Welcome to the third installment of Highground Tactics, where we help you play every game from the high ground. Today we are going to talk about an important part of an Age of Sigmar 3.0 game. Let’s talk about how to use movement to leverage your ability to outwit your opponents!!
In a game of Chess, there is one tactic you have and that is movement. Your movement makes the opponent react and move a certain way. This continues to happen until one player outmaneuvers the opponent to victory. AOS is very similar but very different. There is a large amount of variance from the dice in AOS. The possible double turns means that movement is crucial to minimizing their impact. Let’s concentrate on the one thing we as players have complete control over, movement.
We have reviewed the deployment phase previously (If you have not read Battle tactics part 2 I suggest starting there before proceeding). Now that you are set up the player who out-dropped the other will select who is going to go first. Depending on the scenario and what turn you have will change your movement. Let start with the objectives on the table. If you have markers down and the first turn a good tactic to use is touching the objective with just the tip of your base. Securing the objective and staying out of charge range from your opponent. Now if they have a higher movement and they are more likely to just take the objective from you move up to take up more of the Objective. This will give you more models to contest them from removing you. Sometimes with fast-moving units, you can go to the edge of the objective closest to the opponent to block them off completely from getting on the objective. When holding an Objective having a hero nearby that can be within 3” of where they charge or pile in can have a major effect. If your hero is hard-hitting it may deter them from even attempting to come in.
Depending on your play style different movements will be important for you. If you have a fast-moving unit putting them on the sides for flanks can have a helpful impact. Models must pile into the closest unit. If you have a model that is in-between two units evenly you can choose what one to pile into. That means that using the pincer maneuver is highly important.
By using this maneuver, you can force a unit to have to split its attacks. This will make them less effective at hitting your units while giving them two units attacking them. This also helps to pin an enemy into combat. It is hard to retreat now that units no longer can run out of combat. Calvary is the best for this kind of maneuver due to the ability to make it to the sides and pull off a charge.
Redeploy wins games
I said it and I will never take it back. Redeploy wins games. There I said it again to make it stick. For 1 command point, you can roll a D6 and move that unit if an enemy unit ended a move within 9” of you. There are countless baits and traps you can set for your opponent using this. I have had games where someone picks a hero as the unit to destroy for their Battle tactic. After they finish their movement, I have used units around that hero to redeploy building a wall just big enough to keep all of the units from making a pile in. I have also used it to move the hero back causing a missed charge.
Make sure you always have a command point saved for this if an opponent chooses the battle tactic to destroy a unit. Even on a roll of a 1 could still make the difference between a missed or made charge. When you are moving your units always be aware that your opponent can do this to you as well. Sometimes you want to keep outside of 9” to make sure your opponent does not have the opportunity to redeploy. You can lose a battle tactic to this. In a game where every point matters it can make a big difference. You can also use it if you are near an opponent’s objective, and they don’t think about it and redeploy on to their objective to contest it. This is especially important if you are a Gargant player. One model instantly takes the objective. So keep this in your back pocket and use it when it is needed.
Movement is a key aspect of this game. But just because you have the movement does not mean you have to move or use all of it. Sometimes the best plan is to reposition or move a bit back. By measuring your opponent’s move and asking about any movement abilities you can judge their threat range allowing you to control their ability to charge you. Fight on your terms. Not every battle needs to happen right away. Keeping a unit or monster from doing damage on a charge can be impactful to keeping your units around for another turn. Also moving back to keep a unit from deep striking can be frustrating for an opponent.
Use your movement to gain the Highground! Let the dice flow through you!!!