This article I consider to be an advanced tactical discussion how to use a DoA Blood Angels army. The basic assumption is your army is composed almost entirely of jump infantry. Possibly you have a Stormraven and maybe some landspeeders as well. You will want a high number of Marines in your army with the minimum necessary number of Sanguinary Priests for Feel No Pain. I have found two Priests works best, one is in my Honor Guard which helps save points and makes the Honor Guard more effective since the Novitiate is buffing your army, not just his unit.
Like I said I consider this article to be an advanced discussion on tactics so probably if you are not already playing a DoA style list then it's best to first start with the fundamentals, develop your confidence then come back and read this again.
Showing posts with label Tactics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tactics. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, July 02, 2010
Holland versus Brazil • World Cup 2010 Quarter Finals Upset
Today Holland beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarter final match. Holland was the underdog going into the match, many said they stood no chance at all. How can we as competitive 40k players learn from this great game to improve our own game?
(1) Holland is always underrated. Sometimes Brazil is overrated. Brazil is a great team and I hope they do not fire their coach as a result. Every game in a single elimanation situation is just one game. Holland was well prepared for the match and played extremely well. Some will try to say that Brazil had a bad day but it's not why they lost. The Dutch were very aggressive and won most of the loose balls. The Dutch simply outplayed their opponent.
In terms of 40k it might be like foot slogging orks beating mech IG. Most everyone will tell you that mech IG is an auto win versus orks. You can believe the hype or you can play your game.
(2) The officiating was superb. The last time Holland played Brazil was two World Cups back... In the semi finals. The score was tied late into the second half. Holland is not one of those teams that plays dirty. A midfielder for Brazil named Branca ran around fouling everyone he could until finally a Dutchman retaliated and pushed off the Brazilian. Brazil was awarded a free kick and scored winning the game in the final minutes. Very poor officiating at it's worst which is often a trademark of hte World Cup. Two things here...
First I'm sure Holland remembered that game and it helped to excite them. Holland was ready to payback Brazil & they did. Second good officiating takes a cheating team out of the equation. This Brazilian team is not as nasty as others I have witnessed in the past but then again they did draw a red card for spiking an opponent after Holland went ahead. Basically Brazil is a young team not used to playing from behind and they lost their cool.
(2) Holland did not drop back into defense after going ahead. They continued to play aggressive and kept the pressure on playing strong offense. Often offense is the best defense.
Like I said each game now is only one game and good officiating is very important. These are the things we can take away from this game to strengthen our own in 40k. It's just that simple really.
G
(1) Holland is always underrated. Sometimes Brazil is overrated. Brazil is a great team and I hope they do not fire their coach as a result. Every game in a single elimanation situation is just one game. Holland was well prepared for the match and played extremely well. Some will try to say that Brazil had a bad day but it's not why they lost. The Dutch were very aggressive and won most of the loose balls. The Dutch simply outplayed their opponent.
In terms of 40k it might be like foot slogging orks beating mech IG. Most everyone will tell you that mech IG is an auto win versus orks. You can believe the hype or you can play your game.
(2) The officiating was superb. The last time Holland played Brazil was two World Cups back... In the semi finals. The score was tied late into the second half. Holland is not one of those teams that plays dirty. A midfielder for Brazil named Branca ran around fouling everyone he could until finally a Dutchman retaliated and pushed off the Brazilian. Brazil was awarded a free kick and scored winning the game in the final minutes. Very poor officiating at it's worst which is often a trademark of hte World Cup. Two things here...
First I'm sure Holland remembered that game and it helped to excite them. Holland was ready to payback Brazil & they did. Second good officiating takes a cheating team out of the equation. This Brazilian team is not as nasty as others I have witnessed in the past but then again they did draw a red card for spiking an opponent after Holland went ahead. Basically Brazil is a young team not used to playing from behind and they lost their cool.
(2) Holland did not drop back into defense after going ahead. They continued to play aggressive and kept the pressure on playing strong offense. Often offense is the best defense.
Like I said each game now is only one game and good officiating is very important. These are the things we can take away from this game to strengthen our own in 40k. It's just that simple really.
G
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Playing Jump Infantry Style Blood Angels • Synopsis
These articles are designed for people who want to play jump heavy armies. That is where I see Blood Angels being the strongest & there is slowly growing a trend towards anti Mexh. Sure the new codex has lots of great choices for mechanization but I like to try to stay ahead of the meta curve. I really don't like boring army lists that simply produce predictable results. I find it somewhat amusing all the fanfare for the razor spam lists you see a lot of people playing with both SM & SW, & now BA. Armor 11 is okay but I would never build an army around it with 5 man squads carrying flamers. I think my style of play will beat these lists because I am more mobile and can alpha strike razor spam then mop up. I live in area where there is a lot of very competitive play & to be honest I don't see much razor spam. I have played against other similar style maximum overdrive lists and they have never been a problem for me.
So here I will cover the subjects of unit analysis, tactics & strategies for jump heavy Blood Angels style armies.
G
G
So here I will cover the subjects of unit analysis, tactics & strategies for jump heavy Blood Angels style armies.
G
G
Some of the thoughts behind my current style Blood Angels army
I like Astorath the best for a jump infantry style approach. I think he gives you the most bang for the points. Mephiston is very popular but I think smart opponents won't have much trouble killing him plus there is a lot of anti psyker units in the game now.
I really like both Honor Guard & Sanguinary Guard and also think you should load them up with lots of killy toys. Here is how I run mine:
Sanguinary Guard/Banner (+1A), 2x infernus pistol, power fist
Honor Guard/power fist, power sword, meltagun, infernus pistol
I take one Sanguinary Priest (lightning claw, infernus pistol) and attach him to the SG. Astorath runs with the Honor Guard.
Astorath & his unit have reroll hits when charging, furious charge & FNP.
Priest & his squad have furious charge & FNP.
These units crush face. They are small so i run them in Stormravens for protection & speed... Stormravens are awesome! Mine have extra armor, TL lascannon & TL multi-melta plus the 4x Bloodstrike missiles. It's a lot of points tied up in a relatively low number of models but that's how I roll!
I am also running Furioso Librarian & regular dread (multi-melta). They are also attached to the Stormravens!
Finally I have two full assault squads with jump packs - meltagun, flamer, infernus pistol & power fist
it's a small elite army that can alpha strike. I don't see many people running SG or HG but these are awesome units. I used to run two 5 man veteran assault squads (3x power fist & 2x meltagun) and they did just great... The two units I mentioned here are a lot tighter. I have lots of experience playng BA, having stuck with them during the PDF, so I think I am ahead of the curve.
I really like the Furioso Librarian, not that much more than a Librarian for the points plus he is a lot tougher (front armor 13) and he can fly using Wings of Sanguinius.
I am not really all that worried versus IG Mech or most any gunline army. You've got to be smart about it but it shouldn't be a problem.
G
I really like both Honor Guard & Sanguinary Guard and also think you should load them up with lots of killy toys. Here is how I run mine:
Sanguinary Guard/Banner (+1A), 2x infernus pistol, power fist
Honor Guard/power fist, power sword, meltagun, infernus pistol
I take one Sanguinary Priest (lightning claw, infernus pistol) and attach him to the SG. Astorath runs with the Honor Guard.
Astorath & his unit have reroll hits when charging, furious charge & FNP.
Priest & his squad have furious charge & FNP.
These units crush face. They are small so i run them in Stormravens for protection & speed... Stormravens are awesome! Mine have extra armor, TL lascannon & TL multi-melta plus the 4x Bloodstrike missiles. It's a lot of points tied up in a relatively low number of models but that's how I roll!
I am also running Furioso Librarian & regular dread (multi-melta). They are also attached to the Stormravens!
Finally I have two full assault squads with jump packs - meltagun, flamer, infernus pistol & power fist
it's a small elite army that can alpha strike. I don't see many people running SG or HG but these are awesome units. I used to run two 5 man veteran assault squads (3x power fist & 2x meltagun) and they did just great... The two units I mentioned here are a lot tighter. I have lots of experience playng BA, having stuck with them during the PDF, so I think I am ahead of the curve.
I really like the Furioso Librarian, not that much more than a Librarian for the points plus he is a lot tougher (front armor 13) and he can fly using Wings of Sanguinius.
I am not really all that worried versus IG Mech or most any gunline army. You've got to be smart about it but it shouldn't be a problem.
G
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Part IV. Cavalcade • A Fresh Look at Tactics & Strategies for 40k 5th Edition
I was really sleepy last night while writing the 3rd part of this series and had to stop before I could finish. This part is a continuation of Part III.
Mech armies are very popular now and have many advantages. Many believe mech IG is currently the best army and I concur. If you are playing mech IG then you are in the driver's seat. If you aren't then you need to design your army to have all the right tools to beat mech IG. Mech SM is also another strong army and SM players seem to have their niche to win consistently. Both mech IG & SM armies have excellent psychic defense in the psychic hood. While the Librarian is no longer a potent assault unit the Librarian has access to several powerful psychic abilities such as Null Zone which makes their army more of an offensive threat. The Librarian with Null Zone is now a staple choice in many SM armies. The Inquisitor with Mystics is also a staple choice for many IG armies. The Mystics can be countered through deployment though.
So I am not going to delve into tactics & strategies for mechanized armies, rather I am going to focus on how to beat these armies. Mech armies are often composed of MSU (many small units). Therefore, missions that use killpoints are an inherent weakness to these types of armies. It's important that you support the use of unmodified killpoints in tournaments where you play so you can take advantage of this weakness in mech armies. Deployment is also another excellent tool to win against mech armies. If you have enough of the right units that can either infiltrate or outflank then you can deploy in such a manner that mech armies cannot keep away from your army. Basically you want to deny mech armies from lots of prolonged rounds of shooting. To acheive this goal you must force them to move as they cannot shoot as much when they move.
I have posted some Tyranid armies here on the blog that were explicitly designed to beat mech armies. Let's first take a look at Tyranids. Personally I feel that Tyranids have all the right units to consistently beat mech:
Yrmygal genestealers - Deploy them in the center of the table so they act as the hammer to your anvil. They come in and can fleet into an assault the same turn. These elite genestealers should multi charge several enemy units BUT don't make the mistake of assaulting so many enemy units that you spread them too thin.
Genestealers - These units should generally outflank and they are your anvil. You want to hit the opponent on both flanks and charge them up the middle with the Yrmygal genestealers. The enemy is surrounded and has no place to run away. Keep the enemy moving such that you corral them and pack them in tight. This tactic will help you to pull off more multi charges in the latter phases of the game.
Hiveguard - These units are there to shoot transports and absorb some enemy shooting. Even though Hiveguard are T6 and multi wound units concentrated fire from the enemy can quickly blow them off the table. I would drop them in mycetic spores so they can come in close to the enemy line and be in range to shoot. It's critical that they wreck/destroy some transports early in the game so you can slow down the enemy mech and overrun the squads that fallout. Don't waste shots targeting landraiders and other tanks with AV14 facing them, this is very low odds and the best you can do is glance versus AV14 with S8.
Zoanthropes - This is my favorite unit for shooting enemy armor and these units should be deployed via mycetic spores to take full advantage of their S10 AP1 lance. The major drawback to Zoanthropes is enemy psychic defense in the form of psychic hoods. I still prefer Zoanthropes over Hiveguard due to their lance shooting attack. You will need to run at least two Zoanthropes per unit but three is definitely a lot better. Multiple Zoanthropes per unit means you have much better odds of being able to get past the enemy psychic hoods and penetrate their vehicles.
Trygon Prime - These units can deepstrike and have 12 S5 shots. You want to deploy them such that you can shoot against side armor versus chimeras. Versus rhinos it doesn't really matter if you shoot at front or side armor, as it's all the same (AV11). Trygons are very fast since they can fleet so they are also excellent at assaulting vehicles if you can keep them alive long enough after they arrive via deepstrike. What you want to do is saturate the table with your units so that the opponent has to make tough decisions as to what to shoot, thus taking some heat off of your Trygons. Personally I think both adrenal glands and regeneration are must have options for Trygons. They have six wounds so there is a good chance you can regenerate some of their lost wounds. Adrenal glands (furious charge) gives your Trygons the edge versus strong enemy assault units. Obviously you don't want to charge a squad of assault terminators with thunderhammers and stormshields! Upgrading to Prime doubles your number of shooting attacks plus it also let's you spread out your own psychic defense - Shadows in hte Warp (SitW).
Flyrants - While the Hive Tyrant is very expensive this unit brings a lot to the table. If you build him right the Flyrant is going to cost up to 300 points. Here are the options I take - wings, 2x twin linked devourers with Brainleech ammo, Hive Commander & adrenal glands. The pair of twin linked devourers with Brainleech ammo combined with wings (deepstrking) is a huge advantage - basically you have 12 S6 shots that can all be rerolled to hit. The Flyrant equipped as such is excellent at popping transports and again with the ability to deepstrike you should be able to shoot at the side armor of chimeras. Hive Commander gives you +1 for your reserves which is a huge benefit if you build an army such as I have described that starts off the table, everything starts coming in from reserves on turn 2. This ties in directly with my strategy to saturate the table as quickly as possible, forcing your opponent to make tough decisions in regards to what he targets with his shooting attacks. Again you are spreading out your psychic defense SitW. To me there is no reason for the Flyrant to engage in assault as quickly as possible. The Flyrant has more than twice as many shooting attacks as compared to close combat attacks. Take full advantage of the shooting during the beginning through midgame. Note however the Flyrant is excellent for throwing into a quick assault early in the game to help another unit finish off an enemy unit, you destroy the unit on the charge then are free again to continue shooting.
Broodlords - To me adding a couple of Broodlords to your army is a wise choice. They can absorb some wounds to keep a unit of genestealers alive plus they also help spread out your psychic defense SitW. They also add to your offense during assaults and are good for focusing on enemy HQ. I don't take any options for my Broodlords, they are fine as is. Genestealers in general don't really need any upgrades and if you run large units those options quickly add up.
DoM - We will have to wait and see if GW FAQs this unit's Spirit Leech power affects embarked units. If it turns out that it does then this unit will be very effective against mech and will become a staple choice in Tyranid armies. I have seen the DoM take down Wraithlords the turn it arrives... the DoM is very scary.
So these are the main units I run to counter mech, in particular mech IG. Its still going to be a tough battle versus a solid opponent. They can drop ordnance that ignores cover and destroys a huge squad of genestealers with one shot. Remember to keep all your models in a unit all spread out 2" apart, this is the best defense versus ordnance in general. You will have to work your way through the blobs of guardsmen and chimeras to reach their ordnance. So be it. Keeping the enemy constantly moving to decrease their shooting and corral them into a tight cluster so you can multi charge them during mid to endgame. You are both playing a game of constant attrition trying to remove more blocks of enemy units faster than your opponent. All mech armies suffer from what I refer to as the inevitable collaspe if you can keep pressing them hard enough. Mech armies want to sit back through the first two stages of the game then move their transports onto objectives during the endgame. If you can quickly destroy enough of their transports early on they will lose their mobility, that's a big part of what it's really about!
Next I will focus on how to beat other mech armies such as Space Marines. Keep in mind that many of the tactics and strategies I have discussed above apply to beating any mech army. The goal is to design one army that is balanced and can beat any other army. If you focus solely upon beating mech armies then you can run into huge problems versus hordes and other infantry based units. The type of Tyranid army I have described above is very fast (infiltrate, outflank, deepstrike, wings & fleet). The army also inherently excels in close combat but has a limited amount of shooting so it's quite prudent that you carefully decide how you go about selecting which enemy units you will target with your shooting. A little bit of shooting can go a long way if you are wise. It's very important to apply focused fire and go with high odds in your favor. While the Zoanthrope's lance shooing attack is the best attack versus high armor such as landraiders you obviously don't want to waste these shots versus blobs of infantry. Focus on destroying the opponent's transports first, it's one of the big keys to beating mech.
G
Mech armies are very popular now and have many advantages. Many believe mech IG is currently the best army and I concur. If you are playing mech IG then you are in the driver's seat. If you aren't then you need to design your army to have all the right tools to beat mech IG. Mech SM is also another strong army and SM players seem to have their niche to win consistently. Both mech IG & SM armies have excellent psychic defense in the psychic hood. While the Librarian is no longer a potent assault unit the Librarian has access to several powerful psychic abilities such as Null Zone which makes their army more of an offensive threat. The Librarian with Null Zone is now a staple choice in many SM armies. The Inquisitor with Mystics is also a staple choice for many IG armies. The Mystics can be countered through deployment though.
So I am not going to delve into tactics & strategies for mechanized armies, rather I am going to focus on how to beat these armies. Mech armies are often composed of MSU (many small units). Therefore, missions that use killpoints are an inherent weakness to these types of armies. It's important that you support the use of unmodified killpoints in tournaments where you play so you can take advantage of this weakness in mech armies. Deployment is also another excellent tool to win against mech armies. If you have enough of the right units that can either infiltrate or outflank then you can deploy in such a manner that mech armies cannot keep away from your army. Basically you want to deny mech armies from lots of prolonged rounds of shooting. To acheive this goal you must force them to move as they cannot shoot as much when they move.
I have posted some Tyranid armies here on the blog that were explicitly designed to beat mech armies. Let's first take a look at Tyranids. Personally I feel that Tyranids have all the right units to consistently beat mech:
Yrmygal genestealers - Deploy them in the center of the table so they act as the hammer to your anvil. They come in and can fleet into an assault the same turn. These elite genestealers should multi charge several enemy units BUT don't make the mistake of assaulting so many enemy units that you spread them too thin.
Genestealers - These units should generally outflank and they are your anvil. You want to hit the opponent on both flanks and charge them up the middle with the Yrmygal genestealers. The enemy is surrounded and has no place to run away. Keep the enemy moving such that you corral them and pack them in tight. This tactic will help you to pull off more multi charges in the latter phases of the game.
Hiveguard - These units are there to shoot transports and absorb some enemy shooting. Even though Hiveguard are T6 and multi wound units concentrated fire from the enemy can quickly blow them off the table. I would drop them in mycetic spores so they can come in close to the enemy line and be in range to shoot. It's critical that they wreck/destroy some transports early in the game so you can slow down the enemy mech and overrun the squads that fallout. Don't waste shots targeting landraiders and other tanks with AV14 facing them, this is very low odds and the best you can do is glance versus AV14 with S8.
Zoanthropes - This is my favorite unit for shooting enemy armor and these units should be deployed via mycetic spores to take full advantage of their S10 AP1 lance. The major drawback to Zoanthropes is enemy psychic defense in the form of psychic hoods. I still prefer Zoanthropes over Hiveguard due to their lance shooting attack. You will need to run at least two Zoanthropes per unit but three is definitely a lot better. Multiple Zoanthropes per unit means you have much better odds of being able to get past the enemy psychic hoods and penetrate their vehicles.
Trygon Prime - These units can deepstrike and have 12 S5 shots. You want to deploy them such that you can shoot against side armor versus chimeras. Versus rhinos it doesn't really matter if you shoot at front or side armor, as it's all the same (AV11). Trygons are very fast since they can fleet so they are also excellent at assaulting vehicles if you can keep them alive long enough after they arrive via deepstrike. What you want to do is saturate the table with your units so that the opponent has to make tough decisions as to what to shoot, thus taking some heat off of your Trygons. Personally I think both adrenal glands and regeneration are must have options for Trygons. They have six wounds so there is a good chance you can regenerate some of their lost wounds. Adrenal glands (furious charge) gives your Trygons the edge versus strong enemy assault units. Obviously you don't want to charge a squad of assault terminators with thunderhammers and stormshields! Upgrading to Prime doubles your number of shooting attacks plus it also let's you spread out your own psychic defense - Shadows in hte Warp (SitW).
Flyrants - While the Hive Tyrant is very expensive this unit brings a lot to the table. If you build him right the Flyrant is going to cost up to 300 points. Here are the options I take - wings, 2x twin linked devourers with Brainleech ammo, Hive Commander & adrenal glands. The pair of twin linked devourers with Brainleech ammo combined with wings (deepstrking) is a huge advantage - basically you have 12 S6 shots that can all be rerolled to hit. The Flyrant equipped as such is excellent at popping transports and again with the ability to deepstrike you should be able to shoot at the side armor of chimeras. Hive Commander gives you +1 for your reserves which is a huge benefit if you build an army such as I have described that starts off the table, everything starts coming in from reserves on turn 2. This ties in directly with my strategy to saturate the table as quickly as possible, forcing your opponent to make tough decisions in regards to what he targets with his shooting attacks. Again you are spreading out your psychic defense SitW. To me there is no reason for the Flyrant to engage in assault as quickly as possible. The Flyrant has more than twice as many shooting attacks as compared to close combat attacks. Take full advantage of the shooting during the beginning through midgame. Note however the Flyrant is excellent for throwing into a quick assault early in the game to help another unit finish off an enemy unit, you destroy the unit on the charge then are free again to continue shooting.
Broodlords - To me adding a couple of Broodlords to your army is a wise choice. They can absorb some wounds to keep a unit of genestealers alive plus they also help spread out your psychic defense SitW. They also add to your offense during assaults and are good for focusing on enemy HQ. I don't take any options for my Broodlords, they are fine as is. Genestealers in general don't really need any upgrades and if you run large units those options quickly add up.
DoM - We will have to wait and see if GW FAQs this unit's Spirit Leech power affects embarked units. If it turns out that it does then this unit will be very effective against mech and will become a staple choice in Tyranid armies. I have seen the DoM take down Wraithlords the turn it arrives... the DoM is very scary.
So these are the main units I run to counter mech, in particular mech IG. Its still going to be a tough battle versus a solid opponent. They can drop ordnance that ignores cover and destroys a huge squad of genestealers with one shot. Remember to keep all your models in a unit all spread out 2" apart, this is the best defense versus ordnance in general. You will have to work your way through the blobs of guardsmen and chimeras to reach their ordnance. So be it. Keeping the enemy constantly moving to decrease their shooting and corral them into a tight cluster so you can multi charge them during mid to endgame. You are both playing a game of constant attrition trying to remove more blocks of enemy units faster than your opponent. All mech armies suffer from what I refer to as the inevitable collaspe if you can keep pressing them hard enough. Mech armies want to sit back through the first two stages of the game then move their transports onto objectives during the endgame. If you can quickly destroy enough of their transports early on they will lose their mobility, that's a big part of what it's really about!
Next I will focus on how to beat other mech armies such as Space Marines. Keep in mind that many of the tactics and strategies I have discussed above apply to beating any mech army. The goal is to design one army that is balanced and can beat any other army. If you focus solely upon beating mech armies then you can run into huge problems versus hordes and other infantry based units. The type of Tyranid army I have described above is very fast (infiltrate, outflank, deepstrike, wings & fleet). The army also inherently excels in close combat but has a limited amount of shooting so it's quite prudent that you carefully decide how you go about selecting which enemy units you will target with your shooting. A little bit of shooting can go a long way if you are wise. It's very important to apply focused fire and go with high odds in your favor. While the Zoanthrope's lance shooing attack is the best attack versus high armor such as landraiders you obviously don't want to waste these shots versus blobs of infantry. Focus on destroying the opponent's transports first, it's one of the big keys to beating mech.
G
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Style over Content... Thoughts on the new Nidz
I have seen a lot of rambling on the Internet concerning the new Nidz. There have even been some batreps posted using the rumours. I am not sold on much of what I have read and am waiting to get my hands on the codex until I make any comments as to how I think they should be played. The Nidz look like they are going to get a major rework going by the rumours. Obviously they are going to have to be able to bust armor at range to be a potent threat to the current metagame. I think they will be able to tank bust at range. My main concern is that a lot of the best choices are vying for your three available slots in the FOC as Elites. I really like the deathleaper since his presence can effectively shutdown psykers. -3 to Ld for psychic tests is huge and you can't get around that plus he will nerf psychic hoods trying to shutdown your Zoies. While Hive Guard are nice and I like the new minis I think from what I have read Zoies plus the deathleaper are the way to go versus armor. There are those people who will inevitably always say if your list can't take down a landraider then it's no good. I think that is a fallacy as more often than not you don't see any landraiders BUT a S10 AP1 lance in the face is pretty darn good. Basically you have S10 versus AV12 with +1 to the AP table. If the shot goes off you have a 67% chance of scoring a pen with a 67% chance of either immobilizing or blasting the landraider... That's why you need 2x 2 Zoies. You can bring them in behind the Trygons so you should definitely be in range. An immobilized landraider is chump change versus monstrous creatures in close combat. More importantly the Zoies can take out guard armor very well.
There must be a reason why Nidz lost universal fleet across the army. I reckon this is due to their now being able to enter a huge portion of their force via deep strike and outflank... So I think you will be able to design a list that can deploy in a variety of ways optimizing how you face off against other builds. It could be a beautiful thing and deployment is going to be very important for the new Nidz.
Currently I am thinking that genestealers are still the best troop choice with outflank and fleet. I also think the Alpha Warrior podding in with a a Warrior crew will be an excellent choice... They are a shock troop and some armies won't have the dedicated firepower to take them out before they can charge. They will be awesome in assault.
I am still trying to figure out what is the best choice for the primary HQ. Obviously a Tyrant is going to be popular so it's a matter of deciding whether to take wings or walk him on with Tyrant Guard. Hive Guard sound like they will be very situational and as I have said I am sold on Zoies. If the Hive Guard could ignore cover saves then I think they would be a no brainer but going by the rumors that's not the case.
So in conclusion the good units based upon the rumors are as follows:
Alpha Warrior with Warriors - spore
Deathleaper
Zoies
Genestealers (maybe one squad with a Broodlord)
Alpha Trygons
I'm not sure about the rest but the squads above could easily build your core. If you have a good core then your other choices don't have to necessarily be great choices as well, you are looking for synergy and keeping your synapse online. The new rules for basic instincts are better now for sure BUT you certainly won't want to have to rely upon them versus a good gamer... It's like handing the keys to your car over to your worst enemy. I happened to see a comical post on another blog in which the poster stated you only have to apply basic instincts if your models are facing in the direction of visible enemy units... Like I said I think it was meant to be a comical post but on the other hand that person lost all credibility with me for posting it as a tactical article.
G
There must be a reason why Nidz lost universal fleet across the army. I reckon this is due to their now being able to enter a huge portion of their force via deep strike and outflank... So I think you will be able to design a list that can deploy in a variety of ways optimizing how you face off against other builds. It could be a beautiful thing and deployment is going to be very important for the new Nidz.
Currently I am thinking that genestealers are still the best troop choice with outflank and fleet. I also think the Alpha Warrior podding in with a a Warrior crew will be an excellent choice... They are a shock troop and some armies won't have the dedicated firepower to take them out before they can charge. They will be awesome in assault.
I am still trying to figure out what is the best choice for the primary HQ. Obviously a Tyrant is going to be popular so it's a matter of deciding whether to take wings or walk him on with Tyrant Guard. Hive Guard sound like they will be very situational and as I have said I am sold on Zoies. If the Hive Guard could ignore cover saves then I think they would be a no brainer but going by the rumors that's not the case.
So in conclusion the good units based upon the rumors are as follows:
Alpha Warrior with Warriors - spore
Deathleaper
Zoies
Genestealers (maybe one squad with a Broodlord)
Alpha Trygons
I'm not sure about the rest but the squads above could easily build your core. If you have a good core then your other choices don't have to necessarily be great choices as well, you are looking for synergy and keeping your synapse online. The new rules for basic instincts are better now for sure BUT you certainly won't want to have to rely upon them versus a good gamer... It's like handing the keys to your car over to your worst enemy. I happened to see a comical post on another blog in which the poster stated you only have to apply basic instincts if your models are facing in the direction of visible enemy units... Like I said I think it was meant to be a comical post but on the other hand that person lost all credibility with me for posting it as a tactical article.
G
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
End Game Tactics
This post is about the end game. I consider end game to start on your 4th turn so it could encompass up to four player turns. The game now has variable turn length so you need to plan appropriately. You also need to monitor the speed at which the game is progressing because in a tournament it's quite possible you'll only get four turns. I keep an eye on the clock if my opponent is slow. By slow I mean that my opponent takes a long time to deliberate their turns. I am opposed to rushing your opponent and to be honest I can't think of anytime that I have played anyone that is stalling. I think that some people confuse long turns played by an opponent as slow playing. Let's take Imperial Guard as an example. Typically IG armies will consist of many units and there are lots of vehicles. It takes time for the IG player to decide how they want to move and shoot as that is what they are all about. Movement is much more important in 5th edition and static gunline armies have now gone by the wayside. So IG have a lot of units to move then shoot.
I know that often I am slow when playing the first three turns as these are very important for establishing your end game. If you rush through the first three turns you will probably not create a solid end game. After the third turn I do think that the game should typically move at a faster pace since there will be less units left on the table and by then it should be clear what you need to do to win. While it's possible to win a game in the first three turns this will rarely be the case versus a good player, simply they won't let you do it as they will counter alpha strikes and huge multi charges. There are occassions when I have played opponents that also are setting themselves up to win in the end game and if their army mirrors yours it can be a lot like a chess match. What's unfortunate is when an opponent such as this takes their time and then tries to hurry you up during your turns. To me this immature and you need to brvable to effectively deal with it constructively. If you need time to properly decide how you will move, shoot and assault don't let your opponent rush you along as most likely you will make some mistakes.
So before I go into detail about end game tactics it's important to first discuss how to best setup to create the optimal end game. I have noticed that the best players are extremely adroit when it comes to movement in general. They can make it look so simple that it's easy to overlook what they are doing; the master tacticians will use their movement phases to counter your tactics and deny you the win. To me nothing is more important than your movement phases. I typically play armies that are stronger in close combat than shooting so I need to move my assault units into position to assault as much of the enemy units as possible and also be in position to maximize my assaults. Most armies have some shooting and it's also important to not overlook this aspect. A little bit of shooting can go a long way to acheiving the win. Shooting armies on the other hand are typically very weak in close combat and they will fold if you can assault enough of their army. So you want to put yourself in a position to deny them as much shooting as possible and force them to castle up so you can assault the bulk of their army. If you let your opponent spread out then when you assault and win combats your squads will too far away to quickly reach the rest of their army and they can focus fire on your isolated units; you will lose the war of attrition.
If you are playing an assault army it is possible to win the game by the third turn if you can destroy enough of their key units while keep most of theirs intact. Putting the pressure on early can force your opponent to make mistakes. Sometimes when two equal players face off against each other all it takes is one mistake to win or lose the game, especially when the two armies mirror each other. This happens quite a bit in tournaments with people choosing to play the metagame and field popular lists they see on the Internet (e.g., Lash Spam, Mech Vets, Vulkan Marines, etc.). This is one of the main reasons why I typically frown upon playing popular lists such as these... Good players will quickly learn how to counter them. If you put the time and effort into fielding a unique list one inherent advantage you'll gain is the power of being unsuspected.
So the first stage of the game is about establishing your end game and it mostly hinges on proper movement. Sure you can focus solely upon your shooting but then you are leaving yourself open. If you play a predominantly shooty list of course shooting is very important but you shouldn't focus solely upon that aspect of the game as you will be painting yourself into a corner with no way out other than to continue blasting away.
If you set yourself up for the end game then by turn 4 all the pieces of the puzzle should start falling in place and this is a great allegory for the end game. It should be obvious to you what you need to do to win by the 4th turn. An assault army should have boxed in the opponent and have numerical superiority. Often when you see two good close combat oriented armies trading blows the winner will have setup his units such that they can keep pouring more units into the combats. I have often said whoever disembarks first will probably lose, by that I simply mean that the army which receives the bulk of the assaults is at a major disadvantage as their opponent gets all the bonuses that come with charging, such as furious charge and the +1 attack. There are those armies that can absorb a lot of punishment and still dish it back out so you have to be careful when committing your units to assaults such as these. I think a big part of 5th edition is the ability to field strong and resilient units that can receive the charge from the opponent but minimize losses prior to swinging back. Units such as these are nob bikers, assault terminators and Blood Crushers. Nob bikers are the epitomy of this type unit and are extremely dangerous. You can shoot then charge them and they will still tear your head off. The best way to deal with this units is via your own movement. Try to isolate them and use as much of your army as possible to gut them. These monster units are expensive pointswise so they tend to make their armies smaller; if you can gut them then the rest of the army should crumble. Nob bikers have problems holding multiple objectives and Blood Crushers are relatively slow - again your movement is your greatest ally versus these units.
So to summarize and conclude you should be thinking ahead several turns and know what you want to do with your army. Often people say the best plans immediately fail once you roll the first dice but to be honest I think these players really don't have much of a plan in the first place. A good plan should proceed barring extremely bad luck with the dice or if you simply playing someone who is better at the game. In the latter case take your loss in stride and use it as an opportunity to learn! Don't blame the dice or declare that your opponent is cheesy... You will come away with less than nothing and face another loss the next time you find yourself in the same type of situation. Watch the clock if the game is moving at a slow pace such that it won't go beyond turn 4. There is no excuse for a game that only rescues the 3rd turn but I rarely if ever have this happen to me. If the game is moving slowly then maybe you will have to accelerate your end game, you might not get a massacre but you should still be able to win. If your opponent is slow then most likely you should be able to out-think them as they are probably to focused on simply shooting and can't link their turns together. I see this often when people come to the table with what they call an optimized list... It's only good at one thing and they are focusing on only one aspect of the game, again typically shooting. It's very easy to counter alpha strike tactics such as holding units in strategic reserve. If the mission is objective based then plan on what units of yours you want to take or contest in your opponent's deployment zone. It's very easy to play for a draw if there are only one or two objectives but not so easy to win unless you have a good plan. Playing the same list over and over will help to develop the familiarity you need to win in various sets of circumstances and to me that is a lot more powerul than simply relying upon a popular internet list.
G
I know that often I am slow when playing the first three turns as these are very important for establishing your end game. If you rush through the first three turns you will probably not create a solid end game. After the third turn I do think that the game should typically move at a faster pace since there will be less units left on the table and by then it should be clear what you need to do to win. While it's possible to win a game in the first three turns this will rarely be the case versus a good player, simply they won't let you do it as they will counter alpha strikes and huge multi charges. There are occassions when I have played opponents that also are setting themselves up to win in the end game and if their army mirrors yours it can be a lot like a chess match. What's unfortunate is when an opponent such as this takes their time and then tries to hurry you up during your turns. To me this immature and you need to brvable to effectively deal with it constructively. If you need time to properly decide how you will move, shoot and assault don't let your opponent rush you along as most likely you will make some mistakes.
So before I go into detail about end game tactics it's important to first discuss how to best setup to create the optimal end game. I have noticed that the best players are extremely adroit when it comes to movement in general. They can make it look so simple that it's easy to overlook what they are doing; the master tacticians will use their movement phases to counter your tactics and deny you the win. To me nothing is more important than your movement phases. I typically play armies that are stronger in close combat than shooting so I need to move my assault units into position to assault as much of the enemy units as possible and also be in position to maximize my assaults. Most armies have some shooting and it's also important to not overlook this aspect. A little bit of shooting can go a long way to acheiving the win. Shooting armies on the other hand are typically very weak in close combat and they will fold if you can assault enough of their army. So you want to put yourself in a position to deny them as much shooting as possible and force them to castle up so you can assault the bulk of their army. If you let your opponent spread out then when you assault and win combats your squads will too far away to quickly reach the rest of their army and they can focus fire on your isolated units; you will lose the war of attrition.
If you are playing an assault army it is possible to win the game by the third turn if you can destroy enough of their key units while keep most of theirs intact. Putting the pressure on early can force your opponent to make mistakes. Sometimes when two equal players face off against each other all it takes is one mistake to win or lose the game, especially when the two armies mirror each other. This happens quite a bit in tournaments with people choosing to play the metagame and field popular lists they see on the Internet (e.g., Lash Spam, Mech Vets, Vulkan Marines, etc.). This is one of the main reasons why I typically frown upon playing popular lists such as these... Good players will quickly learn how to counter them. If you put the time and effort into fielding a unique list one inherent advantage you'll gain is the power of being unsuspected.
So the first stage of the game is about establishing your end game and it mostly hinges on proper movement. Sure you can focus solely upon your shooting but then you are leaving yourself open. If you play a predominantly shooty list of course shooting is very important but you shouldn't focus solely upon that aspect of the game as you will be painting yourself into a corner with no way out other than to continue blasting away.
If you set yourself up for the end game then by turn 4 all the pieces of the puzzle should start falling in place and this is a great allegory for the end game. It should be obvious to you what you need to do to win by the 4th turn. An assault army should have boxed in the opponent and have numerical superiority. Often when you see two good close combat oriented armies trading blows the winner will have setup his units such that they can keep pouring more units into the combats. I have often said whoever disembarks first will probably lose, by that I simply mean that the army which receives the bulk of the assaults is at a major disadvantage as their opponent gets all the bonuses that come with charging, such as furious charge and the +1 attack. There are those armies that can absorb a lot of punishment and still dish it back out so you have to be careful when committing your units to assaults such as these. I think a big part of 5th edition is the ability to field strong and resilient units that can receive the charge from the opponent but minimize losses prior to swinging back. Units such as these are nob bikers, assault terminators and Blood Crushers. Nob bikers are the epitomy of this type unit and are extremely dangerous. You can shoot then charge them and they will still tear your head off. The best way to deal with this units is via your own movement. Try to isolate them and use as much of your army as possible to gut them. These monster units are expensive pointswise so they tend to make their armies smaller; if you can gut them then the rest of the army should crumble. Nob bikers have problems holding multiple objectives and Blood Crushers are relatively slow - again your movement is your greatest ally versus these units.
So to summarize and conclude you should be thinking ahead several turns and know what you want to do with your army. Often people say the best plans immediately fail once you roll the first dice but to be honest I think these players really don't have much of a plan in the first place. A good plan should proceed barring extremely bad luck with the dice or if you simply playing someone who is better at the game. In the latter case take your loss in stride and use it as an opportunity to learn! Don't blame the dice or declare that your opponent is cheesy... You will come away with less than nothing and face another loss the next time you find yourself in the same type of situation. Watch the clock if the game is moving at a slow pace such that it won't go beyond turn 4. There is no excuse for a game that only rescues the 3rd turn but I rarely if ever have this happen to me. If the game is moving slowly then maybe you will have to accelerate your end game, you might not get a massacre but you should still be able to win. If your opponent is slow then most likely you should be able to out-think them as they are probably to focused on simply shooting and can't link their turns together. I see this often when people come to the table with what they call an optimized list... It's only good at one thing and they are focusing on only one aspect of the game, again typically shooting. It's very easy to counter alpha strike tactics such as holding units in strategic reserve. If the mission is objective based then plan on what units of yours you want to take or contest in your opponent's deployment zone. It's very easy to play for a draw if there are only one or two objectives but not so easy to win unless you have a good plan. Playing the same list over and over will help to develop the familiarity you need to win in various sets of circumstances and to me that is a lot more powerul than simply relying upon a popular internet list.
G
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Winning with PDF Blood Angels
I was asked to post my thoughts on winning with Blood Angels so I decided to post here so I can share my thoughts with everyone. Typically I am against net lists as I don't think they help anyone to become a better player but... I am putting my Blood Angels aside after playing them for the past few years so I can start playing daemons, and a new codex is not far off so what I say here will only hold true for a few more months.
If you want to play this army competively there is only one template that works -> Dante & Corbulo. Some people simply hate special characters so you'll get dinged on your soft scores from time to time but on the other hand most people are not familar with the new Blood Angels and the general consensus is that Blood Angels are at best a mid tier list. I played one person in the third round of the Ard Boyz semi finals this year who was fielding a dual lash list - he was not familiar with Blood Angels, the game ended in a draw and afterwards he vehemently accused me of serious cheating allegations, most of which were based on his lack of knowledge of the army and it's rules. That is a very extreme case but I thought I should mention it. There are people who think they should be able to roll Blood Angels and when they lose they'll blame it on anything but their lack of effective tactics to counter this army. So just be aware of that.
I think 40k is all about what I call the force bubble theory. Mostly you ate playing to control objectives so if you place them as closely together as possible then force multipliers become much more potent since you will end up playing the game on only a fraction of the tabletop. To me the combination of Dante and Corbulo is currently one of the strongest force multipliers in the game... Dante grants preferred enemy to any friendly BA unit within 12" and also drops enemy units by -1 WS that are within 6". Corbulo grants furious charge to any friendly BA unit within 12" and has a narcethium that allows you to ignore one failed armor save to any friendly BA unit within 6" once per player turn... that might not sound as good as FNP but if you have a strong unit such as a veteran assault squad or assault terminators the ability to ignore two wounds per turn is quite valuable. It can be used on a unit locked in close combat as long as Corbulo is not engaged but it does not work against instant death or attacks that ignore armor saves in close combat. I keep Corbulo in a landraider and he never disembarks unless the tank is destroyed. You can measure from the of the landraider when using his powers which greatly extends the range. This in turn increases the effective zone of your force bubble. What you want to do in objective based games is to get on top of the objectives as quickly as possible, wait for the enemy to approach while you shoot them then counter assault. This simple tactic is tried and true, it's won me many many games! I'll talk about killpoints later.
Here are the units I recommend:
Dante & Corbulo
9x VAS/2x meltagun, 3x power fist
10x tactical Marine/lascannon, meltagun, power fist - rhino
5x terminator/4x pairs of lightning claws, thunder hammer & storm shield
landraider
Death Company without jump packs
There are some other good choices such as Baal Predators, our special dreadnaughts and Honorguard but the choices I listed above are all i use. I know a lot of BA players that tout their regular assault squads (count as troop choices) but to be honest they are very expensive and in all actuality they don't do that well in close combat. On the other hand tactical Marines are excellent for holding objectives plus with preferred enemy and furious charge it can be argued that they are better than Khorne Berzerkers.
I highly recommend a heavily mechanized list. You will have to learn about rhino tactics to play this style and it perfectly dovetails with my counter assault tactics. If you are playing against another army that is strong in assault bait the player telling them that your Blood Angels can pound them... Invariably they will move their army straight towards yours and then you can counter assault. It works like a charm. Rhinos are very durable and you can use them to shield your army from enemy shooting. The landraider allows you to assault from a moving transport with those assault terminators... It's amazing to me how often people don't see that coming. I learned that tactic playing Matt back in the 2007 Chicago GT when brought Al's Space Wolves. The landraider also gives you two twin linked lascannons which I believe is the best answer to lightly armored mech lists. The landraider is extremely resilient, great at shooting armor and can deliver a powerful unit into the heart of the battle. Those assault terminators will have furious charge plus can reroll hit and wounds... It's a very powerful unit indeed.
In terms of killpoints I try to minimize the use of units that give up easy killpoints such as the popular MMAB and rhinos. Yes you need the rhinos but don't go overboard. Giving away a lot of easy kill points will lose games.
Here is a sample list I like a lot:
Dante joined to VAS
VAS/ as listed above
Corbulo and 5x DC in a rhino
5x assault terminators in a landraider
2x 10x tactical Marine/ as listed above
This is a small elite army. You only have three rhinos but coupled with the landraider you have a heavy mech list with only three easy killpoints. You have three heavy hitting assault units - VAS, terminators and Death Company. The tactical Marines can assault as well if you find yourself in a pinch.
Here is an advanced tactic I referred to as Linking Assaults:
Linking Assaults
This is what i refer to as an advanced tactic. It works extremely well versus horde armies such as Tyranids and Orks. Form your rhino wall such that the opponent cannot outflank you your wall. They will head straight towards the rhinos and charge them. The rhinos are destroyed and your troops disembark on the side opposite to the attackers. You have held back your landraider and the VAS. Your turn your troops move through the wrecked transports so they can shoot and assault. The VAS flies up into the center to shoot and charge as well. The landraider comes around the side to deliver the terminators. Position your units such that they all charge multiple units and it should form one long chain so you have basically one big combat. Put your power fists on monsterous creatures/warbosses and the rest of your Marines assault the squishy models, such as gaunts, orks and genestealers... Don't be afraid to charge genetstealers in this situation... You can shoot them first to thin down their numbers. Here is the net result - you kill a ton of squishies and put a few wound on the big nasties. The enemy loses the overall combat by 10+ wounds. Tyranids are fearless due to synapse and orks are fearless due to mob size... So each individual enemy unit has to take all those combined armor saves. Gaunts, genestealers and orks die in droves while the big nasties as also fail some saves as well since there are so many to take! The enemy line will crumble in one turn. I also once used this tactic to kill 25 assault terminators in just one round of close combat... It's just simply that good. You can win the game in one turn. It takes some practice to be able to pull this off but you'll figure it out soon enough.
I hope this helps shed some insight into this wonderful PDF army.
G
If you want to play this army competively there is only one template that works -> Dante & Corbulo. Some people simply hate special characters so you'll get dinged on your soft scores from time to time but on the other hand most people are not familar with the new Blood Angels and the general consensus is that Blood Angels are at best a mid tier list. I played one person in the third round of the Ard Boyz semi finals this year who was fielding a dual lash list - he was not familiar with Blood Angels, the game ended in a draw and afterwards he vehemently accused me of serious cheating allegations, most of which were based on his lack of knowledge of the army and it's rules. That is a very extreme case but I thought I should mention it. There are people who think they should be able to roll Blood Angels and when they lose they'll blame it on anything but their lack of effective tactics to counter this army. So just be aware of that.
I think 40k is all about what I call the force bubble theory. Mostly you ate playing to control objectives so if you place them as closely together as possible then force multipliers become much more potent since you will end up playing the game on only a fraction of the tabletop. To me the combination of Dante and Corbulo is currently one of the strongest force multipliers in the game... Dante grants preferred enemy to any friendly BA unit within 12" and also drops enemy units by -1 WS that are within 6". Corbulo grants furious charge to any friendly BA unit within 12" and has a narcethium that allows you to ignore one failed armor save to any friendly BA unit within 6" once per player turn... that might not sound as good as FNP but if you have a strong unit such as a veteran assault squad or assault terminators the ability to ignore two wounds per turn is quite valuable. It can be used on a unit locked in close combat as long as Corbulo is not engaged but it does not work against instant death or attacks that ignore armor saves in close combat. I keep Corbulo in a landraider and he never disembarks unless the tank is destroyed. You can measure from the of the landraider when using his powers which greatly extends the range. This in turn increases the effective zone of your force bubble. What you want to do in objective based games is to get on top of the objectives as quickly as possible, wait for the enemy to approach while you shoot them then counter assault. This simple tactic is tried and true, it's won me many many games! I'll talk about killpoints later.
Here are the units I recommend:
Dante & Corbulo
9x VAS/2x meltagun, 3x power fist
10x tactical Marine/lascannon, meltagun, power fist - rhino
5x terminator/4x pairs of lightning claws, thunder hammer & storm shield
landraider
Death Company without jump packs
There are some other good choices such as Baal Predators, our special dreadnaughts and Honorguard but the choices I listed above are all i use. I know a lot of BA players that tout their regular assault squads (count as troop choices) but to be honest they are very expensive and in all actuality they don't do that well in close combat. On the other hand tactical Marines are excellent for holding objectives plus with preferred enemy and furious charge it can be argued that they are better than Khorne Berzerkers.
I highly recommend a heavily mechanized list. You will have to learn about rhino tactics to play this style and it perfectly dovetails with my counter assault tactics. If you are playing against another army that is strong in assault bait the player telling them that your Blood Angels can pound them... Invariably they will move their army straight towards yours and then you can counter assault. It works like a charm. Rhinos are very durable and you can use them to shield your army from enemy shooting. The landraider allows you to assault from a moving transport with those assault terminators... It's amazing to me how often people don't see that coming. I learned that tactic playing Matt back in the 2007 Chicago GT when brought Al's Space Wolves. The landraider also gives you two twin linked lascannons which I believe is the best answer to lightly armored mech lists. The landraider is extremely resilient, great at shooting armor and can deliver a powerful unit into the heart of the battle. Those assault terminators will have furious charge plus can reroll hit and wounds... It's a very powerful unit indeed.
In terms of killpoints I try to minimize the use of units that give up easy killpoints such as the popular MMAB and rhinos. Yes you need the rhinos but don't go overboard. Giving away a lot of easy kill points will lose games.
Here is a sample list I like a lot:
Dante joined to VAS
VAS/ as listed above
Corbulo and 5x DC in a rhino
5x assault terminators in a landraider
2x 10x tactical Marine/ as listed above
This is a small elite army. You only have three rhinos but coupled with the landraider you have a heavy mech list with only three easy killpoints. You have three heavy hitting assault units - VAS, terminators and Death Company. The tactical Marines can assault as well if you find yourself in a pinch.
Here is an advanced tactic I referred to as Linking Assaults:
Linking Assaults
This is what i refer to as an advanced tactic. It works extremely well versus horde armies such as Tyranids and Orks. Form your rhino wall such that the opponent cannot outflank you your wall. They will head straight towards the rhinos and charge them. The rhinos are destroyed and your troops disembark on the side opposite to the attackers. You have held back your landraider and the VAS. Your turn your troops move through the wrecked transports so they can shoot and assault. The VAS flies up into the center to shoot and charge as well. The landraider comes around the side to deliver the terminators. Position your units such that they all charge multiple units and it should form one long chain so you have basically one big combat. Put your power fists on monsterous creatures/warbosses and the rest of your Marines assault the squishy models, such as gaunts, orks and genestealers... Don't be afraid to charge genetstealers in this situation... You can shoot them first to thin down their numbers. Here is the net result - you kill a ton of squishies and put a few wound on the big nasties. The enemy loses the overall combat by 10+ wounds. Tyranids are fearless due to synapse and orks are fearless due to mob size... So each individual enemy unit has to take all those combined armor saves. Gaunts, genestealers and orks die in droves while the big nasties as also fail some saves as well since there are so many to take! The enemy line will crumble in one turn. I also once used this tactic to kill 25 assault terminators in just one round of close combat... It's just simply that good. You can win the game in one turn. It takes some practice to be able to pull this off but you'll figure it out soon enough.
I hope this helps shed some insight into this wonderful PDF army.
G
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