Combining special deployments, special rules during a battle round, and unit roles into one list creates participation in every phase of the game and therefore makes it more competitive. The ability to participate in every phase means both on your turn as offensive participation and in the other player's turn as defensive participation. When I say every phase the game, I am not just talking about the phases of a single battle round. Armies that possess special deployment rules allow an army to participate in the first phases of the game, deployment. Deployment often consists of individual unit deployments phases, entire army phase deployment phases, and before the first battle rounds movements. Pick any phase in the game and an army should possess some capacity to operate in it especially before the game begins.
Offensive participation looks like units who ignore terrain such as fly units or carry line-of-sight ignoring ranged weapons. Both of these abilities provide a unit with the opportunity to participate in the movement and shooting phases when normally terrain would not allow it. Similarly, abilities such as snipers allow players to interact with the opposing army in ways not normally allowed by the rules and often are not anticipated by the other player. Addtionally, auto-hitting weapons create interaction with armies like Craftworld Eldar units and Culexus assassins that rely on stacking negatives to hit or debuffs to ballistic skill to prevent any sort of interaction with them at all. Sometimes an army needs allies to bring in offensive participation like a supreme command of psykers to blow holes in opposing units. Offensive participation in the form of 3 allied psykers adds flavor and offensive power to a list but offensive participation may not represent the most powerful form of participation.
Though subtle and underrated, defensive participation in a phase when executed at critical times in a battle may turn the tide of a battle in ways offensive participation cannot. Using an allied psyker to deny the final power that allows a super buffed unit to double move or advance and charge stops the other player's plans dead in the water. Sometimes a faction must rely on a specific warlord trait, relic, or stratagem in order to participate at all and more often than not the ability comes in the form of defensive participation. Necrons and Black Templars come to mind when thinking about warlord, relic, and stratagem-bound, defensive participation in the Psychic Phase. Black Templars wield a stratagem that denies any psychic power on a 4 plus and Necrons may take a warlord trait that gives them one denial every turn. Sometimes it takes smart tactics and not abilities. A Tau player may end up hiding units out of line-of-sight in order to prevent them from being a legal target for a psyker's power.
Therefore any movement tricks or terrain become defensive participation tricks. The option may not prove the most efficient but the option still remains and not taking it leaves the army completely vulnerable to the other player's offensive participation. Defensive participation may not excite a player as much as offensive participation but its siginficant participation nonetheless. Like with offensive participation, a detachment of allied forces may provide the defensive bulwark an army needs and when all else fails including sub-factions within the same codex as the main army may provide the needed boost.
Offensive and defensive participation in every phase by units that possess special rules that allow them to interact with the game in ways not normally permitted including: special deployments; my 3 favorite rules; and unit roles all form the foundation of what I believe makes a list more competitive. Unfortunately, sometimes players must rely on allies to fill gaps which inflates the cost of collecting the army. Sometimes players need to run additional relics and warlord traits through the use of stratagems draining the lists command point resources. I am by no means guaranteeing a player will win the ITC or even a local RTT if they follow my advice. Rather, I believe the ability to interact with the other player's army at any point in the game in some fashion gives a player a better chance of enjoying their time playing. Otherwise, a player will end up watching the player across from them hogging all the fun due their own list's inability to interact with the opposing army. More interaction leads to more fun and fond memories as well as making the game more competitive for all.
Until next time,
Keep it dank!
Bailey
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