TACTICA DEATHWING By Steve Rizor ( Soular NRG ) |
This article has been reproduced with kind permission from the author. It is also available at the author's own website and hs been previously published in Citadel Journal # 37. It's use here is not intended as a challenge to the original authors copyright and is reproduced here for the sole purpose of enhancing he Dark Angel spirrit and the warhammer 40,000 experience. |
Use your Land Raiders. With the new Machine Spirit rules there is no excuse not to ram them into enemy lines with their Lascannons blazing, disgorging a squad of Terminators. It is up to the DW Master to place his units as best he can when assaulting because although Termies cannot advance, they can consolidate up to three inches. If you are able to break an enemy unit, try to consolidate into another, that way they won't get to shoot you at all next turn. It's tricky to pull off, but no more so than assaulting from a Land Raider and consolidating back into it. Just don't leave the tank sitting around shooting; remember to maximize its usefulness. If you've just assaulted a unit with the Termie cargo, plant the 'Raider between the combat and other enemy squads to block LOS. That way if the enemy is routed or destroyed, your precious Termies will not come under fire from his heavies. While it sucks to lose a Land Raider, play balls out and use it to your advantage. When an LR bites the dust in the middle of the field, leave it there as scenery. It now cannot be destroyed (anymore) and can be used to block LOS to a Termie squad. If that squad happens to contain a pair of Cyclones, having them in the center of the board behind cover (Land Raider terrain?) will give you an awesome advantage! I once had a Land raider fail a difficult terrain test on the first move of the game. It sat there right in the center of my deployment zone, and won me the game. The enemy's Harlies and other close combat troops were afraid to cross the 'no man's land' created by the still formidable Land Raider. Deepstiking can be both a boon and a detriment. I have had games where every unit I had in reserve cam in on the second turn, but I have also had 300 point squads sitting in Limbo until the fourth or fifth turn. For this reason I do not recommend ever deploying using the Drop Podding rules. Allies/Detachments Although I do team up with my son's Salamanders on occasion, I do not suggest taking detachments with the DW for fluff reasons. In just about any situation, a Dark Angels force would be better equipped to take on an enemy. In my opinion, the only fluffy reason that you would see a DW only force mobilized is when the particular mission is so secret, so critical, that not even the standard Dark Angels are permitted to know about the particulars concerning it. That said, it is difficult for me to picture the most secretive members of a Chapter that mysteriously vapes Inquisitors and Assassins that come snooping playing nice and fighting alongside other Imperial units, especially when the Fallen are involved. That said, I do believe that an interesting case could be made for a detachment of Legion of the Damned. The LotD answer to no one, and they come and go as they please. It is not difficult to imagine them showing up during a particularly pivotal battle involving the DW and Chaos (or any other enemy force) because the Dark Angels would have no way of stopping them. A sprinkling of LotD can give the DW some added flexibility since LotD are allowed a proper Command Squad, can hold their own in combat, and are Fearless. Since LotD always Deepstrike, you can have your DW hit the field as normal in their Land Raiders rather than forego the tanks and trying to Drop Pod everything in. Also, since LotD Dreads always Deepstrike in they are the perfect candidates for such awesome weapons as the Multimelta and Heavy Flamer. Remember what I said about DW Dreads being too slow? Well LotD Dreads are the exception to the rule; they are perfect candidates for close combat. Though the rules in White Dwarf 136 don't specifically allow Dreads, the batrep includes them. So we feel that the missing Dreadnought listing was an oversight. House Rules We allow the GMoD to use the Lion Helm and Sword of Secrets. We feel the Sword is just a better Power Sword/Thunder Hammer, and those are allowed to be taken by characters in Terminator armor. The cost justifies it effectiveness. It has been said that the Lion Helm looks lame when following a Termie around. Why? If you look at the diorama of Horus and the Emperor in the C:SM they are both wearing Terminator armor. If that is the best personal protection available in the 41st Millenium, wouldn't you expect most if not all of the Primarchs to be wearing it? I've never seen a picture of Lion El' Johnson, so who really knows what he was wearing? If people point out that the Helm is that of a suit of Power Armor I have an old lead Terminator that has a helmet resembling the standard marine fare rather than the Stormtrooper/Battle Cattle model we are all familiar with. In fact, if I recall correctly, the most recent version of the Power Armor helmet was based on the research and technology used in the creation of Terminator helmets. We feel that the item is like a Rosarius in that it is seperate from the armor, and that the bonus it gives isn't really unbalancing, especially since Termies now get a 5+ save for free. When it comes to the DA Standards, we feel that since they replace the Sacred Standards in the C:SM, and those can't be carried by Terminators, neither should the DA ones. Besides, the Standard of Devastation has proved to be too powerful in the hands of the Deathwing. The Cup of Retribution and Book of Salvation are treated as Holy Relics. In the C:SM Holy Relics are allowed to be carried by models in Terminator armor, so they are allowed in our games. Blades of Reason were a little tougher to decide on. In the end we allowed them for fluff reasons... The DW are the only company of the DA in which every member knows of the DA's terrible secret and their millennia long mission to hunt the Fallen... not even the Ravenwing can boast that! Knowing this, it's ridiculous not to give a Termie Interrogator/Chaplain the Blades of Reason in order to better fulfill his duties, and they hardly unbalance the game. |
TACTICA DEATHWING |
