Know Your Enemy.

THEIR DOCTRINE

Elite infantry with strong synergies, rapid mobility, and high individual unit durability. Variety of sub-faction rules makes pre-game scouting essential.

AM COUNTER

Basilisk indirect fire neutralizes static Devastator-equivalent positions. Conscript blobs deny Obsec objectives. Leman Russ tanks punish the mobility lanes.

TARGET: CENTER OF GRAVITY

Identify the Chapter's damage engine early — whether it's Devastators, Dreadnoughts, or assault units. Destroy or suppress before it reaches effective range.

“No single Space Marine matchup — each Chapter plays a different doctrine. The intel work starts at list reveal.”

THEIR DOCTRINE

Overwhelming swarm numbers, synapse network coherence, extreme melee threat at close range. The Tyranid goal is to close distance and overwhelm in the melee phase.

AM COUNTER

Deny the charge. Basilisks and artillery lanes create dead zones. Conscripts hold objectives and absorb charges as a speed bump while armor repositions. Never fight on their terms.

TARGET: CENTER OF GRAVITY

Synapse creatures — Hive Tyrants, Neurothropes. Severing synapse collapses Ld chains. The swarm gets harder to control without its nervous system.

“This is a pace matchup. They want it fast. We want it slow. Control tempo through terrain, fire lanes, and objective placement.”

THEIR DOCTRINE

Aggression. World Eaters especially want a turn 1 charge. CSM offers more variety — alpha strikes, daemon support, mixed threat vectors.

AM COUNTER

Screening with expendable infantry. World Eaters require multiple speed bumps to delay the charge until fire lanes are established. CP investment in defensive stratagems turn 1 is mandatory.

TARGET: CENTER OF GRAVITY

The combat character delivering charge buffs. Khârn equivalents. Remove the charge amplifier and the melee threat drops significantly.

“Against World Eaters specifically: you cannot give them a clean charge lane on turn 1. Everything disposable goes forward as a screen.”

THEIR DOCTRINE

Extreme long-range firepower, shoot-and-fade mobility via Fly keyword, and Markerlights for target designation. Tau wants to win at range without being touched.

AM COUNTER

This is our preferred engagement range. Basilisks outrange most Tau shooting when positioned correctly. Leman Russ durability eats the firepower that would delete lighter factions. Close the distance systematically using terrain.

TARGET: CENTER OF GRAVITY

Riptides and supporting Broadsides. These are the damage engines. Markerlights are secondary — suppressing the units that benefit from them is more efficient than eliminating the Markerlights themselves.

“Tau is winnable. They don't want a sustained exchange — they want to kite. We don't let them kite.”

THEIR DOCTRINE

Speed, psychic warfare, and surgical objective denial. Eldar don't fight fairly — they don't have to. They identify your weaknesses, exploit them with precise strikes, and reposition before you can respond.

AM COUNTER

I play this faction. Which means I know exactly how it thinks. Deny the repositioning corridors. Protect your center of gravity. Don't overextend — Eldar punish overextension immediately. Use Basilisks to hit the units they think are safe behind cover.

TARGET: CENTER OF GRAVITY

The transport network. Wave Serpents and Falcons move Eldar firepower efficiently. Kill the transports and the surgical strike doctrine slows to a crawl.

“Fighting Eldar as AM requires patience. They will get early points. Don't chase. Execute the plan.”