NPC's and their tactics

[Commediante 75]

In other thread we were talking about mandrake's ability to vanish after his attack and strike every turn always by surprise (considered roll for stealth was successful ofc). Have you found in OW books other NPC's that offer greater possibilities than just "shoot em up"?

 

I wonder how Incubi work on the battlefield. Can you make a juicy skirmish with of them? What about scourges?

[CommissarWilliams 65]

In other thread we were talking about mandrake's ability to vanish after his attack and strike every turn always by surprise (considered roll for stealth was successful ofc). Have you found in OW books other NPC's that offer greater possibilities than just "shoot em up"?

 

I wonder how Incubi work on the battlefield. Can you make a juicy skirmish with of them? What about scourges?

In the Only war Bestiary book it gives you details about how each race plays and there combat tactics .

[Commediante 75]

 

In other thread we were talking about mandrake's ability to vanish after his attack and strike every turn always by surprise (considered roll for stealth was successful ofc). Have you found in OW books other NPC's that offer greater possibilities than just "shoot em up"?

 

I wonder how Incubi work on the battlefield. Can you make a juicy skirmish with of them? What about scourges?

In the Only war Bestiary book it gives you details about how each race plays and there combat tactics .

 

 

Yeah, but I noticed those descriptions are often inaccurate. For example hellions - they are supposed to be close combat beasts, but their WS is so low that this is far from truth. By RAW when they attack with Hit&Run action they have WS28-38, and with two or more degrees of failure they crash to the ground, where they are harmless. Given that the average roll equals 50 that makes them almost always failing to hit and often go to the ground. And they are supposed to be masters of skyboard...

 

I hope we can discuss tested tactical options, not NPC's descriptions from Rulebook.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Commediante

[Sebastian Yorke 191]

On chaos:
In one of my last games, I had a demon influencing large swathes of imperial citizens and even directly controlling some.

 

They were unarmed so instead of attacking the PCs, they were acting REALLY creepy around them but never giving an excuse for the PCs to start shooting. Some of these citizens would even commit suicide in front of them or lead them to dead bodies. Imagine

 

Before long, both the players and their characters were losing it entirely. By the time a combat finally happened (I waited for the perfect time - until the characters had to setup camp and rest in the middle of a jungle), they broke cohesion and 2 comrades died.

 

That was something that could be achieved with basic mind-control abilities and simple, unarmed humans as the base enemy.

 

Sometimes we forget that an enemy is not simply numbers in a sheet. In this case, Chaos is a creepy thing in itself and using that "creep factor" can actually be a tactic for those.

 

On orks:

In another recent game, this other group had a Russ and were trying to fend off an Ork horde with their squad (of 3 other Russ) while some troops were evacuated from the battlefield.

 

The Orks started to focus their efforts in pushing against the tanks by following the flanks of the IG infantry nearby (so the Main Battle Cannons couldn't be used without friendly fire).

 

Against the other guns (stubbers, heavy bolters, etc) the orks used the "Wall of Bodies" tactic, which basically consists in used the dead/injured in the front as meat shields (literally).

 

Distracted by weather conditions and stormboyz flying towards the tanks, soon one of the tanks got swarmed and some shaped charges (human equivalent being meltabombs) did the trick of taking out one of the Leman Russ while cooking the crew inside (fortunately, it wasn't the players - they had a frontal heavy flamer which I had forgotten about, so the best I could do with them was to throw stormboyz on their turret, keeping their comissar VERY busy).

Edited September 1, 2015 by Sebastian Yorke

[SgtLazarus 299]

Incubi use lightning fast shock and awe tactics. Come barrelling in at breakneck speeds, cut a guy down, and then work your way through the crowd killing people. I've played one as a PC myself.

Personally though, I like human enemies using SWAT team tactics. Gets my players every time.

[Talon of Anathrax 55]

I love having the enemy coming from 2 directions at once - it instantly forces some hard positioning and cover choices.

For Chaos, I like to use a "Hammer and Anvil" technique, where a mob of weaker foes lead by a single Elite foe is used to pin you down as the real danger approaches - add in some terrain and a "surprise" to spice things up (be it a piece of wargear of Chaos dickery) and you have an encouter that perfectly fits a chaos woarband and is fun to fight through!

[Commediante 75]

I've found using snotling and gretchin formations very amusing recently. Snotling can do literaly no harm to PC's, but they can block them and soak the damage while their runtherd overseer inflicts quite big damage. Grots might support them by shooting into melee. Even if 6 snotlings die from it now and then, it's nothing, because if you have 20 fearless snotlings their lives are worthless.

[Doctor Kant 0]

Since this topic is suited for my question, despite its long inactivity, I may just post it here.

 

Some time ago I essentially also decided to make myself a tactica for only war based on my experience with other 40k-roleplay. So my question would be, if any of those tactics wouldnt work in only war.

 

Ork

Mainly used them in Deathwatch before. As already pointed out, especially with the PCs now beeing normal humans, huge swarms of snotlings and gretchins with runtherds may be even more usefull. In DW I used them as meatshield and distraction, but in Only War I believe, they could work fine as a danger themselve, especially if the team equipped itself more against taking down bigger, fewer enemies (the classical Ork). I also made great experience with having "more cunning" warbosses flanking with fast attack (stormboys, bikes), since those are not that easy to take down. However, the main tactic is of course still storming the front. To make this a bit more diverse I had the Orks flee, once their leader is killed and they have taken considerable causualties, however, they would come back and usually form up with more of such groups into one bigger blob. So the PCs needed to think on how to kill so many, that this will not give them problems. In general I made the Orks extremly strong, because they are relativly easy to outsmart and therefore the PCs could beat brawn with brains.

 

Dark Eldar

The exact opposite of the Orks, mainly appeared in a Rogue Trader game. I decided to use hit and run tactic and liberal application of mobility. Essentially I made them always attack that PC that is not currently attacking them. Helions, unlike the previous authors had experienced, I had great experience. Squishy and with a high chance of failing the attack. So I had them faking attacks and while the attacked PC dogded that, another struck from behind, giving him a good modifier to his attack. With the wyches I used assassin strike to have them essentially dance between multiple enemies, therefore 1) stopping the ranged fighters from attacking and 2) dont allow the more melee oriented fighters to strike back against them. They would be tied up with Incubi, Pain engines etc. Than have supporting units in the back. So the best counter against them would really not fall into the trap and therefore denying them the opportunity to set up their formations and stopping the attack with surpressing fire. Although it stands to reason, if that works in Only War that well, because delievering an entire formation would probably to strong for just a bunch of guardsmen, unlike rogue traders, who have their own armsmen. However, they may gain the advantage with more things to shoot down troop transports. In general I always had a bit of a problem with the Dark Eldar, because their glass cannon style had essentially two outcomes: Annihilate the group completly or die en mass. Worked better in DW, where the PCs were more resistant.

 

Chaos

So far my greatest problem when it comes to only war. In Dark Heresy you seldom fought them in open military wars, so I really have no idea how to use them in Only War. In DW I just could throw elite opponents at the PCs, but my players would kill me, if I would continue my liberal use of demons in Only War and rightly so. To this point, if my players would decide for an armored regiment, I believe, that spamming vehicles and lowly cultists flanking with anti-tank weapons would work fine. Did that with DW too. When it comes to infantry, I would use renegades as a "mirror" to the guardsmen themselve, using nearly always cover, grenades surpressing fire, artillery, mortars, mines in defence and flanking in attack. Combined arms, flamethrowers, specialised troops to counter the enemy.

Although to get the whole "chaos"-feeling I would use demons instead of, say ogryns as shock troops and maybe, if the PCs are doing to good, a Chaos Space Marine as leader of the forces. Psykers and witches I would really not use in open warfare, didnt did that in DW or DH (granted, seldom had that in DH) and instead use them as "annoyance". Have them cloud the minds of the PCs, have them or allies raise weapons against one another, beeing in the back, summoning demons or protect the witches allies against fear etc. Only if the PCs get deep into enemy territory, the defenders may throw the psyker as a "human bomb" of warp energy against them in a suicide tactic. However, I would much prefer to have an internal power structure, without just saying: Cultist<Cultist leader<Space Marine<Space Marine leader as in DW, where especially the humans never really where a tread in one on one. Give them all kinds of ordinary weaponary, having them be different and not only important with something lascannon and greater.

 

Tau

I am hesitant to use them in Only War. Simply because the thinks I used them for in DW wouldnt work in Only War. Using an ambush or snipers wouldnt work if that would already kill the PCs. And just spam weak drones or have the PCs detect the ambushes would give the wrong idea of the Tau. Their commanders are neither wastefull nor idiots, so a bunch of grunts, even of the heroic kind, wouldnt fit the idea. Also, fighting the Tau would present a moral problem, since the very idea of guardsmen (at least for my party), is them beeing the guys with the sh*tty, but necassary job. Fighting horrible enemies and horrible buearaucracy at the same time, simply, because they been forced into it and because it needs to be done. In other words: First time they find out that the Tau empire is actually better than the Imperium and not pure evil AND they get better equipment and superiors, they would defect as soon as possible. This may be something for a later campaign, but not now.

 

So, are those tactics still useable in Only War? After all, it differs a lot from the classical party of investigators/explorers.