Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/Fortifications
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General Rules
Here are the general tactics about fortifications so that we don't have to type, update and manage the same thing for each codex.
- Battlements: Allows models to climb to the top of a building without needing to go inside of it, but they do count as an entry point for any buildings with a transport capacity. Hiding here gives a 5+ cover save, but any blasts hitting this zone also deals a hit to the building those battlements are on.
- Firing Ports (Arc, X): Allow a unit to fire X of the squad's guns within a designated firing arc, allowing you to park some rotor cannons to pin the enemy from inside a building while another unit rushes them down.
- Emplacements: Unless otherwise stated, Emplacements can only be fired by a model from the unit that claims it. Fortunately, they can fire in any direction you see fit.
- Thankfully, any firing it makes is done using the model's BS rather than the fortifications usually unimpressive BS3.
- Massive/Multi-Part Fortifiactions: Massive Buildings, being as huge as they are, take -1 to any vehicle damage rolls they need to make. If you have a fortification that's actually multiple parts that are attached to each other, you can have a unit hiding within one part travel to another by spending their movement.
Tactics
- New to this edition is the "claim" setup, in which a fortification can become property of anyone who occupies it. While you initially claim any fortifications you bought in your army, an enemy can easily claim it as their own just by going inside it, making it now fire anything on their command until you either reclaim it or blow it up.
- If you really want to be "That Guy" take any fortification with a nice gun that isn't automated, then have a Vindicare Assassin shoot that (non-blast) weapon, thus giving it BS8, Precision Shots, and Ignores Cover (goodbye jink saves). Sadly the Precision Shots only applies to the Aquila Macro Cannon; Vortex Missiles, Plasma Obliterators, and Battle Cannons don't roll to hit. A Callidus Assassin provides the same BS while messing with enemy Reserve Rolls. Or just bring Cypher at BS10 and (almost) never scatter off target.
- Support units can help to improve the longevity and efficacy of fortifications, as well, particularly if you're already dropping a land raider in points on them, anyhow. Also, any fortification can take advantage of psychic powers. Giving them invulnerable saves can make them even harder to take down (Force Dome, et all). Divination, likewise, ramps up the shooting aspects of a building. Punisher cannons in particular like re-rolling hits.
- All Skyfire weapons are fire snap shots against ground targets. Fortification AA guns are effective at downing fliers, but very expensive pieces of hardware if used for anything else. Carefully evaluate your needs before buying in on quad guns or the like.
- Actual artillery units make great additions to buildings. Techmarine gunners, as noted above, but also Castellax Automata, etc. The guns resist most building damage rolls and enjoy the extra safety and height of the firing possition.
- The big thing to keep in mind with buildings is the building damage table. AV14 is pretty great but one meltabomb is a very frightening thing to ignore because it has every chance of toppling your fancy tower. Keep your buildings well defended from anything that can cause a penatrating hit. Seeing your 250 point fortification take 500 points of the special units you put inside and on top of it down to a meltabomb is hard for any force to come back from
Fortifications
- Defence Line: Your classic Aegis Defense Line is your cheapest fortification, even if it is a wide-spanning set of walls. As a barricade, it offers a 5+ cover save to those hiding behind it and lets them also re-roll that cover save against Blast weapons. If you're feeling cheeky, you can also buy a Skyreaper Battery, a pretty average rapid-fire AA platform with S7 AP2 Skyfire and Twin-Linked.
- Or course, that emplacement is going to stay there forever, omitting any rules that outright destroy terrain, but you should be more worried about the enemy deciding to use this against your flyers.
- Fortified Wall (Strongpoint): AV13 all around and Battlements give you a decent amount of protection on an obstacle, but the two Fire Points being inaccessible due to the Strongpoint lacking any transport capacity, making it a useless setpiece when the Defence Line at least has the option for a gun for far cheaper. The errata would eventually give it a transport capacity of 6, meaning it can hold a pack of Heavy Support marines and a character with an auspex for improved shooting.
- You can also buy additional Strongpoints so you can hide more troops and freely move them from one structure to another.
- Imperial Bunker: AV14 makes it tankier and at least this has heavy bolters on each firing arc and the option to buy an Icarus Lascannon as an emplacement, making the issue of it also having no transport capacity despite having firing points (Until the errata gave it 12 spots) sting less. The unfortunate part of having the firing points only allow two models to shoot out of each end, and you can't do anything about those heavy bolters. If that bit still bothers you, do remember that it also has Battlements so you can have your squad just camp up there with the emplacement.
Lords of War
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