Tactica: Vs Outflanking Genestealers

About a month ago, Alex asked me about mech-Eldar tactics for dealing with Outflanking Genestealers... especially versus multiple squads and on 4' wide boards. I promised a reply "next week or so", but it took me a while to come up with a response that I was happy with.

Why? Because there's not really a "good" answer. Here's some options to try:
1. Wait a year and hope the re-do of the Tyranid Codex changes things.
2. Swap armies and demonstrate what a wankery thing this is on 4' boards.
3. Point out that there's no model to represent the Scuttling Biomorph and refuse to play against anything that isn't 100% WYSIWYG.
4. Take a tip from The Godfather and slip a beheaded Genestealer into his bed while he's sleeping.
5. Accept your fate meekly and let them continue to rip open your tanks and add your your flesh to the biomass.
6. Accept that the rules aren't always fair, play the odds and beat him anyways.

I'm not really a fan on 1-5... well, maybe #4... but 6 is really the way to go. So let's establish a few basics:
1. They have a 6" move, d6" Fleet, and then a 6" Charge. This yields an average 15.5" move and threat range up to 18".
2. They have Rending, Initiative 6 and 2 base attacks. Getting assaulted by them hurts.
3. They don't have guns. Seemingly obvious, but crucial to beating this.
3. Genestealers aren't cheap. Typically they'll have Flesh Hooks (Frag Grenades) and Scuttlers (Scout); costing 20 points or more each.
4. Genestealers are Scoring.

Outflanking Genestealers are truly a menace. Lictors make them fairly reliable for coming in on Turn 2. There is a small risk that they'll Outflank to the "wrong" side of the field... but that's only a 33% chance. 2:1 odds favoring them is not a gamble worth taking. But the real kicker is one of timing. By coming in from Reserves, your opponent is able to see where your forces are deployed. He can then deploy them to maximum effect for target, terrain, position and even same-turn charges.

A mechanized Eldar player has a few tricks in their bag to counter this.
1. Reserves Denial. Even without an Autarch this is a good method to steal their thunder. You can deny them any easy deployment, moves or targets. However, the effect pales if you are stuck with the first turn. Your opponent can see your ploy before they deploy, you have to start rolling to enter from Reserves first, and generally they're going to have a better ability to adapt to your play. There's also the typical problem with Reserves Denial: your forces won't enter play until Turn 2+. You'll have less time to kill the enemy and secure objectives.

2. Rely on the table. With a 4' board, Outflanking Stealers can effectively threaten all but a 12" strip down the middle. Sit inside of that and you're immune to their alpha-charge. The width of this strip can also be pushed, since Fleet is a single d6 and the only part of the move that ignores terrain effects. The odds are pretty good for you if you don't stray too far and/or can force the Stealers to advance through terrain.

3. Rely on your tanks. When a Serpent has moved over 6", a typical Stealer is only going to destroy your tank 1/24th (4.2%) of the time. Units inside are only hurt when a Vehicle Explodes (1.4% chance). The Stealers don't get a Consolidate move either. So it's perfectly viable to us a tank to bait a large squad into bunching up. Just make sure your hatch isn't blocked, pass a simple Pinning test, and then watch Destructors evaporate Stealers. And even if the worst happens and a Dakkafex shoots down your tank? You deploy your guys on the opposite side of the tank from the Stealers. Good prior positioning and difficult terrain rolls should keep your guys from getting jumped in the Assault phase.

4. Rely on your mobility. This kinda ties into the three items above... but your tanks can move 24". A 4' board doesn't leave you much room to dash about, but you can certainly play bait & switch. Stuck with the first turn? Deploy your tanks near the edges so they stick the Stealers into Outflank. Then use your Turn 1 moves to jump into that safe strip in the middle. Got a bunch of objectives stacked to one side of the board? Deploy a tank in charge range on the other side to lure his attention. It never fails to amaze me how many players will lose a game because they forget strategy in favor of a tactical kill.

Recommended units: Serpent Council, Serpent Banshees, Fire Storm Guardians, and Serpent of Fury. Foot DA, Wraithlords and Spiders can also help in a pinch.

Hopefully this has given you a few ideas. I think the major points come across, but diagrams can be made if needed. Cheers and thanks for reading. (Sculpting Tutorials will resume once the flu has finished the rounds of the family...)

*Image is courtesy the fine guys at the now defunct MacHall. Check out their new work at Three Panel Soul.