Best 2 out of 3

Today I want to discuss our first "Tactics" post here on No Turtles Allowed.

I have been playing 40k since 1999, the onset of 3rd edition. With 6th edition in less than 2 weeks, I felt this a proper time to relay my theory on 40k, one that has served me 3 editions so far.

I find 40k to be a game of best 2 out of 3. This is in reference to the phases of the game. You best your opponent in 2 phases and the game should be yours. Note: there are many ways to win a Phase.

Movement

Lets start out with movement. The movement phase is the first phase of the game and the most important, a concept that was lost on me when I was new to this game. I would wonder "How could movement be the most important if you can't kill stuff?"

Well, the answer is simple, movement sets up everything. Just like in Chess, the movement phase for 40k sets up your next move. This can be getting into cover, out of LoS, setting up your shooting, assault, or going for objectives, etc.

Movement is the phase that you can be both offensive and defensive, and switch it up each turn. This is huge for winning my best 2 out of 3 theory. The movement phase allows your offense to do better and it allows you to negate your opponents shooting or assault phases.

The best advice I can offer to the movement phase is when you have the tough choice of moving or shootin, move.

Shooting

The shooting phase is the most straight forward of the 3 phases; point your gun and pull the trigger right? For the most part, yes. However, in 5th, the shooting phase has become more dynamic.

Its a sound and easy strategy to win this contest by bringing the most guns. Case in point, Leaf blower IG, Purifier Spam, or Venom Spam. However, there is more than just blowing things up to this phase.

5th edition introduced running and therefore allowed the shooting phase to be an extension of the movement phase. Also, wound allocation was born.

At the beginning of 5th, Nob Bikers ruled the day. They didn't have a lot of shooting in the list, but God help you if you thought you would out shoot them. Like their later Death Stars, TWolves and Paladins, Nob Bikers could soak up an army's worth of shooting and then smash you FTW.

Shooting can be won by killing, or not dying.

Assault

The last phase, and my favorite, assault. Assault has gone up and down over the years in power. From the venerable Rhino Rush era of sweeping advances, to now, the era of insane combat resolution.

Assault can be the trickiest of the phases to win, but it brings huge reward. Assault is the only way a unit can reliably kill more than 1 target. Also, there are 10-14 assault phases in a game that you can attack. Therefore your assault units could potentially see twice as much action as your shooting units.

Assault by nature though carries heavy risks. It is more reliant on movement than shooting, and is more at risk against heavy shooting(though the reward here is also huge). In short, you can do the most damage in the assault phase, but you must also be willing to gamble the game.

That Leads Us Back To Doe?

To sum it all up, you need a well rounded army, but not so well rounded that you end up being a Jack of all trades and master of none. Put your eggs into a basket, but have a back up basket too.