Cities of DEATH

Alwawys an interesting game type to play under and talk about, Cities of Death is sometimes like playing mini-apocalypse thanks to the strategic assets. The increased amount of terrain, and lower chance of being able to draw LOS accross the entire table means that long-range shooting, and large units become less viable, whilst short-range and assault focused units become stronger choices. With 5th Editions mission changes, the victory conditions are now quite different to standard games also, with many old units able to grab objectives once more.

Ever since I first played Cities of Death I've loved it. It certainly makes you aproach the game differently, and the strategic assets allow you to be alot more sneaky than normal, as well as enableing you to alter your attack plan slightly to match your opponent or the mission.

So, why am I talking about Cities of Death? Well I've been considering just how the new rules effect it, and I thought I'd bring some of my thoughts and observations to your attention in the hopes that they might help you adapt to this great 40k supplement.

Infantry
Always a good choice in Cities of Death, they're now even better when compared to other unit types. The ability to "Go to Ground" means they're tougher than ever to shift from a building, whilst the fact they can now run means that slow movement through Difficult Terrain is reduced alot.
One important thing to note here is vertical movement. Most other unit types are unlikely to have to deal with this, but the rules for vertical movement have changed. You can no longer move 6" forwards, and 2 floors up in the same time. You now have to split your movement between the two, so you'll have to consider more carefully how you want to traverse large multi-level ruins and buildings.

Jump Infantry and Bikes
These folks have much the same issues as before, they're able to mitigate the large amounts of Difficult Terrain by driving round it, or jumping over it at high speeds. These units are also usually optimised for either assault or short-ranged firefights making pretty well suited to the Cities of Death environment.
Quite a nasty change that's been added in 5th Edition though is the alteration to how Difficult Terrain effects them. You now take Dangerous Terrain tests alot more often, so actually using them to get into terrain itself is significantly more dangerous.

Vehicles
This is a mixed bag. Most have got worse when it comes to actually fighting, although a few have become better choices when compared to others. Survivability though has got alot better.
As far as I can tell dangerous terrain rolls can no longer destroy a vehicle, so moving through ruins is less dangerous. This is fortunate, as many vehicles can only fire a single weapon when moving now, because of this you should feel more comfortable risking a move at full speed through a building to set yourself up for firing at full effect in the following turns, rather than creeping forward firing just one.
The increase in survivability comes from the change to how cover effects vehicles. Instead of the old 4+ and reduce a penetrating hit to glancing, you can now ignore the shot entirely! You'll have to be more vigilant though, as with the changes to area terrain, you now actually have to be physically obscured rather than just parked in some area terrain.

Walkers/Monstrous Creatures
An amalgamation of the benefits and negatives of vehicles and infantry here. The run rule being very important, as well as the need to actually be obscured to claim cover. Important stuff to consider when taking these big fellas.

Skimmers/Jetbikes
Very important change here is that you can no longer sit on top of terrain instead of inside it. This makes moving a little more risky, and removes the ease of gaining LOS on another unit from the top of a building. An important thing to consider here is if you ever used the strategic asset that allowed you to drop infantry onto the top floors of building/ruins. To do this you'll actually have to risk a dangerous terrain roll for your transports. So this choice is a little harder to make now.

Infiltrate
These units are something I've not really seen addressed in Cities of Death. In regular games you can now opt to Outflank with them if you wish, and I'm not entirely sure if this would carry over into Cities of Death. If it can, then would you need to take the Infiltrators strategic asset to allow them to do so? And if thats the case, can units with Scout outflank?
If you are planning on using Infiltrators or Scouts, and intend to make use of Outflank, I'd discuss this with your opponent ahead of time. Deciding if you need to have the Infiltrators stratagem to allow Outflank, and if you are going to allow Outflank at all in Cities of Death.

Deep Strike
A pretty nasty change exists here. Deep Striking into difficult terrain now prompts a dangerous terrain test. Combined with the fact that Deep Strike is already fairly risky, and the fact that Cities of Death has lots of difficult terrain for you to scatter into, these units might be a little too risky to use in my opinion.
Deep Strike is, as ever, a useful tool to have in your arsenal though. Maybe not something to rely upon in Cities of Death though. Sewer Rats might be a good alternative if you intend upon using "suprise" units. There are risks involved here too though of course, and I'd make sure you have enough drain covers pin safe areas, just in case the enemy blocks the ones where you would really like to appear.

Preliminary Bombardment
Some notable changes to this one. The old version used the standard rule that existed in the main rulebook, the new one does the same, but you have to dig a little harder to find it. The biggest changes to take place are that the shots now have a Strength and AP value. This makes them more dangerous against some targets, but worse against others of course. The other major change comes in the form of protection offered by some terrain. Now, if you are in these terrain types you are completely immune to the bombardments effects! I'm not quite sure how this interacts with the old rule that caused any hits against units in ruins/buildings to cause dammage to the ruin/building they were in also. So this is one to remember, and discuss with your opponent before the games starts.

Command Centre (I think that's what it's called at least!)
If I remember rightly this is the Key Building that gives units Stubborn, and Counter-Attack. This is now quite a nice combo if you want to play defensivly, and it's bonuses can be applied over a relatively long range which is another nice bonus. COunter-Attack has been buffed somewhat as it now gives you +1 attack when someone charges you, if you can pass a leadership test. Quite a good deterent to anyone planning on trying to get you out of a building. Combine this with the fact that your unit may be stubborn too, allowing them to ignore leadership modifiers, thats a good combo for defensive assault units.


Those are some things that leap to mind at any rate, hope they're usefull in helping you have a good game using the Cities of Death rules in 5th Edition.

So, what works best in Cities of Death in this Edition? Well in my opinion, the same as before: A good mix of everything! Thanks to 40k in general favouring multiple shot weapons, blasts and templates, due to the large amount of cover saves generally available now, a standard 40k army, will generally have all the tools it needs for Cities of Death. You might want to tailor things slightly in some armies, but for the most part you should be fine.

Little Suprises

Got in from work lat night to find an unexpected little red card from Royal Mail sitting on my doormat.

Now I know I ordered some new books on swordsmanship from Amazon...but according to their site they've not been dispatched yet.

I'm also still waiting on my sword from Armour Class, but they said they'd email me when they started work on it, and also I asked them to change the delivery address to my work place.

So what the hell is waiting for me at the Post Office?

Cant wait to find out, I hope it's something exciting!