So, being quite new to SBG, I want to get to know how to play it properly, instead of just "march to the enemy, roll the dice and look who lives", which what I've been doing so far. So, are there any general principles/tactics/plans that every half-decent SBG player should know (BTW, I know about "try to encircle your enemy" and "use as much spear support as possible")

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... d=2700007a
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... d=2200001a
they might be a little out of date as far as the warband rules go but these explain a few tactics and ways to get the best out of some models. there were a load of articles in some recent (last yearish) white dwarfs about monsters, cavalry and infrantry tactics, i found those quite helpfull so see if you can find them from someone, borrow them or somthing.
hope this helped.

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"fool of a took" gandalf

here are some tips which work with me:
-if the enemy has decent archers walk from cover to cover.
-try to keep your force as intact as possible, killing lots of minis one at a time is very easy, if you get them all at once it will be way harder.
hope these tips were helpfull,
martijn

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"tonight you will taste man flesh!"
saruman the white

If you are in charging range and your opponent has already moved, you should selective killing that turn, in other make as many unfair combats as possible, like 4 on twos and such. This will make it so you land the first blow and have a significant edge over the rest of the combat. Never charge cavalry into infantry alone, unless you have more cavalry then they infantry. Try to give support from the ground, so make them do a flank/rear attack while the infantry does the frontal attack, or vice versa with the infantry charging the flank/rear. Monsters can be used to guard flanks, as they are pretty hard to get by, or you can throw them into combat with a bunch of anything. (yes a troll could charge into 20 aragorns and beat them ) Also if you play evil try to get a Nazgul, they make pretty good heroes all round, except for combat. (but even then you could give them a fell beast...) With your Nazgul you can transfix big heroes, and then swarm them with your minions, or have a troll break into there. And of course if you play good and use magic, theres TTT (transfix the troll, and I know for good it's immobilise, but whatever) which is pretty much the best way to get rid of trolls. Theres tons of other stuff but those were just a few things that came to mind.

As RedSquad noted, concentration is key. Divide and conquer. Use terrain to your advantage, anchor your troops' flanks on it. Don't be afraid to sacrifice a shielded warrior to hold ground. If you can, say, trap 5 of the enemy and swarm them with 10, chances are you won't lose a single model. If you need to send in a shield (or wood elf spear) model to keep your opponent from rescuing his friends (say, charging into contact with three opponents forcing his friends to go the long way around), do it.

Use bait: put a couple models into charge range, impetuous opponents will go for it, they might even bring up other models so their chargers don't look so lonely. Then you can pounce on whoever you like.

If you're line to line and your opponent is heavier or more numerous, go wide and use the "weak centre" made famous by Hannibal (the Carthaginian, not the cannibal... ). Shield in the middle and back away, concentrate and swarm his flanks. If you have cavalry behind your weak centre (or within reach), when his force is all out of alignment, charge, making as many heroic combats as possible.

Those are some DOs. I have a general DO NOT: do not attempt to counter troop type with equal troop type unless you have a specific advantage (like Uruk hai vs WoMT). Eg: cavalry charging cavalry is usually pointless, a waste of cavalry's potential.

I don't know how you make your force up. For me I hardly ever take a named hero, if I do its only 1 and its rare. I usually stick to captains and kings, its my thing, why I say that is because the hero's bring a lot to bear on the tactics you can potentially use...anywho, to add to the above....

I would add that you remember each models zone of control, and use that to your advantage. Its a great way to negate your opponents movement and if you're lucky it can suck in their models as they try to navigate towards the objective. Also never underestimate the power of "Shielding," again its a hamper to your opponents movement.

Everyone will tell you to use archery to thin out the enemy or weaken/take out named hero's, well if you roll as badly as I do then this isn't really choice. To offset my "Curse of 1's" I give my archers the ability to fight better, buy them shields/armour, than regular archers. So that I can use them as infantry once the masses meet.

You've got the gist of it already, and yes it does kinda revolve around who can roll the most 6's and the quickest, but you can offset this a little by whats already been stated and the use of Heroic Movement/Combat. Again, its about massing more of your guys against theirs and getting those pesky 6's.

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Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen. -B.M.

OK, thanks all!

If anyone has something to add, feel free of course!

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

You already got the main thing down, having as many spears as possible, but make sure that you offset them with a heavy hitter. My favorite Haradrim tactic (other than a Mumak of course) is to have an elite, like a Watcher or Serpant Guard, attack with spear support and then charge a Merchant Guard in, and have the Golden King nearby for good measure. This works with anything with a 2handed weapon, ie an Uruk with 2 pikes behind him and a berserker, so you win the fight with the spear supported model and then the 2hander kills the enemy. Dwarves go down easy when you only a 4 or 5+ to wound. Like everyone else said, pick your fights.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

I've been thinking some more on this and the only other thing I can add: know what the terrain can do for you and against your opponent.

If you have a building/cliff/wall/hedge get behind it for cover and defense. Their zone of control has also gotten slightly larger; it is no longer a complete circle -for the front is actually a rectangle. Remember that if they strike in CC they have to roll to see if they hit the wall or you. Anchor lines to terrain features to deny easy flanking attacks.

Doorways work the same as above, you have to be relatively in the doorway to get the defense bonus.

Make certain you agree upon what a clusters of trees does to the game-play. For GW trees and some model building/ruins are unbalanced scale-wise. A 2 story ruin doesn't automatically give one clear line of sight ...over... a cluster of trees.

An oft over looked rule is that the enemy can not engage you if they just came around the corner of a building/terrain feature, in other words they need Line-of-Sight first to engage.

Know the effect the terrain feature has on the game. Basically anything 2" and lower can be jumped, higher has to be climbed...Moria goblins still count it as difficult terrain...and lastly terrain can't be "moved" to "make way" for troop movement....yeah, it happens and its the reason my bf stopped playing at the local hobby store.

And if you're more in mind of actual troop movement and such, that differs game to game. Mostly I push my anvil units forward, try to bait the fast cav to either commit to hitting the anvil or being drawn off by my skirmish units (dwarves really don't have much..except rangers... ). Of course you could always try the tactics that have proven successful in rl, just hope your opponent didn't read up on Hannibal. And lastly that leads to how does your opponent play? Always after the objective win? Then counter that. Always after annihilation of yours regardless of the objective? Then go for the objective and defend afterwards. Targets your heroes? Then, sadly, use the hero as bait and complete the objective. Just wants to have fun regardless of the outcome of the game? ...then enjoy that.

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Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen. -B.M.

Hello guys I read your posts and I couldn't help it.
I wanted to make i little correction: the tactic of weak center and strong flanks was made famous by Miltiadis during the battle of Marathon which the outnumbered Greeks used to defeat the mighty Persians during the Greek-Persian wars.
And Hannibal just used it centuries after the battle of Marathon

Well, The battle of marathon was a bit different(i do not want to sound cruel here), The persians did break through the lines and the greeks swarmed their flanks and won the day but the difference was cavalry. The greeks did not use any in the battle but Hannibal did witch lead to the different outcome. The persians were defeated and lost many men and retreated to their s ships but Hannibal massacred the romans because he had managed to surround them with no way out(some maneged to break out) While the persians were defeated at the flanks and hunted down on there ships.

The lack of cavalry at Marathon is actually a leading theory of why the Greeks attacked to begin with. Some key SBG-related points to draw from it was that the Greek force was much smaller but superior in arms and armor. They were charging a primarily missile-armed force that was numerically superior but weaker in melee. There is debate if the ‘weak center’ was intentional or a fact of deployment since the Greeks wanted to stretch their front ranks enough to be as wide as the larger enemy force and avoid being flanked themselves.

It is very, VERY risky to try to pull off a ‘weak center’ ploy yourself but it can be effective. Some risks to consider are that you are basically allowing your enemy to break your force in two and, if they have a trick up their sleeves you are not aware of, they may be able to focus superior force against one half or the other while slowing down your pincer efforts. Certain magic and special abilities or well manipulated Zones of Control can really mess up your day when it comes to trying to complete a swing of your forces.

If you are ever playing a game where the enemy does present a weak center to you and you are not sure if it’s a ploy or a real strategic opportunity, take time to consider 2-3 turns out. Look at what is in the area that can be brought to bare using conventional and unconventional movements. Can you take advantage of the weakness in an unexpected way (such as punch through the weak center with a Troll and Hero calling Heroic Combat to mess up his rear lines while keeping the bulk of your force pressing the front) without opening yourself up for a full pincer?

Scenario objectives, your opponent, composition of both forces, amount of Might available, ranged weapons, magic and special abilities, cavalry, high-speed monsters, terrain, etc. will all have major impacts on what techniques you will use when trying to win. It’s very hard to work up an army list on paper and say “I’ll use these for a weak-center pincer movement”. It’s better to have a solid feel for such tactics and when they do and don’t work so you can say “My opponent is really getting aggressive…I wonder if I can present a weak center to him and slam his left flank with my mounted Knights.”

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com