Staying alive

Right - not had a game yet and only played against the Deldar once, but whats confusing me is how the hell do I survive first turn? Its ok if there's a lot of buildings, but if its a bit sparse what can I do?

Thanks

Well there's a few things you can do.

You want to flat out as much as possible, 4+ cover saves are your friends.

You'll want to stay in cover as much as possible, if you have the ability, always try to squeeze as much terrain as possible on the table.

I mean if I go second. Is it best to deploy as close as possible and weather the fire, or maybe deploy in cover and not get 1st turn charges? Are there any unit combinations that will help if I don't go first? When I pay with either Tau or Chaos I often give my opponent first turn, but I don't see that working with the Dark ones.

I haven't yet got a force up - almost 3 squads painted so far - so not very experienced

From the few games I've played, holding everything in reserve is amazing and drastically increases survivability.

I don't like to go all reserves. You run the risk of your army coming in piece by piece and being torn apart. Unless you plan to build your list around that or are going against a Guard Artillery list, I wouldn't go all reserve unless your opponent is.

I tend to either:
A) Cluster my raiders together in a Square shape formation, screened by reavers for cover
That's if my opponent doesn't have a lot of blast temples.

B) Divide up my army into groups and hug cover

It also helps that I prefer Flickrfields, so my Raiders tend to stay alive a bit longer under direct fire.

Lack of terrain can be annoying - but make sure its not deliberate. (I.e. someone with a shooty army purposely setting up the boars sparsely).

The sooner you can get into combat, the better. You are safe from shooting and generally excell in hth. Its difficult to give advice what to do on the first turn, as you need to adjust plans to suit the terrain and opponent (and the way they have deployed).

I do try to hide my important raiders if I think I may not get first turn. One thing is certain - I dont want the crew having to walk across the board.

xerxeshavelock wrote:

Right - not had a game yet and only played against the Deldar once, but whats confusing me is how the hell do I survive first turn? Its ok if there's a lot of buildings, but if its a bit sparse what can I do?

Thanks

Dirty nasty tricks, like the +1 from the Baron or the 4+ to steal via Vect. Or if your feeling particularly despicable use both

like me

I agree with Xelkireth reserve is great it is one or two rounds no one shooting at you. Our army is made to strike fast and hard so the shorter the game the better. Plus a trick I like to play when using Lady Malys is to put some items on the table. After everyone has deployed roll the D3 and put items back into reserve. I have messed up many of people plans that way. Plus when you start with your army off the board people tend to move closer to your table edge which works out better for you also.

I agree. If you're not getting first turn, reserving for the Alpha Strike is very, very important.

I've not had any problems, but now that I've said that, watch my dice luck change.

If I go mostly reserve would it be fair to say take more smaller units rather than less big ones? And if I have a WWP do I have to deploy it, or can I literally put the whole force in reserve? (and does this work?).

ok, so the opponent gets to go first and deploys with me in the open side of the board. Would it be a viable tactic to deploy in cover even if it is really far to go and rely on the fast skimmer save (3+ I think, then dismount on the second turn with whats left? It does sound like they are going to be horribly terrain dependant.

xerxeshavelock wrote:

If I go mostly reserve would it be fair to say take more smaller units rather than less big ones? And if I have a WWP do I have to deploy it, or can I literally put the whole force in reserve? (and does this work?).

Multiple smaller units are great for this. Especially if you're planning to Venom spam.

xerxeshavelock wrote:

ok, so the opponent gets to go first and deploys with me in the open side of the board. Would it be a viable tactic to deploy in cover even if it is really far to go and rely on the fast skimmer save (3+ I think, then dismount on the second turn with whats left? It does sound like they are going to be horribly terrain dependant.

If you're not doing this and you're wondering why your Raiders and Venoms are getting shot down, now you know why.