Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Vehicles 101

Vehicles 101

Introduction to Vehicles

So you want to run a lot of Metal Boxes. Welcome to the club; this article is "under construction", for the most part, but feel free to provide input wherever necessary.

A brief recap of the recent history of 40k vehicles

The general viability of vehicles in 40k has oscillated from edition to edition, with some editions favoring certain types over others; 5th edition statistically favored massed light vehicles over smaller numbers of heavy tanks; statistically speaking, if each direct hit that penetrated had a 16% chance of destroying an enemy tank, it was more efficient to take more Razorbacks, rather than running Land Raiders.

6th edition came out and introduced "Hull Points" as a mechanic for vehicles. While in theory, one could destroy an enemy vehicle by exploding it, in practice, firing enough glancing shots to strip it of health would prevent the extremes of 5th, where lucky dice rolling could have a single lightly-armored truck take five or six direct hits from a Railgun and still stand, while a Leman Russ Battle Tank died to *one*. If you damage a vehicle enough, it *will* be destroyed, no extraneous luck required. Unfortunately for many, vehicle damage was still generally an unforgiving affair; add general restrictions preventing Assaulting from most transports, and the fact most infantry could move-and-fire Rapid-fire weapons at full-range, and most transports lost a lot of purpose. The worst insult was the fact that vehicles could not score for objectives, even if they were carrying Troops that *could*. Some vehicles still had their use (Flyers were very useful to have, as were Serpents and the Catacomb Command Barge) but for the most part, vehicles were missing from the game.

We're now in 7th. Hull points remain, but the damage table is more forgiving; unless using a dedicated anti-tank weapon like a Lascannon or Railgun, a penetrating hit will *not* outright destroy a vehicle in one go. Combined with missions that favor taking-and-holding objectives in the midfield, as well as allowing *any* model to score, and vehicles are potentially an important element of the game nowadays, though nowhere as dominant as they were back in 5th edition.

Types of Vehicles, and their Roles

40k has a word salad of special vehicle-types: Tanks, transports, flyers, skimmers, fast, walkers, chariot, heavy, super-heavy (walkers/flyers/tanks), and so on so forth.

• Fast Vehicles can fire more weapons on-the-move, and move further on a Flat-Out move.
• Tank just simply means the vehicle can Tank Shock enemy models and Ram enemy vehicles. Tank Shock is discussed further down.
• Skimmers simply ignore intervening terrain/models when moving, and can elect to Jink should an enemy shoot. Note that although Skimmer by itself doesn't give a move bonus to Flat Out, a Fast Skimmer has a bigger bonus than a Fast Vehicle that isn't a skimmer.
• Flyer: Flyers come in from Reserves, being hard-to-hit, and usually are able to alpha-strike a position without too much reprisal. However, their inability to stay stationary, combined with limited firing arcs, means you usually get one good round of shooting with them every other turn...make them count!
  • Hover: This simply means that the Flyer can choose to move as though it were a Fast Skimmer. Though this makes them vulnerable to return fire, it does allow them more freedom in moving/selecting targets.
• Walker Refers to typically slow moving stumpy robots that can be upgraded with a variety of close combat or long ranged weapons depending on the model and army. Usually best served as support, but can comprise the majority of the force.
• Immobile Drop Pods, or similar. They can't tank shock, or move or ram, but they generally Deep Strike. Allow short-range units to close quickly.

More Than a Nice Paint Job: Armor Values

All vehicles have an armor profile, split into three numbers: Front, Side, and Rear. These Armor Values mostly range from 10 to 14.

AV10: Super-Light armor. Not even armor, really, just a plate covering the structure of the vehicle. Usually found on small, fast craft and the rear of heavier vehicles. A Space Marine can punch through this.

AV11: Light armor, or some actual armor plating. Scout vehicles usually get something like this. A Space Marine can't punch through this, but a Heavy Bolter can. It'll stop most infantry weapons but crumple before real firepower.

AV12: Medium armor. Now we're talking! This is the first armor value that takes dedicated anti-tank weaponry to fight, and even a Krak Missile only stands a 50% chance of doing anything. The Chimera enjoys a front plate with this.

AV13: Heavy armor. Autocannons will barely scratch this, and Krak grenades will just leave an ugly scuff on the paint. The Predator has this, as does Necron Quantum Shielding.

AV14: Super-Heavy armor. The purview of walking, rolling and floating fortresses with a reputation for being stupidly hard to kill. The Land Raider and Leman Russ get this, as do most Lord of War slot vehicles. Either find a way around this, use melta weapons, or the strongest ordnance you have, because nothing else will work.

AV15: Titan armor. Mostly the realm of Fortifications, but some high-end Super-Heavies get it too. If you run into this...just give up.

Metal Boxes and You: The Humble Rhino

Though 8 Loyalist armies (Space Marines and variations including Deathwatch, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Grey Knights, Inquisition, Sisters of Battle) and Chaos Space Marines have access to the Rhino and its variants (Razorback, Immolator, or otherwise) in some form or fashion, a lot of their basic use will remain the same throughout each army. By itself, a single Rhino is fairly fragile; even attempting to rush with numerous Rhinos has its issues; against an army with sufficient ranged anti-tank, you end up basically paying to give your opponent the luxury of fighting your army piecemeal.

So how do Rhinos work in 40k nowadays? What advantages does it have?

• A Rhino is durable-for-its-cost: A Rhino is fragile by itself, but not fragile enough for its cost. By itself, it does minimal damage, and generally isn't worth shooting at from an economy-of-force perspective (sure, you *could* say "Free Killpoint." Did you really need to use your Broadside battery to kill it?)
  • Put another way, a Rhino costs 35 points, while 2 Marines cost 28 points. Statistically, it takes twice as many krak missiles to kill the Rhino.
• A Rhino has a good profile: Unlike Raiders, Wartrukks, Serpents, or other exotic vehicles, the Rhino is basically a glorified M113 APC. Just a solid lump of plastic with a profile that is high enough to block line-of-sight to friendly infantry behind it, but low enough that it can take advantage of cover (either terrain, or your dudes). Even when wrecked, a Rhino is good at blocking LOS.
• A Rhino is Versatile: This is the big one. A Rhino can serve as mobile terrain, as a bunker, a transport, or simply a cheap objective-holder.

General things to note when running Rhinos include:

• NEVER face-down an enemy gunline: The Rhino is generous in that three of its four sides are available as access points. If an enemy wishes to shoot you, chances are the Rhino will leave a wreck. Note "wreck", and not "crater": If you directly exposed your front armor to the opponent, the access points on the side will probably be exposed to enemy fire, while the rear access point will leave your guys super-crowded for blasts/a hungering Heldrake. Rather, face the enemy gunline at a 30-60-degree angle depending on whether your opponent can or cannot reach your rear arc. This way, you have more freedom to disembark, and have a nice piece of terrain to block line of sight.
• Maintain Formation If Viable: (This one matters more for those folks wanting an old-fashioned Razorback list. Godspeed, you crazy bastards) Some armies have high-strength blasts that can put a major hurt on your vehicles; should someone be bringing Manticores or a Doomsday Ark, you won't want to try this. However, you can run Rhinos/Razors in a "train"/convoy, with them advancing in a progressive line, the head of the convoy popping Smoke, while the rest take advantage of cover. *Remember* that vehicles measure weapon LOS from their weapons, and Razors have a high turret mounting. Just because you have cover doesn't mean the enemy does.
• Space them Out: Blasts are not the only thing you have to worry about when running Rhinos. Although there is a Tokyo Drift in the 41st millenium, vehicles still only turn "on their center", and Rhinos cannot move through friendly models (meaning other Rhinos) Let us suppose you have a line of Razorbacks advancing on an enemy, and some Eldar player has proceeded to turbo-boost Jetbikers to the sides and rear of the convoy, and sacrificed a Serpent to block off the head of the convoy...if your Rhinos were exactly 1" apart, you're in trouble. Always maintain a minimum of 2" between each Rhino you wish to run, and preferably add an extra 25 mm to that. Most minis in this game are mounted on bases at least 28mm-wide, so even though you're spaced out, you create a mobile wall denying parts of the map to your opponent.
• The Rhino of Fury: Using the same principles mentioned above for a Rhino, it's possible to punish players aiming for horde armies by taking 2 Rhinos, driving at diagonal perpendiculars towards each other, spacing out their front bumpers 2-and-something" away from each other, and parking a rifle team in the center. The same principle can be expanded with 3 Rhinos, four...

Walkers: A short guide

Dreadnoughts are a tough concept to work with for warhammer players new and old. The models are popular and the fluff is inspiring, but on the table dreadnoughts can often prove to be lacklustre at best. Disappointing at worst. So, it is understandable that many people will advise you not to take a walker unless it has some sort of ranged support. In reality walkers are great support models which shine when used effectively and applied well.

Most Walkers have two main uses and a niche role which go as follows:

• Range support - From mortises and Deredos, to Riflemen, and Sonic Dreadnoughts, a walker can make an excellent ranged support choice for any gunline army. This is because their purposes are two-fold: the first is to add to the fire potential of your entire list and help to focus fire on the primary threats of your opponent's force. The second are its counter assault abilities thanks to the s10 ap2 DCCW, which allow it to patch the close combat weaknesses of any range-centric force. Take Bjorn the Fell Handed for an example: The big bastard is well suited for babysitting a couple of squads of long fangs while he chills out and chucks shots out with his HellFrost cannon. Anything dumb enough to get close to him will rapidly disintegrate beneath his S10 AP2, WS6 attacks. While Bjorn is a unique character other, less expensive, examples exist in the Sonic Dreadnought, and the Contemptor Dreadnought.

• Board Control/Disruption - Whether you're marching them through cover to threaten objectives, Outflanking them, stuffing them in Drop Pods/Stormravens, or Deep Striking them through a special formation, Walkers can rapidly throw a wrench in your opponent's plans. Whether they're an obstacle to prevent your gunline from being rolled up, or they're meant to slow your opponent down while you play the objectives game, Walkers can hand the initiative back to you and force your opponent to play a reactive game.

• Zone Mortalis deathstar Due to the cramped confines of a Zone Mortalis board, the lack of visibility for shooting, and the forest of locked doors you will invariably find, dreadnoughts are some of the best units to be fielded in a zone mortalis map. Thanks to the small confines and low points level, dreadnoughts benefit from a map devoid of fast vehicles or infantry, and ton of LOS blocking walls to save his ass from heavy weapons. Just watch out for infantry portable anti-tank weapons or monsterous creatures and he will *shreck* anything he comes across.

Panzers Vor: The Shocking Use of Tanks

Tank-type vehicles are almost entirely a domain of Imperial Guard (with exceptions such as Land Raider), and are used to back up your squishy Guardsmen with superior firepower. Though, in case of some lists, the only role for Guardsmen is to provide a cover save for the tanks by standing between tank and the enemy lascannon. Other features include being large, blocky boxes and huge targets for anything on the board (as well as for the cannons on the Empire VS Dwarf game next table over). Tanks are also the only vehicles, as of 7th Edition, which are able to Tank Shock.

• Face your Enemy:

While obvious and frequently said, ALWAYS TURN YOUR FRONT TO YOUR ENEMY. This isn't simply because your front armor is usually superior (on Leman Russ Battle Tank, it's a difference between AV14 and AV10), but the fact that most of your weapons point forward, means that even AV14 all around Land Raider is able to simply inflict more damage to the enemy it's facing than the enemy behind it. You should also try to predict your enemy's future Anti-Tank placement, so you will not be caught with your back armor showing. In addition, try to cover your weak points, either in bubble wrap of infantry, or by keeping your back to some impassible terrain. Deep Strikes and Drop Pods WILL throw off your plans if you are not ready for them, so always have something ready to take care of them, lest your tanks will become smoking wrecks.

• (Slowly) Rolling Thunder:

Since everything Imperium uses is based upon WW1 technology, all of your tanks are hilariously slow (except, amusingly, Land Raider, which is the biggest metal box ever. Thanks to it's PoTMS it can still fire a gun while moving at full tilt). This applies to all Heavy vehicles, but Tanks are almost universally affected. This means that you should never try to follow your targets, especially against armies of fast-moving Eldar. This also means that your short-range tanks can be hit n' run as well, and they are incapable to respond to quick changes in the front line and enemy breakthroughs. However, this allows tanks to keep up exactly with infantry advance, without the possibility of overtaking the infantry screen, keeping it safe from any assaults coming from the front.

• Your Tank-Fu is Strong:

Tanks are the only vehicles that can Tank Shock. This is useful both against non-fearless infantry and vehicles. Any infantry caught in Tank Shock has to make a morale check, and even Space Marines have a chance of freaking out about a tank slowly charging at them. But most important change in 7th Edition, is that the damage equation is changed, meaning that it's possible for Leman Russ Battle Tank to move combat speed, and ram an enemy vehicle with a S10 attack (14/2 Round Up = 7, +1 from Tank, +2 for heavy. While not mentioned anywhere in the rules, you cannot have a Ram attack above Strength 10). This has no effect on firing capacity of the Tank, so you can target any target without losing the target control - this may include the squad which have escaped the vehicle you have glanced to death with Tank Shock.

• They Go Squish:

With a carefully aimed and measured tank shock you can deal damage to a squad even if they are unlikely to fail their morale test, all models that would end beneath the tank are moved out via the SHORTEST DISTANCE, they must remain on the table, within coherency and an inch away from the 'Shocking' tank to survive, if not (CRUNCH) with a fair number of tanks/your other units or good use of impassable terrain you can CRUNCH any squad that would normally pass their morale tests by forcing them to move within an inch of another of your units or onto impassable terrain. FOR VISUAL LEARNERS>>>>>> [1]

• More Bang for the Buck:

Most Tank vehicles are also frequently the most customizable units as well. Leman Russ tanks and Land Raiders come in many different flavors, and can be set up either to counter specific types of enemy, or to have a reasonable chance to endanger anything they run across. Even the smaller upgrades, such as Heavy Stubbers can cause some extra damage after you've erased most of the enemy Space Marine squad with Demolisher Cannon (even at BS1, the shots add up with Bolters, and then Math Hammer hammers). Again, it may also be more favorable to be able to engage non standard targets, such as using LasCannon to combat vehicles outside of the aforementioned Demolisher's range.

Skimmer Milk: 2% Armor

Skimmers are one of the most common classes of vehicle in 40k. The entirety of Tau, Eldar, Dark Eldar and almost all of the Necron motor pools are Skimmers, which altogether make up about half the non-Rhino vehicles in the game.

• Jump (through windows) Vehicles: Skimmers behave similarly to jump infantry. They move over terrain as if it weren't there. However, if they start or end their move in terrain, they have to take a dangerous terrain test. The distinction is, unlike jump infantry, skimmers have no way to "walk"; they ALWAYS risk this dangerous terrain if they move in cover. Many armies have ways to let your skimmers either re-roll dangerous terrain checks, automatically pass them, or ignore them entirely. These are usually cheap upgrades and tend to be worth it. One thing to remember is, thanks to ignoring terrain, Skimmers essentially can fly through ruins and buildings as if they weren't there, long as they're less than 12". This means you can park a skimmer behind a bastion during your opponent's turn, then fly right over it to get in his face.

• Jinkle Jangle Bongo I Don't Wanna Leave The Congo: All Skimmers have the Jink universal special rule. This rule is one of the most delicious bits of bullshit in 6th and 7th Edition. Essentially, whenever a skimmer is shot at, you can choose to Jink; you declare this before the enemy gets a chance to roll to hit. If you do, your shots next turn are Snap Shots, but you gain a 4+ cover save. This is especially good because most skimmers(Dark Eldar and Tau especially) have ways to get bonuses to their cover saves, turning this 4+ into a 3+.

Army Specific Notes should be found in their respective tacticae.

Flyers: Death from the Skies and You

• An Introduction*: When 6th Edition 40k came out, the addition of Flyers as a separate vehicle category was one of controversy. On one hand, flyers possessed multiple layers of defenses (including immunity to Assault), and possessed the ability to come onto Reserves at a critical point, without normal reserve-related risks of Deep Strike Mishaps, or outflanking to the wrong table edge, and subsequently could alpha-strike critical locations of a battlefield. On the other hand, their movement restrictions combined with limited firing arcs to make *most* of them effectively capable of only firing once every other turn. Many Flyer units were added to 40k but of the flyers introduced into 6th Edition, the only one which caused teeth-pulling frustration for its victims was the infamous Heldrake; the best-performing flyers were those from 5th Edition which started off as fast-skimmers beforehand, with the Nightscythe and Vendetta becoming dangerous weapons to wield or endure.

• • Know your Role: This really is the most important part. Aircraft in general fall under several categories, thanks to the 2016 supplement:
    • Bombers: Barring a FW-friendly environment, bombers as a primary unit aren't worth taking, simply because most bomb-weapons are overpriced, and they lack the effective threat projection which makes Flyers expensive in the first place. Their main advantage is they provide a limited version of Split Fire/the ability to force additional leadership checks outside of the Shooting phase, as well as providing blast weapons with an unusual attack vector/relative accuracy. Also, due to wording, you can drop a bomb on the invisible squad. However, most bombs are tooled for destroying lightly armored infantry...fast, midfielding lightly armored infantry, and you generally aren't getting too much bang for your buck.
    • Attack Flyers: These are the basic flyers you'd usually take. They have guns that can actually hit worth a damn on ground targets. Against flyers however, they're useless.
    • Fighters: If you find another flyer, take a fighter. These are the ones that can actually get Skyfire via the new rules, so keeping one as backup is always advised in a flyer-heavy meta, or if you want to piss off someone with a lot of Jetbikes and Skimmers, since they also get hit by Skyfire. Anything else, you only take -1 to BS in non-Skyfire cases.
  • Plan Your Moves Ahead: This really is the most important aspect. Flyers have a large dead-zone they cannot move into from one turn to another. (This area is where we need diagrams, anyone want to help?). In addition, you might also want to hold back on bringing out a flyer if only because the 2016 supplement says that if only one side has flyers in reserves, the other one gets -1 to their reserve rolls.
  • To Intercept or Not?: A classic misconception about flyers is that they have Skyfire by default. This isn't correct. Zooming Flyers can choose whether or not to use the Skyfire special rule at the start of each Shooting phase. If they do, all weapons they fire that phase are treated as having the Skyfire special rule. Whether they choose to have skyfire or not MUST be done individually, and before any shots are fired.
  • Crash and Burn: So you're penned by some lucky schmuck with missiles or that fancy Mortis Dread. You have to take a Grounding test, right? WRONG. You instead have to worry about the vehicle damage table. If you ever get Immobilized, you have to roll a d6: on a 3+ you replace it with Crew Stunned, but if you roll a 1 or 2, you're dead. So, you made your 3+ and are still in the air? You are not out of the woods yet. Crew Stunned means your flyer moves forward 18". If you cannot place the base where it has to go (on top of friendly models or less than 1" away from enemy models) you Crash and Burn on your movement phase anyway (zooming flyer forced to move less than 18"). Be mindful of what is or can be placed 18" in front of your flyer.
    • Thanks to the new supplements, you also get two new stats to flyers that can potentially change how things run: Agility, which you need to roll under if you want to make a 90-degree turn, and Pursuit, which comes into play against other flyers. If you get stunned or shaken, these stats get dropped to 0 for the turn. This can potentially alter how moves are planned.
  • RETURN TO THE COMBAT ZONE: There's a good likelihood that if your flyer is zooming that it might luck into a table edge. In these cases, your plane can flee the combat zone and go back to Ongoing Reserves, with every ding you have. Upon returning. you're back to zooming.
  • Hovering Doom: If your flyer can hover, you can then turn it into a jumbo-sized Fast Skimmer. You can only embark and disembark anything you're transporting in hover mode (unless of course if you are a necron). The general disadvantage is that you can be hit by non-Skyfire units now, but in some cases it becomes a scoring unit.

• Wings: Squadrons...but for Planes!: Another new addition to Flyers is the addition of Wings, which allow for a bunch of flyers to take up one spot and be organized in different patterns, which provide special boosts for the wing for the battle. They can be led by Wing Leaders, who gain traits to boost them a little.
  • Vigilance Attack Pattern: Have two flyers diagonal from each other. The front Attack Flyer gains +1 BS against ground targets, the front Bomber adds +1 S to their bombs, and the front Fighter gains +1 BS against Flyers. In all cases, the front flyer gains +1 to Jink.
  • Vehemence Attack Pattern: Get three flyers, have two of them behind the front one like a triangle. All Attack Flyers gain Tank Hunters against ground targets, Bombers can re-roll Pens and Glances, and Fighters gain Tank Hunters against other flyers.
  • Intolerance Attack Pattern: It's like the Vigilance pattern, but with another flyer placed diagonally so they all form a straight line. Everyone gains Ignores Cover, but Fighters only get it against other flyers while Attack Flyers only get it against ground targets.
  • Unmerciful Attack Pattern: Three fighters conga-lining one behind the other. When all flyers flat-out, they double their pursuit scores. Attack Flyers also have to attack one ground target with up to four weapons, with the second one getting +1 BS and the second one getting +2 BS. Bombers can make a Bombing Run during the Flat-Out if they didn't fire in the previous Movement phase, with the second one reducing scatter by 1" and the third reducing scatter by 2". Fighters have to attack one flyer with up to four weapons, with the second one getting +1 BS and the second one getting +2 BS.
  • Indomitable Attack Pattern: It's a cross between Vehemence and Intolerance. All flyers gain the rules from both patterns as well as the Vigilance Pattern.
  • Omniscience Attack Pattern: Four flyers standing shoulder to shoulder (wing to wing?). They gain Preferred Enemy against one kind of unit (So Dakkajets, Heldrakes, etc.) for the whole fight. Pretty weak, to be honest.
  • Fortitude Attack Pattern: Four Flyers form up like a box, giving them all 4+ Invuln, IWND, and Interceptor. All of which is rather cool.

• Dogfights: The other new addition from the 2016 Death from the Skies 2012 Crusade of Fire is a whole extra phase for flyers in reserve, which can lead to some fuckery in the reserves if you win.
  • Interception: Roll a die, +1 for more Fighters, -1 for more Bombers. Winner gets to pick two flyers from their reserve and one enemy flyer in reserve for the dogfight, which will take place on a side-field.
  • Engage: Both sides roll d3. There's a table that cross-references what results take place depending on what they roll, with the winner choosing whether they want to move 12" closer or further (Increases to 24" if the winner's pursuit value is 2 higher than the loser's).
  • Manoeuvre: Roll d3 again. Cross-reference another table for results. Winner can force their opponent to turn 90 degress (180 if the winner's pursuit value is 2 higher than the loser's) or have their flyers jink for the phase.
  • Attack: Yet ANOTHER cross-reference table with d3's, with the result being who fires first. Now comes the actuall fighting. When both flyers are facing head-on, they can only snap-fire, while if one's behind the other, the one behind gets to fire at full BS in all cases, while the front one can only snap-fire. In any other case, everyone but Fighters can only snap-fire, while Fighters fire at full BS. If any flyers crash and burn, they roll a table to either crash on your edge, the enemy's edge, or not at all. Anyone else just hops back into reserve.
• Note: Many people tend to ignore the 2016 supplement, especially if one player doesn't own it. In some cases an entire flgs will have a soft ban on it or just prefer not to use it. Find out with your local group before hand, it could mean the difference on which fliers you bring or leave behind.