Stratagems

Before I started writing this post I though that it was going to be a long one and that I would have to split it up in to several different posts. However, as I read through all the various stratagems from across the three different books, I found that there was actually not that many Stratagems that I thought needed work. Granted there are some that are more powerful than others, such as Vengeance for Cadia and Grenadiers, but there are no Stratagems that I think are over powered. 

There are a couple of Stratagems that work with overwatch, such as defensive gunners and drilled to perfection, which may see some changes, due to the change in overwatch. I suspect that if they do change, which I'm not convinced they will, it will mostly be a wording change and a CP hike to combine the two Stratagems together but still maintain the only one unit can overwatch part. In some respects it makes sense to just leave them as they are, as they work perfectly fine.

So what stratagems do I think need changing? We'll from the general AM stratagems there are four that I think need some work. The first is Vortex missile, a stratagem for the Death strike missile launcher. Now the Deathstrike itself is a fun but deeply flawed weapon that needs work (which we'll get to in the Heavy Support post) and this stratagem has a couple of issues. The stratagem cost 3cp and while it does give the possibility of doing extra mortal wounds it is very hit and miss. In most games, by the time you fire the weapon you'll be lucky to hit more than a couple of units. Then having to roll a dice with no guarantees of actually doing any damage to other units. For 3cp I would like a more guaranteed output, even giving max shots, the full 18 shots, even without re-rolls would be great. Doubling the range to hitting other units would be good as well. There are lots of different options for improving the stratagem but really for 3cp there need to be less randomness. Fire on my Position is a very similar strat, also costing 3cp and inflicting mortal wounds and it too is very random. Not only do you pay 3cp but you have to roll a 4+ for it to take effect, for 3cp I think you need some guarantees. Even if they took it to a 2+ roll, that would be a big improvement. Either that or drop the price. With a 2000 point match generating 17 CP using a 3cp stratagem is pricey. Also due to the range of the Stratagem, 3 inches, chances are you'll be in combat with the unit your using this on, so you've usually got a 50\50 chance of actually doing something, for 3cp! 

 The next stratagem that needs looking at is Jury Rigging. My issue with this is that it only repairs 1 wound. I would like to see this increases to d3 at least. Yes, one wound can make the difference in profile on occasion but I still think that being d3 is a lot better and would bring it in to line with a lot of other similar Stratagems. Lastly we have Gon Recon. This stratagem affects Sentinels and enables them to move in there shooting phase. The trouble with this is that it's a 2d6 move, so it could be a 2 inch move or a 12 inch move. I would much rather see this become a normal move with compulsory advance move. This would make things more reliable and usable, as you could actually plan things, rather than having to gamble. It wouldn't make things over powered or anything, as your giving up firing and charging for the extra move so it balances out. 

As you can tell, most of the issues I have with Stratagems is down to randomness. When we're paying CP's for something I think there should be very limited randomness or at least only a minimal chance of something not working. Paying 3cp for a 50\50 chance of something is not great. When it's an ability a character has that can be used turn after turn then yes, having it go off on a dice roll is fine but the whole point of cp is to gain extra abilities at a cost, not spend cp for a random dice roll. 

One other stratagem I would like to mention here but not one I necessarily think needs changing is Preliminary Bombardment. My issue with this stratagem is less to do with the cost or the rolling required but with the 1 mortal wound it does. Yes having to roll a 6 is not great but I can live with it due to the fact it covers a lot of units. No, it's the one mortal wound that needs changing due to the increase in multi wound models on the table now. I think this needs changing to d3 mortal wounds to at least give the chance of removing a MEQ model from the table. 

Of the regimental specific stratagems there are three I think need changing. First up is the Tallarn Ambush stratagem. Now there are two issues with this one, firstly the distance, 7 inches. This is only just big enough for certain units, namely superheavy tanks. I think it needs extending to 9 inches to give more room to get these bigger units on the board. The second issue is that it costs 3cp. Now, this price hike came due to the original stratagem not specifying you could only use one vehicle, so people where using it to flank 3 Leman Russ tanks. As usual GW went and nerfed it big style, limiting the number of vehicles and hiking the price up. As it stands I think it needs to drop to 2cp, at which point it become a good stratagem, rather than expensive.

The next stratagem is the Catachan Vicious Traps stratagem. Again my issue with this is the random roll. Yes, it's only 1cp but still requires a 4+ roll to go off. I would much rather see the mortal wound change, so to roll a 2+ for 1 mortal wound and 5+ for d3. This means there is still a change of it not going off but it becomes a lot more reliable. Either that or put the price up to 2cp and automatically inflict mortal wounds.

Lastly we have the big one, probably the most complained about stratagem in the guard codex, the Valhallans Send in the next wave. This stratagem is almost never used in any games, certainly never in matched play games and who in their right mind would, you would just start with the extra unit on the table in the first place. For 2cp you can recycle a unit that is destroyed but you have to pay points for it as well. Oris have unstoppable green tide, a very similar stratagem that cost 3cp, can recycle up to 30 Boyz, is one use only and you don't have to pay extra point for the unit. Going on that logic, this should cost just 1cp for 10 men, or multiples there of ( i.e. 1 for 10, 2 for 20 and 3 for 30). With the precedent set by the Ork stratagem, I really don't see why we can't get a very similar Stratagem. I really think a 1, 2 or 3cp one use only stratagem for recycling a destroyed unit of (non combined) infantry or conscripts can't be done. This would still be very Valhallan, not overly powerful and be usable. Oh and let's not mention the fact that 30 boys cost 240 points Vs 30 conscripts at 150 and that doesn't include the upgrades Boyz can have. 

Lastly we have the Militarum Tempestus stratagems and really there is only one Stratagem I would like to see changed. The stratagem in question is Tactical Misdirection, which is the Kappic Eagles stratagem. The main reason I think this needs work is that it took me about 10 times reading it through before I actually understood what it was saying. It's about as complex as you can get and could be worded a lot more simply. The stratagem itself is fine, a little pointless if you ask me but apart from that there is nothing wrong with it. Hopefully they will word it more simply and make it easier to understand.

Well that's it for stratagems, surprisingly short actually. There may well be some others that people might not like or thing are in need of reworking but I don't think so. Most of them are workable as they are, some are definitely stronger than others and there are quite a few which are very situational but on the whole I don't think there are many bad Stratagems available to the guard. 

Next we'll look at warlord traits and Tank Aces.