Below is a general guide to help the 40k novice start
thinking about tactics.
Remember and apply these and everything else will fall into place.
These rules are intended to be the basic framework that one can use to help make tactical
decisions and are applicable to most other armies.
 FIRST
RULE
You must control the situation and take the initiative. Be
pro-active, not reactive.
SECOND RULE
Have a plan. Think in advance about how you are going to deploy and
fight the enemy.
THIRD RULE
Have a contingency plan. If things go pear shaped, you need a course
of action that might pull you out of the fire.
FOURTH RULE
Never play in a way that suits your enemy. Always exploit your
enemy's weaknesses and your strengths.
FIFTH RULE
Never rely on one thing to accomplish a mission. Have back up and
redundancy.
SIXTH RULE
Wipe out one squad at a time. Try to concentrate fire on one squad
at a time, to destroy it, to make sure that the heavy weapons, in that squad, won't
continue to be used. Wiping out a squad also stops very small remnants of squads having
disproportionate effects such as providing cross fire or tying up a whole squad in hth so
they can't shoot.
SEVENTH RULE
Don't keep troops in reserve. Most of the time it is counter
productive to keep troops in reserve as it is important to hit the enemy with everything
you've got and to keep hitting them. In some cases there are exceptions to this rule and
they will be mentioned later.
EIGHTH RULE
Use terrain to your advantage.
NINTH RULE
Know the rules. Knowing the rules (and how to best use them) is
necessary to help you fight more effectively.
TENTH RULE
Never say die. Always fight with a positive frame of mind. Even if
things are going badly at the beginning, the situation is quite often, not as hopeless as
it seems.
CHOOSING AN EFFECTIVE FORCE TO FIELD
A generalised overview.
The first thing to consider is what army you will be opposing. It is
important to make sure that you don't pick a force that will make you fight in a way that
suits the enemy. For example don't take a Hand to Hand combat (from this point on to be
expressed as hth) army to fight Orks, as Orks preferred method of fighting is hth.
Knowing what kind of army you are facing will also determine what
troops to take and not to take. For example, it's probably a waste of points to take
Swooping Hawks against Space Marines (SM) as you will need 5s to wound when you shoot and
assault them. Whereas, if you are facing Space Marines, points are better spent on
something effective such as a guardian squad with a starcannon ('they shall know no armour
save!").
When taking anything in your army that is very effective, always
take more than one. If you take a Wraithlord, then you should take two. If you take a
squadron of Vypers, then you should take another squadron or a least break up the small
squadron into two squadrons. The reason why I've made this suggestion is because,
effective (therefore scary) things attract a lot of incoming fire and if you only have
one, it will die in the first turn usually.
As you pick your force it is worthwhile to make sure that the army
is flexible and can respond to your opponent's strategy. For example, if you are fighting
against Orks and you are playing the Strongpoint scenario, it is worthwhile keeping
something in reserve, nearby, that is very effective in hth. A squad of Striking
Scorpions; an Avatar or a Wraithlord (or even better still, all of them) can counter
attack the inevitable incursion into your area by some Orks in trucks.
Fear is a weapon. Consider how your army will appear to your foe. It
is important to have enough "threats" (that is units that cause concern) to
force your opponent into firing at multiple targets. If your army has only one major
threat, your enemy will concentrate it's firepower on that threat and it will be disposed
of in short order. There is no point putting something like a Wraithlord in your army if
you don't get to use it.
USING YOUR ARMY AGAINST
"SHOOTY" ARMIES
As most of the Eldar's weapons are relatively short ranged. I'd
suggest that if you are up against a "shooty" (an army that usually relies on
firepower instead of hth) army such as the Imperial Guard (IG) or SM, it is important to
take into account the Eldar's advantages.
Speed kills............the enemy.
The Eldar have the fastest vehicles and some of the quickest troops.
The Eldar's speed should be used to close the ground between them and the enemy as soon as
possible. The longer the Eldar are out of range, the longer they are going to be shot at
and killed.
Against shooty armies I've found it effective to have as many
guardian squads as possible with starcannons to fire from afar (36") as the rest of
your army races forward to get to grips with the Enemy. Quite often the enemy will
concentrate their fire at the closet troops that are approaching and ignore the Guardians
(the theory of multiple threats at work) that will actually win the game for you.
The troops that are racing up to the front should usually be in Wave
Serpents and there are few different ways one can use to help they survive closing the
distance.
- To absorb incoming fire that would otherwise be directed at the Wave
Serpent, a large squad of Jetbikes can be kept in front of it.
- Use terrain by making you moves from cover to cover.
- Always move more that 6" so that any hits will be "glancing
hits".
The speed of the Eldar vehicles means that you will probably be able
to get where you want in one turn. You will be able to disembark your troops in the next
turn if you can't disembark in the first turn that you moved. Keep in mind that your foe
will try to destroy the incoming troop transports (a perceived major threat). The longer
your troops are inside the vehicle, the better chance your enemy will have to destroy the
vehicle and its contents.
If your enemy is firing everything at the incoming troops, then
other things can move forward. If your have put enough "threats" on the table
then your enemy is going to have to split it's fire and therefore reduce the effectiveness
of that incoming fire.
AGAINST HAND TO HAND
ARMIES
Against a foe that is a hth force (such as Orks or Tyrannids), it is
wisest to hang back and shoot them.
The biggest mistake a Farseer can make is to help cheap troops (such
as guardians) that have been assaulted by committing other cheap troops to help them in
hth. The best thing to do, is to comes to terms with the loss of the assaulted troops and
move away with the nearest troops so they can shoot at any enemy that are left over from
the assault. Often a squad of guardians will last two turns of hth and therefore lay down
their lives so that the other troops nearby can get away.
Only a fool would commit non-specialist troops to fight hth
specialists.
Don't fall into the trap of fighting in a way that suits your foe!
Often hth armies are supported by heavy support that is kept to the
rear of their force. Your hth army foe desperately wants to charge forward and get into to
grips with you. As the enemy races forward it will only be able to shoot with small arms
so it will be hoping to inflict some damage with the weapons that are behind its troops.
It is important to eliminate this threat. Swooping Hawks, Jetbikes,
Vypers are extremely good at attacking behind enemy lines
Another benefit of attacking behind your enemy's lines is that it
will distract them from their task and they may possibly divert some forces to deal with
the threat that an attack to their rear represents.
Any thing that delays a massed hth force reaching your lines is
worth trying. Rangers and Shadow Weavers not only kill troops but they also can pin them
and that can buy some more time, to shoot the enemy before they reach you.
HAND TO HAND COMBAT CALCULATOR
The hand to hand combat calculator simulates a
combat round between two squads (an attacker and a defender) to help players gauge the
probable outcome of that round.
Combat Calculator
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