In this crazy mixed up game of ours there are a handful of situations where you take a unit or 2, combine it with some psychic powers, add in a pinch of stratagem, and you have yourself a combination of dastardly proportions. I'm going to tell you what some of those game winning combos are and how you can avoid falling prey to them.
The first one up is the Loota mob that Orks seem to be favouring. This is basically 2 units of Bad Moon Lootas that are Mobbed Up to one unit, then they use More Dakka so they hit on 5+, re-rolling 1's, and get another shot for each roll of 5+. Then they can shoot again with Showin Off. With an average of 2 shots per Loota, this works it's way to 36 dead Guardsmen, 16 dead Marines, 2 and a half dead rhinos, and 18 wounds taken off a Knight. This combo is further strengthened with Grot Shields allowing the Lootas to live through all sorts of firepower levelled against them.
Our first option to avoid this firepower is to be out of sight. This is not an infallible plan though as a Wierdboy can cast Da Jump on the unit and not effect their damage output at all. However you can use this movement to launch a counter attack as the Lootas will now likely be out of their protective bubble of Grots.
Another thing that Lootas struggle with are good armour saves. Any sort of cover basically negates the -1AP of the Deffgun, so that Prepared Positions stratagem starts to really come in handy. It reduces the dead models from above by about 40% to 22 Guardsmen, 9 Marines, 12 wounds on Rhinos, and only 10 wounds on a Knight. I know it's tough getting cover on a Knight, but there is a relic that gives a knight a 2+ save which is pretty much the same thing.
The last way to protect yourself from getting shot up is to shoot them up first. Now that is a little tricky since they will likely deploy out of LOS and/or across the table since they have a 48" range, so it really only works if you have a bunch of firepower with long range. Now since Grot Shields is a thing, you will have to have enough firepower to threaten both units of Lootas. Target the smaller unit first, if he uses Grot Shields then switch it up and put the rest of you're firepower into the bigger unit. Your goal is to bring them both down to below 10 so they can't mob up.
Our next super combo is the Kraken Genestealer slingshot in which a unit of Genestealers can move 40" across the table and assault. Kraken's hive adaptation allows them to roll 3D6 when advancing and choose the highest, they also have a stratagem, Opportunistic Advance, that allows them to double the value of their advance result. Thanks to the FAQ, you can use this stratagem again in the shooting phase when the Swarmlord uses his Hive Commander ability to move the Genestealers again and since Genestealers can assault after they advance, this is a fairly reliable 42" threat range, reaching to a maximum of 52". Now if they happen to kill what they charged, and lets be honest, they probably did, and be more than 3" from and enemy model they can use the Overrun stratagem to move and advance again. Then, just to keep them from getting shot at, they could use Adrenaline Surge to activate in the fight phase and hug someone.
Proper bubble wrapping is key here, and positioning is going to be critical. Your first layer can be something cheap and plentiful. Grots, Cultists, Conscripts, etc. Your second row needs to be far enough away so they can't be declared as a target of the initial charge to prevent the Overrun and Adrenaline Surge. It also needs to be positioned in a way so that they can't get hugged. There is also a chance, due to positioning and movement, that he won't get all the Genestealers close enough to attack and your unit may live. Don't celebrate yet as he has likely wrapped you up preventing you from falling back. This means that your second layer can actually be a counter punch unit like Berserkers.
Alternately you can set up your front line to be something so durable that it can actually withstand the charge. Bullgryn can mix and match 2+ and 4++ saves which comes in handy against the various AP profiles. They can also get a +1 to their saves with a psychic power called Psychic Barrier. Plaguebearers are also incredibly durable with -2 to hit, a 5++(or 4++ with Warp Surge) and a 5+ FNP. A more sacrificial take on a front line is something that can put out a ton of damage on overwatch, like Kastellan robots with flamers in double shoot mode, or Hellhounds.
Last on my list today is the ever spectacular Ynnari Shining Spears and Dark Reapers combo. So, hold on to your hats cause this one gets confusing. First off, we need Yvraine, then we need at least one unit of Shining Spears with the Saim-Hann keyword, one unit of Dark Reapers, and finally a Warlock on a jet bike with Quicken. So, you can move the Shining Spears, and with the Raging Winds stratagem so they can advance and still charge, then in the psychic phase you cast Quicken on them so they can move again and you land them near an enemy target. Now you cast Word of the Phoenix on the Dark Reapers so they can shoot, and if you need more movement than the 44" the Shining Spears just moved, you target the unit they landed next to, wipe them out and use the Soul Burst to move them AGAIN, or you can use it to make them shoot as their shooting isn't too bad either. Then in the shooting phase the Reapers and Spears can shoot again and if you didn't Soul Burst before you can do it now. Then the Spears can charge and fight, and of course if you haven't Soul Bursted yet you can do it now if you kill something, say if you charged a couple of smaller units.
To give you some idea of the damage output of just the 2 units, with the support of some casters, there is no reason why they can't kill 2 knights in a turn, or over 40 Marines or 60 Guardsmen. Now keep in mind, that is average dice rolling, with all of the planning working out optimally. Meaning killing a unit at the right time to trigger Soul Burst, etc etc, so there is some wiggle room to those numbers.
This combo works very much like the Genestealers slingshot with potentially significantly more damage output but with a higher scale of risk. There are a bunch of psychic powers that need to get off, and as I mentioned before, the right things need to die at the right times. So with that in mind, any kind of stratagem or psychic power, like Cloud of Flies, Psychic Barrier, or Catalyst, that can skew the odds of them getting the critical kill to trigger the Soul Burst, are pretty good. Even better are the ones that can be used mid phase, like Lightning Fast Reflexes. On top of that, being able to Deny the Witch is huge as well.
This combo is a little easier to hide from as well, as long as you're not a knight. The Dark Reapers need LOS to shoot you, and the Shining Spears aren't Infantry so can't go through the walls of a ruin. The ITC terrain rules help out here with the bottom floor of ruins blocking LOS.
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| This is the "magic box" everyone talks about. |
Not all tables are created equal though, and if you find yourself without a large ruin to hide in you are going to need to bubble wrap your precious units. There are a couple things to remember though, the Spears can FLY, so move blocking them is not an option. They can also move, charge, or fight after killing something by using Soul Burst, and I have seen this used many times to actually move across and over terrain and models to get to a safe place or to get to place to charge a more important target. Proper bubble wrap has to form a large cloud of models around your army, preventing the Spears from charging multiple units at once. This will likely force you "castle" up most of your force, which has the benefit of the rest of your army being able to counter attack the Spears after they charge but also has the drawback that most of your army is now very close to a big unit of Shining Spears.
If all else fails, a good offence is a good defence. A strong assault unit hidden in your lines is a great deterrent. The Spear's invul save only applies to shooting attacks, so something that can punch them real hard will make them skittish about charging headlong into your lines. The above mentioned Genestealer slingshot is a really good counter to this combo as the Genestealers can run through walls and have nearly as long a threat range as the Spears.
Well, there they are. I hope this little article has helped you in some way. Let me know if any of these worked, or if there was something that I missed. Thanks for reading.
Til next time, keep them dice rollin.
This tactics post is brought to you by my good friend at Idle Hands Commission Painting and Upholstery. Yes, he fixes furniture too, no it's not weird.
Here are a couple of his latest commission Warhammer 40K models.
If you don't play 40k, fear not because he will paint any kind of mini. Here is a bunch of models he has painted from a board game called Monster Slaughter by Ankara Board Games
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