In this Episode, we finish up our discussion of assault in Warhammer 40K. We talk about how to defend against an assault and what your options are when you find yourself stuck in combat. We discuss what makes an assault unit good and some of our favorite ones. Finally, we talk about building assault units into your army and how to best use them. 

Introduction

Using a screen of units can help to be a speed bump against a dedicated melee unit, but watch for tri-pointing; you need to keep units in front of you so they don’t slip around the back.

* Models with fly are great as screens as they can leave combat.

* Anchoring the edges of a screen with impassable terrain or units with fly helps.

* Pull models so that you can prevent being surrounded or pull models out of combat.

You don’t have to pile in or consolidate when assaulted, so you can keep the lines intact.

Rangers, scouts, and guardsman make great board control units and push deep strikers out, but with a low model count it’s easy for them to get assaulted and tri-pointed.

You got assaulted and a unit is stuck in combat

Your options are:

* Write it off and move AWAY from the combat so you won’t get charged in your opponents next turn.

* Use psychics to clear the unit, allowing them to shoot and assault.

* Counter charge the unit (you DO have some kind of melee unit, right?).

* Fight your way out or stay stuck in combat and try and survive.

What makes a good assault unit?

Delivery mechanism: speed, deep strike with warp time or strategem, transport.

Number of attacks and or bodies to give you options.

High strength or AP or Damage helps, but many times you can buff a unit to improve its performance.

Multiple activations

* Bezerkers, Electro Priests, and Tzaangors with strategems, Ynnari with soulburst, for example.

* Fight again, so you can fight another unit if you are within 4” and can make the move to get within 1.”

* Extra wrap, extra fight.

Examples of good assault units

* Genestealers

* Bezerkers

* Death Company

* Shinning Spears

Building an army with assault units

Armies should have answers for assault. Screens, other assault units, etc.

Almost no dedicated melee unit can take shooting, you want to have enough threats to be viable.

Melee units also want to be the ones charging and fighting first, NOT being charged.

A single unit unsupported can easily be dealt with. They might be better as a counter assault unit than something that needs to move up the board.

If your strategy hinges on getting into melee, then you want to look at how many threats or punches you have. If you opponent has more than you, then you need to figure out a way to even the odds..