Characteristics of the Defense

 

Overview

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It is a bit of a mistake to consider the offense to be inherently proactive and the defense to be reactive. Properly executed, the defense can still very much be a proactive move when it is used to set conditions for subsequent operations. Today we will examine the defense and walk through a specific AoS example to give us some more insights. 

Doctrinally, the purpose of the defense is "to create conditions for the offense that allows forces to regain the initiative," (ADP 3-90, 4-1). Some more specific examples in doctrine include retaining decisive terrain (think a key gap around impassible terrain that your opponent must maneuver through), attriting or fixing an enemy as a prelude to the offense (reduce the unit's combat power or efficacy, to make your subsequent charge and combat easier), countering enemy action, and increasing an enemy's vulnerability by forcing the enemy to concentrate subordinate forces where it is less advantageous. 

Before we get into reviewing the characteristics of the defense, I want to really drive home a key concept here: the proper defense is not passive. Do not simply march your forces forward without consideration of what problems it will present to your opponent. The doctrine states this concept effectively, "a defending force maneuvers to place enemy forces in a position of disadvantage and attacks those enemy forces at every opportunity," (ADP 3-90, 4-1). As a sports analogy, your defense is just a quick jab to disrupt your opponent's timing and set up a knockout punch.

Bearing this in mind, the characteristics are:

Disruption

This characteristic focuses on taking actions that desynchronize an enemy force's preparations. Simply put, this is a matter of not allowing your enemy to maintain their formations, such as command bubbles, ability auras, and opportunities to execute the combos they want. Depending on what resources you have access to (think countercharges, redeploys), in conjunction with what the enemy has (fights first, fights with a leader unit) you can disrupt their timing. Give your the opponent the dilemma of "sure, you can charge this unit, but you won't be able to give it commands," or only allow a frontage wide enough so that a single unit can get into combat. The orientation, shape, and relative position to terrain are all factors that are in your control to influence how effective your opponent can engage you. If you push your units up wide enough so they can all swing at the enemy, there's a really good chance that the opposing unit can do the same. If your screening unit has the ability to bully that other unit, that's precisely what you want. But if they do not, why provide that opponent the opportunity? If their job is to just disrupt the enemy through desynchronizing their movement into your massed forces, the damage they can inflict on the disrupted unit is immaterial. Better yet, limiting their ability to inflict damage (such as units with limited reach at the time of writing of this article) even by a model can be the difference between that screening unit being destroyed or not. This helps with force economy and provides us with subsequent options for the surviving unit. Which leads us into our next characteristic.

Flexibility

Being able to anticipate likely enemy actions is critical to an effective defense. A defensive plan that is only accounting for one enemy course of action but is very well executed is inferior to a defensive plan that is less watertight but accounts for multiple enemy actions. The enemy always gets a vote. The clever opponent will simply circumvent your defense a la Maginot Line if they are provided the opportunity. Part of your list building and battleplan analysis should strive to account for variance in the terrain placement, deployment zones, and disposition of enemy forces. When you make your first movement phase, the deployment of your army, don't do it in such a way that you are pigeonholed into one direction. A clever opponent may be able to exploit something you've missed and gain the initiative themselves. Plan your defenses, even if it is just for one turn, in depth. This means that you are utilizing mutually supporting pieces so that the sacrifice of that screen is not in vain. 

Maneuver

Avoid thinking of a defensive posture as an entirely static stance. There are a finite number of opportunities to have agency in the combat phase and even fewer opportunities to fight outside of the combat phase. Capitalizing on controlling your combats in your and your opponent's turns is essential and a great way to accomplish this is through maneuver. This is why the movement phase is arguably the most important phase in Warhammer. Seek and create opportunities for your forces that won't be engaged so you can quickly transition to the offense. You can concurrently use this approach to set up compounding efficiencies, such as battle tactics or abilities that require certain criteria such as the Gnoblars' "Nasty Traps and Tricks" ability, or the "Bait and Trap" battle tactic for GHB 23-24. Furthermore, you can maneuver in such a way to also incorporate flexibility if your opponent doesn't make a decision you expect or dice rolls don't go how you expect. The most efficient and therefore desirable moves have multiple branches that allow for alternative paths to victory. This includes all opportunities to move your models. Consider how many different opportunities you get to move your models in your analysis of maneuver, and don't get caught in mind traps. Sometimes the best moves that score you points happen on charges, redeploys, and pile-ins. Open your mind to the totality of what the rules allow you to do. 

Mass and Concentration

Similar to the previous article on the Characteristics of the Offense, massing and concentrating your forces produces local overmatch and allows you to dictate the tempo more reliably. Your defensive posture ideally will not only account for one turn. With the uncertainty of priority rolls, you need to have the mindset that your opponent will be at the top of the next round, whether they get the double or not. When you can mass and concentrate your forces at decisive points so you can effectively employ your resources, you are set up for the transition and success. The aim is to get your opponent's offensive to culminate without your ability to destroy, defeat, or neutralize your forces. 

 As always, thank you again for following me on this supremely geeky adventure of exploring US Army doctrine as a framework for improving your wargaming strategy. Next time we will examine a way to become more prepared as a commander outside of your games. You know, since we all don't spend enough time on this game as it is. If you enjoyed this read, give a follow, sign up for the email notification, share, or just tell a friend about what you learned. Stay sparkly, my friends.