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  1. #1

    Default Understanding 'force multipliers'

    How do?

    I fancied a discussion about the mechanics of the game, and how some otherwise innocuous abilities can do much more for you. Now for the most part, I think this is largely obvious stuff, but then I have been gaming for yonks, so may have experiences and stuff others don't. And sharing is caring!

    First up - getting that charge in early.

    Generally, the benefit is viewed as less time for the opponent to shoot you up. If you have the first turn, and manage to wangle a second turn charge, then the benefits are obvious. If your opponent can see it coming, they have a single turn to try to do something to prevent it - which is often a tall order.

    But - the actual advantage goes deeper. First up, if your opponent has a large army footprint (lots of units, not necessarily hordes), then that early charge can make further charges later in the game a bit easier, as he has less time to break up the density of targets, so you have smaller charge distances (very useful in the age of random charge reach).

    Secondly - whether or not you eventually wipe them out in combat, you've taken that unit out of the equation for however long the combat actually lasts. This is best seen against predominantly shooty units. Every turn they're stuck in melee, even if they're not taking a great many casualties, they're wasted points.

    Third - The more units you can tie down, the less the rest of your army will be shot up as it crosses the board. As with point two, if you can pull this off, the actual kill rate of those early combats begins to matter less, as you're getting a very potent benefit elsewhere.

    Hopefully that serves as a demonstration of what I'm looking to explore in this thread!

    Another example - upgrades or abilities which allow reliable rallying of units, regardless of casualty count.

    On the face of it, these are simply minor irritants, or somewhat overpriced. ATSKNF, Bonding Knifes, IG Orders - three off the top of my head which will allow even a single survivor to get their poop together.

    Yeah. Big woop. I've got a handful of dudes, who don't really have enough killing power at all to do anything.Yay......but.....

    It's not about keeping their guns in the fight, so much as keeping your opponent having to split his firepower.

    Example, and I'll deliberately, calculatedly use an extreme one.

    IG squad gets shot to sod in a single turn, leaving just Joe and Bob left, who quite understandably run away from the carnage. Normally, that's them done and dusted. Two lasguns can't kill much, if anything, and the chance of them rallying is 1 in 36.

    BUT....if they can rally, and assuming your army benefits from Objective Secured - Joe and Bob might yet win you the game. Your opponent can either ignore them from the moment they rally, or attempt to polish them off. Either option is thorny.

    If ignored, they have every chance of legging it onto an objective, and then spending the rest of the game Going To Ground. With Objective Secured, they can contest too. That's pretty impressive for two wee dudes with absolutely no hope! Potentially it's also game winning - either because they've bagged that Objective, or denied it to your opponent.

    And if your opponent goes after those two little Guardsmen to finish them off? Still gonna take a whole unit to do so, regardless of how massively overkill it is. But, if he doesn't? See above! So by a single Order issued in a timely manner, you've just caused a real headache for your opponent.

    Anyone else got examples of stuff which seems little more than a nice idea, but which pays far greater dividends than you might think?
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  2. #2
    Brother-Captain
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    I think you might have your definitions a bit mixed up Mystery (but that's OK). What you described in your opening points is "tactics." A "force multiplier" is a tool, weapon, or unit that increases the power of your entire force at large (hence the multiply part). IRL: putting a machine gun in a squad of rifleman is an act of giving a force multiplier; that rifle squad tying up an enemy squad with suppressive fire from the machine gun while the riflemen flank and close into close-quarters, that's a tactic.

    That said, I agree with you that many people tend to not look beyond the basic aspects of the tactical side of the game -- largely due to the fact that most have come down to the idea of "math-hammer," or trying to find the best unit combination, or net list that assures them victory is all they need to know.

    But there have been numerous occasions where I have found that by employing small unit tactics I learned in ROTC and elsewhere have been beneficial. Using the basic methods of force concentration, threat-assessment, and always keeping some sort of reserve have kept me winning more often than I can keep track of in this game.
    http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?52423-The-Blood-Pact-Chaos-Homebrew-Supplement&p=472214&viewfull=1#post472214

  3. #3

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    Was meaning in a very general term - stuff which does more than you might think on first consideration.

    ROTC? Not familiar with that one.
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  4. #4
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    Katharons right. As another example, alpha strikes are a tactic. Drop pods are force multipliers because they allow a unit that otherwise couldn't to alpha strike something.
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  5. #5

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    Never mind my slightly dodgy semantics - offer up examples
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  6. #6

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    Some quick definitions, as best as I know;

    Tactic- employing what you have to maximum effectiveness. For example, say an IG blob with a Lascannon is shooting at a Space Marine Command Squad with a Chapter Master attached. Tactics would be emptying the Lasgun Wound Pool first to try and peel off any regular jerks so you can make the Chapter Master take the Lascannon hit and maybe get Instant Death.

    Force Multiplier- Adding a situational bonus to make a unit more effective than it would normally be. The simplest example here would be any Psyker with Divination casting Prescience on a friendly unit. Technically speaking, I don't believe Katharon's example of adding a machine gun to an infantry unit (i.e. heavy bolter to an IG squad) is actually a force multiplier in the context of of 40k, as it doesn't significantly change how the unit can act. I believe you would need to add something such as a Missile Launcher with Flakk Missiles to be a true force multiplier on the table, as the unit can now engage a unit (Flyers) that it normally would not threaten.

    Combo- Now here's the tricky one. The dividing line between a 'force multiplier' and a 'combo' is somewhat vague, but I think the best way to put is would be if you have Unit 'A' and Unit 'B' working together, and 'B' can't do their thing until 'A' does something, that's a combo. An example for this would be Tank Shocking a unit who failed a Morale test (as they automatically fail vs the Tank Shock and get pushed further); while this maneuver is much more effective than Tank Shocking a unit which isn't broken (so a force multiplier), it requires a condition to be met beforehand (the target unit must already be broken).
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  7. #7
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    Something that can make or break an army in Fantasy but is not always as important in 40K, is deployment. [*cues DUN DUN DUNNN*]

    Depending on the composition of your army (is it mobile or not mobile) and the mission (objectives or kill points), how you deploy can matter a great deal. It's common for most players to spread their army out across at least 3/4ths of their deployment zone, trying to take advantage of high terrain or being close to several objectives at once. You can take advantage of that, especially if you deploy second. Most people don't like to go second, because of the perceived advantages of going first, but if done right then you will be the one starting with an advantage.

    Mass deployment on one flank of the board against an enemy that is spread across the entire length of his own deployment will allow you the type of force concentration that can let you, by the end of turn two, control up to half the board. Being aggressive in pushing forward infantry, vehicles, and MCs will help you to dominate a board-quarter and likely wipe out several units. By doing this you force the flow of the battle to be determined by you; the enemy army is no longer able to do anything but constantly react to your actions. Once that tempo has been reached you should be able to spend the entire game swinging up the board in a left or right hook (depending on which flank your deployed) and even bringing a double-pronged aspect to it with any Reserves that could deploy from your table edge on turn two to attack from the opposite direction.

    These are the kind of tactics that are basic infantry small unit tactics that I learned in the Reserve Officer Training School in college for four years. (US institution for the Army, Navy, and Air Force for those non-Americans in the crowd) They are as applicable in a table-top *wargame* as they are IRL.
    http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?52423-The-Blood-Pact-Chaos-Homebrew-Supplement&p=472214&viewfull=1#post472214

  8. #8
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    So, adding the following to units, do they count as multipliers or combo's ? Though only at the unit level not the entire force.

    Wave Serpent upgraded with the Crystal Targeting Matrix. One use but, blast 30" across the board and unleash the serpent shield on the target unit. I might get lucky and kill the specialist weapon in the squad increasing survivability until turn two.

    Adding a Warlock with singing spear to my Jet Bikes: He has an S9 AP1 weapon and an option of two psychic powers, the first being the Primaris Power of conceal & whatever else he rolled, (Though he can only use 1 in any turn). Conceal adds +2 to your cover save, and he can use the TL shuriken catapult instead of his spear on infantry with blade storm. I actually think this is a multiplier example, because the whole unit benefits so much. Not so sure with the wave serpent.

  9. #9

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    The tau have the best and most obvious force multipliers. Ethereal does his thing and suddenly all fire warriors in range are twice as effective. Or pop 2 marker light tokens to go from bs 3 to bs 5. Ditto the buffmander. Another tau force multiplier is the firebase support datasheet. If your list had those units in it already gaining the datasheet makes them significantly better at their job at no points cost.

    One thing about force multipliers, they are multipliers, if you start with a low base power the total stays low. Using a 50 point multiplier to increase the effectiveness of 200 points of fire warriors is much better than using a 50 point multiplier on 50 points of fire warriors.

    If you want to start getting a bit looser with the definition you can look at a special weapon as a force multiplier. Take grav guns on bikes for instance, 5bikers against a unit of termies is almost laughable shooting, the inclusion of 2 grav guns however makes those 5 bikers a significant threat. (Now I say we're being loose with the definition because grav guns aren't technicaly a force multiplier, they are a linear increase in the amount of force a unit puts out.)

    Personally I wouldn't call a drop pod a force multiplier, more of a force enabler, but that's just personal preferences and semantics.

  10. #10
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    Psychic powers, specifically Blessings and Maledictions, are force multipliers when used correctly. Gate of Infinity adds mobility to a unit that otherwise would be far less mobile. Summoning literally increases your model count via dice rolls. Invisibility makes a unit 3-4 time more durable. Prescience doubles a unit's chances of hitting. These are "force multipliers", because they increase an army's presence without increasing the point level of a game.

    Fortifications are a force multiply, both in real life and in game. Vehicles are force multipliers. One of the reasons Bikes are so much better in 7th than Jump Infantry is due to an inherent force multiplier you underpay for, specifically +1T and Relentless (Bikes) versus ignoring terrain (Jump Infantry) when both have 12" move and HoW. MSU is a force multiplier because it increases survivability while also increasing flexibility at the same cost as non-MSU.

    SJ

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