Reserves 101, 102, and 104. Part 1

"Statistics, Logistics, Economics, Tactics, Luck, and Determination or How To Be A Good Theoretical General." Post 002

“Ability is of little account without opportunity.” Napoleon Bonaparte

Welcome to part one of three, Reserves 101, where I will cover the rules, and some of the basic tactics of using the reserves rule with your army.

The skinny: Units that are not deployed on the first turn are said to be in reserves. Units in reserve have chances to come in during the game from the long edge of that players board edge with increased odds of coming in as the game progresses. The roll needed for a unit to come in on the 2nd turn is a roll of +4, 3rd turn is a +3, and the 4th turn and on it is on a +2 (Quick dice 101. Six sided dice or d6, is the only numerical dice used for WH40k and all following roll numbers will be on this kind of dice. the +# being the number needed or any number higher to succeed at the roll, a +4 being a success on a 4, 5, or 6). When units come in from reserves they are moved in up to there maximum distance measuring front the board edge rolling for difficult terrain as needed. (move as if measuring from the front of the base or vehicle to the front. No, your land raider cannot come out 12" and only count as moving 6", nice try kiddo)

Basic Tactics: Sometime you just don't need that unit on the field possibly getting shot at, or worse in most cases, assaulted. When you have units that are just meant to hunker down and hold an objective on the edge of the board it can be a good idea to put them in reserve to prevent them from getting shot at for at least the first turn. When you have an army that is rooted in heavy weapons fire from every squad, say your average Imperial Guard army, reserving may not be the best idea. With armies like these every turn you aren't shooting is another turn wasted, so reserves aren't for you.