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Hi everyone,

We are going to play our first Apocalypse Battle with our escalation league group in about 2 weeks.

Wondering if there is consensus advice on basic things like....
- Better to have large (high point) make up to your list -- or not....
- Which books/rules sets are key?
- How many formations makes sense?
- Does it work out to mesh two armies (such as Space Marines and Orks) together? Or is this a really bad idea?

Here's a link to our write-up with some of the big-point units we have (or will have ready) -- Stompa, Aquila Strongpoint, etc....

http://battlegaming1.blogspot.com/2015/04/how-to-plan-for-apocalypse-battle.html

Would appreciate any/all advice on how to prepare

Thanks!

There are two things to consider in Apocalypse:

1) Time efficiency. Unless you're a bunch of masochists who want to permanently ruin your ability to ever enjoy 40k again you need to have time limits on each phase. 10-15 minutes per "main" phase (move/shoot/assault) with 5 minutes or less for the psychic phase is a good starting point if you want to play more than 1-2 turns, and anything over 30 minutes per phase allows the game to turn into a tedious mess that drives people to give up and go home before finishing the first turn. So what this means for unit choices is that cheap units suck for anything besides standing in front of the big guns and blocking melee/melta threats from reaching them. If it takes the same amount of time to move the models and roll the dice for a 500+ point superheavy and a 100 point infantry unit you're going to make a lot better use of your precious time with the superheavy. So just leave all those "cheap but efficient" units at home, and don't even bother shooting with lasguns/bolters/etc or declaring a charge with anything less than a 10-man terminator squad.

2) Range. You have a limited number of turns available and a huge amount of table space to cover. Units that can threaten the entire table from a fixed position (artillery, titans, etc) will always contribute to the game because you never have to worry about running out of good targets. Fast units (flyers, deep strike units, etc) that can immediately cross half the table to threaten a key target are also valuable. Slow units (including anything that depends on a non-flyer transport vehicle) with short-range guns are pretty much worthless because you spend a turn or two getting into range, attack one target, and then even more time trying to get into range of a second target. If you spend two turns moving in a 3-turn game then the unit is a useless paperweight 66% of the time, compared to the 0% wasted time for artillery/flyers/etc.

What this means in the end is that only a few units really matter in Apocalypse: superheavies/GCs (and some death stars), flyers, and artillery (including equivalent long-range units like the Riptide even if they don't have the barrage rule). Anything else is just random mostly-irrelevant meatshields to fill up points and time once you've brought all of the good units you have available.

Have 1 player for every "normal' 5-7k points, limit the number of superheavies each player can have to 1 or 2.

Make reference datasheets of each formation you intend to use. Stage your models (space permitting) this way. This is mind-shatteringly better than pulling things out as needed.

I find Apoc games tend toward being HQ heavy. I have a large collection, so I favor bodies. For ease, everything gets a transport in Apocalypse that doesn't start in a firing position- it's easier to move 12-14 Rhinos around than 140 models. Ask an Ork player to vouch.

I liked some of the old rules and recommend them- each side gets a limited amount of time to discuss strategy, players "bid" for first turn by quoting a lower amount of deployment time, everything not deployed in this window is in reserves.


Set phase time limits. Be fair, but don't be a jerk- Ork/Nid/Guard players really do need longer movement/shooting phases.

Agree ahead of time on a stop time or number of turns.

Do NOT let the cat into the room.

Set aside a weekend in a place you can leave the minis setup.

As things die, dear God, put them back in their travel cases if possible. You will not want to do this afterward.

Photo document at least part of it, you'll hate yourself otherwise.

My buddies and I agree on a number of formations to use. I really wouldn't do more than 1 every 1000 points. You'll lose track.

Books: Escalation, Stronghold Assault, Apoc, codex. Essentially, if someone is bringing it, bring a hard copy for everyone's reference.

I find running too many armies means you forget things, so I would personally stick to one codex with maybe a few supporting formations (like Marines with the Librarius or Grey Knights Nemesis Strike Force added on).

Remember: If it's big and not on the field that often, it's an achievement for your opponent to unlock if he can kill it. I'd run large units in pairs or not at all- again, I find it far more effective to have 5 moderate HQs and 100 troops then 15 sUpEr DeAtH HQs that eat a pie plate or a single Reaver (which are, admittedly, badass).

I'm adding to what Peregrine said: Alternate deployment, also huge. Drop Pods, Nemesis Strike Force, Deathwing Assault- your table will be so crowded that they become more effective again.

You won't make but maybe 4 turns once setup is complete unless you can run into a second day.

Thanks very much for the help - didn't have a good sense of how much time we should expect for set-up and movement; and also didn't anticipate that so few turns would take place.

Seems like in the normal sense, one of these battles doesn't really reach an 'end' -- instead everyone just agrees to stop.

We'll have to get together and agree on a few guidelines as you both suggest - like ## of formations and time per turn (or targeted time)....

Are there some armies (or units) which do very well in one of these - or is it really just a matter of picking the right units and formations and working within your army's limitations.

Given what you both have written, seems like having a big blob of Orks trudging across the table is NOT the way to go -- because in 2-4 turns they might never make it to their target. Will think hard about range. This also makes us feel even more certain that we should be using our Ork Pulsa Rokkit

Thanks again!