Things are super busy as always, however I was able to play a game last week against sisters. It was a test run to give my newly tweaked 1850 a test ride. Sadly it started snowing which locally normally means that no one goes to the game store for whatever reason? *shrug
I did get a game in against a sisters list. His list was random stuff really he told me he was just trying out some units to see how they would do on the table. Just doing a bit of practice himself since he said he doesn’t get to play as much as he would like. We rolled up dawn of war and got 5 objectives. He grouped his objectives as close together as possible on the left hand side of the board. It appeared his plan was to make the battle about those three objectives and mid field. I placed my two objectives as far to the right side as possible and then as far from each other as possible. I wanted strategic options depending on what he was going to do. Then he deployed.
Deployment is a huge thing in 40k. I know I am not some seasoned Vet or have years of GT wins and experience under my belt but since I started playing about a year and half ago I think I have been doing pretty well. However my point is 40k is about movement, placement, and then tactics. Deployment is one of those things you can’t learn online. Something that is going to be slightly different depending on your army list, the board, and even the mission you are currently playing. Not only that, it can be something that you would change depending on what the other person is bringing to the table.. I won’t go more into this right now I am going to write up a few deployment thought in an article a bit later I am playing with the format and exact subject now though. Anyway he deployed like thus.
His deployment has limited his armies ability to move, and has left his right flank as a weak point. His army and the terrain will hinder his movement toward the rest of the board for a turn or two.
Now if you look at the picture two important things stand out to me. I came down and refused flank which as you can see means that not only is half his army useless since they have to drive through or around his own forces before they can even engage or be part of the fight. Not to mention all the terrain he deployed around. So for at least two turns he might as well not even have those units since I can ignore them. Losing the ability to use half your forces is a huge disadvantage for the first couple turns of any game no matter your list or the mission.
He also deployed in a manner that means he is going to spend the game fighting over these three objectives in this area. He has no mobility to reach the other two I placed, and he only has one unit in reserve to make a play for them if he so chooses. The only unit in reserve is a assassin so he could use this to contest to try to claim on objective. Basically my play is easy at this point. I only have to distract him with my army until the clock runs out.
Now this is a dice game and I admit that he gave it a good go, despite his random fun list and his deployment he played a good game. It was fun, and the dice gave him some good solid turns. Plus my reserves trickled in very badly lol. However in the end I had two plague bearers that landed and sat on my two obj’s, and I contested two and almost held a third. All due to his deployment which after the game we talked and he admitted he was unhappy with his deployment. He had a huge beefy HQ unit that he spent a ton of points on and because of the deployment they where not useful for two turns. Also that he still had his last test game in his head and deployed as if he was still playing that game. Even the long time and hard core tourney players don’t always get the deployment down perfect. Deployment is a tactic all in itself in this game and should be respected.
LESSON ONE – RESPECT THE DEPLOYMENT lol =)
