there was an older player at one gaming store i used to frequent who was a professor of ancient history. During WHFB games, he would quickly liken the deployment to a famous battle… and then explain why he was going to win. and he usually did. deployment is critical.
there are reasons why you might want to deploy in a battle line. most of these reasons are wrong. with units that can be wiped from the board before they do anything, you want your models to be optimally positioned to take advantage of small numbers and of terrain. can you place all of your units out of sight of your opponent? can you place a Mortis or Contemptor Mortis such that they cannot be targeted, but can see incoming aircraft? can you rely on your Land Raiders to shrug off shooting, or do you need cover? do you want to clump up?
one of my favorite tricks is to deploy second. it doesn’t really sound like a trick, but i pick it every time. that way, i can see where my biggest dangers and biggest targets are, and react accordingly. more than that though: when unsure of where your opponent will be, our normal impulse is to battle-line it up. the reason why a battle-line is wrong? because a strong-flank deployment limits how many models can come into range.
Deployment 1: Strong Flank
place all your models on one half of your deployment zone, preferably closer to the midline of that half. this means that all your opponent’s units on the neglected flank have nothing to shoot at with most of their weapons, their vehicles need to move out of cover saves to find a firing lane, those behind an Aegis are not necessarily all covered if they are hanging out the sides, you may have side armor exposed on some vehicles -- but most of all, your first couple rounds you are bringing your entire strength upon half of your opponent’s army. this is a classic Napoleonic strategy to play defense on the weaker flank to minimize casualties while attempting to maximize the elimination of the stronger flank.
Deployment 2: Decoy Flank
as above, but place one unit on the neglected flank. Preferably, this unit will have no upgrades past a CML or perhaps a PCannon. This unit cannot be ignored due to its dangerous capabilities. but committing units to its destruction means further delay approaching the majority of the army. you will lose the unit. you will play that unit as if it is critical to your strategy. you will shoot with it every round, hopefully taking out something nasty early on to establish its danger. you will do nothing to prevent them from being outflanked, or surrounded, or any other potentially disastrous situation. they will go down fighting. it’s a heroic tale if they die. then again, if they are ignored, you will move them forward to harass your opponent every round until they decide to try to deal with them. at best, they are a distraction that controls the flow of the game. at worst, they easily win back their points but are unable to turn the tide.
Deployment 3: deep strike madness.
i don’t actually like deepstriking. then again, i never roll well. i have lost games because of deepstrike, and yet it has its place as a strategy.
the one unit you should be mindful of with deepstrike is whatever unit that Belial accompanies. some people like to buff his entourage by making them a command squad, but i have found that optimal damage comes from a unit of ten terminators with two special weapons… preferably ones tailored to your uses. heavy flamers can get close without risking mishap. assault cannons supply maximum volume of fire. plasma cannons are always options (and the twinlinking gives both a better chance of dropping a killer template and less of a chance to overheat). whatever you choose, be prepared to engage swiftly.
another option is to use another model with a homer to remove the chance of mishap, but that means considering the inclusion of another unit -- ravenwing bikers, black knights, non-DA scouts, or whatever has a teleport homer these days. turbo-boosting a unit of bikes in round one gets you close enough to bring in terminators where you want them in round two. still, you run the risk of losing the bikes early, or of being unable to use them effectively due to countermeasures.
whenever you choose to deepstrike (and you have the choice), you should be ready to take risk. the most effective locations for units are often in the midst of dangerous positions, and (as stated before) putting your terminators in harm’s way is rarely a good idea. this is countered by the need to get models on the table so your limited shooting isn't wasted.
there is debate as to when to deepstrike. another local Deathwing player was utterly convinced that second-turn entry affected the game more than first. others like the most turns to use their units. i like to have as many guns killing as many models as early as possible, but i understand the schemes that would benefit from late-entry into the game. to that end, i would recommend Belial’s unit to come down early and hard, then other units to use his homer to cover that unit’s flanks. still, this is not foolproof. even in a 10-man unit with FNP, Belial can still die if your luck is bad and your opponent is prepared.
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