Tactica: Junkers "Move forward, ignore losses, and force the enemy into battle for only when

his soldiers die and his armies collapse can you count yourselves victorious. And remember always that battle is a meat grinder - and the winner is the one that brings the most meat." Praetor Aemellius Lukan, nstructor-!eneral of ronglass Military Academy As a concise evaluation of Junker tactics, Praetor Lukan's comments seem a good place to start. Armed primarily with close-range weapons, it's imperative that a Legion unit closes the range quickly if it finds itself trading shots at medium range, it's most likely already lost. !ou will take casualties as you go in- this is inevita"le. #t's fortunate, then, that the Junker army is a force well-equipped to do so. $ore so than most armies, the Junkers rely on the common rank-and-file troopers for victory. %hat's not to say that your other options aren't useful, "ut, more often than not, it'll "e the hum"le Legionairres and Au&ilia who win or lose "attles for you. 'ne reason for this is casualties you will "e taking casualties as you close the range, and a force that's too reliant on elite units will "e that much easier to force past their "reak point. At first glance, a Legionairre doesn't look enormously impressive. (e's got a mediocre A) and )(, he's lia"le to panic, and he's armed with a gun that's fairly ineffective "eyond short range. All of this is deceptive. !our Legionairre has a com"at "lade, and, "ecause of the generally aggressive nature of the Junker army, he's more likely to "e charging than charged. %ogether with the assault "onuses provided "y most Junker officers *most nota"ly Lictors and Aquila +ecanius,, he and his Au&ilia "uddies can "e quite a prickly proposition in close com"at. At close range, he's every "it as good with his shotgun as a -iridian $arine is with his gauss rifle, and a screen of cheap Au&ilia in front of your Legion units should ensure that they get close enough to use them. )peaking of Au&ilia, they deserve a special mention here they're .ust as tough as a Legionairre, .ust as good in close com"at, and cost "arely half as many points. %hey're an e&cellent way to flesh out your assault force to ensure that you still have enough men to win once you reach short range. $orale can "e a pro"lem. /ecause morale tests are made with two dice added together, the results will trend towards an average figure *ie. the results of 0+12 will "e more likely to "e 11 than any other num"er, while the results of 1+12 will have an equal chance of any of the possi"le num"ers,. /ecause Junkers have a lower-than-average 3+ value, this makes good leaders, as well as the 'encouragement' of Lictors, e&tremely valua"le. %hink of Junker officers as force multipliers they're not so much useful in-and-of themselves, rather, they're useful "ecause they "oost the effectiveness of every soldier near"y. !our enemy knows this too, and he'll "e gunning for your officers keep them out of sight if you can, or hidden in cover or "ehind a friendly model if you can't. 4ood officers pro"a"ly won't prevent Panic and )hock completely, "ut remem"er that, although Panic prevents a model from charging, and makes it much less effective at shooting, it doesn't prevent it from moving in the slightest. %his means a Panicked Legionairre can still continue to run towards the enemy *or, as # like to imagine it, away from the Lictor5,. 6ith a little luck, he'll recover from his Panic, and find himself at close enough range that he'll "e a"le to fight to "est effect in the following turn. %hat said, Panic does make him a more vulnera"le target if he gets charged himself, so "e careful when doing this5

# mentioned earlier that "eing a troop-reliant army doesn't mean your other options aren't useful. 7ather, they provide you with the a"ility to do things things the Legionairres can't *or, in the case of Praetorians and 8&o-)uits, do things the Legionairres can, e&cept much more relia"ly,. #n very general terms, your support elements come in three flavours (eavy 9irepower, 9ast )tuff, and 8lite %roops. Precisely how you choose to "alance these is a matter of taste how much support to use, and which kind to rely on the most, is something which varies wildly "etween Junker armies. (eavy 9irepower has the purpose of softening the enemy up "efore your assault troops smash into them- or, failing that, forcing them to keep their heads down while your Legionairres advance. #t's not strictly a Junker unit, "ut # find allied 4ladiator (owit:ers to "e e&cellent in this role a clean hit will destroy a fair-si:ed chunk of enemy troops, and its a"ility to do so may encourage your opponent to keep his force more spread out *which will make them less a"le to support each other when your troops more in to assault,. +on't "e afraid to keep firing, even if your own men are near"y Junker troops are cheap, and a hit will hurt the enemy more than friendly fire will hurt you. Praetorian (ellfire troopers can "e thought of as (owit:erslite their "lasts are smaller, "ut they're more accurate, and cheaper. 3hainguns, whether crewed or infantry-carried, also make good support weapons- "ecause they fire so many shots *al"eit at a low strength,, they're very likely to score a hit, even if they don't kill their target, thus giving them a good chance of causing )hock, and therefore reducing the amount of fire "eing aimed at your advancing Legionairres. $ilitia *which # prefer to imagine as mercenaries, in a Junker force, also deserve a mention here, for two reasons. 'ne they can have autorifles, providing you with some some much-needed medium-range firepower. %wo they're cheap, further "ulking out your force and making you less vulnera"le to "reaking. 9ast )tuff has the purpose of moving in quickly to engage the enemy, often with flank attacks or strikes against his most vulnera"le units. %he idea is that you present the enemy with a choice either he can act quickly to destroy your 9ast )tuff, in which case you "uy time for your Legionairres to advance unmolested, or he can ignore them, in which case they can rampage around destroying his shootiest units. 'n a more su"tle note, a weak contingent of 9ast )tuff can position themselves out of sight, "ut within charge range. ;nless he wants to send troops to root them out, the only real counter is to place units on 'verwatch the firepower of these units is then wasted if you choose not to charge. Pro"a"ly your most potentially devestating unit in this category are )andrunners. A 3AL1 )andrunner can cover a truly "listering amount of ground "y using a 7ush move, with an Assault move as a follow-on action, threatening the enemy with assault from very early in the game. As if that weren't good enough, the "east gets to attack as well, making )andrunners even deadlier than their footslogging Lancer counterparts. +o "ear in mind, however, that "eing cavalry, there are places where )andrunners can't go, and, therefore, enemies that they can't attack. %his makes +une 7aiders a useful addition to a strong 3ohors 8quites, as they can shoot opponents that are inconsiderate enough to not "e standing within lance-reach. 8lite %roops, such as 8&o-)uits, Praetorians and Lancers, are perhaps "est used as hunterkiller units *although 8&o-)uits with chainguns can also "e used for (eavy 9irepower,. Advancing among or immediately "ehind the Legionairres, it should "ecome quickly apparent where your Legionairres need help- you can then move in your "est troops to flatten whatever units were giving them trou"le, very much like the way Principes were used in the armies of the 7oman 7epu"lic. +on't "e afraid to spend follow-on actions if it means slaying enemies or saving the lives of your comrades 8lite %roops are all a"out decisive action at

close range, and follow-on actions allow them to achieve this to "est effect. Lancers and 8&o)uits are also very useful for dealing with enemy 3LA;s or /attlesuits, which your common Legionairre is often poorly-equipped to handle. %he elites may take casualties doing so, "ut the results should "e less painful than if the Legionairres had "een left to face them alone. 'n a final note, "ear in mind that these suggestions are all "ased on the assumption that you're facing a fairly typical enemy army. 9or e&ample, you may run into a force, such as <oralon, which is "etter at close com"at than you, "ut who you possess more firepower than, in which case don't do their .o" for them "y advancing sooner than you have to5 4ood luck, and remem"er if your men get shot to shreds the first couple of times, there are plenty more where they came from5 =,