In this episode, we talk about building a balanced army in 40K.  We start with the basics of what a list should have to be competitive and then go into more detail as you start to consider more and more things as you build your list. We don't tell you to take specific units, but rather we want to help YOU figure out how to build a balanced list based on your chosen army.

Introduction

What is a Balanced List?

A balanced list can also be thought of as a Take All Comers list. It is a list with the tools to deal with many different kinds of lists, with the least amount of “hard counters.”

What are spam and "gimmick" lists?

Basic Elements of a Balanced List

How can I achieve my objectives while preventing my opponent from achieving theirs in 4-5 turns?

Movement: need to be able to move/deepstrike/use psychic power into places on the board to capture objectives and/or get into range with weapons.

Defense: have to survive the game, what can you do to ensure that a unit will survive?

Firepower: how will you destroy/neutralize opponents units?

A well balanced list should have:

* Board presence/capture objectives

* Strong firepower with a way to deliver it.

* Protection against deep strike/ways to screen out melee.

* Some answer for melee.

* Psychic support or defense.

Unit Evaluation

What role is a unit best suited for? What are the ideal targets for a particular unit?

Dual Roles: the best units have multiple ideal targets available to them.

By choosing unit which can fulfill multiple roles and then supplementing them with specialists, you can make it so that your list can respond somewhat better to lists that are intended to skew the damage chart, board control, threat delivery, etc.

Searching for Combos

Units don’t exist all by themselves. Often the best way to get started is to look to all the modifiers that can boost units.

Building for the Mission

Progressive versus end of game scoring.

Book and Maelstrom missions.

ITC missions.

Testing it Out

The weaknesses of your list will be apparent as soon as you start playing it. No list survives first contact with their opponent.

Building for your Meta: What do your local players run?

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List Analysis with Matt

Sean has recently purchased a Tau army and would like to see what kind of list we can come up with for him. He would like to take Longstrike and another Hammerhead.

Here is what Matt came up with:

Battalion - T'au Sept

Longstrike with 2x Smart missile system, Ion cannon, 2x Seeker missile

Commander in XV8 Crisis battlesuit 4x Fusion blaster, MV4 Shield Drone, XV8-02 Crisis Iridium battlesuit

3 x 5 Fire Warrior Strike Teams w Pulse Rifles

XV104 Riptide Battlesuit 2x Smart missile system, Advanced targeting system, Counterfire defense system, Heavy burst cannon

2 x TX7 Hammerhead Gunship 2x Smart missile system, Ion cannon, 2x Seeker missile

5x MV4 Shield Drones

Battalion - Bork'an

Cadre Fireblade

Ethereal

3 x 10 Fire Warrior Strike Teams w Pulse Rifles

2 x Pathfinder Teams, MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone, MV7 Marker Drone

Vanguard - Sa'cea 

Commander in XV8 Crisis battlesuit 4x Fusion blaster, 2 x MV4 Shield Drone,

In this episode, we talk about how to quickly get your army up to the minimum 3-color standard that most events have set. The purpose is not to shame you into painting, or push an unrealistic standard; the purpose is to show you how to do this quickly and efficiently. We discuss the techniques that we use to get armies ready for events. If you struggle to get your models painted, or even if you hate painting, then this episode is for you.

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..

In this episode, we talk about conducting successful assaults in Warhammer 40K. There are a lot of changes in this edition, starting with the fact that there is no more assault phase; its the Charge and Fight phase now. We discuss the reasons for charging and fighting and go into detail on the steps for each phase and all the flexibility you have as a player.

In this episode, we talk with Lawrence Baker who runs the website and YouTube channel Tabletop Tactics. We discuss some of the current topics in 40K, including the pace of changes from GW and how to speed up games at events. We also talk about tactics, including elements you should include in your lists, evaluating units, and the importance of deployment. Finally, we talk about how he got started with Tabletop Tactics and how he continues to improve his content.

In this episode, we talk with Lawrence Baker who runs the website and YouTube channel Tabletop Tactics. We discuss some of the current topics in 40K, including the pace of changes from GW and how to speed up games at events. We also talk about tactics, including elements you should include in your lists, evaluating units, and the importance of deployment. Finally, we talk about how he got started with Tabletop Tactics and how he continues to improve his content.

In this episode, we talk about doing conversions for your 40K army. Conversions range from simple add on bits like chapter specific shoulder pads to elaborate sculpts that change the look and feel of a model completely. We cover all of these kinds of conversions, the tools you will need, and what makes a good looking conversion.

In this episode, we talk about doing conversions for your 40K army. Conversions range from simple add on bits like chapter specific shoulder pads to elaborate sculpts that change the look and feel of a model completely. We cover all of these kinds of conversions, the tools you will need, and what makes a good looking conversion.

In this episode, we talk about our experience at the Las Vegas Open 2018. We discuss our games and lessons learned from our games. We also talk about slow play, sportsmanship, and our plans for the 2018 ITC season.

In this episode, we talk about our experience at the Las Vegas Open 2018. We discuss our games and lessons learned from our games. We also talk about slow play, sportsmanship, and our plans for the 2018 ITC season.