40K Tactics: Unit Siphoning
Who would win?
With all of your models going up against all of your opponent’s models would it come down to luck? The dice? The game could go either way…
Now imagine a game where your opponent is going to take their entire army and throw it up against yours, only this time you have to remove a few units from your army ahead of time. Who is going to win now? 100% of your opponent’s army vs. 70% or so of yours. Luck might still be important, but the odds are better stacked in your favour.
This type of stacking is one of the many key core tactics in 40K that are applicable to any army, and any mission, and something we want use in every game. One of the ways to do this is by using a siphoning unit to draw away parts of your opponent’s army so the full assault of your own army has less to go up against. So let’s look at what a siphoning unit is…
Just like its name said unit’s only job is to draw away key parts of your opponent’s army for as long as it can. What you need is a unit that can appear out of nowhere, along with the staying power and threat factor to grab and keep your opponent’s attention. Balancing this out is the point cost- it can’t be so expensive that the core of your army suffers since if played correctly your siphoning unit won’t be doing very much for the first few turns other than just sitting there.
Let’s move on to entry options- the best choice is something either fast moving or that has the ability to deepstrike or just “pop” in on the table without scattering. In a pinch outflanking can work, but it has less control and precision with where it can come in off of.
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| I got your siphon right here! |
When your siphoning units arrives from reserves you are looking to place it on the table away from the bulk of your army and your opponents army- usually off to the side or behind your opponent in a place where it is close enough to be a threat, but far away enough that something has to break off to kill it. This unit also wants to land in a place where it can hang out, going to ground if needed, anything to survive and remain a threat for as long as it can. Here are a few examples from the 40K armies that I play…
Tyranids: Deathleaper. DL pops in somewhere close and goes for some shots with the flesh hooks if he can. From there it is possible going to ground in terrain vs. S 8+ shots or pulling back out with his ability when somebody gets close.
Daemonhunters: Two siphoning units in my current =I= list- Terminators and the Callidus Assassin. Terminators deep strike in and use the range of their psycannons to plink away, staying in cover and going to ground as needed. They are especially hard to dislodge with the 2+ armor save, 5+ invul, 3+ cover, and S6 power weapons + all their shooting and fearless. The Callidus works much like Deathleaper only is an easier model to hide- the key thing to remember with her is that (for right now) being such an old codex she really can’t do much despite the NL shredder and C’Tan phase sword. Better for her to come in and maybe hide in LOS blocking terrain to divert units, then to come in, kill a model or two and then die. Think of using her placement as “a word in your ear) only on a larger scale- really going to miss that power in the new GK codex…
Eldar: Star engine Wave Serpent with Fire Dragons or the Banshee bomb- zipping around on the table getting cover saves, ironically often doing more to create opportunities of movement for the rest of the army with the girls and Dragons inside then when they actually get out.
Black Templars: Prepare for glory! Thunder hammer/storm shield terminators deepstriking in and then just running into terrain and holding fast. Not the best siphoning unit, and the weakest of all in my armies since they have no shooting and deepstrike in, but ‘Templars have to work with what they have for now.
