40K: Shields Up! Ramming Speed!
Fritz here, Somebody once posted somewhere that I run around thinking *I* invented the idea of tank shocking. Well I DID! Just kidding of course, couldn’t resist…
As an Eldar player I often spend as much time tank shocking as I do shooting and dropping destructor templates, and the “shock” is often much more effective, since anytime you roll those dice in 40K bad things can and do happen. Squads run of the table, death or glory ends in glory denied, and scoring units are pushed off the objective at the last moment. Oh sweet joy!
With Eldar, tank shocking is a front forward tactic as opposed to something that comes up once and a while for other armies, unless of course you are now playing Orks! With the speed of moving all out, collecting a cover save, and then kicking in star engines you can be in position in one turn to tank shock anything on the table. Throw in the wave serpents energy shield or holo-fields and death or glory really isn’t much of an issue, and most players other then guard with their spammy melta are not ready to risk losing the model to a DoG fail.
Setting Up the Tank Shock
Now like a true Autarch we want to set things up at the start of the game for maximum tank shock madness. In an objective mission, with the objectives you can place, put them 17” apart in a straight line on the back edge of the table. The two units that are set up by your opponent on them are then in line for a straight tank shock run- of course you will have to de-mech them first but that is what all the scatter lasers and shuriken cannons are for. Look for that lone model just out of terrain or the 50% that isn’t in cover and hit that model.
Star engines and tank shocking are like peanut butter and jelly…
Star engines allow you to then move that 12” to get within six of any unit that is running from the shock while making your full 24” run- this way they keep running off the table or at the worst falling back. Nothing more satisfying then de-meching terminators and then tank shocking them back and off the table. We are elite 1st company veterans running from a silly space elf tank!
Stopping the Shock
Following the new “theme” of WOSH 3.0 we are going to look at the other side of the table from the perspective of the mon-keigh and throw up some advice on how to stop all this tank shock stupidity.
Be ready for it! With any objectives you can place make sure they are in terrain and keep your units in terrain as much as possible- make that Eldar player take a terrain test- that is a 1 in 6 chance of crashing. Tank shocks happen in a straight line- zig zag the deployment of your troops so it is harder to catch two or three in a full ‘shock run, use vehicles as a buffer to protect units next to them, and finally have faith in your wargear and go for the death or glory- epic things also happen when you roll those dice!
So what’s your take on tank shocking, and how do you build armies to use of defend against it on the tabletop? Also can we all finally agree that any codex that relies on tankshocking as a primary offensive tactic has some serious problems? Fritz out.
