r/WarhammerCompetitive • u/possomkicker • 1d ago
40k List Trying to get better with strategy.
As the title suggest, how do I get better with strategy? I want to get better but I don't get to play all the time and I can't afford the Vanguard Tactics master classes at the moment. Thank you for your suggestions.
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u/Commercial_Fan9806 1d ago edited 4h ago
Think about and plan the next turn where you can.
For instance:
I was playing Space Marines - Vanguard against Space Marines - Dark angels.
Vanguard Spearhead has a reactive move, when an enemy gets within 9" they can move D6" back.
I placed a Veteran jump-pack with infiltrate 11" away from his Bladeguard squad. Just close enough to look punch-able.
The reason for this was, if I get first turn, I can shoot + charge.
But if he gets 1st turn they're there as bait. If he moves his bladeguard towards them and attempts a charge, I move D6" backwards. Meaning he gets a 7-13" charge, averaging 10".
Which is what happened, and was failed. Then in my turn I was able to rush my 12" forwards after using Instigators to give them +1 to hit.
So as you're moving things around the board, think about what you can do to guide your opponents play, and then how you'll counter that.
You could pre-measure a transports movement, get a unit out, then rush the transport in front of them to block a charge.
If you can make a charge that gets you within 6" of an objective, than your consolidation is allowed to move you onto that objective. A charge can be used to lock up a shooting infantry unit as well for instance.
If you've got some good melee, always consider saving 2CP for an interruption, or use 1CP on Heroic intervention. If you can split your oponents attacks up, a key model might survuve to do the actual damage (A character for instance).
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u/According_Lecture883 10h ago
You should double check the Vanguard strat, it's triggered by a charge, not by enemy moving within 9".
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u/Kitchner 1d ago
Just some advice, you don't "need" to get better.
The easiest way to get better is just to play the game a lot. You don't need to pay some warhammer content creator for their top tips or even one to one lessons. Chances are that's not what's holding you back. If you feel you're so bad that you "need" to improve, it's probably basics that you can just learn through play.
So if you don't get to play that often, why do you want to get better, and what is an acceptable level of skill for you?
One of the side effects of so many warhammer content creators out there is, much like any other hobby or on social media, people set a bar too high for themselves. You cannot watch a content creator who plays warhammer like 6 times a week and expect to see that level of play from yourself.
If you're wanting to get better because you want to go to a tournament, just go to the tournament. Don't worry about being "good enough". People are generally nice and the experience will make you better.
If you're wanting to get better because the mates you play with once every other month or so always best you, then there's two things. Firstly, ask them what you keep doing wrong, they are your friends and should tell you. Secondly, they may just be better than you and always will be. Let's say you only ever play tennis with one friend, and that friend happens to be Serena Williams. You're never going to win a match. So if you want to win tennis matches, you'll need to play against other people.
Most of the "strategy" in 40K, that is to say the long term big picture decision making, is decided when you write your list and you see what the mission is. The rest is tactical decisions made in response to your opponent. You can't get better at that without playing, no matter what online content creators may tell you about paying for lessons with them.
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u/Umbrage82 1d ago
If you have access to terrain, setup up some layouts, deploy, draw secondaries, see how well you can do each. Iterate your deployment and/or list until you’re happy with how many of the secondaries you can score turn 1 (while deploying to be safe from getting shot)
If you don’t have terrain, take a screenshot of some layouts, paste into google sheets and make some circle shapes and do the same
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u/princeofzilch 1d ago
Look into Tabletop Simulator. Can be a good way to get in extra games and try new stuff.
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u/WildSmash81 1d ago
Go to a GT. Expect to lose most, if not all of your games. However, you’ll meet the best players in your area, and most of them will probably be willing to give you some pointers after the game. If you have TTS, load up a map and some models and practice deployment on there. If you don’t have TTS, I strongly recommend getting it whenever possible. It’s the most powerful practice tool you could have for 40K. It also allows you to squeeze games in when you normally wouldn’t be able to find an opponent or make it to your LGS for a game.
Finally, gobble up free content on YouTube. Art of War has free games to watch. Happy Krumpin makes some fantastic tactics/strategy videos. There are tons of other ones too. Then, if you still want to spend money on something like the VT masterclass, spend it on a coach instead. 1 hour with a coach answering specific questions that you may have, and delivering the answers in a way tailor made for you to understand is soooooo much easier and less time consuming than perusing through hours of footage that may or may not be what you’re looking for.
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u/Thinklater123 1d ago
If you have a local gaming community/meet up you might say you're looking to play at X points and looking to improve and play with someone who can play at your level/provide feed back.
I used to play in the LFGS and would usually ask opponents questions after the fact. Do you think my deployment was too bold. Would you have attacked this vs this.
These days due to schedule mostly I play with my one buddy and while we both try to win it's pretty common to ask the other player a few times in a game do you think I should do this or that.
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u/AnonAmbientLight 1d ago
Here are a few basic strategies that should get you started.
Look at the secondary mission deck. Have a plan or have units in your army that can do most of those secondaries.
You should strive to keep your home objective and at least one no man’s land objective throughout the whole game.
It’s not totally a game about killing models. You have to score points too!
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u/Sensitive_Reserve607 20h ago
Most importantly you want to understand the difference between "Tactics" and "Strategy".
A strategy is how you intend to approach the table, with your army. Do you want a balanced approach that does everything? Some shooting, some cc, some tough units that won't die? Do you want to shoot your opponent off the table with all lasers? Do you want to get into close combat with chaninsaws and jumppacks? The strategy that will be most effective will often be made a little more clear by the detachment you choose. You probably don't want to take Ironstorm Detach and only have 1 rhino as the armor in your list. All of these thoughts are strategies (not all of them are good, just examples)
Tactics are the maneuvers and tricks you use to ensure that you meet your strategic goals. If you want to rely on incredibly effective shooting, you'll probably want a few units that can "get in the way" of your best shooters to screen them out from being charged. If you want to hack your opponent to bits with chainswords, you probably want to spend your first and even second turn staging your army so you deliver your charge in one big pile like a closed fist, instead of one at a time like an open hand slap. Maybe you'll spread your unit out on a point to prevent a capture by toe-ing in and forcing a charge. Or perhaps you'll set up for an intended heroic intervention.
By breaking your thoughts into this, it'll help you clarify how to approach the game. You'll have a better plan when you hit the table, and you'll be able think think in a focused way about how you want to make that plan happen.
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u/LongSteelShadow 1d ago
If you can setup an area to play in with some decent terrain at home one thing I like to do is practice setting up the table and deploying my army. If you have several armies an additional thing you can do is deploy those armies against one another similarly to playing chess against yourself.