W40K hints and tips

Stuck in THQ's massive N-Gage sci fi future shooter romp, W40K: Glory in Death? The following tips should get you slaughtering again.

General tips

Always try to fire into the rear of a vehicle if possible or failing that, the side – many vehicles have weaker armour there.

Don't bother firing on vehicles, apart from ones with 'V.light veh' armour unless you are using something like krak missiles or lascannons (weapons with very high power ratings).

Squads with melta bombs, tankbusta bombs or to a lesser extent krak grenades are excellent in assaults with vehicles. Again try to assault from behind if possible with a large squad.

Use the terrain which is dangerous to crossing vehicles in conjunction with areas vehicles can't enter such as buildings in order to outflank them and get a shot into their weak sides or rear.

Use key '9' often to preview both your own range (particularly when previewing movement) and the enemies range.

Use key '0' – individual unit movement – to get your heavy weapon specialists into cover with the best field of fire.

It is almost always better to charge into your opponent rather than waiting to be charged (charging into cover without frag grenades would be the occasional exception).

Get squads or vehicles with long ranged weapons up on hills for a line of sight advantage; you can see over lots of intervening terrain this way, though you can also be seen too.

Be wary of vegetation as cover or a line of sight blocker since it can be seen through slightly (into the next square).

Assaults can be a great way to tie up enemy squads or single, tough enemy walkers or leaders. Make sure you use a large squad with good morale if possible. Even if they cannot kill the walker or leader, they can keep him out of the game by trapping him in a lengthy assault.

Don't deep strike or summon squads too close to the map edges or you could lose them. Where possible try to keep deep striking units in reserve they can really turn the tide of battle dropping in on an opponent's unguarded flank.

Skimmers are hard to hit in assaults. Only bother attacking them if you have a large squad (more chances to hit) armed with krak grenades or similar.

Don't forget that leaders on their own can sneak around the battle field unnoticed; be wary of attaching a leader to a squad if it would put him in the line of fire.

Don't expose your troops to try and fire on an enemy leader only to find out he is too far away to be seen due to the sneaky leader ability.

Look for choke points such as shallow river crossings which slow down infantry without providing cover – if you can get a good, ranged, squad into cover overlooking such a point they can rain down fire on the bogged down, vulnerable infantry.

Assaults are very high stakes; entire units which could have survived numerous rounds of enemy fire can be broken in one round of an assault and then cut down and annihilated by the pursuing enemy. Be sure that you have the upper hand and / or good morale before committing a large, expensive squad to an assault.

Playing as Space Marines

Space marines have excellent armour (rated Heavy Inf). Pay attention to the weapons the enemy are using, in the unit info screen each weapon will have a listed penetration value, such as "Penetrates: Light Infantry". Try to avoid enemy units with weapons capable of penetrating Heavy Inf armour.

Assault marines with krak grenades are excellent light vehicle hunters able to easily flank their prey and take them out in assaults.

Predators are very versatile, tough vehicles capable of mowing down medium armoured infantry and also of hunting tanks.

Use Rhino transports to deploy devastator squads into areas with clear fields of fire from good cover.

The Landraider, though expensive, is the toughest vehicle in the game. All but the enemy's most powerful weapons will bounce off its armour.

Generally try to keep your enemy at range, make him come to you through clear fields of fire preferably coming towards your dug-in squads. If it does come to assaults use Assault marines, Leaders and command squads or Tactical squads (with flamers to try and get in area effect hits in the firing phase before a charge).

Playing as Orks

Orks are close assault machines, though very lightly armoured. They are also excellent in groups due to their 'power of the Waaagh!' morale bonuses. The major weakness with orks is their lack of punch against enemy vehicles. Try to field many tank hunter units with missile launchers and keep these alive to deal purely with enemy vehicles, they are particularly good at destroying vehicles in assaults.

Expanded squads of fast moving wartrakks are good for getting to the rear of an enemy vehicle and delivering their missiles.

Orks are miserable shots, so where possible stay out of the line of sight of the enemy while you pile towards them for a huge melee assault. Always try to charge in, as Orks it should be easy to outnumber and overwhelm your enemies in assault once you get near enough.

Due to their weak armour, cover is an Ork's best friend.

When playing as orks do not get into a protracted firefight with the enemy unless you have a superior position (e.g. heaver cover for you, no cover for them).

Playing as Eldar

Eldar are good shots with average armour but their basic infantry weapons lack range. Specialised aspect warrior squads such as Dark Reapers and Howling Banshees alongside their excellent hover vehicles should form the backbone of an Eldar army.

Eldar guardians can be costly and ineffective is used improperly, with lower force token sized forces it's often best to avoid a warlock bodyguard squad and instead buy a warlock for each of your guardian squads. If you are going to use the guardians to tie up the enemy in an assault expand them and buy a Warlock with the Embolden power.

A Farseer with the right mix of powers used well can help turn the tide. Mind War can take out an enemy leader, or tough squad members (like Obliterators or Terminators) nicely. Guide is an excellent power if used with the right squad, for example a squad of Dark Reapers already in position and viable to fire that turn. Also the Farseer's singing spear is an excellent anti-vehicle weapon so use the leader ability to sneak up on pesky enemy vehicles and spear them.

Keep expensive and potent Eldar vehicles alive by making the best use of their hover abilities and the targeting matrix upgrades to get the best out of the map's cover.

If you are looking for shock troops to punch through enemy lines then a squad of Howling Banshees deployed from a Wave Serpent are perfect, when charging into melee they can cut down most foes and with good positioning and movement they and the Wave Serpent can get a potent round of firing in on the target squad to soften them up before the Banshees charge.

Generally speaking you want to keep your enemy at range and engage in firefights, avoiding assaults with all but specialised troops and using the very mobile and powerful hover vehicles to do most of your fighting.

Playing as Chaos

Chaos are a very mixed force, leaning toward assaults more than firing. Perhaps their best asset is surprise, a lowly band of cultists can be sacrificed to bring in an extremely powerful Bloodthirster daemon, turning a low threat squad on your flank into a sudden crisis.

Buying missile upgrades for your Chaos Marines often makes sense since their numbers already make them good in assaults, their basic weapons are good versus infantry and their only real default weakness is anti-vehicle. As with Space Marines look out for weapons with good armour penetration.

Obliterators may be slow but in terms of their weaponry they are the single most versatile squad in the game since they alter their weaponry to best suit the target. Get them into cover with a nice commanding field of fire as soon as possible.

Cultists are best used to run unhindered through cover to get near the enemy and then summon daemons. In any kind of fight they are very poor though, never build an army around using massed cultists.

Consider buying the upgraded battle cannon for your defiler. It can sit deep in cover behind your own lines and terrorise the enemy firing, admittedly, inaccurate but very devastating indirect ordnance shots. Don't let the defiler get caught up in an assault it will totally neutralise its usefulness.

Horrors and Flesh Hounds are excellent for tying up the enemy in an assault, since they will never break and fallback. Flesh Hounds are also formidable close combat foes, Horrors much less so (try to use Daemonic Fire to soften up your foes before assaulting with them).

Raptors make good tank hunters when it comes to light vehicles but Chaos Predators, Defilers or Obliterators are what's needed for heavier enemy vehicles.

Mission Advice

Certain missions can be approached in an optimal way:

Cleanse – Don't get carried away trying to destroy the enemy. Take an area and dig in to a nice position. Also vehicles are very useful since they are durable and can occupy numerous sectors of the map at once. Watch out for a last minute move by the enemy to put a vehicle right in the centre of a map.

Rescue – Squads with the unhindered ability make great rescuers since they can grab the objective then run right through difficult terrain to stop the enemy getting line of sight on them or close enough to assault them. Make sure the rest of your force is as mobile as possible in order to quickly reach and defend your rescuers or get to the enemy before he digs in and protects his own rescuers too well.

Take & Hold – Use transports to get a good assault squad and leader to the target as soon as you can. There will almost always be a bloody assault over the objective. Use your other squads to stop the enemy piling reinforcements into the assault.

Meatgrinder – As the attacker throw your troop type units forward with abandon even if a whole squad is wiped out for only a few kills in return it will have been for the good since they will be able to come back as reinforcements and throw themselves at the enemy again. Try to mount your troops in vehicles so that they can come back into the fight as soon as possible and hunt out defending enemies hiding in map corners.

Bunker Assault – Bunkers are very, very tough. Unless you are firing with very powerful weapons at them assume you are going to have to storm them instead. Deliver good assault squads, with frag or plasma grenades as fast as you can to the bunkers.

Sabotage – As a defender try to keep many, fast squads in reserve since the attacker will use his two consecutive turns to pound your initial troops. It's often best to assume the initial troops are doomed and try and sweep in and stop the sabotage with your reserves instead.

Ambush – Be careful as the defender of getting your best squads off the map when they may be better served staying around to soften up the enemy and clear a channel for others. As the attacker look out for early transport / fast vehicle rushes, particularly on smaller maps.

Rearguard – As the attacker try to use units who can move through terrain (unhindered troops, limited flight troops or hovering vehicles) to be able to quickly get out of range towards the end of the mission time.) As the defender, be careful of wiping out a squad completely, the idea is to keep them tied up and harassed (by having them in range and bothering them at the end of the mission). Wiping a squad out totally can hinder that cause.

Breakout & Blitz – As the attacker's mobility is a key. Use fast vehicles and transports where possible, avoid taking any ponderously slow units unless you are going to leave them behind, unscoring, to soften up the enemy on purpose.