Back to the Table of Contents
- 3.1 General Comments 20
- 3.2 Cavalry Units 21
- 3.3 Infantry Units 24
- 3.4 Flying Troops 28
- 3.4.1 Lightning Assault 28
- 3.4.2 Death from Above 29
- 3.5 War Machines 29
- 3.6 Special Units 32
- 3.7 How to Make it Work 33
- 3.7.1 Improvising 33
- 3.7.2 Supporting Units with Each Other 34
Sarrion shook his head to rid himself of his dark thoughts. The voice of
his young adjutant, Amanthas, called again. "Why is that unit attending
the battle, my lord?" He asked again. "I thought we were planning to
fight a missile duel with our foes?"
Sarrion did not answer, simply because he could not. Why on earth had he
requested the aid of the Cavalry of Caledor. He turned to look at the
arriving troops of Prince Tallanrim.
The magnificent Dragon Prince regiment, with their proud banners
fluttering in the wind, rode forward. Carried by the hand-picked steeds
of Caledor, the noblest sons of Ulthuan were clad in jewel-encrusted
armor and armed with diamondbladed swords and lances. A beautiful sight.
But futile. The whole enemy army was entrenched behind barricades, with
missile-weapons ready. There were no knights for the Dragon Princes to
joust with.
Sarrion remembered the small band of Shadow Warriors that had offered
their services to him. He had turned them away with harsh words: "This
is the Royal Army of Ulthuan, not a haven for vagabonds and busy-bodies!
Begone you wastrels!" he had sneered. The leader of the Shadow Warriors,
a pale elf-maid who had lost her husband in a Dark Elf raid, just nodded
her head and her group melt into shadows. Now he dearly wished that
those keen-eyed archers were here.
Prince Tallanrim bowed lightly on his saddle, and fixing his eyes on
the Elf general he asked "What are your orders, Sire?" Uncomfortably,
Sarrion's mind raced to find an answer. He found none.
I imagined the above question being asked from my erudite Elf General
as he surveyed his forces before a great battle and placed myself in
his position. Why do I bring particular troops to the field? Why is the
general requesting their presence? Below are my conclusions.
One of the greatest problems that aspiring WFB commander faces is
not to make plan, but to stick to it! I've seen many, many carefully
constructed armies crumble simply because their General did not actually
know what to do with their troops! Their units lack a purpose: while
individually strong and well thought out, they were still beaten because
their units moved around the battlefield in a confused manner, allowing
their enemies to dictate the battle.
This is a sure way to defeat when playing against an experienced
opponent. While I and most other WFB fans play for fun, it is
frustrating when you cannot see what is wrong with your army. In fact
getting around this is relatively simple: be ruthless and single minded.
For example, if I have decided that my Heavy Cavalry unit is going to
attack the opponent's infantry unit with Wizard Lord, I will not abandon
this mission for trivial reasons. Many players are intimidated by massed
missile regiments, but if I have decided to attack, I will plan my units
carefully and charge in determinately. This is the core of my advice in
this article: give a mission to your unit and try to fulfill it! Be sure
to adjust your plan if needed, but do not be intimidated!
The efficiency (in my eyes at least) is not dictated by the damage
the unit can cause, but rather how many points you spend on achieving
some particular goal. For example, my Kislev Horse archers might not
cause a single casualty, but if they manage to prevent a unit of Chaos
Knights from marching and thus keep them out of battle, I think that
the few points spent in them are well worth it! With this in mind I
try to anticipate my opponent's choice of troops and find some way of
neutralizing his/her plans.
Below is a list how I go about giving orders to my units. First I
describe a unit type and how I use it, and then I have included an
example of a unit that I have used in some former battle in my past and
who I played against, and finally I will describe the actual orders I
used and explain why I did so.
The main problem of cavalry is it's very high point cost value (not to
mention the actual prize in the shops!) this limits the size of the
units and leaves them vulnerable to a concentrated enemy fire, as well
as War of Attrition. Try to counter this with speed and by destroying
the most threatening War Machines.
Usually Heavy Cavalry is expensive, but relatively fast and very
powerful when it comes to hand to hand combat. This tends to make the
Heavy Cavalry regiments rather small, and consecutively easy to deal
with if your opponent has any War Machines to speak about. There is
little else to say except CHARGE! Due the limited size and the high
enemy attention, these units must get to hand to hand as soon as
possible, and very preferably by charging.
With heavy cavalry, it is more important than ever to study the
strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. Certain units fall like a a
scythed grass before the charge of the Heavies, but some troops, like
Trolls can be very, very bothersome. As your Heavy Cavalry is almost
priceless, you must use it against the right opponent if you want them
to be cost effective.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
6 Chaos Knights, with Chaos Armor, carrying the Banner of Rage,
with a Chaos Champion of Khorne with Strength Potion, led by a Chaos
Hero of Khorne with Collar of Khorne and Starblade Lance, Chaos Armor,
shield, additional hand weapon, Chaos Steed, barding, lance.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Skaven.
-
ORDERS:
-
Skaven are numerous so a plenty of killing power is needed. This unit
should have it. High armor save protects you somewhat from the Jezzail
fire, and your movement of 7 will get you charging in no time. Collar of
Khorne discourages any attempts to target this unit with spells. Steer
clear from Poison Wind Globadiers, and be sure that you don't engage the
"main Block" of Skaven alone. A Beastmen regiment should do the trick.
The Starblade Lance grants the Hero a strength of 8 while charging! This
should bother even the mightiest monsters and heroes. Engage smaller,
supporting Stormvermin and Plague monk units first and then combine your
efforts with other regiments to rout the "main blocks".
Some cavalry units, like the Kislev Horse Archers, can rarely
defeat the entire enemy army by themselves. ("Never" might be more
appropriate.)
Their role, while not as glorious, is just as important to the overall
efficiency of the Army as your Heavy Infantry or Cavalry.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
2 * 6 Kislev Horse Archers in Skirmish formation.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Bretonnia.
-
ORDERS:
-
Since the Grande Army of Bretonnia relies on their Knightly Orders when
it comes to real combat, slowing these excellent Shock troops is a good
idea. Kislevites orders are to ride close to the knights using terrain
or other troops as cover so that they will not be shot to pieces. Once
they reach the Knights, they will stay reasonably close to them to stop
their march moves and try to keep out of their Charge range. (High
movement and ability to skirmish should take care of that.)
If you are able to field cavalry that is both cheap and numerous, there
is a great temptation to build a large, fastmoving and hard hitting
unit as your main cavalry regiment. What do I have to say about such a
temptation? GIVE IN! If you can build such a unit properly, it is easily
one of the most powerful things in the whole game. Savage Orc Boar Boyz
are a prime example of this, being both relatively cheap points wise and
very powerful in combat.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
20 Savage Orc Boar Boyz with Standard of Shielding, spears, led by a
Savage Orc Lord with Crown of Command, Black Amulet and the Morgor the
Mangler. Also with the unit is Savage Orc Big Boss, with Strength Potion
and a Blade of Darting Steel. Also included is a Savage Orc Boss with
ring of Volans and a Savage Orc level 2 Shaman with Warrior Familiar.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Empire.
-
ORDERS:
-
Wiv' gotta get stuck in `fore dem Big Gunz get uz! Humies arr yellow
gitz, and can't stand and fiwt, so weel stomp em for good! Dem pansy
`oomies shoot uz wiv Big Gunz, so wee mush get stuk in fast. Wee doo
not havta vorry aboot the arrez, and no gurly humie can beat uz in
hand-fer-hand! Wee have 1+ save, and dem tattoos, so wee iz unstoppbul.
Just get near da right oonits so frenzy not make uz charge wrong bunch!
Medium cavalry is perhaps the trickiest troop type in the whole game.
Many such units, like the Dark Elf Dark Riders can be boosted to a
higher hand to hand potential with spears or such. This is often a very
a tempting option, but it does make them even more expensive. I myself
give such units (Reaver Knights, Wood Elf Knights, Kislev Winged Lancers
and Dark Riders, for example) all possible equipment and suitable magic
standard if allowed to take such. This gives my troops a great deal
of flexibility. It is risky, as you can very easily lose the entire
regiment in a one unlucky shooting phase, but them again, a unit that
can perform as a fast missile/medium hand to hand /General Annoyance
unit is very handy indeed.
When attacking opposing units that are built for hand to hand, try to
charge from flanks or from rear. The melee specialists in the first rank
are too much for medium cavalry.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
10 Reaver Knights with bows and spears and a standard Led by a Champion
with Dragonblade Lance.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Skaven.
-
ORDERS:
-
As a Fast Cavalry unit (save 5+ and movement 9) the Reavers are very
fast moving and maneuverable and have some small potential in hand to
hand with spears. Initially they are set near the Repeater Bolt Throwers
and will race towards any unfriendly Gutter Runners that might have some
ideas about taking out your prized War Machines. they will either shoot
at them if the unit is small, or use their Fast Cavalry rules and change
into two ranks and charge them. After this they will get in the way of
the enclosing units, shooting and moving away, possibly even getting in
the enemy flanks and preventing them from marching, all while shooting
with all they are worth.
Infantry is, in my eyes is the backbone of most armies. Numerous, often
reasonably powerful, and easily capable of supporting other regiments,
I rarely take the field without an infantry regiment or two. The main
weakness of infantry in my eyes is that it is very unwieldy and not
good at responding to unexpected, like an enemy unit that is suddenly
transported behind the regiment via Bridge of Shadow's spell.
Infantry in General and Dwarf infantry in particular is too slow to
really serve as Shock Troops. Thus it might be a good idea to just pick
the unit with best defensive capabilities, tailor the characters within
these units to a defensive role, guard the flanks of such a unit, and
let the enemy come to you! Good armor saves are recommendable, and try
to think some good ways to counter your opponent's advantage of the
first strike when he/she charges. Sword of Swift Slaying, Black Amulet,
Black Gem of Gnar, Master Rune of Spite and Mork's War Banner.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
24 Iron Breakers with Standard of Shielding, with a Champion with a
Horn engraved with the Master Rune of Dismay, and led by a Dwarf Lord
with an amulet inscribed with the Master Rune of Spite and two runes
of Luck, carrying an Axe with the following Runes: Skalf Blackhammer's
Master Rune and two runes of Cutting. He also carries the Golden Scepter
of Norgim. Unit is also accompanied by Burlok Damminson with the
Flying Axe(TM): Master Rune of Flight, Rune of Smiting and the Rune of
Breaking. Burlok also wears the Black Amulet. Also with the unit is a
Battle Standard Bearer with a Runic Banner: Master Rune of Valaya and
the Rune of Courage.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Chaos.
-
ORDERS:
-
Stand Firm and expect the onslaught of the enemy. Move only very
slightly to interpose the unit so that you won't be flanked. Remember
not to disrupt the overall battle-line with reckless charges. When the
foul spawn of Chaos is near enough, start using the Burlok's flying
hammer on toughest possible target while boosting his strength with the
Golden Scepter. Rune of Courage will protect you from Fear/Terror Tests,
and your potential to survive damage should be spectacular.
When you want to win the game in hand to hand and you don't want to
rely on fragile cavalry, the toughest infantry unit you can muster is
the answer. Infantry is blessed with great numbers, small base width,
and due the greater numbers it has a higher resiliency when it the time
comes to take panic checks for fleeing troops and casualties. Characters
can also be included in a lower price, as they do not require mounts
or monsters, and can spend the extra points on some nice magical toys.
Crown of Command is a very good choice for a infantry core unit, as one
failed test might otherwise bring your plans to a catastrophical end.
Some opponents have very efficient ways to deal with 1 wound infantry:
High and Dark Elves with their Repeater Bolt Throwers and the armies of
the Empire, for example, are easily capable tearing your infantry apart
unless you have taken suitable precautions. I have a few ways of keeping
my main infantry blocks alive if I am expecting to face a virtual Hail
of Death.
First is to have more wounds than one for each model in the unit! Ogres,
Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Beastmen, Minotaurs and Mummies are very good
troops in hand to hand, have astounding resilience, and on the top of
it, they usually cause Fear, also!
The second method is effective when facing an enemy that uses War
Machines and weapons that rely on Ballistic Skill, like Bolt Throwers
and Crossbows/Bows/Hand Guns/Whatever. Quite simply, equip your unit
with magic items that give penalties to missile fire! Ruby Chalice is
the best such choice but there are others like the Bad Moon Banner of
the Orcs and Goblins.
Lastly, you are relatively safe from enemy fire when in hand to hand, so
get stuck in! Moving with determination, and getting some help from a
wizard with the Bridge of Shadows/ Bridge of Ice/Radiance of Ptolos will
be extremely useful. Charge in, kill, and immediately go looking for
another target. If fight starts to drag on, remember to envelope your
opponent if you are winning.
Finally, Standard of Shielding is also a worth of some thought. That 6+
unmodified save is very useful when taking a lot of casualties, as is
the way of the large infantry blocks.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
24 Witch Elves with a Banner of Might. Unit is led by a Witch Elf
Champion with Sword of Swift Slaying and Witch Elf Hero with Ruby
Chalice, Heavy Armor, and sword of Enscorcelled Iron (if faced with WS 5
or lower troops, will hit automatically with the Banner of Might!) And
Halberd in the case of higher armor saves.
-
OPPONENT:
-
High Elves.
-
ORDERS:
-
Engage the opposing foot regiments while our artillery takes care of
enemy War Machines and Cavalry with the aid of Harpies and Cold Ones.
Avoid Shadow Warriors that will only slow us down. Choose a suitable
target RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING, because even with Ruby Chalice, there
will be casualties. Head towards the target mercilessly and make sure
other troops support the advance. Do not get into frenzy too early and
charge some unit that is there deliberately to slow you down, like the
Shadow Warriors.
When it comes to missile troops, I personally have a very firm opinion
about them: they are to be used for laying a curtain of fire over the
enemy, moving as little as possible, and picking targets they can wound.
I've seen many, many blood crazed generals who have made vicious charges
with their archers against enemy melee-specialists. Believe me, it has
been messy! There are exceptions, of course, like when you have an
opportunity to charge a low leadership unit on flank or rear with your
archers, causing a panic test. But as a thumb rule, you should build
and deploy your infantry missile troops with orders of "FIRE!" in your
mind. There are two approaches to build these units under the Longsword
Military Doctrine: Big blocks and numerous small units.
Large units can placed on a hill where they will have an excellent field
of fire, they will take up relatively small part of your deployment
zone, and a combined shot from 24 crossbows can be truly devastating as
it is easier to pick targets because the wide frontage that gives a good
visibility over the field.
Some troops, like Wood Elf and Dark Elf Scouts can Skirmish, and they
can forfeit their "Stand and Shoot" option in favor of moving slowly
away from the enemy while still firing their arrows, as they can turn
freely and thus move 5" away from the enemy and fire at them!
-
EXAMPLE 1:
-
20 Crossbowmen of the Empire.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Orcs and Goblins
-
ORDERS:
-
Deploy near to your general if possible, as leadership 7 leaves a lot to
hope for. Two ranks of 10 archers each on a hill is ideal. This gives
you a wide line of fire. The potential of Crossbows is immense. It both
Wounds better (a good idea against toughness 4 Orcs) and also reduces an
armor save of the opposing troops. Pick a suitable target amongst the
advancing units. There is no sense of wasting your massive killing power
on five Goblins that were taken by your enemy just to field the Doom
diver when you could stop the incoming unit of Big `Uns!
-
EXAMPLE 2:
-
3*6 Dark Elf Scouts.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Empire.
-
ORDERS:
-
The Empire is notorious for it's ability to field many "Wonder Weapons"
that can be very dangerous to the Dark Elves. (Hellblaster is a good
example) These things must be dealt with before your own close assault
units get stuck in. Therefore Scouts must deploy as close to the Empire
War Machines as possible, and shoot 2 bolts each against the crews
as soon as possible. After this, they can make a general nuisance of
themselves by shooting lightly armored targets.
Some troops have a benefit of the special rule Infiltration, and such
troops are almost all missile troops. Their ability has a two fold
advantage. First, they have a good chance to choose a suitable place
for their mission, and second, they can start executing it almost
immediately.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
10 Gutter Runners with add. hand weapons and slings.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Undead.
-
ORDERS:
-
Silence the Screaming Skull Catapults as soon as possible, either in
hand to hand or with the slings. As the Undead rarely have lots of
missile troops, Gutter Runners can sometimes operate in a relative
peace. After Chukers, use that movement of 6 and get where the fight
is. With strength 4 and additional hand weapons, you should get by
handsomely. Watch out for Carrion.
Flyers are a very special case, and thus I have separated them from
the other units. Their main advantage is (surprise, surprise) their
wings! With possibility to move very quickly indeed, they can execute
"Blitzkrieg" missions.
All armies have an excellent choice of very powerful monsters, with
Manticore taking the pride of place. Such creatures are very fast if
they fly, hideously powerful in hand to hand, and on the top of it, they
usually cause Terror and have other special rules!
-
EXAMPLE:
-
2 Manticores (simple, isn't it?)
-
OPPONENT:
-
Dark Elves
-
ORDERS:
-
Take out Repeating Bolt Throwers as soon as possible, starting with
the ones that have best fields of fire. Charge enemy regiments from
behind as soon as combat gets Close and Personal. Remember to force
your opponent to take all the required Terror tests! Manticores are
ideal against armies with basic strength of 3 and no high strength War
Machines, as their toughness 7 makes them immune to strikes made with
strength lower than 4.
Flying creatures have, due their ability to Fly High, an excellent
chance to rid you from those pesky enemy War Machines and Missile
troops. Some flyers are a bit too expensive for this role, however,
and while using your Manticore to eat the opposing Repeater Bolt
Throwers and using the Terror to scare away any opponents near by is
certainly NOT a bad idea, it is worth noting that it is not easy to
take out enough opposing War Machines when your own point cost is 200
and Repeater's is measly 50! This is because once Manticore lands, it
becomes a prime attraction to any enemy characters and War Machine fire.
Thus, cheaper flyers are sometimes just as good in killing the War
Machine Crew, and don't get so much enemy attention.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
A unit of 8 Harpies in two ranks.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Chaos Dwarfs.
-
ORDERS:
-
To fly High immediately and descend upon the inevitable Earthshaker
Cannons. After dealing with these, attack either the Death Rockets or
Blunderbuss Regiments (from behind) or, if such target are not present,
charge units already engaged from behind or from side, causing panic
test and increasing Combat resolution.
The distinctive point about War Machines is that, apart from Chariots,
War Wagons, Steam Tanks and very few other exceptions, their crews
are THE weakest things in hand to hand you can imagine. It is quite
difficult to protect them (if you are not a Dwarf with access to the
Rune of Disguise) and they are easily frightened away for the most part.
Some War Machines, like the Death Rocket, Bolt Throwers and in some
extent, the Stone Throwers, are at their best when taking out rank and
file. When they also cause panic test, like the Flame Cannon, they are
very good against armies without high leadership.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
A battery of 6 Skull Chukers.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Empire.
-
ORDERS:
-
As the leadership of humans is not very high, wanted them
to take plenty of panic tests. Thus I ordered the Skull Chukers to
concentrate their fire on units without character leaders.
Some War Machines are specialized: Flame Cannons and Warpfire-Throwers
are wonderful against flammable targets, while Poison Wind Globadiers
specialize taking out very tough and/ or well armored troops.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
A unit of 6 Warp-Fire Throwers.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Undead.
-
ORDERS:
-
This was an extremely High Risk test that I pulled through. As I was
correctly expecting lots of Mummies, I decided that with Ikit leading
my army they could get along as long as they were near him and his
leadership 9. They opened fire at the close range and toasted a whole
unit of 16 Mummies! A classic act of mass destruction! Later they routed
a unit of Ghouls. Not very typical example, but it aptly shows that War
Machines CAN cause tremendous damage. Their orders were simple: fry
mummies and then turn on anything else on the field!
Some War Machines invoke almost supernatural fear in most opponent's.
Try to use this to your advantage as detailed below. As the enemy will
rather go around than get in the range of these devices, they are great
at dictating the events of the battle.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
2 Hellblaster Volley Guns.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Skaven.
-
ORDERS:
-
The purpose of the Hellblasters is to herd the Skaven towards the other,
less threatening artillery pieces and the main units of the Empire army
that are positioned centrally. With this in mind, they are placed on the
flanks of the deployment zone, protected by the Horse Archers and ready
to shoot! If Skaven Regiments are foolish enough to come towards them,
oblige to them and fire away!
Repeater Bolt Throwers are best when used in Large numbers, as this
produces the famous "Kebab" effect that can slaughter whole units. These
weapons have long range, they are accurate, and against rank and file
they are deadly.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
Battery of 8 Repeater Bolt Throwers.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Skaven.
-
ORDERS:
-
Shoot a concentrated volleys on units in the descending order dictated
by the threat that each unit represents. Or keeping it simple: Kill all
big blocks of Skaven, Starting with the largest, and ignore Skavenslave
units.
As a variant, concentrating the fire of all eight Reaping Bolt Throwers
on Screaming Bell might very well do the trick and rid you of a Striker
and a Grey Seer.
Chariots have always been my favorite, and thus I have spent a
considerable time in devising tactics for them. There are two roles for
them: Offense with the rest of the army, and aggressive defence (e.g.
waiting behind buildings until the enemy comes within Charge range.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
Unit of Three Wolf Chariots, with Skarsnik in one of them, equipped with
Skarsnik's Prodder, Ruby Chalice and his Chariot is equipped with the
"`Eadbang Banner." All have Scythed Wheels and extra crew.
-
OPPONENT:
-
The Undead.
-
ORDERS:
-
Skarsnik's Red Chariots are one of my main attack units. Skarsnik gives
them good enough leadership to take tests and any wizard touching them
will instantly die as they are an unit! (Cheesy, I know...). Orders are
to find and destroy the main units, while Doom Divers silence the Skull
Catapults. Ere We Go, Ere We Go Ere We Go!
Here are some examples of very special cases, where I have constructed
units that are almost useless in any other mission than the one I had
planned for them.
Many Generals regard some units so dangerous that they will commit
enormous amounts of missile fire and close combat units to deal with
these "Nemesis" troops. For example, I've been known to be a bit
paranoid about any unit of Bull Centaurs rolling towards my lines. Such
phobias can be used against your opponent: if you think it is worth the
risk to field a relatively small and cheap unit of troops that will
make your adversary go pale, then try it out! I've seen people to waste
amazing amounts of War Machine fire against small mob of Savage Orc Boar
Boyz that had no extras at all! Meanwhile rest of the Greenskin army was
busy winning the battle by marching in without any distracting missile
fire directed against them.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
6 Bull Centaurs, Bull Centaur Champion with Sword of Swift Slaying.
-
OPPONENT:
-
High Elves
-
ORDERS:
-
Charge towards some important Elf regiment (preferably one with the Mage
Lord) and behave in a threatening manner. This should win you some time
while Elves shoot at the Bulls and you can deploy your army better and
start your attacks with the flying monsters.
The classic of very specially tailored units, the trap is an old
favorite. Get troops that will bog down the enemy that you won't fancy
fighting. Wardancers, unbreakable troops and cheap troops with Crown of
Command should do the trick.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
8 Wardancers with a Champion Carrying the Sword of Fortitude.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Chaos.
-
ORDERS:
-
Try to tie up the toughest possible unit with the Shadow's Coil. This
will give your other troops a Chance in hand to hand. Sword of Fortitude
will take care of any Terror/Panic/Fear tests that might otherwise rout
your invaluable Wardancers. No other Orders.
Sometimes a particular Character, Regiment, Monster, War Machine or
whatever that your opponent uses is so dangerous that you might want to
equip a unit especially tailored to take this threat out. Sadly, the
magic items make the Characters the best troops for this.
-
EXAMPLE:
-
Chaos Hero on Griffon, with Sword of Destruction, supporting my
Bloodthirster.
-
OPPONENT:
-
Wood Elves.
-
ORDERS:
-
To get rid of the Black-Gem carrier. As the Black Gem of Gnar is
almost the only thing in the Wood Elf Army that is dangerous to the
Bloodthirster, I decided to make a trap. I landed my Bloodthirster in
the middle of the Wood Elf Army, forced the Wood Elfs to take some
Terror tests, and sure enough, a lone elf charged my Bloodthirster and
used the Black Gem. Unphased, I used Grey Wings in the next magic phase
and moved my Hero with the Sword of Destruction on base-to-base with the
Gem-carrier. Then the orders were simple: KILL! KILL! KILL!
If your whole plan against Dwarfs is based to take out their War
Machines and the wily Dwarf King takes the field supported only by
slayers, Iron Breakers and Hammerers, it is easy to lose hope. I have
only one piece of advice: Improvise! Continuing with the example above,
the flying creatures you took against the Dwarf War Machines can Fly
High and then land behind the enemy regiments, ready to engage them from
the rear once your other units get into hand to hand with the Dwarf
regiments. Any long-range fire that was planned to take out the War
Machine crews can now be directed against Slayers who also have a low
(read non-existent) armor save. So when your plan is no longer valid and
you can't execute your orders, improvise!
There is a trick to learn when giving orders to your troops: if they are
not compatible with each other your army will not be able to function
properly and will be destroyed piece by piece. A good example of this
are very small regiments that are placed as a "Charge Cover" in the
front of the main units. As these units will usually be cut to pieces
by the enemy charges, their death will leave the attacking regiments
exposed to your counter-charge. Especially good in such a role are
troops that are immune to psychology and/or unbreakable, as these will
NOT run away and spoil your plan. There are other, more obvious ways to
support units: Keeping units in a firm battle line prevents attacks to
the flanks, shooting advancing enemy formations so they lose extra ranks
and so on.
Here you go. I hope this gave you some ideas. Please let me hear about
them.
Next part:
Characters Must Die!.