Alright, squad formations can be a big help or hindrance to any table. One of the big things that a lot of starting players will do is just toss their squads on the board. Or they put them on in big square formations, or a line, to prevent blasts from impacting them. This is a bad idea for reasons in which I will get to later. For now, I will focus on three basic formations, the Staggered Front, Staggered Column, and Wedge. For unit placement, blue represents a squad leader/special character/sergeant. Red is assault weapon, Grey is heavy weapon. FYI: the circles are 35mm in diameter, the lines are 2" (roughly). So this is to scale.
The Staggered Front:
Strengths:
This model has a strong front. The heavy weapon is centrally located to allow maximum range in every direction, and located in the rear to protect it from first turn assault. The assault weapon is located in front next to the leader to get the most of its shorter range. Units assaulting it directly will have to assault multiple units, the leader among them, most likely the whole squad.
Weaknesses:
This is weak from the sides, as an assaulting unit can simply charge into only a couple of models, which would allow them to kill a couple off and not allow a retaliation until you charge next turn. This may not seem like much, but it can be when you're dealing with multiple threats on an objective, especially if the unit is being assaulted from multiple units. Also, maneuverability is an issue. The wide setup makes it harder to move around or between terrain, slowing them down to get to the objective.
The Staggered Column:
Strengths:
This formation is maneuverable, as it's thin front allows it to more easily move around and in between terrain. The leader in front also acts as a small deterrent against frontal assaults, and, again, the heavy weapon and assault weapons centrally and forward located for the same reason as the last.
Weaknesses:
This unit lacks the strong, unified front of the last, preventing you from maximizing the squad's number of shots, and forcing you to assault sideways. This would work well when it moves next to a staggered front unit, as you can assault (or be assaulted) with the staggered front, and flank with the column. Also, as the front was weak from the sides, this is weak from the front and back. As stated, the leader up front acts as deterrent, but not much of one, and if he is killed in assault, you are now down with your best assault unit and down 1 point of Leadership.
Wedge:
Strengths:
This unit is my favorite, because it's the all around powerhouse. Not as maneuverable as the Column but moreso than the Front (much more so). All-around well defended, and able to provide a decent 360 degree firebase, it can assault easily in 180 degrees, while being well defended from the front and sides, and only slightly weaker from the rear.
Weaknesses:
It's not as good at any specific task than the previous units. If attacked from the rear, it will take a while to counter with your best units. Aside from that, it's fairly solid.
Note on larger or smaller units:
The pictures above use 10-man squads, as that's what most armies are based on. For using larger squads, add to the end, or add an additional parallel column, or row. Or both, if it's large enough. I don't recommend using more than 3 columns or rows. For the wedge, the green chevrons represent the lines of the "wedge," and add additional chevrons of troops. I don't recommend a chevron of over 5 models, as you start losing the inherent mobility.
Why should I use these staggered formations instead of a single line or block formations?
I will start with the block formations. I have a cool image for that. And the answer is blast diameters. Let me demonstrate. As before everything is to scale.
Just so you know, the red dotted circle is the 3" blast diameter, and grey circles are models hit. While The most you can hit in the staggered formation is 3, the maximum in the block formation is 4. Now, given, this has to be a precise shot, but you don't want to take that chance. Also note that if you move the circle left or down by just 1 inch in the staggered formation, you will only hit one model, whereas if you move the diameter just about any direction on the block, you will still hit 2. Basically, using a staggered formation decreases the maximum number of possible hits, while decreasing the likelihood of getting 2 hits with a blast.
As far as the line goes, a well-targeted assault that takes out a middle model or a special ability that allows the opponent to pick the target allows you to separate the squad and break unit coherency very easily. The staggered formation is much more structurally sound.
This concludes my foray into unit formations. My next step will be multiple unit formations. Till next week...
The Staggered Front:
This model has a strong front. The heavy weapon is centrally located to allow maximum range in every direction, and located in the rear to protect it from first turn assault. The assault weapon is located in front next to the leader to get the most of its shorter range. Units assaulting it directly will have to assault multiple units, the leader among them, most likely the whole squad.
Weaknesses:
This is weak from the sides, as an assaulting unit can simply charge into only a couple of models, which would allow them to kill a couple off and not allow a retaliation until you charge next turn. This may not seem like much, but it can be when you're dealing with multiple threats on an objective, especially if the unit is being assaulted from multiple units. Also, maneuverability is an issue. The wide setup makes it harder to move around or between terrain, slowing them down to get to the objective.
The Staggered Column:
This formation is maneuverable, as it's thin front allows it to more easily move around and in between terrain. The leader in front also acts as a small deterrent against frontal assaults, and, again, the heavy weapon and assault weapons centrally and forward located for the same reason as the last.
Weaknesses:
This unit lacks the strong, unified front of the last, preventing you from maximizing the squad's number of shots, and forcing you to assault sideways. This would work well when it moves next to a staggered front unit, as you can assault (or be assaulted) with the staggered front, and flank with the column. Also, as the front was weak from the sides, this is weak from the front and back. As stated, the leader up front acts as deterrent, but not much of one, and if he is killed in assault, you are now down with your best assault unit and down 1 point of Leadership.
Wedge:
This unit is my favorite, because it's the all around powerhouse. Not as maneuverable as the Column but moreso than the Front (much more so). All-around well defended, and able to provide a decent 360 degree firebase, it can assault easily in 180 degrees, while being well defended from the front and sides, and only slightly weaker from the rear.
Weaknesses:
It's not as good at any specific task than the previous units. If attacked from the rear, it will take a while to counter with your best units. Aside from that, it's fairly solid.
Note on larger or smaller units:
The pictures above use 10-man squads, as that's what most armies are based on. For using larger squads, add to the end, or add an additional parallel column, or row. Or both, if it's large enough. I don't recommend using more than 3 columns or rows. For the wedge, the green chevrons represent the lines of the "wedge," and add additional chevrons of troops. I don't recommend a chevron of over 5 models, as you start losing the inherent mobility.
Why should I use these staggered formations instead of a single line or block formations?
I will start with the block formations. I have a cool image for that. And the answer is blast diameters. Let me demonstrate. As before everything is to scale.
As far as the line goes, a well-targeted assault that takes out a middle model or a special ability that allows the opponent to pick the target allows you to separate the squad and break unit coherency very easily. The staggered formation is much more structurally sound.
This concludes my foray into unit formations. My next step will be multiple unit formations. Till next week...
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