Feb 10, 2006

Warhammer Tactics: 6th edition diverting

Diverting is more of a maneuver than a tactic. Of course, if you consider yourself a veteran Warhammer player, you should already know this rather obvious fact, and I guess such a little trick might be old news to you. For people though, that are either new gamers, or too ancient ones, who have missed the intricacies of Warhammer 6th ed., diverting is a little something they have to master.

Diverting is based on a-not-so-realistic rule stated in the BRB (Big Red Book or simply the Warhammer Fantasy Battles Rulebook), that forces a charging unit to align itself with the defending one, thus being subject to important direction changes. And as everyone and his dog will be able to tell you, movement is the single most important phase of a Warhammer match (game?). As diverting is a way to get rid of, delay, out-maneuver and generally harass powerful units such as a Brettonian lance or those pesky Chaos Knights, and as the diverting unit tends to get horribly massacred (and mashed into a pulp -just like Brave Sir Robin), the best diverters seem to be the cheapest ones. A depleted goblin unit, a Great Eagle or some imperial militiamen should do the job... Oh, and please try to avoid using skirmishers... You'll also be avoiding lengthy arguments with/against your opponent.

Just in order to make diverting comprehensible, here is a basic example of a devious diversion...

pic1. The Chaos Knights are threatening the entire Orc and Goblin battle line...

pic2. The presence of a 10 Orc (not) strong unit is an obstacle they'd have to either avoid (and loose precious turns) or destroy....

pic3. Seems like the Chaos Knights chose to attack. With a little luck they might loose combat, but even if they don't, they are now facing a new direction...

pic4. Should they win combat or even overrun, they would expose their flank or even use up another 2 turns to reposition themselves... Sweet, isn't it?


P.S. For further Warhammer related reading take a look at some rumors (news actually) and at a warhammer (not army) book review. For even further reading visit a library.



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2 comments:

  1. Hi Gnome! Thanks for visiting my blog. Pretty funny answer you had to my question. I hope you'll be at the Blog Olympic Training Camp!

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  2. Won't be a regular, but I'll sure try to be there...

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