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In addition to adding a new rule for Match Play preventing units deployed as reinforcements from being set up on the battlefield during the first player's turn in the first round of battle, I was trying to brainstorm some stratagems that could be added to the general pool that would also help alleviate the first strike potential in 8th. In my opinion, first turn should not be an automatic must for every army in every matchup for every mission. Just got back from NOVA, and had more than 1,000 points of dreadnoughts eliminated on the top of 1 turn 1 in 2 of my rounds. That's not very interactive, and I think we can do better.

Some ideas for new stratagems for Match Play. In general, these stratagems try to give players access to defensive abilities that are available all game, but not available at the beginning of the game before their first turn.

Smokescreen 2 CP
Use this stratagem at the beginning of the first battle round, if you are taking the second turn. Any number of your Vehicles with the Smoke Launchers ability may activate that ability now, as if it were the shooting phase. Any smoke launchers used in this way may not be used again during the battle. Friendly imperium units wholly within 6" of a vehicle that used its smoke launchers ability in this way also benefit from the -1 to hit.

Has anyone ever used smoke in 8th? I haven't. Might be nice to give it a purpose. I really wish this was a real stratagem.

Psychic Defense 2 CP
Use this stratagem at the beginning of the first battle round, if you are taking the second turn. Just prior to the first player's movement phase, you may take an additional psychic phase, as if it were your turn. During that psychic phase, you may only manifest psychic powers that target friendly models and/or units.

This would help armies like Aeldari start with fortune and conceal in play. Grey knights could improve their invulnerable save, marines could boost the toughness of a model, etc.

Covering Fire 2 CP
Use this stratagem at the beginning of the first battle round, if you are taking the second turn. At the beginning of the first player's first shooting phase, roll 4D6, and select up to four units on the battlefield with total power level equal to or less than the result rolled. Those units may immediately shoot as if it were your shooting phase.

We could also have some faction specific stratagems if the general ones aren't cutting it, for example:

Unidentified Threat 2 CP
Use this stratagem at the beginning of the first battle round, if you are taking the second turn. Enemy units may not target <Hive Fleet> character units with shooting attacks during your opponent's first turn unless the targeted <Hive Fleet> character unit is the closest visible enemy unit to the shooting unit.

Drone Reserves 2 CP
Use this stratagem at the beginning of the first battle round, if you are taking the second turn. At the beginning of your first turn, you may return any drone models destroyed during the battle to play. Models rejoining existing units must rejoin their units in coherency, and may not be placed within 1" of enemy models. Drone models in units that were completely destroyed may be deployed as new units, within your original deployment zone, and more than 9" away from enemy models (non-drone models in those units remain destroyed). Placing new units does not cost reinforcement points, however destroyed units replaced in this way do count as destroyed for purposes of mission objectives, first blood, total number of enemy units destroyed, etc.

Think this could help? Thoughts?

I think you're headed in the right direction with this.

The trick would be balancing the strategems appropriately.

It feels like making these Stratagems just turns the first-turn advantage from "you get to kill all the things" to "you get to have command points". It isn't a bad idea in principle, I just don't know if it's a workable solution to the alpha-strike problem (given that Command Points are frequently a scarce resource in the first place).

The best fix I've thought of thus far is allowing both players to set up models without normal limit in a special ground-reserves category wherein they start off the table and have to advance on from their deployment edge (and must arrive turn one, no holding them for later); you can make something functionally invulnerable top of turn one if you sacrifice its forward position and its ability to attack on turn one, and the decision is made more interesting by the fact that you don't necessarily know who is going first when you start putting models into reserves.

But if you are trying to do this with stratagems I'd recommend adding some sort of teleport jammer that prohibits enemy deployment within some distance (9", 12"...) and can't be interacted with except to be switched off (automatic when an enemy model moves within 6" of it).

The problem with some of them is that it only helps marines. Most factions don't have smoke screen...

 AnomanderRake wrote:
But if you are trying to do this with stratagems I'd recommend adding some sort of teleport jammer that prohibits enemy deployment within some distance (9", 12"...) and can't be interacted with except to be switched off (automatic when an enemy model moves within 6" of it).

I think this is getting closer to working solution - or an inexpensive strategem to achieve the same goal.

Letting the 2nd player cast some psychic powers before getting steamrolled (as originally suggested) isn't much of a solution, most psychic armies have 1 or 2 psychic buffs and 6 targets. You'd just change the order in which they get wiped out.

Something like a blanket ban or restriction on deep strike for T1 is probably a good idea - being able to drop in plasma within double tap range (gobs of meltaguns) before your opponent has the chance to do anything is brutal.

This seems like a reasonable approach within the 8th edition rules set.

The trick would be to offer a counter for any given 1st strike tactic.

In the long run, I hope that 9th edition offers an alternating activation mechanic that makes this sort of imbalance disappear.

In general I like this; that said I think Smokescreen is too specific to Imperial armies.

A possible alternative could be something like:

Evasive Action/Take Cover! (2cp)
First game turn only. A player who has not yet taken a turn may use this stratagem during any enemy turn to have any number of non-Titanic units drop prone or take evasive action, causing all shooting directed against them to receive a -1 to-Hit penalty until the start of their turn. Units that do this are treated as having already moved.


Basically it's a to-Hit penalty for any number of units, but with a bit of a drawback (can't do a normal move in their own turn, count as having moved if they shoot etc.).


As for whether this is the best way to solve the problem I'm a bit undecided; command points aren't infinite, so using them to defend against an alpha strike means your opponent still has more CPs than you. I think you should probably also award command points to player(s) that don't go first, e.g- for two players 2nd gets +2cp, for four players 2nd gets +1cp, 3rd gets +2cp, 4th gets +3cp and similar, so you have the extra CPs to use stratagems to mitigate the damage.

A better alternative though might be some kind of targeting restriction for the first turn, e.g- can't fire at something unless it is within 24" of a friendly unit. The idea being to represent two armies meeting and not quite knowing where each other is yet; you can still overcome it with fast "scouting" units, but will put them at risk in doing so.

You can definitely put me in the "I wish GW had had the balls to do interleaving turns as part of the redesign" camp

 Haravikk wrote:
You can definitely put me in the "I wish GW had had the balls to do interleaving turns as part of the redesign" camp

My hope is that the current rules for CC is GW's way of introducing this to the game.

How about a stratagem that works just like interrupt stratagem for CC, and lets a player nominate a unit to shoot as if it were their shooting phase (during the opponents shooting phase, after they nominate a unit) This would preclude the unit firing during it's next turn, or other appropriate balancing mechanic.

I've been looking at two myself,

One is a 2 point option that gives steal the initiative on a 4+ to make the person who would be going first take some precautions.

The other is spending one command point and being able to add one of the battlezones on page 252 but cannot attempt to steal the initiative.

This gives you three different choices at the start if you're going second, and a great deal of choice on how the first turn goes down.

Strategems are not a catch all patch to fix broken elements in the core rules.

They are supposed to be an interesting choice in wether you use them or not. A give and take. There is no interesting choice in wether or not you use a stratgem to help mitigate first turn advantage. If you have the option you alwags do it. Because to not do it will likely cost you the game. Fix the game. Dont patch it with the illusion of choice.

 Lance845 wrote:
Strategems are not a catch all patch to fix broken elements in the core rules.

They are supposed to be an interesting choice in wether you use them or not. A give and take. There is no interesting choice in wether or not you use a stratgem to help mitigate first turn advantage. If you have the option you alwags do it. Because to not do it will likely cost you the game. Fix the game. Dont patch it with the illusion of choice.

You can list build to mitigate first turn advantage as well as terrain placement. These additional options give choice, not an illusion of such.

If coming up with a strategem solves the primary issues without rewriting the entire game!e system, why deride it?

Look at the stratgems that officially exist. Reroll one die. Interupt combat to attack first.

Mission specific ones that allow units that could not normally deepstrike to deepstrike.

None of these shift a major balance in the game. All of them give you a little twist that allows you to nudge a single action in your favor. A deployment. A roll. A unit selection.

None of them on their own will win you a game or give you a major leg up over someone else.


The proposed rules section is full of ideas for new stratgems, not to give these nice little tweaks and toys for the armies, but to try to shift the balance on the game by attempting to normallize it.

If x is broken and y stratgem ends up bringing the game back to a normalized balanced state then why would you ever not use that stratgem? That is an illusion of choice. If you have to do it just to level the playing field then you are purposfully hampering yourself by not doing it. Sure... I could bring 1500 points to a 2k game. That is technically a choice but its not really. Having the ability to cripple yourself isnt a choice worth mentioning.

Second player essentially pays a command point tax for going second. Great. Lets create a quick fix band aid that doesnt actually address the problem and probably creates a new different less damaging problem.

Very nice, your vision is going the right direction.

I like this, it gives some options to the player going 2nd to decide if they want to mitigate some of their losses they are about to take. I also like the idea of the player going 2nd getting +2 cp to chose to use these if they want.

What about something like this - 2Cp
Defensive placement - Use this only in the first turn and only if you go 2nd, All friendly models get a 6+ ignore wounds / fnp to show they were expecting the incoming fire and planned for it. A 6+ isn't much but can make a difference since it's use able to protect against psychic / shooting / and close combat.

Here is to hoping they do something like this in chapter approved.