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Tactics; cause i just gotta know
Topic Started: 19th September 2004 - 03:32 PM (309 Views)
Stinkhair
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Dabbling GM. Clanrat loon. 6th Edition Aficionado. Bitter.

the title [almost] says it all, which deployment do you use most often?

1)line of battle [equal distribution of troops on each end of a single line]

2)weighted line [line of battle, but with weak units on one side and tough nuts on the other (and do you deploy your toughies against the enemy's weaklings or their elites?)]

3)multiple lines [this can be one line of slaves, with a line of clannies behind, or a line of clannies/monks/ogres, with a reserve, or three or four lines of any troop types, a LOT of variation possible]

4)refused flank [set up ur army in a slanted line, with one flank much further from the enemy than the other, refusing them a flank] (and which one to refuse?)

5)envelopment [weak/average blocks in the centre, strong(-ish) troops on the flanks, hoping the enemy will go for the centre]

6)spearhead/column [basically a column or a /\ shape for penetrating the enemy's battleline and then smashing back into the rear of their army]

im pretty sure that's all the major tactics, but feel free to add more, i would've made a poll, but im seemingly unable to make working polls, so i posted it instead.

one other question for you all,

do you deploy your shooters/skirmishers in between combat blocks, or at the edges of your battleline?

ta in advance
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'Ttakquick
Grey Seer
I usually go with a battle line, with flanking units near the edges.
My shooters are placed between the center and ends of the battle line.
My center is where I place 1-3 units behind the line/front units.
Skirmishers and scouts are always at the ends.
As I have much more units than my opponents fields, my opponent some times go for my flankers, which in turn diverts a unit or two out from his battleline.
Then I rush his center, usually being his 2-3 units in the center vs. my 3-5 units.
Crush-crush, his center gets wiped out.
*bsb*
'Ttakquick. Battle Standard of Clan Mors! Litter-spawn of Lord Queek HeadTaker!
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Rattsu
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Is writing Dragon Age fanfiction

[2] Weighted line.

I usually deploy my hard hitting troops against the opponents elites, reasoning that my weaker troops can keep his weaker troops busy.

I usually deploy my skirmishers and shooters on the far flanks, with the exception of weapon teams, whom I keep interspaced with, or behind my units.

I am not above doing weird deployments, keeping my army very concentrated and making my opponent reac to to what I do. Concentration of force is what I do.
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Bassik Dwarveripper
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35 clanrats in the middle, 20 plaguemonks and twintig clanrats on bot sides, Stormvermin on one end, ratogres on other end, slaves in front of Plaguemonks and ratogres, warplightening cannon as close to a wood as it can get.
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Stinkhair
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Dabbling GM. Clanrat loon. 6th Edition Aficionado. Bitter.

'bassik dwarfripper'
 
35 clanrats in the middle, 20 plaguemonks and twintig clanrats on bot sides, Stormvermin on one end, ratogres on other end, slaves in front of Plaguemonks and ratogres, warplightening cannon as close to a wood as it can get.


so essentially, a balanced battleline.......

ta for all the responses, i go for multiple line, but im thinking of a weighted [double?] line against a TK opponent, should i put my SV's (if i can get around to converting them) and cheiftain Paskritt's large unit of clanrats nearest to my opponent's bone giant or chariots? he'll probably put chariots at one end and the giant at the other, making both flanks a little tough.... methinks he is gona use a second chariot regiment in the centre of his line.... eep

[EDIT] eep, made a mistake, im only moving the SV's around, im gonna need paskritt's battle standard in the center to keep my rats steady....
Posted ImageI've flown with pirates twixt the stars of New Eden,
Fought across Lordran, slain dragon and daemon,
Wandered the Wastelands - the East and the West,
But U E dot net's what I like the best.
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Skaskrit Venomclaw
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Ex-Councilrat

I generally use a weighted line. My toughest units go against the moderately tough and fairly weak enemies, as I'm confident of beating those. Some clanrats and lots of cannon fodder (Rat swarms!) as well as all my shooty stuff go up against the toughest enemy units. I delay those until the game is over, hopefully killing at least half with shooting and magic (I have little shooting.) and stopping them from inflicting too much damage on my troops.

Apart from that, the rest of my army goes looking for opportunistic flank charges. I also make sure to hunt down other weak and easy victory point sources like warmachines and wizards.

Of course, all this depends heavily on my opposition. If I face tough foes such as Dwarfs or Chaos I will avoid as many combat units as possible unless I can get in a flank charge. Even if half my army runs off the table after fleeing from a charge, it's worth it to keep the really nasty stuff away. Many foes will learn not to go chasing slaves, but if I sacrifice a 30 strong block of clanrats, almost everyone will go after them. It's worth it if it stops those chaos knights from rampaging through the rest of my army.

Against weaker foes, such as empire, my strong units do confront the stronger enemy units whilst the rest of my army deals with supporting units. (Detatchments, anyone?)
"I have a post-Armageddon vision. We and all other large animals are gone. Rodents emerge as the ultimate post-human scavengers. They gnaw their way through New York, London and Tokyo... within 5 million years, a whole range of new species replace the ones we know. Herds of giant grazing rats are stalked by sabre-toothed predatory rats. Given enough time, will a species of intelligent, cultivated rats emerge?"

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale
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Deathblane
Warlord
Always ALWAYS go for two lines. But don't just take my word for it, here's some quotes from Maurice's Strategicon

"The Utilityand Necessity of Forming the Army in Two Lines"

"If it is a large army, it will have to streatch over a great distance; part of it will be located on unfavourable terrain," -This in particular applies to us

"Sometimes troops formed in a single line may seem to be winning the battle and driving the enemy back, but in the melee their formation will certainly have become broken up and their persuit will be disorderly. ...if some other force should suddenly appear out of ambush then the persuers would be forced to take flight as there is no one too ward off this unexpected attack."

OK I'm going to paraphrase from here on in (because i'm lazy :P), but basically, with two lines, if your front breaks then you have a rear line to absorb the enemy, also if you win, persue, then get caught out you have something behind to countercharge. And it protects from the numerous enemies that can appear behind you.



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AngryBeaver


just a note on this topic.
the disscussion is about strategies...not tactics.

strategies are game plans. what are you trying to do with your army?

tactics are how you go about doing it.

my strategy is the checker board formation, which is a staggered 2 line approach, and it is close to a hoard army. 240 models. 4 clan rat unit, 4 slave units, jezzails, etc.

now, tactics:
i prefer the fleeing slave tactic. march your slave right up to an enemy unit, don't charge. the checker board formation means that the enemy needs to charge, or he'll simply be shot at by a ratling gun or jezzails. if he wants to sit there, let him. he'll probably charge, putting you incontrol of the movement. flee with slaves an he'll either run into a clan rat unit, or stop short, giving you 2 units to charge him with.

it's important to remember the difference between strategies and tactics.

my 2 cents

Cheers!

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Skaskrit Venomclaw
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You are absolutely right. The difference between a general 'game plan' and specific in-game tricks should be kept clear.

However, things like 'deploying in checkerboard formation' are tactics. It's general tactics, rather than a specific one. Tactics is the art of winning a battle. Strategy is the art of winning the war. A good example of Strategy would be "We'll attack Zundap with all the Skaven armies now, then we'll be able to rush the Struhelspan bridge before the defenders burn it and have a clear route to march on Middenheim before the relief army arrives."

My main point is this. The terms 'tactics' and 'strategy' are not always very clear, and lots of people use them in slightly different ways. The differences are not always clear-cut. Nor are they that important, when applied to a table-top battle game. Just discuss the topic, and the terms are not that relevant. We'll get your meaning anyway.

On topic:

I do use the double battle line some of the time (combined with weighed flanks as I stated above) but I find it's mainly useful when the enemy is going to charge me at some point. If I face a more static defence, (Dwarves) a single line with perhaps some missile screens and plenty of flanking units works better.
"I have a post-Armageddon vision. We and all other large animals are gone. Rodents emerge as the ultimate post-human scavengers. They gnaw their way through New York, London and Tokyo... within 5 million years, a whole range of new species replace the ones we know. Herds of giant grazing rats are stalked by sabre-toothed predatory rats. Given enough time, will a species of intelligent, cultivated rats emerge?"

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale
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AngryBeaver


This could turn into a good discussion actually,

let's look at strategy:
ever heard of Bitzkrieg?
this is a strategy that the Germans developed in one of the World Wars that was very successful. the idea was to punch through a defense line with overpowering fire power, then push through that line, extremely deep into enemy territory less defended.
an over all strategy.

Tactics:
well, how was that accomplished basically?

In Warhammer terms, a single battle is usually played, and you first need to determine you strategy, and then your tactics. your strategy will often determine what troops you will bring too.
for example.
to simply say my army is going to be a hoard army, generally says enough about what strategy i would use. the over all goal is to have an overwhelming force.

so, how you go about using a hoard army would be tactics.
weighted flank, single or double line, fleeing or stick trapping...etc

you could also say your strategy is "lot's o shooty stuff" now, we know that shooty alone will not win the day.
a tactic would be too: stick slaves into combat, and concentrate fire and magic, ....or what ever.
where's the difference between the two?
Your right Death claw. it's hard to tell the difference, and i get the two confused at times.

Cheers!
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