How to BEAT Melee Armies in Warhammer 40K - Tips + Counter Tactics

[@Hardek19]

I shadowbox and do pushups while i wait for my opponents to fail their shooting faze.

[@kevinplant2128]

Gitgud and its consequences on the World Eaters scene

[@joeladkins1046]

Ha!!

[@calamitydragon9395]

IVE HEARD OF THIS GUY! KEEP RPING

[@grain3880]

Phase* xD

[@bobbob2564]

If you're stronger than bullets, they can't hurt you 💪

[@buttemountain]

I wasn’t even winning when Orks were good and now every 40K tactics channel lately is like, “hhhhhhere’s how to beat melee armies, eVeN bEtTeR!”

[@naughtiusmaximus1231]

My son and I play often, I have yet to beat his Guard with my Orks, I get shot off the board and cant deal with his armor. I wish I could say it was fun.

[@buttemountain]

@@naughtiusmaximus1231 The amount of terrain really matters in this game. I generally refuse to play 40K unless there’s a minimum of 15 pieces of terrain on the board (I only play casually). Plenty of KZbin videos on how to make cool terrain out of cardboard and plastic trash at home. Another suggestion would be to look at One Page Rules. It’s a faster game with alternating turns so you don’t have to endure him shooting all of his guns at you, if you get caught out in the open. Melee armies just require a bit more skill than armies that can sit back and shoot with heavy armor the whole game.

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

​@@buttemountainI disagree, melee armies and shooting armies take different types of skill but both require skill

[@buttemountain]

@@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle fair enough

[@nathangreig5884]

My friend tied up my guard with hus chaos, it was my first game though and he won on turn 3 by points because we ran out of time

[@willhenry7305]

Force concentration is big, and it informs how you want to pick your battles. If your army is more elite than your opponent’s, concentrate your forces more so you can defend yourself like a porcupine. If your army is less elite than your opponent’s, spread out, and drown them in trash so you can get a favorable counterattack. Remember, you only need 2/3 objectives in the midfield to reliably win primaries, and it generally helps secure territory for secondaries as well.

[@KArchine]

Good target selection and a proper understanding of the damage output of the melee units. It is easy for the damage output of melee to be looked at in potential, instead of likely output. And if you pick targets well, you can leave weak enough units to weather the assault. Also, psychology. Don't let the turn 1 or 2 charge rattle you. If you lose the game in your head, it is then lost on the table. Hold your nerve. In a cracking game recently I lost in 3 turns half my army, but still racked up 93 points though some luck and focus in eliminating the last of the enemy. It was close on turn 2 on board control, but it is an objectives game at the end of the day.

[@SD-kw2bn]

Really good advice here those early turns can be devastating mentally if your opponent starts out strong

[@Lomhow]

Very good advice

[@Spurros]

They don't call him mr Auspex TACTICS for nothing

[@evanceaicovschi7230]

I recall seeing something along the lines of Guard players sacrificing "only" 180 guardsman to keep angron more or less busy for six turns.

[@johnhildenbrand2642]

How to beat melee armies in 40k...with a stick, while they sleep...NEXT! 😂😂😂

[@Jb-kg3jf]

I am playing Black Templars vs guard tomorrow if I lose my match because my friend saw this I'm going to be very mad

[@johnhildenbrand2642]

I hope the guard wins bro, just imagine the gumption and the grit required for baseline humans to triumph over the Emperors Adeptus Astartes...they probably won't unless he's already re-optimized his list, but as a Guard bro at heart, I hope that the Hammer wins! Lol

[@jakobbarr4216]

I play guard and DA. With Guard, I throw scouts forward to gum and make my opponent unable to push too far turn one. Then I have many targets of fire after I res one of my scout walker bricks so I get rerolls on one unit again

[@johnhildenbrand2642]

@jakobbarr4216 I've been having a bucket of fun with my catechan based mech list, 60 catachan, 6 chimera, tanks and a few artillery bits changing with points to make them fit, led by a Supreme Command blob, it certainly hasn't been meta all edition, and isn't probably completely optimized now, but it's a ton of fun and I'm having a good time so it won't be changing any time soon

[@guillercuastico]

As a guardsmen player (and my eldest being Black Templar), I can assure you the guard has really excellent and cheap tools to deal with marines. Lots of D2 and D3 weapons, even if most are not high AP, the vast amount of shoots will simply annihilate your army provided he plays carefully first and second turns and dont deploy next to No Man's Land. I recommend you use transports to close gap. A Land Raider (or perhaps even 2 if you go 2k) is not a bad investment. Personally, I've never lost against my brother because he has not yet used one of those (but we usually play multiplayer matches, so more parties involved, less points per player).

[@aoofmg6684]

The guard wins with every Astartes they drop. ​@@johnhildenbrand2642

[@awesomeblb3407]

I’m watching this as a tau player so you know how I feel about these armies

[@m33ddyhv]

I wish salamanders had more melee strats in 10th. We're big, strong marines that master-craft swords and thunder hammers

[@Numtalegau]

Brother, get the flamer. The HEAVY flamer.

[@m33ddyhv]

@@Numtalegau But brother theres a fuel shortage

[@m33ddyhv]

@@Numtalegau But brother theres a fuel shortage

[@m33ddyhv]

@@Numtalegau But brother theres a fuel shortage

[@m33ddyhv]

@@Numtalegau But brother theres a fuel shortage

[@baciu14]

i played vs a friend as tau vs World eaters. he charged turn 1 with angron in my deployment and it took my whole army to kill him. got lucky he didnt rez. The fact that i stood in my deployment for 2 turns almost made me lose.

[@danielhughes3758]

I had a game where I ended up having my whole army (or what was left of it) for the entire game. Needless to say, I scored horribly bad that game

[@ColonelHoganStalag13]

Yeah all of this extensive rushing across the table in a single turn, endless deep striking and other special rules for out of sequence moves needs to be curtailed. I get there are melee armies but this rushing across or just popping up behind you AND being able to charge as soon as they appear just makes the game less fun. Once you learn the tricks, the game becomes predictable. Every World Eaters army looks the same. When you have but one tactic and one army build, the game loses its appeal.

[@plazma5343]

​@@ColonelHoganStalag13to be fair I find this much better and less problematic than full uninteractive gunlines. And given the Tau hatred out there, it seems most people agree. It seems very difficult to balance a game where large distance shooting and fast impactfull melee are both suppose to be options :/

[@humantwist-offcap9514]

@@ColonelHoganStalag13”I have left myself totally exposed in my deployment and movement phase, why can’t I beat these melee armies?” Screen ‘em out dude.

[@baciu14]

@@humantwist-offcap9514 Angron flies, you cant screen him.

[@cgb1995]

The thing that loses most of my opponents the game is not using their chaff right, if they bring any. I don't have to charge your unit, if your chaff unit is not doing anything that is threatening the game state or a big points swing then why would I expose one of my units to clear it. They have to be doing something important to force me to commit a unit to kill them. Throwing a strike squad mid-field in charge range doesn't mean I'm going to charge them. I can see the crisis suits stood behind them, guy did this in a game and even asked me why aren't you charging my guys they were in range. I also don't generally care about an action that only gets you 2VP, I'd rather keep my important unit alive that stop a 2VP action. Secondly, as a BA player I always bring chaff clearing squads whose job it is to hunt down enemy action-monkeys and clear screens. Baal predators are my go-to since they can do it in the shooting phase. Many times an opponent has moved up the board with some decent screens and does everything they can to ensure the units behind the screen has cover or are in range of protective auras because in their head I'm a melee army, I HAVE to have to charge the screen first to get to their important units and therefore I will have to expose the heart of my force. Not the case, I send my 125 point predators to wipe out two layers of screens in one go and charge you anyway. Screening units are worthless if they don't survive the shooting phase, make sure your screen isn't so exposed that it can be cleared in one go. Also thin screens generally don't do anything unless you're actively move-blocking me in which case the wider the better. Please remember that flying units can move over your guys, had a guy who moved a bunch of units in front of my Death Company squads thinking he'd block me in. Just flew over them and had to pull out my rule-book to show him the movement rule stating I can move over his unit as if they were not there. Vertical engagement range isn't stopping me.

[@jacket2848]

Also a lot of people still seem to think you can't fly in the charge phase, had this at the last RTT I was at.

[@AngusMcIntyre]

I like charging Magnus over people for easy consolidation. Always good fun

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

Sometimes it’s really can just be as easy as “just Shoot them”. And then there are times when GW decided “mmm no, the trench coat wearing gibbons playing Khorne should be able to send their Berkserkers at your army, lose only 1 idiot doing so and just win. Just cause.”

[@MrHoneuma]

@@vinnythewebsurfer sounds like you desperately need to git gud. Seriously, if you actually shot a unit of Berzerkers in blood surge range, that is 100% on you. That being said, they're being dropped from most WE lists as of late.

[@wyatttyson7737]

Or, in my experience, “Hey, I know that getting in to melee range is that hard part, so just take some jetpacks and be completely untargetable until you get in to charge range.” When half your army starts off the board getting in to Charge range is a no-brainer because you’re basically always in range of *something.*

[@timunderbakke8756]

I generally don’t have an issue with them, but yikes I played world eaters and they have such a threat range between free scout they can pass to others, plus advance and charge plus other tricks. They were in my deployment first half of turn 1 and I basically didn’t get to play the game. I resigned at the end of turn 1

[@william9557]

Yeah its fucked Angron can clear a minimum of 20", or 35" if they're lucky and you aren't, in one turn It's not fun to play against. Shooting armies are at least manageable by cover and what not.

[@thedeathleaper2009]

4am and i’m trying to sleep… but Auspex uploaded😍

[@AngusMcIntyre]

I wrecked world eaters last night with thousand sons. The keys where 1. loads of trash units for them to chew through, 2. dont get greedy with movement, 3. fixed secondaries that support a castle and 4. hold the minimum objectives you need. I imagine it would have been more tricky if he'd brought some artillery.

[@YellerEye]

Learned a lot of tricks on how to play better with my melee armies. Thanks!

[@vidarthorsby2052]

Yes thank you. My two common opponents is an ork player and a Tau/blood angel player.

[@SneakyBeeBuzzBuzz]

Perfect timing on this video! Was playing Drukhari into World Eaters last night and Berzerkers with Master of Execution units were giving me problems

[@megazaku1139]

Bait, screen, and keepaway.. the only advice I can give to people when playing against melee armies like my BA

[@TimeMaster0]

I do love taking a break from my other armies jump into a game with get to skip the shooting phase entirely. But most of my opponents who beat me understood the value of things like transports, screening and when and where to move.

[@Maadcapminis]

Blood Angels specifically but. Dont let me Deep strike you, screen the shit out of me and be ready to heroic intervene when i Charge ya. If you can overwatch say a small team of DC with something effective do it. Even if you dont kill the unit thats 5 less swings. Or Be Tau. I hate fighting Tau

[@megazaku1139]

Amen to that brother

[@Hallow_the_fur]

My Adeptus Mechanicus even before there 2nd codex for 10th edition has had a pretty good record of wiping out melee army's (probably because there anti-hord is also the Anti-tank) and one of the best tactics for them is focusing fire on one target

[@user-fc9re5km8v]

Thanks, this was very informative !

[@BillWD]

Rule 1 Dont let them reach you...

[@chuckoneill8847]

Old ork proverb fight the shooty stuff shoot the the fight stuff

[@hansdampf7643]

I've been playing BA for three months and I notice very clearly whether I'm playing GW or WTC layout. If you play a lot of GW layout, you have to take more fire units with you, otherwise the good Melee units will simply be shot down on their way to the opponent. In my opinion, WTC layout is the more balanced layout, you can see that differently, but anyone who has played both will quickly notice which layout is better for which type of game

[@daweimer71]

Great video. Thanks.

[@davidbellicano3268]

Very interesting! thanks

[@theodoregreen5085]

Within our friend group, there is a guy who plays custodies, if I am playing chaos what is the best way to take out his units? because my army is pretty good melee but all of the strengths of most of my melee weapons are lower than his toughnesses

[@BrandonGiordano]

Good tactics, but Deathwing Knights go brrrr

[@GltchyMod]

i own 0 warhammer products and im building my army based off of your videos. no idea who you are in the context of the community. i can say that this persons videos are the most helpful to new players. 100% yesterday i could not spell space marine, today i r one

[@GltchyMod]

you gotta take this slow and learn the elements, so understanding strategies and how current gameplay IS helps you learn what kind of war you want to fight.

[@sarinat3101]

Had a 10 model terminator squad drop out of deep strike to flank my gunline, then completely fail their charge. It was funny, like they'd just charged out of a teleport field to all trip over their shoelaces for 2 turns.

[@aoofmg6684]

I always have big troubles against the chaos forces of my buddy. (Black legion/demons/thousand sons and slaneesh and khorne elements) The first two rounds are mine. After that he tears down my lines

[@Itsallover57]

This is why you can't play nids without gants. It is always better to be the charger than charged. Keeping a screen of gants with d6 reaction move around key units will win games, especially against melee armies. If their anti monster is melee and they have to charge gants or get charged next turn, its win win for you.

[@gabrielpardo4229]

I run my entire World Eater Army while singing Red Sun. You cant shoot all my units and Angron in turn 1.

[@JeremyHilborn]

Hey I play a lot of Space wolves and my friend plays alot of Admec very shooting heavy so I was wondering if you’d do a similar video but for tips on how to beat shooting army’s other then the obvious of stay out of line of sight lol😂

[@jhammers1918]

Alternatively i can order fix bayonets and tank shock. Ammunition costs money, my gas mask boys lives are so much cheaper

[@lt.danhooper1635]

Agreed. Did you know a 30-round charge pack for a lasgun costs nearly fifteen cents? It's absurd!

[@hm5y]

You either shoot them before melee or you bring better melee 😂

[@Lavendeer201]

We need how to defeat ranged armies. I play world eaters fighting space marines and am lucky if my infantry gets into melee because they get shot down :/

[@kefkabal9614]

How to beat players shadow boxing on your turn.

[@davidgantenbein9362]

Taser … do some fast drawing exercises during his boxing.

[@KharnDaLoyal]

I feel attacked🤭😂😂

[@rizzington1]

Nurgling's -1 hit aura are great for pissing off melee armies.

[@yanomamo89]

I love a good melee 😁

[@ajalonzo2705]

Stopped to comment this before the video starts; I have salamanders who's entire shtick is close range fighting and my brother runs custodes. I absolutely STRUGGLE against him when my entire rosters buffs are meant for me to get within charge range but not actually do so while he slams into me with the bikes and the blade Champion. Really hoping to get some answers on how to counter him.

[@fgkuv5232]

Flamers are the best weapons to fire overwatch with, but I guess that didn't work because it's the first thing anyone would think to do

[@sumsarprat]

scouts and rhinos to screen or funnel his units

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

You're fighting custodes, the best thing to do is not play against him

[@ajalonzo2705]

@fgkuv5232 I have 20 infernus marines. I tried that lol it works, ONCE and then I get slaughtered in the charge be cause the infernus are too close

[@ianvader0000]

Get some meltas my boy

[@Syst3m04]

As a blood Angels player who regularly stomps his local, I would greatly appreciate if you took this video down 😅

[@darthpanda1127]

3 days before Tacoma, dude!? For real!? Savage. Even put my beloved Death Co up front n center! lol Hateful. Came here for a good time, honestly feeling so attacked rn. lolol rude as hell. 🤣🤣🤣

[@MarcosGarcia-et1qu]

How do I beat shooting armies though

[@VoidRavenDC17]

This is the one video i won't show my mate XD

[@user-sy4sd9ij5x]

we tau players are screwed

[@dantehedge8414]

I'm a Blood Angels player watching to make plans against this nonsense. The great angel demands the top spot.

[@davidabbs4459]

So I played guard with world eaters, he had 6 tanks, he just blew me off the board and tabled me by turn 3, the end...

[@stripeybag6977]

You can bring high toughness units because all the Melee Profiles require Lethal Hits or a Strength buff to do anything to tanks and monsters.

[@sumsarprat]

ever heard of Exalted Eightbound?

[@MrHoneuma]

I doubt you've actually played much against a real melee army then. Blood Angels, World Eaters, Orks, Knights, etc. all have plentiful access to units that have weapons stronger than most vehicles and monsters in the game. Exalted Eightbound for example have str 15 melee on the charge with ap3. Death Company, you're looking at 40 str 10 Power Fists with full rerolls to hit and +1 to wound with a chaplain. "Just take big tough thing", is not a reliable tactic for the game in general

[@familyjobe853]

@@MrHoneuma unless you take khaine and 2 mele wraithknight in wich case your opponent will left because your epic hero one shotted his angron and his bezker and cultist got mowed down by 2 pair of wraithglaves

[@TheAveimperator47]

@@familyjobe853yeah okay 😂 found the person who has never played a game in their life

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

​@@familyjobe853wasting 1400 points on 3 models isn't going to get you very far

[@cruelmole]

Screens baby

[@jakeosiris3971]

watching as an ork player to be more kunnin

[@jeremiegartner464]

Hear me out. CSM...heldrake...direct counter to blood angels. Anti fly 2+

[@angellusjones6585]

Yo can you make a video detailing basic rules of the game? Like cover, saving throws ( I.E. they have a save role of 5+ and you have -2 AP ) can they still save. And like stuff like strategams that have -1 to damage ( if they have damage 1 do you take no damage? Im new to the game and would greatly appreciate a video detailing the rules.

[@KArchine]

To get started, you can't make a saving roll if you have a 5+ and it is an ap2 attack. Unless you have cover or any way to reduce the ap, or add to your save. Damage reduction by 1 reduces damage to a minimum of 1, unless explicitly said on the ability otherwise.

[@minmax1347]

auspex tactics has a whole "how to play 10th edition" playlist : )

[@AncientIrishCelt]

He has a whole playlist on his channel

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

A 5+ save with AP-2 requires a 7+ on a die to save. You cannot physically make a 7 on a 6 sided die. Damage Characteristics can't be reduced below one unless the source you're using explicitly states they can

[@william9557]

My friend This is literally covered in the rulebook. Recommend picking up the core rulebook and reading it. But yes. He does have a video for this. Look into past videos

[@danieldubois656]

Bring even stronger orky melee

[@RevanR]

Just run and let the range unit deal with them

[@TheFlyingNostril]

Next video: how to counter anti melee tactics

[@jiyuhong5853]

so flamers

[@cowEman]

Why is heroic intervention good now?

[@braedonmcphedran6668]

Because it's 1cp now

[@cowEman]

@@braedonmcphedran6668 the unit that intervenes still doesn't get to swing first tho?

[@lt.danhooper1635]

@@cowEman No, but you get a full round of melee attacks for that 1CP. And, that unit is now locked in combat, meaning unless it's a vehicle, it can't be shot at.

[@william9557]

​@@cowEmanit also means I can get something else into melee So you have a choice, swing at what you wanted to, or try to kill what I just put in. And now you're locked in with me, do you try to run next turn or let your unit die? What happens when someone throws a melee walker into the mix? Oops, brutalis just minced your melee unit.

[@zorak2101]

Sick of the hide an inch away from the wall so you can't fit bs. It's just video game logic crap.

[@lt.danhooper1635]

I don't know man. Have you ever tried to duel someone while standing in a windowsill?

[@dafio2710]

Honestly how to beat melee armies can be summed up by the phrase "guns, lots of guns". concentration of fire on the biggest threats is the most important counter strategy to melee armies.

[@KArchine]

Agreed

[@stephenfeeney2966]

It's not, move blocking is the most important tactic

[@MrHoneuma]

This suggestion only works against bad melee players who don't know what they're doing. Most terrain setups, if you're setting it up like you're supposed to, are dense enough that you're going to be unable to get to shoot without cover if at all if someone properly maneuvers through it. Positioning, proper list building, use of stratagems and abilities are the way to deal with melee. Also expendable units you're okay to moveblock with. Screening can help, but only if you have dense enough chaff units you can have them reliably survive shooting and/or provide enough of a buffer that the enemy can't reach their preferred target. I run World Eaters with 2 Forgefiends explicitly for clearing screens out so I can reliably make charges into the actual targets. Chaos Knights can have Brigands wipe screens off the board so Karnivores can get in reliably, and in a MSU meta, they tear units apart.

[@jacket2848]

Tell us you've only ever played casually..

[@Damnedlegion40k]

Add a comment... Run 😂

[@brogan1177]

Playing World eaters (with a big focus on eightbound and exalted eightbound) and Custodes, I gotta say, the hardest counter to any of my bois are those effin devastating wounds from any source. Its just such a stupid concept to have a whole unit of custodians murked by genestealers or sternguard vets etc in a single round.

[@mattgentil1103]

Just wait till GW nerfs them again.

[@quecan4]

Don't put much terrain on the battlefield and if you do don't put fully obscuring ruins....

[@BurnByMoonlight]

And then they get first turn and have nothing blocking their movement so they use something that gives advance + charge to get something into your deployment and smash your face in.

[@MrHoneuma]

@@quecan4 what you're suggesting would be considered cheating in any competitive environment.

[@quecan4]

@@MrHoneuma it's ok dude, It's a joke.... I am only saying this because it happened to me not even 2 days ago... it is in my casual play group... crusade campaign... I play custodes and there are a few people playing space marines.... I faced a imperial guard player that since they're are facing a lot of elite-ish infantry and vehicules has brought above half a dozen of lascannon... The terrain was already setup when I arrived... was more or less no osburing ruins other than towards egdes.... and I was tabled by turn 2

[@jacket2848]

​@@BurnByMoonlight ruins don't block movement of infantry anyway.

[@terminaro]

In my experience melee armies are all but "interesting" to fight against. They move forward, they charge and they fight. The game is over either way turn 2.

[@MRxDEMOK]

Ничего не понял…

[@fgkuv5232]

Пользуйся пушечным мясом, оставляй зазоры больше 5" и бери больше огнемётов

[@MRxDEMOK]

@@fgkuv5232 ok…

[@TwitchyMofo]

Melee armies never fail charges I swear. 10 inches. No problem, they rerrol and get a 12. Tau player here that needs a 3 to tank shock with my riptide and rolls two 1s.

[@masonshilling6821]

I thought there was a fix sent out for fighting through walls when people do the douchey "space models 1 inch away from walls so you can't fight me through them"

[@jacket2848]

Nope. Some tournaments use the wobbly model rule, most do not.

[@Ouwesnuifduif1]

This video has to get deleted, my khorneflakes need to have an honest battle without tips & tricksies

[@Angron_Of_Nuceria]

Imperial propaganda... Dont listen, the way of melee is the only path

[@Grooviebones]

Go first + an overwatch = melee army loss. Easy game, 10th is not a melee edition. If you need this advice you're probably a shooting army that is trying to own the board turn 1. Literally hang back 1 turn and see the difference it makes. Melee has to jump so many hoops to get a threat in range. If you're getting turn 1 charged you fumbled units mate

[@torotteson]

What units are you overwatching with where it's *that* effective? Are you running heavy on torrent units?

[@jacket2848]

Not a melee edition? Not like space wolves, world eaters are top of the table, orks just were. You didn't overwatch if you can't draw line of sight, simple as that. And you'd have to have an exceptional flamer unit to destroy the scary stuff anyway. You clearly don't play the game much

[@KneeCapHill]

Step 1: dont play t'au