How to Win at Warhammer 40K

As you may have noticed, How to Win at Warhammer 40K has been quiet lately. As my first venture into the big world of blogging, I quickly spent all the Warhammer 40K related content that was in my head to the point where I could no longer generalised about the game, it's tactics and the nefarious practice of highly suspicious dice rolling techniques.

So when it comes down to the specific armies of Warhammer 40K, that's when things get hazey -especially in 5th edition. Now I love Warhammer 40K 5th edition due to its sheer complexity. But, then downside of this, is that the only way you can learn how to beat an army and win with your own army is to have faced that kind of force before.

It's not like the old days of 4th edition when you could simply rock up with a power list and blow your opponent off the board with a little paper-rock-scissors. In 5th edition you need to understand what is in your opponents army, what he's most likely to do and what your army can do to counter it.

The game still has elements of paper-rock-scissors and the game of Chess which 4th edition devolved into, but the new deployment rules and Outflank really throws the tried an tested game mechanics into a new spiral.

The only way to overcome this is often to play a new kind of army, get ripped to shreds and come back for more until you crack them. Once you've figured out how to beat them, it's a simple case of trying out your new tactics until a new army emerges to destabilise the balance or your opponent thinks a way around what you're doing.

So the reason that I have stopped writing How to Win at Warhammer 40K is because I'm busy playing games, learning new tricks and writing my new Tau blog called Warhammer Tau, which unsuprisingly focusses on the Tau in Warhammer 40K.

I've been running a Tau army for little over a year now with a mixed bag of success. I've tested out all the Tau units, given some tournament lists a try, thrown them out the window and then remashed the force into the Tau army that suits my playing style and tactical preferences.

I took my Tau army to another tournament last month and learned a heck of a lot from the experience. That's one thing I really love about the game side of the Warhammer 40K, which is learning new tricks against new opponents. You never stop learning and a tournament is one of the places where you can learn a lot in just two days of non stop 40K.

I've never gone to a tournament to win it, but rather, to learn from it as I don't have enough opponents with a wide enough variety of armies where I live. Perhaps when that changes I'll claw my way back to the top? If you're interested in how my Tau did, then feel free to read my 40k battle reports from the weekend.

Due to the challenges of 5th edition (and taking a bit of a kicking in 4th edition) my Tau have emerged stronger than ever, making the most of a difficult situation that revolves around claiming objectives instead of killing things. But any army can adapt, even the Tau.

With a new focus on mobility and firepower rather than sheer volume of shots, the mechanised Tau army works very well due to the survivability of its tanks and the close range retaliation of its Tau battlesuits. The Tau battlesuit teams have been particularly terrifying for my opponents since 4th edition when they were more of an annoyance. Now the Tau battlesuits are deadly opponents, even in close combat against anyone without a power weapon. But when you consider how much the Warhammer 40K game is altered by perception, perhaps its my Tau battlesuit conversions which have made all the difference compared the the skinny battlesuits from straight off the sprues?

All things considered, I was suprised at how well I did in the recent tournament when I had only played a handful of games and spent two weeks frantically painting my Tau army into completion before playing 1 warm up game with it on the Friday evening before it all kicked off in the morning.

The most difficult part of the tournament was when a big crowd of tournament regulars came to watch the final turn of my game against an Eldar player. I got the impression that they were all suprised how well I was doing with my little Tau army, which wasn't particularly cheesy. One guy even contemplated taking his Tau army to the tabletop again, despite the web wide slating the Tau have received regarding their performance in Warhammer 40K 5th edition. Perhaps they just have to be played differently?

I made some small changes to my army following the tournament, having learned that sometimes it's better to not shoot in order to stay safe and wait until the enemy advance into the rapid fire range of your plasma rifles. I am forever learning how to play the Tau in many new in interesting ways. So while How to Win at Warhammer 40K dies, Warhammer Tau shall grow and prosper.

To read all about my Tau army, the games I play, the models I paint and the opponents I crush (or run away from!), subscribe to Warhammer Tau, the Tau blog with everything you ever wanted to know about playing Tau in Warhammer 40K, but were afraid to ask.

Many units in Warhammer 40K gain re rolls. Although re rolling the dice is often overlooked as a freebie for a number of units, for others it is a tactical essential. So this week How to Win at Warhammer 40K is going to look at dice re rolls, the units that get them, the units that should get them and what makes re rolling your dice so important to winning the game.

Ensure Kills / Ensure Survival
The most important part of dice re rolls is to make sure you kill something or that your unit survives against a devastating attack. There are many units that can achieve rerolls either through psychic powers, weapon selections or special rules which can be passed to the squad a character leads or even a whole army.

I'm going to take you through a few examples of units which generate re rolls of the dice for various purposes. Of course there are many more in the game, but I'll leave you to discover those.

Ork Rokkit Buggy
A simple example of a unit that comes with a twin linked weapon as standard. Rokkits are the only long ranged weapons that the Orks have with any certainty of possibly hitting something, which is why they are more often than not twin linked on their vehicles.

Normally a rokkit hits on 5+. That's a 2 in 6 (1 in 3) chance of hitting.
Chances are, you're going to miss. So you get to roll again, greatly reducing the odds to hit by granting you an extra shot.

Tyranid Dakka-fex
Possibly one of the best and most affordable reroll units in the game. The dakka-fex comes with two sets of twin linked devourers and the 'living ammo' rule.

So that's 8 shots, usually hitting on 4+, which will get you 4 hits on average. You then reroll the 4 shots that missed, scoring another 2 hits on average for a total of 6 out of 8.

When it comes to rolling to wound, you have Strength 6 and against most troops, that's 2+ to wound. On average that will be 5 wounds inflicted, 1 fail, which you can reroll because of 'living ammunition' for a practically guaranteed 6 wounds in total.

Not bad when you consider that without being twin linked (which doesn't cost much more) the Tyranid dakk-fex would only score 4 hits and probably 3-4 wounds.

Eldar farseer with doom/fortune/guide
When it comes to re rolls, the Eldar Farseer has three interesting powers. Fortune we're all familiar with as it allows the unit he has cast the power on to re roll any failed armour or cover saves for the turn. Meanwhile Doom forces an enemy unit to re roll all the passed armour or cover saves that they make.

Let's run through some examples:
The Farseer casts DOOM on a space marine tactical squad before a squad of Dire Avengers open fire on them with their Blade Storm shuriken catapults. And then casts GUIDE on the Dire Avengers while another Farseer (I'm cramming all the examples in here!) casts FORTUNE on them as well.

The Dire Avengers 'Blade Storm' the Space Marines, firing 30 shots which hit on 3+
20 of the shots hit, 10 miss.
GUIDE allows them to reroll the 10 missed dice, scoring 7 more hits.
The Eldar player then takes his 27 hits and rolls to would on a 4+, producing 13 wounds.
However, because DOOM has been cast on the unit, the Dire Avenger squad (plus any other squads that are shooting the Space Marine unit) may reroll any failed attempts to wound.
So the 14 dice that failed to wound can be rerolled, producing 7 wounds. Add that to the 13 wounds aleady infliced for a total of 20 wounds!

The Space Marine player will on average fail 1 in 3 armour saves. In this case that's 20 saves, which will result in roughly 7 failed saves = 7 dead space marines.

Now that's quite a big difference between losing 4 Space Marines (without rerolling to wound for DOOM) and 7 Space Marines (nearly double!).

The Space Marines stand their ground and return fire with a plasma gun, a plasma pistol and a plasma cannon (not likely I know, but this is an example in statistics). The plasma cannon scatters mildly, hitting 2 Dire Avengers, the plasma gun hits twice and the plasma pistol misses. This produces a total of 4 hits, all of which wound on 2+ for a total of 3-4 wounds. Let's go with 4 for easy maths.

Luckily, the Dire Avengers are currently in cover and receive a 4+ cover save against these 4 hits.
The Eldar Player rolls 4 dice and passes 2 cover saves. But thanks to FORTUNE, the Dire Avengers may reroll any failed dice. The Eldar player then roll the 2 failed cover saves again, passing 1 and failing 1. As a result 1 Dire Avenger dies instead of 2.

Vulkan Hestan
A few weeks back How to Win at Warhammer 40K covered Vulkan Hestan in his entirety with a full blown tactica based around the fact that he gives every Thunder Hammer, Melta gun, MultiMelta, Flamer and Heavy Flamer the master crafted or twin linked ability. So it's no wonder really that so many people are building Salamanders Space Marine armies now.

Rerolling to hit with Melta weapons greatly increases the Space Marines 2 in 3 chance to hit (aka: 3+) to around 5 in 6.

As for Flamers, you are able to reroll to wound instead. So let's say a Flamer hits 8 Orks and wounds them on 4+, you will score 4 wounds on average.
Reroll the 4 failed dice and you will score another 2 wounds on average for a total of 6 wounds = 6 dead Orks.


Conclusion
Rerolling the dice is something that many of us take for granted, but a quick look at the statistics proves just how powerful rerolls can be when it comes to killing enemy units as well as absorbing damage.

But are twin linked weapons worth the cost?
Some units are able to easily twin link their weapons. Tau Battlesuits spring to mind, as does the Tyranid Dakka-fex.

But how many points does it cost and are there better, more affordable options?
Well, that's up to you to sit down and work out. More shots is usually a better choice, but can often be more expensive. Sometimes it's cheaper to boost a unit's Ballistic Skill than to twin link their weapons. Many of the army Codex books are a law unto themselves. So sit down with a calculator, work out the points and work out the statistics of hitting and wounding to see which gives you the best results.

Or if all else fails, jump on the Vulkan Hestan bandwagon, then cry when he's not in the next Space Marine codex.

P.S. I apologise that this article is a week late. I've been reformatting my PC.

In 5th edition Warhammer 40K deployment is a game in itself. As previously discussed in the Deathwing army article, having the first turn can mean very little when you have nothing to shoot at.

So this week, How to Win at Warhammer 40K is going to discuss the pros and cons of going first, setting up first, going second, setting up second or just holding everything in reserve and hoping that enough of your army shows up on Turn 2 -with some help from high Natural Rolls and the black art of Practiced Rolling of course.

Victory goes to he who fires first
The most important thing to remember is that in Warhammer 40K 5th edition, the gung ho approach works best, which usually means units spring from off the table to open fire and charge, causing absolute carnage before the enemy can even strike.

As a result, deployment is very much a game of cat and mouse with player 2 (who goes second) reacting to the deployment of player 1 (who goes first).

I'll stick with these examples to avoid confusion. I will also give a simple overview about deployment tactics. I will save deployment in the various mission types for another time. For now, let's just grasp the basics.

Player 1 Deploys Entire Army
As player 1, you get to choose your deployment zone, set up first and get the first turn. This means your are effectively throwing down the gauntlet and player 2 must rise to the challenge.

If player 1 sets up their whole army, player 2 is disinclined to do the same as player 1 is likely to get the first turn of the game. Rolling to 'Seize the Initiative' is an option for the truely desperate or the best of Practiced Rolls.

Obviously, player 2 doesn't want to get shot to peices before his first turn, so he will most likely put his army in reserve.

This means that Player 1 will have 2 Turns of doing very little beyond getting ready for the arrival of the enemy and moving into a defensive position.

On Turn 2, player 2's army will begin to arrive. Statistically, half of his army should arrive on Turn 2 with the remainder arriving on Turn 3, then some stragglers on Turn 4.

While you would think that this would put player 1 at an advantage, who has 100% of his army against 50% of player 2's army, this isn't entirely the case.

Because 50% of player 2's army will move on from the table edge, or even table sides using the Outflank rules, player 2 will be able to attack player 1.

It's events like this that make mobile firepower armies so advantageous in Warhammer 40K 5th edition because they can move and shoot at a considerable combined range. As a result, player 1 will most likely lose 25% of their army with player 2 being able to target key threat units.

Player 1 is now able to retaliate with 75% of his army against 50% of player 2's army. But as player 2 will have eliminated many key threats, the counter attack won't be as effective.

The rest of player 2's forces arrive in the following turn, being strategically deployed where they are needed along the entirety of his table edge or from the flanks using the Outflank rules. Because of this, player 2 is at a strong tactical advantage to player 1, being able to eliminate key threats and reduce player 1's killing potential, all while being able to grab objectives no doubt.

Player 1 Holds Entire Army in Reserve
If player 1 chose to hold his entire army in reserve, player 2 can either deploy his entire army, or hold his army in reserve as well.

If player 2 deploys his entire force, then he is waiting for player 1's army to entire the battle. However, he only has to wait for 1 Turn instead of 2. In a similar role reversal, player 2 is now at a tactical disadvantage.

If player 2 also holds his entire force in reserve, he is at an advantage because player 1's reserves will arrive a Turn earlier. So player 2 will be able to bring on his reserves to counter player 1's units that have just arrived. This often turns into a long string of countering units, creating a battle of attrition in favour of player 2, but also dependant upon the types of armies being played. I'll let you decide if you want to go down this potentially bloody road.

Player 1 Deploys Some Units and Hold Others in Reserve
This is probably the best mix unless you specifically know how to deploy to deal with a particular type of army. Or in the case of facing an all-Deathwing terminator army when you know that they will all be deepstriking.

The downside of being player 1 means that while you will win against anyone foolish enough to engage in a stand up fight (unless they're making a Practiced Roll for that Seize the Initiative 6!), when it comes to reserves, you will always be countered by player 2's reserves, unless you have some other counter units in place that are set up during the deployment phase. On the plus side, you have the opportunity to go grab objectives before the fight begins. And as many kill frenzied players have discovered: Your army can be obliterated, but if you've got more objectives, you still win.

Depoyment Tactics and Dice Rolling
Some players, as you may have seen have a rather uncanny ability to control the arrival of their reserves. This is where I shall talk about the black arts of dice rolling, namely Natural Rolling and Practiced Rolling.

As I have said before, Natural Rolling is the subconscious manipulation of dice rolling techniques to achieve the desired result, which is built up from the constant dice rolling from regular play. Not always spot on, but typically above the odds.

Meanwhile Practiced Rolling is a conscious form of cheating, built up from a practiced method of dice rolling in order to achieve a consistent result, usually a 4+ or 5+. Sometimes even the ability to consistently roll nothing but a 6.

There's nothing more horrifying than none of your opponent's reserves arriving on Turn 2, which means his entire army will rock up on Turn 3 and blow you away as you waste another turn of waiting for the enemy to arrive. Similarly, the entire force showing up on Turn 2 and blowing you away isn't pleasant either.

This is why it's best to hold some units in reserve, while deploying others on the table from the start. Certain missions allow for you to protect your units a little better with added distance or even night fighting. So in Dawn of War, if you keep your starting units 36" away from the enemy, you should be fine for the first couple of turns.

Obviously, these factors are all variable depending on the type of army you play and the army you are facing.


Conclusion

These are the basics when it comes to deployment tactics in Warhammer 40K 5th edition. However, almost every army acts differently with regards to deployment. Unfortuately, I can't list all the different army types and configurations, so it is up to you to master how to deploy your army while reacting to the tactics your opponent employs when it comes to deployment.

Remember, the Warhammer 40K tournament champs didn't get to the top by not playing games. Now go play some games and put the theory into practice and see what you learn.

Until next week when I talk about rerolls and why they're so essential to a successful battleplan.

I took my friend's Thousand Sons army for a spin this week. Thousand Sons were grossly underestimated in Warhammer 40K 4th edition, but in 5th edition the benefits of Thousand Sons are a little more obvious.

While my friend's Thousand Sons are used to rely on waddling forward before a great flapping Christmas turkey leapt out of a possessed sorcerer and started gobbling up my guys, now their AP3 bolters are their greatest strength.

So can you feasibly play a pure Thousand Sons army in 5th edition 40K and still win?

All Change
Few people had an interest in Thousand Sons until the recent 'all flavours' Chaos Space Marines Codex, which allows you to mix the marks of chaos and their chosen elite troops choices while throwing daemons into generic categories as the real chaos daemons branched off to form their own Codex, which I will cover in time.

While I feel that the new Thousand Sons are generally weaker now that they have only 1 wound, they are truly devastating when it comes to fighting Space Marines due to their AP3 weaponry, but lacking against other types of troops.

Thousand Sons for the Purist
The purest of Thousand Sons players will refuse to take anything that can't have a mark of tzeentch, much like the restrictions of the 4th edition Chaos Space Marines Codex. Generally, this means that bikers and raptors are out of the equation and the same goes for Obliterators. And anyone who even considers cult troops from another power should be turned into a dribbly spawn on the spot -or so my friend insists!

So what does he field in his Thousand Sons army?

Thousand Sons Essentials
With Thousand Sons as your only troops, it's essential to have at least 2 squads, accompanied by a sorcerer, all packed into a Rhino APC.

The sorcerer is a powerful addition to the Thousand Sons squad, not only for his number of attacks with a force weapon, but for his access to psychic powers -most importantly the Bolt of Change.

While many may rave about Wind of Chaos and Warp Time, you need your Thousand Sons squads to function much like a more mobile Space Marine tactical squad and for that you need anti-tank weaponry to accompany the anti-infantry firepower of your basic troopers.

The mobility of Thousand Sons is often overlooked by players who see their Slow & Purposeful rules as a restriction. In a straight shoot out with entrenched Plague Marines Thousand Sons will always lose. But when transported in a rhino, the ability to disembark and shoot 24" with AP3 bolters is a huge benefit and thanks to the force weapon swinging sorcerer, a squad is no slouch in close combat either. Thousand Sons purists will be keep to take a 9 man squad (the sacred number of Tzeentch), but fewer squad members can help you to cut costs and cram more suitable support units and elite choices into your army.

Lord of Tzeentch
A Chaos Lord with a Daemon Weapon and the mark of Tzeentch is a fearsome opponent -more so than the Chaos Sorcerer Lord with combi-plasma and Warp Time which has proven popular amongst the tournament players. The Tzeentch Daemon weapon allows him to not only roll +D6 attacks in close combat, but fire D6 range 24" Strength 4, AP3 shots, which hit on 2+. Joined to a Thousand Sons squad led by a Sorcerer with force weapon and Bolt of Change, the Lord of Tzeentch greatly benefits the squad, especially while riding in the rhino as he can fire from out of the top hatch (as well as the sorcerer with Bolt of Change) inflicting substantial damage on the enemy.

What to take in a Thousand Sons army?
Obviously, Thousand Sons squads in rhinos, led by sorcerers with Bolt of Change and a Chaos Lord with a daemon weapon and the mark of Tzeentch.

The key to the army succeeding its its mobility. While rhinos may get destroyed (and they usually do) Thousand Sons can still march forward and fire 24". I feel that you need to field as many Thousand Sons units as possible because they're quite durable with their 3+ save and 4+ invulnerable save, which means you don't need to stick to cover.

My friend on the other hand likes to field 2 Predators and a possessed Chaos Land Raider for long range support. I find these rather frustrating as their firepower is restricted by their mobility. The Land Raider is quite awesome actually, if rather expensive. He often places it in the centre of his deployment zone, where it lazily pivots and eliminates an armoured target each turn while ignoring all stunned and shaken results due to its daemonic possession. Although its reduced Ballistic Skill of3 has made it somewhat less reliable than a regular Ballistic Skill 4 Land Raider, even with re-rolls.

He also fields a Chaos Dreadnought, which I believe is a huge liability (at least when I play!) due to its unpredictable nature -it either runs forward dribbling or shoots your own men.

I personally, would field as many Chaos Terminators armed with combi-plasmas as possible, with one carrying a icon of Tzeentch to give the squad a 4+ invulnerable save. As one of the true gung-ho units of 5th edition (and thanks to dice rolling techniques) Terminators are extremely durable and the 4+ invulnerable save makes plasma weaponry far less threatening.

Of course, don't forget to give your Thousand Sons squad Sorcerers personal icons to help deepstriking units land and hopefully charge when they do.

The less strict Thousand Sons players will also been keen to employ a squad of 2 Obliterators who can add some much needed specialised firepower to the army and march forward in support of the disembarked Thousand Sons squads.


Conclusion

Thousand Sons are a great looking army with a strong theme and very specialised units. While you may struggle against hordes, you will butcher anything that relies on a 3+ armour save. So if you're looking for an army that's unusual and fun to play or you just want to butcher all the Space Marine fan boys in your local area, then give Thousand Sons a try!

But if you're looking to win games, Plague Marines are better due to their lower cost, more flexible options, Toughness 5, Feel No Pain, extra close combat weapons and blight grenades. I'll confess that a Nurgle army looks very appealing thanks to the 5th edition Chaos Marines codex.

Outflanking is the new trick in Warhammer 40K 5th edition. While deployment has taken a totally new and tactical approach compared to previous editions, Outflanking is an ability that can be used to achieve a very unfair tactical advantage.

If 4th edition Warhammer 40K was like a game of chess, then 5th edition Warhammer 40K is for the gung ho crazies with big, tough and hard hitting units that can weather incoming fire while dishing out the pain up close and personal, or far away with unmatched firepower. But what happens when one of these gung ho units is Outflanking?

Then, there’s less time to deal with them, meaning that even a lone Outflanking unit can become a major threat to the more vulnerable elements of your army.

Who Can Outflank?
The Outflank ability is open to any unit with the Scout or Infiltrate ability. That goes for their transports as well.

Every army has units which can Outflank, but some armies benefit from this ability far more than others, especially if they can field units with the Outflank ability in abundance.

Uses of Outlank
Outlank has a number of practical and tactical uses from herding the enemy to unexpected assaults, prime deployment of special weapons and objective grabbing.

herding
Herding occurs when a fast moving and powerful Outflanking unit forces the enemy army to deploy more cautiously. Outflanking Genestealers are a good example of an effective ‘herder’ due to their Fleet of Foot ability. When moving 6” on from the board edge, they may Fleet of Foot a further D6” and then charge 6”, for a total move of 18”. Cautious players will ensure that their units are at least 18” away from either board edge to prevent an unexpected 2nd turn charge from these Outflanking assault specialists.

Of course, by herding the enemy into the centre of their deployment zone, it is often easy to deny them objectives while clustering their troops closer together for the new highly accurate blast weapons of Warhammer 40K 5th edition.

If the enemy is particularly tough in close combat, then herding may not be an option. Sometimes it can be worth sacrificing a unit (like Kroot!) for a devastating round of close combat which can eliminate an enemy unit worth considerably more points than the sacrifice while absorbing an amount of enemy firepower in the following turn.

If you care about your troops a little more, then Objective Grabbing is a cheap alternative.

objective grabbing
Pretty simple. Bring your Outflanking unit on to the board and run them towards the nearest uncontested objective, then whenever they’re shot at, simply go to ground. Let’s see the enemy try and grab that objective –especially if they were foolish enough to deploy their Capture & Control objective in an unprotected corner.

easy kills
An Outflanking unit armed with a special weapon (or special weapons!) will often take the opportunity to get a mass of melta guns into close range against a tank’s vulnerable side or rear armour. Remember that Scout units transfer their Scout ability to their dedicated transports. Players can either take the hit and hope their unit survives (in time for a counter attack), or allow Outflanking units with specialised guns to herd them away from the sides of the board.

Advanced Deployment Using Outflank
Another useful application of the Outflank ability is as an alternative form of Deep Strike –and a far safer one at that.

When your units come on from the side of the table, you can place them anywhere 48” along, ensuring that not only do they deploy safely and maximizing their firepower or close combat potential upon arrival, but take advantage of the current battlefield conditions whether that’s targeting vulnerable units, claiming objectives, making the most of terrain or reinforcing a failing position.

Outflank and Dice Rolling Techniques
Yes, the favourite taboo topic of How to Win at Warhammer 40K is back!

As previously discussed in Dice Rolling Techniques, the fewer dice you roll, the easier it is to manipulate them as a Practiced Roll or high Natural Roll.

So rolling a single D6 at a time for each Reserve Roll of 4+ makes it relatively easy for a well seasoned (or downright dirty) player to bring the majority of his army on to the table during Turn 2.

But be aware that while getting your Outflanking units into play may be simple, your opponent may have other plans if they have gone up against players with high Natural Rolls or consistent Practiced Rolls.

In a recent game, I felt it was prudent to take advantage of an opponent’s high Natural Rolling by deploying my entire army on my right flank.

After rolling for reserves to arrive, the player with an Outflanking unit must roll to see where they come on. 1-2 it’s the left edge, 3-4 the right edge and 5-6 they can choose.

It makes sense for a high roller to bring their Outflanking units on from the right hand side as all they have to do is roll high (usually 4+). So based on this likely outcome, I deployed my entire army on MY right hand side (his left).

It works against an army with a handful of Outflanking units, but an entire army of Outflanking units is exceptionally tough when they are fast moving, durable and armed with countless melta guns, multimeltas, assault cannons and heavy bolters –yes, I am talking about the Ravenwing, although White Scars are just as bad.


Conclusion

In small doses, Outflank is a fun special rule that opens up new tactics for units that would otherwise get gunned down out in the open while challenging the lateral thinking of players to form more flexible armies that can attack and react to threats from all directions.

But in the case of an entire army of Outflanking units, it is the most brutal battle of attrition. The simplest defence against Ravenwing and White Scars space marine armies is to hold everything in reserve and counter their army unit by unit. Due to the cost of White Scars units with dedicated transports (to benefit from the Outflank rules) this battle is quite feasible. But against a savvy Ravenwing player who can comfortably field up to 14 units in 1,500pts, it calls for an equally, mobile, durable and effective army.

Finally, watch out for Outflanking Genestealers combined with Lictors: The Lictors tend to hide in terrain around the centre of your deployment zone while Genestealers rush on from the sides, herding your forces into the waiting Lictors. This is a problem for some armies and it isn’t for others. – hence why in many ways Warhammer 40K 5th edition rewards the gung ho army.

But as the tournament scene redevelops itself in this new edition, anything could happen.
So keep playing, keep experimenting and see what you come up with.
As I always say; the best players got good by playing the game.

Vulkan Hestan is essential for a Salamanders army. Vulkan Hestan is not only a great character in his own right, but makes all your thunder hammers master crafted while all flamers, heavy flamers, melta guns and multimeltas become twin linked.

Salamanders forgefather Vulkan Hestan is just one of the excellent special character choices from the new Space Marine codex, but if you thought that this weeks How to Win at Warhammer 40K article is entirely about him, then you’ll be in for a surprise.
Instead, I’m looking at concepts behind army building and how it’s natural to overlook the obvious options while attempting to dig a new super combo from the latest codex books.

Keeping it Simple
It’s common for competitive players to contemplate the most powerful game winning combinations of units, weapons and wargear while maximizing numbers of models, scoring units and uber units. But sometimes, keeping it simple can be the greatest army builder of all.

Vulkan Hestan then, is a perfect example of how theming can make a great game winning army. Simply put, if you take Vulkan Hestan, then all your thunder hammers, flamers and meltas greatly improve.

Naturally, to optimise thee effectively free upgrades, you want to maximise on units that can be equipped with thunder hammers, flamers and meltas.

Suddenly your army selection is less of a mind boggling matter as you quickly tick off all the essentials: thunder hammer terminators, multimelta attack bikes, multimelta and heavy flamer land speeders, and some tactical squads with multimeltas and flamers for good measure. Then again, a Land Raider Redeemer with a multimelta slapped on top would be fun too.

Choose your Character
With so many special characters in the codex books, 5th edition Warhammer 40K seems to be borrowing a number of elements from the Privateer Press game Warmachine. Simply pick your special character and build an army around them, reaping the benefits from their abilities as best you can.

Vulkan Hestan, Sammael and Belial and probably the most obvious examples of this.
If you take Belial to lead your Dark Angels army, Deathwing Terminators become troops, so take nothing but terminators and use Belial’s Deathwing Assault rules.
If you take Sammael to lead your Dark Angels army, Ravenwing Squads become troops, so go crazy and take nothing but Ravenwing and make the most of the Outflank rules.

Conclusion

Before Christmas a friend asked how he should build a Ravenwing army list.
Quite casually, I said “Just buy 3 battle force boxed sets and Sammael in his land speeder. Then Give all your bikes melta guns and all your attack bikes multimeltas.”

It was such an obvious list that I never imagined how infuriating it would be to play against when everything uses the Outflank rule (more on this another time).

So don’t shy away from building an obvious and effective army list while searching for a new competitive concoction from your chosen codex. Often, it’s the simplest ideas that work the best. Now to go fine tune my Tau army some more.

5th edition has brought a lot of exciting new changes to Warhammer 40K and suddenly when all obscuring cover has vanished in exchange for a 4+ cover save, a number of units now stand taller than others, laughing in the field of fire as bullets bounce harmlessly off their armour or thick hides.

This week I have chosen to take a look at the ‘uber units’ of Warhammer 40K 5th edition. All of them are easy to use and none of them can be beaten without some clever tactics.

The Uber Unit
Every army has one. Some are better than others, but often an uber unit can rampage through an entire army without breaking a sweat unless properly challenged.

Each uber unit has its own strengths and weaknesses. Often the solution is massed firepower from rapid fire weapons up close, followed by a finishing charge. All of these units typically take a turn from your entire army to kill, making them an essential choice for any competitive player.

While it’s easy for anyone to create their own uber unit, I am focusing my attentions on units that are not just high destructive and very effective, but also excellent value for your points. After all, there’s no point pumping all your points into a fully pimped out Space Marine Chatper Master Command squad when it eats up most of your army allowance.

1 – Ork Nob Bikers
They’re green, they’re mean and you wish they were on your team! Every Ork player and his pet squig seem to field a mob of Nob Bikers led by a Warboss with Painboy for Feel No Pain, Powerclaws and the occasional Waaagh Banner in tow.

Great for absorbing firepower, the Nob Bikers regularly Turbo Boost in front of an enemy unit, soak up the incoming fire, then charge in and tear them apart.
Toughness 5, 2 wounds, a 3+ invulnerable Turbo Boost save and 4+ Feel No Pain is incredibly hard to kill.

Things to watch out for:
Plasma, Melta, Ordnance weapons, getting rapid fired en masse.


2 – Space Marine Assault Terminators
Armed with thunder hammer and storm shield, a squad of assault terminators with Toughness 4, 2+ save and a 3+ invulnerable save can take a lot of firepower from basic weapons, ordnance shells and low AP weapons alike.

Once they get into close combat, the thunder hammers will make a mess of any target, usually stunning it to finish it off in the next phase of combat.

These units will typically Deep Strike before running towards the enemy, absorbing firepower or receiving charges, then battering their way through with their sheer toughness and brutality. Against opponents wise enough or fast enough to move away, assault terminators work as a durable herder unit, allowing you to ‘herd’ the enemy army into a clustered position for blast weapons, off objectives or into other elements of your force.

Things to watch out for:
Getting stranded; due to their slow movement, assault terminators can be left wide out in the open by fast moving armies.


3 – The Eldar Avatar
Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar Avatar, is often overlooked by competitive players, but thanks to his relatively low points cost, Toughness 6, Strength 6, 4 wounds, high Initiative, high Attacks, 3+ save and 4+ invulnerable save, he’s a very scary prospect for any army. He can also fire The Wailing Doom like a melta gun, hitting on 2+. Owch!

The Eldar Avatar typically runs straight towards the middle of the enemy formation, soaking up all manner of firepower that would normally threaten the fragile Eldar army by acting as a distraction. Best of all, Metal weapons (now very popular in 5th edition) have no effect against him. And should anyone try to run away, he can shoot them with The Wailing Doom.

Things to watch out for:
Getting stranded; due to the Eldar Avatar’s slow movement, he can be left behind when facing a fast moving army.
Sniper rifles and assortedl Monstrous creature killing weapons.
Expect him to die; While it’s great if he charges something or gets charged, the best use of the Eldar Avatar is as a fire magnet and for little over 100pts he’s an absolute bargain!


4 – Tyranid Dakka-Fex
The humble Dakka-Fex Carnifex model is incredibly popular among Tyranid players and it’s plain to see why when it takes up an Elite slot, costs relatively little and pumps out an impressive number of shots from its two sets of twin linked Devourers. So not only does it reroll to hit, but it also rerolls to wound thanks to the Living Ammo special rules. Meanwhile, the Carnifex ‘chassis’ itself is very tough and durable, if a little sluggish in close combat –although thanks to other elements of the Tyranid army, it never needs to get into close combat.

It’s common to see all 3 Elite slots taken up by Dakka-Fexes for cheap, reliable and durable anti troop firepower. I once faced off against 3 Dakka-Fexes as well as 2 Dakka-Tyrants. My infantry didn’t last long at all.

Things to watch out for:
Close combat units, plasma, melta, lascannons, sniper rifles and the usual Monstrous creature killing weapons


5- Slaanesh Daemon Prince with Lash of Submission
Often seen in pairs, a Chaos Marine Daemon Prince with the mark of Slaanesh and the Lash of Submission is a popular choice for many Chaos players. While the Daemon prince is no slouch in close combat as a high Initiative monstrous creature with plenty of attacks, high strength and a 3+ save as well as Wings to get them into the fight faster, it’s the Lash of Submission combined with the Wings you need to watch out for.

Wings help to extend the range of ‘the Lash’ to an effective 36”, allowing the Daemon Prince to easily drag enemy units out of cover and into the guns of the Chaos army. The Lash also makes it easier for a Daemon Prince with Wings to charge an enemy unit.

Things to watch out for:
Specialist high strength close combat units, plasma, melta, lascannons, sniper rifles and the usual Monstrous creature killing weapons.


Conclusion

While there are many Uber Units in the game, there are also many cost effective units scattered throughout the army lists. So it’s up to you to go through your Codex with a fine tooth comb, figuring out how much you can get for as little of your points as possible. After all, the top tournament players and army builders only got to where they are by playing lots of games and testing lots of units.