Tactics And Ale
Kirklin Spencer and I wrote the following articles after Tumoas asked me to
take some of the strategy articles I was writing for the list and try to
make them appropriate for publication in either White Dwarf or Citadel
Journal. Well, after a while (long while) of not hearing from him (he is
busy working on projects for us), I figured why not let the list enjoy them.
After all, if the big GW troll (hehe) wants them, he can use them to or I'm
sure Kirklin and I can write more.
Without further ado, I present to you the first two installments of Tactics
and Ale.
I present to you the first installment of Tactics and Ale, An Advanced Guide
to WHFB Strategy. The next two articles will deal with skirmishing and then
flying high.
Feel free to be as critical as you like. The old saying applies, "It takes
a hard blow to teach a boxer the value of weaving".
T & A isn't a myth or legend. Really. It exists, in the town of
Miriangelo, near the guild of thieves and assassins. Trust me on this.
Some can see past the enchantments disguising it as a run down home to see
what appears to be a house of ill repute, common in Tilea. Those who look
deeper will see a pub, filled with trophies, drink, and food from across the
Old World and beyond. And of even greater value is the clientele - combat
leaders and generals of all the armies of the world, past, present, and (it
is rumored) future who mingle elbow to elbow, paying for drinks which are
terribly overpriced, but a bargain at that. And why are they a bargain?
Meet the publican, who has run his pub since (some think) time began, and
listened to all, and most importantly shares all. For those commanders
lucky, wise, or brave enough to come and listen will learn of tactics beyond
those taught in the military schools of the nations. They learn of methods
too awkward, unusual or advanced to be accepted by the impetuous sons of
nobles who've hardly seen a foe in combat. These are the tactics of
soldiers who have seen and survived the most horrific battles, not mere
theoretical models, and they span the history of elf and man, orc and
greenskin, one and all. Some legends claim the publican is an ancient
wizard who has spanned the generations with magic unknown. Others claim him
to be a former professor of the University of Nuln, thrown out when his mad
military suggestions exposed his lunacy, obviously tainted by Chaos. Those
are the simpletons who will continue battling one another in their simple
ways with simpler tactics. Enter, general, and listen. Hear the brags and
claims of an old bartender and learn lessons proven through blood and time.
Welcome to a pub called Tactics and Ale.
DISCUSSION #1 Negating the Charge.
"Yep," said the old dwarf. "That Brettonian fool just couldn't resist
charging my tasty treats. And when he finished clawing his way past my
cannons, Wham! Blew the center with my immolation runes and destroyed the
rest with a charge. And they say that dwarves can't charge," he finished
with a snort. The bellows which followed filled the room with fumes of
Bugman's.
It is not always wise to charge. But unfortunately for many a beginner,
that appears to be the only effective choice when trying to destroy your
foe. What we'd like to do is introduce you to three tactics of countering
your opponent's charge, making his first charge his last mistake.
#1: Using Obstacles
The first method we'd like to introduce you to is what our old dwarf was
talking about at the beginning of this chapter. Here's what happens. When
a charging unit squeezes through an obstacle, be that rough terrain or other
hindrances, it loses. It loses first strike, reverting to initiative. It
loses any charging weapons bonuses. And it loses its rank bonus for the
first turn. In other words, its scrambling troops are too jostled and
disorganized to charge, and actually kind of stumble into combat. And if
your soldiers happen to be waiting for the charge in ranks, with decent
initiative and weapons, well, you're probably going to be watching your
foes backside very soon.
But how do you manage to get your foe to stumble through such a mistake?
After all, it is unlikely that the terrain will be situated just where you
want it.
Consider placing your artillery forward in your deployment zone! Your
machines are heavy equipment that most units will have a hard time
destroying with toughness of 6 or more and multiple wounds and when your
crews flee the charge you have left behind obstacles!
Here's a sample dwarven deployment to use:
Place x-bowmen on flanks fanned out like a the \ of / of a V on either side
of 3 war machines, usually a flame cannon, organ cannon and bolt thrower
each about the distance of 5 dwarves apart <to ensure you can't get through
the machines>. Behind the machines, I mean right behind, are the units of
clansmen, ironbreakers, longbeards etc. <the infantry>.
Make sure one or more of your cannons have the rune of immolation. Use your
machines sparingly or add runes of fortune, because if your machine goes
KABOOM, it's not an obstacle anymore.
As the enemy approaches, fire the cannons. When it arrives, what options
does it have?
1) The enemy can be wise and maneuver around the machines "flanks". This
takes time and allows you to swivel your machines to get extra
rounds of shots.
2) Next, they can charge the machines. Fine, your crews flee. Now they
have two choices. . .
A. Pursuit. . .which means they will run into your infantry AFTER
pursuing right through the obstacles of the left behind machines!
Now the dwarves have rank bonus, don't have to worry about the
strength of lances on the charge, but will still strike last because of
their abysmal initiative OR
B. HOLD. . . .do not pursue and place yourself well within charge
range of the smaller dwarves who will have little problem moving freely
through the space between the machines. Of course, if you used the rune
of immolation, now is a time to destroy the middle machine which will not
only cause all sorts of damage to the enemy's troops but also will leave
a gaping hole allowing more of your troops the ability to charge!
Hellblasters? Rock Lobbas? Repeating Bolt Throwers? The basic method is
the same.
#2: Units of Tissue
"Of course I sacrificed them to the cause. After all, I could always go
back and dig up new ones if I needed them. And besides, look at the faces
of those fools when my cavalry caught them just at their moment of victory.
I haven't laughed that hard in centuries."
These are your throw-away troops. And the most elegant example of
throw-away troops is the Zombie. Every undead player go grab your armybook
(and if you're not undead, borrow) and take a good hard look at zombies.
Too often the only time anyone ever encounters a zombie is behind a large
front rank of characters. After all, what are zombies other than cheap
cannon fodder for missiles or cheap troops to swell ranks? How many players
do you know who are always too afraid to really have his zombies fight for
fear that if they broke, they would all disintegrate? But what if that is
exactly the point, to make them crumble?
Imagine the following:
Picture of a long line of zombies about 10 inches in front of undead
chariots/cavalry, which are followed in turn by the undead infantry
containing the necromancer/general.
The zombies are only worth one VP. They serve as a wonderful screen against
missile attacks BUT consider what happens to the enemy trying to charge your
cavalry/chariots just behind the long line of zombies.
A. He charges the Zombies to get to your other units. If he does that,
the zombies will lose combat and not being within 12" of the general will
almost certainly crumble. When they crumble, there is absolutely nothing
to pursue, meaning the enemy unit is stuck standing around mystified and
well within the charge range of the chariot/cavalry or whatever troops you
decide to shamble behind your zombies.
B. He doesn't charge your units of zombies so you merely turn them 90
degrees in your movement turn and march move them to leave an opening for
your attack units using VHDM or the staff of damnation.
Either way, you have forced your enemy to waste his charge, and set himself
up for your response.
Similarly, other races with good cheap maneuverable troops can often buy
their slow moving infantry the advantage of the charge buy throwing a unit
of 5 models in the way of an advancing horde or Brettonian lance. The goal
is to make the unit so weak that every model will be run down, leaving the
powerful attacking unit open to a horrific counter-attack on your next turn.
#3 Run Away...
"So there we were. Hordes of Witch Elves coming at us in full blood lust.
I was thanking Sigmar I had made sure my will was up to date, when our
commander yells "Flee!" No hesitation from me, let me tell you. And there
those ladies were, standing in the middle of the field, just asking to meet
someone. What could our gallant knights do but oblige 'em? Course, it
wasn't quite the way the ladies wanted..."
One effective way to force the enemy into a failed charge is to simply flee
from an infantry charge. Your opponent is not likely to have a great deal
of movement left on a M5 or lower model so getting away on 2d6 is really not
too difficult. In fact, almost any army can avoid being charged by slow
moving troops. Just flee. Knights/cavalry and flying troops often will
have more than enough movement to pursue, however, most generals tend to
attack from just barely within charge range. Punish the general who charges
from long range by jogging your troops away.
Don't worry about getting caught by OTHER troops. You flee during your
opponent's turn AFTER he declares charges. You rally at the start of your
turn. Assuming you have decent leadership, a general or a battle standard,
you should be ready to fight (and not be run down) at the beginning of your
next turn before your enemy can get those pesky flyers to your fleeing
troops! Very carefully read the last sentence on Fleeing Troops on page 41.
You can not merely MOVE into a fleeing unit to destroy it.
Now that the enemy is caught in the open, the trick is to have the pursuers
not block your charging troops. This is usually done by having the charging
troops be set back from the fleeing troops BUT off to one flank or the other.
eeeeeeee
xxxxxxx
bbbbbbbbbbb
When x flees, b will be in perfect position to see and be able to charge the
infantry which did not have enough movement to pursue x.
This tactic works extremely well for armies with both good infantry and
calvary. You want your counterpunching troops to have M6 or higher to make
sure they can easily reach a failed charge. The tactic is murderously
effective with dwarves who draw out enemy troops tp the open then fire upon
them with a disguised organ cannon like this:
Enemy
Your Infantry O <= organ gun disguised
Your Infantry flees leaving
Enemy O <=organ gun ruining the enemy's day
Your Infantry
FIRE!!!!!!
Likewise. . .armies with a lot of shooters can buy extra rounds of shooting
using this tactic.
There are variations on this theme. For one, you can use cavalry,
especially mounted squires or wolf riders which are cheap and do not cause
panic tests, to cause large powerful units of the enemy to fail a charge.
Sometimes the enemy will have enough movement to pursue and catch you. In
such cases, you are back to the troops of tissue. It's probably more
expensive this time, but still effective.
I'm sure there are other generals out there with wonderful ways of avoiding
the impact of a mass charge. Hopefully, these suggestions will spur thought
on how to avoid a charge.
Next Lesson: "So let me get this straight. All you use your skirmishers
for is to screen your cavalry from arrows? Now just you listen up..."
DISCUSSION #2 Skirmishers: Cannon Fodder or Something Else?
#1 Stick and Run. . .
"Wanna know the real reason why our regiment of glade guards is called the
'Flight to Victory' regiment? Well, there we were. Our foe, that silly
necromancer, came marching up with the hordes of undead - mummies, wraiths
and vampires. What did he expect, that our best units would take a beating
while he stayed behind and cast his foul magic? Even a goblin could counter
that stunt, let alone wood elves. We were fighting for our homes, so we
overcame all fear and charged into the doomed battle. For the glory of
Isha, the skirmishing glade riders screamed into battle from out of the
woods. They slipped between the gaps in the battle line and lanced that
necromancer like a great kabob. Well, our regiment ran just as soon as
combat actually began. Quite humorous, really, as we didn't even see the
enemy army disintegrating behind our heels. But that tale is never told
outside the regiment, you hear?"
One of the great advantages of skirmishers is their ability
to get behind enemy battlelines without having to out-flank the enemy.
Once, a battleline has been set and the combatants are engaged in hacking
and slashing, race the skirmishers who always double pace and take precious
little room right through the gaps in the battleline. After all, your
opponent has to leave some space between his units. War machines, lone
characters and shooters beware!
#2 Distracting the Rear Rankers. . .
"There were just too damn many of them. For every rat we killed, 10 came up
from out of the sewers. We would never give up our home! Our cavalry,
while hitting hard, was being pushed back by the sheer number of mutants
pouring forth. Not able to break the enemy with the brunt of a charging
lance tip, the cavalry was doomed to perish. Thank Ulric for the Kislev
Horse Archers who decided to harrass the enemy's flanks. They could do
precious little damage, but had no need. You should have seen the Grey
Seer. He was sure the enemy would either have to fight his swarms by
charging front or flank. You would think he had gone mad when he saw his
troops turn and try to catch the horse archers, who merely wheeled far
enough away to avoid them. Without their strength in numbers it wasn't long
before the rats were being chased down by the glory of the White Wolf.
The charge of the skirmishers is one of the most misunderstood tools
available. The skirmisher need only see the target with one model, and only
one model need be able to reach the target, for the
skirmishing unit to have an effect. This includes breaking the enemy's
ranks, as well as getting a flank bonus. Of course, a risk of this is that
it leaves your skirmishing unit straggled out as an easy target for his
counter charge. To protect yourself, pin the nearby units with another
charge. This is particularly important when you charge between a pair of
your enemy's units. Why? Well what does it matter if you break his rank
f the counter-attack is sheer slaughter?
#3 At the Double, March!. . .
"And then the sergeant started swearing, 'Where in Sigmar's name did THEY
come from?'"
A skirmisher can move at double normal pace whenever you want, even when it
starts within 8 inches of an enemy unit. This means
that your unit can get close to a foe, then dash through the gap and set
itself up for a charge into flanks and rears of forward units as well as
making the enemy's deployment an uncomfortable place for his mages.
#4 Masters of Terain. . .
"Sssssilly tree huggerssss, plinking at ussss with their ssssplinters. They
seemed to barely move when chassssed by my sssskinks. Hmmm. Lovely
patternssss, the blood in the leavesssss..."
Wood elves are outclassed in the woods by many of the
skirmishers. These forces laugh at difficult or very difficult terrain.
Crossable rivers and woods might as well be open terrain. Your skinks will
do to them what they have done to so many, ignoring the trees to chase down
slower foes. Just as dangerous, your skirmishers can start in the woods,
safe from flyers and shooters, and charge at an opportune time with no
concern for range reduction. Your enemy will start to hate anything but an
open field.
#5 Roll Up the Barrel
"Yes, we taught them, we did. They'd lined up their massive blocks of orc
and black orc, filling the vale with their green skins. And they laughed
and marched closer to our seemingly fragile citizen levies while our small
troop of
Ellayrian Reavers blessed with our finest heroes moved off to their sides
almost before the battle begun. And then we struck. Slam! into the flank
of the first. The heroes of Ulthuan vs. common black orcs. HA! And as they
broke, into the second, and the third, and on until all that could be seen
was the backsides of the few survivors, fleeing for their miserable lives..."
As you've already seen, skirmishers are some of the
fastest troops on the board, able to get behind enemy lines or to an enemy's
flank in almost no time. And this gives us a tool for combat which is almost
overwhelming. Remember, fleeing troops turn DIRECTLY away from their
attackers and flee. If a skirmish troop gets to the flank of a set of units
on line, it can cause your foe to break down and cry. As the skirmishers,
possibly beefed up with a stronger character, charge the first troop in line
in its flank, they break it. After all, when attacking a flank the
skirmishers completely avoid attack by the enmey's characters! What with
broken ranks and combat bonus from attacking the flank, you can count on the
enemy fleeing. And where will he flee? Straight through the unit to its
other side, and the
skirmishers follow into that same unit's flank. This will continue until
the skirmishers finally run into troops they are pursuing, or there are no
more troops, or they fail to break a foe. A fun twist is to charge his
cavalry in the flank with skirmishing infantry as you will eventually catch
them, but usually after several more units break. Panic tests are great fun
for the enemy as well.
B. Parting the Waters.
This is a variation of Roll Up the Barrel. In this situation, you've got
your main units moving into close combat with your foes' forces. Your
skirmishers, instead of being to the flanks, are behind
your center two main units. Your main units declare charges straight ahead.
Your skirmishers, though, charge at an angle, with the left skirmisher
moving into the inside flank of the right center foe, and the right
skirmisher moving to the left center foe. Considerring you will be
attacking with rankedinfantry regiments, parting the waters, quickly breaks
the enemy's ranks, gaining a combat advantage for flanking, and almost
ensures victory in combat. This time, when the foe flees, he does so at an
angle away from the two units in contact. If you have moved your forces
correctly, taking advantage of your 2 inch spread, the pursuing
skirmishers will clip the flank, and therefore charge the flank of, the next
unit in line. This will not continue as far as rolling the outside flanks,
but is harder to foresee, and breaks open the center of your foe for the
rest of your army. You always want to break the center unit first because
the 12" panic test usually covers most of the enemy's blocks of troops!
Your enemy will never think of the skirmishers hitting his flanks from
behind your infantry regiments and he will quickly learn of the benefits of
keeping the general and standard bearer nearby!
#6 Come and Get it if You Can. . . .
"Yesssss. Their whipsss did them no good. It wasss a good phrasssse of
power we learned. It went....."
Commmmmme and Getttt Itttt. Skirmishers can eliminate the frenzied troops,
often the pride of your foe's forces, with almost pitiful ease. Skinks, for
example, can draw flagellants into a march, where they will never catch the
little lizards. They won't be in the battleline, and probably will never
join the battle except as targets for the crossbows. After all, moving at
half speed can make leaving a swamp an endless proposition, especially with
no march because the lizards are sniping away from just a few inches away, .
This is particularly humorous if the skinks can keep them moving in circles,
always in the swamp.
#7 Nyaaah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah. . .
A variation on Come and Get It, If You Can would be to start your shooting
skirmishers in the rough terrain, shooting away. For your foe's troops to
charge them, they must get uncomfortably close. And when he finally
charges, your skirmishers flee, secure in the knowledge that the foe will be
caught in briars, branches, and other unpleasantness, while you reorganize
and begin your taunts anew. Do you know how many turns it takes dwarves who
dare charge into a swamp to turn around, get out, and be useful again,
especially if they can't march?
#8 Nowhere to Go.
"Oh, that was a bad one, it was. There were so many orcs all you had to do
was put your spear out and one'd run onto it. A man can only take so much,
you know, so we turned around, and saw troops to our left and troops behind.
Our only escape was to the right. We got away, but those orcs chasing us
hit our Lord's cavalry right in the flank. I couldn't decide if I was
shamed that I'd led to his death, or thankful it warn't me..."
One of the great advantages of skirmishers is that they
can get behind an engaged battleline. Why is it so useful? Consider that
if a unit flees combat, it must avoid enemy troops. So if before combat
begins you move your skirmishers so they are on the rear and one side of the
enemy in combat, keeping their inch of separation, you have forced the
direction of flight when the foe breaks. Which means you have selected
where your block of infantry will end, or perhaps even gets to start rolling
the line themselves. Now you are sure that the enemy will take multiple
panic tests.
Next Lesson: "Thalandor came here the other day after the Battle for the
Pine Craigs. He taught that necromancer the finer points of Air Superiority".
I hope you enjoy these articles. I may have my METT-T articles edited by
Kirklin (assuming he will!), his writing is much crisper than mine. The real
kudos are his.
Rich
