Warhammer 40K: What’s Your PLAN For The Relic Mission?

3 Minute Read

Oct 31 2013

Fritz here from TheWarmaster.com, and we have been discussing the basic tactical points to keep in mind as you work through the standard big rulebook missions. Today – The Relic

As the luck of the draw I got stuck with talking about The Relic mission…

I say stuck because although it is my favorite mission in the book, many players seem to really dislike it (let’s roll again for the mission…) and even more tournament organizers seem to be dropping it.

We’ll leave it’s challenges regarding mission design for another time, and rather focus on what needs to be kept in mind as you make your way through the game turns.

What’s Your Plan?
First question to ask is if you even plan on grabbing the relic?

Do you go for the stall, denying it to the other player, and try to win on Warlord, Linebreaker, and First Blood? This can be a viable option and I’ve personally built Eldar armies to play this way for all the missions.

Denied!

So let’s say you are going to deny the relic as the first option. You need a unit that can get up there physically and either pick it up for camp on it, something that is big, has a good amount of wounds, and will not break in either shooting or assault. It doesn’t need to stay there the entire game, as in the next few turns you will be piling on more and more units to tie it down as your opponent throws on more and more units to try and grab it- use this “chaos” to get those bonus points.

Snatch & Grab

Next is planning to get the relic, and for this we are going to want to use both a fast unit and an infiltrating unit from your army.

On a slightly side note units that can infiltrate, outflank, and deepstrike should always be taken in your list as tactical options. Again, many tourney players don’t like them because of the random nature of the effects- when do you come in, where, scatter- but they are options that you can use, but don’t have to use.

When I’m going for the relic from the Eldar perspective I like to infiltrate a group of Rangers/Pathfinders up there to then move and hold it for a turn or two. Yes, they are going to eat the entire shooting turn of my opponent’s army, but they are there for that- a screen for the jetbikes to zoom up to then grab it- if the jetbike go alone at it, they will eat all those shots.

I Got It! – Now What?

Now, once you have the relic it is a matter of keeping it, and naturally you want to start moving backwards with the unit that has it into your deployment zone- move straight back and not to the right or left so you have room to move and not get caught castled up in a corner.

While this is happening ALL of your other units then start running forward to block/assault/tie up any opposing units that might make their way for your relic.

And finally, remember all those outflanking and deepstriking units? They are there to land among your opponent’s models and/or come in off the sides.

Tada!

Thoughts? Comments? How do you plan for The Relic and what tactics and unit combos work the best for you?

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Author: Fred Hansen

Fred Hansens (aka Fritz) is a long time tabletop game player with over a decade of experience. He specializes in Warhammer 40K, both tactics and hobby. He began writing for BoLS in 2009.

Editorials Tactics Warhammer 40k