5. Beware Foes with Speed

Because it is common knowledge that the Imperial Guard are less than entirely effective in assaults, you will find quite a few opponents that will attempt to immediately engage your army in close-combat. Naturally, you wish to discourage this sort of rude behavior if at all possible, not least because it will very likely cost you the game. Your screening units are one key element to this, but while having a screening unit is always essential, the best way to discourage it is to start the game well out of assault range. Preferably for two or more turns while your heavy weapons work on slowing or stopping the assault (if you win the die roll to determine the first turn of the game), but in any case at least one turn's worth of shooting.

The 'magical' distance is usually at least 18", since that is the distance many assault troops can assault in a single turn, whether they are cavalry, jumppacks, or otherwise. If you set up at least 18" away from any cover or terrain that an opponent can use to cover an advance, you will have at least a turn of shooting to blunt an advance before the survivors (if any) throw themselves at your lines. However, 18" is generally a minimum, as virtually every army in 40K can push that limit further.

Note: there will be a temptation to set up as far away from the opponent as possible, to maximize the shooting you do before he assaults. The trade-off, however, is high. Even if you have excellent LOS, there's very little way to properly set up a forward 'screen' of infantry, and maintain 3" separation between units to prevent Consolidation into Combat, if your entire army is backed up along your board edge.

Imperial Space Marines (including plain-vanilla Marines, Dark Angels and Space Wolves) are a good baseline "standard" for reasonably rapid assault movement (at least until the Trial Vehicle Rules take full effect). Marines are superior to Guardsmen in almost every manner, and when placed in transports, have a single-turn assault range of 18 or 20 inches: 12 inches movement by transport, two inches to disembark if in a transport, and then 6 inches to assault. People in power armor (3+ armour save) are very difficult to destroy even at point-blank range, since they will tend to "bounce" virtually every shot that can be thrown their way, and destruction of an advancing unit will suck up a good percentage of your army's firepower. For that reason, a massive assault on multiple flanks is a dangerous thing, and you don't want to be within that 20" range on the very first turn if you can help it. Imperial Guardsmen have an assault range equivalent to Space Marines, but for obvious reasons are usually less threatening when undertaking it, no matter what kind of goodies they might be carrying.

Blood Angels are obviously an assault army, and have a MINIMUM assault range of 22 inches, and can assault as far as 29 or 30 inches. That's a 12 inch move in a transport, 4 or 5 inches supercharging and then disembarking, and then 6 more inches assaulting. It was a happy day for Blood Angel opponents when Pete Haines wrote the new Transport Rules for WD#252 (now in the Chapter Approved books). Supercharging Blood Angel Rhinos must move forward in a straight line, and units can disembark only from the sides and rear of a Rhino. So despite the 6 extra inches they can supercharge, Blood Angels only gain two or three inches of actual extra assault distance over normal Marines, because they may not pivot at the end of the move and point their rear ramp at their targets. Regardless, those extra inches do matter, and Blood Angels are even more dangerous because if a unit succumbs to the Black Rage at the beginning of the turn, they gain another d6 inches of "free" movement! There is no way to determine if a unit will fall to the Black Rage or not, so it is difficult to determine if you should lose set-up space by setting up too far away from the Blood Angel line.

Note: If you are using the original Assault Rules, one thing to use to your advantage is that Blood Angels MUST always sweeping advance, and can never consolidate into combat. This means that you don't need to keep a 3" space between different units, can concentrate your fire extremely effectively, and if you don't mind losing a few screening units, can typically blast the Blood Angels at close range as they are forced to Sweeping Advance from unit to unit.

Chaos Space Marines normally can move only as far as Imperial Space Marines (and in the case of Berserkers, will occasionally jump out of their transports and run toward you on foot). The danger comes from their possible use of Demons, especially Demonic Flyers and Cavalry. Due to the manner in which demons are summoned, it is possible in extreme cases for Chaos units to effectively have an assault range of 29 inches, or 35 inches for Flyers in Cavalry. That includes the 5 inch diameter of the Ordnance Template under which the demons are summoned, the potential 12" scatter, and the 6 or 12 inch assault range of demonic units. At the very least, assume Demons will have a 23" assault range the turn they come in, and Flyers and Cavalry 29" (the width of the Ordnance Template with which they are summoned). With their attacks and/or high strength and/or toughness, Demons will quickly eat through your army; apart from Daemonettes (only T3), massed firepower is your only reasonable chance of stopping them. And remember that the unit(s) that summoned those demons are usually close behind them.

Eldar, particularly Dark Eldar with their extremely low-cost Raiders, have unmatched speed and mobility. Firstly, they can scream forward in their Fast Transports an insane 24 inches (although they cannot then shoot or assault). This means that their transports will be in a position to strike at virtually anything on the far side of the battlefield the following turn. More straightforwardly, the Eldar have an assault range of at least 20 inches, and as many as 32 inches in some cases. This includes the 20 inches noted with Transports for Marines, but increased by the Fleet of Foot rule that most Eldar units can take advantage of (an additional d6 inches). Dark Eldar can increase that distance even further through the use of Combat Drugs and the like, giving them an Assault range of 12 inches instead of 6. Fortunately, Eldar are likely to do a massive amount of damage to only a unit or two, then find themselves exposed to the massed firepower of your army. With only a Toughness of 3 and virtually no armor in many cases, they fall quickly to your response the following turn. In a pinch, you can even counter-assault with your Guardsmen and stand a half-decent (though still not great) chance of winning, supposing you sufficiently outnumber your foe.

Orks are obviously an assault army, and unlike Eldar have the low-cost, hard-hitting units available to try and swamp your lines. When in transports, they usually will have an assault range somewhat superior to the forces of Imperium at 21 inches (the additional inch coming from their Red Paint Jobs), and perhaps as much as 24" (with Turbo-Boosters). It is unlikely that Orks will use Turbo-Boosters due to their added expense and unpredictability, however (half the time the unit transported will not be able to disembark). Like Eldar, Orks possess Fast Vehicles, so it is possible that an Ork opponent will make a fast flanking attack, scooting 25" in one turn and threatening virtually everything in the back line of your army (which makes it critical that you "anchor your flanks" by being able to destroy threats that appear on those sides). They are less likely to be able to pull this trick off than Craftworld Eldar, however, even with Kustom Force Fields and Grot Riggers, but the possibility of this occurring shouldn't be overlooked.

Sisters of Battle are not nearly as fearsome as Imperial Space Marines, but are still much more effective in close combat, by virtue of their Prayers and their armor, than regular Guardsmen. (Too, they are justifiably infamous for their use of weapons with Flamer templates, but that's not the main topic of discussion here). With the Rapture prayer, Sisters of Battle effectively can Fleet of Foot (add 1d6 inches) to their movement, making them marginally faster than Marines, and their Seraphim jump-pack assault units can tear through the heart of a Guard army, moving 12" (plus potentially 1d6" more) a turn, then assaulting.

Finally, Tyranids have foot speed that matches the Eldar. Practically all of their smaller models have "Fleet of Foot" (or the equivalent), and unlike Eldar tend to be extremely numerous. While these smaller models may not be the match of a Space Marine, they are definitely more than a match for the average Imperial Guardsmen, and are likely to be present in quantity. The bigger Tyranid creatures are not as fast, often times no faster than the average infantryman (including the average Guardsman -- 6" of movement, 6" of assault) but on the other hand, they don't need to be -- they are relying on the small, fast, numerous creatures to tie up the opposition long enough for them to get there. Many Tyranid players are fond of Flying Hive Tyrants, however, who have assault ranges comparable to Assault Marines (12" flight, 6" assault).

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