Note these are not written by me, but was written by Tuomas Pirinen some time around 1995, some stuff are pure cheeze & some stuff is probably not even legal under the warhammer rules of 5th edtion, but I still thought someone might enjoy reading them, if nothing else than for nostalgias sake.
1.5 Warning
Some rules in Warhammer are not very clear. In the strategy articles written by Toumas, he allows characters to be placed anywhere in a unit that they join. Some people (and sometimes GWUK) claim that characters must be in the front rank of units.There may be other rules that Toumas interprets in his articles that are interpreted differently by others.
1.6 Editor
I have taken the liberty of editing this page somewhat for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I claim no copyright to any of this information.2.0 Building Armies - The Strategic Approach
2.1 Checklist
I have composed a checklist that I follow when building my armies. It is listed below, and after it I tell how I actually go about in each step.- Study your opponent and your own army.
- Decide the overall plan based on the opponent`s army and the natural tendencies of your own forces.
- Choose the overall strategy.
- Choosing between offensive, defensive and other strategies.
- Define tactics
- The actual methods I intend to use in this particular battle. Choosing what type of troops I need.
- Choose the right tools for the job.
- Buying and equipping the units, characters, allies, monsters and War Machines that suit my plan.
- Give a battlefield role for each unit.
- Choosing the missions for each unit fielded.
- Deploy the troops.
- Putting together the battle line and using terrain to give the greatest possible advantage.
2.2 Know thy Enemy
Before choosing the overall strategy it is well worth looking at the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen enemies. While it is true that it is virtually impossible to make a good defensive Skaven army, and thus some of the suggestions below may be useless to some particular force, the general guidelines should prove helpful.I have listed the main strong points of each army you might be facing, and the things you should look out for. After that are my quick suggestions for "medicine" against this army. One thing you should also consider is the actual person you are playing against! For example, my regular undead opponent is very fond of mummies and the undead chariots, so when I face him I usually take some flaming weapons for my characters, and plenty of missile support to cut down the undead chariots.
2.2.1 Bretonnia
Dealing with them: Without the army book of their own, the Bretonnia is currently pretty weak. You can simply overpower them with superior quality and special characters. Warning! This will change with the army book! For now, any long range attack that allows no save will demolish the Bretonnian Knights.
2.2.2 Chaos
Dealing with them: The thing to remember is that very few things can stand against Chaos in fair hand to hand match. Don't be fair. Buy all possible anti-character equipment you can think of, Black Gem of Gnar leading the way. Flee from the battles you are destined to lose.
Shoot, shoot, shoot!
Take plenty of anti-flying items: the Amulet of Ravensdark is particularly good.
2.2.3 Chaos Dwarfs
Dealing with them: You MUST get rid of the Earth shaker Cannon(s). Flying troops, missile troops, your own artillery, anything will do, just as long as these devices are silenced. Against Bull Centaurs, I'd recommend heroes with weapons that cause multiple wound per hit. Against Blunderbusses, I recommend very fast troops that can outflank them and charge in without taking too many casualties.
2.2.4 Dark Elves
Dealing with Them: Toughness 3 is the key. Like most other Elves, the Dark Ones are very vulnerable to powerful strikes. Take high strength troops and a few missile units to pick on the rather lightly armored dark elf Regiments. Try to cause as much casualties as possible! Normally, I choose very carefully whatever I wish to move my units to a better position or to attack/shoot my enemies, but against Dark Elves I almost always try to kill as many troops as soon as possible. Since Elves are expensive troops, they can not cope with high casualty ratio.
2.2.5 Dwarfs
Dealing with them: If you have a very powerful hand to hand fighter (like Chaos Lord or Black Orc War Boss), I recommend mounting him on monster, and giving him the Sword of Destruction. This way, you can negate the nigh-invincible 800+ point Dwarf Lord's magic items.
I recommend taking fliers to deal with the war machines
Take any and all War Machines that allow no save, since the high armor save values of the Dwarfs is legendary. Trying to out shoot Dwarfs is almost always futile: crossbows, hand guns, cannon balls and bothersome Gyrocopters will soon make mess of your army. The only army I'd really recommend to challenge the Dwarfs in a missile duel is the High Elves. They can mow the Dwarfs down if they have enough Repeater Bolt throwers.
The weakness of the Dwarfs is their slowness. If you keep your wits about you, you should be able to dictate the events. Attack their flanks, evade the most powerful characters unless you are sure you can win, be persistent on your use of spells. Even the Master Rune of Valaya fails sometimes. Make sure your hand to hand troops have a very high strength so you can negate the high toughness and armor saves of the Dwarfs.
2.2.6 Empire
Dealing with them: Take all sort of War machines (preferably with strength 10) to take out the empire artillery, war wagons, steam tanks and especially the War Altar of Sigmar. I recommend Goblin Doom Divers if you can lay your hands on them. (Via allies perhaps?)
The Special characters of the Empire are quite useful, but they are not adept hand to hand fighters. Engage and destroy.
Humans have low leadership scores, so terror and such things work very well against them. If you have truly superior hand to hand troops, charging across the battlefield as fast as possible is a good plan. Almost any flying creature can easily deal with the War Machine crews of the Empire. Ring of Corin might be good for taking out most troublesome magic items like the Staff of Volans.
2.2.7 High Elves
Dealing with them: Ruby Chalice is essential to your main unit. If you can get troops with multiple wounds, go for them! Repeater Bolt Throwers can't penetrate such units. An overall tactic that works best against the High Elves is to attack, and do it quickly. High Elves have some decent hand to hand troops, but practically every army has better ones. If you have access to Dark Elf allies (or you are a Dark Elf Lord!) take the dark spawn of Naggaroth! They get hatred against the High Elves for free, and are generally much better fighters.
2.2.8 Orcs and Goblins
Dealing with them: There are two methods I use when dealing with Orcs and Goblins. I either make a superior and lightning fast assault army, or go for full defense. Neither is 100 percent sure. If the Greenskins are having a good day, a hand to hand against them is hopeless. On the other hand, a systematical concentration on their units with Chaos or Skaven army should break them. Start with the most powerful units! Breaking Goblins is no use since this doesn't even cause panic tests! Defense against Greenskins should never be done halfheartedly. The basic toughness of 4 and many relatively fast and powerful units will soon race across the battlefield, shrugging the missile casualties off with their countless ranks, and crush your troops.
2.2.9 Skaven
Dealing with them: Skaven are all or nothing army: If their initial charge fails, they are history. You must be ready to take casualties: Nothing will prevent this. If you try to play defensively, you'll need a lots of missile troops since the number of opponents you must cut down is very great indeed. Crown of Command is essential: otherwise your army will break as the Plague Censer Bearers and Skaven characters put an awful pressure on your units.
Troops with good armor save are often a very good buy since the strength of the Skaven rank and file is rather feeble. If you do take all those knights and Iron Breakers, be sure you have some way of dealing with the Poison Wind Globadiers and Plague Censer Bearers. Banner of Wrath is very good at this. Kill their mages! Skaven sorcerers are hideously dangerous creatures.
2.2.10 Undead
Dealing with Them: You must realize that the undead characters are the thing that count in their army, while most of the rank and file are there just to provide "Look out, Sir!" rolls. Go for full thrust against these: Black Gem of Gnar, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Dark Mace of Death, Black Amulet and lots of anti-character spells should do the trick. Try to get the High Magic Spell "Drain Magic" to shut out the horrendously powerful Undead magic.
2.2.11 Wood Elves
Dealing with them: The magic items I take against them are Ruby Chalice and the things that increase your combat resolution. The best ways to deal with Wardancers is with missile troops and psychology. While they do have a good Elven leadership, repeated tests against it will eventually rout the unit. A mid-powerful unit of Wraiths is good opponent for Wardancers since they force a break test at the end of the each hand to hand round regardless of winning/losing. While the Wardancers are reasonably difficult to hit with arrows, it is also good to remember that each wound caused is worth at least 20 points, and since the Wardancer units are rather small, even few casualties will soon cause a panic test.
2.3 Know thy Own Troops
Of course knowing your enemy is only half the battle! The most important thing is to know your own army! I won't go over this in length here, having dealt with the individual armies in my previous articles. One thing though: choose a strategy that suits your own army! Think carefully what way would be best for dealing with your chosen opponent, and start composing the overall strategy of your troops:2.4 Choosing the Overall Strategy and Specific Tactics
After deciding in what way you intend to deal with the opposition, you must choose your overall plan: Will you defend, attack, or try to strike out a balance between these basic tactics?2.4.1 Offensive
Charge
There is nothing wrong with putting every possible effort into make a truly formidable assault army. There are suitable troops in every army for your main units: Iron Breakers for Dwarfs, Dragon Ogres for Chaos and Flagellants for the Empire, etc. Take the most powerful characters you can get, and plenty of them. Arm them to teeth, put them inside best armor you can find, protect them from magic, and put them into the first rank of your assault units.
Simple: Remember to protect your units! Be sure that every main unit has some kind of protection against magic, good armor save or Ruby Chalice against missiles, and as great numbers that you can muster.
Pick your fights: Defeating a unit of Skavenslaves is truly glorious, but it will avail you not if that 24 strong Rat Ogre unit, led by a Vermin Lord, is bearing on you from the back!
Steady Advance
When playing a mainly offensive army and facing another of the kind, it might be good idea to soften the opposing units a bit before engaging them. Troops should move towards enemy, but not charge headlong against the first unit in their path. While they move forward, the war machines and archers pick on the opponent`s units, so they might lose that one crucial extra rank before hand to hand begins.
The Waves
The Waves suits well for offensive armies that can field large and/or numerous regiments. The basic idea is to divide the army in two parts: First part should consists of very fast troops that can cause considerable damage in hand to hand, followed by slower and more powerful troops. For example, an Empire army could lead it's attack with War Wagons, Kislev Winged Lancers and Steam Tanks, supported by flyers, Outriders, Pistoliers and Kislev Horse Archers.
Following these units would come the slow moving, but powerful Knightly Orders (with more characters you can shake a stick at), Reiksguard and Flagellant infantry, and Ogres, possibly accompanied by the War Altar of Sigmar that ensures that there are no problems with the morale. The advantage of this strategy is that the first wave will "soften up" the opposition before the real units get stuck in. Since the first wave is not supposed to survive the combat, you don't have to tool them up with characters and magic items. Just good, cheap, basic troops that can do their worth of damage. The BEST such unit is the Skaven Plague Censer Bearers. At 15 points, you'll get all the killing power you can hope for. Followed by frenzied and character-heavy Plague Monks, you have a classic "Waves" attack!
2.4.2 Defensive
If you choose to defend, be sure to pick the right tools! If you are facing Orcs, then longbows with their pathetic strength 3 will not suffice. If you are expecting Chaos Knights, even the usually devastating Hellblaster Volley Gun will not bite through their 1+ (or 0+ with the standard of shielding!) save. Better to get some cannons that allow no save.
On a final note, NEVER field an army without any good hand to hand troops. Melee is an essential part of Warhammer, and if any enemy unit with even decent hand to hand capabilities reaches your line, your missile troops are history.
Concentrated Defense
In this strategy almost no enemy units should make it through your hail of missiles. If you know your enemy prefers to advance with faster troops leading the way, followed by slower troops, concentrate all your fire on the nearest unit threatening your line. If you have sufficient firepower, you should be able to destroy the units almost completely once it gets out of the hail of missiles. Then it should be weakened enough for your own hand to hand troops to handle. In this strategy, pick your targets carefully! Don't waste even one arrow on screening units or such unless you have no choice.
Deep Defense
This is rather a variant of any other defensive strategy than a new idea. The main thing is just simply to put more distance between your missile force and the evil enemy who wishes to do much harm to you with their hand to hand monsters. In this strategy, just deploy your troops as near your own table edge as possible. This ought to give you one more turn to shoot at your enemies. The trouble with this strategy is that once your enemies get to you, any and all your troops will certainly flee off the table if broken in hand to hand.
Moving Reserve
This is a very good option for the armies like the Elves who traditionally have missile heavy and fast troops. The trick is to have fast and powerful reserves that move to meet any threat that charging enemies make. While just one or two fast and powerful units do not cost as much as a full hand-to-hand army, they can throw back the enemy offense with bit of luck and a well timed charge.
2.4.3 Split Strategies
Many people wish to field a variable army that has both defensive and offensive troop types. This is as good an idea as any, as long as you know what you are doing. The very classic move is to concentrate all your offensive troops on one flank, and all your missile troops on other. While your melee troops charge and (hopefully) break any opponents on their own flank, the missile troops pound the incoming enemy on their own. The offensive flank then turns to face their enemies that are heading for their missile troops and tries to charge their flank or back. If this works like a textbook example you should be able to "roll" the enemy line, defeating one foe after another, spreading panic as you go. The trouble is that this is a very classic strategy indeed, and a wily experienced General knows how to deal with your flanking force.
Defensive Arch
This is a more defensive version of the Flank Attack. You still divide your troops in half, defensive and offensive. Your missile units should be in the middle of the line, and you should race your offensive units from each flank to make "an arch", or a U-shaped line. Hopefully your enemies will have deployed centrally, and they`ll have to advance inside the U. Then the Iron Jaws close on the hapless enemies, while the center of your line keeps a constant barrage of fire that weakens the advancing enemy. Caught between such a deadly one-two the enemy will hopefully be crushed.
2.4.4 Unorthodox Methods
Guerilla War
Armies that have lots of skirmishing troops and models that can move individually, can try out an interesting variant of Strategy: Guerilla War. I don't suggest this strategy to very inexperienced generals. The gospel of this strategy is not to get stuck in hand-to-hand. Small units of skirmishers, armed with missile weapons, will scuttle to the defensive positions on the field, constantly harassing the enemy with their bows/crossbows/slings/whatever. The trick of defeating the enemy in hand-to-hand lies in powerful models like lone monsters (Manticores are especially well suited for this), chariots, powerful characters on fast/flying mounts and the right combo of magic items. They can move through the battlefield amazingly quickly and put a crushing pressure against their chosen target.
The classic example of this tactic is of course the Wood Elf Army. With it's excellent Chariots, Treemen, Scouts, Wardancers and Beast masters, supported by Elf Heroes on large monsters, they are the right tools for this job. Using every nook and cranny to give them some shelter the missile-armed Wood Elves harass the opposing troops, flee from them if charged, rally with their high leadership, and using their extremely fast troops, gather "striking forces" to defeat the enemy with a local superiority. Almost no unit can survive a combined charge of 2+ Wood Elf chariots supported by Manticore-mounted Elf Heroes. The enemy that does not have a clear opponent in the form of big regiments, charges to and fro, and will be crushed by combined missile attacks and concentrated charges.
A very entertaining variant of this is to field a Chaos army and alter the tactics slightly. The enemies of Chaos often expect a small compact regiments that are relatively few in number. Chaos, however, can field a multitude of very fast troops that can form regiments from single models. Such troops like Chaos Chariots, Dragon Ogres, Greater Daemons and of course Chaos Characters have all the advantages of the maneuverability of a single model with the deadly hand to hand abilities of Chaos. In dense, terrain heavy battlefield they will be able to move very quickly and use any cover available, combining their efforts on one group of foes at a time. The enemy will be hard pressed to find good targets, and some War Machines, like Stone Throwers will be almost useless. Perhaps this is not a best possible tactic for Chaos, but it is an entertaining variant.
2.5 Mustering the Troops
Now you should have pretty good idea what troops and characters you'll need to carry out your brilliant plan. When you choose them, try to remember what they are for. Of course Warhammer is a fast-flowing game where situations change all the time, so sometimes your troops will find themselves unable to perform the mission you gave them. If so, improvise! But if you do have a plan, try not to get distracted by trivial things and carry on regardless of any harassmentIt is a very good idea to write the equipment and the purpose of every unit and character as a reference sheet, along with notes about magic items, dispels, armor saves and all other possible things you can think of. It may seem that you can easily remember every detail before the battle, but once the fighting starts the excitement of the battle will soon make you forget any details about such trivia things like the Amulet of Obsidian the unit has.
2.5.1 General
If you decide to make your general a melee monster, I don't think you need any help on equipping him. Slayer Sword, Black Amulet, Golden Helm atop a big ugly monster. You know this already.
2.5.2 Heroes
2.5.3 Champions
2.5.4 Wizards
My best experiences with such wizards are when I equipped some of them with multiple Power Scrolls (remember that you can take more that one scroll!). An Amethyst Wizard Lord with four Power Scrolls and the Purple Sun of Xereus is awesomely potent on close range.
2.5.5 Special Force Characters
A last word on characters, remember TO GIVE THEM REGULAR EQUIPMENT, TOO! A Mummy Tomb king with lance and a 2 handed weapon doesn't really need a magic sword.
2.5.6 Choosing the Units
2.6 The Roles of the Units
2.6.1 Main Block
The weakness of such units is that your opponent might just be able to cast Fear of Armar or the Curse of the Years with the Total Power, trashing your unit and your hopes of victory.
The strong point on the other hand, is that they are dead hard! Imagine a 40 strong Black Orc Unit with savage Orc Characters on the front rank, accompanied by Forest Goblin Battle Standard with a Spider Banner, and the Battle Banner as the regimental Standard. There is very little what you can do once this unit starts stomping all over your face!
Building such "Main Blocks" is a good bet for armies like Skaven and Orcs and Goblins that have very cheap troops, so they may be ably to compose two such steamrollers instead of one! One note: try to have some sort of plan against such units! They are often nigh-unstoppable if you are unprepared!
I divide the types of such core units in three broad categories:
The Steel Square
Infantry is the most numerous type of rank and file, and almost all armies have a good options out of which their core units can be made of if they want to field an infantry based army. If you are not worried about enemy missiles and war machines, you might as well wait for your opponent to come to you. Especially if your opponent favors lightning fast troops and you play Dwarfs, it is a worthless dream to hope that you could ever get to charge your hated foes. A better option is to choose a very high armor save troops (preferably with the Standard of Shielding), putting the front rank full of defensive characters (ones with very high toughness, Black Amulets, swords that allow you to strike first and so on) and a Battle Standard Bearer with combat resolution boosting banner for a good measure. Such units can take on even a concentrated enemy charge and punch back so it hurts. Suggested for high toughness/multi-wound/high armor save armies only.
Thundering Hooves
Classic shock elites of any army are heavily-armored knights with lances, magic Standards and hand to hand oriented characters. The main block of cavalry should be heavy cavalry. Charging strength should be 6, armor save should be at least 2+, and the charge range 12" and preferably more. Weapon skill should be higher than average troops. Some units, like Bull Centaurs are still heavy cavalry in my mind because of other redeeming qualities. (Toughness 4 and 2 wounds in this particular case). You may get away with medium cavalry (say strength 3 plus lances, 3+ armor save), but I don`t recommend it. It is sadly true that some armies (like High Elves) can't have true heavy cavalry, so if they want to field this type of units, they must use whatever they can get.
The Steamroller
The infantry can also serve as your main assault force. While it lacks the greater potential to charge, it is much more numerous. It can easily absorb almost any kind of missile casualties and still have full 4+ ranks when it gets to hand-to-hand. Also, your front rank will be narrower, allowing the front-rank hand-to-hand specialists to dish out even more damage! Choose the best hand to hand fighters you can find on your rank and file and give them suitable weapons (spears might be a good idea if their strength is high enough). Lap around if you win battles. And above all, choose magic items and spells that protect units, so your Steamroller will have some punch left even after taking a severe mauling. (And it will. There is nothing that aggravates enemy generals like a gigantic block of steel tramping towards his lines!)
2.6.2 Assault Troops
2.6.3 Traps
2.6.4 Support Troops
Some units can be given a specific mission of destruction. You might well be tired of those Goblin Doom Divers pounding your own War Machines. Such a mess calls for drastic measures: a Dwarf General might decide that he puts one or two Gyrocopters with Runes of Disguise and attacks the Doom Divers with the 'Copter ASAP. Or an Undead Lord, faced with Dark Elf Crossbow regiments, might want take a Ghoul unit with a Vampire Count carrying a Ruby Chalice on the fore to take out this nuisance. With their -2 shooting penalty, relatively fast movement and toughness 4, the Ghouls should be able to dispatch any missile unit fairly quickly. Gutter Runners, with their admirable hand-to-hand potential and special deployment rules, are excellent troops for despatching any War Machine crews.
Missile Troops
Don't be blinded: The purpose of the missile troops is to slay their foes from distance. Even if you think that your Savage Orc Arrow Boyz could stand against those Dark Elf Warriors, think again! The lack of ranks and the missing standard already swing the odds heavily in your disfavor.
Devious game designers have given most missile troops an option to buy shields and/or light armor. Why anybody should do this is unknown to me. The only exception I can think of are the Dwarfs: their Crossbowmen can be made formidable hand-to-hand fighters with 2 handed weapons. It is also wasteful trying to charge with them: just stand and shoot, and commence the souls of your brave archers to their ancestors.
Harassers
A good support unit for a defensive army is a unit of "harassers" the classic example of such troops are Kislev horse archers. The role of harassers is to stop powerful opponents from marching by being within 8" of them, shooting the arrows at any convenient target, and staying out the enemy`s charge range.
War Machines
Even when you choose war machines, you should remember your overall strategy: Chariots for offensive armies and Hellblasters for defensive ones.
If you are putting together an offensive army, it is still worth considering to buy some artillery support. A dead enemy is always a good enemy, regardless if it is slain by a war machine of a warrior. If you are planning to close in ASAP, don't take war machines that have scattering templates. It is extremely painful to lose your own troops by friendly fire!
Allies
Many gaming groups make artificial limitations on allies or ban them entirely, but equally many enjoy the chance to field something different. Most generals use the allies to boost their weak points, for example, many Dwarf generals field allied Wizards so they'll get a shot in the magic phase.
As with all other troops, allies should also fit to your overall plan. If you are going to build a defensive line of Chaos Dwarfs, and you are afraid of the knights of the Empire army you are facing, taking some Night Goblin allies with fanatics, and placing them slightly forward to unleash their dervishes on any intruding knights is a good idea.
2.7 Deploying
The last step is to put your troops to the right position in your battle line. When placing your troops, ask yourself: Is this unit going to get to the battle at all if I place it here? If you are putting a unit of Dwarfs to your extreme flank, the answer is usually no. Think in advance about the fields of fire. Put units that support each other next to each other. Deploy fast troops to flanks and slower ones in the middle. Look for advantages in the terrain. Watch out for the places where infiltrators can hide. Once again, pen and a paper are a good friend when deploying your glorious army of conquest.
3.0 What Are Your Orders, Sire?
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 diamond-bladed 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.
3.1 General Comments
3.1.1 Decisiveness
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!
3.1.2 Efficiency
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.
3.2 Cavalry Units
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.3.2.1 Line Breaker
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".
3.2.2 Harassers
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.)
3.2.3 Steamroller
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!
3.2.4 Wasps
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.
3.3 Infantry Units
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 the unexpected, like an enemy unit that is suddenly transported behind the regiment via Bridge of Shadow's spell.3.3.1 Steel Wall
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.
3.3.2 Crusher
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 Blade 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.
3.3.3 Steel Fangs
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.
3.3.4 Strike Force
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.
3.4 Flying Troops
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.3.4.1 Lightning Assault
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.
3.4.2 Death from Above
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.
3.5 War Machines
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.3.5.1 Hit the Weak
EXAMPLE: A battery of 6 Skull Chuckers.
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 Chuckers to concentrate their fire on units without character leaders.
3.5.2 Wonder Weapons
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!
3.5.3 Herders
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!
3.5.4 Mass Destruction
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.
3.5.5 Rolling Death
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!
3.6 Special Units
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.3.6.1 The Bait
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.
3.6.2 The Trap
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.
3.6.3 The Hit Men
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!
3.7 How to Make it Work
3.7.1 Improvising
3.7.2 Supporting Units with Each Other
Here you go. I hope this gave you some ideas. Please let me hear about them.
4.0 Characters Must Die!
One of the most common complaints I hear when playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle, is the excessive power of characters. People find Chaos and the Undead characters especially troublesome. I stopped using full Character Quota a long time ago, preferring to use other methods to win my battles, and thus far nobody has been able to prove otherwise. I have collected few of my tricks that I use against over the top characters here, and I hope they are useful to you. Mind you, I keep the best ones for myself.Here are my suggestions how to deal with too powerful characters and daemons.
4.1 Hit Them
This is the old fashioned way of dealing with the ultra-powerful characters: Simply finish them of in hand to hand.The basic tactic is to ensure that all your close combat units are accompanied by a champion. This gives you a chance to challenge too powerful characters in a single combat so they will be able to cause only one wound. Of course it is very probable that your opponent will have a champion of his own to take up the challenge.
Goblin Netters are one good cheap way of hindering characters and other powerful creatures enormously. Since they only need to hit their opponents to stop them from fighting, they can truly affect the match if they net a Great Unclean One or a Vampire Lord. Just make sure that you charge your opponents and not the other way around. Goblins have so low I that they won't be able to strike first otherwise, and they get killed.
Destroyer is a nice weapon for the Dark Elves, since it can steal spells and magical powers of opponent's items. Since it requires only hit, not a wound to be effective, it is very useful in the hands of a Witch Elf Hero.
Undead have the option of using the Skull Wand of Kaloth with the Hell or Doom Banner. Since this weapon kills outright if a leadership check is failed and a hit is scored, the banners that lower leadership make it very deadly indeed. No armor helps you when your soul is sucked from your body!
4.2 Zap Them
There are many spells that are good for taking out enemy characters. Without giving complete instructions.I recommend: Curse of Anraheir, Madness, Traitor of Tarn, Crimson Bands (with the Staff of Volans!), Piercing Bolts of Burning (when Character is alone), Fate of Bjuna, Light of Battle (recommended!), The Amber Trance (against Skaven Characters), The Writhing Worm, Bridge of Shadows (any rivers on the field?), Purple Sun of Xereus, Death Spasm, The Curse of the Years (terrible...), Wind of Death (especially in the beginning of the game), Bridge of Ice, Waaagh! (Especially against Vampires!), Curse of the Horned One, Lava Storm (against lone characters), Dance of Despair, Cloud of Flies, Miasma of Pestilence, Bondage of Slaanesh, Chaos Spawn
Ring of Corin is a fine way of getting rid of that Crown of Command or that troublesome Chaos Runeshield. The only problem is if the character in question is protected by the Amulet of Obsidian. It is a good idea to keep the Ring of Coring near the Skull Staff. This enables you to know what items are within 12" instead of guessing.
Doomfire Ring is also handy against characters, though it can be dispelled and the Strength 3 leaves a lot to be hoped for. At least even a magical armor offers no protection against it's effect.
4.3 Shoot Them
Cannons should always be aimed towards characters. Sure thing that they get the "Look Out Sir" roll, but they will eventually fail it. Strength 10 and D6/D4/D3 wounds with no save, even for magical armor should put fear in the hearts of your opponent.If you see far too powerful opponent to charging upon your hapless unit and you have any artillery to speak about, then flee! You can shoot that offensive creature during your next turn. If that Dragon rider charged from Flying High it can`t even catch your troops!
You should use Dwarf Organ Cannons if possible. Just make them invisible, and put them a bit further than your main battle line. When your enemy is upon you, fire away!
Sky Arrow of Naloer is becoming very popular and causing some headaches to people who like to mount an awful-icky character on an awful-icky monster. It is almost guaranteed to hit any flying target, and punches very hard.
Hochland Long Rifles are popular devices. Since you can pick any target from a unit, they can be lethal against characters. Of course this depends whatever your opponents disallow the use of more than one Long Rifle in one War Wagon or not. Also, Strength 4 and ballistic skill 3 are not that great against powerful characters.
Dwarfs have a very good anti-Character option:
The Flying Hammer(tm) is my favorite way of dealing with too powerful characters and Daemons. Against Daemons take Master Rune of Flight, and two runes of Smiting (2D6 Wounds! Each wound must be saved separately!) Against characters take Master Rune of Flight, Rune of Smiting and the Rune of Breaking (D6 Wounds and breaks opponents magic weapons).
This little device allows me to choose one opponent within 12" and hit him automatically. I tend to give this to Burlok Damminson (remember, Dwarf Special Characters, apart from Felix and Gotrek, can be equipped with any magical items you wish, see Dwarf Book p.81). Since Burlok has a strength of 7 (or 8 if affected by the Scepter of Norgim) I can be fairly sure of causing some damage, and the rune of Breaking only needs to hit to be effective.
Because Chaos Runeshield and the Sword of Destruction affect only those magic items whose possessors are in base to base contact with the wieldier of these things, they are of no use against the Flying Hammer. Since this thing is relatively useless against rank and file, (unless they are Dragon Ogres) your opponent will soon learn to put his/her faith in regiments instead of characters.
4.4 Eat Them
A giant is an entertaining way of disposing of unwanted characters. Since the usual tactic of hiding inside units isn`t effective against Giant, wizards are in a grave danger. If characters are your trouble, just choose "PICK UP" option from Giant`s attacks and voila! You have 50/50 chance of disposing of the troublesome character, and 1/3 chance of getting rid of the character for good! Sure your opponent can make 1 attack, but this might not hit and there is a good chance it doesn't wound. Especially wizards are vulnerable to this. If your Giant decides to eat or squash the bothersome character, then no armor or Black Amulet is going to help him! I have eaten a Savage Orc Lord (lively breakfast), Lord Skrolk and a Champion of Nurgle (Yech!) In my hay-day.4.5 Trick Them
Van Horstmann's Speculum (the Chaos Special Character's!) Is becoming a real hit. I recommend on taking it against Chaos (and Undead) very strongly. Give the bearer the Hydra Sword in addition and you can score D6 hits with your opponent's strength and Attacks!Amulet of Ravensdark: Is Bloodthirster or a Vampire Lord on Manticore bearing down on you? Don't worry! Anything that has wings and charges a unit with this item is doomed to die. Especially useful against those Chaos Disc riders.
Black Gem of Gnar: Take the Cheapest Character possible and give him this wonderful device. Since it can be activated at ANY time, you shouldn't be afraid of anything. Just choose the most powerful character you can get into base to base contact, and then "do the Time Warp again!"
War Banner of Mork is a popular with Orc armies. I prefer either giving it to a Battle standard bearer in unit of Goblin Wolf Riders Move 9 or mounting the Battle Standard on a flying monster. Of course your opponent will start to hide his/her wizard inside units to evade this, but at least he can't use those spells that require line of sight.
4.6 Rout Them
Great many super-powered characters use some flying mount. There is only one good thing about them: If they ever lose a battle, they are automatically driven off, or if they fail their break test they flee 3D6" just like regular regiments! To achieve this you need a good combat resolution.A very good option is the Banner of Defiance. You might not be able to pursue, but you`ll either drive flying creature off, or if that superpowerful creature doesn`t make it`s break test, it is a sitting duck for your artillery.
Another is the Battle Banner. And if these two are combined in one unit (via Battle Standard)...
4.7 Stop Them
There is a unit of Dragon Ogres, led by a Dragon Ogre Lord and a Chaos Lord, rolling towards you? Your opponent just made a classic mistake of concentrating too much in one unit! There are two ways to deal with this:- White Dragon. As long as you score just ONE hit, and the whole unit is unable to do anything at all! (Except fight back when attacked). No spell-casting, no shooting, no nothing! Just blast with your own artillery, and the followers of Chaos are history. Some people have claimed that White Dragon`s breath affects only models hit, but the Beastiary (page. 55) says otherwise.
- Other option is to use Wardancers. Just charge the opponents with "the Shadows Coil" and they are trapped in a fight they can not win, since every combat round automatically ends in draw.
4.8 Ka-Boom!
One of the oldest tricks in the book is to use the Heart of Woe to hurt your opponent`s characters. I have a few suggestions for variations.Mummy Tomb Kings. Do you have any idea how big hole Settra leaves when he explodes?
Dwarfs with Runes of Fortitude(s). You can create a Dwarf Rune Lord with 7 wounds and blast whole Chaos army into oblivion. (I call it "a Medieval Tactical Nuke")
A Dwarven war machine with the rune of Immolation is also good against powerful characters who attack your poor defenseless cannon. I once saw an organ gun with three runes of this kind. Fried that Chaos Lord and his Manticore good and proper.
