Deployment tactics

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Sheba yoma
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Deployment tactics

Post by Sheba yoma »

Hey guys, as my travels through the forest of Loren continues I'm having problems in the deployment, ie I haven't a clue what to do for the best! Now obviously this is a hard topic with out a specific list but what general deployment strategies do you use, where to you put the archers for best effect?
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godswearhats
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by godswearhats »

Seems like a Deployment tactica might be in order. Any takers?
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Akaba
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Akaba »

That would be a large tactica
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Shay
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Shay »

It isn't possibile to answer, because that depends on what your list looks like and what you are facing and what scenario it is and how the terrain affects the game.

I have a friend who always plans his deployment in advance. No, I don't mean just before the game, but when he makes the list, days or weeks before he even knows he'll be playing. Draws the deployment up on a piece of paper. He always looses.
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Mollesvinet
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Mollesvinet »

Assuming alternating deployment, then the best thing to do is to make a plan depending on your own and the opponents armylist. For example, if your opponent has a cannon then you would want to place your fast cav or flying units in the same side of the battlefield. Also the other way, if your opponent has a big unit of high strength models then you might want to deploy your treeman away from those guys.

When the deployment starts you should start by deploying some "less important" units. Great eagles are good for this, as they can quickly fly to where they need to be afterwards. Fast cav is also nice for this, as they can "redeploy" using their vanguard move. If you have alot of glade guard units, then you can deploy one on each flank so that your opponent cannot guess where your main force will go. Same if you have two unit of dryads, then you can deploy one on each side.

Once you see where the enemy deploys is important units, you can answer in turn with your own important units. If you have less units than your enemy then you have to predict what he will do according to your own deployment. That horde of high strength models will probably go down near your treeman, so you would want some eagles or fast cav to redirect them long enough to get your treeman away from danger and into something else.

If your enemy has a deathstar unit, then sometimes you can stall your own deployment long enough so that once he deploy it you can deploy the main part of your army furthest away from it. Refused flank.

I certainly agree that writing down your entire deployment phase from the start is a bad idea, as the game can sometimes almost be decided in the deployment phase alone. Some parts of deployment can be thought out in advance though, like having dryads close to the free forest and a unit of fast cav on each side.
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by noneshallpass! »

I agree that deployment depends on the two armies and the terrain on the table.
But I think there is value in thinking about deplyment in advance and have some kind of plan according to your own army.

I have found it better to spead out than castle up in a corner.
I have limited experience with Wood Elves in 8th edition, but often end up with something like this:
Image

Typically I start with the eagles and a unit if Glade Guards in the midle. Then I place at least one unit of Dryads on the flank. Sometimes a unit of these could go in between some Glade Guads.
I like having Glade Guards in the center to concentrate fire.
Sometimes I only got one treeman, and even then he could go further out on the flank. Depends on terrain and the enemy. Can the treeman manage to hold the center? Is it better to hide from a dangerous enemy? Or move up a flank to make mayhem?
An Eagle Noble often go on the flank to acompany the Wild Riders. The Wild Riders could be nice to save as a suprise in the end if possible. Without a counter, they could find themselves behind enemy lines after a vanguard and the first move in turn one.

Any thoughts?


Edit: Nice ideas from Mollesvinet.
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Dalsgaard
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Dalsgaard »

Deployment is definitely one of the most important aspects of a game of fantasy for us woodelves. I am not a very seasoned player, but I quickly realised that bad deployment is an autoloss and good deployment is key to give us a chance to win.

If you you look at the army lists on this forum, most of us plays msu style and avoidance/surgical strike tactics and therefore we have to think a bit further ahead than most armies.

Every point in this post is good, so if I should add something, it is that even before deployment we can think ahead. If you roll for terrain and alternating who puts what where, we can use that as well. Placing impassable terrain, woods, hills and all that the right places could give us the edge and help playing the avoidance game. If i get a hill and a wood, I like to place the hill close to the edge to make my opponent think: "thats a good place for all my warmachines!" and then a wood close by for a nice -3 modifier for my waywatchers. (They will of course figure this out eventually...but just an example)
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Sidewinder »

Refused Flank
http://defence.pk/threads/battle-report ... bc.292174/ 12th paragraph down
http://www.vonclausewitzwit.com/p/milit ... gists.html second paragraph after the Frederick The Great section begins

Just in case you didn't read the information provided by the links, simply put, a refused flank deployment creates one very strong flank and one very weak flank. The weak flank is called refused flank.

The following is one description of a Wood Elf refused flank deployment. I still do not have the ability to use the map programs but hopefully you can visualize the following.
First: the WE free woods. I've watched video battle reports of WE games. It seems nearly 1/2 of the WE players don't even bother with it. I suppose this is because it can be a nuisance. We will want to have it on the table for refused flank. For refused flank, place it at the 12" line midway across the length of the deployment zone.

First model: Great Eagle #1. Deployed 12" from the left side of the table. It is placed there for two reasons. The first is to secure our left flank and nearly two feet of our left rear area from enemy models that have the Scout rule. The second reason is because we are using it as a dummy drop; we are not placing our more important units until after our opponent has deployed their units that we want to counter.

Second model: Great Eagle #2. Deployed 12" from the right side of the table edge for the same reasons as the first GE.

Third: Dryads in or just behind our free forest depending on how lucky we feel about what the forest will be.
At this point we haven't given anything away. Our opponent isn't sure where we will commit the mainstay of our force but hopefully our opponent has given us a clue of where they will place their big stuff by now. Not a big deal if they haven't because

Fourth: Fast Cav. We should have a pretty good indication whether we want to refuse the left flank or the right flank. For this exercise we have decided to refuse the right flank. So, we will deploy the fast cavalry to the left of the eagle on the right flank. Let's say seven inches. Our right rear flank is now secured and protected from enemy scouts. And this is another dummy drop.
Remaining models are placed between the GE on the left side of the table and the Dryads sitting in the middle of the table.
Use Vanguard to move the fast cav 12 inches to its left. Viola! a refused right flank.
I tend to use a refused flank deployment when playing at 1500 points or less on a standard sized play area.
Last edited by Sidewinder on 27 Feb 2014, 07:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by CauCaSus »

Look up the Dwellers below and their wood elf episode. I've listened to it like 6-7 times and they talk about game plan and deployment.

I play four-five gg, treeman + ancient, bsb, eagle noble, lvl 4, 1-2 dryad units, two eagles and treekin/wardancers/gr/wr to taste.

I deploy dryads and eagles first symetrically to keep my opponent guessing. Then when I see where he deploys most of his forces, place my gg out of his way, but within 35" so I can shoot him.

Bsb + life mage always within 12" of my treemen. Treemen opposite killy stuff I want to block from the rest of my army.

Use chaf to force him to advance few units at the time and kill the units that come close with shooting.
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godswearhats
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by godswearhats »

I have a tournament report in which my second game was played with a refused flank deployment. You can see it on this thread. There are some photos which might also help with the visualization.

CauCaSus and I play very similar styles of army list so +1 to everything he said. I also endorse the Dwellers Below episode about Wood Elves; they also have a good one about the Deployment phase.
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hutobega
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by hutobega »

WHY have I never set up like that... I ALWAYS set up in the middle and get surrounded i am so dumb haha. I'm used to undead and orcs and goblins..
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Sidewinder »

"Pick your fights."
I always thought of this as meaning to maneuver units on the board in such a way that these units enter into combat against an opponent's units that shouldn't get into combat or to multi-charge against a lone unit. Also, I thought "pick your fights" to mean using maneuver to avoid bad match-ups.

I was listening to Ben Curry's Bad Dice Daily podcast BDD 390 - MSU, MSWho? today. During the podcast Ben Curry states that a player using MSU army lists will use their deployment to ensure a good match-up.

So, with an eagle or two, two Dryad units and even a 10xGG unit to use as dummy drops, we should be able to deploy our Treekin, Treemen, or other combat units directly opposite the units that we want them in combat with enabling us to pick our fights and denying our opponents the same.
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Jamesaet3
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Re: Deployment tactics

Post by Jamesaet3 »

I usually use a left or right bunker system, with my archers in the middle and my wild riders and glade riders or the other side of the bunker. This really depends on the terrain, your opponent, and what you have in your army.

My self, I usually try and put them on a hill (surprise..) or in the middle, or directly across a unit that I know doesn't have that great of armor, such as skaven plague priests.
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