Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts: Deployment is key for Tiger Victory!
Last week I briefly talked about deployment and how it can affect the game. I’ve decided to show some of the ways I like to set up, based on the mission rolled. I have found that set up is probably one of the most important parts of Warhammer 40k and that even with rolling badly, you can win the game just based on how your force is deployed.
First I want to go into the aspects of deployment and what you can gain by it. We all know that with the changes in 5th edition, we no longer take turns setting up our forces. Whoever decides to go first, sets up first. The “attacker” defines what part of the field the fighting is going to begin from and the “defender” gets to respond to it.
Going First
If you rolled and decided to go first, it is up to you to set up your entire army on the board for your opponent to respond to. This means that you have the initial terrain control, as well as the initial set up of firing lanes. This is important, as getting the most bang for your points cost is what will give you an advantage in the game. I made some pictures to showcase how I would set up when going first.
Pitched Battle
This picture shows the normal set up you would normally have. I deploy my army in the middle in order to not allow my opponent to pick a side and overwhelm me. I know this leaves me open to an envelopment strategy, but the bad guys will have a tough time getting any kind of flank charge, so if they come around my side, I am not too worried about it. Also most of my vehicles have the same side armor as the front, so I am not too worried if they get a shoot at my “vulnerable” side. You can also that my rhinos are still in front of my other more offensive units. This gives me cover, even when they “steal” the initiative. Most of my army moves and fires, so being behind other units won’t be a disadvantage as I can either move out of the way or around.
Spearhead
This is when you have a spearhead mission. I set up pretty aggressively. I want to get in their face, and this set up allows me the advantage of moving up quickly. A lot of armies will have issues with this set up, as they are packed in tightly. I am a very aggressive player and find that playing the game for the throat can force your opponent to make mistakes as they are worried about their own army from the get go.
Dawn of War
Dawn of war missions, can vary greatly. I normally start with everything off the table so I can either turbo boost in, or just move on and fire as needed. Most of the time, the first turn of night fighting will allow me to get 2 turns of 12 inch movements on my rhinos, thus setting up some nice turn 2 shoot outs that can be very handy.
Going Second
When going second, you have the advantage of knowing where your opponent’s “heavy hitters” are going to be. This gives you an advantage as you can either have your army set up to ignore them, or create a multi turn buffer between this unit and your army. You don’t have to kill these uber units in order to win. You just have to ensure they don’t get their points back with careful set up and controlling the firing lanes.
Pitched Battle
For a pitched battle set up, I still concentrate my force; it is just this time I pick a side. I want half of my opponent’s army to be wasted for a few turns. This allows me to pick at bits of their army, with my superior numbers as they try to wheel around. This won’t always work, as some players will catch on to this set up strategy, but most of the time just sticking to one side will help you push the game into your direction. With commonly available cover saves everywhere, you seem to always have a 50% chance to ignore the first turn of fire as it is.
Spearhead
I didn’t make a picture of this set up, as most of the time I set up in the same way as the going first set up. If they are a super assault army, I might move a bit back so they don’t have a first turn assault, but most of the time I set up the same way. The best thing about this set up, is if you do steal the initiative you can hurt your opponent pretty heavily if they set up to aggressively.
Dawn of War
If I am going second on this mission, it all depends on the type of army I am playing. I usually hold everything back and try to move on to where I can hurt the opponent the most. Most of my army can fire pretty long range, mixed with being able to move and fire. So I can come out of one side and lay down a large amount of fire in order to try and create a big gaping hole in one side of their force. I would say that most of the time, going second in Dawn of War is probably the best choice. It allows you the ultimate control of where to concentrate your fire as well as give you the most options available to you.
The sample army list I am showing in these pictures is the newest Death Guard/Nurgle Chaos list I am playing. The list is below.
HQ: Daemon Prince, Wings, Warptime, MoN
HQ: Daemon Prince, Wings, Warptime, MoN
Elites: Dreadnought, Multi-Melta
Elites: Dreadnought, Multi-Melta
Troops: 10 Plague Marines, Melta (2), Asp Champ, Combi-Melta, Powerfist, Rhino
Troops: 10 Plague Marines, Melta (2), Asp Champ, Combi-Melta, Powerfist, Rhino
Troops: 9 Plague Marines, Plasma Gun (2), Asp Champ, Plasma Pistol, Powerfist, Rhino
Heavy: Deflier, Extra Close Combat Arms
Heavy: Deflier, Extra Close Combat Arms
Heavy: Deflier, Extra Close Combat Arms
Total points are under 2000.
This is a heavy list, as it can be a pain in the butt for most armies to deal with. It is all mech, so Lash is not nearly a problem. It also has a lot of melta weapons so it has a good shot of taking out any heavy vehicles you might see. Mixed this with some walkers and you have a really good shot at hurting any daemon player. Nothing is funnier then watching a bunch of bloodletters try to kill a defiler/dreadnought in hand to hand.
For those wondering about a 1750 or 1500 list, you could drop one defiler and make the troop squads a bit smaller. You could also take the aspiring champs out with their combi and powerfists and still fit in all the mech with some tweaks to the troop sizes.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Lets hear about how you like like to deploy under the different missions.
