Who here remembers the plaintive cries when the first 6th edition rumors mentioned hull points? People lamented that GW killed vehicles in 6th edition and modest individuals stated such inflammatory comments like "Mech lists are dead!" 6th edition has certainly changed how vehicles work and how they impact game balance and flow. They can be much more vulnerable in most games but are, overall, still survivable and can lay down a great amount of firepower. Many cheaper vehicles are still especially great buys for most army lists so let me take a moment to explain why.
First though, I feel the need to express myself...
*Hops up on soap-box*
Personally, I disagree with the sentiment that vehicles grew weaker. Vehicles in previous editions were unreliable. All GW did was make vehicles more consistant. Previously you had vehicles that would either last all game after being glanced and penetrated every turn or they would blow up with a single hit. GW wanted some consistency. So yes, you can still lose a vehicle with a single hit, but the chance is relatively slim unless an anti-tank weapon is used. Shouldn't an anti-tank weapon be able to annihilate a tank? 40k has anti-heavy infantry weapons such as blasters, plasma guns, etc and I rarely see people complain about those weapons one-shotting Grey Knight paladins. I just don't get why some people so vehemently oppose the addition of Hull Points.
*Climbs down from soap-box*
Okay, with that little bit of venting done and out of the way let's talk about cheap vehicles. For this article I'm really discussing transport vehicles that cost 60 points or less. So let's focuson Rhinos, Chimeras, Trukks, Cheap Razorbacks, and Raiders. These vehicles are all cheap enough to still be considered viable options for most armies. They are not the auto-includes that they used to be, but, can play several important roles in an army.
The first role that I want to talk about is survivability. This usually plays out in the first round of a typical game when it comes to vehicles, but, can also be a factor at various stages. The first tactic is loading your units into transports when you lose the roll-off to determine deployment/first turn. Another tactic is using vehicles as mobile cover. Yet another tactic is the well documented objective grab. The final tactic is using vehicles to deny charge lanes to more important units.
For the first tactic, loading units into vehicles, this is a simple cost/benefit calculation. If the amount of damage it would take to kill the vehicle via hull points (usually 3 hits) would cost less than the equivalent number of casualties from the unit inside, then load them on up. If it's equal or more, than consider the role of the unit, the availability of cover on the battlefield, and your general strategy to see if they need to be loaded up or not.
Let's go with ordinary tactical marines as an example. A rhino has 3 hull points. So calculate the cost that losing three marines would equal. If this number is higher than the cost for the vehicle, then it is worth the effort to load the unit into the vehicle.
Mobile cover is a tactic that often eludes people. Using vehicles wisely though you can manuever your glass cannon units around the table and ensure that a minimal number of units can draw line of sight to them while they still can focus on a single enemy unit. Alternatively, assault units can move up behind the cover and concealment of friendly vehicles and when close enough, can move around the vehicle and charge nearby units.
Objective grabbing was much easier in 5th edition but can still be done in 6th as well provided one pays attention to the turn number. Fast skimmers are best in this role given their longer move distances, but this can just as easily be pulled off by any other vehicle. In 6th, the key is to plan ahead. Move the vehicle to the objective a turn before you would have in previous editions. At this point, pay attention to where enemy units are located. If nothing is within threat distance, exit the transport (provided it didn't move flat-out). If the vehicle can be easily interposed between the unit inside the transport and the enemy units, exit and use the transport as mobile cover. If the unit is surrounded or has enemy units on multiple sides, stay inside the transport. On the last turn, make sure to consolidate everyone within the appropriate distance from teh objective and use the vehicle to cut off the best charge lanes.
Lastly, using vehicles to cut off charge lanes is really similar to providing mobile cover and in some ways the two can be merged together. However, 6th edition has some quirks when it comes to wound allocation and a canny general can use vehicles to ensure that enemy models either can't reach the unit entirely or only reaches the models that are most beneficial for him.
The basic premise is pretty simple, move a vehicle between one of your units and an enemy unit that is within charge range. They will either be forced to charge the vehicle or to try and move around the vehicle to open up charge lanes. This works particularly well against counter-assault units that like to hide in cover. Be wary of Fleet units though!
Now, the basic principle of this tactic is incredibly easy to understand as laid out above. The more detail oriented part of this is somethign altogether new to Warhammer 40k- the placement of MODELS within units is horrifically important. It is really easy to have a damage sponge in many units that is thrown out in front and can soak up horrendous amounts of damage due to the wound allocation rules. Archons with Shadowfields, Lysander, Draigo, etc all fill this role quite adeptly. Those are definitely models you want to avoid when charging into units that contain them or you want to ensure the enemy has no choice but to charge when you have them on your side of the table.
As you can see, cheap transports are still exceptionally valuable for protecting troops, providing mobility, and for making the moves of your enemy more predictable. Here are a couple of exceprts that I have experienced first-hand and are actually the reason why I wrote this article to begin with.
I was playing my Eldar army with Dark Eldar allies versus my buddies Grey Knights. I won the first turn and my opponent chose to place his strike squad outside of their rhino rather than inside it. Result? the rhino was completely ignored and the strike squad was widdled down to a single man. Had the squad been in the rhino I would have had to delegate some shots towards the rhino and completely possible that the vehicle would have survived my first turn altogether, thus sparing the strike squad the annihilation it actually faced.
In the same game, my Archon and harlequins were preparing to move and charge the unit of paladins led by Draigo. I had planned to move around the flank so I could avoid Draigo and hopefully keep him out of combat for my attacks so they would go on normal paladins. However, in his turn he moved the rhino forward on that flank (largely by accident) and thus, when i committed to the charge Draigo was a nearby unengaged model and avoiding him was impossible. The result? Draigo was able to tank several of the allocated wounds and this allowed several paladins to survive where otherwise they would have fallen victim to rending attacks.
What are your stories concerning cheap transport vehicles?