The point of this article is really an opportunity to admonish those of you that manage to let a game that is 'in the bag' slip through your fingers by getting too greedy, or by forgetting the point of the game. A clever opponent, who realizes that he's lost the game, may trick you into handing him a draw if you're not careful. One such way your opponent may try to con you out of a win is through a simple bait and switch.
BAIT AND SWITCH
Take a good look at the picture below. This is one of those situations where you really have to be careful as to your next move. It's the top of turn 5, and you've got two objectives in the bag. Your opponent only has two tiny little units to harass you, and he's only got a single objective of his own... but there is a very real threat that you really can't ignore. It's your turn. If this game ends after your opponent's turn, your next move is critical!
What you see here is a classic 'bait & switch' maneuver that is about to be dropped on your head. Your opponent has intentionally tipped a hand in your direction where it appears as though he is going to assault your #2 objective next turn with the unit out in the open -- all he has to do is whether the storm of gunfire that is bound to come his way, and then he can hit you with whatever is left over. If he lives through the fusillade of fire, he assaults you, pulls you off the objective, and swoops in with the unit in cover behind you to contest (or even take!) the objective. Even if he can't weather the firestorm, what are the chances that you're going to take him out with just one of your unit's weapons? If you have to use both squads, he's still free to move the unit in cover right on top of the objective for a tied game. Right?
So, you weigh your options:
(1) Try to shoot both units. The unit in cover is more survivable, which means you have to fire more weapons at it in order to break or destroy it. Mathematically this means you have to use your smaller amount of guns on the unit outside of cover... but even if you have a solid BS4, only half those shots will hit, and then how many will actually wound? How many of those will be negated by armor saves? This is a bigger long shot than it looks. Even with 12 guys on the table, and even if half of them have heavy weapons, it's going to be tough to take out six opponents where half of them are in cover. Shooting just isn't as bad-ass as it used to be, and the numbers almost never work out the way you want. And on the off chance that you don't wipe out the squad in the open, there is a chance that he will not only survive to assault you, but may even charge in such a way to pull your squad off the objective completely! A potential loss is staring you right in the face here...
(2) Assault and fall back. A more certain way to make sure you only have a single squad to contend with in your opponent's turn is to use the squad on objective #2 to move towards the squad in the open, shoot him with your pistols and assault weapons (assuming you have them), and then charge him. After your shooting phase, and assuming you're not challenging a squad of terminators with storm shields, you should be able to wipe that squad out (even guardsmen vs. space marines) and then use your consolidation move to make sure you're back in cover for your opponent's shooting phase. This frees up your other squad to direct all of its fire at the enemy squatting in the bushes -- hopefully knocking it out or making it run. While this creates a better chance to have only one squad to face in the open during your opponent's turn, it's still risky. Your odds are still bad that you'll wipe out the cowering squad, and there is an additional concern that by assaulting, you may not kill the other guy, and be trapped away from the objective, or else not have enough distance to consolidate back onto the objective (and thus be hung out to dry for the opponent's shooting phase) -- thus creating an easy path for a win for the other guy.
But these are the choices you make when you don't keep your eyes on the objective. What is the point of the battle above? To hold more objectives than the other guy. How do you keep the objective out of your opponent's hands? By making it impossible for the other guy to reach the objective. You have a third option here:
(3) Circle the wagons. Your opponent can move towards the objective during his movement phase, during the shooting phase (by running), and in the assault phase (and any follow-up if he wins). You can deny him the ability to move towards the objective in the first two possible ways by simply making it impossible for him to get within 3" of the objective. If you circle your squad so that you're just over 2" away from the objective, and leave less than a base size in between your own men, then it is impossible for the opponent to get within 3" of the objective! You can still move, rapid fire the squad in the open (and thus give yourself the best odds in the ensuing assault), and just stay put. The odds that the enemy will pierce the bubble are really, really slim, thus nearly guaranteeing you maintain your victory. (Well, so long as he doesn't manage to lay down enough dakka to make you run... of course.)
That's not to say that all bets are out the window if you go to turn 6, but if you end at turn 5, you're more likely to win the game because you kept your eye on the ball.
And here's something else you may not have seen coming... The distance between objectives #1 and #2 is 12". With a 3" bubble created by each objective, you do understand that all your opponent has to do in order to WIN is to jump in between those two points and cover a little over 6" of ground. Each of those three man units is capable of spanning 7" of ground (1" for each base, and 2" in between each man in the unit). That means that either unit can jump in between your objectives and WIN the game by contesting both at the same time. He doesn't have to assault you at all! This should create an even greater emphasis on the idea that you have to protect that 3" bubble at all costs. If you're not at the fringes, then your eye is not on the ball... and you could lose!
Make that bubble a habit, and your opponent may not even realize you've kept him out of range... which means he might leave himself out in the open for no good reason if you're lucky. The less you look like you're keeping your eye on the prize, the more likely the opponent will not see what kind of tricks that YOU have up your sleeve. Focus on the objective... but don't let other guy know your focusing:
