Killing and Ultimately Winning - Mathhammer

One of the most important concepts on the warhammer tabletop is how you are going to deal with the opposing forces. While these are topics that I've touched on before, I've seen on the tabletop and elsewhere, poor ideas thrown around on taking down the enemy. To start. There are really only two things you have to accomplish on the tabletop. Kill your opponent, and win the objectives. Every round this is what we should be thinking about. Sometimes killing is your only objective, so this is where we will start.

How do we kill the enemy? How much will it take? Who will win this or that assault? Guessing isn't just in my nature, nor is relying up on luck.

Mathhammer is simply a way for us to know and understand what is possible. For instance, how many rounds should it take on average for a single lascannon to blow up a rhino?

The answer is based on the simple fact, that on the vehicle damage table there are only two results that give us a destroyed vehicle. So the answer starts where it takes 3 penetrating hits to blow up a tank. Next how easy is it to hit and penetrate the armor of the vehicle. Str9 vs av11, so a 3+. Answer is simple 4 out of 6. Next we take into consideration how often you are able to hit that tank with that lascannon. Again, BS4 gives you 4 out of 6 rounds you hit the rhino.

So what we have with a single long range Marine or Veteran Guardsmen firing a lascannon is the approximation that it should be able to destroy a single rhino once a game. You need 3 penetrating hits, and you should get that in 6 or 7 rounds of play. On a Land Raider, a lone Lascannon should only get one penetrating hit per game, so once every three games or so, that Land Raider will go poof. This is also the reason that a squadron of 3 Hydra Flak Tanks in a single squadron are better than two squadrons of 2 Hydras. (efficiency) Remember if the your firing at the same unit over and over, your wasting your time.

This is why the melta gun has become extremely popular and efficient at killing mech. You only need 2 penetrating hits on average to blow that mech up, and it's much easier to penetrate within that 6". Why are veteran squads with 3 meltas in most IG lists? Your answer is that they are efficient killing machines, that have a 20" kill zone to mech, if mounted up in their chimera. That's a one round kill to mathhammer.

While I've only used shooting attacks on mechanized units as examples, realize Mathhammer is simply a tool.
Whether it's an assault or a shooting attack, quickly breaking down the numbers can tell you what to expect.

Mathhammer only shows us what is probable, and knowing it, should end the frustration of "why cant my lascannon blow something up." The math is not hard, and doesn't even need to be precise. There is however a very cool combat simulator on Heresy Online that will help you figure out your chances to kill and destroy the enemy.

Mathhammer will not replace tactics on the tabletop, nor the strategy of list building and deployment. It should be integrated into your thoughts, as a means to analyze your units efficiency on the field.