3.0 What are your orders, sire
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Sarrion shook his head to rid himself of his dark thoughts. The voice of his young adjutant, Amanthas, called again. "Why is that unit attending the battle, my lord?" He asked again. "I thought we were planning to fight a missile duel with our foes?"
Sarrion did not answer, simply because he could not. Why on earth had he requested the aid of the Cavalry of Caledor. He turned to look at the arriving troops of Prince Tallanrim.
The magnificent Dragon Prince regiment, with their proud banners fluttering in the wind, rode forward. Carried by the hand-picked steeds of Caledor, the noblest sons of Ulthuan were clad in jewel-encrusted armor and armed with diamondbladed swords and lances. A beautiful sight. But futile. The whole enemy army was entrenched behind barricades, with missile-weapons ready. There were no knights for the Dragon Princes to joust with.
Sarrion remembered the small band of Shadow Warriors that had offered their services to him. He had turned them away with harsh words: "This is the Royal Army of Ulthuan, not a haven for vagabonds and busy-bodies! Begone you wastrels!" he had sneered. The leader of the Shadow Warriors, a pale elf-maid who had lost her husband in a Dark Elf raid, just nodded her head and her group melt into shadows. Now he dearly wished that those keen-eyed archers were here.
Prince Tallanrim bowed lightly on his saddle, and fixing his eyes on the Elf general he asked "What are your orders, Sire?" Uncomfortably, Sarrion's mind raced to find an answer. He found none.
I imagined the above question being asked from my erudite Elf General as he surveyed his forces before a great battle and placed myself in his position. Why do I bring particular troops to the field? Why is the general requesting their presence? Below are my conclusions.
One of the greatest problems that aspiring WFB commander faces is not to make plan, but to stick to it! I've seen many, many carefully constructed armies crumble simply because their General did not actually know what to do with their troops! Their units lack a purpose: while individually strong and well thought out, they were still beaten because their units moved around the battlefield in a confused manner, allowing their enemies to dictate the battle.
This is a sure way to defeat when playing against an experienced opponent. While I and most other WFB fans play for fun, it is frustrating when you cannot see what is wrong with your army. In fact getting around this is relatively simple: be ruthless and single minded. For example, if I have decided that my Heavy Cavalry unit is going to attack the opponent's infantry unit with Wizard Lord, I will not abandon this mission for trivial reasons. Many players are intimidated by massed missile regiments, but if I have decided to attack, I will plan my units carefully and charge in determinately. This is the core of my advice in this article: give a mission to your unit and try to fulfill it! Be sure to adjust your plan if needed, but do not be intimidated!
The efficiency (in my eyes at least) is not dictated by the damage the unit can cause, but rather how many points you spend on achieving some particular goal. For example, my Kislev Horse archers might not cause a single casualty, but if they manage to prevent a unit of Chaos Knights from marching and thus keep them out of battle, I think that the few points spent in them are well worth it! With this in mind I try to anticipate my opponent's choice of troops and find some way of neutralizing his/her plans.
Below is a list how I go about giving orders to my units. First I describe a unit type and how I use it, and then I have included an example of a unit that I have used in some former battle in my past and who I played against, and finally I will describe the actual orders I used and explain why I did so.
The main problem of cavalry is it's very high point cost value (not to mention the actual prize in the shops!) this limits the size of the units and leaves them vulnerable to a concentrated enemy fire, as well as War of Attrition. Try to counter this with speed and by destroying the most threatening War Machines.
Usually Heavy Cavalry is expensive, but relatively fast and very powerful when it comes to hand to hand combat. This tends to make the Heavy Cavalry regiments rather small, and consecutively easy to deal with if your opponent has any War Machines to speak about. There is little else to say except CHARGE! Due the limited size and the high enemy attention, these units must get to hand to hand as soon as possible, and very preferably by charging.
With heavy cavalry, it is more important than ever to study the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. Certain units fall like a a scythed grass before the charge of the Heavies, but some troops, like Trolls can be very, very bothersome. As your Heavy Cavalry is almost priceless, you must use it against the right opponent if you want them to be cost effective.
Some cavalry units, like the Kislev Horse Archers, can rarely defeat the entire enemy army by themselves. ("Never" might be more appropriate.)
Their role, while not as glorious, is just as important to the overall efficiency of the Army as your Heavy Infantry or Cavalry.
If you are able to field cavalry that is both cheap and numerous, there is a great temptation to build a large, fastmoving and hard hitting unit as your main cavalry regiment. What do I have to say about such a temptation? GIVE IN! If you can build such a unit properly, it is easily one of the most powerful things in the whole game. Savage Orc Boar Boyz are a prime example of this, being both relatively cheap points wise and very powerful in combat.
Medium cavalry is perhaps the trickiest troop type in the whole game. Many such units, like the Dark Elf Dark Riders can be boosted to a higher hand to hand potential with spears or such. This is often a very a tempting option, but it does make them even more expensive. I myself give such units (Reaver Knights, Wood Elf Knights, Kislev Winged Lancers and Dark Riders, for example) all possible equipment and suitable magic standard if allowed to take such. This gives my troops a great deal of flexibility. It is risky, as you can very easily lose the entire regiment in a one unlucky shooting phase, but them again, a unit that can perform as a fast missile/medium hand to hand /General Annoyance unit is very handy indeed.
When attacking opposing units that are built for hand to hand, try to charge from flanks or from rear. The melee specialists in the first rank are too much for medium cavalry.
Infantry is, in my eyes is the backbone of most armies. Numerous, often reasonably powerful, and easily capable of supporting other regiments, I rarely take the field without an infantry regiment or two. The main weakness of infantry in my eyes is that it is very unwieldy and not good at responding to unexpected, like an enemy unit that is suddenly transported behind the regiment via Bridge of Shadow's spell.
Infantry in General and Dwarf infantry in particular is too slow to really serve as Shock Troops. Thus it might be a good idea to just pick the unit with best defensive capabilities, tailor the characters within these units to a defensive role, guard the flanks of such a unit, and let the enemy come to you! Good armor saves are recommendable, and try to think some good ways to counter your opponent's advantage of the first strike when he/she charges. Sword of Swift Slaying, Black Amulet, Black Gem of Gnar, Master Rune of Spite and Mork's War Banner.
When you want to win the game in hand to hand and you don't want to rely on fragile cavalry, the toughest infantry unit you can muster is the answer. Infantry is blessed with great numbers, small base width, and due the greater numbers it has a higher resiliency when it the time comes to take panic checks for fleeing troops and casualties. Characters can also be included in a lower price, as they do not require mounts or monsters, and can spend the extra points on some nice magical toys. Crown of Command is a very good choice for a infantry core unit, as one failed test might otherwise bring your plans to a catastrophical end.
Some opponents have very efficient ways to deal with 1 wound infantry: High and Dark Elves with their Repeater Bolt Throwers and the armies of the Empire, for example, are easily capable tearing your infantry apart unless you have taken suitable precautions. I have a few ways of keeping my main infantry blocks alive if I am expecting to face a virtual Hail of Death.
First is to have more wounds than one for each model in the unit! Ogres, Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Beastmen, Minotaurs and Mummies are very good troops in hand to hand, have astounding resilience, and on the top of it, they usually cause Fear, also!
The second method is effective when facing an enemy that uses War Machines and weapons that rely on Ballistic Skill, like Bolt Throwers and Crossbows/Bows/Hand Guns/Whatever. Quite simply, equip your unit with magic items that give penalties to missile fire! Ruby Chalice is the best such choice but there are others like the Bad Moon Banner of the Orcs and Goblins.
Lastly, you are relatively safe from enemy fire when in hand to hand, so get stuck in! Moving with determination, and getting some help from a wizard with the Bridge of Shadows/ Bridge of Ice/Radiance of Ptolos will be extremely useful. Charge in, kill, and immediately go looking for another target. If fight starts to drag on, remember to envelope your opponent if you are winning.
Finally, Standard of Shielding is also a worth of some thought. That 6+ unmodified save is very useful when taking a lot of casualties, as is the way of the large infantry blocks.
When it comes to missile troops, I personally have a very firm opinion about them: they are to be used for laying a curtain of fire over the enemy, moving as little as possible, and picking targets they can wound. I've seen many, many blood crazed generals who have made vicious charges with their archers against enemy melee-specialists. Believe me, it has been messy! There are exceptions, of course, like when you have an opportunity to charge a low leadership unit on flank or rear with your archers, causing a panic test. But as a thumb rule, you should build and deploy your infantry missile troops with orders of "FIRE!" in your mind. There are two approaches to build these units under the Longsword Military Doctrine: Big blocks and numerous small units.
Large units can placed on a hill where they will have an excellent field of fire, they will take up relatively small part of your deployment zone, and a combined shot from 24 crossbows can be truly devastating as it is easier to pick targets because the wide frontage that gives a good visibility over the field.
Some troops, like Wood Elf and Dark Elf Scouts can Skirmish, and they can forfeit their "Stand and Shoot" option in favor of moving slowly away from the enemy while still firing their arrows, as they can turn freely and thus move 5" away from the enemy and fire at them!
Some troops have a benefit of the special rule Infiltration, and such troops are almost all missile troops. Their ability has a two fold advantage. First, they have a good chance to choose a suitable place for their mission, and second, they can start executing it almost immediately.
Flyers are a very special case, and thus I have separated them from the other units. Their main advantage is (surprise, surprise) their wings! With possibility to move very quickly indeed, they can execute "Blitzkrieg" missions.
All armies have an excellent choice of very powerful monsters, with Manticore taking the pride of place. Such creatures are very fast if they fly, hideously powerful in hand to hand, and on the top of it, they usually cause Terror and have other special rules!
Flying creatures have, due their ability to Fly High, an excellent chance to rid you from those pesky enemy War Machines and Missile troops. Some flyers are a bit too expensive for this role, however, and while using your Manticore to eat the opposing Repeater Bolt Throwers and using the Terror to scare away any opponents near by is certainly NOT a bad idea, it is worth noting that it is not easy to take out enough opposing War Machines when your own point cost is 200 and Repeater's is measly 50! This is because once Manticore lands, it becomes a prime attraction to any enemy characters and War Machine fire. Thus, cheaper flyers are sometimes just as good in killing the War Machine Crew, and don't get so much enemy attention.
The distinctive point about War Machines is that, apart from Chariots, War Wagons, Steam Tanks and very few other exceptions, their crews are THE weakest things in hand to hand you can imagine. It is quite difficult to protect them (if you are not a Dwarf with access to the Rune of Disguise) and they are easily frightened away for the most part.
Some War Machines, like the Death Rocket, Bolt Throwers and in some extent, the Stone Throwers, are at their best when taking out rank and file. When they also cause panic test, like the Flame Cannon, they are very good against armies without high leadership.
Some War Machines are specialized: Flame Cannons and Warpfire-Throwers are wonderful against flammable targets, while Poison Wind Globadiers specialize taking out very tough and/ or well armored troops.
Some War Machines invoke almost supernatural fear in most opponent's. Try to use this to your advantage as detailed below. As the enemy will rather go around than get in the range of these devices, they are great at dictating the events of the battle.
Repeater Bolt Throwers are best when used in Large numbers, as this produces the famous "Kebab" effect that can slaughter whole units. These weapons have long range, they are accurate, and against rank and file they are deadly.
As a variant, concentrating the fire of all eight Reaping Bolt Throwers on Screaming Bell might very well do the trick and rid you of a Striker and a Grey Seer.
Chariots have always been my favorite, and thus I have spent a considerable time in devising tactics for them. There are two roles for them: Offense with the rest of the army, and aggressive defence (e.g. waiting behind buildings until the enemy comes within Charge range.
Here are some examples of very special cases, where I have constructed units that are almost useless in any other mission than the one I had planned for them.
Many Generals regard some units so dangerous that they will commit enormous amounts of missile fire and close combat units to deal with these "Nemesis" troops. For example, I've been known to be a bit paranoid about any unit of Bull Centaurs rolling towards my lines. Such phobias can be used against your opponent: if you think it is worth the risk to field a relatively small and cheap unit of troops that will make your adversary go pale, then try it out! I've seen people to waste amazing amounts of War Machine fire against small mob of Savage Orc Boar Boyz that had no extras at all! Meanwhile rest of the Greenskin army was busy winning the battle by marching in without any distracting missile fire directed against them.
The classic of very specially tailored units, the trap is an old favorite. Get troops that will bog down the enemy that you won't fancy fighting. Wardancers, unbreakable troops and cheap troops with Crown of Command should do the trick.
Sometimes a particular Character, Regiment, Monster, War Machine or whatever that your opponent uses is so dangerous that you might want to equip a unit especially tailored to take this threat out. Sadly, the magic items make the Characters the best troops for this.
If your whole plan against Dwarfs is based to take out their War Machines and the wily Dwarf King takes the field supported only by slayers, Iron Breakers and Hammerers, it is easy to lose hope. I have only one piece of advice: Improvise! Continuing with the example above, the flying creatures you took against the Dwarf War Machines can Fly High and then land behind the enemy regiments, ready to engage them from the rear once your other units get into hand to hand with the Dwarf regiments. Any long-range fire that was planned to take out the War Machine crews can now be directed against Slayers who also have a low (read non-existent) armor save. So when your plan is no longer valid and you can't execute your orders, improvise!
There is a trick to learn when giving orders to your troops: if they are not compatible with each other your army will not be able to function properly and will be destroyed piece by piece. A good example of this are very small regiments that are placed as a "Charge Cover" in the front of the main units. As these units will usually be cut to pieces by the enemy charges, their death will leave the attacking regiments exposed to your counter-charge. Especially good in such a role are troops that are immune to psychology and/or unbreakable, as these will NOT run away and spoil your plan. There are other, more obvious ways to support units: Keeping units in a firm battle line prevents attacks to the flanks, shooting advancing enemy formations so they lose extra ranks and so on.
Here you go. I hope this gave you some ideas. Please let me hear about them.
Next part: Characters Must Die!.