TERMINATOR INFANTRY ARMIES By ( Bloodwraith ) |
Introduction: First of all I'd just like to clarify that I always use infantry so none of this will have anything to do with vehicles. I find the all infantry DW army is a very scary prospect for any opponent, in the hands of a good player the DW can be indestructible. I deploy 26 terminators at 1500pts split into 4 squads of 5 and one of 6 due to my HQ joining them. Since the new assault cannon rules came out I now run my list 6 assault cannons and 4 cyclones. I'm so very impressed with my DW now, people complain about them taking a hit but I couldn't see it as further from the truth. I see other armies as the ones taking the hit. New rapid fire rules, ok the enemy can move and shoot twice up to 12" but now the death wing have a range advantage over those enemies with rapid fire weapons. My general tactic with my death wing is cover as much of the table as I can. We also benefit from the size of the deployment zone. You should never have to deploy any terminators in reserve. I see each of my units as an independent, what I mean by that is they can work very effectively on their own. They have a phenomenal capacity for firepower what with assault cannons, cyclones and stormbolters. They have the best range in the game with the stormbolter, the assault cannon is plain nasty and devastating if you pick your targets properly. The cyclone is great, better with tank hunter so you don't require a 6 to crack land raiders though. My opponents have started calling me a coward because I refuse to engage. I will move my terminators forward to get juicy shots but when they gets into range to assault me in the next turn I fall back and shoot the hell out of him. I recently had a game against a pure world eaters army, my opponent was so frustrated with me refusing to engage that he made mistakes, lots of them. When I finally did engage he started swearing at me. I took it all calmly and said "I have 26 models in the table you have 50+ with chain axes and you expect me to charge you?" See my point? That would have been suicide. I think this style of shoot and disengage will be very popular soon when people see how effective it can be. The one game I played by his rules and engaged I still managed to flatten him, although I did lose a hell of a lot of my terminators to those chain axes. The best piece of tactical advice I can give anyone is always soften up the enemy before charging, I don't care if they are guardians or if they are genestealers (although if you charge stealers you're stuffed no matter how soft they are.) Remember also that whilst shooting and disengaging is effective you still need to enter combat every now and them. Whether it is to hold a unit in place, block a LOS or just stop them from being targeted by shooting you will need to engage. Against something like a dreadnought or a carnifex or something like that I would engage it as power fists would make short work of them. Remember terminators are not indestructible: You have no room for error due to the fact that the army is so small. Losing one terminator weakens your whole army not just the unit. That 2+ save is all well and good until someone points an AP 2 weapon at you and then you can kiss your terminator goodbye. That 5+ inv sv is not really that effective either and I wouldn't rely on it unless you've got the dice gods blessing. Use cover: Terminators need to use cover even more so then other armies. On an open field or in the open you will get shot to pieces, especially with small arms fire like bolters and whatever (although I'd question you tactically if you were in range to be hit by bolters.) Use cover as much as possible, wherever possible. Another thing, hordes should no longer be a problem what with assault cannons and frag cyclones. Hordes are full of light armoured infantry with a few big guys to back them up. The little guys will die in droves verse your stormbolters and assault cannons and if you keep falling back and shooting you can easily eat hordes for breakfast. Use the right weapons for the job: This one is one that I see a lot of new players not doing. I see them using krak cyclones verse gaunts whilst a carnifex lumbers along unscathed. Always use the right weapon for the right job. Even if you think that weapon is overkill. However overkill is never really that necessary. This brings me onto my next point Targeting priority: Before the game starts but after deployment decide your targeting priority and stick to it. Heavy weapons are my first priority against marine armies and such. Anything with a heavy weapon, specifically devastators and armoured vehicles become priority targets. Then I go after any fast units, because they are the ones who are going to threaten me the most (after playing against angels of death with 5 assault squads I fear them.) Then you can clean up anything left. Against hordes like tyranids you need to take out the hormagaunts first as they are the fastest thing in the army (assuming non mutable) then you need to kill the genestealers (never let these things in combat EVER!) then termagants and the big guys. Against orks I take out the vehicles first especially the fast vehicles like trukks, trakks and bikes. Then I hit the heavy hitters like kans and dreads. Then I deal with the guys on foot. Don't ask me how to beat tau, they are my biggest conundrum at the moment, with high strength weapons, great flexibility and mobility and long range it makes the hard to beat. Don't forget that all this is all well and good but sometimes the targeting priority has to change. For example I'm not going to shoot the hormagaunts if there are genestealers able to charge me next turn etc. Deep strike is not always your friend: Deep strike is always an interesting topic I've seen DW players (even on this board) suggest to other players when you're facing tau drop pods and deep striking in their faces is the way to go. I have to refute that, after losing 4 units in one turn from deep striking and getting shot to bits it's just not worth it. Deep striking against 'Nids whether in front of the army or behind it is suicide. I'd really strongly advise against drop pods or deep strike but that's just me. Last point of all is never to underestimate your terminators. Use them well and you can defeat any army from hordes to heavy armour. |
TACTICA DEATHWING |
This article has been reproduced with kind permission from the author. 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 the Dark Angel spirit and the warhammer 40,000 experience |
