THE MANUAL OF WAR

FOR WARHAMMER 40,000

EDITION II – MAY 2007

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war

Produced for members of Librarium Online (www.librarium-online.com/forums)

Correct as at: May 2007
Written by: Dave Hill (Hilly) (WAU and LO)
Proofed by: James Thompson (Speed Adict) (WAU and LO)
John Lampe (Aeon) (WAU)
Ezekiel1990 (LO)
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THE MANUAL OF WAR

This is a combined tactica that covers all the work that I have posted to date on Librarium Online
(www.librarium-online.com). It is designed to be a guide for 40K. It will not guarantee victory in
all games; however it will provide you with additional principles, ideas, examples and tactics that
are applicable to 40K.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the following who have provided their time in
proof reading this document:

• James Thompson – Speed Adict on WAU and LO

• John Lampe – Aeon on WAU

• Ezekiel1990 on LO

In order to make this easier to navigate a table of contents has been included.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Principles of war Page 3

Chapter 2. Field of battle Page 13

Chapter 3. Principles of the attack Page 17

Chapter 4. Principles of the defence Page 25

Chapter 5. MAD Page 31

Chapter 6. Deployment Page 34

Chapter 7. Army Tactics Page 36

Chapter 8. Reserves Page 40

Chapter 9. Infiltrators Page 42

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CHAPTER 1

The Principles of War – and there application to 40K

The principles of war are derived from Carl von Clausewitz the 19th century general and military
theorist and in particular his book “On War”. While this is a primary source for the information
contained in this article, it is by no means the only source. For instance the principles listed
below are not as von Clausewitz originally wrote them; they have been adapted and modified
over time to maintain their relevance the changes in the conduct of warfare conflict. The
principles covered here are those that are used by Defence Forces around the world and reflect
modern military technology and tactics; which 40k is based on.

The aim of this chapter is to give you

something to think about as you are playing
your next game. Even if you apply all of the
following principles you may find our
opponent is still able to get the better of you,
as there is one key part to our game that
these principles don’t take into account, and
that is the dice!

The Principles of War:

• The selection and maintenance of the aim

• Concentration of force

• Co-operation

• Offensive action

• Security

• Surprise

• Flexibility

• Economy of effort

• Sustainment

• Morale

These are not listed in any particular order; however I personally do view the Selection and
maintenance of the aim as being the most important of the principles both in modern warfare as
well as in 40k.

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Selection and Maintenance of the Aim

While this principle probably needs little technical explanation, it is as I have eluded to, the most
important principle of war. Although as a 40K player we have far less limitations than normal
battlefield commanders (we don’t have to deal with subordinate commanders and their
personalities as an example) we are still given a mission to accomplish and winning or losing the
game generally involves that mission.

Looking at the main rulebook missions,

Cleanse, Recon, Take and Hold, Secure and
Control and finally Seek and Destroy. The
mission in itself is clear, advance, capture, or
kill, but when you have an opponent that is
trying to do the same thing while stopping
you from achieving the mission; it becomes
more complicated. It is for this reason that
maintaining the aim of the mission is
critical.

Of course the missions are made more

complicated by adding in the different
levels; Alpha, Gamma and Omega. At Alpha
it is only about the mission and scoring
units, however at Gamma and Omega it is
possible to lose the mission and win the
“campaign” by securing Victory Points
(VPs). So in Gamma and Omega it is
important to pay attention to the VPs
situation; concentrating on what you have
earned from the enemy and the bonuses for
achieving the mission.

Different players will approach the aim or mission in different ways, but the foundation to
success is in deployment (see chapter 6). If you have a poor deployment you will be on the back
foot from the start and may find the mission impossible to achieve. Immediately after deployment
is where you see the biggest variation in how players approach the aim; some go for it from turn
1, others will play 2-3 turns and then focus on the aim. Regardless of the approach you take (as
this will depend largely on the army you use and the table you are on) it is important that you
leave yourself enough time to accomplish the mission.

You have to always consider what the aim of the enemy is going to be and how they are going to
achieve it with respect to time and space. You have to gauge when he is going to make his move
and see if there is a way in which you can prevent him from doing this. In addition look at where
he is going to make his move and see if you can prevent him from getting to that position. By
taking this sort of approach it is possible to deny the enemy the chance of achieving victory and
possibly giving you victory by default. The other factor to remember is that the enemy is going to

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try to do the same to you; as such you need to formulate a second option or Plan B as I like to call
it. Either way you must be decisive, if you are decisive and confident in the way you approach
the aim, you are more likely to achieve it. People that are indecisive are likely to miss a key move
or forget to do something, as they are questioning themselves and they generally have too much
information to effectively compute.

Regardless of the ebb and flow of the game you must maintain a level head, if you get all excited
thinking you have won the game it is possible that you may forget to do something or not notice
the enemy positioning himself to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Basically getting over-
confident can cost you the game, always look to see if there is anything your opponent can do to
rectify their situation or upset your plans. One aspect of 40K which is significantly different to
the warfare that was used to create these principles is the fact that players have the ability to
create their own forces. Players have total control on the forces that are taken to the field of
battle; we can make a mobile army or a foot slogging wall, a close combat force or an army that
relies on fire support. As such players should always consider how they are going to achieve each
mission with their army as they are constructing it. It is no good saying; “well I hope we don’t
play escalation”. Work out what you are going to do to counter it, don’t just complain about it. Of
course your opponent and the table you are placed on will greatly affect your plan. However, if at
the army creation stage you have a general concept of how you will achieve each mission you
will be a taking a significant advantage into any game you play.

Concentration of Force

Again a fairly simple principle but

understanding the “battle field effects” of
your units is critical to applying this
principle. Concentration is not putting 2000
points in an area 1’ x 1’. Concentration is
getting the maximum “bang for your buck” If one element of your army is cut off from
and supporting different components of your the rest (isolated on one side or in reserve)
army. Terrain will always cause issues with then you are not playing with your full
this principle but the availability of things component of your army, this will normally
like indirect fire can greatly assist in your have the effect of giving your opponent an
approach. advantage.

To elaborate on this point Dark Eldar Web Way portal armies and the now obsolete Ulthwe
Strike Force generally have large portions of their forces in reserve. This means that the player is
unlikely to ever be able to put his full force on the table and bring it to bear against the enemy.
While these armies are still capable of winning games consistently, it is always an uphill struggle
for them. The same applies to daemons and units that deep strike, as you can’t predict when these
units are available or where they will land you may not be able to use them effectively before
they are destroyed, handing a further advantage to your enemy. That said the arrival of these
forces at the right place at the right time can provide a massive advantage as well. Regardless of
the impact these forces will have once they arrive playing with less forces than your opponent is
always a tough proposition and it requires significant skill.

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The main point to consider with this principle is to never isolate an element of your force without
good reason. By isolating an element to deep strike or deploy via special means you will provide
your opponent a massive advantage from which it can be very difficult to recover from.

Co-operation

Co-operation is an important principle for

the conduct of any military operation;
normally it will refer to the coordination of
air support, indirect fire support, armour,
infantry and Special Forces. In 40K it is a lot
easier as you only have to cooperate with
yourself; you do not have to communicate
your ideas and plans to subordinates for
them to action. By looking at the way a
person controls and supports their units you
will be able to determine whether they will
get the most out of their army. E.g. 10
Necron warriors unsupported in close
combat are not likely to survive, but if you
deploy a tomb spider near and use it to
support the warriors, the combined effect of
the two will see the warrior’s survival
chances increase significantly.

Cooperation and coordination are one in the same thing in my mind with respect to this principle;
as a result I also group coordination of fire here as well. There are times where the correct order
of firing weapons is very important and the same can be said for engaging the correct target as
well. Careful consideration should be given to what unit is firing when as the dice may seriously
affect your plan and having a little redundancy is always a good idea.

Co-operation is also something to consider at the army building stage, are there units that
compliment each other, for example the Culexus assassin with some supporting Inquisitors and
Grey Knight Justicars for example, or as I stated earlier with the Necron Warriors and Tomb
Spyders. There are limitless opportunities to build an army that is able to achieve co-operation,
but it is remembering what your plan was when you built the army and putting it in play during a
game is the important thing. As an example once you have seen the table and the army you are
facing you should be able to confirm what your units will have to do. If you have specific anti
armour forces you should look to have these units cover the most likely route that the enemy
tanks will take, this should give you an idea where there units will be deployed. Then it is just a
matter of ensuring that they can support each other, if not then you have to look to use your
remaining forces to support them instead.

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Offensive Action

One can not win a war without killing the This sort of approach shows a defeatist
enemy; the same can be said for 40K. attitude and that they are unable to think a
Although people do play for the draw; a situation through and manipulate it to their
draw is not a win. advantage. That said charging out of the
trenches in the manner the Allies did in
WWI is not always the answer either. The
idea of offensive action is two-fold, firstly
seizing and maintaining the initiative and
secondly the destruction of the enemy’s
centre of gravity.

The initiative is not something tangible that a player holds, it is more often referred to as holding
the upper hand. The initiative more often than not means your plan is working and the opponent
has to respond to your plan. Holding the initiative is determined by who goes through a process
known as the OODA Loop first. There have been many studies conducted on idea of having the
initiative in warfare and decision making processes; one of the main ones that is still taught today
is the OODA Loop – Observe, Orientate, Decide, Act. It was developed by USAF fighter pilots
in the Korean War. Basically it is the process where you Observe what the enemy is doing
through his movements, you Orientate your forces to engage, you then Decide how to engage and
then Act. The OODA loop is a continuous process and it is understood that the combatant that
can complete this cycle the quickest will gain and maintain the initiative.

An example of just how critical the initiative can be came during a recent game against Dark
Eldar. This player failed to complete one cycle of the OODA loop and this caused a catastrophic
failure of his battle plan and ultimately the destruction of his army. He was using DE with quite a
few Dark Lances and raiders and wyches, you get the idea, in a table quarter mission. The
Tyranids were well positioned so that not much could be seen in the event they did not go first.
Dark Eldar won the roll and went first, although achieved very little in shooting; but gaining
advantageous positions on the flanks with fast moving vehicles. During the Dark Eldar
movement phase I had already worked out what was going to shoot at what and where my troops
were going to be assaulting. When my turn came I moved with blistering pace and my opponent
lost 27 dark elder warriors (dead or off the board), 2 raiders and a ravager and he had another unit
locked in combat. By the end of turn three he conceded the game. At no point apart from taking
first turn did he have the initiative Of note it is important to remember just because you have the
initiative for 5 out of 6 turns it does not mean that you will win, the initiative in 40k in particular
can change very rapidly and sometimes you can have absolutely no control over it due to the
dice, so you have to always consider future actions; yours and the opponents.

The destruction of the enemy’s centre of gravity is a military term which refers to the point on the
battlefield where the enemy derives his strength or freedom of action. By destroying the centre of
gravity one is dealing a significant blow to the enemy and his ability to destroy your forces and
achieve his mission. The centre of gravity for each player and each army will be different. This is
primarily due to the different thought patterns that each individual will use. This said because of
the small size of 40K armies, generally we are in a position to work out what units will form the
centre of gravity. Sometimes it will merely be the location of these units, devastators on a hill

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dominating the battlefield with 4 las cannons, or maybe assault marines behind a building ready
to assault an objective that will make them the centre of gravity. Other times the unit itself
because of it ability to absorb damage or deal damage that makes it the centre of gravity
(Thousand Sons terminators are a good example) Very rarely will a player be able to make his
whole army the centre of gravity, but when this occurs you probably will not work it out until
after the fact! This is the sign of a good army and a good player.

So how do you tackle a centre of gravity, sitting back hiding. Finally remember
well you have two options you can out- Mutually Assured Destruction (see chapter
manoeuvre it (works well against both types 5), means you are dead too.
of position and physical centre’s of gravity)
or you can kill it. Pitting strength on strength
is risky remembering if you anger the dice
gods it can go pear shaped and especially if
your opponent has a basic understanding of
some of the principles of defence. The best
method I believe is to out manoeuvre and
then destroy, but the exact way to do this
will always be determined by factors like the
terrain, composition of each force, layout of
the army on the field, etc. Regardless of the
mission one should always look to engage
the enemy, but importantly you should do so
at the time and place of your choosing.
Offensive action is what will win games, not

Security

Security is all the measures you take to protect your force, protecting your written battle plans (ie
security classifications), conducting patrols and observation posts, the use of codes and
codewords just to mention a few. Basically it is the idea of denying information and intelligence
to the enemy and physically protecting sensitive assets. The principle of security can still be
applied to 40K, but not as it was originally intended by Clausewitz.

The physical protection of assets is where you can start to look to employ security. Some armies
have special abilities, like the Space Wolf Scouts. While it can be frustrating when Space Wolf
Scouts come on from your board edge and blow up your prized tank or kill your Imperial Guard
commander, there are security measures you can apply to prevent these units from being
effective. 40K is very simple compared to the complexities of modern warfare; as the general you
have far more situational awareness than any military commander ever will. You will know
exactly what the enemy’s abilities and skills are; you will know he has the wolf scouts and they
will come on and hit your tanks rear armour or some other high value target. So from looking at
his army you have a fact, Space Wolf scouts are going to come on from my board edge and
destroy something valuable to me, this means you are able to formulate a plan to counter this
ability. Taking this step is basically ensuring the security of your force.

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Other ways you can improve your security is to not reveal your battle plan too early and this will
be covered in with my next point surprise. It is also covered in the Chapter on Army Tactics.

One other aspect I consider as being part of

security is the way you manoeuvre your
vehicles to protect their flanks, or in other
words not exposing their side armour. This
may seem obvious but it is something to be
careful of, remember most vehicles represent
5 – 10% of your army’s points and generally
a significant portion of your combat power.
As such you should spend the time to look at
what weapons the enemy will be able to
bring to bear against your vehicles in the
next turn.

To ensure your security look to see what

elements of our army are likely to be
something the enemy really wants to kill and
work out how you will prevent this from
occurring. It is really that simple!

Surprise

In warfare surprise can be a massive factor in securing the initiative for one side, but surprise
can’t be achieved without many of the principles that I have already covered. Surprise can be a
force multiplier or something that enhances your combat power. Surprise is not a tangible
battlefield effect, ie. if you do a, b and c, you will get surprise. It will depend a lot on your ability
to do something that your opponent has not seen before, and also the experience of your
opponent.

If you are playing against an experienced opponent who has played numerous games against you
and your army, you are unlikely to achieve a great amount of surprise; he will have familiarity
with your units, he will know how you wield them and your overall tactical ability, likewise you
will know these things about him. In this sort of situation you will have to work hard to achieve
surprise, but it can be done. Look to use different tactics or approaches, make other units your
primary focus (not just the favourite one that wins you all your games), and continually alter your
army. All these things will mean that you will be able to prevent your opponent from developing
a detailed understanding of how you play. The great thing about 40K is no two games will ever
be exactly the same, the dice see to that, but try different things not just the tactics that you think
always win you the game because your opponent will learn and might surprise you!

Against inexperienced players or people you do not play often it will be far easier to achieve
surprise. You can look to achieve it by using good cooperation and coordination of your forces, ie
using a Culexus assassin in a GK army, the first time you roll 9 x S5 AP1 shots from your
Animus Speculum you will definitely surprise your opponent (and you assassin will die in the
next turn as well). Another way to achieve this is to not reveal your intentions and as a result suck

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your opponent into a trap. An example of achieving this was during a recent event, where nearly
a third of an Eldar army became engaged with 16 Ripper bases. The Rippers were positioned in a
way that they were able to hold the Eldar in combat for effectively 2 full turns. By doing this the
remainder of the Tyranids were able to be in position to shoot and assault the Eldar as soon as
they killed the last of the Rippers. As such the Eldar player killed 16 Rippers for the loss of 10
Warp Spiders, 10 Scorpions, a Farseer on bike and a Wraithlord (approximately 700 points of
Eldar). The big point to be made here is; don’t look for the short term surprise like the assassin,
look for something you can get lasting effect from like the Eldar example.

Generally speaking surprise is achieved by the player that has the ability to think outside the box,
everyone can deploy move and shoot and kill the other guy. The person that is able to do
something different (dependant on the dice) will be the one that achieves surprise.

Flexibility

Flexibility is basically the ability to rectify a situation which occurs if you have not paid attention
to all the principles and as a result you have lost the initiative. Most of the time flexibility will be
used to fix your battle plan but it can also be applied in other ways.

Dogmatically sticking to a plan that has

come unraveled is not going to secure you a
win, you have to be able to assess the
situation and work out whether you have lost
control of the situation (or initiative) and
work out how you are going to be able to
rectify it. Some players will not realise that
they have lost the initiative and as a result
will make no attempt to change their plan,
instead insisting “your army is just cheese”.
No army can win games it needs a general to
control it and as such sometimes changing
your approach is enough to change the
tempo of the game.

One of the best ways to save your battle plan once the opponent gets on top is to identify a
reserve. Pick an element of your force that is able to react should the enemy do something that
you had not considered. Ideally it should be fast moving in order to respond quickly, hard hitting
to inflict significant damage and be relatively resilient. A reserve is no good if it is committed to
something else, so always considers carefully the time and point in the battle that you deploy
your reserve, ask yourself has the enemy reached the culmination of his plan or is the worst to
come. In saying this though don’t be afraid to be use it as, there is no point having only a reserve
left at the end of the game, when the rest of your force is dead.

Other ways in which you can use flexibility is in your targeting whether assault or shooting. I
always look to ensure my units have more than one target to shoot, if it is not possible then I will
shoot the units that only have one target first. Although this may seem obvious to most it is a
common mistake a lot of people make. It also ensures you are able to get the right battlefields

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effect for your shooting phase. The same can be done for assault, try to position the unit so that it
can hit two units if you are looking to shoot at the unit you are planning to assault.

One has to remember that in warfare, no battle plan ever survives the first shot; the same can be
said for 40K, except no plan survives the first dice rolled!

Economy of effort

Economy of effort involves placing the right to maintain your situational awareness and
amount of forces to do the job you set for understand what needs to be done.
them to do. For example set one tactical
squad the mission on destroying a land
speeder may not be enough, but dedicating a
devastator squad with 4 las cannons to do it
will be overkill. With this principle you have

As mentioned above ensuring you have a little bit of flexibility also achieves economy of effort,
if the tactical marines do manage to destroy that land speeder, then you have another target for
the devastators.

Economy of Effort is also reflected in the idea behind Mutually Assured Destruction (see Chapter
5). In this regard you are looking at the amount of Victory Points you give up doing something
versus the number you gain. If the ratio is one to one that is not economical, however; is the ratio
is 2 or 3 to 1 in your favour you have achieved economy of effort.

Also you should consider the mission, while for example in Cleanse the mission is to hold table
quarters there is little point putting all units in one quarter you will need to spread them
appropriately to achieve the mission. That said leaving half your army in your deployment zone
is not the best use of your force either, you need to find the balance and this will be determined
by the game you are playing the terrain on the table and the army you are engaging.

Sustainment

Sustainment is not something that 40K gamers have to worry about, but I have included it here
for accuracy. Sustainment is quite obviously providing the supplies needed to conduct war, Food
and Water, Fuel and Ammo, although it also covers everything from Chaplain Spt and mortuary
services to repair parts and everything in between.

Morale

Well the final principle to be covered here. Maintenance of Morale, there is two factors to this in
40K, the morale of the army and the player. Morale is obviously represented by the LD value of
your models and units. Also there are a number of special rules which will affect this as well,
Synapse, Commanders, Fearless the list goes on. Ensure when you’re selecting your list that you
have a good awareness of the morale issues you may have and how you plan to counter them.

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Morale can also affect your ability to engage enemy units, especially if you are forced to shoot
something you can’t hurt like a vehicle.

Also it is worth mentioning in this section

the use of pinning weapons. It is important
to consider whether it is worthwhile
including some of these weapons in your
army. Although there are a number of armies
that will ignore these weapons, the effect
that they can have on other armies like Tau
and Imperial Guard will make them valuable
to your battle plan.

Remember that when a unit is below 50%

and runs it is generally game over, so you
should look to prevent this from occurring
wherever possible, as this is the easiest way
for your enemy to score VPs out of you.

The morale of the player is something that you can target; however, it is something that should
only be utilized against your friends. Using this sort of approach in the wrong way will probably
result in you not being able to find anyone to play with. In addition in tournament play you will
find you have the distinction of having the lowest sports score, which will generally be enough to
stop you from placing or doing well even if you win all your games. So be very careful.

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CHAPTER 2

The field of Battle

Well there are a few different areas that one can explore with this topic, so the most relevant
place to start would be the battlefield itself. Unlike other generals we are not able to manipulate
the strategic and operational level of war. At the strategic and operational level of war
commanders are able to manoeuvre their forces to fight tactical battles at points of their choosing.
40K is designed and based around squad level combat which is more akin to the tactical level of
war. In 40K we are not given this opportunity; generally speaking we are given a board which is
fair for both players. That said there are things you can look at to assist your deployment plan.
Generally the table will effect the deployment of forces as much as the mission. Here are some
things to look for in particular: it is known by the acronym, OCOKA – Observation and Fields of
Fire, Cover and Concealment, Obstacles, Key Terrain and Avenues of Approach.

Observation; look to see what can be seen from where. We as gamers have an awesome
advantage over conventional military commanders as we stand over the table and can determine
the best spots to put our models to be able to use them effectively.

It is important to remember though that the realise that they are doing it, until it is too
enemy is not going to stand still and let you late.
engage them, he is going to move, so
consider placing units that cover areas the
enemy may move into later in the game.
Working out the lines of sight will also
enable you to work out where you units can
fire from to effect parts of the enemy
without being exposed to the whole enemy
force, what is called “enfilade fire from a
defilade position”. Looking at the fields of
fire will also start to point out engagement
areas, points on the battlefield where you
will be able to bring the effective firepower
of several squads together to destroy the
enemy. Effective firepower is not employing
one weapon from 4 different squads of
tactical marines it is 40 marines being able
to apply fire to a point on the board. It is
easier than it sounds. When deploying you
want the enemy to move forward into these
engagement areas and as a key point not

Cover and concealment; there is a difference between the two, cover means the enemy can’t
shoot directly at you, whereas concealment is obscuring you from the enemy. Of course the rule
book defines cover more like the definition of concealment. Throughout this piece I will stick to
the military definition. Cover is critical for some units so they aren’t destroyed in the first turn.
Units that can move and fire should be deployed behind

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cover where possible, thus protecting them if you don’t get the first turn. Remember that the
enemy only needs to be able to see the hull of a vehicle to shoot at it, therefore in some cases you
may only be able to achieve an obscured result, however; this is better than nothing. Units that
can’t move and shoot and need to fire from turn one like devastators, you should look to put them
in forests and ruins to give them cover save. There is a time where you will have to weigh up
whether you want a cover save or need to be exposed to get a better firing position, at that point
you should consider the army you are facing and the risk of potentially losing a key unit. The
chapter on deployment will cover this in more detail. Also when you deploy look to see where
your units are going to move in particular; and what cover and concealment can they gain along
the way as this may effect their initial position on the battlefield. In other words it may be
acceptable to be exposed at the start of the game if you are able to spend the remainder of the
game protected from the effective fire of the enemy.

Obstacles; these are the items on the board

that can slow down your advance. That said
obstacles can provide one key advantage in
the game, when assaulted a unit in an
obstacle/cover strikes first. Although
sometimes this can be negated, it is a
desirable position to be in if you are unable
to prevent an assault. Obstacles can be used
in concert with the fields of fire and
engagement areas to subject the enemy to
protracted periods of fire or turn them from
their deserved approach to one where you
can inflict casualties on them. Overall the
cunning use of obstacles can be a force
multiplier (effectively adding to your armies
resources / points), but the bad use of
obstacles can disrupt your plan.

Avenues of Approach; is how you are going to get from your deployment zone up to the
objective, whether it is a defined objective or just to assault the enemy.

In looking at this and noting what I have already mentioned in the other paragraphs you can see
that what you think is an avenue may end up an engagement area, so you need to consider what
the enemy is seeing on his side of the board. You will need to take into account the effects of
terrain on your battle plan, for example if you have 3 bad difficult terrain rolls will you be able to
still make the objective by turn 6? Also look at how the enemy can engage you in your Avenues
of Approach, if you are about to walk into his centre of gravity it may not be a good option.
Remember you have the ability to look at the battlefield from the opponent’s point of view, so
have a look you might realise that you have missed something.

When determining Key Terrain you will need to look at the board as a whole and determine the
pieces of terrain which will provide a significant advantage to the forces that occupy it. This
advantage can be in the form of better lines of sight, a position which provides a launching point
from which you can claim an objective, or a strong defensive position. Sometimes it will be

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obvious what the key terrain on a board will be, other times you will have to wait till the enemy
has finished deploying.

In these circumstances you will need to work out what you are going to do to dominate the key
terrain. Dominating a piece of terrain can be done a number of different ways; the most obvious
is to place troops in it. However; you can use things like Castellan mines from a Space Marine
Whirlwind or booby traps if you are playing Cities of Death to make it a dangerous proposition
for your opponent to enter the terrain, thus denying it to them. Otherwise the best way to deny a
piece of terrain from your opponent is to avoid it where possible. This way you negate the
positive effects that key terrain can give to your opponent therefore making it useless. If you are
not able to avoid the key terrain then you will have to use offensive action to destroy the forces
that occupy it.

While OCOKA will serve to guide your deployment as well as your actions throughout the game,
it is important to consider how you can use terrain.

Sometimes you will hear players comment that an army is harsh as it has a number of anti tank
weapons, especially if they lose a tank or two to them. All these comments show is that they
failed to position their tank in a way that it can be effective while being protected from enemy
fire.

In this example Imperial Guard (Blue) are

battling Chaos Space Marines (Red) near a
ruined building shown in grey. The Imperial
Guard have a Special Weapons Squad armed
with demo charge closing with a Chaos
Space Marine squad armed with a las
cannon. Supporting the guardsmen is a
Leman Russ Demolisher (blue square)
positioned to use it weapons on the side
armour of the Chaos Predator (red
rectangle).

As the Predator is armed with heavy bolters and auto-cannon it is well positioned to take out the
guard infantry; however, it is not able to damage the Leman Russ. The Chaos Space Marines are
armed with a las cannon so have the potential to damage the Russ. As it is the Chaos player turn
he has the option to move and shoot his units. Obviously in order to fire the las cannon the
marines are unable to move.

The Predator is able to move up to 6” and shoot so the Chaos player can move. If he opts to leave
the Predator where it is the Russ will be well positioned to destroy it noting that both plasma
cannons and the heavy bolter will be able to harm it (if he does not use the Demolisher Cannon).
The Predator is a key element to the Chaos player plans, 8 shots per turn that hit on 3’s and kill
on 2’s (unless the target is in cover). With this the Chaos player looks to move the vehicle, he has
two options, move the tank so that the side armour is protected and the Russ is forced to shoot at
the front armour.

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While this will make the Predator harder to

damage it also reduces its effectiveness as it
will now only be able to fire 5 shots at the
guardsmen this turn, meaning that the
guardsmen are likely to be able to deliver
their deadly demo charge. However if the
Predator was moved back in behind the
ruined building not only would it be
protected from the Russ, it would also still
be able to fire all its weapons onto the
guardsmen. As shown below.

As this example shows when terrain is used

effectively it can prevent the enemy from
engaging your more valuable units; while
still maximising the combat power that these
units can generate. Overall the use of terrain
will play a key part in deciding the result of
any game.

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CHAPTER 3

The Attack

As stated in Chapter 1 Offensive Action is one of the principles of war, and although this talks
very generally about taking the fight to the enemy and decisively engaging him, there are an
additional set of principles which provide guidance on the conditions and ideas that will enable
an attack to succeed. The following are the principles of the attack:

• Surprise,

• Concentration,

• Penetration,

• Firepower,

• Firm Base,

• Secure Form Up Point and Line of Departure,

• Secure flanks,

• Maintenance of Momentum,

• Gain and retain the initiative,

• Rapid Re-organisation, and

• Enemy Reserve.

Surprise

Surprise is achieved by doing something that your opponent does not expect and is not prepared
for. Two examples that used this well include the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 and the Sept
11 attacks. Both of these infamous attacks were able to achieve “success” through the fact that
the no-one knew that it was going to occur until it happened. By attacking in this way the US in
both examples sustained significant damage before it was able to regain the initiative and react;
however, if the US had been prepared for it, they may have been able to limit or even pre-
emptively strike the attacking forces.

While those two examples are obviously very large scale, it is possible to achieve surprise on the
40K field of battle. So what can you do to surprise your opponent, especially when he knows
what army you are using, what is in your army and the characteristics of the units. One easy way
to achieve surprise is through the use of combinations. Basically, this is where you use the ability
of one unit to enhance the abilities of another. For example if you were using a space marine list
with daemon hunter allies you could use a librarian with fear of the darkness in combination with

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a Culexus assassin. This would mean enemy units within 12” of the librarian and assassin would
need to take a LD test at LD5! This sort of move is likely to be devastating and surprise your
opponent as well. There are plenty more examples of combinations like this in the game.

Another way you can surprise your enemy is to feint that you have made a mistake, ie move a
unit forward so he can assault you in the next turn. But in fact this serves to bring the enemy
forward into effective shooting range for your next turn or leave them vulnerable to a counter
assault.

Surprise is a good way to gain and maintain the initiative. A good general will always look to
maximise the use of surprise to prevent the enemy from understanding how they operate and
developing effective counter measures.

Concentration

This is all about being able to bring the right

amount of force to bear to ensure that you
are able to achieve the desired battlefield
effect. A historical example is the D-Day
landings in France in 1944; the allies
concentrated a massive amount of resources
in small areas into order to breach the
defences of “fortress Europe”.

Concentration in 40K is easy to achieve but

many people take it too far; to achieve
concentration you don’t have to place all
your forces in the smallest area possible.
Instead if you look to use your weapon
ranges and/or movement you can also
achieve concentration while effectively
using cover and concealment as well. As
long as you can concentrate at the point and
time that you need too it is more effective to
have your forces spread out, in order to
disguise your intent.

It is also important later in the game to work out how your army will provide support to itself,
especially if you are playing a mission like cleanse or secure and control. This is due to the fact
that you may be spread over a wide area. A failure to achieve concentration at the late stage of
the game can mean that the enemy is able effectively destroy your forces in detail.

Penetration

This is where you look at breaking through the enemy. The reason that penetration is considered
a principle of the attack is due to the effect that it has on the enemy. Once penetration is achieved

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the enemy has to adjust his plan and defensive position or commit his reserve, thus ensuring the
penetrating forces have the initiative.

Generally it is best to identify a weak point and attack that, as it will offer less effective
resistance. Although the games of 40K are not like the battlefields of WWI, with massive forces
arrayed against each other in vast defensive positions, penetration can still be used very
effectively and achieved in interesting ways.

One of the easiest methods of achieving army tactics will provide more detail on how
penetration is through the use of to achieve penetration.
flyers/skimmers. These units can move over
the top of enemy troops and deposit troops Penetration can be effective, although this is
behind the enemy front line. classically talking about breaking through
the front lines and attacking the softer
Jump infantry and deepstrike have similar logistic elements of a modern military force.
abilities although lack a degree of
manoeuvrability that is offered by skimmers.
By penetrating like this you are able to upset
the enemy battle plan, you can also dislodge
units that are preventing an advance. For
example a Eldar Wave-serpent full of fire
dragons can be use to destroy a devastator
squad with heavy bolters that is positioned to
prevent your banshees from advancing to
attack other elements of the marines. This is
one example of penetration the chapter on

Firm Base

Again this is not totally applicable to 40K due to the size of battle that the game is designed to
represent. Classically this would be like the bases the Americans formed in places like Vietnam
which they used to launch air mobile operations (ie helicopters).
That said a firm base can be loosely used to describe the area where you place you more static
units like devastator marines. In this case they provide you a platform from which you generate
extra combat power for your forces. Some players will also refer to this as a firebase. Not all
armies will need to make use of a firm base, while for other armies they will have mobile fire
bases.

Secure Form Up Point (FUP) and Line of Departure (LD)

These are specific terms used by the military to describe a piece of ground and its role in an
attack. A FUP is where the assault force sets up for it’s assault onto an objective. The FUP is far
enough away from the enemy that they can’t hear the assaulters and also out of
line of sight to prevent the enemy from seeing the assaulting force, therefore, maintaining the
surprise of the assault. In the FUP point the assault element may break into specific groups or
move as one, dependant on the situation.

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You can still use an FUP in 40K, this might be a hill that you are able to move behind that allows
you to protect your force while putting it into a position to launch an assault or rapid fire into the
enemy in your next turn. Whether or not you decide to use a FUP will be determined by the
amount of terrain on the board and if it is placed in an appropriate position.

There is also a nasty tactic that you can employ where you use empty transports as mobile FUPs.
Obviously this can go very badly if the enemy blows the transport up with a penetrating hit! But
this sort of mobile FUP will ensure you are able to get the boys up to where you need them
without the enemy being able to stop you if the table does not provide enough terrain.

The LD is basically the point from which you launch the assault, there is nothing that really can
be used to characterise the LD, apart from the fact that it is a good idea to make sure it is within
your charge range!

Secure Flanks

This is designed to stop the enemy from launching a flank attack or pincer movement and
disrupting your attack on his forces. In large scale conventional military operations a defender
will have strength placed out in what they foresee as being the most likely line of approach for
the enemy. If the attacker is able to strike at a flank he will not be arrayed against the strongest
defences, therefore the offensive manoeuvre is more likely to succeed.

Insecure flanks can cause an army to fail,

two examples are listed below. The first one
involved a min-maxed marine army. The
squads were spread evenly along the length
of the board; the attacker was able to get a
chaos lord in amongst the first of these
squads on one flank. Due to the small size of
the marine squads the lord was able to kill
all the marines that were in the kill zone
before my opponent was able to attack with
them. In the marine players turn the lord
would then kill off the squad and
consolidate. The following Chaos turn
would see the lord positioned to attack a new
squad, this literally occurred all across the
length of the board killing 5 squads in the
process, while the rest of the Chaos army
cheered on the lord. In this case a solid
squad of 10 marines would have been
enough to limit or possibly even stop the
effectiveness of the lord and in effect secure
the flank.

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The second example involved a Dark Eldar Web Way Portal player. With 2000 points of Iron
Warriors deployed on one flank for a recon mission, with the aim of just rushing up one side of
the board. The Dark Eldar player deployed 10 Dark Eldar directly across from the Iron Warriors
and the remainder of the army in the middle of the board, with the shooting elements out of range
in the first turn. He won first turn and took it, unable to fire many of his weapons he moved
towards the iron Warriors with the central units of his army, while the 2 dark lances that could
fire, inflicted minimal casualties. In the Iron Warrior first turn, the 10 warriors opposed to them
were killed and then the Dark Eldar in the centre were engaged as they had conveniently walked
into the range of the Heavy Bolters! In this example the element protecting his flank was not
robust enough to do the job and as a result died quickly, forcing a change in his battle plan. This
change in his plan handed the Iron Warriors the initiative and in many respects the game.

So as you can see the secure flanks can be a very important part of maintaining the impetus of
your attack and yet can be achieved very easily.

Maintenance of Momentum

The momentum is basically the forward pressure you place on the enemy, it generally involves
advancing and dislodging him from his primary positions. The idea is that if you continually
place pressure on your opponent they are less likely to have the initiative and more likely to make
the wrong move. Generally when people say things like “once you did that I was not able to
come back”, that means one of the players maintained the momentum. You do not have to have a
fast moving army to achieve momentum, a force that is able to move and shoot is able to
maintain its momentum by continually engaging the enemy with effective firepower. This is even
more effective if they are supported by a solid counter assault element. This is one of the factors

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that makes the Godzilla and Iron Warrior armies so very effective. The normal reaction of most
people when faced with an army that relies on shooting is to assault, but if you have a sizable
assault element yourself this will force them to think twice before committing. This will mean
that they are unlikely to have momentum and therefore the initiative. As a result one should
consider how they will achieve momentum when they are creating their army.

Stopping an opponent that has the

momentum can be very difficult. Firstly you
have to look at the source of the momentum,
is it something you can target, if it is destroy
it as a priority target. If it is not something
you can target, can you stop it via other
means, assault it, and deny the approach
with mines, position forces to engage it once
it moves to a certain point (much like the old
over watch idea).

It is important to realise, like the initiative,

the momentum will swing between the
players during the game. In saying this you
have to be aware when it is going your way
and make the most of it, in the same vein if
you opponent has it you have to get it back
and fast.

Gain and retain the initiative

The first chapter on the principles of war covered the idea of the initiative and what its effect is in
the game. This area will look at how you can gain the initiative and retain it for the successful
conduct of offensive operations.

One of the easiest ways to gain the initiative is to deal the first significant blow. In attempting to
deliver this blow you do not always have to go first, in fact ideally you will allow your opponent
to go first. In doing this they will reveal their intentions and confirm their axis of advance or
avenues of approach if you had not ascertained them already. Once you are able to determine
these you should look to strike at their centre of gravity or an expensive key unit. This will vary
from army to army and it is important to be able to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of
enemy units so that you apply your firepower against the strengths in the early stage of the game.
By delivering this first blow you will force the opponent onto the back foot and force them to
start their decision making cycle again. The method you deliver this initial strike will vary but
you must seek to maximise the violence you apply to ensure your blow is significant.

Another method of gaining the initiative is to always be the person that launches the assault. Of
course you have to pick and choose the assaults that you go into, using Necron Warriors to
assault a squad of super Genestealers is not a smart move. But as a general rule it is better to
assault than be assaulted. Assault can also be used to block lines of sight, thus prevent the enemy

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from shooting at other elements of your army; this is another way of gaining the initiative as you
have upset the enemy’s plans. The assault phase is the most deadly in the game, there are twice as
many assault phases in the game as any one player will get shooting phases. It is for this reason
that armies that focus on assault are so dangerous. When some units get into assault they do
become almost unstoppable, but throwing a cheap, large squad at some Chaos lords is a good
way to hold them up for the entire game. Again this sort of action although sometimes risky is a
great way to steal the initiative away from your opponent. It forces them to re-think their
approach to the game and the unit they rely on to do significant damage to their enemies is only
killing 24 points per assault phase.

The final point is that once you have delivered the decisive blow; keep up the pressure, never
back off or go easy. As soon as you give your opponent leeway you give them the initiative once
again. Although 40K is just a game and winning is not everything; this tactica is covering the
ideas and principles for conducting a successful battle and this is one of them.

Rapid Reorganisation

War is a violent business, once a combat force is committed to a fight, elements will get left
behind, disorientated and split. A rapid reorganisation is designed to bring this fighting element
back together so that it once again forms an effective fighting unit that is able to be tasked into
action once again.

While 40K does not really simulate the

disorientation factor of the conflict, as you
have to stay in unit coherency, the idea of a
rapid reorganisation is still valid. As the
player you have to have a good idea where
you want your force to be engaging in your
next turn, before you have to start moving.
This is very similar to chess and planning
your moves one to three turns in advance.
The same works here, once you have
destroyed your primary target, what is the
secondary and who is going to hit it. Of
course you have to factor in what is going to
happen if your plan works but the cost is
higher than you expected.

Enemy Reserve

The final consideration that needs to be accounted for when you are planning an attack is the
enemy reserve. In conventional warfare reserves normally consist of mobile hard hitting units
like armour or rotary wing aircraft. These assets are protected, normally held far enough back that
the enemy cant engage them, but positioned where they can quickly respond and supplement the
combat power of the main force.

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In 40K is it important to consider what units the enemy is likely to hold in reserve and how he
will be able to bring these units into the battle. No unit is able to truly hide on the 40K board as
most armies have access to indirect weapons. A reserve could consist of a unit that is held back
and protected as mentioned above; this would normally be a dedicated close combat element like
Howling Banshees. Alternatively it could be a hard hitting shooting element like a havocs squad
with 4 special weapons. A reserve is not limited to something held back though, it is important to
consider what enemy units are near where you are attacking and whether they are able to provide
assistance to the enemy.

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CHAPTER 4

The principles of defence

These principles will provide you the backbone to a successful defensive strategy; defence should
only be used to set the conditions in order to enable you to weaken the enemy before re-
commencing offensive operations. In other words, unless you are playing a specific
attacker/defender scenario, you should look to use the defence for only a short period. Most
games of 40K are won, with the decisive and brutal use of force, not standing back in your
deployment zone!

So what are the principles of defence:

• Use of ground

• Mutual support

• All round defence

• Depth

• Flexibility

• Centralization of firepower

• Security

• Integrated defence

• Formation design for battle

Use of ground

The use of ground normally is one of the most important principles of defence, this is due to it
ability to be a combat multiplier. Consider forcing your enemy to move through a forest that is 15
inches away from you; their advance is likely to be slowed by the difficult terrain tests, as a result
of this you may get an additional turn of shooting at them before they are able to assault you. You
can also use ground to screen (protect from enemy fire) your troops, conserving your combat
force for when you need to bring it too bear. Furthermore you can force the enemy into certain
vehicle mobility corridors, or risk moving through difficult terrain and immobilising their
vehicles. Finally remember that if you can kill a vehicle in the right spot it will become a level
three wreck that is area terrain, so you can use their dead to provide you with more terrain to use.

The importance of the terrain will be determined by the type of army you are using to defend
with, obviously Khorne Berserkers, Tyranids and other assault based armies will just run

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forwards, but an infantry based heavy weapon centric Imperial Guard army will need to be very
careful in its deployment to set up and maintain its LOS.

Looking back at the Field of Battle chapter, you will need to employ OCOKA (Observation
&Fields of Fire, Cover and Concealment, Obstacles, Key Terrain and Avenues of Approach) this
is an important step in setting up your defence. By going through these points in turn you will
create the strongest position that you can and understand the enemy’s likely approach onto your
position. By knowing where the enemy is going to come from early you are able to ensure that if
he does get there that your reserves will be well positioned to assist your main force.

Mutual Support

The key to mutual support is that no element

of your army is left on its own, everything is
able to support AND be supported by at least
one other element in your force. A famous
example of this failing was the Allied
operation in Holland during WWII known as
Operation Market Garden. This involved a
two stage attack, the dropping of
paratroopers behind enemy lines to secure a
number of key bridges which would speed
up the Allied advance to Germany. This was
supported by a column of tanks advancing to
relieve the paratroopers. Paratroopers are
light infantry with little integral support
(machine guns and light mortars, no heavy
guns and few weapons to take out tanks) in
order to be successful they needed the
support of the tanks. The advance of the
tanks was slowed by stiff German resistance
and as a result the British paras (supported if
my memory serves me right by the Polish)
were decimated.

When defending you are likely to be outnumbered both in models and sometimes even in points,
so it is important that you conserve your force, the best way to do that is to provide support to
each element. In 40K mutual support can come in the form of firepower, or close combat. For
example an Elder list with banshees and dire avengers can achieve mutual support in two ways;
the dire avengers take out the threats to the banshees with their firepower, while the banshees
protect the avengers from close combat.

Even if you have an advance element maybe in the form of infiltrators you should look to ensure
that they are supported, this will mean that you are able to get more from them over the entirety
of the game. It is important with this principle that you consider the Mutually Assured
Destruction concept in Chapter 5, because when you are defending just getting your points back
may not be enough, as you may be outnumbered in points.

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All round defence

The primary idea behind all round defence is that you protect your force from the enemy,
especially the sneaky one that tries to attack you from where you least expect it. Yes in covering
all approaches you will weaken your position, but through the careful positioning of key elements
and the use of the ground you should still be able to bring your guns to bear in a suitably effective
way. Especially as infantry are able to fire in a 360o arc, a freedom that conventional infantry are
rarely given.

It is important to consider the use of all round defence if the opponent is making use of
infiltrators or deep strike. Both of these options may allow them to sneak past your carefully
constructed defences and allow them to destroy your defensive position or force you to commit
your reserve early.

Other times you really need to be aware of

what your opponent has in their list. Space
Wolf Scouts are a perfect example as they
can come on from your board edge and can
pack a massive punch. One of their favorite
tactics is to come on and take out the rear
armour of vehicles, in particular Leman Russ
tanks. The best way to defeat this sort of
move (which can be done by deepstrikers
too, although it is a lot more risky for them
to attempt it) is to put the rear of your
vehicle against the board edge, that way they
will never be able to hit it. Admittedly there
is little you can do to protect a Basilisk with
its armour 10 sides. Lictors are the other unit
that deserves a special mention with regards
to the defence. With their special deepstrike
into cover rules, you will need to ensure that
you either fully occupy a piece of terrain or
that you are more than 6 inches from it. Both
of these moves will stop the lictor from
either using the piece of terrain to deepstrike
into (noting not allowed within 1” of an
enemy) or from assaulting you once it is on
the board.

Depth

Depth is important to a defensive position; it can be achieved in two ways, depth by fire and
depth by position. Depth in both contexts still has a place in 40K and this chapter will look at the
two of these and how they can be employed in any game you play.

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Depth by fire is achieved by utlising the different ranges of your weapons, in this way it is no
different from the way that the military employs this concept. You have your long range weapons
engaging the enemy as soon as they can (i.e. at maximum distance) then support these with your
shorter range weapons as the enemy advances. The position you place your weapons should be
done so they are effective, but also to make the most of the depth you can achieve. For example
there is little point deploying your havoc squad with las cannons at the forward edge of your
deployment zone, unless you are forced to due to limitations on your LOS. By placing them
further back in your battle line you will still be able to hit the enemy but you reduce the enemy’s
ability to bring effective fire to bear on these key units.

When looking to employ depth of position you should look to maximise cover and terrain but
also ensure that if an enemy assault element wipes out one component of your force they are not
able to consolidate into the next squad. This way you will be able to either shoot the enemy and
or assault them yourself. The idea behind defence in depth is to ensure that the enemy advance is
not able to achieve a break through and allow you or set the conditions for your forces to go back
onto the offensive.

Flexibility

Being flexible in your approach to a game of 40K is important, just like on the battlefield, even
the best plans don’t last past the first shot. Arguably the fact that our game is run by dice means
you have to be very flexible in your approach, always review your plans and look to see what
situations you can exploit whether it is something that goes well for you or something that is
undesirable. This principle ties in very much with the principle of the initiative that I have
mentioned a few times in previous chapters.

Some players come up with a plan and then religiously stick to it despite the fact that it is no
longer going to work, whether it is how they are approaching the mission or whether they lost a
key component of their force. One good example I saw recently was conducted by a guard player.
Tyranids had approached to the point where they were about to be able to bring their guns to
bear, as he was not going to be able to withdraw and escape the faster elements, he decided to
charge all his guardsmen into the Tyranids. While he was not able to over come them that assault
it could have gone either way and was a worthwhile gamble based on the position he was in.

Being able to have flexibility does require a player to have a balanced list, an army that has the
ability to deal with all comers and does not just rely on one element of its list to do all the
damage or to take out key elements of the enemy force is required. Without this balance one will
not be able to achieve flexibility as a good opponent will identify your weakness/es and exploit
it/them.

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Centralisation of Firepower

When you are playing a defensive battle you advance through them, forcing them into a
may find yourself outnumbered so being less desirable location and towards a
able to maximise your firepower in one position you have prepared for them.
place to destroy the enemy is critical. If you
spread your forces out you will find you will
not be able to decisively affect any part of
the field of battle and the enemy will
overwhelm you. This does not mean that you
have to concentrate your force in one part of
the battlefield; you can still achieve
centralisation of firepower with a force that
is spread out. How do you achieve this? This
is achieved by placing elements in a position
where they will be able to provide fire
support to other elements of your force.

It is also important to try to understand

where the enemy is going to advance certain
assets, for example where the tanks are
likely to be and where the infantry will pass
through. This way you will be able to ensure
that your weapons are able to be used in an
effective manner and not wasted on targets
they are not able to destroy. In some cases it
is important to centralise your firepower on
certain areas to ensure the enemy will not

Security

Security is important in modern warfare, it prevents the enemy from gaining knowledge on our
forces, this knowledge is normally called intelligence and they can gain it from any number of
sources. As 40K is an open game, ie you show your opponent your list, and they know what your
units can do, as a result security is not that important.

Integrated defence

When defending it is important to have an integrated defence, this means combining all facets of
your army to achieve your aim, namely the integration of fire support (artillery) close air support
(flyers and fighter bomber raids) direct fire support (the use of direct fire heavy support weapons)
and close assault (close combat). With respect to its application in 40k it is still relevant despite
the small scale of the game. Choosing the targets for your fire support is critical to upsetting the
plan of your opponent and his formation design for battle (how he will approach you and how is
forces are arrayed), and thus ensuring victory for the defending forces.

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Integrating your defence is important, another way to describe this is target selection, you will
need to ensure your weapons are effectively employed against your opponent to overcome the
fact that you might be outnumbered. There are many different ways in which you can achieve this
integrated defence but it starts when you are selecting your army. You will need to decide what
type of defence you want to run and what sort of assets you want to employ. In this way you will
be able to ensure you have the right tools for the job, for example you may wish to deny an area
to the enemy so you take whirlwinds with castellan mines, or other area effect weapons. If you
wish to mount a mobile defence you will need to ensure you have transports or a higher
proportion of fast attack units.

Either way once you have deployed your assets you will have to have an idea of how they will be
employed, this is generally called a concept of offensive support.

Formation design for battle

Finally we will look at some of the that you occupy, you may wish to put more
deployment considerations. Some of these space between you and him.
factors have been touched on in the chapter
on deployment. The formation design for
battle is very simply the way you deploy
your forces. There is a limitless number of
factors that need to be considered when you
are deploying your forces regardless of the
type of game you are playing. You need to
remember that in 40K, like on the modern
battlefield, there are restrictions placed on
you and factors you need to consider. For
example the best place for a defender to be is
in cover, however to claim a cover save in
40K you need to have more than half your
squad in the piece of cover. As a result of
this cover you may find that you movement
is significantly impeded. Also, you may be
vulnerable to the offensive support that your
opponent will be able to bring to bear,
especially if they have a large number of
template weapons. The speed the enemy can
move will also be a factor in the positions

Conclusion

So as you can see there are a number of considerations that need to be met before you can mount
a successful defence. This chapter can be used in any sort of mission, although it should be noted
that one should never opt for a totally defensive posture. Defence should only be used for a short
period of time in order to set the conditions for a successful offense.

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CHAPTER 5

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Many 40k players seem to have adopted

tactics from the Cold War. Back then the
Russians and Americans built enough nukes
to blow up the world 25 times over. The idea
of MAD was that if the Russians launched
an attack the United States would do the
same and basically mankind would be
destroyed. Fortunately this approach
prevented either side from employing their
nuclear arsenal. In 40k many players have
the attitude of “that unit got its points back”.
Unfortunately this is a very flawed logic,
because if a unit is dead, it is not scoring, it
can’t hold an objective and it gives victory
points to the enemy. As a general, one
should look to preserve their force as much
as possible, it does not matter if the enemy is
all dead if you have 1 space marine left, the
game will still be a draw. There will be
times were you will need to sacrifice a unit,
but this should be done to create an
overwhelming advantage to your forces.

The following is an example from a recent tournament. In a Cities of Death mission my opponent
was running with Eldar and part of his army was 10 warp spiders, 10 scorpions, a Wraithlord and
a Farseer was in reserve, I decided that it was important to destroy these units and be in a position
to assault the objective after that. However, with the speed of the spiders I was not in a position
to just go up the guts with Hormagaunts and Carnifexes. Instead I looked to draw out the spiders
with rippers, this worked as he moved the spiders forward to shoot the rippers. When he moved
back in the assault phase he was caught in assault by a second unit of rippers. This locked the
spiders in combat and my opponent decided to join this combat with the scorpions and a
Wraithlord. As my opponent consistently removes casualties to stop characters of mine from
hitting him, I decided to do the same to him; stopping the Wraithlord from hitting in two rounds
of combat and due to bad positioning the scorpion power fist missed two rounds of combat. After
the first turn he was held in combat I threw the remaining rippers in. At the end of his second turn
of combat the rippers were all dead; however the Eldar were looking down against 2 Hive
Tyrants, 3 Carnifexes, 26 Termagaunts, and 30 Hormagaunts. In my next turn I totally destroyed
the Scorpions, Spiders and Wraithlord, the 224 points I had lost was nothing compared to the 600
points of his army, but more importantly he had no chance of claiming his objective and I was
now positioned to claim mine.

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So basically from that example you can see that units should not just earn their points back, if
you must sacrifice something do it in a way that will earn you more points than you lose, or gives
you a better position, otherwise you achieve absolutely nothing.

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CHAPTER 6

Deployment

This chapter came about as a member from Librarium Online wanted a chess style playbook for
deployment and first turn (for those that aren’t aware this is a set first number of moves which
form a strategy). This sort of thing will not work for 40K as you can’t rely on a set number of
conditions and moves as 40K is not as controlled as chess is. In chess the pieces have to stick to
squares, they only have a type of movement which only has certain possibilities. 40K on the other
hand has a lot more freedom of action, you can move anywhere. Also with chess you are faced
with an opponent that has the same abilities as you, ie he has the same pieces as you do. It is very
unlikely that this will happen in 40K once you start to get games bigger than 1000 points.

So for these reasons a set move list will not

work for deployment however if one looks at
a number of factors which determine the
game you are able to set the conditions for a
win or loss in the deployment phase. Some
of these factors include (and this is definitely
not exhaustive): mission, the enemy’s
capabilities, your capabilities, and the table.

The mission this is one of the major things

that should shape your deployment, how are
you going to achieve the mission? What
units are you dedicating to the mission?
What units are going to stop the enemy from
achieving the mission? Do you need a
reserve if so what is it going to be? These
are the things that you need to consider with
the mission, the who what, where, when and
how. If you can answer all of those questions
you are going to be able to work out where
your units need to be during deployment to
ensure that you have them where you need
them during the later stages of the game.

The enemy’s capabilities, while the mission is important you can’t forget the enemy, you have to
understand what he is capable of and generally you will only have a few minutes looking at his
list before you start playing! In the military they look at the enemy’s most likely course of action
and his most dangerous. You can do the same as well in 40K, what is the enemy likely to do with
his army and what is the worst he could do with his units. Sometimes you will be presented with
problems like the scuttling Genestealers or Dark Eldar that can charge you in the first turn. You
need to consider these events and how you are going to counter them. These counter-measures
will undoubtedly shape your deployment. Also look to see if the person you are playing has
trends or they follow a pattern. Most people, once they have developed a successful strategy will

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try to use it over and over again; it worked once so they won’t change it! By doing this they
become predictable and thus lose the element of surprise.

Knowing your own capabilities is important as well and you may be able to gain certain
advantages from your troops. One example was during a game against an Iron Warrior army. He
deployed two obliterators in the open; I was also using Iron Warriors and deployed my five
Obliterators behind some cover so nothing could see them. In the first turn the Obliterators
walked into the cover and then engaged the enemy’s Obliterators destroying both. In this case the
Obliterators ability to move and shoot was used to expose a flaw in the opponent’s deployment.
Knowing your own capabilities, strengths and weaknesses will enable you to get the most out of
your army and prevent your opponent from exposing your weaknesses. If you can make the
enemy pay for the mistakes he makes during his deployment, whether by shielding your force
from his good shooting weapons or isolating his assault element against your entire army. There
are many ways you can deploy your army, but if you don’t know what your army is capable of, it
is unlikely you will ever be able to use it to its full potential.

The table, again this is one of the critical

factors in deployment; no two tables will
ever play the same, due to the subtle
differences in the missions, the army lists
etc. You need to work out your lines of
sight, or where things need to be to see parts
of the battlefield. What you can do to
prevent the enemy from going somewhere
you don’t want him too. What cover you will
be able to use both in your deployment zone
and on your avenue of advance. Looking at
the locations where the enemy can deploy
his infiltrators is also important; likewise
look at where you will deploy yours?

As you can see there is no scope to come up

with a set play you can use every time you
play 40K. You need to maintain a flexible
approach in order to prevent your opponent
from working out your plan and defeating it.
Also the dynamic features of the game will
really restrict your ability to apply these set
plays. Looking at the ideas and
considerations I have raised here; however,
will allow you to formulate a solid battle
plan whose foundation is laid in the
deployment phase.

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CHAPTER 7

Army Tactics

This chapter will go through and describe what each of the tactics are and how they
can be applied both through building your army and in game play. While there are 3
specific tactics/strategies listed and described separately here, there is nothing
stopping players from using a combination of the three in their cunning battle plans.

Penetration

Penetration is by far the simplest of the

three tactics that this chapter will
discuss. Penetration involves picking a
point on the battlefield or in the
enemies army where you are going to
amass your combat power (firepower,
manoeuvre, assault, special abilities
basically everything you use to kill the
enemy) and bring it to bear in a
decisive manner. Classically
penetration is shown in the centre of
the table; however, it can occur
wherever it is required. The aim of
penetration is to do exactly that,
penetrate the enemy line and then fan
out and destroy the remnants of his
army. A classic historical example of
the penetration is the Allied landings at
D Day; they penetrated the German
defenses, established a beachhead and
then broke out into an advance
throughout Occupied France.
As 40K is a tactical level game, you as a general only need to worry about achieving
the penetration not the follow on actions. Generally once you have successfully
penetrated the enemy the rest of their army will crumble beneath your superior force.

One trap that players should seek to avoid is the Mutually Assured Destruction – see
previous chapter for the definition of this. Disguising your intentions is the key to
avoiding MAD. The selection of a well balanced army will assist in this; conversely
some armies are well suited to disguising their intent due to their maneuverability.
Dark Eldar and Eldar are classic examples of this, by boosting their troop transports
they are able to bring elements of their army into a new position quickly and achieve
not only an amassing of combat power but also surprise. Well timed deep striking
units can also achieve the same, however, are far less reliable. An army of foot
slogging Orks is going to find it very difficult to hide its intentions, but with superior
numbers should be able to apply a sledgehammer to the enemy in what can be
described as a very Orky tactical approach! While some armies can be tailored to

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achieving penetration, by taking resilient units or armour it is not necessary; a well

balanced force used effectively can achieve the same result.

If you deploy with the idea of penetration in mind and you fail to disguise your plan,
there is a real risk the enemy will out deploy you or meet your penetration with his
amassed combat power; both outcomes will be disastrous for you. By out deploying
you the enemy may be able to set up an engagement area to kill your strike forces as
they advance, making them ineffective. By putting his forces directly against yours,
you then rely on the dice gods and MAD is generally the result.

It is important to work out what you

want to destroy of the enemy as well,
this is a lot harder to achieve, but if
you can destroy the centre of gravity
(the key elements of the enemy’s
force) then your blow will be decisive.
Examples of centre of gravity can be
Guard Officers, Heavy Weapons, and
special units like Obliterators or
Destroyers.

Identify what forces you will commit

to the penetration, it has to be enough
to complete the move, but this is
balanced by being able to stop the
enemy from gaining the initiative and
supporting your penetration forces. For
example a 6 man space marine squad
with a las-cannon may be better off
providing fire support against an
armored enemy, but suitable to
advance against a horde army, where
the bolters are more useful. The
situation will dictate this and
experience will help this decision as
well.

One should always consider what the enemy is going to do if they work out what
your plan is, hopefully this will not be until you are about to culminate and strike, but
always consider a plan B. This is why it can be important to hold an element of your
force back to act as a reserve.

The final point I think is important and applies equally to all three tactics to be
discussed here. Will penetrating the enemy achieve the mission? Certainly in games
like Recon and Seek and Destroy this tactic is suitable, but for other like Cleanse,
Secure and Control and Take and Hold, it may be detrimental. So remember what the
mission is before you commit to a tactic, because once you are deployed your infantry
generally won’t move more than about 36 inches over 6 turns (fleet of foot, assault
and sweeping advances will affect this).

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So if you are thinking of conducting a penetration what are the key factors you should
consider? Well these are a few of the more important questions you should consider:

1. How can I conceal where and when I am going to penetrate?

2. What element of the enemy do I want to destroy in the penetration?

3. What am I going to commit to the penetration action?

4. How is the enemy going to counter this move?

5. Will penetrating the enemy achieve the mission? (the most important)

Envelopment

especially an enemy that is defending.

The Germans used this idea to
envelope the main defensive position
that the French had established at the
end of WWI. When in a defensive
position the enemy has the opportunity
to coordinate his firepower far more
effectively than an attacker can, as
such he increases his combat power.
Most armies use defence as a short
term measure to attrite (destroy) the
attacker and regain the initiative.
Attacking such defensive positioning
head on plays to the strength of the
defender. If the attacker is able to
manoeuvre around the defensive
position, he may be able to dislocate
the defenders and as a result reduce
Envelopment is also known as a flank their combat power significantly. In
attack, this can be done as either a extreme cases the attacker can with
single envelopment or a double double envelopment actually cut off
envelopment (or pincer attack).The large parts of an army. This occurred
Germans were able to use this in Russia during the Second World
effectively during the Second World War, where the Germans were cut off
War especially during the early stages from resupply during the battle of
in Europe. In warfare the envelopment Stalingrad and eventually captured or
is used to avoid bringing ones forces killed.
against the enemy’s strength,

Once again as 40K is a tactical game; you don’t have the opportunity to cut the
enemy’s lines of supply like the Russians did. However, you can still use
envelopment to dislocate the enemy from a superior position, which in turn provides
you with greater freedom of action and reduces the enemy’s combat power. The table
you play on will greatly determine whether an enveloping manoeuvre will be
successful. If the avenues of approach are covered (i.e. terrain blocks LOS) then an

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enveloping manoeuvre is more likely to be successful. If the Avenue of Advance are

on exposed a flanking move is less likely to succeed as the enemy has the ability to
disrupt your advance.

Again it is important to hide your

intent as much as possible, revealing
your intentions to early may give the
enemy the opportunity to react to your
move and regain the initiative before
you are able to complete the
manoeuvre and destroy him.

When picking the single or double envelopment there are a number of factors that
need to be considered: the table, the mission, your forces and the enemy. As stated if
the flank is not covered, then a good opponent will sit in the middle and look to
engage you with heavy weapons and destroy your momentum. If the mission is take
and hold then a flank attack into the enemy deployment zone is unlikely to get you the
win. A flank attack or envelopment is suitable however for missions like Recon,
Cleanse, Seek and Destroy and potentially Secure and Control. If the enemy also has a
mobile force he will be able to counter your move or consolidate his army to defeat
one flank at a time. If the enemy is all foot based and has spread his deployment, and
the above conditions are met, then you have a golden opportunity to conduct a flank
attack.

It is advisable to have “one foot on the ground” or a reserve. This allows you a little
fudge should things like the dice not go your way. It also can stop the enemy from
outmaneourving your envelopment. Generally, speaking the reserve will be a foot
mounted heavy weapons squad or a tank like a predator that is better shooting than
moving 12 inches a turn. This reserve is like your fire department, when it doesn’t go
to plan these boys will step in and stablise the situation.

So what things should you consider if you are considering envelopment?

1. Is the table suitable, do you have a covered approach? (most important)

2. What forces will be committed to the manoeuvre?

3. Single or Double?

4. Can the enemy escape the manoeuvre (can it manoeuvre as well)?

5. The mission, is envelopment suitable to achieve my goals?

Infiltration

Now some people will see this as only using the infiltration special rule, this is not the
case, although it can be a factor. Infiltration is where you penetrate the enemy in
multiple locations almost simultaneously in a way that he is not able to respond with
his full combat power. The classic example of this would have to be the Vietnam War
and the tactics that the VC used against the Americans.

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Infiltration is the most difficult of the tactics discussed in this chapter and to put in
place. Some armies will find it extremely difficult to achieve, because of the sheer
size of their units (like Tyranids and Orks). Armies with smaller squad sizes like
Marines on the other hand should have the ability to conduct this tactic (Dark Eldar
are the ideal army to conduct this style of attack). Your units must be able to deal with
anything they come up against; this will mean access to melta guns and power fists
(or race equivalent). If not you run into the possibility Chaos Lord, Wraithlord or
Dreadnaught being able to either hold up your infiltrating element or even destroying
it.

The aim of infiltration is basically For example advance two marine

envelopment and penetration squads to attack one enemy squad.
combined, you want to dislocate the
enemy from a superior position and in
localised spots bring elements of your
army together to strike against
numerically inferior enemy elements.

Once again one must be careful not to allow the enemy to respond to this tactic. Due
to the nature of infiltration it is likely that you army will be spread over a large area.
In doing this it is highly likely that you will not be able support all elements of you
force. This will mean that a smart enemy will be able to concentrate his forces
firepower to destroy you unit by unit. For this reason terrain is critical to achieving
this tactic and you should look carefully to see what units can draw LOS to your units,
you don’t want allow the enemy to concentrate his combat power.

If the enemy has something that is held in reserve you need to consider this carefully.
Usually players will hold their assault marines or units like tomb spyders ready for the
counter attack. If these units are able to make combat with your elements it is
something that can swing the initiative to the enemy, not only in the localized battle,
but across the board.

Infiltration is suitable for missions like Cleanse, Seek and Destroy, Secure and
Control and potentially Take and Hold and Recon, but as I have indicated it is not an
easy tactic to employ effectively, but can catch opponents off guard if you do achieve
it.

What should you consider if you want to use infiltration?

1. How is the enemy likely to deploy?

2. Is there a good amount of terrain?

3. Is your force suitable (do you have the right tools) to conduct this type of mission?
(most important)

4. How will you achieve the mission with it?

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CHAPTER 8

Reserves

In 40 K there are a number of reasons that forces will be held in reserve, including
deep-striking units, special deployment rules and the dreaded escalation. The use of
the reserves rule does not have to be a bad thing, with careful consideration and
planning it is possible to get a good synergy (combined effect) from reserves and the
forces on the table at the start of the game. But not considering there effect can and
often does unhinge an army due to the lack of combat power the force with reserves is
able to apply to the battlefield.

One important thing to consider with

reserves is to give them a role, work
out what you want them to do once
they arrive on the board and where you
want them to deliver this effect. The
role of most units is pretty clear,
assault marines for example are a close
combat unit, so you won’t leave them
at the back of the board where they
can’t bring their strength to bear.
Some units are more flexible in what
they can do: Obliterators are a classic
example of this, you can have them sit
back and fire, move forward and fire
with different weapons i.e. start with
las-cannons and go to plasma guns
once close enough.

There are a number of other roles your units can do though other than using their
specific characteristics, for example that can be used to prevent an enemy from
moving within a certain mobility corridor by covering it with fire or by being able to
assault anything that moves there. In this way you can use reserves to expose certain
enemy centres of gravity or critical vulnerabilities, for example by moving on in a
certain position you may be able to threaten the side armour of a tank or moving
assault marines behind a building you may be able to assault a guard heavy weapons
platoon in the next turn.

By defining what your reserves will be doing once you bring them on the board you
will ensure the units that you have to deploy at the start of the game are in the right
position to be able to support your reserve forces. A battle plan that has considered at
least initially where the reserves will come on and how they will perform will be more
likely to hold the initiative in the early stages of the game, compared to the player that
is flying by the seat of their pants when it comes to reserves. Holding the initiative
early in the game is important especially in reserve missions in order to influence the
battlefield in a way that will set the conditions for victory.

When deploying your initial forces ensure you do not block the LOS of your reserves,
this also applies to the reserve you bring on first. It is important to understand where

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you intend to fire and how you can manage to the LOS to ensure that you can fire
(and have a secondary target available if you get lucky). There is nothing worse than
having an excellent killing ground established only to find you can’t fire into it
because one of your tanks was destroyed and blocks your LOS. This also proves that
you need to be careful with the movement of your reserves, as I covered in the
Chapter on the battlefield with OCOKA.

Missions will greatly effect how you

play your reserves, sometimes you will
be able to gain a significant advantage
by having reserves come on in latter
parts of the game, other times they will
be a hindrance. Missions like cleanse
are an example of when reserves
coming on at the end of game can be
great as you sneak into a table quarter.
Missions like take and hold and recon,
however, are not such good news. The
fact that you can’t always predict when
reserves will be available means that
you need to be continually adjusting
your initial plan. As such reserves
force you to observe the principle of
war: flexibility. At time the player that
is able to complete the OODA loop the
quickest and hold the initiative will not
only be able to get the biggest effect
from their reserves, but their army as a
whole.
Also you have to consider where you enemy is likely to bring his reserves on, as most
times that you have reserves he will also have something held back. By looking at the
board and considering the mission you should be able to work out to fair degree of
accuracy where his reserves will come on. To do this well you need to consider the
natures of the units that he has in reserve, in a similar way to what you should do with
yours. Work out what sort of role he is likely to give these units. Once you have
done this you should be in a position to be able to work out where the best spot on the
battlefield is for him to bring them one. Ensure you remember to factor in who will
be placing reserves first, if you are going first he may look to counter your reserves
with his. If he goes first he may look to deny an avenue of advance to you by
covering it with fire or positioning a counter assault element in easy strike range.

In conclusion the reserves rule forces you to think quickly and adapt your plan to the
tactical situation that you find yourself in. While the initial plan of attack is
important, you need to be able to adapt to how the dice and the enemy shape the
battlefield. Give your reserve units a role and look to employ them in that role and
take advantage of targets of opportunity that the enemy may present you with, target
his critical vulnerabilities and centres of gravity at every opportunity. At the end of
the day the reserve rules is not something to be scared of, but something to embrace
for the challenge that it provides all commanders.

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Chapter 9

Infiltrators

Almost every army within the 40K universe has access to infiltrating units – units that
have the ability to sneak forward and set up in advance positions on the battlefield.
Infiltrators take many different forms, from assassins to snipers to special characters
like Shrike. The way these infiltrators are used can vary greatly depending on their
equipment and abilities - understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each
infiltrating unit is critical to ensuring you get the most out of your infiltrators. It is
also important to have their use integrated into your main forces battle plan, because
few infiltrators in the game have the strength and resilience to operate without any
form of support.

I like to think that infiltrators should be given a mission or an objective as part of your
overall mission. The equipment you give your infiltrators or their inherent
characteristics will play a large part in determining their role, Stealth suits for
example are anti-infantry not anti tank, Assassins are close combat not objective
holders. In saying this though remember the “principle of war – flexibility” when
assigning missions to your infiltrators. You will need to consider the mission that is
being played, the enemy and terrain prior to assigning an objective to your infiltrators.

The placement of infiltrators is critical, assaulted, in essence allowing the

you need to consider this when you are enemy to get closer to your main lines
placing the remainder of your force. If and preventing you from shooting
you don’t think about it until the time them (critical consideration for armies
comes, you may find that the enemy is like Tau). This is probably the critical
able to restrict your options, due to thing with infiltrators poor deployment
either LOS or forcing you 18” away can really hamper there ability to assist
denying you a good position. Also you your forces and act as a force
may find that you place them multiplier.
somewhere you want to move through
in subsequent turns, thus you may have
to move them instead of firing them.
Infiltrators don’t always have to be
placed outside your deployment zone;
some units like snipers are better off
being further back, so you may wish to
leave this option open as well. Finally
you need to consider what the enemy
can do to them once they are on the
deployed, if you lose first turn can he
kill them easily? Can they be

Recently I have been shown two examples of poor deployment of infiltrators both
times it was in Omega level games where I started with nothing on the table. In both
cases I was able to come on the board and assault units. The first saw me assault
Eldar guardians and rangers, the second Kroot. Both times I was able to amass
enough combat power to totally destroy the forward elements of their forces and take

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very little damage in return. In the Kroot case the units was very cheap under 100
points, but it enabled me to move units and extra 6” for the charge and additional D6”
for the massacre, virtually saving me at least one turn of movement and more
importantly one turn of being shot at!

So what are some of the roles that you can give to your infiltrators? Basically I see
that there are the following options:

• Fire Support – Split into Anti – Infantry and or Anti – Tank

• Objective holders

• Bait

• Distraction / Harassment

Fire Support – These units will generally fit into or of two categories Anti Infantry
or Anti Tank. Anti infantry fire support has mid to high strength weapons (S3-5) with
a high rate of fire (heavy or assault). These units should be deployed so that they will
cover the avenues that the enemies’ infantry will cross so that they can gain maximum
use of their weapons and protect from the enemy. Ideally these units will be placed in
a defilade position (described earlier) or if armed with assault weapons behind cover,
moving into it to strike the enemy as he advances. Units like Space Marine scouts
with sniper rifles or a heavy bolter, Tau Stealth suits and Eldar rangers are useful in
this role.

Anti Tank fire support is a little harder to manage due to the fact that it has to be
positioned very carefully to be effective, but in doing so will be exposed to enemy fire
in return. One of the key factors to take into account when using Anti-Tank
infiltrators is when you need to start employing them. If the enemy has a large
number of vehicles then you are likely to need these weapons from the start of the
game, if they have few tanks then you may be able to be more cunning with your
placement of these assets to not only protect them but to also deny area to the enemy.
In order to achieve this you place the infiltrators in a position where a tank will be
forced to expose its more vulnerable side armour to them as it advances on the
battlefield. To make this even more effective you position the remainder of your
forces so that the tank is useless or of limited use to your opponent unless he moves it
into this exposed position. The diagram below illustrates this point further.

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space marines bunkered down in a building

shown in grey. However as you can see by
the line from the predator it does not have
line of sight and will be forced to move in
order to take the shot. Moving (shown with
the dots rectangle) the predator, however,
will reveal it to the small squad of space
marine scouts armed with a missile launcher.
In addition to being exposed to the scouts,
the shot will be against the side armour
increasing the chance of the scouts to
In this example a chaos predator (the red damage the tank (a 3+ will glance instead of
rectangle) is attempting to engage a squad of a 5+ against the front armour).

Units that are good in this role include Space Marine Scouts with a Missile Launcher, Chaos
Space Marine infiltrating Havocs and Necron Flayed Ones with Disruption fields.

Objective Holders – Infiltrators can make excellent objective holders especially in alpha level
missions. In gamma and omega level missions they can still hold objectives but their low points
cost generally means that they will not contribute many bonus VPs to your cause. Infiltrators can
be used to achieve objectives for all basic missions apart from Seek and Destroy. When using
infiltrators in this role it is important to remember that you don’t necessarily need to hold an
objective from the first turn, if you are able to hold off going for the objective for a turn or two
you may be able to distract your opponent for long enough to be sneak them into a position to
hold an objective at the end of the game without the enemy realising what is occurring.

In order to be used in this sort of role the infiltrators need to be both resilient and capable in close
combat against all threats. Primarily due to that fact that the enemy is likely to try to dislodge the
infiltrators off the objective with either firepower or assault. You should always try to position
yourself to be in a position to strike first as it will deny the enemy the advantage that he may have
with numbers and of course charging into combat generally gives you the edge with the extra
attacks (unless you can force him to assault you in cover).

Finally it is important to be able to support your infiltrators when they are being used to secure
objectives especially if the enemy is likely to try to assault you. With objective based missions
the enemy is generally force to advance towards certain points on the battlefield, points where
your infiltrators are positioned. Once you give this role to your infiltrators it is inevitable that
they will be forced to engage the enemy, reinforcements at the critical point in the battle will
ensure their survival and your ability to hold that objective.

Units that can be used to hold objectives in this manner include: Broodlord and Genestealers,
Space Marine Scouts armed for Close combat with Vet Sgt and Striking Scorpions with Stealth.

Bait – Infiltrators can be used to bait a dangerous part of the enemy unit into a position where it
will not be able to affect the rest of the game or preferably to a position where you will be able to
neutralise it. Using units in this way is dangerous and needs to be carefully managed to ensure

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you don’t just throw away your unit, even it is cheap you don’t want to just lose troops without
gaining some advantage from it. The Chapter on MAD describes how you can do this effectively
and watch to watch for.

One thing that you want to ensure is that you have the next turn after your bait unit is destroyed
to ensure that you are able to prosecute your plan to eliminate the isolated enemy unit. Also
make sure that the enemy is not able to consolidate (or massacre move) back into combat or
behind cover and out of LOS. If either of these are unavoidable make sure you are able to gain
some sort of advantage to gain from them being in that position, for example massacre moving to
contact Genestealers or a similar squad.

Distraction/Harassment - Some infiltrators have special abilities which will enable them to be
harassing units or they are extremely resilient. These units need to be placed where you can
make the most of their abilities and this comes down to understanding how these units work.
Some examples of units that I think can be classified as harassing units; Eldar Rangers due to
their pinning weapons and the Culexus assassin with its soulless rule. These units have the
ability to disrupt the enemy battle plans.

Distracting units are ones that the enemy thinks are more dangerous than what they are they in a
sense distract his attention from the rest of your army. Any infiltrating unit can be a distraction
purely based on where they are placed on the battlefield. One nasty trick that can be used to
execute this sort of use of infiltrators is to place them into the enemy deployment zone, this can
work well especially in quarter missions against assault based armies. Doing this can force the
opponent to waste valuable time in the game going back to secure their deployment zone
especially important in Cleanse Gamma.

In conclusion infiltrators can be used to great effect in the game, I see that they can have one of
four different roles in a game, which will be dependent on the mission, the abilities and
equipment, the enemy and finally the terrain on the board. But the most important factor in using
infiltrators is to ensure that they are supported by the rest of your force.

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