Tactics: Air style 40k

Once again, I come to bring you the next (and final) installment of the Elemental nonsense series: Air.  If you have been following you know that we covered Fire, Water and Earth prior to air and you know the format... Onward!




Style: Catch me if you can, heavy on movement.  Picks their fights.  Glass cannon.
Wins based on: last minute objective contesting, isolates small units and wipes them one by one.
Loses based on: They can't run fast enough and get caught.
Good against: Fire
Counter with: Earth.

Other elemental article links: FIRE, WATER, EARTH

 A while back my son and I ran around in the park playing soccer (Yes, I do other things besides 40k).  He is 5 years old and has a million questions.  While we were sitting in the grass he asked me about how wind works and I challenged us to try to catch some so we could take it back home to study.  we had a lot of fun trying to catch air, but alas, we were ultimately unsuccessful... Catching air is damned hard (unless your an extreme sports person).

Air is very difficult to catch, and even if you do manage to catch it, air won't likely even stay caught.  It will be here, there and everywhere... Most of the time air will be in some sort of vehicle.  A very typical type of vehicle for an air list is just about anything with the "Fast & Skimmer," pair of rules.  This is because those two rules allow them to move great distances in one round...Making it extremely difficult to catch them in a corner, or corral them to a certain side of the board.  When playing against air the whole table is open to movement.  Don't be naive and think that just because the air opponent deployed entirely on the right flank that the fight will also be on the right flank.

When I played Eldar I would constantly use the denied flank and deploy entirely on one side of the board.  Then on the first turn I would boost and star engine to the other side of the board.  This would throw a lot of opponents off because their firing lanes had all been changed and took several turns to clear up, in which case I could go back to the original side to clog lanes further.

Air has a very 'glass cannon,' feel to it.  You may be able to put down 20 dark lances, but every turn your opponent shoots you lose 5 of them.  In some ways it makes you feel like fire... you need momentum, this is true.  But unlike fire it is harder for air to build on its momentum and table someone quickly.  Air needs to build less momentum, but it is required, for example, killing a unit of troops in cover in one turn that is far away from the main army so that you can turbo boost over in their area next turn.  If you don't kill them they will assault you and you will die.

When playing air look for things in your army that are hard to catch, and then upgrade them with things to help them live longer. I.e. Dark Eldar Raiders with flickerfields and aether sails, Fire Prisms with Holofields, Wave Serpents with stones and star engines, GK Storm ravens with a librarian and shrouding.  This will help lessen the affects of being a glass cannon.  Also, try to make your squads able to pick and choose their fights... Hit and run is great for this!

So, ok air vehicles are generally fast skimmers, what about their infantry?  Air infantry can be jump infantry, but usually those armies lean more towards fire... Air infantry love the following: Bikes of all kinds, HIT AND RUN, fleet, jet packs, and reserve shenanigans.  If anyone has heard of being "5th turn fritzed," it means your opponent sat in reserve for as long as possible and then sprinted onto the objectives to claim/contest as much as possible.  This is a long standing air tactic.  Also, air will do things like charge you with harlequins into a unit they know they cannot kill but can damage.  Then they will hit and run in your turn (or theirs), leaving you at half strength and that much closer to their guns.  They will often do this to pull units into bad position or off objectives.

Typical Air unit: -
- 10 Harlequins
  - troupe master
  - Shadow seer
  - 2x fusion pistol
  - 8x Harlequins kiss.

- 6 reavers
   - caltrops
   - 2x blaster

Armies that do Air well: 
- Dark Eldar
- Craftworld Eldar
- Blood Angel (Mech)... Though it isn't the BEST air build.
- Some Tau Builds.


Sample Army list: 1850

1 Haemonculus
 - Venom Blade
 - Liquifier gun
 - Shattershard
8 Hekatrix Bloodbrides,
 - 3x hydra gauntlets
 - Syren
    - Agoniser - Raider 
    - Enhanced Aethersails
7 Incubi
  - Raider
     - Enhanced Aethersails
4 Kabalite Trueborn
  - Blaster x 4  - Venom
    - Splinter cannon x 2
5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster - Raider
5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster - Raider
5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - venom
  - splinter cannon x 2
  - Grisly trophies.5 Kabalite Warriors, 60 pts = 5 * 9 (base cost 9) + Blaster x1 15
 - Blaster
 - Venom
  - Splinter cannon x 2

5 Scourges
 - Haywire blaster x 2
5 Scourges
 - Haywire blaster x 2
Ravager


Ravager

Well, with that the Elemental tactics nonsense series has come to an end.  I may think of things like this from time to time... Or just simple write up and elemental list just refresh the thoughts.  I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave comments/ kudos below.


Duke

Heavy Support: Ravager (1#, 105 pts)

1 Ravager, 105 pts