Still learning Gimp. It's a lot less user friendly than Photoshop was, but, then again, I like the whole "free" thing.
Anyways, I'm devoting this post to a few things that I learned over the years, and are acronyms used in the real military, and will help you during game set-up. The first is commonly referred to as "Sergeant Major Eats Sugar Cookies," but it stands for Situation, Mission, Execution, Service and Support, and Command and Signal. This breaks down for your whole army deployment, the following way:
Situation: as I said previously, really look at the terrain, how it's set up, and start figuring out how to set your guys up so it protects them and doesn't hinder their movement.
Mission: What are your objectives? This can change how you want to set your guys up drastically.
Execution: How do you want to achieve the mission? You should have a plan of everything from movement to taking the objective to the end turn of the game planned out when you deploy. This being said, use this as a rough draft. If you take objective A, your opponent will try to take it back. How are you going to deal with it? How are you going to take it in the first place?
Service and Support: How are your anti-tank/crowd control units deployed? Do they have clear LOS? Are they in cover? Will they be able to shoot effectively at enemies attacking your objective takers/holders? What about buffing units? Officers? Are they within good range to get the most out of their abilities? Are they going to give adequate support?
Command and Signal: This I reserve for your reserve units/infiltrating units. Are your infiltrators stranded in the middle of enemy territory, or are you going to be able to support them? Where do you want to deep strike/flank with your reserves? You should have this clearly in mind at the beginning, going into the execution mission, where can you drop/deploy them so that they best support your existing units? Have a list of places, that way the scatter/outflank dice won't hurt too bad.
The other thing I want to clarify is for individual unit placement. This acronym is OCOKA. This can apply, not only to setup, but also throughout the game.
Observation/Field of Fire: Make sure you have a good LOS and can react/shoot clearly at approaching targets. You want to make sure that any enemies left in the open can be quickly mowed down.
Cover and Concealment: What's your cover save/when your opponent moves, will he get a clear shot at your squad?
Obstacles: Ranged units: make sure there's something your opponent has to move around to assault you.
Assault units: make sure there's nothing to go through to assault your opponent.
Key Terrain: How are your units situated around objectives? If they are on the objective, can they defend it and still follow the rest of the rules?
Avenues of Approach: How can enemies get to your units, and how can your units get out of dodge? A tactical retreat can be necessary, and knowing these lanes of movements may save your squad.
So, yeah... hope that stuff helps. Just little things like that, when you set up and move your armies, keep them in mind. Basically, you want to be able to move freely and attack anything you want, while making sure your opponent can attack nothing. Next week I may go more into detail about how to use individual types of units, or start going into other tactics. It depends on how comfortable I am with Gimp by then. So, yeah, see you then.
Anyways, I'm devoting this post to a few things that I learned over the years, and are acronyms used in the real military, and will help you during game set-up. The first is commonly referred to as "Sergeant Major Eats Sugar Cookies," but it stands for Situation, Mission, Execution, Service and Support, and Command and Signal. This breaks down for your whole army deployment, the following way:
Situation: as I said previously, really look at the terrain, how it's set up, and start figuring out how to set your guys up so it protects them and doesn't hinder their movement.
Mission: What are your objectives? This can change how you want to set your guys up drastically.
Execution: How do you want to achieve the mission? You should have a plan of everything from movement to taking the objective to the end turn of the game planned out when you deploy. This being said, use this as a rough draft. If you take objective A, your opponent will try to take it back. How are you going to deal with it? How are you going to take it in the first place?
Service and Support: How are your anti-tank/crowd control units deployed? Do they have clear LOS? Are they in cover? Will they be able to shoot effectively at enemies attacking your objective takers/holders? What about buffing units? Officers? Are they within good range to get the most out of their abilities? Are they going to give adequate support?
Command and Signal: This I reserve for your reserve units/infiltrating units. Are your infiltrators stranded in the middle of enemy territory, or are you going to be able to support them? Where do you want to deep strike/flank with your reserves? You should have this clearly in mind at the beginning, going into the execution mission, where can you drop/deploy them so that they best support your existing units? Have a list of places, that way the scatter/outflank dice won't hurt too bad.
The other thing I want to clarify is for individual unit placement. This acronym is OCOKA. This can apply, not only to setup, but also throughout the game.
Observation/Field of Fire: Make sure you have a good LOS and can react/shoot clearly at approaching targets. You want to make sure that any enemies left in the open can be quickly mowed down.
Cover and Concealment: What's your cover save/when your opponent moves, will he get a clear shot at your squad?
Obstacles: Ranged units: make sure there's something your opponent has to move around to assault you.
Assault units: make sure there's nothing to go through to assault your opponent.
Key Terrain: How are your units situated around objectives? If they are on the objective, can they defend it and still follow the rest of the rules?
Avenues of Approach: How can enemies get to your units, and how can your units get out of dodge? A tactical retreat can be necessary, and knowing these lanes of movements may save your squad.
So, yeah... hope that stuff helps. Just little things like that, when you set up and move your armies, keep them in mind. Basically, you want to be able to move freely and attack anything you want, while making sure your opponent can attack nothing. Next week I may go more into detail about how to use individual types of units, or start going into other tactics. It depends on how comfortable I am with Gimp by then. So, yeah, see you then.
This gives me a lot to think about. I'm running Space Marines on foot with three full tactical squads at 1,000 points, so thank the Emperor that I can combat squad them. It gives me so many new tactical options. Awesome blog, by the way. I can always use help with my tactics.
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