Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics

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Hello. This page is meant to index pages for the Warhammer 40,000 tactics dumps.

General Tactics

Building a Successful 40k army

Money, time, and (a lot of) effort.

Pick an army you like, for whichever reason, and memorise its codex. Start with an HQ and two Troops. Troops aren't as important in 7th edition now that all units can hold objectives, as well as with the addition of unbound armies. However, when it comes to late game contesting of objectives, you're going to be glad they have objective secured.

Next decide on a play style. Even within an army this can vary a lot, as Mech Guard is very different from Blob Guard, and Bike Marines are different from Drop Assault Marines.

Note that it's acceptable to go though these two stages in the opposite order. Pick a play style and then an army that fits it. If you want to drown your enemy in cheap bodies then you don't want to play Space Marines.

Next if you want a chance of winning you need to balance enough anti infantry power (typically rapid 'shot' lower strength) to counter hordes (Guard,Orks,Nids) and enough anti tank power (single 'shot' high strength) to counter a wall of tanks and or monsters (Guard, Space Marines, Nid-zilla). Most armies fall in between these categories, but it's best to keep the extremes in mind when building your army.

Also as of 6th edition you NEED AA (Anti-Air) power. Either a flyer or some kind of anti air tank, though there are some exceptions (Tau).

It's also a good idea to look over the codex and tactics for armies other than your own, so you know what kind of forces and strategies other players will bring to the table.

Movement 101

Main article: Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Movement 101

Topics covered so far:

  • How movement works.
  • Common rules mistakes.
  • Basic advice regarding movement.
  • Accurate and predictable measuring.
  • Countering enemy movement.

Psychic Phase (AKA: mind bullet time)

Link to main article: Psychic Phase 101

New to 7th, the psychic phase is where you use your vast array of mind powers.

Shooting Stuff

  • The tougher a unit is, the more shoot/punch you will need to kill it. Bring the appropriate amount of dakka to combat a heavy unit, lest you be shot to hell.
    • Example, Space Marine Terminators hate Guardsmen, Necron, and Tau bricks because they put out a fuckton of weak shots that will make them inevitably fail armor saves.
  • Consequently, using too many units on a weak enemy is a waste of firepower and resources. Every unit who is somewhere can't be somewhere else.
  • Although over-kill might be considered bad by some, lady luck might not always be on your side. You want to succeed even if plans A, B and C fail.
  • During your shooting phase, assess what target options each one of your shooty units has, and always have your units who only have a single option fire first. The reason for this is if you've got unit A in a position to shoot anything he likes and unit B which only has one thing to shoot at, you want B to take the shot first. If you shoot B's target with A first instead, you run the risk of destroying it or breaking their morale, and you'll feel like a complete moron for depriving B of anything to shoot at.
  • Another thing that is good to remember is which guns to fire first. Always fire blast weapons first, because the number of wounds they deal is always equal to the number of units in the squad at best, whereas regular guns can deal as many wounds as they hit.
  • Another thing to note: Small blast templates suck. Against a unit in maximum coherency distance (2"), your 3" template will hit exactly one model, creating the weird scenario where you don't want to hit, but have a little bit of scatter to get the maximum number of enemies under the template. And all of this is for models with a small base, the issue gets even worse with larger bases (read: Plasma cannons against Terminators).
    • The one instance where small blast templates are actually good is against deepstriking enemies. Since they'll have to deploy in base to base contact, you'll usually hit the entire unit (The same goes for Deathwing Knights with their special formation rule, although the presence of Plasma Cannons usually deters them from ever entering said formation).
    • Large blast templates are also affected by this, but to a lesser degree. Still, if your opponent deploys all of his models in maximum coherency distance all the time, he probably deserves to be punched in the dick (moreso if he plays a horde army).

Assault

  • Assaulting is somewhat less reliable in 6th, due to Overwatch and random charge ranges, but it can still be a highly effective way of dispatching your enemies. It's also very situational, so make sure you are familiar with just what your unit can do and to whom it can do it to best. You'll be primarily concerned with delivering your fighting men into assaults reliably and keeping them alive between combats.
  • Optimizing your chances for success: Precision Shots should always aim to eliminate serious threats to your Assault game (i.e.: Template weapons, Marker Drones, Single Defensive Grenade bearers, etc.) Assault Vehicle, Crusader, Fleet, and Hammer of Wrath make your assaults more reliable, by getting your units closer, neutralizing enemies before they can fight back, and ensuring that when you Sweep, you stand a better chance of knocking the target out. Aim to kill the target of your assault during his turn, never yours, because killing it in yours leaves you open to enemy shooting. Pinning shots are your friend.
  • Weapon selection: fast armies should never take Unwieldy weapons, while with slower, tougher troops, it's less of an issue. Impact weapons are useless without Hit & Run. Smash- like attacks only make sense on units that cannot make Sweeping Advances. Poisoned Attacks are always better than Fleshbane attacks. Rending is no substitute for AP 2, but has its uses, especially in quantity. Above all, kill them before they kill you, and to that end, take Concussive when you're faster and you can get it. And don't sweat AP, or lack thereof.

Vehicle Tactics

  • (Tank) Shock and Awe
    • Mastery of metal box movement is key. They can be used as walls to many different effects. For bluntly blocking the enemies movement, or funneling some men on foot.
  • The most common metal box tactic used by armies that have cheap enough transports with few guns is to disembark in the movement phase, shoot with the infantry in the shooting phase, then flat out the transport in front of the infantry.

"Basicaly Ram them and hope it explodes :D it really is fun when it does"

Individual Army Tactics

Each of these pages contains (or should contain) a section on:

  • "Why Play Them," which briefly summarizes the positive aspects of the army.
  • "Unit Analysis," a brief discussion of the benefits (or lack thereof) and drawbacks of each unit individually.
  • "Building Your Army," suggestions on how to buy, convert, and paint the actual models.
  • "Tactics," suggested viable builds for a complete army.

Imperium

Chaos

Xenos

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