Sorry about the long delay on finishing up this bit of tactica. Been in the midst of painting my Orks up to a really good standard (instead of 3 color minimum!) and, wouldn’t know, painting 150ish models with an eye towards detail and precision (feh!) takes flippin’ forever!
In addition, been in a comment frenzy over on 3++ is the New Black with AbusePuppy and Co. Looks like the debate has finally drawn to a close.
Anyway, finishing up where I left off with the last post; going to tackle how different deployments effect how you play the game vs different army archetypes. We did Mech Shooty and Mech Assaulty last time; now we’re going to look at Infantry Shooty and Infantry Assaulty.
Just like before, the standard pitched battle deployment is generic enough that all the previous info about tactics vs these army archetypes can just be taken at face value. It’s really only spearhead and DoW that should be looked at more carefully.
Spearhead Deployment/Objective Mission/vs Shooty Infantry
So, this deployment offers you a series of issues when dealing with this type of opposing force. While spearhead CAN allow you to deploy closer to your opponent (like I mentioned previously); no savvy opponent who runs a shooty infantry list would deploy close to you in this setup. Odds are, they’re going to be FURTHER away from you than they would be in Pitched Battle.
That’s a big problem, since, like I talked generally about when dealing with an army like this; odds are, you’re going to need to close with them to do damage. More distance is more time, and more time out of combat is more time getting shot to shreds.
One consideration though is that since this is an objective based mission; you might have some of the objectives close to your deployment area (a good reason to go first to choose the best quarter) or already in it (in the case of sieze ground). If this is the case, you could literally win the game by forcing them to come to you (and sacrifice shooting) because you control more objectives.
Snikrot is great to have in this deployment as you can attack the bunched up foe pretty easily. As well, deffkoptas can do really well by outflanking and tying up shooty units. Only drawback is the 33.3% chance that you’ll show up on the wrong table side.
Sorry about the long delay on finishing up this bit of tactica. Been in the midst of painting my Orks up to a really good standard (instead of 3 color minimum!) and, wouldn’t know, painting 150ish models with an eye towards detail and precision (feh!) takes flippin’ forever!
In addition, been in a comment frenzy over on 3++ is the New Black with AbusePuppy and Co. Looks like the debate has finally drawn to a close.
Anyway, finishing up where I left off with the last post; going to tackle how different deployments effect how you play the game vs different army archetypes. We did Mech Shooty and Mech Assaulty last time; now we’re going to look at Infantry Shooty and Infantry Assaulty.
Just like before, the standard pitched battle deployment is generic enough that all the previous info about tactics vs these army archetypes can just be taken at face value. Its really only spearhead and DoW that should be looked at more carefully.
Spearhead Deployment/Objective Mission/vs Shooty Infantry
So, this deployment offers you a series of issues when dealing with this type of opposing force. While spearhead CAN allow you to deploy closer to your opponent (like I mentioned previously); no savvy opponent who runs a shooty infantry list would deploy close to you in this setup. Odds are, they’re going to be FURTHER away from you than they would be in Pitched Battle.
That’s a big problem, since, like I talked generally about when dealing with an army like this; odds are, you’re going to need to close with them to do damage. More distance is more time, and more time out of combat is more time getting shot to shreds.
One consideration though is that since this is an objective based mission; you might have some of the objectives close to your deployment area (a good reason to go first to choose the best quarter) or already in it (in the case of sieze ground). If this is the case, you could literally win the game by forcing them to come to you (and sacrifice shooting) because you control more objectives.
Snikrot is great to have in this deployment as you can attack the bunched up foe pretty easily. As well, deffkoptas can do really well by outflanking and tying up shooty units. Only drawback is the 33.3% chance that you’ll show up on the wrong table side.
Its going to come down to a judgement call on your part. Can you control enough objectives without committing to a huge assault across the length of the board; or are you going to have to get stuck in against this opponent.
Some armies have enough shooting that they can literally blow up all your scoring units in 5 turns; so you can’t just sit there and take it. Try and use your long-range shooting to take out real threats like Manticores/Thunderfire Cannons that can eliminate huge swathes of infantry or the few fast elements your foe might employ for late-game objective grabbing like Valkyries/BA Rhinos etc. Move up in a way that projects the threat of YOUR shooting while still hugging objectives. Don’t be afraid to send fast/non-scoring threats at them in order to distract shooting from your troops and also to perhaps take out some of their shooting.
The ideal situation is to have enough board control that they are forced to come to you. Its not always possible of course, but try and create that situation.
Keep a lookout for units that can outflank at you as well. Things like a platoon led by Al Rahem could show up in your backfield and be a threat to your shooting and also start pouring in fire from a different side. Do what you can to mitigate this by either keeping forces back in order to respond, and/or put things like lootas and lobbas more towards the center and away from the edges.
Against Shooty Infantry, I’d rather go first as it gives me chances to kill big threats with my lootas to nullify return fire as well as hopefully gets Snikrot in earlier rather than later to mess up their lines. It also lets me pick the best side in terms of cover, which, in a shooting matchup, might be worth more than having the last shot on an objective.
If the mission is Capture and Control however, I’d leave a token force like my gretchin to guard the objective and just go pell-mell at their objective. Odds are, I can contest there’s and contain any possible advance at mine, while drawing enough firepower to keep my scoring unit alive in the back field. Alternatively, I could put it as close as possible to my opponent’s deployment zone so I can simply fall back to it as needed with my big mobs or the battlewagon. I have options.
Spearhead Deployment/Kill Points/vs Shooty Infantry
This deployment/mission/opponent combo is a tough one. If your opponent went heavy infantry; odds are there will be few easy vehicle KPs out there and just tough units to crack. Odds are you’ll have a few gimme KPs (trukks/buggies/etc) that your opponent’s (most likely) superior shooting power can eliminate with ease. This, in addition to your opponent’s ability to deploy further away from you means you’re going to be on your backfoot most likely and they have tempo.
You’ll have to do your best to evaluate risk vs rewards and see if you can net more KPs than you give up in every situation. For instance, odds are low that 2 rokkit buggies will get a KP by exposing themselves to fire, and they are relatively easy to kill in return. I’d really consider just leaving these in reserve and hiding them when they come on.
On the flip side; big units of boyz typically require more units to kill than one. Just gunning at the enemy line with these guys gives you good odds of absorbing a lot of firepower and potentially getting a KP in exchange. Remember, this isn’t Victory Points here! A single Platoon Command Squad or a Rhino is worth the same number of KPs as a 30-strong squad. Just try and make it an even exchange, and you should do well.
In most cases, I’d advocate hiding easy KPs and just running piece meal at the enemy and hope you can get more KPs off of them. Try and weigh the cost/benefits of using cover to give you more survivability while also slowing you down. You need to be able to determine if its better to shoot or run in some situations. You’ll need to understand which units offer you the most problems and figure out your chance of taking them out. Do your best to envelop them so they can’t escape to the flanks.
I tend to run target priority as a balance between the amount of threat a unit presents vs how easy it would be to kill it. High threat, easy to kill targets are your number one target. But, really, in KP, go for the cheap kills more often than not.
Dawn of War Deployment/Objective Mission/vs Shooty Infantry
Here’s a fight that can really benefit you in almost every way. You can begin the game really close to the enemy with the slowest part of your army (big mobz) and can get to grips with the enemy very early. In addition; with the majority of your foe being infantry, their shooting capabilities while they come on the table are (most likely) going to be seriously reduced, while the night fight rules means they are going to be shooting mostly at expendable stuff.
You DEFINITELY want to go first in this set up as you can deploy up to 24″ up, pinning any units your opponent wants to deploy 6″ up from their table edge. If you have mostly shoota boyz, you can start thinning their ranks on turn one. Odds are, you can be in combat on turn 2, and this game will typically be yours since you should be wiping them out at your leisure and holding objectives at will.
On the flip side, if you go second, your opponent might have a sacrificial unit that they can put up 24″ on the board and pin YOU on your deployment zone, giving them plenty of time to shoot you to bits. However, if this is seize ground, odds are the objectives are in the middle of the board and you should be able to get to those early in any event, and your opponent will lose, essentially, a turn of shooting due to moving on to the board. In seize ground, you might be in real trouble though as you’ll have to hoof it really far and through lots of enemy fire to contest their objective; a draw is almost assured.
Basically, the game hinges on going first for your army. Go first, and you’ll have a much easier time regardless if its siege ground or capture and control; mostly because you’ve shortened the distance to your foe. Go second, and you might be pushed back even further than Spearhead and you’re going to have a hard time doing any damage to your foe.
Dawn of War/Kill Points/vs Shooty Infantry
Most of what I said above can translate to KP in the same way. You want to go first and get all the advantages I already listed.
As well, you get the advantage of if your opponent used a sacrificial unit to push you back, that they have given you a KP essentially.
The difficulty of this game is almost solely settled on the die roll to go first or second. Being pinned in the backfield is still a miserable position as you are very unlikely to kill enough to equal out the KP differential that is likely to occur, even with a potential sacrificial unit.
Then again, if your opponent has no sacrificial unit, going second won’t hurt as much as you can still start up relatively close to them.
My advice still stands: win the roll to go first!
Those are the basic ideas for dealing with shooty infantry in the various deployments/missions; now lets look at assaulty infantry.
Spearhead Deployment/Objective Mission/vs Assaulty Infantry
First of all, I’d almost universally go second in this deployment/mission configuration; almost solely based on the advantages of going last in objective missions. Only go first if its sieze ground there is an OBVIOUSLY superior quarter in terms of objectives.
Now, how you go about this mission is really going to come down to the question, “can I beat this list in melee?” If the answer is “no”, you best have enough shooting to thin them out and win eventually in melee, because its probably going to come down to melee. If the answer is yes, then the tactics in this game are fairly straightforward.
Lets look at what happens if you think you CAN beat them in melee. Well; you’re going to pretty much run at each other and beat the crap out of each other while keeping enough troops alive to take objectives. There really isn’t any other over-arching scheme here beyond simplistic tactical choices like trying to set up traps to get counterattacks and trying to get the charge more often (since Orks’ combat ability is SIGNIFICANTLY better when charging due to Furious Charge) than your foe.
If your opponent will beat your face in with his melee power (probably something like all jump-pack BA…::shudder::), you’re going to have to get tricksy. Use interdiction as much as you can with buggies/trucks. At the same time, do your best to shoot them up as they come at you. With a spearhead deployment, you can be further back if you want. Potentially, you might want to leave most of your stuff in reserve to either come out where you need to be, or else come out as far away from the enemy as possible.
Honestly, this scenario is not too much off of the generic ideas I posted previously, so lets move along.
Spearhead Deployment/Kill Points/vs Assaulty Infantry
Again, comes down to the question of whether you can beat them in melee or not. If you can, be aggressive; if you can’t, think like a grot (read: run away!).
I’d go for first turn if I had a choice; allows you to TRY and shoot them up before they get to grips with you. Go second though if your opponent can deepstrike their whole army (phooey on you, Blood Angels!), as you’ll lose out on 2 turns of shooting.
Not too different than above; so, moving along.
Dawn of War Deployment/Objective Mission/vs Assaulty Infantry
As a theme, figure out whether you can win in melee or not. If you CAN, try and get first turn and put the pressure on them from the get go, much like I described above vs Shooty Infantry.
If you can’t, ALSO try and go first, simply to set up a screen of one boyz unit as wide as possible (a 30 strong mob can extend the full length of the board with ease) to push their deployment back as far as possible. Which will keep you alive longer as you dakka them as much as possible.
As in all objective-based missions, concentrate on killing troops and keeping your troops alive.
Dawn of War Deployment/Kill Point Mission/vs Assaulty Infantry
Pretty much the same strategy as above, except instead of focusing on troops; concentrate on easy kill points (both killing and keeping alive).
Well, that should cover deployments and generalized Ork tactics.
I’m going to be busy painting up my Orks to something better than 3 color minimum (want to have a shot at Best Overall) over the next few weeks in preparation for the Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge. I should return with pictures, videos(!?), and battle reports for the next installment.
This will be the first time trying out my new tournament-tuned (perhaps) 2k Ork list. Wanting to see how it does in the crucible of competition. I’m hoping my elite team of players, Team Better Lucky Than Good; will bring back the Bucket o’ Dead to Seattle this year (blast you, Team Fighting Helveticans!). I hope we shall!
Then, only two short weeks after that is The Seattle Heart of Fire Tournament where I will be trying to defend my Best General title. I’ll also get to see TastyTaste again, who will, undoubtedly, film me cheating. ::sad head shake::
So, all that to say, I probably won’t update with anything other than Battle Reports for a month.
After that, I’m not sure where to go next with the Ork Defense Force beyond battle reports and such. Any suggestions? If prompted, I can write at length about all things Orkine, BE MY MUSE! 🙂
Anyway, catch ya later.