Warhammer 40K: How Deep Strike Killed Transports
Deep Strike has helped destroy the role of transports in 40K. Let’s talk.
The other day, Larry and I were talking about about, what else – 40K. While discussing the game’s evolution over the editions we landed on the topic of transports. For the past several editions, they’ve languished as not being good. We hoped that 10th might fix them, but it seems like that hasn’t really panned out. Now not all armies even have good transports, while other armies that have them actually use them these days. This got me thinking about why. And while there are a few reasons, the biggest to me comes down to Deep Strike.
A Rocky History
Can you spot the traitor Rhino?
Transports, and vehicles in general, have always been tricky. They’ve gone up and down in power over the various editions. Who here remembers the old Rhino Rush armies of days past? Other editions have seen them reduced in importance and pliability. Rarely have I seen them reduced as far as they have been since the change over to 8th Edition. The last three editions have seen transports fall to new lows. And while not all the changes that have rendered transports bad come from the last couple editions, they have all come together recently to make them fairly bad.
Why Transports Were Good: Shooting
To understand why transports are bad now, we have to first understand why they were good. Two things made transports useful, they helped you get into combat faster, and they protected you while you moved into range. For its first 7 editions, 40K was dominated by a couple of simple bits of math (maths for you Brits). The first deals with shooting.
Most shooting infantry in the game were equipped with rapid-fire weapons with either a 24 or 30-inch range. At half range, these weapons can fire twice. Now for several editions of the game moving a unit that had rapid-fire weapons meant they could only fire at half range. Since you started outside of 24 inches from the enemy that meant you had to spend two turns moving at 6 inches a turn, and getting shot, to bring your rapid-fire weapons into close range. While moving, you could not shoot back. Transports, however, allowed you to get around this. Not only would they protect you as you moved up, but they could reduce the turns you’d spending moving and not shooting.
Why Transports Were Good: Assault
The 2nd bit of math has to do with assault. For several editions, assault armies had a simple bit of math to get around. You started more than 24 inches away from the enemy. Infantry moved at 6 inches a turn and could charge another 6. This meant an infantry force had to spend 4 turns walking across the table before it could assault. Once rules like running or advancing came around, this lowered the walking to, on average three turns. Still too long. Transports, however, with their move of 12 inches could get you across the table much faster, normally allowing for a turn 2 assault and some protection while you crossed that table.
But all this changed (when the Fire Nation attacked?)
Hello Deep Strike
Prior to 8th Edition, Deep Strike was both fairly rare and risky. The tactic had a high level of risk vs reward. Units could land super close to the enemy and get off devastating charges. Or they could land wildly out of position. In some extreme cases they could just… die. In some cases you couldn’t even count on your Deep Striking units to come in on the turn you wanted them to.
However, starting in 8th and continuing into 9th and 10th Deep Strike got a lot more reliable. Your units could come in on the turn you want, with some restrictions, and exactly where you want them, with some restrictions. The main restrictions here are that you can’t come in on turn 1, and you can’t arrive within 9 inches of an enemy unit.
Removing the random elements from Deep Strike really made it the ideal answer to the movement problems. Automatically arriving 9 inches away from the enemy means you are going to be able to shoot with pretty much every gun in the game, bar a few 6-inch weapons. No more trying to get into range, you’re there! As for assault, well all you need is a good roll, or re-roll or some charge-boosting rules and you can drop in a charge without worry. Deep Strike just does what transports used to for the 30 years before 8th edition. But without having to pay the points or risk getting shot beforehand.
It’s Easy To Get Deep Strike
It’s also pretty easy to get deep strike these days. 8th and 9th had just a ton of stratagems that allowed units to Deep Strike even if they normally could not. Most armies had a decent way of getting units to Deep Strike, at least as good as their transport options were.
10th toned back the Deep Strike stratagems, though we won’t fully know to what degree until all the codexes are out. However, it’s still pretty easy to get units to Deep Strike. For instance currently, Uriel Ventris makes it so any Marine infantry unit can. Pretty much any unit you were going to put into a transport can just Deep Strike.
The Other Nails in the Transport’s Coffin
Deep Strike isn’t the only thing that’s killed transports lately. Ranges have increased, and firepower has grown more mobile. Rapid-fire weapon rules changed so that units could still fire out to their full range when moving. Heavy weapons can move and fire now. This means that rather than protecting you on turns you couldn’t shoot, being in a transport now means you can’t shoot. Shooting, and killing enemy models, is how you win at 40K.
The Assault math as also changed. Remember how I said in the past units moved 6 and assault 6? Well, all that has changed. Now units move their base speed (often six but not always). But all units can also now advance a d6 and now charge 2d6 inches. This means even a basic unit with a little luck (or a re-roll) Can move and advance on turn 1 and charge on turn 2. This is as fast as a transport can do it. While the transport still may offer some protection, it doesn’t add much speed.
The Obsolete Unit?
Looking back on the lists we are seeing in tournaments, I’m just not seeing people taking transports for the purpose of transporting things. Rhinos, Chimeras, etc. are vanishing. The only times I see transports being taken is for use as cheap weapon platforms. Vemons, for instance, but people don’t take them to get units places. They take them because they are annoying to kill and pack a punch. As a bonus, units inside them can shoot out. In this case, the transported unit is more of an upgrade for the transport, than the transport is an upgrade for the unit.
Goodbye, Sweet Prince
There are a number of reasons why transports just aren’t all that good these days. However, I truly think the changes to Deep Strike are the biggest culprit. Sure SOME transports are still good. However, these are mostly units that are good on their own, rather than as transports. The days of armies fielding bunches of Rhinos to rush across the table seem to be over, and I doubt they are coming back anytime soon.
Let us know if you think Deep Strike killed transports, down in the comments!
