The Words of Faeit is a new weekly post, dedicated to my thoughts on the strategy and tactical side of the game. They are not to be written in stone as "No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (or "no plan survives contact with the enemy"). Quoted from Helmuth von Moltke
Are your troops simply a single heavy or assault weapon shot once a round, or just the means to get another piece of armour on the field? I often see troop units that are extremly ineffective for the most part during the game. Or they are so fragile, that they go away by a single round of bolter fire.
For example, we often see 5 man dark eldar squads with a blaster + Venom. The reason these are being taken is to get the venom, as the 5 man blaster squad is for the most part a very ineffective unit. While this to me is a unit type that should not be taken as your mainstay troops, there are times this unit can fit into an army.
Troops units need to be a part of the battle. This means they need to be effective throughout the game. To be effective, the main portion of your troops needs to be durable, as a proficient and experienced player will go after your troops with often reckless abandon. Yes, you can often win games by going after these weaker units.
There are many ways to make your troops more durable. Stick them in a tank is by far the most popular. Give them larger numbers, increase their leadership, give them upgraded saves etc. Tactically on the tabletop, making your elites and or Heavy support choices so scary they cannot be ignored also increases troop survivablility.
Min maxing 6 troop units is often a very weak way to go about your troop selections. Yes, I know people that get away with it, but they are playing a rock paper scissors game. Make 2-4 selections of your troops durable, and a pain to get rid of. If you really want a couple small 5 man squads, you then have room to do so.
Do not forget to make these units usable. Veteran IG squads are very popular for this reason. They come with a wide array of special weaponry. Throw 10 vets with 3 meltas into a chimera, and you now have a very tried and true unit. I will argue with ya though that is not a very efficient unit, (as it needs to get somewhere to do anything, round 3+ often times before being able to fire. Meaning half the game they do nothing).
For Dark Eldar I suggest looking hard at the 5 man warrior unit, and disregarding it. Instead look at either two 20 man warrior units and then four 5 man warrior squads, or 4 10 man warrior squads followed by two 5 man warrior squads. Think of the 5 man warrior squads as a throw away, because they are. They are literally 5 men that you had to buy to get your venom, and because you felt bad, you gave them a blaster. In this case the 5 man warrior squads become your wild cards to go get objectives.
So that I do not get too long winded, lets wrap this up, cause it could go for hours.
1. Make your troop units effective and efficient. They need to be there doing something the entire game. Like shooting or assaulting.
2. Give them some durability. You need some troop units to survive in order to win 2/3's of your games.
3. Start targetting your opponents troops early. Most players have this weakness, and they hope their ineffective troops will not be shot at because of how weak they are. Take them out of the game first chance. My general principle, Disable and Destroy. Translated "disable immediate threats, and then destroy your opponents troops"
There is probably a ton more that could be added here, but thats enough for today.