Units 101 Spot - Sentinals

And so we come to the second of our Units 101 Spot articles - this time on a lesser loved unit of the Imperial Guard - Sentinels

Sentinels stand wierdly situated as the only fast scouting unit in the entire Imperial armory - the next most lightly armored unit is the Chimera/Hellhound chassis, starting at twice the points cost. The unit can be armed with a variety of weapons includind the standard issue multi-laser, an autocannon, or a lascannon. The Sentinel otherwise has the stats of a regular guardsmen... well, a S5 AV10 guardsmen worth 35 points....



So why take Sentinels?

Sentinals are actually a great unit to take as an Imperial Guard player.

Firstly, it is a rather mobile heavy weapon able to strike most areas of the board - and mobile firepower is something often lacking in a static IG lineup.

Combine this mobility with the Scouts special rule, and the Sentinel is often able to be close touching the opponents deployment zone on the first turn if you want it to. The Scouts special rule is also good in escalation missions, for obvious reasons.

The other reason is the ability to customise squads - do you want one Sentinel in a unit all on its own to take a death or glory shot on a falcon or land raider? Perhaps 3 armed with gribbly killing multi-lasers, or tank hunting lascannon? You can even take close combat oriented Sentinels armed with S5 power weapons if you get the Forgeworld version.

How to use Sentinels -

Well, firstly lets look at the options. The Sentinel comes in squadrons of 1-3, and the units have to retain coherency (useful to remember, trust me). They can come with one of three standard weapons - a multilaser, autocannon or lascannon. A squadron of sentinals can have a mixed array of weapons, though I would suggest that you would think mighty hard before mixing and matching different types of weapons. In terms of the vehicle armory - Extra Armor is sometimes useful to get against those glancing stunned results, and an Armored Canopy can also help in increasing the units durability - though at 20 points, you have to be certain as to what the unit will be doing and that the extra cost is really worth it. Also a spotlight is often useful for those nightfight games as the squadron can get close and highlight several units quickly. And finally, smoke launchers may come in handy if you are planning to have them receive a fair bit of firepower in their mission. But enough about options, we should look at the tactics -

Tactic 1 - Kill Team

Set the squadron, or multiple squadrons as needed to killing one particular target as quickly as possible. It may be a gunboat, or a heavy weapons squad, or a transport full of combat troops. Make sure the unit has the weapons for the job - multilasers for anything T4 or less or AV10, autocannon for AV 10-12 or anything with a 4+ save (excellent against Eldar/Tau), and lascannon for AV 13-14, IC's, Monsterous Creatures. The mobility of the unit will allow it to usually get into range and LOS for a round of shooting, and the Sentinels are easy to ignore, possibly enabling them to survive even if they are the closest targets. Just make sure that you pick a target you are able to kill, and remember that the best units to attack are those that are hard/impossible for the rest of your army to get. Any IG army has lots of firepower - it is being able to use mobility to get that firepower where it needs to be which makes Sentinel's useful.

Tactic 2 - Operation Human Shield

Sentinals can often be in combat quickly, due to the fact that they get a free scout move. Now an AV10 walker doesn't sound like much, and against a Dreadnought or a unit with a powerfist, it isn't. However, against a typical las/plas marine squad, or indeed anything at all S3 or below, Sentinals are nigh invulnerable - a regular S-4 unit at WS 4 has a 1-72 chance of destroying a single Sentinel. This means that Sentinels can often hold up shooting units for an entire game - a great way of reducing the amount of firepower coming in against you from the enemy's fire base or getting rid of those pesky mobile firepower units such as Stealth Suits or Storm Troopers etc. And remember, combat blocks line of sight! However, stay away from power fist units and the like, as your Sentinels will die very, very quickly.

Tactic 3 - Hammer the Weak

Sentinels are great for dealing with that flanking unit that your enemy always takes that is never quite worth spending the time killing or deploying to counter, but still causes chaos in your lines. This could be fast IC's, Assassins, a small unit of jetbikes or something similar. Basically, you use your Sentinels to pummel that IC/small squad into the ground. Again, multilaser against T3 models with invulnerable saves (Assassins, Eldar, Tau), Autocannon against anything with a 4+ or worse save (most jetbikes, some Eldar Aspect Warriors, Tau Firewarriors, etc), Lascannons against tough MC's/IC's. It is a great way of dealing with issues without having to change your game strategy.

Tactic 4 - Damn the Torpedoes!

Imperial Guard often have a few tanks that receive a lot of firepower. If you want to survive that first turn, you may consider surging a squadron or two of Sentinels into general line of sight, though obscured enough to count as hull down. This will either force the enemy to turn some of the firepower he would normally spend upon your lavishly upgraded tanks onto the Sentinels, or leave your Sentinels in prime position to run amock the following turn. Works best against sides with limited or inaccurate anti tank weaponry (Tau, Necrons, some styles of Eldar/Marine/Nid lists, etc).


So how do I counter Sentinels?

Basically, the easiest way is to just shoot them and be done with it, no more thinking. If, however, you have more important targets, just don't forget about the Sentinels. But just remember, they are only a maximum of three heavy weapons at BS 3. So be wary, especially if they seem to be lining up a shot at something you don't want shot or if they are going to be within charge range of your firing line, but in any case make sure that your targeting priorities are on track.

Hope this was helpful, more Units 101 Spot soon.

Units 101 Spot

Hey there, and welcome to Units 101 Spot - where we bring you some of the units from the world of 40K and discuss the particular strengths and weaknesses of the unit, as well as great ways to use or destroy it. Personally, I love looking at the lesser used/bought units from the various codicies out there, and then working out the best way to use them.

The first unit we will look at in Units 101 spot will be a little used and almost never seen unit from the Dark Eldar Codex - Mandrakes.

Mandrakes stats are the same as regular DE Warriors. and at 15 points apiece, compared to the Warrior's base cost of 8 points, it can be understood why Dark Eldar players are wary of taking them. The unit also can't get any of the lovely upgrades from the Armory list, meaning that the unit can't even get any of the brutal firepower or combat shredding weapons available to other units, such as agonisers or shredders.

So why take Mandrakes at all?

Firstly, like a lot of the DE army, a substantial part of its power comes from the special rules inherent to the unit. Shadow-skinned gives the unit a permanent 5+ cover save, even in the open. This enables the unit to have a better chance of surviving incoming fire compared to the average Dark Eldar unit. Also, because this ability can combine with normal cover, it means that in normal terrain, the unit has a 3+ save - as good as a MEQ. In Citites of Death, this becomes a 2+ save - the unit becomes almost indestructable. Worth noting, especially if you know you have a COD game coming up.

Secondly, the unit has possibly the wierdest deployment rules in the game. Instead of deploying the unit as per normal, you put down three models in seperate locations anywhere within the players deployment zone. The unit is there but not there - any one of the three models can represent where the unit 'actually' is.

The three models can move 6" per turn, and can not affect or be effected by any enemy unit at all. The player has any of his phases up until the end of the third turn to choose which model represents where the squad 'actually' is, and deploy it, taking away the other two decoy models. Then, depending on the phase which the player deploys the unit, the unit can move, shoot and assault. This means that the opponent is never certain exactly where the unit will come on, and either have to cover all three models with suffecient force to tie the unit up, or allow the unit to potentially spring an ambush on him.

How to use Mandrakes -

Mandrakes have no options apart from how many you want in a unit. However, the special rules the unit has allow it to be incredibly flexible as to how you use it.

Tactic 1 - Spread the fear

Use this tactic against most forces, especially those which are split into a static fire element and a mobile or assault element : Deploy the three decoys reasonably evenly spaced across the board. Try to move the decoys around the flanks of his main force, or towards poorly supported units in the rear. Force the enemy to either try to send units to protect his flanks and rear, and therefore weaken his main force, or allow your Mandrakes to potentially assault vulnerable units (such as Fire Warriors, Devastators, Dark Reapers, IG Heavy Weapons teams, etc). This tactic gives the most flexibility to the player, and usually sows the most doubt and confusion.

Tactic 2 - Assassination

Use this tactic against armies which have expensive, roving IC's : Send the three models to try and get close to a roving IC and then assault and overwhelm it, such as an Etherial, Crisis commander, Farseer, basically anything short of a tooled up Chaos Lord or Grand Master. On a Farseer, a unit of 10 will put an average of 3.75 wounds, which equals 1 dead Farseer, and the units cost back straight away. It won't work as well against MEQ commanders, but can still be effective at tying up an expensive commander for a couple of turns.

Tactic 3 - Delay the surge

Use this tactic against armies which use multiple units and axis to assault your static shooting lines : Set up the decoys across the expected line of attack. Move them forward to near where you expect the enemy units to halt before they assault. Then pick one unit which you want to disrupt from assaulting, and make sure you get into combat with it. If it is a dedicated assault unit, then the Mandrakes will fall, but it will at least delay one unit for a turn or two, possibly two units if the enemy sends another in to charge the Mandrakes. This tactic can completely disrupt set piece assaults, or delay strategic units/areas from enemy assault.

Tactic 4 - Reserves

Use this tactic against armies which will use Deep Striking/Teleporting units within your own deployment zones : Set up your decoys evenly around your deployment zone to cover as much of it as possible. Try to wait for the enemy to Deep Strike into or near your own lines, then assault. Useful against shooting units. If nothing else, it will delay the opponents Deep Striking into or near your deployment zone unil turn 4.

How do I counter Mandrakes?

Countering Mandrakes is a difficult thing to do. Due to the fact that they can appear almost anywhere, it is hard to pin them down and wipe them out early. However, armies which have basic high armor values (MEQ's, Necrons) and mobile armies (Mech Eldar/Tau) can easily avoid most of the issues against Mandrakes if they want to - MEQ's because Mandrakes just can't do that much damage, and mechanised armies because they are mobile enough to avoid the Mandrakes, or at least limit the usefulness of them. However, the biggest issue of countering Mandrakes is utility - if you spend a lot of resources countering them, then you are neglecting a lot of other dangers from the rest of the Dark Eldar army, and if you don't counter them, then they can be rather disruptive to your battle plans.

However, there are some basic precautions you can use -

Keep close - Don't leave units just out there by themselves, especially if they are vulnerable to assault. Keep a small counter charge unit nearby your static firebase to rip the Mandrakes up in combat if you think it a danger. Don't leave your IC's out in vulnerable areas. It is just asking for trouble.

Be Alert but not Alarmed - Don't overvalue the power of Mandrakes. Know what they can do, and take relevant precaution, but don't change your gameplan because of them. Because a fair bit of Mandrakes value is tied up in threatening you as a player and your plans, not just your army. If you let it alter what you do too much, or become too cautious in executing your plans, then the Mandrakes have done their job. So be Alert, but not Alarmed.

Hopefully you enjoyed Units 101 Spot this week, stay tuned for more.