Chaos Dreadnoughts spearhead the attack against an Imperial tank formation.
Two particularly cool elements of Apocalypse are the Legendary Units and the Strategic Assets. What happens when you combine the two? We asked some of the Games Developers and playtesters of the supplement to divulge some of the combos they've come up with. |
TITAN KILLERS
Matt Plonski: So, your friend is bringing his favorite Imperial Titan in a big game against your Chaos Space Marines. As a Chaos Space Marine player, you have a pretty nice combo to take against him that emphasizes the gloriously violent and sometimes foolhardy nature of Chaos.
Most Titans are best used at a distance, deep in its deployment zone, which is likely what your friend will try to do. To combat that, take the Warp Rift Legendary Formation and the Flank March Strategic Asset. Place the Warp Rift as close to the Titan as possible and set your best chainfist-armed Chaos Terminator squads and melta gun-carrying Chaos Space Marines to come in on Turn 2 to support the daemons. You'll create a strong Chaos line deep in the enemy deployment zone and around the feet of the Titan! As tough as a Titan is, it is most vulnerable to chainfists and Monstrous Creatures in close combat. Melta guns can be used to soften it up a bit in the Shooting Phase before the assaults! This strategy works well against any tentpole unit in your enemy's force – although against Gargantuan Creatures, I'd favor thunder hammers over chainfists.
BREAKING THE LINE
Gav Thorpe: Possibly the most devastating use of the Camouflage strategic asset is with your Line Breaker Squadron (or squadrons!). You can deploy your Vindicators well within range of the enemy, and the obscured bonus they get from the Camouflage pretty much guarantees a good salvo of fire. With Space Marines, your army can be pretty small, meaning you can deploy in a short amount of time and get the 1st turn. This allows your Linebreaker squadron to fire pretty much unmolested for two turns – enough to smash apart any foe.
THE FAST TALON
Matt Plonski: Use the Careful Planning Strategic Asset with the Cloudstrike Squadron Legendary Formation. Keep the Falcons in Strategic Reserve, but bring them out on your 1st turn. Use their flyer ability to position them for the most optimal use of the lancing Pulse Lasers in Turn 2.
THE MEAT SHIELD
Matt Plonski: One of the best choices for a formation to use to defend a Supreme Headquarters asset and its close-by objective is the Ogryn Auxilia. Counter-attacking, Fearless Ogryns are often more than an enemy assault unit can handle! Another great Strategic Asset for use with the Ogryn Auxilia is the Shield Generator, to save them from the inevitable Destroyer or Ordinance weapons!
LEADING THE WAY
Andy Hoare: One of my favourite Strategic Assets is Flank March. This is perhaps the most dynamic of Assets as, along with Strategic Redeployment, it opens up the whole table for your forces to manoeuvre around. I often use Flank March in combination with my Emperor's Talon Recon Troop, which contains a large number of lascannon and hunter-killer missile armed Sentinels. Coming in behind enemy tanks, these can prove absolutely devastating.
HOLD THE KANS!
Matt Plonski: Hold the Kans! Another great combination is the Hold At All Costs Strategic Asset with the Ork Dred Mob Formation. Full units of Killa Kans are notoriously difficult to destroy completely, especially if there are several of them. That last Kan will still count as a scoring unit. As an added bonus, all of your other Ork units will benefit from the asset as well. Keep the units close to a Stompa, and they'll be Fearless, holding the line down to the last grot.
THE ENDLESS SWARM / BLIND BARRAGE TRICK
Phil Kelly: Being predominantly a Tyranid player when it comes to Apocalypse, I find there is one strategic asset that never fails to be useful for all the little gribblies in my Endless Swarm; the Blind Barrage. This asset allows you to put down a curtain-like smokescreen (in the Tyranids' case, this would be a thick cloud of alien spores) that is 36" in length. This line blocks line-of-sight for both sides for a full turn. Not a problem for my Gaunts, as they have very little in the way of ranged ability anyway, but it's an excellent way to stop an entire section of the opponent's force from shooting my swiftly advancing tide of gribblies. This is a great way of robbing a Baneblade or a Tank Company of a whole turn of shooting, which can make all the difference – by the time the spore clouds have cleared, the swarm is upon them.
Truth be told, it's not just the in-game effect that I like about this strategic asset. The Apocalypse book says "draw an imaginary line between the two markers," but I like to go one further and mark out the Blind Barrage spore clouds with a long line of balls of cotton wool. I just think it looks really cool!
RELEVANT REVENANT
Matt Plonski: One strength of the Eldar that rarely comes across in normal 40k battles, but shows up strongly in games of Apocalypse, is their mobility. A Revenant Titan or two will likely have their pick of targets on the battlefield due to the ability to move so rapidly and ignore terrain. Use the Barricades from the Obstacles Strategic Asset to further limit your opponent's vehicles' movements, and you can set up optimal kill corridors.
DRED MOB OF DOOM
Jeremy Vetock: I'm a fan of the Ork Dred Mob. This powerful formation is made up of clanking Dreadnoughts, Killa Kanz, and can even include a Stompa, but as I haven't converted one yet, I'm basing my information on just the smaller variety of Ork walkers. When grouped into a unit, a Dread mob is sure to advance, even into the teeth of massed Devastator squads, tanks, or even super heavies. The 12" force field and free Grot Riggers that come with the formation just makes 'em all that much tougher. Sure, a few Kanz or Dreads will go up in smoke – but the metal monsters that survive will deliver a buzz-sawing wallop when they finally reach enemy lines. Heck, with the Precision Strike Strategic Asset in place, you might even hit something before you get there. Sissy Orks (or strategy-using Blood Axes, you decide) might want to protect their Mek's masterpieces with a Smoke Screen or even use a Flank March to advance deep into enemy territory. But really, my main point is that the Dred mob is dead hard. Save your Strategic Assets for the rest of your army (camouflage your boyz or add a Vortex Grenade to your Warlord).
STRATEGIC SPIRITS
Matt Plonski: Eldar Spirit Hosts are inconveniently slow-moving for games of Apocalypse, so it is probably a good idea to speed up the Wraithlords or large units of Wraithguard in order to get them to effective range. The Strategic Redeployment asset is ideally suited to be used with large and resilient units like those in a Spirit Host. Use of the Warlock ability Conceal and the Spirit Hosts' Fearless ability assures maximum survivability against the enemy's initial fire.
ENDLESS FLANK MARCH
Matt Plonski: Perhaps the best use of the Flank March Strategic Asset is with the Tyranid Endless Swarm Legendary Formation. Wave after wave of Hormagaunts and Termagaunts can be poured into the rear of the enemy lines, with each unit always counting as Scoring. Any deeply-placed objectives will surely fall to the Great Devourer.
Related Articles:
Strategic Assets | Infantry Survival Guide | Apocalypse Miniatures Range
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