you find calculations too tedious.
The estimated number of wounds (or saves needed) is a quarter the
number of shooting or close combat attacks in most cases.
Example 1: To find out whether your spearmen would be cut down to
ribbons as they advance towards a unit of 20 Goblin archers in 2 ranks on
a hill.
20 Goblins have 20 shots. A quarter of this is 5.
This gives a rough estimate of the number of saves the spearmen will
require - 5 armour saves.
It can then be assessed whether a Panic check for 25% wounds will
be necessary.
25% of 10 is 2.5
Therefore if 10 spearmen are in that unit they will probably suffer 5
casualties if they have no armour saves.
With an armour save of 5+, they suffer 2 or 3 casualties.
i.e. There is still a good chance of a Panic test.
A unit of 25 Spearmen will probably not have to test for Panic. 5
casualties is less than 25% of 25 (= 6.25).
Example 2: A unit of swordsmen wishes to charge a unit of spearmen and
win combat. Both have the same WS, S and T.
The swordsmen charge and have 6 attacks, including champion. A
quarter of that is 1.5 i.e. they force 1.5 saves or wounds. This leaves (11 1.5) attacks from the spearmen, champion included or 9.5 attacks. A
quarter of that is about 2.4.
While the swordsmen will force 1.5 armour saves, the spearmen
forces 2.4 armour saves. A difference of a mere 1.1 but it is in favour of
the spearmen showing that they are more likely to win combat for equal
armour saves
Even though the swordsmen may have slightly better armour saves,
charging the spearmen seems a bad proposition.
166
You can use the Rule of a quarter for a quick estimate. It works
fairly well for close combats or shooting of matching Strength and
Toughness. To estimate more accurately use the tables and short analysis
in the Appendix.
167
13. PREPARING A
TOURNAMENT ARMY
LIST
In this chapter, I shall concentrate exclusively on 2000 to 2500
point armies. The main idea is how to create an army against all-comers
and to make it as strong as possible.
Special characters have been ignored unless they are unit upgrades.
Beasts of Chaos
Strengths:
T4 in many units; Chaos Marks enhances characters and some units
Undivided (re-roll Psychology tests); Khorne (Frenzy, +1 Dispel dice);
Tzeentch (+1 Power dice, Level 1 Wizard), Slaanesh (ItP, ASF), Nurgle
(Fear, +1W); Cheap fast moving sacrificial unit (Warhounds); Beast
herds Ambush and rank bonus for skirmishers, Shooting hits Ungors
initially; Wizards with S6 and T4; Several multi-wound units with M6,
T4/T5 and multiple attacks; Minotaurs, Ogres, Trolls, Spawn, Giant;
Dragon Ogres and Shaggoth multi-S6/S7 attacks; 2 Terror causers
Shaggoth and Giant
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Bretonnianns
Strengths:
Excellent armour saves, Fast moving an all cavalry army is possible,
M8 barded cavalry; Lance formation; Army wide Ward save; Strong
when charging; Resilient Characters who are usually good in challenges;
One extra character compared to other armies; Flying Cavalry;
Skirmishing archers; Grail Knights ItP, 2A, magical attacks; 1 Terror
causing mount Hippogriff.
Good and popular Virtues include
Stoicism (re-roll break tests); Impetuous Knight (D6 to charge distance);
Heroism (Killing blow against Monsters), Audacity (re-roll hits and
wounds against S4 statistic or better); Duty (+1CR); Joust (re-roll hits
when charging); Confidence (re-roll hits and wounds in challenges);
Noble disdain (Hatred and Immune to Panic from 25% casualties
Good and popular magic items include
Silver lance (auto hit); Grail Shield (4+W including mount); Siriennes
Locket (Never lose more than 1 wound per phase); Ruby Goblet (bearer
and unit cannot be wounded by a better than 3+ roll after the first
wound); Tress of Isoulde (Hits nominated enemy model on 2+) Valorous
Standard (3D6 for Ld tests discarding highest); Errantry Banner (+1S for
charging Errant knights);
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Weakness:
Weak in magical attack; T3, S3 for nearly all units; Only 2 units ItP
Errants are ItP when charging, Magical attacks from Grail Knights or
magic weapons and spells only; Does not get the first turn almost always;
Knights cannot choose a flee charge response as they will lose the
Blessing.
Daemons of Chaos
Strengths:
Army wide Ward save, Fear and ItP; Daemonic Instability replaces Break
tests; Locus of Heralds regeneration for Nurgle; 4+W for Tzeentch;
ASF for Slaanesh; Lord choices S6, T6, 5W, Terror, Fly or Fast except
Unclean one but he has 10W; Daemonic Gifts cannot be destroyed;
Changeling (swap S,T,I and A) and Karanak (Hatred) are available as
unit upgrades; Horror units are spell casters; Poisoned attacks for Steeds
of Slaanesh and all Nurgle units Plaguebearers, Beasts of Nurgle and
Nurglings; Daemonettes M6; All Slaanesh units, Daemonettes, Seekers
and Fiends have Armour piercing attacks; Bloodletters and Bloodcrushers
have Killing blow; All Khorne units have MR - Bloodletters and
Bloodcrushers have MR(1) while Flesh Hounds have MR(3); Screamers
have Slashing attacks (S5 auto hit, fly-by); D6 S5 range 24 shots at BS4
for Flamers; All Tzeentch units have Flaming attacks; Beasts of Nurgle
have Regeneration, D6+1 attacks and Slime Trail; Bloodcrushers have 3+
Armour; Fiends have Soporific Musk Roll extra fleeing dice and
discard the highest; Flying Chariot;
Good and Popular Daemonic Gifts:
Nearly all Daemonic gifts are good so it would be better to study all of
them thoroughly. I shall list the popular Gifts:
Khorne - Immortal Fury (re-roll hits); Firestorm Blade (Flaming attacks);
Armour of Khorne (3+Armour); (Dark Insanity (2D6+2A), Obsidian
armour (3+Armour, negates enemy magic weapons)
Nurgle - Noxious vapours (models in contact always strike last),
Trappings of Nurgle (4+ Armour plus Regeneration); Slime Trail (Enemy
attacking flank or rear do not receive bonuses for this); Nurgling
Infestation ( Increase Nurglings by 1 base); Pestilent Mucus (Toughness
test for 1 wound when Nurgle character is wounded)
Slaanesh - Siren Song (Once; Enemy unit forced to charge or flee if
within distance), Etherblade (Negates armour); Allure of Slaanesh
(Enemy models failing a Ld test cannot strike)
170
Tzeentch - Spell Breaker (Dispel Scroll); Master of Sorcery (can use any
of the main lores); Spell Destroyer (Scroll plus destroys spell on 4+),
Daemonic Robes (3+ to wound) available to Tzeentch, Slaanesh and
Khorne Herald only,
Daemonic Icons: Banner of Unholy Victory (D3 CR), Standard of Chaos
Glory (All units within 12 are Stubborn), Great Standard of Sundering (2 penalty to cast nominated Lore); Great Icon of Despair (-2 to enemys
Ld)
Weakness:
No armour saves except for Bloodcrushers, Khorne chariot and Khorne
characters; Shooting limited to 1 unit; All Core and Special are T3 units
except Plaguebearers and Flesh hounds; Expensive points cost; Little
magical defence usually; Minor weaknesses - S4, T4 for Fiends and S4
for Beasts of Nurgle; Juggernaut is a cavalry steed; All chariots have
steeds and character only; S4 Tzeentch chariot; Palanquin is a cavalry
mount with 1W , compensated by 6A.
Dark Elves
Strengths:
Army wide Hatred; High Initiative; Black Guard re-roll hits in every
round and are Stubborn; BS5 Scouts; Assassins do not count as characters
and several are possible; Assassins with multiple S6 attacks and shooting;
High BS and heavy shooting is possible; Above average in all 3 phases;
Cheap core units; Cheap flyers; Multiple Monsters including Dragon;
Khainite units (Executioners, Witch elves, Assassins) bolstered by
Cauldron; 2 Terror causing mounts Dragon, Manticore and 1 Terror
causing units making it possible to have 4 Terror causers.
Good and popular Gifts of Khaine
Manbane (increase strength to a S6 max), Rune of Khaine (+D3 attacks);
Rending Stars (X3 multiple shots)
Good and popular magic items include Pendant of Khaeleth (Ward save
based on strength test); Crimson Death (S6); Armour of Eternal
Servitude (5+ and regeneration); Armour of Darkness (1+ save); Ring of
Hotek (Wizards miscast on doubles), Null Talisman (Cumulative magic
resistance); Focus Familiar (Cast from a point 6 away); Banner of Hag
Gref (ASF); Banner of Nagarythe (Unbreakable and +1CR to units within
12); Standard of slaughter (D3 to CR when charging);Venom sword
(Khaine, slays on a 2D6 Toughness test from a single wound after
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Dwarfs
Strengths:
T4 throughout including shooting units; Gromril Armour (4+) available
to all characters and several units; Good Armour saves for some units;
Runes enhance attacks, CR and Saves; Handguns (Thunderers and maybe
characters) have +1 to hit. Characters and units are good in combat e.g
Ironbreakers (2+save), Longbeards (S6), Hammerers (Stubborn); Slayer
(Unbreakable; wound on 3+); Tunnelling Miners; Unbreakable
units/character and Stubborn units with a high Ld. Cheap Bolt throwers
which are 2 per Special choice; Shooting units which are also strong in
combat; Variety of shooting and warmachines; Tabletop shooting Anvil
of Doom; Engineering Runes enhances shooting and makes it magical;
Engineers enhance shooting (re-roll misfires, BS4); Master engineer
(BS5, S10 cannon); Entrenchment (counts as hard cover, defended
obstacle); Oathstone (flank or rear charges do not get bonuses); Always
marches.
Good and popular Runes include
Nearly all Master Runes are good so I shall list only the popular Master
Runes. Other runes can be used several times but not more than 3 Runes
per runic item.
Master Rune of Smiting (D6 wounds); Master Rune of Breaking
(destroys magic weapon when it hits); Master Rune of Swiftness (ASF);
Master Rune of Gromril (1+ save); Master Rune of Grungni (Standard
giving 5+Ward save against shooting); Master Rune of Spite (4+Ward);
Master Rune of Balance (Remove opponents power dice and adds to
Dwarven dispel pool); Master Rune of Skewering (Bolt thrower hits on
2+ once); Master Rune of Disguise (Machine cannot be seen until it
shoots, moves or if the enemy is 3 away)
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Empire
Strengths:
Plate armour; Unbreakable units Flagellants, Steam Tank and War
Altar; Warrior Priests confer Hatred to its unit and can make it
Unbreakable; Prayers of Sigmar Re- roll Hits and wounds, 4+W, D6S4
hits or S5 against Daemons and Undead, All cavalry army is possible;
Steam Tank S8 Cannon, S6 Impact hits, Steam Gun; Heavy shooting
possible and a range of powder weapons; S4 shooting by cavalry units;
Detachment rules; War Altar 4+W, Unbreakable and MR(2), casts 1
chosen bound spell from Lore of Light; Versatile army composition
which can be strong in all 3 phases; Flagellants could Martyr to
cumulatively gain Hatred, re-roll wounds and +1 to CR. 2 Terror causing
mounts and 1 Terror causing unit making 3 Terror causers possible in an
army.
Good and popular magic items include
Runefang (auto-wound with no armour saves); Mace of Helstrum (1S10,
D6 wounds); Sword of Sigismund (ASF and +1S); Dawn Armour (re-roll
armour saves); Armour of Meteoric Iron (1+ Armour save); Holy Relic
(4+Ward); Shroud of Magnus (MR(2) and 5+Ward); White Cloak
(5+Ward, 2+Ward against Flaming); Van Horstmanns (swap stats with
enemy character in a challenge); Laurels of victory (each wound is
doubled for CR); Aldreds Casket (steals one enemy spell on 4+); Banner
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High Elves
Strengths:
ASF; High Initiative; M9 steeds; High BS and heavy shooting is possible;
Very good elite infantry and cavalry; Good choice of Special units;
Dragon Princes 2A, Dragon armour Immune to Flaming attacks;
Phoenix Guard have a 4+W save and cause Fear; Swordmasters 2S5
attacks; White Lions can move through woods without penalty; Lion
Chariots cause Fear, Lions have 2A; Scouts have Hatred; Largest number
of magic items, some of which are excellent; 3 Dragon army is possible
3 Terror causers;
Good and popular magic items include Blade of Leaping Gold (+3A);
Bow of Seafarer (shoots like a Bolt thrower); Sword of Hoeth (Auto
wounds); Reaver Bow (3S5 shots); Armour of Protection (4+Ward) ;
Termikidors Gauntlet( 6+Armour plus 5+Ward against S4 or greater);
Armour of Caledor (2+ Armour); Vambraces of defence (4+ Ward, re-roll
armour); Talisman of Saphery (Magical weapons have no effect); Battle
Banner (+D6 CR); Banner of Ellyrion (difficult ground becomes open
ground); Seerstaff of Saphery (Chooses spells instead of rolling); Ring of
Corin ( Bound spell casting Vauls Unmaking once); Null stone (negates
all spells and magic items); Folariaths Robe (Only hit by magical
attacks); Ring of Fury (Bound spell Fury of Khaine); Amulet of Light
(Magical attacks including unit bearer is with); Gem of Courage (Ld test
on 3D6 once); Talisman of Loec ( Re-roll hits and wounds and if
wounded re-roll armour once but takes a wound)
Weakness: T3 in nearly all units; Low armour saves for all infantry
except Phoenix Guards Ward save; Expensive points cost for all units;
No obvious sacrificial unit; Magical attacks from magic and magical
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weapons only. No units are ItP but this is offset by Ld10 of the popular
general.
Lizardmen
Strengths:
Cold Blooded; Many T4 or better units T4 or better possible for the
whole army; 2A from Temple Guard and Saurus; Aquatic Skinks and
Kroxigors treat watery terrain as open ground; Skinks have Poisoned
shooting; Chameleon skins are -1 to hit; Heavy shooting possible;
Stegadons great bow = Bolt thrower; Stegadons Giant blow pipe = 2D6
S3 Poisoned; Terradons drop rocks (D3S4 each) once per battle;
Stegadons have D6+1 Impact hits and good armour saves for itself and
the crew; Engine of the Gods (choose one effect per magic phase
reduce casting value of a lore by 1, D6 S4 at 2D6, 5+ Ward for all units
within 12);
A variety of units, each being strong in different phases Skinks,
Stegadon, Razordons and Salamanders in shooting, Saurus, Temple
Guard in combat, Kroxigors and Stegadon for high strength combat
attacks, Kroxigors, Skinks, Salamanders and Razordons are fast moving
units, Flyers with Feigned flight; Slann knows all the Lores, can choose
several, and cast missiles through a skink priest. The army can therefore
be tailored for strength in each phase making balanced army lists easily
achievable; Several Fear or Terror causers - Kroxigors, Cold One,
Salamanders, Razordons cause Fear; Stegadon and Carnosaur causes
Terror; Carnosaur mount can join units; Engine of the Gods S6 Impact
hits, Attacks before ASF when charging,, -1 to cast;
5 Terror causers possible in an army
Good magic items include
Blade of Realities (auto slays if Ld test fails); Piranha Blade (Unsaved
wounds doubled); Sword of Hornets (ASF) Hide of the Cold Ones (5+
Armour, +1 T, Fear but becomes stupid); Sacred Stegadon Helm ( +1
armour +1 Ld); Cupped hands of the Old Ones (Ignore miscast on a 2+
and an enemy wizard within LOS suffers the miscast but results 5-6
ignored); Plaque of Dominion (Each enemy wizard within 18" that can
draw LOS to the banner must take a Stupidity test); Maiming Shield
(+1A); Bane Head (Wounds against nominated character are doubled);
Diadem of Power (Save magic dice for next magic phase);Glyph necklace
(5+Ward); Amulet of Itzl (2+Ward against the first wound); Huanchis
Totem (D6 extra move); Charm of the Jaguar (bound spell Steed of
Shadows)
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Weakness:
Very low Initiative for combat units; Armour is slightly on the low side
except Cold Ones (3+ ), Stegadons and Kroxigors (4+); Skinks are T2
and Ld 5; Terradons drop rocks only once and have no armour save;
Terradons Feigned flight is on Ld 6 (68% success rate); Stegadon is
Stubborn but on Ld 5 (52% success rate) or Ld 6 if skink priest is present;
Magical attacks from magic and magical weapons only; Lack of ItP units
but this is offset by the Cold blooded Ld test; Razordons and Salamanders
lose D3 Skinks when they misfire and are subject to Monster Reaction;
High point values of Kroxigors, Stegadons, Terradons
Ogre Kingdoms
Strengths:
Army wide Fear and M6 except Gnoblars; Bull charge Impact hits
when charging from more than 6; High strength, T4 and 3W with
characters having more; Multiple wound, multiple attack wizards who are
tough and good in combat; Very good magic and excellent lore of magic
Restore wounds, regenerate, Panic tests, S2 no armour saves magic
missile, Increased strength, Toughness and MR; Small relatively cheap
Core unit enabling MSU list; Gorger emerges from a table side,
Unbreakable; Slave Giant causes Terror but slightly weaker than a
normal giant.
Good or Popular Ogre Big names include:
Kineater (Units within 6, re-roll Panic); Mountain eater (Wounded on 3+
only); Mawseeker (+1T); Longstrider (M7)
Good and popular magic items include:
Tenderiser (Great weapon, +2S, D3 wounds), Siegebreaker (+3S Great
Weapon, Compare WS to Initiative, D6 wounds if there is no Initiative);
Greedy Fist (6+Armour that destroys magic weapons and wizards lose 1
magic level); Wyrdstone necklace (5+Ward; a roll of 1 self inflicts a
wound) Hellheart (causes Miscast on a double); Bang stick (bound spell
D6 S4); Skull Mantle (-1 to Panic test); Jade Lion (re-roll Psychology
tests); Ragbanner (roll 3D6 and discard one for Panic tests).
Weakness:
Low Ld of many units except general, Ironguts and Rare units Maneater
and Gorger; Low static CR, Low Initiative; Low Armour saves; No good
magical armour or Ward saves; Magical attacks only from magic and
magical weapons; No units are ItP except for the Gorger.
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Skaven
Strengths:
Cheap units; Lots of sacrificial units are possible. Excellent shooting
with magical hits - Move or shoot are, Ratling Gun Roll as many non
177
double dice for auto hits at S4 AP, Jezzails 36, S6 AP, WLC 8D6
range without LOS through woods and ruins, S=Artillery dice, D6
wounds; Warpfire thrower flame template , S5, D3 wounds; Poisoned
Wind Globadiers auto wounds on 4+ with no armour saves; Slings and
Throwing stars for Runners and Warplock Pistols (S5) for characters;
Other magical attack Censer Blade Toughness test causing 1 wound
and no armour saves; Strong attacking magic phase, Warpstone Tokens
additional one use power dice for the spell caster; Lead from behind
(characters at the back who may leave combat); Strength in Numbers (Ld
increased by rank bonus); Life is cheap (Shoot and cast magic into
combat); Tunnelling teams that charge when they emerge.
Good and popular magic items include:
Fell Blade (S10, D6 wounds but 1 wound on a roll of 1-2); Weeping
Blade (+1S; D3 wounds); Headsplitter (Missile weapon, wounds T5 or
better on 2+); Death Globes (Stone thrower hit wounding on 4+);
Twisted Crown (Regeneration); Tenebrous cloak (3+W against missiles
including magical); Foul Pendant (5+Ward); Warpstone Amulet (4+
Ward saves wound at the end on a roll of 1); Warpstone Tokens (extra
dice when casting) Storm Daemon (Warplightning bound spell); Brass
Orb (Death Globe incurring an Initiative test which auto slays); Bands of
Power (bound spell doubles Strength); Umbranner (4+W against S4 or
less against normal or magical missiles); Skalm (heals all wounds);
Skavenbrew (Frenzied or hatred or both but no effect on a roll of 1)
Weakness:
S3 and T3 in most units (Monks, Ogres and Censers are T4); Low Ld if
>12 from the general; Weak in combat; No Cavalry units; Unpredictable
and prone to self injury in magic and shooting Ratling gun misfires on
doubles; Warplightning 1 hits the caster; Jezzails and Warplock pistols
1s have to be re-rolled Two 1s causes a wound; Censer blades causes
a self wound on a 6. No Terror causers and Rat Ogres are the only Fear
causing unit. No units except Monks (Frenzy) and Censers are ItP.
Tomb Kings
Strengths:
Army wide Fear and ItP; Undead break tests; Very strong magic phase
spells auto cast as bound spells; Good lore of magic Restore wounds,
Extra movement, extra attacks; Tomb blades Killing blow and magical
attacks; Chariot units D3S4 Impact hits each; Arrow of the Asp (no
shooting penalties - effectively hit on 5+); Screaming skull causes Panic
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Vampire Counts
Strengths:
Army wide Fear and ItP; Undead Break tests; Almost insurmountable
magic phase; Exceptional Lore of magic; Spell casters are able to cast the
same spell several times for some spells (IoN - summoning, Danse
Macabre movement, Raise dead); Strongest cavalry unit Blood
Knights, 3S7 A; Ethereals - Magical attacks and cannot be harmed by
non-magical attacks, treats all terrain as open ground; Skeletal steeds
have Ethereal movement; Wight Blades Killing blow and magical
attacks for Grave Guard, Wight King, Black knights; Strong characters
who are also wizards; Possibility of several Flying units maximum of 6
flying units and 4 flying characters; 4+W Flying Ethereal chariot is
possible for the Black coach; Corpse Cart can join units and has bound
spell ASF on all units within 6; Corpse Cart upgrades (6 range
Additional wound from Invocation Or -1 to cast by enemy Wizards at
24); Dragon; 2 Terror causing mounts and 2 Terror causing units making
a possible 3 Terror causer army.
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Warriors of Chaos
Strengths:
Army wide Re-roll Panic tests; Strong characters; T4 Core units; Chaos
armour (4+); Marauders cheap core unit; Cheap fast cavalry unit with
shooting and Flails upgrade; Marks of Chaos available to all human
units and some monstrous beasts (Ogres, Spawns and Giant) Tzeentch
6+Ward save, +1 to cast; Nurgle - -1 to shooting hits and -1WS in
combat, Khorne Frenzy; Slaanesh Immune to Fear, Terror and Panic;
Several multi-wound multi-attack units Ogres, Trolls, Dragon Ogres ,
Spawn (Unbreakable, D6+1A), Scylla (3D6M, D6+2A), Warshrine
(4+W, confers EOTG rolls to all champion and 1 unit in the Shooting
phase), Hellcannon (Terror, Unbreakable, Shaggoth (Terror and ItP) and
Giant (Terror, Stubborn and ItP). Very dangerous Lores of magic - Strong
spells which could destroy entire units or render them incapable in
combat; EOTG benefit characters and Chosen; Hellcannon shooting
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causes Panic; All character mounts cause Fear and 2 cause Terror and Fly
Manticore and Dragon making a 3 Terror causer army possible.
Good and popular Gifts of the gods include
Word of Agony (nominated model takes D6 S4 hits); Third eye of
Tzeentch (knows all enemy spells except summoning); Acid Ichor
(rebounded wound at S4)
Good magic and popular items include:
Chaos Runesword (+1WS,S,A); Berserker Sword (Extra attacks= number
in base contact); Father of Blades (Enemy to hit roll of 1 rebounds on the
enemy model); Rending sword (re-roll wounds); Glaive of Putrefaction
(reduces enemy to S2, T2 when wounded); Armour of Damnation (enemy
re-roll successful hits); Crown of Everlasting Conquest (Regenerate);
Golden eye of Tzeentch (4+Wards against normal and magical missiles);
Infernal Puppet (Modify enemy miscast rolls by up to D3); Bloodskull
Pendant (S8 hit on every model in base contact instead of normal
attacks); Helm of Many eyes (ASF); Banner of the Gods (All units within
6 are Stubborn, Unit causes Terror); Blasted Standard (5+W against
shooting); Rapturous Standard (Doubles count as Insane courage)
Weakness:
Expensive point costs of elite units; Only 2 shooting units Marauder
Horsemen at short range as an upgrade, Hellcannon stone thrower;
Hellcannon has to test for Rampage (Ld test to prevent movement
towards the enemy), has a bad Misfire table; Forsaken cannot have
Marks; No unconditional 4+Ward save; EOTG is only gained when an
enemy character is slain in a challenge a situation the enemy will strive
to avoid; Warshrine effectively confers only one EOTG roll to one unit;
Warshrine EOTG is not cumulative; Warshrine takes up a Rare slot and is
expensive for what it does; EOTG causes Stupidity on a roll of double 1
and no effect on a roll of 7. Units are not ItP except Forsaken (frenzy) and
2 Unbreakable Rare units. Trolls are subject to Stupidity on a low Ld;
Magical attacks from magic spells and magic weapons only.
Wood Elves
Strengths:
Most units are skirmishers, sometimes the whole army could be
skirmishers; High BS; High Initiative; All units except Dryad and Treekin
can shoot; Waywatchers have Killing blow shots; Glade Guard S4
shooting at short range; Move and shoot without penalty; Heavy shooting
is possible; M9 cavalry; Dryads - Cheap S4, T4, 2A skirmisher Forest
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2) Extreme magic
Greater than 12 Power dice reinforced by bound spells and magic
enhancing items. Again an easy tactic of casting as many wound
inflicting spells per magic phase while buffering up friendly units e.g.
improving CR, to hit/wound/saving rolls, WS, S,T etc
The strength of an extreme magic army is obviously its magic
phase. Therefore spells which inflict wounds are favoured unless it is a
Vampire Count army where restoring wounds and raising new units are
equally important. However like gun-line shooting, this alone will not
win the battle. Combat and possibly shooting will have the important role
of attacking magic-weakened units and destroying them.
The main weakness of the magic based army is that magic is not
dependable. Miscasts, dispel dice, magic resistance, dispel scrolls and
keeping the wizards alive are all impediments. The lores of magic
available also restrict the efficacy of this army. Only armies with good
lores of magic available like Vampire Counts, Tzeentch, Lizardmen and
possibly High Elves could choose this type of army list.
Combat and shooting units have to be strong enough to
complement the magic phase. For some armies e.g. Skaven and Empire,
magic can only be elevated at the expense of either or both these phases
and therefore extreme magic is not a good option.
3) Extreme shooting a gun-line stretched to its limits and ignores
strength in all or some other phases. This can only be used if the
important sections of the gun-line are mobile and can move into
shelter/cover and shoot.
Gun-lines have already been covered above.
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Bretonnianns
1) Maximum number of Pegasus units.
This is also known as the Flying circus. Four units of Pegasus and the
lord on a Royal Pegasus could easily destroy the majority of units weak
in combat
2) Deathstar list
Sometimes created using 12 or so Grail Knights with 2 or 3 characters
using as many Virtues as possible but this is not popular because the
lance formation offers a better alternative and enables several units to be
dangerous.
3) Dangerous lists.
An all knight list is very fast and would at least one or two units
would be in combat by turn 2. The units are mobile but not very
manoeuvrable since terrain and the long Lance formation will restrict
movement. There is a MSU variation of this which is also viable.
The main tactic of this army is to maintain a wall of charging
knights down the battlefield and get into combat quickly. A near
continuous battle line after charging in turn 2 is ideal for Bretonnians.
Each unit has to try to break the enemy on the charge when their lances
are most effective. After that they are down to S3. Since it is likely that
there is a character in a unit of knights, 10S5 and 7S3 attacks can be
expected on the charge i.e. strong enough to break most units which do
not have special CR bonuses (e.g. Stubborn , Undead etc).
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Daemons
There are so many combinations for Daemons. It would be easiest if I list
the extreme units which could be combined to form the extreme army or
a Deathstar lists.
Nurgle extremis:
a) 3 Nurgle Heralds in 3 large blocks of Plaguebearers cannot be broken
for several turns of combat because of Regeneration and 5+Ward. Greater
Daemon as Lord. Heralds have Noxious vapours which forces enemy
models in base contact to strike last.
b) Unclean one with 3 Nurgle Heralds all with Nurgling Infestation plus
a few units of Nurglings. The Nurglings surround the Nurgle characters
and are virtually impossible to destroy creating an impenetrable wall
which will hold up several enemy units and expose them to flank charges.
Screamer extremis
About 18 Screamers in 4 units or slightly less in 3 units; 18 S5 hits for
every unit they fly over in each turn; Combined with the maximum magic
and Flamers, this forces the enemy to come towards them making more
Screamer hits possible.
Tzeentch extremis
Maximum magic 3 or more units of Horrors with Tzeentch Heralds for
4+ Ward save plus Changeling. This is usually combined with a Lord of
change or Bloodthirster and suitable combat support. About 20 or so
Power dice
Flesh Hounds extremis
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Dark Elves
1) Extreme shooting.
4 Bolt throwers and 3 or more units of 10 repeater crossbowmen with
more shooting from Shades and Dark Riders.
Or Shades A large number of them 25 or more in one big unit or 2 or 3
units with a character with Life taker with an Assassin/Assassins plus
further shooting from repeater crossbowmen and/or Reaper Bolt throwers
and/or Dark Riders. The Shades have Great weapons (S5) and the BSB
with them has the Banner of Hag Gref for ASF or possibly Banner of
Nagarythe.
There are a few ways of dealing with a large unit of Shades.
Ethereals or a strong combat unit under the effect of Howling Wind could
charge them and inflict heavy losses. A simpler method of dealing with
Deathstar units could be used. This is explained later (See Fighting
Deathstar armies)
2) Deathstar lists revolving around combinations of 15 or so Cold One
Knights with the Banner of Cold ones or Hag Gref, a BSB with Banner of
Nagarythe.
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Cauldron variations are used to provide the 5+W save to the large
super unit which may or may not be a Khainite unit (usually
Executioners) while making support Khainite units Stubborn.
Several Assassins, in infantry units offer another variation.
All variations may sometimes be combined with the extreme
shooting list above.
Instead of using Cold Ones, Dark Riders could also be used since
they are cheaper. This list relies on support units to work as a Deathstar
which is slightly fragile. The Banner of Nagarythe is now absolutely
necessary. There should be 4 fighting characters in the front rank. 3
Nullstones are needed for MR(3) reducing the number of magic items
available. Since the Banner of Hag Gref cannot be used another similar
unit could accompany this Deathstar. Both units will be Unbreakable Fast
cavalry with shooting. Assassins in small unit of Shades would complete
the support needed by joining the Deathstar unit in combat as early as
possible.
3) Dangerous lists
Double Hydra, Several Assassins, Elite unit with always strikes first
Banner. Pendant of Khaeleth is nearly always present and makes the
Dreadlord near impossible to slay if he also has good armour. Soul stealer
may also add to his invincibility.
The Assassins are vital at winning combat against mediocre T3
units while the Stubborn Black Guard unit is difficult to dislodge and will
always hold in combat for at least a round or 2. The Assassins might have
to specify the model/s they are attacking (allocate attacks) because they
cannot afford to be hit back since they have no saves. Hydras have 7 S5
attack making them excellent as a support unit or against small units.
Flaming attacks will negate the Hydras Regeneration and a good
static CR could also defeat it. If there is a surviving model in base contact
with the Assassin, it should always target the Assassin.
Dwarfs
1) Dwarven gun-lines are quite popular and an extreme gun-line of nearly
all shooting units is possible. A mixture of Quarrellers and Thunderers for
Core units. 4 or more Bolt throwers with or without a Cannon to provide
the high strength shots and combinations of Grudge thrower, Organ Gun,
Flame Cannon and Gyrocopter for the template hit or mass hit. The Anvil
is mandatory of course.
2) There are no Dwarven Deathstar lists.
191
3) Dangerous lists
Any list with an Anvil of Doom is dangerous but Dwarf characters
and warmachines are often infused with Runes. This has already been
covered in the section on Gun-lines above.
This makes characters strong and resilient in combat while
warmachines could hit more easily or with greater strength and effect.
The gun-line above is usually modified by adding Miners or
Rangers and at least 2 combat units using Longbeards, Hammerers and
Ironbreakers. Hammerers are Stubborn while Longbeards are Immune to
Panic. Both are usually S6 using great weapons. Ironbreakers have a 2+
save and should hold against most units. Some of these units will be
joined by Thanes and/or a Dwarf Lord and inevitably the presence of
Runes will be used to enhance various abilities.
When facing Dwarfs, it is useful to be reminded of various Runes
they could have and to find out early what Runic effects there are in the
army.
The Anvil is not easily destroyed. Shooting and magic missiles
faces a 4+ Ward save and combat is against an Unbreakable unit and a
tough Dwarf lord. It will not be easy to get to it as it is usually tucked
away somewhere e.g. in very difficult terrain etc. Non magical spells will
inflict some damage while combat requires high strength attacks.
Slayers while dangerous in combat have no saves and could be
destroyed by shooting and magic.
Charging shooting units or warmachines will have to be treated
differently from other armies. A quick victory should not be expected
because of they have armour and are T4. A minimum S4 attacks is
needed and even then the Dwarf shooters will hit back hard! Even
multiple S3 attack units, like Harpies, could charge and be defeated by a
unit of Thunderers.
Empire
1) There are no extreme lists.
2) A Deathstar list involves using 1 Captain, BSB and Banner of
Sigismund or Griffon Banner, 1 Warrior Priest, a Wizard with Van
Horstmanns and a Scroll, a Templar Grand master with Laurels of
Victory in a unit of 15 or so Knightly Orders with Steel Standard or
Standard of Arcane Warding. All characters have a Ward save of some
kind. Other magic items might include Icon of Magnus, Mace of
Helstrum etc.
192
High Elves
1) 3 Dragons is possible but is not as effective as it sounds since there
will be only 4 or 5 other units. The very small number of units makes it
far less dangerous and losing just 1 unit is a serious setback.
Gun-lines are normally ignored since combat is the High Elf strong point.
2) A Deathstar list with Dragon Princes is possible. The Dragon Prince
have the Standard of Balance (ItP and negates enemy Frenzy and Hatred)
while the BSB has Battle Banner (+D6 to CR). A mage with Loremaster
cloak (2+ Ward save against magic) ensure magical protection, Sacred
Incense (-1 to hit from shooting) or Talisman of Saphery (changes magic
weapons to mundane with Armour of Protection (4+Ward, 6+Armour),
Foe Bane (wounds on 2+ against models with 2 or more wounds) for the
Lord. Other combinations of magic items for the mage and lord are also
possible e.g. Amulet of fire, Healing Potion, Ring of Corin etc.
So many points will be invested in this Deathstar, that the normally
small High elf army would look even smaller.
193
3) For High Elves, other than the lists mentioned above, it is more a
question of dangerous units rather than a dangerous army list because of
their army wide ASF. Dragon Princes have 2 S5 attacks each,
Swordmasters also have 2S5 attacks each, Phoenix Guard have a 4+ ward
enabling them to hold and White Lions have S6 attacks and are Stubborn
with no penalties to moving in woods and +2 AS against shooting. Lion
chariots have steeds with 2 S5 attacks. Combining these elite units while
deterring charges with spearmen makes them favourites in the combat
phase.
The weakness of High elf lists is a general weakness of having a
small number of units. Once a unit or 2 is broken or even fleeing, the
army as a whole begins to look sparse and vulnerable. Breaking a High
Elf unit however is not an easy task. A flank charge against a unit of 10
Swordmasters will win but against 15, might not.
Lizardmen
1) There are no Extreme lists
2) A Deathstar list would include a large unit of Cold Ones with a Scar
Vet BSB with or without a magical banner, a Charm of the Jaguar Scar
Vet and an Oldblood on a Cold one. The Cold Ones Standard bearer
would carry a magic banner e.g. Huanchis blessed Totem, Sun Standard
or Skavenpelt Banner.
Skavenpelt Banner would provide over 20 attacks but a Frenzied
Deathstar can easily be led on a wild goose chase. (See Feeding the
Frenzied)
Support units would be at least one Skink Priest on the Engine of
the Gods mainly to provide a 5+Ward save
3) Three types of dangerous lists, one based on a Slann and heavy magic,
the second is a gun line that moves, the third on an Oldblood and a
combat orientated list and the last has several Monsters.
The Slann could choose Focus of Mystery (knows all spells of a
chosen lore). Focused Rumination (free extra dice when casting), Soul of
Stone (re-roll Miscasts). Two or three level 2 Skink Priests with at least
one on an Ancient Stegadon with Engine of the Gods boosts the Power
Dice to 10 or 12.
The gun line in this case involves Stegadons (Bolt thrower or
Giant blowpipe- 2D6 hits), Salamanders (Artillery dice range flame
template, S3 and -3 to armour saves), Skinks with blow pipes and javelins
and Razordons (Artillery dice S4 at 12).
194
The Giant Bow will deal with cavalry and armoured units. Skinks
will pick off small T3 units while Salamanders have the dual function of
shooting at infantry and cavalry.
The list that focuses on combat would use an Old Blood possibly
on a Carnosaur, Scar Veterans with Saurus, Cold Ones and Kroxigors.
A mainly monstrous, or dinosaur army is also dangerous. This
would include several Stegadons/Ancient Stegadons, Salamanders,
Razordons and/or Terradons with either a Slann or an Old blood on a
Carnosaur.
The magic and shooting Lizardmen armies are handled in the usual
way.
Enemy units which survive combat against Saurus, Temple Guard,
Kroxigors and Stegadons have a better chance in subsequent rounds
because of the low Initiative of these units. A Stegadon or Kroxigors
flanked charged by a normal fully ranked up infantry unit could be
broken in combat, by static CR alone.
Ogre Kingdoms
1) No extreme list
2) A Deathstar list with a big unit of Ogres with a Tyrant and a Bruiser
BSB is theoretically possible but does not have the same resilience and
ability to withstand ranged attacks as other Deathstars. The MSU
alternative is far better for Ogres.
3) MSU Ogres. All units have 3 models excluding characters. 6 units of
Ogre Bulls, 2 or 3 units of Ironguts, 1 or 2 Gorgers, at least 1 unit of
Yhetees with 3 Butchers and a Tyrant is dangerous and the most popular
army composition.
The army simply rushes forward as far as possible but some units
also serve to lure dangerous enemy units by fleeing to enable a flank
charge. Magic is cast as much as possible to buff up certain units or to
inflict damage on the enemy. It should be easy to gain a Bull charge
against M4 infantry (See Advancing limitations and Retreating).
There is usually at least one Gorger whose duty is to take out
warmachines and shooting units. If enemy shooting is likely to be
concentrated, a unit of Ogre bulls should be positioned to threaten the
warmachines at the moment the Gorger emerges.
The weakness of this army is its dependency on the Butchers. Units
with these characters should be targeted early so that either the unit flees
or the Butcher is slain. The Tyrants unit could also be targeted by
shooting and magic but he is much harder to slay. The army is also
195
normally spread wide since they have to move up the table all together. A
concerted effort to attack and dominate one flank should provide a
breakthrough. When this happens, instead of surrounding the enemy, the
Ogres themselves could be surrounded, a situation they will want to
avoid.
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Skaven
1) Skaven army of Doom (SAD) could be an extreme gun-line. How
extreme and how it is equipped is very much a matter of taste for the
Skaven player.
The upper limit at 2000 points is about 9 Ratling guns, 2 units of 8
Jezzails, a Warlord and 2 Warlock Engineers
Most SAD armies settle for about 5 Ratling guns and 2 or 3
Warlock Engineers is very common. The Warlord may be substituted by
a Greyseer but this is an important drop in the generals Ld from 7 to 6.
Jezzails are also very popular. Usually, a unit or 2 is present while the
other shooting units might include Warp lightning cannon, Warpfire
throwers and Poisoned wind Globadiers. If 3 or more Ratling guns
survive to get in range, they will wreak havoc among the enemy units. If
by turn 5 they still exist, then the enemy has a difficult chance of
maintaining good size units for final combat. By moving 1 or two Ratling
guns or Warpfire throwers just behind sheltering terrain near the centre of
the battlefield, enemy incursions are deterred. They effectively become
an ambushing unit. (See the diagram on Move or Shoot in the Shooting
Chapter).
Poisoned Wind Globadiers are often underestimated but using
several units of 2 Globadiers is effective against knights. Any shooting
unit can only target 1 enemy unit at a time. By using units of 2
Globadiers, only 2 Globadiers can be slain per unit of enemy shooting or
per successful enemy spell. All the Globadiers units are still placed
together so that they can concentrate their shooting on 1 unit. 4
Globadiers can on average, slay 1 knight per round of shooting. Using
them around terrain might extend this to several rounds. (See Barn Dance
in Combat Manoeuvres).
Ratling guns can be destroyed easily by spells and shooting. A
single Elven shot, even at S3 has a good chance of destroying a Ratling
gun. The 15 range and move or shoot restriction also limits the Ratling
gun.
All Skaven shooting units which is more than 12 from the general
is susceptible to Panic and should be targeted by spells or shooting to
inflict 25% or more casualties. At best isolated Skaven units can have a
Leadership of 7 while isolated shooting units are Leadership 5.
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Vampire Counts
1) Two extreme lists
i) Maximum Power Dice 16 Power Dice is easily achieved. This has
already been discussed in the previous section.
ii) Maximise Ethereal units.
This includes Ethereal characters. This is unusual and hardly used
since Ethereal characters cannot join units. However Ethereals do play a
part in most Vampire lists as some armies can only wound them with a
characters magic weapon or from spells. By dispelling any spells cast on
them and avoiding units with combat characters, Ethereals can easily
fulfil their best role of sweeping up small units, shooting units and
warmachines. Cairn Wraiths are better at this than Spirit hosts because of
their S5.
Other than magic weapons and spells, they can be defeated by
combat resolution by a T4 unit Outnumber, Standard and 3 ranks
against their average 5 wounds, loses combat by Musician.
A list consisting of mainly flyers and flying characters would be
considered extreme but this is list is less strong than most Vampire army
lists.
2) Most of the Deathstar criteria can be fulfilled ItP, Cause Fear, Large
number of High strength attacks, No break tests.
198
Warriors of Chaos
1) No extreme lists
2) A Doomstar list based on Chaos knights, Mark of Slaanesh (better than
Khorne) and Blasted Standard, BSB with Banner of the Gods. This
Deathstar unit amounts to more than 1000 points and again falls short of
several criteria to make it truly competitive.
3) Like High elves, it is not a question of dangerous lists to look out for.
Warriors of Chaos have strong characters and are especially strong in the
combat phase. Chosen, Chaos Knights and the multi-wound multiple
attack units could win combat or their own and when successfully
combined will break enemy units.
199
Wood Elves
1) No extreme lists
2) A lack of good armour saves and characters who are not designed for
combat alone rules out a good Deathstar lists. A theoretical possibility of
3 Wardancer characters in a large unit of Wardancers is possible.
However Wardancers function better as separate small units and the
ambushing skirmishers tactics suits the army as whole.
3) The common aspects of Wood Elf armies are 3 or more units of
Dryads, shooting units, Treesinging and Wardancers. Together they form
the basic tactic of moving and shooting, moving woodland to reduce
space for the enemy and creating areas of ambush.
Wood elf armies are willing to wait and let the enemy move
towards them, while waiting behind or in woods and other sheltering
terrain. Enemy units are deterred from entering woods by Treesinging. In
addition, Wood Elf skirmishers are stronger (if not the strongest) than
enemy skirmisher units. Enemy skirmisher units therefore cannot sensibly
attack Wood elves in their woods while ranked up units are slowed down
by them. Woods and any difficult terrain providing cover is ideal for
Wood elf units and becomes their stronghold.
A variety of magic arrows which negate armour, cause Panic or
Stupidity are also popular and can be used to good effect. Hail of Doom
arrow can easily destroy a selected small unit or reduce the numbers of a
dangerous unit. It is best used on units with little or no armour to
maximise its effects.
200
Dangerous army list revolve around the tactics above and include
Nobles with Alter and/or Wardancer Kindred, Bow of Loren and magic
arrows, Annoyance of Netlings (usually given to a Branchwraith) and
several small units of Dryads and Wardancers. At least one Treeman
would be included in the army. They are Stubborn in combat, cause
Terror are T6, have a Treesinging bound spell and have a shooting
attacks. They are therefore good in every phase. Three Treeman armies
are possible.
Treemens main weakness is that they suffer twice as many hits
from Flaming attacks. Wood elves lack armour and are vulnerable to
spells and magical shooting. The Forest spirits Ward save are for non
magical attacks only. In combat Wood elves lack static combat resolution
(except for the Eternal Guard) and other than Treeman and Treekin they
attack with S4 or less. Avoiding a counter-charge, usually by Wardancers
is important in surviving their ambushing tactics.
Second
Unit of
Sacrificials
Unit of
Sacrificial
Skirmishers
E1
Closest
visible,
reachable
skirmishe
E2
Large unit
of Shades
Woods
201
Choosing units
In this section I shall deal with the balanced list mentioned
previously. As usual you start with a brief overview of all enemy armies
strengths and weaknesses and your armys strengths and weaknesses.
Choose units that will complement each other or enhance the
overall strength of the army and alleviate its inherent weakness. Your
choices will also determine the army tactics.
As you choose you units, certain tactics will be made possible.
E.g. If you choose 3 units of High Elf Archers, or Wood elf Glade Guard
or Dwarven Thunderers as your Core choices, then the option of going
shooting heavy or a gun-line becomes possible. You do not have to
decide yet and indeed should not.
Do not set your mind on a tactic and then choose the units or the
reverse of choosing all your units and then establishing tactics. Units and
tactics must be created concurrently since they are dependent on each
other.
These are the essential steps in creating an army list
1) Set up your Magical defence by selecting Wizard/s or their equivalent
A minimum of 2 Dispel scrolls and 5 Dispel Dice are needed. 3 Scrolls
are preferable if you feel your army needs additional magical protection
e.g. all units are T3 without good armour saves. If no scrolls are
available, then choose their equivalent e.g. Rune of spell breaking, Spell
breaker etc.
If you cannot generate sufficient dispelling power e.g. some
Daemon armies, then bear in mind that you expect to lose a few models
in the enemys magic phase as you proceed with steps 2-7.
2) Choose at least 2 sacrificial units and 1 or two more cheap units. This
is necessary to deal with Deathstars, Dragons, Greater daemons and so
on.
3) If you have not used the necessary 3 Core choices, choose the
minimum number for the moment e.g. 3X 10 spearmen. Their numbers
will be increased later in steps 4 7.
4) Now study carefully your armys weaknesses and strengths and
evaluate one phase at a time starting with your opponents magic phase.
203
Look at how you would deal with two of the strongest magic phases e.g.
Lizardmen with Slann and 2 priests or 4 Vampire counts.
Write down minimum combinations of magic items and units that
can cope with these two strong magical enemies.
5) Repeat the process for enemy shooting e.g. SAD army.
6) The same process is finally applied to close combat. Consider at least 4
different combative armies e.g. 3 Dragon High Elf army with
Swordmasters, Spearmen, Lion Chariots, Vampires Deathstar, all cavalry
Bretonnians and definitely a strong combat Daemon army with a
Bloodthirster, Karanak and Flesh hounds, Plague bearers with Herald of
Nurgle and magic Banner.
7) Having set up your defensive strategies you can now think about your
magic, shooting and attacking phase, comparing your armys shooting,
combat etc against enemy lists which have good defences against
shooting, combat etc.
7) Go through steps 4 7 several times, refining the list and changing the
unit sizes each time
Note down the tactics available as and when you choose units e.g.
choosing Wild Riders for Wood Elves note their extra attack, S5 on the
charge, ItP, Fear causer and 5+, 6+ Ward saves. Their charging choices
are limited as they cannot expect to break a normal 5 wide ranked up
infantry from a frontal charge.
You now have an idea of what your units can and cannot do. From
this you can formulate tactics e.g. Units A and B will screen and sacrifice
themselves to any Deathstars or enemy units that are too strong. Units C
will hold against any charges. Unit D can flank charges held by C. Unit E
will march block or threaten shooting units etc. Unit F can sweep up
ancillary and support units.
You should, at the end of the process, come up with a competitive
list and strategies to cope with different armies.
Good luck!
204
Appendix
Probability tables
The first table converts the dice rolls for the To Hit chart into
probabilities.
Table 12.1
Hit Chart %
Weapon
Skill
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
50
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
2
50
50
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
3
67
50
50
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
4
67
50
50
50
33
33
33
33
33
33
Weapon Skill
5
6
67
67
67
67
50
50
50
50
50
50
33
50
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
7
67
67
67
50
50
50
50
33
33
33
8
67
67
67
50
50
50
50
50
33
33
9
67
67
67
67
50
50
50
40
50
33
10
67
67
67
67
50
50
50
50
50
50
Table12.2
Wound Chart %
Strength
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
50
67
83
83
83
83
83
2
33
50
67
83
83
83
83
3
17
33
50
67
83
83
83
4
17
17
33
50
67
83
83
Toughness
5
6
17
17
17
33
17
50
33
67
50
83
67
205
7
17
17
33
50
8
17
17
33
9
17
17
10
17
8
9
10
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
67
83
83
50
67
83
33
50
67
17
33
50
Simple Analysis
The difference in WS has less impact on casualties as the
difference in Strength and Toughness.
Shooting:
Table 12.3
BS or
Outcome
Needed
% Probability
successful
BS 5 or
more
2
83
BS 4
BS 3
BS 2
BS 4
3
67
4
50
5
33
6
17
Simple Analysis
This explains why Elven shooting, at BS 4 is more effective than
other shooting. Elven characters normally have BS 5 which means they
will probably not miss when they shoot without modifiers.
2.8
100
206
2.8
Break
test
with
BSB or
rerollable
%
5.5
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
2
3
4
5
6
5
4
3
2
1
5.6
8.3
11.1
13.9
16.7
13.9
11.1
8.3
5.6
2.8
97
92
83
72
58
42
28
17
8.3
2.8
8.3
17
28
42
58
72
83
92
97
100
16
31
48
66
82
92
97
99
99.9
100
Simple Analysis
Two dice rolls are used for Psychology tests, rallying, Break tests,
fleeing/pursuing with M6 or less and also for miscasts or when casting
spells using 2 dice.
The most common roll is a 7. This means that
1) Units with Leadership 7 have only a 58% chance of succeeding
Leadership rolls. Leadership 8 has a 72% chance, Leadership 9 has 83%
and Leadership 10 a whopping 92% chance of success.
2) It is most likely that you suffer a S2 hit when you miscast
3) You flee or pursue about 7 with M6 or less
4) You have a 58% chance of success of getting at least a 7 with 2 dice to
cast or dispel spells. Three dice would be better. With 2 dice you have a
73% chance of getting 6 or better.
Table 12.5
3 DICE
ROLL
TOTAL
VALUE
MINUS
LARGEST
DICE
VALUE
No of
Passed Ld test Break test with
different roll (Ld test less BSB or recombinations than or = Dice rollable
Roll)
%
%
207
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
16
27
34
36
34
27
19
12
7
3
1
7.4
20
35
52
68
81
89
95
98
99.5
100
14.2
36
58
77
90
96
99
99.7
99.9
99.998
100
Simple Analysis
The Cold blooded rule for Lizardmen dramatically improves their
Leadership based dice rolls. Skinks, at Leadership 5 have only a 52%
chance of success but most Lizards are Leadership 7 increasing their
chance of success to 81%.
A Slann Battle Standard bearer makes Lizardmen units practically
Unbreakable 99.7% probability.
3 Dice Rolls
Table 12.6
3
DICE
ROLL
RESULT
3
4
5
Probability Likelihood
No of
different
of
of outcome
combinat
dice roll
i.e.> = Dice
ions
roll
%
1
0.5
100
3
1.4
99.5
6
2.8
98
208
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Total
10
15
21
25
27
27
25
21
15
10
6
3
1
216
4.6
6.9
9.7
11.6
12.5
12.5
11.6
9.7
6.9
4.6
2.8
1.4
0.5
95
91
84
74
63
50
38
26
16
9
5
2
0.5
Simple Analysis
1) To gain a probability of 83% or more in successfully fleeing (i.e. 5
fleeing roll or better in the 2 dice roll table) from a cavalry charge (M8),
an infantry unit should be placed 12 from the chargers.
2) A cavalry unit intending to flee from another cavalry unit of M8 with
the same probability of 83% (i.e. 8 fleeing roll or better) should be
placed 9 or more from the charger.
2) A cavalry unit wishing to flee with the same success probability from
an infantry unit can be placed as close as 1 from it.
3) If you use 3 dice to cast or dispel a spell the probability of getting at
least 9 is 74%
209
Table 12.7
Exact
number of
successful
hits from 5
attacks
0
Dice roll
needed = 6
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
needed = needed = needed =
4+
3+
5+ (5 or 6)
Probability Probability Probability Probability
of success of success of success of success
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
50
22
8.5
2.5
28
28
18
14
24
24
16
16
24
24
18
28
0.3
2.5
8.5
22
Table 12.8
Cumulative
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
successful needed = 6 needed = needed = needed =
hits from 5
5+ (5 or 6)
4+
3+
attacks
Probability Probability Probability Probability
2+ = at least of success of success of success of success
2 successes
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
0
50
22
8.5
2.5
1+
50
78
210
91.5
97.5
2+
22
50
74
90
3+
26
50
74
4+
10.5
26.5
50
0.3
2.5
8.5
22
Simple Analysis
1) The peaks for each column in Table 12.7 show the most likely
outcome. There is a 50% probability of rolling no 6s from 5 dice!
2) Table 12.8 could commonly occur in combat.
A unit with 5 attacks requiring 4+ to hit has a 50% chance of getting 3
hits but a very good chance (74%) of getting 2 hits at least.
An increase to a 3+ to hit shifts these values up by 1. There is a 74%
chance of getting at least 3 hits.
The next 2 tables show the same probabilities if 10 dice are used.
As you will notice later, the probabilities for using 10 dice cannot be
obtained by simply doubling the probabilities with 5 dice i.e. if you have
3.2 probable successes for a certain dice roll with 5 dice you will not have
6.4 (double) probable successes for the same roll with 10 dice.
Table 12.9
Exact
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
number of needed = 6 needed = needed = needed =
successful
5+ (5 or 6)
4+
3+
hits from 10 Probability Probability Probability Probability
attacks
of success of success of success of success
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
0
33
9.5
2
0.4
211
24
14.5
5.5
1.3
16
16.5
11
16
12
14
14
11
15
11
14
14
12
16
0.5
16.5
0.1
1.3
5.5
14.5
10
0.03
0.4
9.5
The calculation for the table above assumes that a roll of 6612345123 is
not different from 1234561236 i.e. the arrangement or position of
individual dice do not create a different roll.
Sample Calculation for Column 1
No of ways of rolling 10 dice = 3003
No of ways of rolling 10 dice without any sixes = 1001
Probability = 1001/3003 = 33%
Simple Analysis
The peaks for each column show the most likely outcome. Notice the
likelihood of not getting any 6s from 10 dice is much lower than it is for 5
dice but not exactly half.
Table 12.10
Cumulative
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
Dice roll
successful needed = 6 needed = needed = needed =
hits from 10
5+ (5 or 6)
4+
3+
attacks
Probability Probability Probability Probability
2+ = at least of success of success of success of success
2 successes
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
0
33
9.5
2
0.4
212
1+
67
90
98
99.5
2+
43
75
92
98
3+
26
59
83
95
4+
15
43
71
89
5+
7.6
29
57
81
6+
3.6
18
42
70
7+
1.6
10
28.5
56
8+
0.6
4.7
16.5
40.5
9+
0.13
1.7
7.5
24
10
0.03
0.4
9.5
Simple Analysis
Taking any probability of 70% or more as very good probability.
If 5s or more (5+) are needed, then at least 2 fives will be rolled.
If 4+ or more is needed, then at least 4 fours will be rolled.
If 3+ or more is needed, then at least 6 threes will be rolled.
Comparing tables 12.8 and 12.10, the probabilities are not in proportion
To roll a 4+ with 5 dice, there is a 74% chance of 2 successes.
To roll a 4+ with 10 dice, there is a 71% chance of 4 successes.
This seems like a small difference but comparing the values
elsewhere, it can be seen there is a significant difference between the 5
dice and 10 dice roll.
To roll a 6+ with 5 dice, there is a 22% chance of 2 successes.
But
To roll a 6+ with 10 dice, there is a 15% chance of 4 successes.
In general, the probability of the same success is lower for a 10
dice roll than for 5 dice or you are more likely to achieve a favourable
result by rolling less dice.
213
214