Tantalus Bomb

The Tantalus bomb was the primary tactic of one of my friends during a campaign with about 20 participants that lasted a period of about 3 months. The campaign setting enabled people to know what they were playing against and the victory conditions for the game prior to playing. Additionally, the campaign design allowed for games to be played at point levels varying from 1000 points to 5000 points. Furthermore, the campaign design created a bias that made my friend play primarily against Necrons, Tau, and Tyranids. Although everyone playing the campaign knew the tactics that my friend was using, most people he played against failed to effectively counter the Tantalus bomb or dedicated so many resources to countering the Tantalus bomb that the rest of the opponent’s army suffered. In the short term (prior to the start of the game, but after army lists have been decided) the opponent of the Tantalus bomb can deploy their army the same way they would against any deep strike army and prevent the Tantalus from bursting down higher priority targets. In the long term, (after your opponent knows about the Tantalus bomb and decides to build an army that can beat it) an opponent can take enough interceptor units force you to start the bomb on the table or forgo using the bomb and use the units differently. Additionally, after the Tantalus bomb deep strikes an opponent can deeps another unit like a crisis suit bomb to kill the Tantalus. Overall, in my experience and through the observations I have made watching someone else use the bomb over a long period of time, the Tantalus bomb is beatable. However, beating the Tantalus bomb consistently requires a fair amount of resource dedication.