TACTICS AND ALE

I present to you the first installment of Tactics and Ale, An Advanced Guide to WHFB Strategy. The next two articles will deal with skirmishing and then flying high. Feel free to be as critical as you like. The old saying applies, "It takes a hard blow to teach a boxer the value of weaving".

 

T & A isn't a myth or legend. Really. It exists, in the town of Miriangelo, near the guild of thieves and assassins. Trust me on this. Some can see past the enchantments disguising it as a run down home to see what appears to be a house of ill repute, common in Tilea. Those who look deeper will see a pub, filled with trophies, drink, and food from across the Old World and beyond. And of even greater value is the clientele - combat leaders and generals of all the armies of the world, past, present, and (it is rumored) future who mingle elbow to elbow, paying for drinks which are terribly overpriced, but a bargain at that. And why are they a bargain? Meet the publican, who has run his pub since (some think) time began, and listened to all, and most importantly shares all. For those commanders lucky, wise, or brave enough to come and listen will learn of tactics beyond those taught in the military schools of the nations. They learn of methods too awkward, unusual or advanced to be accepted by the impetuous sons of nobles who've hardly seen a foe in combat. These are the tactics of soldiers who have seen and survived the most horrific battles, not mere theoretical models, and they span the history of elf and man, orc and greenskin, one and all. Some legends claim the publican is an ancient wizard who has spanned the generations with magic unknown. Others claim him to be a former professor of the University of Nuln, thrown out when his mad military suggestions exposed his lunacy, obviously tainted by Chaos. Those are the simpletons who will continue battling one another in their simple ways with simpler tactics. Enter, general, and listen. Hear the brags and claims of an old bartender and learn lessons proven through blood and time. Welcome to a pub called Tactics and Ale.

 

DISCUSSION #1 Negating the Charge.

"Yep," said the old dwarf. "That Brettonian fool just couldn't resist charging my tasty treats. And when he finished clawing his way past my cannons, Wham! Blew the center with my immolation runes and destroyed the rest with a charge. And they say that dwarves can't charge," he finished with a snort. The bellows which followed filled the room with fumes of Bugman's.

It is not always wise to charge. But unfortunately for many a beginner, that appears to be the only effective choice when trying to destroy your foe. What we'd like to do is introduce you to three tactics of countering your opponent's charge, making his first charge his last mistake.

 

#1: Using Obstacles

The first method we'd like to introduce you to is what our old dwarf was talking about at the beginning of this chapter. Here's what happens. When a charging unit squeezes through an obstacle, be that rough terrain or other hindrances, it loses. It loses first strike, reverting to initiative. It loses any charging weapons bonuses. And it loses its rank bonus for the first turn. In other words, its scrambling troops are too jostled and disorganized to charge, and actually kind of stumble into combat. And if your soldiers happen to be waiting for the charge in ranks, with decent initiative and weapons, well, you're probably going to be watching your foes backside very soon.

But how do you manage to get your foe to stumble through such a mistake?

After all, it is unlikely that the terrain will be situated just where you want it. Consider placing your artillery forward in your deployment zone! Your machines are heavy equipment that most units will have a hard time destroying with toughness of 6 or more and multiple wounds and when your crews flee the charge you have left behind obstacles!

Here's a sample dwarven deployment to use:

Place x-bowmen on flanks fanned out like a the \ of / of a V on either side of 3 war machines, usually a flame cannon, organ cannon and bolt thrower each about the distance of 5 dwarves apart <to ensure you can't get through the machines>. Behind the machines, I mean right behind, are the units of clansmen, ironbreakers, longbeards etc. <the infantry>.

Make sure one or more of your cannons have the rune of immolation. Use your machines sparingly or add runes of fortune, because if your machine goes KABOOM, it's not an obstacle anymore. As the enemy approaches, fire the cannons. When it arrives, what options does it have?

1) The enemy can be wise and maneuver around the machines "flanks". This takes time and allows you to swivel your machines to get extra rounds of shots.

2) Next, they can charge the machines. Fine, your crews flee. Now they have two choices. . .

A. Pursuit. . .which means they will run into your infantry AFTER pursuing right through the obstacles of the left behind machines! Now the dwarves have rank bonus, don't have to worry about the strength of lances on the charge, but will still strike last because of their abysmal initiative OR B. HOLD. . . .do not pursue and place yourself well within charge range of the smaller dwarves who will have little problem moving freely through the space between the machines. Of course, if you used the rune of immolation, now is a time to destroy the middle machine which will not only cause all sorts of damage to the enemy's troops but also will leave a gaping hole allowing more of your troops the ability to charge!

Hellblasters? Rock Lobbas? Repeating Bolt Throwers? The basic method is the same.

 

#2: Units of Tissue

"Of course I sacrificed them to the cause. After all, I could always go back and dig up new ones if I needed them. And besides, look at the faces of those fools when my cavalry caught them just at their moment of victory.

I haven't laughed that hard in centuries." These are your throw-away troops. And the most elegant example of

throw-away troops is the Zombie. Every undead player go grab your armybook (and if you're not undead, borrow) and take a good hard look at zombies.

Too often the only time anyone ever encounters a zombie is behind a large front rank of characters. After all, what are zombies other than cheap cannon fodder for missiles or cheap troops to swell ranks? How many players do you know who are always too afraid to really have his zombies fight for fear that if they broke, they would all disintegrate? But what if that is exactly the point, to make them crumble?

Imagine the following:

Picture of a long line of zombies about 10 inches in front of undead chariots/cavalry, which are followed in turn by the undead infantry containing the necromancer/general.

The zombies are only worth one VP. They serve as a wonderful screen against missile attacks BUT consider what happens to the enemy trying to charge your cavalry/chariots just behind the long line of zombies.

A. He charges the Zombies to get to your other units. If he does that, the zombies will lose combat and not being within 12" of the general will almost certainly crumble. When they crumble, there is absolutely nothing to pursue, meaning the enemy unit is stuck standing around mystified and well within the charge range of the chariot/cavalry or whatever troops you decide to shamble behind your zombies.

B. He doesn't charge your units of zombies so you merely turn them 90 degrees in your movement turn and march move them to leave an opening for your attack units using VHDM or the staff of damnation. Either way, you have forced your enemy to waste his charge, and set himself up for your response.

Similarly, other races with good cheap maneuverable troops can often buy their slow moving infantry the advantage of the charge buy throwing a unit of 5 models in the way of an advancing horde or Brettonian lance. The goal is to make the unit so weak that every model will be run down, leaving the powerful attacking unit open to a horrific counter-attack on your next turn.

 

#3 Run Away...

"So there we were. Hordes of Witch Elves coming at us in full blood lust. I was thanking Sigmar I had made sure my will was up to date, when our commander yells "Flee!" No hesitation from me, let me tell you. And there those ladies were, standing in the middle of the field, just asking to meet someone. What could our gallant knights do but oblige 'em? Course, it wasn't quite the way the ladies wanted..."

One effective way to force the enemy into a failed charge is to simply flee from an infantry charge. Your opponent is not likely to have a great deal of movement left on a M5 or lower model so getting away on 2d6 is really not too difficult. In fact, almost any army can avoid being charged by slow moving troops. Just flee. Knights/cavalry and flying troops often will have more than enough movement to pursue, however, most generals tend to attack from just barely within charge range. Punish the general who charges from long range by jogging your troops away.

Don't worry about getting caught by OTHER troops. You flee during your opponent's turn AFTER he declares charges. You rally at the start of your turn. Assuming you have decent leadership, a general or a battle standard,

you should be ready to fight (and not be run down) at the beginning of your next turn before your enemy can get those pesky flyers to your fleeing troops! Very carefully read the last sentence on Fleeing Troops on page 41.

You can not merely MOVE into a fleeing unit to destroy it.

Now that the enemy is caught in the open, the trick is to have the pursuers not block your charging troops. This is usually done by having the charging troops be set back from the fleeing troops BUT off to one flank or the other.

 

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When x flees, b will be in perfect position to see and be able to charge the infantry which did not have enough movement to pursue x.

This tactic works extremely well for armies with both good infantry and calvary. You want your counterpunching troops to have M6 or higher to make sure they can easily reach a failed charge. The tactic is murderously effective with dwarves who draw out enemy troops tp the open then fire upon them with a disguised organ cannon like this:

Enemy

Your Infantry O <= organ gun disguised

Your Infantry flees leaving

Enemy O <=organ gun ruining the enemy's day

Your Infantry

FIRE!!!!!!

Likewise. . .armies with a lot of shooters can buy extra rounds of shooting using this tactic.

There are variations on this theme. For one, you can use cavalry, especially mounted squires or wolf riders which are cheap and do not cause panic tests, to cause large powerful units of the enemy to fail a charge. Sometimes the enemy will have enough movement to pursue and catch you. In such cases, you are back to the troops of tissue. It's probably more expensive this time, but still effective.

I'm sure there are other generals out there with wonderful ways of avoiding the impact of a mass charge. Hopefully, these suggestions will spur thought on how to avoid a charge.

Next Lesson: "So let me get this straight. All you use your skirmishers for is to screen your cavalry from arrows? Now just you listen up..."

 

 

DISCUSSION #2 Skirmishers: Cannon Fodder or Something Else?

#1 Stick and Run. . .

"Wanna know the real reason why our regiment of glade guards is called the 'Flight to Victory' regiment? Well, there we were. Our foe, that silly necromancer, came marching up with the hordes of undead - mummies, wraiths and vampires. What did he expect, that our best units would take a beating while he stayed behind and cast his foul magic? Even a goblin could counter that stunt, let alone wood elves. We were fighting for our homes, so we

overcame all fear and charged into the doomed battle. For the glory of Isha, the skirmishing glade riders screamed into battle from out of the woods. They slipped between the gaps in the battle line and lanced that necromancer like a great kabob. Well, our regiment ran just as soon as combat actually began. Quite humorous, really, as we didn't even see the enemy army disintegrating behind our heels. But that tale is never told outside the regiment, you hear?"

One of the great advantages of skirmishers is their ability to get behind enemy battlelines without having to out-flank the enemy.

Once, a battleline has been set and the combatants are engaged in hacking and slashing, race the skirmishers who always double pace and take precious little room right through the gaps in the battleline. After all, your opponent has to leave some space between his units. War machines, lone characters and shooters beware!

#2 Distracting the Rear Rankers. . .

"There were just too damn many of them. For every rat we killed, 10 came up from out of the sewers. We would never give up our home! Our cavalry, while hitting hard, was being pushed back by the sheer number of mutants pouring forth. Not able to break the enemy with the brunt of a charging lance tip, the cavalry was doomed to perish. Thank Ulric for the Kislev Horse Archers who decided to harrass the enemy's flanks. They could do precious little damage, but had no need. You should have seen the Grey Seer. He was sure the enemy would either have to fight his swarms by charging front or flank. You would think he had gone mad when he saw his troops turn and try to catch the horse archers, who merely wheeled far enough away to avoid them. Without their strength in numbers it wasn't long before the rats were being chased down by the glory of the White Wolf.

The charge of the skirmishers is one of the most misunderstood tools available. The skirmisher need only see the target with one model, and only one model need be able to reach the target, for the skirmishing unit to have an effect. This includes breaking the enemy's ranks, as well as getting a flank bonus. Of course, a risk of this is that it leaves your skirmishing unit straggled out as an easy target for his counter charge. To protect yourself, pin the nearby units with another charge. This is particularly important when you charge between a pair of your enemy's units. Why? Well what does it matter if you break his rank f the counter-attack is sheer slaughter?

#3 At the Double, March!. . .

"And then the sergeant started swearing, 'Where in Sigmar's name did THEY come from?'"

A skirmisher can move at double normal pace whenever you want, even when it starts within 8 inches of an enemy unit. This means that your unit can get close to a foe, then dash through the gap and set itself up for a charge into flanks and rears of forward units as well as making the enemy's deployment an uncomfortable place for his mages.

#4 Masters of Terain. . .

"Sssssilly tree huggerssss, plinking at ussss with their ssssplinters. They seemed to barely move when chassssed by my sssskinks. Hmmm. Lovely patternssss, the blood in the leavesssss..."

Wood elves are outclassed in the woods by many of the skirmishers. These forces laugh at difficult or very difficult terrain.

Crossable rivers and woods might as well be open terrain. Your skinks will do to them what they have done to so many, ignoring the trees to chase down slower foes. Just as dangerous, your skirmishers can start in the woods, safe from flyers and shooters, and charge at an opportune time with no concern for range reduction. Your enemy will start to hate anything but an open field.

#5 Roll Up the Barrel

"Yes, we taught them, we did. They'd lined up their massive blocks of orc and black orc, filling the vale with their green skins. And they laughed and marched closer to our seemingly fragile citizen levies while our small troop of Ellayrian Reavers blessed with our finest heroes moved off to their sides almost before the battle begun. And then we struck. Slam! into the flank of the first. The heroes of Ulthuan vs. common black orcs. HA! And as they broke, into the second, and the third, and on until all that could be seen was the backsides of the few survivors, fleeing for their miserable lives..."

As you've already seen, skirmishers are some of the fastest troops on the board, able to get behind enemy lines or to an enemy's flank in almost no time. And this gives us a tool for combat which is almost overwhelming. Remember, fleeing troops turn DIRECTLY away from their attackers and flee. If a skirmish troop gets to the flank of a set of units on line, it can cause your foe to break down and cry. As the skirmishers, possibly beefed up with a stronger character, charge the first troop in line in its flank, they break it. After all, when attacking a flank the skirmishers completely avoid attack by the enmey's characters! What with broken ranks and combat bonus from attacking the flank, you can count on the enemy fleeing. And where will he flee? Straight through the unit to its other side, and the skirmishers follow into that same unit's flank. This will continue until the skirmishers finally run into troops they are pursuing, or there are no more troops, or they fail to break a foe. A fun twist is to charge his cavalry in the flank with skirmishing infantry as you will eventually catch them, but usually after several more units break. Panic tests are great fun for the enemy as well.

B. Parting the Waters.

This is a variation of Roll Up the Barrel. In this situation, you've got your main units moving into close combat with your foes' forces. Your skirmishers, instead of being to the flanks, are behind your center two main units. Your main units declare charges straight ahead.

Your skirmishers, though, charge at an angle, with the left skirmisher moving into the inside flank of the right center foe, and the right skirmisher moving to the left center foe. Considerring you will be attacking with rankedinfantry regiments, parting the waters, quickly breaks the enemy's ranks, gaining a combat advantage for flanking, and almost ensures victory in combat. This time, when the foe flees, he does so at an angle away from the two units in contact. If you have moved your forces correctly, taking advantage of your 2 inch spread, the pursuing skirmishers will clip the flank, and therefore charge the flank of, the next unit in line. This will not continue as far as rolling the outside flanks, but is harder to foresee, and breaks open the center of your foe for the rest of your army. You always want to break the center unit first because the 12" panic test usually covers most of the enemy's blocks of troops!

Your enemy will never think of the skirmishers hitting his flanks from behind your infantry regiments and he will quickly learn of the benefits of keeping the general and standard bearer nearby!

#6 Come and Get it if You Can. . . .

"Yesssss. Their whipsss did them no good. It wasss a good phrasssse of power we learned. It went....."

Commmmmme and Getttt Itttt. Skirmishers can eliminate the frenzied troops, often the pride of your foe's forces, with almost pitiful ease. Skinks, for example, can draw flagellants into a march, where they will never catch the little lizards. They won't be in the battleline, and probably will never join the battle except as targets for the crossbows. After all, moving at half speed can make leaving a swamp an endless proposition, especially with no march because the lizards are sniping away from just a few inches away.

This is particularly humorous if the skinks can keep them moving in circles, always in the swamp.

#7 Nyaaah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah. . .

A variation on Come and Get It, If You Can would be to start your shooting skirmishers in the rough terrain, shooting away. For your foe's troops to charge them, they must get uncomfortably close. And when he finally charges, your skirmishers flee, secure in the knowledge that the foe will be caught in briars, branches, and other unpleasantness, while you reorganize and begin your taunts anew. Do you know how many turns it takes dwarves who dare charge into a swamp to turn around, get out, and be useful again, especially if they can't march?

#8 Nowhere to Go.

"Oh, that was a bad one, it was. There were so many orcs all you had to do was put your spear out and one'd run onto it. A man can only take so much, you know, so we turned around, and saw troops to our left and troops behind.

Our only escape was to the right. We got away, but those orcs chasing us hit our Lord's cavalry right in the flank. I couldn't decide if I was shamed that I'd led to his death, or thankful it warn't me..."

 

 

One of the great advantages of skirmishers is that they can get behind an engaged battleline. Why is it so useful? Consider that if a unit flees combat, it must avoid enemy troops. So if before combat begins you move your skirmishers so they are on the rear and one side of the enemy in combat, keeping their inch of separation, you have forced the direction of flight when the foe breaks. Which means you have selected where your block of infantry will end, or perhaps even gets to start rolling the line themselves. Now you are sure that the enemy will take multiple panic tests.

Next Lesson: "Thalandor came here the other day after the Battle for the Pine Craigs. He taught that necromancer the finer points of Air Superiority".

I hope you enjoy these articles. I may have my METT-T articles edited by Kirklin (assuming he will!), his writing is much crisper than mine. The real kudos are his.

Rich

 

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