Eldar: Mechanized Assault (Advanced Vehicle Tactica)

DavidW86 on Warseer asked about how to manage an assault with mechanized Banshees. I gave a step by step answer, but blog-o-vision allows illustrations too!
1. Farseer and Banshees start embarked on a Wave Serpent.
Yep, here they are a standard deployment 24" or so away.

2. Farseer casts Fortune on the Wave Serpent.
3. Farseer casts Doom on a secondary enemy target, if one is available.
4. Wave Serpent moves Flat Out. Best case is to stop the prow about 8" from the enemy.Here they are after the initial move. If you are wondering why the one on the right is marked "Bad"... see the next illustration.

5. Wave Serpent ends the move by pivoting in place about 30-90 degrees. This will shift the exit area forward a couple inches but put the overall model slightly farther away from the enemy. The specific amount of turn is based on field conditions and enemy disposition. You want to make sure that a 6" move by the target is not enough to get at your rear armour when Shooting. Also, pay attention to the rest of the field and make sure you're not accidentally exposing that rear facing to another unit. Last, make sure that a move and assault by the enemy does not have enough range to block of your exit.
Here we see them after pivot. The one on the right moved that extra 1" to get a little closer, but after pivot it ends up too close.* The second closest enemy model has enough range to block the rear exit.**

6. Preferably, another Wave Serpent or two are used in formation to prevent encirclement by enemy units in assault.
Here's a couple of examples using two or three tanks. Note how much closer the formation can push into the enemy without them being able to get rear armour shots or block hatches. These tanks don't all have to be packing assault units either. It's perfectly plausible (and recommended) to mix things up with shooting units, as shown in my Serpent of Fury Tactica

7. The Wave Serpent weathers enemy shooting thanks to a 4+ cover save (Flat Out) that is re-rollable (Fortune).
8. If the enemy opts to move and run away, you probably go back to 1. Else...
9. Farseer casts Fortune on the Banshees.
10. Farseer casts Doom on the target.
11. Farseer and Banshees disembark and move.
12. Wave Serpent moves away to support other areas.
13. Banshees opt to Fleet or Shoot. The choice of which to do is entirely based on how far
14. Banshees charge the target. Optimally, target is destroyed and the Banshees can consolidate into cover.
15. Banshees weather enemy retaliatory attacks thanks to cover and Fortune.

* Does the pivot matter? YES! Not only does it move leading edge of your exit area closer to the enemy, it also pulls the trailing edge away from them. This gives you a little more margin for error in positioning and creates a decided front/back line of engagement. (If this doesn't make sense, tell me and I'll see if I can explain it differently.)
** Why do I care about the second closest? Because the closest must charge the tank by the shortest distance possible. He can't ever wrap around to the back side and block the hatch. It is the second closest model that can go that extra bit and so only they actually matter.

Space Wolves: Fenrisian Wolf Packs

Have you ever wanted to be the leader of the pack? Do you have what it takes to run with the Wolves? I'm sure there's some other cliche I could abuse, but I've always tried to be a lone wolf...

Okay, enough of that, let's look at Fenrisian Wolves. What do they have going for them? They're cheap, they have the basic stats of a Marine and they are Cavalry. Against them? They're never scoring, they don't have power armour and they don't have power armour.

Why that last twice? Because even though they're about 1/2 the cost of a basic Marine, they will only save 1/4 as many shots... presuming they get a save in the first place. This means that unit attrition will be a LOT higher. This can be mitigated by running them through cover, but even that is only a temporary solution.

With no guns, there's no reason not to Fleet. With no guns, there's no reason not to charge. With no Frag Grenades, you probably want to avoid charging enemy in cover.

Still doesn't seem really favorable for the Wolves, does it? Well, it's not. They're a large, cheap, mobile meat shield. That's it. There's nothing really tactical or strategical about them. Simply point at the enemy lines and fire. They're just fast, furry Orks.

But wait! A character can get Saga of the Wolfkin and upgrade them all to Initiative 5 and Leadership 7! Yeah, that's real great, now you'll still be going at Initiative 1 if you have to charge into cover. Anyone worth their salt is going to use this against you. Remember, that effect happens even if you're charging OUT of cover. It's any time that difficult terrain roll is made. So if your normal move and Fleet don't get you clear of the cover, you're going last.

But wait! Add in Canis and you can take them as Troops! The still can't score, it's just as worthle... er... wait... you mean they won't waste those Fast Attack slots? I can fill those up with Thunderwolf Cavalry or something instead? Hunh. We might have something here...

The plan: Operation Furshield. Take 10-45 Fenrisian Wolves. Screen your lines. Charge. Fight. Win! No capes...
Cheap, simple and easy, this is how I see most Wolves getting used. A nice distraction, alpha-strike, speed bump... whatever you want to call it. They run at the enemy and muck up their lines to give the rest of your time to army close.

The second plan: Operation Fuzzy SABOT. See above. Slap on an Independent Character or two on Thunderwolves. Point at enemy. Let furballs eat bolters. Let character wreak havoc. Enjoy.
At 120 points for a unit of Wolves and 200 or so for a decent character, this plan is still pretty cheap. If nothing else, the potential havoc it can cause is one heck of a "shoot here" sign. With a 19-24" move, you're not going to have to worry much about being Rapid Fired to death... at least not until after the first charge.

Fenrisian Wolves are a cute and fluffy idea that make a nice, cheap horde option for supporting your Marines. They're a great way to get a bunch of bodies in front of your more expensive units and screw up the enemy lines with close combat. With a shooting force, they can distract or delay a flank. But they're going to mesh best in a heavily close-combat oriented army that needs a fast shock troop out front. Run them at the from to Screen a Cavalry or Infantry list and be your initial line of impact. Even a mechanized force could probably find a use for them, though they don't fit quite as nicely.

In the final analysis: A single unit isn't critical but might make a nice addition to most any force. I wouldn't bother with multiple units unless you were taking Canis and running a heavy Infantry or Cavalry army.

Cheers and see you next time! (Hey, one week and change left to enter my contest...)

***Image grabbed from this shirt site...***

A small update

Hey there boys and girls! For a change there's no mega-post today, but instead a series of small items.

1. The "Design me a new banner" contest is off and running, with 12 days left. Nothing says it has to be all custom art and super slick design... enter something! (Yes, I do have entries already, but I'd like to see more.)

2. I recently did a guest article for "The Wraith Gate" on "Eldar & the 5th Edition Tyranid Menace". Head over and tell me I'm wrong!

3. A recent bit of humour from the net... Hitler learns about the Doom of Malan'tai debate:

Amusing enough, I'm willing to forgive the editing gaffe.
Truth told, I think Robin Cruddace did a decent job overall. Plus, I'm happy having Phil Kelly working on other things, like my spiffy new Wolves 'dex. Having Codexes regularly release makes me hopeful that we'll see new stuff soon for those needing a new or updated Codex. (=I=, Dark Eldar, and Eldar, I'm looking at you...)
Still, that item could have been better written.

4. Just for something else, here's a bad pic of some Genestealers I'm painting. This was taken with my phone camera with no attempt to proper lighting. Deal. Also, the colors were not my choice but ended up looking good anyways. The guy in the middle on the round base was the original sample. Current progress is 6 done and sealed, 8 basecoated, 8 assembled and primed. I'd love to do more, but have vacation stuff to do. Expect to see these guys again. (Yes, with "good" pics.)

5. Pet Peeve: When people add an image to the top of their post but don't remove the carriage return. This causes their post to start a line down from being even with the image top. Keep it professional! Keep it OCD! Keep it consistent!

Okay, that almost looks like a real post... Off to take some more cold meds. "I don't have TIME to be sick."