Movement and Positioning

NOTE: There are already some really good strategy guides out there that can help your play tremendously. You can find Stormfox's Newbie Guide on Crazyvc's(Mkforces.com) and Warlord Hourg1ass' webpages, and you can find Warlord Shakti's Strategy Guide on MKRealms. If you haven’t read these guides I strongly recommend you do so. It doesn't matter what your playing level is at. Everyone can find something there that you didn't know before that will improve your game. My articles will try and compliment those guides and try to touch on areas that were left out or in my opinion were not explained fully. I may make references to and restate what those articles have said.

Often overlooked and ignored, movement & base positioning is a very important part of the game. It is what allows you to have melee combat with your opponent. It is part of what will win or lose you the game. Without paying attention to movement & base positioning you will probably lose the game.

Movement is used to move your pieces across the battlefield. What most new players don't realize that you don't have to move in straight lines. This is why we have flexible rulers. You can make S patterns to move around terrain and other figures.

Why is this important? Consider attacking two ranged pieces with a disposable harasser followed by your ranged formation.(Disposable harassers are figures like imps, shades, and woodland scouts) If you attack them from the front, the figures will not have to move to have you in their front arc. So when they kill your harasser, they will still be in position to shoot you. However, if you move your harasser behind them, at least one of the figures will have to spin to kill your harasser. This tactic leaves their figures out of position to shoot at you, and you can take at least one 'free' shot at them while they reposition themselves to shoot at you.

Something a lot of players don't realize is that your figure's base supposedly disappears when it is moving. (according to a ruling by DemoMonkey on MKRealms-Rules of Battle, 12-7-00, 1-8-01) So you are able to move through any little gap that you want to. At the end of you move, however, you must have enough space for your base to be there. This little tidbit of knowledge can be used to your advantage when someone is trying to block your path somewhere.

The distance your figure moves is also rather important. Remember that you don't have to move a figure printed movement. You may move a shorter distance than what is printed on the dial. I feel that while being cool figures, the figures with only a 6" movement are not that good, with the possible exception of Troll Artillerists. An 8" or higher move is preferable. There are many movements you can make in 8" or higher movement that are just impossible to do with a 6" movement. For example, you stop you figure just outside the range of one of your opponents ranged figures with a 90 degree arc, then on your next turn, with an 8" or higher movement you can move outside of the arc and closer to the ranged figure. With the higher movements of 10" or 12" your options just increase. Another one of the options is, if you have a figure with the same movement as your opponents ranged attack, you can stay just outside their range. Then, on your next turn, you can move your figure into base to base(B2B) with the opponents figure! This tactic has kept many of my figures safe from a ranged attack that could tear them to pieces.

After you move a piece that has a ranged attack, you must pay strict attention to your base positioning. Most figures with a ranged attack only have a 90-degree arc that they can fire out of. You want to make sure that you are positioned so you can fire in the direction you want to. Melee figures base positioning is pretty irrelevant, unless they are in melee combat. I cannot tell you how many games I won because of my opponent not really caring how his base was positioned, because he thought I was too far away for it to matter. I managed to slip some figures into the gap of his arc, and he had to waste a movement to put them back into correct positioning. With non-ranged healers it is important to remember they can only have 2 figures within their 90-degree arc. Make sure to keep those figures you want to heal in that arc.

It is obvious, that with more ranged figures, you can cover a wider arc with your figures. The question is, do you split up your figure’s arcs to get wider cover, or do you overlap your figure’s arcs so you can shoot at the same figure with your ranged figures. It would all depend on the army you face. If your opponent is using lots of formations and keeping his figures clumped together, you want to use the overlapping tactic. If your opponent uses a bunch of individual, high-speed attackers and very few to no formations, you would use the wider arc. As you can see, it’s rather difficult to decide which way to place your firing arcs, because you have to recognize what your opponent is doing with his army. Of course, you can and will run into those people who will use both tactics in their armies.

Some figures (Troll Artillerists) are too big to maintain B2B contact in some positions. Remember that there is a ruling that you may state that figures are maintaining B2B contact if the figure interferes with the B2B contact. Just be sure you tell your opponent which of your figures are in B2B with other figures.

Don't forget to use the terrain to help you position. If you have figures with stealth use hindering terrain to help you close with opposing figures. Blocking terrain is most useful when you use it to block Line of Fire(LOF) of your opponent’s figures. This allows you to get your figures closer to theirs. No matter what army I use, I position terrain all over the board to try and help me to get closer to my opponent wherever they may be.(I’ll discuss how to use terrain better in another article)

Movement and positioning are used in all games to put your self in a better position to attack your opponent. Correct usage of these often-misunderstood concepts can help you win your matches and make you a better player.

Special Thanks to WarLordKolrael, Crazyvc, and the DC Crew(you know who you are) for helping me to edit and giving their opinions on this article.

Peace All
Ken Baker
"The Not Quite Godlike but Pretty Darn Tough Anyways, Guy with the Hierophant Army”

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