Tutorial AoS units: Operation Lego

[Mr Phat]

I read SOMEONE write that he was sad that Skrox units where gone.
They are not.
All you have to do is build it yourself!

I dont think everybody has understood what the new rules says you can do.
The rules says you can do anything regarding units movement and form.
As long as all parts of a unit is within 1'' from one of their own unit, it is still a legal form.

This means, that while the models NOT part of the unit, is actually ISNT part of the unit, it can still be part of its form and act if it was. (remember separate charge rolls though!)

You can now do stuff like this
(I know the carnosaur is on bigger bases, but take a guess on what you can do to make it fit )

 

[Scalenex]

Whether you want to optimize tactical options in AoS or mock AoS for being ripe with competitive abuse, this concept of boxing units is amazing.

 

[pendrake]

I have been ...contemplating... such things as well. In the diagram above are the two Krox two different units of Krox?
(they would be two inches apart separated by the Slann)

Problem solved if there is a Razordon on the right and a Krox on the left. [?] I guess.

 

[Mr Phat]

Whether you want to optimize tactical options in AoS or mock AoS for being ripe with competitive abuse, this concept of boxing units is amazing.

Its a compliment on my part.
I always found it terribly frustrating that I could not attach razordons to units I didnt like to get charged.

I have been ...contemplating... such things as well. In the diagram above are the two Krox two different units of Krox?
(they would be two inches apart separated by the Slann)

Problem solved if there is a Razordon on the right and a Krox on the left. [?] I guess.

True, I forgot that Kroxigors had a a 3+ requirement for units ( Restrictions, in AOS?!...HERESY!!!!! *Stormcast Eternals warps in*)

Lets just say Razordons, as they will get to use their Instinctive Defence: when the TG unit is charged.

 

[pendrake]

Lets just say Razordons, as they will get to use their Instinctive Defence: when the TG unit is charged.

I was wondering if the TG would block their LOS? Shooting is not blocked by models in / of / from the same unit but what about friendly models from a different unit?

 

[Mr Phat]

So far I haven't read anything regarding line of sight
My guess is no, but if I am wrong, you can just make a small gap between two front models for it to shoot through.

 

[pendrake]

So far I haven't read anything regarding line of sight

There is a little something on about page four where it mentions the other models in the shooting model's unit.

[edit]
I have been pondering various ways of using wedges:


This might be Krox and Skinks coordinating their efforts.

 

[Mr Phat]

arh yes

"and visible to the attacker (if unsure, stoop down and get a look from behind the attacking model to see if the target is visible). For the purposes of determining visibility, an attacking model can see through other models in its unit."

Problem here is that the Razordon is not part of the Saurus, so you WILL actually have to make a slight divide between them for it to shoot.
I find this highly fair and appropriate.

 

[Ixt]

Some formations:

The Arrow

Spoiler

Deploy small units in formations with wings & tails. It's similar to what Pendrake's got, except that the ranks stagger instead of following a straight line - the edges aren't as hard-lined.

Upon casualties, remove only enough models to create gaps in your line, and remove any other models from the tail. This eliminates the surround, and allows you a hasty retreat. Don't remove the wings unless you know that you've lost.

Following the pile in rules, your opponent is forced to move directly forward to fill these gaps. This halts quite a lot of maneuverability that the enemy would have had via pile-in. All of the other models must go around the edges of the wings, which is such a long distance that they won't be able surround you and prevent retreat.

Think of it in the shape of an arrow. Maybe that'd be a good name for it! The Arrow. It's an ideal formation for our Cold Ones, and an effective vehicle for delivering a fast, fragile, killer unit - simply stick it behind the tail.

The Hook (the arrow works the same way, but without the straight edge on one side - it's balanced on both sides, with the tail in the middle.)

Spoiler

Deploy a tarpit unit as a "Hook," with a tail in the center for purposes of removing casualties. A Celestial Rites bubble would be fantastic here for purposes of rolling saves. If you can help it, choose not to go first. Due to pile-in, a lot of enemy models will have to progress further and further up the straight side of the hook, which you won't want to reform until they've already moved. As such, point the straight end directly towards whatever you want to counter-charge with. That enemy unit is now 'hooked' until it retreats because they MUST advance most of their forces via pile-in down the straight end of the hook, directly towards what you want to charge with (a painstakingly slow 3" at a time, no less). If they opt to wrap around the rounded side, they're setting themselves up for the surround. Keep a character near the hooked edge to upset their pile-in, if you want. Speaking of retreat, they won't have very long to do this... read on.

Their line will become spread thin - whatever you charge with (ideally a single model, or a small unit) will get its full attacks and they will hardly be able to attack back. However, they're going to have a hard time retreating. Unless they have a very high move score, a thin line will only be able to effectively flee directly perpendicular to the straight end of the hook. In your move phase, move your selected charger perpendicular to the flat side before charging. If you've got something there, anything at all (chameleon skinks would shine here, or a Stegadon), then they cannot get away without breaking coherency. In other words, they cannot opt to flee. Now stuck, a few things happen here:

your opponent begins removing models from the rounded side of the hook to attempt to face the new charger. In this case, you now have a unique opportunity to box his unit in by wrapping the hook side around the part of the unit that is moving further down the straight side, trapping them in your sort of weird boomerang formation.

your opponent begins removing models from the straight side, because they need to retreat and their best bet is retreating from the hook side (this side will be facing their end of the board, more than likely). This could produce a couple of results. On the one hand, their combat was a complete, utter flop. They've essentially lost a turn. On the other, this puts you in a good position to reform into a wedge formation when combat ends by rounding the straight side of your hook and allowing you to move that lone model behind this formation as part of a tail. This would be awesome for Razordons, for example. If you decide to charge with the model anyway, you can very effectively castle this charging unit. This would be ideal for something with a 2" range, like Krox.

your opponent removes models equally from each side. This is straightforward: surround them.

In any case, it's a useful formation. I'd draw it out, but I'm lazy. If your enemy doesn't take the bait, you're in a good position to change this formation into an Arrow or Wedge, because they've allowed you to move up the field unrestricted by combat.

Hook Illustrated

Spoiler

Their charge phase: They charge....


Their Combat choice: Allow opponent to pile in first.... Remove first casualties from straight edge. Pile in first with the first model to begin the hook, very tightly, then pile in with tail models very tightly behind that.. This prevents your hook from falling out of formation/turning into a block.


Your combat choice:Visualization of the aforementioned pile-in.


I did the following out-of-order (whoops). Should have moved the uninvolved models first, but no biggy.

Combat: Charger, with no good options, piles in down the hook. Piling in around the hook simply means more of the same, but they also lose ground on top of that. They could have retreated here, but that would have made all of this a total loss, because...


Your units just advanced downfield, and are in excellent position to destroy this unit. At this point, they cannot run far enough to flee because of how stretched the unit is.


Charge + pile-in. Profit. The unit of 3 doesn't need to sit there the whole time -- you could summon them in after your opponent takes the bait. The 'worm' in all of this doesn't need to be there, either. A unit of chameleon skinks is excellent to have pop up behind them.

If your 'worm' and the unit by the straight edge shoot, don't even charge with them. Keep them ~4" away, keep shooting at the enemy unit, and take advantage of this newfound mobility. They'll be free to counter-charge the reinforcements that your opponent throws at the Hook. Many options here.

True, I forgot that Kroxigors had a a 3+ requirement for units

Per the rules, this is actually false. In the spirit of the rules, however, you should probably enforce this sentiment if you've got the models.

Under the Introduction sections within each armybook...
"3. Description: The description tells you what weapons
the model can be armed with, and what upgrades (if
any) it can be given. The description will also tell you if
the model is fielded on its own as a single model, or as
part of a unit. If the model is fielded as part of a unit,
then the description will say how many models the unit
should have (if you don’t have enough models to field a
unit, you can still field one unit with as many models as
you have available)."

 

[Mr Phat]

Ixt ....I do have enough kroxigors -.-

 

[Ixt]

Ixt ....I do have enough kroxigors -.-

Just sayin'. ^_^

 

[Bowser]

Some formations:

The Arrow

Spoiler

Deploy small units in formations with wings & tails. It's similar to what Pendrake's got, except that the ranks stagger instead of following a straight line - the edges aren't as hard-lined.

Upon casualties, remove only enough models to create gaps in your line, and remove any other models from the tail. This eliminates the surround, and allows you a hasty retreat. Don't remove the wings unless you know that you've lost.

Following the pile in rules, your opponent is forced to move directly forward to fill these gaps. This halts quite a lot of maneuverability that the enemy would have had via pile-in. All of the other models must go around the edges of the wings, which is such a long distance that they won't be able surround you and prevent retreat.

Think of it in the shape of an arrow. Maybe that'd be a good name for it! The Arrow. It's an ideal formation for our Cold Ones, and an effective vehicle for delivering a fast, fragile, killer unit - simply stick it behind the tail.

The Hook (the arrow works the same way, but without the straight edge on one side - it's balanced on both sides, with the tail in the middle.)

Spoiler

Deploy a tarpit unit as a "Hook," with a tail in the center for purposes of removing casualties. A Celestial Rites bubble would be fantastic here for purposes of rolling saves. If you can help it, choose not to go first. Due to pile-in, a lot of enemy models will have to progress further and further up the straight side of the hook, which you won't want to reform until they've already moved. As such, point the straight end directly towards whatever you want to counter-charge with. That enemy unit is now 'hooked' until it retreats because they MUST advance most of their forces via pile-in down the straight end of the hook, directly towards what you want to charge with (a painstakingly slow 3" at a time, no less). If they opt to wrap around the rounded side, they're setting themselves up for the surround. Keep a character near the hooked edge to upset their pile-in, if you want. Speaking of retreat, they won't have very long to do this... read on.

Their line will become spread thin - whatever you charge with (ideally a single model, or a small unit) will get its full attacks and they will hardly be able to attack back. However, they're going to have a hard time retreating. Unless they have a very high move score, a thin line will only be able to effectively flee directly perpendicular to the straight end of the hook. In your move phase, move your selected charger perpendicular to the flat side before charging. If you've got something there, anything at all (chameleon skinks would shine here, or a Stegadon), then they cannot get away without breaking coherency. In other words, they cannot opt to flee. Now stuck, a few things happen here:

your opponent begins removing models from the rounded side of the hook to attempt to face the new charger. In this case, you now have a unique opportunity to box his unit in by wrapping the hook side around the part of the unit that is moving further down the straight side, trapping them in your sort of weird boomerang formation.

your opponent begins removing models from the straight side, because they need to retreat and their best bet is retreating from the hook side (this side will be facing their end of the board, more than likely). This could produce a couple of results. On the one hand, their combat was a complete, utter flop. They've essentially lost a turn. On the other, this puts you in a good position to reform into a wedge formation when combat ends by rounding the straight side of your hook and allowing you to move that lone model behind this formation as part of a tail. This would be awesome for Razordons, for example. If you decide to charge with the model anyway, you can very effectively castle this charging unit. This would be ideal for something with a 2" range, like Krox.

your opponent removes models equally from each side. This is straightforward: surround them.

In any case, it's a useful formation. I'd draw it out, but I'm lazy. If your enemy doesn't take the bait, you're in a good position to change this formation into an Arrow or Wedge, because they've allowed you to move up the field unrestricted by combat.

Hook Illustrated

Spoiler

Their charge phase: They charge....
View attachment 17058

Their Combat choice: Allow opponent to pile in first.... Remove first casualties from straight edge. Pile in first with the first model to begin the hook, very tightly, then pile in with tail models very tightly behind that.. This prevents your hook from falling out of formation/turning into a block.
View attachment 17059

Your combat choice:Visualization of the aforementioned pile-in.
View attachment 17060

I did the following out-of-order (whoops). Should have moved the uninvolved models first, but no biggy.

Combat: Charger, with no good options, piles in down the hook. Piling in around the hook simply means more of the same, but they also lose ground on top of that. They could have retreated here, but that would have made all of this a total loss, because...
View attachment 17061

Your units just advanced downfield, and are in excellent position to destroy this unit. At this point, they cannot run far enough to flee because of how stretched the unit is.
View attachment 17062

Charge + pile-in. Profit. The unit of 3 doesn't need to sit there the whole time -- you could summon them in after your opponent takes the bait. The 'worm' in all of this doesn't need to be there, either. A unit of chameleon skinks is excellent to have pop up behind them.
View attachment 17063
If your 'worm' and the unit by the straight edge shoot, don't even charge with them. Keep them ~4" away, keep shooting at the enemy unit, and take advantage of this newfound mobility. They'll be free to counter-charge the reinforcements that your opponent throws at the Hook. Many options here.

Per the rules, this is actually false. In the spirit of the rules, however, you should probably enforce this sentiment if you've got the models.

Under the Introduction sections within each armybook...
"3. Description: The description tells you what weapons
the model can be armed with, and what upgrades (if
any) it can be given. The description will also tell you if
the model is fielded on its own as a single model, or as
part of a unit. If the model is fielded as part of a unit,
then the description will say how many models the unit
should have (if you don’t have enough models to field a
unit, you can still field one unit with as many models as
you have available)."

These are all insanely good! Thank you for the detailed descriptions on using them effectively