Playing Warhammer 40,000 with the intent to compete dominates internet discussions. Players old and new fear their investment into the game will go to waste if they get to their first turn and over half their army rests in a mass grave just off the table. An in-depth understanding of the core rules of the game allows a player to go far but bringing an army to the table that handles any situation, instead of targeting a particular prey, elevates a player from casual to competitive play. I believe bringing an army with special deployment rules, my 3 favorite special rules, and assigning units roles allows the list to tackle any situation by creating participation in every phase of the game thus making the list more competitive.
A list lacking forward deployment, before the first battle round moves, and reserve deployment makes me nervous because it possesses no mystery. The other player knows exactly where the army will start and hypothetically attack in future turns allowing the player to counter deploy either offensively or defensively in reaction to your army's deployment. To them, your threat resides on your side of the table and they possess the ability to maintain whatever distance their army requires to defeat. Forward deployment provides you with an powerful opportunity to change this threat distance dramatically in your favor.
Bringing units that forward deploy such as Space Marine Scouts or Chaos Daemon Nurglings allow a player to sit on objectives early or threaten to box in the opposing army in their deployment zone. Deploying aggressively to the attack provides a solid option but a player may deploy defensively too. Nurglings prove useful when their deployment in front of your own lines and keeping the other player from dropping their Invictor Tactical Warsuit 9" away from your battle lines before the game begins. Sometimes an army needs to bring allies to gain this ability such as Chaos Marines but I find it worth the detachment and the points in order to add the ability to force the other player to make decisions early between killing my damage dealing units or killing my victory point scoring units while they deal with the fact that any plans they laid for their own forward deploying units at the start of the game lie in ruins.
When an army cannot find a way to deploy forward, an opportunity to deploy differently comes in the form of the before the first battle round movement. Some units receive this ability inherently while others may receive it through a stratagem or a warlord trait. The two versions of this ability consist of a 7" or so movement in any direction but more than 9" away from enemy models before the game begins or the chance to redeploy a unit after all the units in both armies deployed. The ability to move units in reaction to another player's deployment really opens up the playbook. It allows a player chance to remove models from a dangerous situation where they face total annihilation in an open field to safely behind cover. With Phobos Marines, a player even gets to do this to units that already deployed forward in reaction to losing the first turn. An alternative view involves using this movement to position heavy hitting assault units a spot for a game wrecking turn one charge. Additionally, it allows a player to re-position a sniper or heavy weapons team to gain line-of-sight on a high priority target that previously hid safely behind cover. Despite being underrated, the ability to move before the first battle round begins remains a strong tool for a player and should make it into a list if and when practical.
Of the special deployment rules, reserve deployment maintains the position of my favorite pick of the bunch. The ability for a unit to enter the battlefield after deployment represents such power and terror that before every game of Warhammer 40,000 I play I ask if the other player possesses units with the ability to deploy in reserve before I deploy any of my own units. The one downside to reserve deployment comes from the restrictive rules such as: only half an army's units and points may enter reserves; the units must deploy before turn 3; and more than 9" away from enemy models. On the upside, I enjoy the power of hiding my more powerful units from enemy fire and forcing the other player to account for the fact that potentially half my army will appear at some point later in the game and more than likely in a position the player doesn't want them to reside and attacking units the player would rather not see die. Units in reserve will change a player's deployment and determine how a player moves their units the first 3 turns trying to avoid the hammer blow waiting off table whenever a weakness presents itself. Psychologically for me as a player, it helps to know that if things start to go wrong in the early game that I possess a few tricks in my reserve pool that may turn the game back in my favor if I find the correct, soft spot in the other player's army to exploit.
Till next time,
Bailey
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