Interesting point there about using a chariot to link the infantry and the Cav. I use a Hydra in my Druchii force for the same thing (though it doesn't charge as far as a chariot). I just find that he is more err... reliable than a Ld 8 stupidity test. However maybee I should buy a second chariot. Two together would cost about the same as a hydra (actually a little cheaper).
As for what Jeff said earlier about "flexability". I think that is a much better way to describe what I was getting at with something going on in all the phases and not putting your eggs in one basket.
So now we are looking at an army that is both FLEXABLE and REDUNDANT.
REDUNDANT: The ability to deal with losses and keep your army as a functioning whole.
FLEXABILITY: The ability to deal with battlefield surprises and take advantage of your opponents weaknesses.
So this comes back to my theory (stolen from Sun Tzu) about considering the one ususally overlooked factor in the game environment. TIME
Sun Tzu said there are a few "truths" about battlefields. Space, time, mass. Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. He talks about using, or trading one to develop the other and take advantage of opponents weaknesses or to counteract their strengths.
For example is your opponent is strong in mass (combat ability of Chaos infantry) you can trade space (movement and manouverability) to gain time (a couple of turns) to bring your own mass (Hydra and COC) into his weak spots (flank).
Trading space for time as you already have a good amount of mass.
The example is obviously oversimplified but I belive it gets the point across. Time is the essential element that needs to be considered to win games and design a good army. This is because if you use time effectively you can more readily dominate the game.
In WFB there are two kinds of time. One is the turns. This is the most obvious example and most people think using turn based tactics, "I can't charge him in the first turn but if I march I can get to grips in the second, etc..."
However the second, mostly forgotten time factor is the phases. Rally, Magic, Missile, Combat etc... In designing an army to take advantage of this aspect of time you need to have something going on in each phase. Just having a one dimensional army will get your butt kick if your foe is intelligent. That is because he takes advantage of your weakness in TIME MANAGEMENT during the battle. By having strengths in all the pahses you may be able to trade off these aspects to gain something else.
Example: Chaos Combat army from hell is strong in mass, and the combat phase of time. Trade off these to move and shoot. This gains you space and more time (by using DR to slow marches etc...). Hwever if you come up against the shooty Wood elf army you need to take advantage of your higher mass and trade time (get to combat fast) to keep that mass advantage.
So bring this back to redundancy and flexability and add this little caveat at the end of those definitions. "over time". This helps me to think in the right directions when designing a list or playing a game.
This is all highly theoretical and sometimes translating this into a tabletop wargame is difficult. But I think that thinking this way can really help players old and (especially) new. And certainly threads like this have made me reconsider many of my previously held thoughts on matters.
I LOVE THIS STUFF
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