Thursday, May 7, 2009

"Let me try, I'm a genius!"

We’ve made passing mentions to Creed’s Tactical Genius rule in past articles, but I figured I’d go over a few different tricks you could try by combining it with vehicles and units. There are a lot of things you can do with this ability, but these are some of my favorites.

Gunline BBQ: This is, by far, the most fun I’ve ever had with “Tactical Genius”. Thus works great against Eldar and tau, but is great against IG, especially if most of them try to sit and shoot. Take a Leman Russ Eradicator (you know, the one with the gun that ignores cover), and give it a Hull Heavy Flamer, and Heavy Flamer Sponsons. If you’re a little shy on points, drop the Sponsons, as you can only fire the main gun and one other weapon when you first arrive. When the tank arrives, roll it in from one of the flanks, and light ‘em up. I’ve killed 20 Fire Warriors on the first turn I arrived with this thing. It’s amazing. And, yes, I know Requiem said not to put Flamers on it, but if it's coming in from the flank, you're pretty close to infantry, so an extra wash of flame, especially since it doesn't roll to hit, is pretty nice. Taking a squadron is overkill, though, as they all have to target the same unit.

Chemical Cocktail: Same concept as above, but effective against MEQs as well. Swap the Eradicator out with a Banewolves. While the above tactic can cause a lot of havoc, this causes Marine players to panic like nothing else. Instead of getting those nice 3+ saves, they suddenly find themselves without armour OR cover saves, and only one out of every 6 men surviving. They will direct EVERYTHING they have at them. The alternative to this is to take the first turn, and use the “Scout” rule to move your Banewolf 6in closer to the enemy, then move another 12in when the game starts. Squadrons are good here, just because they provide more hits and soak up more damage.

Charge! : This one’s always entertaining, but will only work well if there’s cover on the side of the board, or you bring El’Rahem and use those squads a screen. Take 10 Roughriders with Meltas and give the Sgt. Meltabombs. Mogul Kamir isn’t essential, but if you want, you can throw him in too. Bring the Rough Riders in near cover, or even better, a large armoured vehicle. Use the Meltas to pop the tank, and then use it for cover. Next turn, smash into something expensive, like Dakkafexes, SM HQs, or Battlesuits that are trying to hide behind cover. Using their hunting lances, the riders should wipe out whatever they hit, then consolidate back into cover. From then on, use them to hunt armour and pick off under strength squads until you run out of men. Again, this is great against MEQ players who haven’t seen Rough Riders in action before “Your horses are going to charge my Devastators? HAHAHAH-wait, what do you mean they hit first and get 20 power weapon attacks at Str 5?”

Meatwave: This works well against gunlines that rely on infantry, and is also pretty useful for intercepting CC units that are getting too close to your line. Take an infantry platoon, give all the squads flamers, throw in a single Vox and a Commissar, and combine them into one giant 50 man squad. The sheer number of bodies means the unit can take a lot of fire and drag down smaller CC squads, and the Commissar means that you won’t run away and be swept off the board. Replacing the Commissar with Yarrick is even more lethal, since the unit becomes fearless, stubborn, and can reroll CC attacks that miss. Also, since the HQ will be joining them, issuing "First Rank, Fire!" could be a lot of fun.

Tankbusters: This one is pretty simple. Take Sgt. Bastonne in a vet squad, and give them Meltas or Plasma (No reason why you can’t give them ‘Pace. That rule only applies to Harker). Pop out next to a tank, have Bastonne issue “Bring it Down!” and, just like magic, you have a unit with twin linked meltas that hit on 3+. Not much can stand up to that.

There you go! Have you guys thought up any tricks yet? Also, bonus points to anyone who can place the quote I used for the title of the article.

Reds

4 comments:

  1. The Adventures of Bob and Doug Mackenzie: Strange Brew.

    Lol, I love that movie. And its Doug's quote.

    By: Lord Solar Macharius (AKA: Perotech)

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  2. I did say it was up to the player... If you've got a devious plan that contradicts my advice -- use it. Tell me how it works for you. And that 'you' is for the reader. Go forth, and strategize!

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  3. Adding a Priest to a Meatwave unit suddenly turns it into an MEQ killer in close combat (especially when combined with Creed's special order). I have claimed a total of 4 SMurf squads with this strategy (1 Devastator, 2 Tacticals and an Assault), and I even suffered minimal casualties, too. It's fun!

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