Courting the Improbable

Warhammer 40K is, if nothing else, a game of dice. Random numbers generated in certain limited ways govern most of the actions through which we meaningfully interact with our counterparts. So its no surprise that managing probability has a central place in generalship.

Much of the chatter regarding the randomness inherent in our game is focussed on ameliorating or avoiding those times that probability falls out of our favour. For example, take the number of forum posters bemoaning the switch to random charge distances in 6th ed, and the common advice to work with it by getting as close as possible.

But, extremes of probability occur on either side of the mean. Sometimes the dice will simply fuck us. But other times, wild and unexpected success can happen - provided that we allow it to.

Objective placement for fun and profit

Four of the six missions six allow the players to place the objectives. So, how can you best place the objectives to suit your game, and deny the enemy his?

Overwatch!

I've been thinking about overwatch a lot, lately, and specifically trying to think of ways to get around it. After all, I don't like my wyches getting shot at the best of times... I suppose running in to assault is the best of times, and I certainly don't like being shot then. So no. I do not like my wyches being shot, ever :)

But what to do? Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to play a lot of 6th ed yet - precisely one game. So what follows is a brainstorm of sorts, of untested ideas to get the girls engaged without getting gimped.

Dark Eldar Anti-Air ideas

We all know that its no longer enough to have anti-infantry and anti-tank firepower. We also need to have anti-air firepower. And to my mind, that puts the Dark Eldar in a slightly uncomfortable position. Below, I'll throw around some ideas on how to interdict some of the nasty new kids on the aircraft block.

Null Deployment in 6th Ed

One of my favourite tricks in 5th ed was not deploying anything at all, forcing my opponent to advance lamely for two turns, then pouncing on his unprotected flank with great vengeance and furious anger! Sometimes Samuel L Jackson would even turn up personally to punctuate my manuoeveurs with his famous biblical bombast... actually he never returned my calls. But nevertheless, 6th ed has made it a lot harder for afficionados of the null deployment.

Maths of 6th ed: the fleet assault through terrain reroll guide

Like I said last post, so long ago, here is a guide to which dice to reroll to get the most out of your fleet assault units going through terrain.

Maths of 6th ed: Assault moves

6th edition has landed, and its more than a nip here and a tuck there. The ramifications of some of these changes are hotly debated, but what is without doubt is that suddenly, there are a whole lot of fascinating mathematical scenarios!

This post will look at the first, and perhaps most obvious; the random charge distance.