Strontium Dog Miniatures Game - Game Tactics Guide

Game Tactics

I've been playing the Strontium Dog Miniatures Game on a fairly regular basis since its release last year and feel that my understanding of the game has developed enough to be able to provide some advice on how to best play the main game. Note that this post does not take into consideration the myriad of Scenarios and Encounters you can play - there's 18 different possibilities - but, instead deals with general gameplay. I'll post my advice in the same order that the rulebook explains the various rules - so it may be handy to have it to hand when working your way through this article!

Before we start, there are people who play the Strontium Dog Miniatures Game who have never read the strip. While there is nothing wrong with this, my advice is that to best enjoy the game you need to get a proper feel for the characters and universe in which the game is set. If I had to boil it down to reading one story before diving into the game, I'd recommend The Killing which appears in the S/D Agency Files 2. All of the books are fantastic so you can't go wrong (unless you start with The Final Solution) but the S/D Agency Files 2, is the indispensable Strontium Dog collection - you can find it and all of the graphic novel collections here on the 2000AD Store. 

That's the preamble dealt with...on with the tactics!

Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer by Carlos Ezquerra
Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

Star Chips: The odds are in your favour if Going for Broke provided you have a current Cool of 4+. This does not mean it is always desirable to to attempt to do so; if you have a character like Steelkreeg whose main armament is a heavy weapon which requires a Double Action to fire, a failure to return a Star Chip to the bag results in a Pinned marker, and a failed Cool test in the following turn will prevent you from firing upon reactivation. Of course, if you are unable to fire on that activation, you could Go For Broke and, if successful, you will still get the opportunity to fire that turn when the Star Chip is redrawn! Equally, another failure means that the cycle of being unable to fire your heavy weapon rolls on for turn after turn and you find yourself in a situation of never being able to fire that heavy weapon!

Actions - Single Actions v Double Actions: While there may be an expectation that Double Actions are better than Single Actions, there is no hard and fast rule as to which is best to use, it really is all situational. There's a few actions which can be directly compared to one another.

Move v Sprint: You want to be the person in the game who is shooting the most frequently so it's crucial to get into the right position as quickly as possible. If you know that you will not be able to get into position to fire at an enemy on a Single Action, use Sprint to maximise how far you can travel and make it harder for enemies to hit you. Also, if at all possible, move your model so that it finishes its Move or Sprint touching intervening terrain to provide a bonus to your Resist against enemy attacks. You still get a bonus to Resist if you aren't able to reach the terrain but put an obstacle between yourself and an enemy. Note that the problem with the latter is that both you and your opponent will both receive the Resist bonus. In general terms, only Sprint if you have to, you want to be attacking every activation if possible in this game.

Snap Shot v Aimed Shot: On the face of it, you'd think Aimed Shot should be your default option for firing. If you are going to be using an Aimed Shot, you really want to be putting the extra two Combat Dice into the damage end of the two rolls. Consider this though; two bonus damage dice isn't as good as landing two Snap Shots on target; two Snap Shots with a Power 3 weapon will give you a total of six Combat Dice as opposed to five if you use an Aimed Shot, while the same for a Power 4 weapon will deliver eight Combat Dice as opposed to six! Also, if I have poor Shoot, should I really add dice to the roll to hit rather than damage? Here's how I would decide:-

If you have a Modified Shoot of 1, putting both of the Aimed Shot bonus dice into rolling to hit increases your chances of hitting from 50% to 88.5%. 2 Snap Shots would have a 75% chance of at least one hitting the target but only a 25% chance of both hitting. Aimed Shot is best bet with bonus dice added to Roll to Hit, but putting one dice into rolling to hit and one on to damage is a great option also.

If you have a Modified Shoot of 2, you have a 75% of hitting the target. The odds of hitting are firmly in your favour so Aimed Shot bonus dice are better employed in the damage end of the equation. The chance of both of your Snap Shots landing is 56.25%. You are marginally better gambling on 2 Snap Shots at Shoot 2 but I think the surest option here is for an Aimed Shot with the bonus dice added to Damage, particularly if your weapon is Power 3. At Power 4 you have a bigger pay-off for your damage rolls so I'd be slightly more inclined to go for two Snap Shots!

If you have a Modified Shoot of 3, you have an 88.5% chance of hitting your target and a 78.3% chance of both shots hitting. In terms of rolling to hit, it should be Snap Shots all the way if your modified Shoot is 3 or more! The one caveat to this is would be if your target has a High Resist and is claiming Hard Cover; fewer Combat Dice for Damage may struggle to inflict any damage.

Fight v Charge: When I started playing, I initially thought that Charge was more desirable because of the +1 to Power. In actual fact, Charging is far less desirable in relation to Fight than Aimed Shot is to Snap Shot. You should only ever use Charge if you aren't close enough to the target to instigate a desired Close Combat, otherwise 2 Fights in one activation are always better than 1 Charge attack.

Other Actions: The remaining actions cannot be compared so I've dealt with them one by one.

Throw: This can be a dangerous action to undertake! I wouldn't mess around with this unless I had a modified Fight of at least 2 (75% chance of throwing the object where you want it). You do not want to fumble a Throw with a Time Bomb if you are close to the target - you could end up with it scattering right back at your feet!

Jump/Climb: Costing a double action to use, try to avoid this action if at all possible as it slows progress considerably.

Shake It Off!: Obviously only use this when necessary. 

Overwatch: This is useful action in certain situations but sacrificing 2 Snap Shots for 1 is not a winning strategy. Also, the fact that you can lose Overwatch fairly easily is worthy of consideration, especially if your opponent has some long range weaponry in their arsenal.

Hunker Down: Again, you'll only ever use this when in need. In practice, I find it's not really worth doing unless you have suffered 3 Injury Markers. Of course, if you are playing the Gronk, use this action where you can since you can heal all wounds for allies!

Combat: The most important aspect of Combat, the rolls and the damage you can inflict are covered in the actions above but there is more to consider.

Dodging Hits: Evade is great to have but it is far from reliable! The odds of you successfully evading are 16.67% if you have Evade of 1, 30.56% for Evade of 2, and even Johnny Alpha can only expect to Evade 42.13% of the time!

Resisting Hits: One of the reasons it's key to inflict as much damage as possible in the game is that there is a higher chance of your hits causing damage than there is of your Resist soaking up damage. As mentioned in the Move/Sprint action tactics, the bonus 2 Resist dice for claiming Hard Cover is a huge bonus and should be taken advantage of as often as possible. 

Multiple Guns/Close Combat Weapons: They only serve to increase your chances of hitting but conversely reward your enemy with +1 to Resist. Only use these if your modified roll to Shoot or Fight is 1. Remember also that just because your character may be equipped with two or more weapons, it doesn't mean they are obliged to fire more than one in an attack - it is always your choice to do so.

Back Shot: It doesn't come up too often but the -1 to Resist that your enemy suffers if shot from behind his front arc is handy! It's always satisfying when you can get your outlaws into the position to make use of this sneaky thematic rule!

Pinned: Being Pinned is a major pain! The odds are only slightly in your favour of passing the Cool test at the start of an activation if you have a Cool of 4. On top of that, it effectively disables Gunfight and Brawler Abilities. One thing I always forget about being Pinned is that if someone attacks you in Close Combat, they get a +1 on their roll to hit you. Basically you never want to be Pinned but if you are using characters of Cool 4, you will be Pinned on a frequent basis due to failures when Going For Broke!

Gunfighter: This is a good skill to have, and due to the fact that it will be triggered by a Special result either when making an Evade roll or on any Resist dice, there's a reasonable chance you may get to make use of it. The big question is whether Gunfighter is so good that it is worth avoiding Going For Broke and potentially Pinning yourself which prevents Gunfighter from activating. The answer probably lies in how much incoming fire you expect your model to endure; if it's maybe going to attract fire from more than two enemies, perhaps it is better not to Go For Broke. My personal feeling is that you are always better being the one taking the actions rather than relying on this activating. If you're lucky in returning your Star Chips to the bag, there will be times in the turn when you are not Pinned and Gunfighter can activate. I have to mention that it's always great fun when Bullet Time kicks in; I had Johnny and Stix exchanging about four volleys of blaster fire in the one attack in a recent game (somewhat appropriately Johnny prevailed)!

Brawler: While it's nice to have, the Brawler skill only comes into use when you are attacked by an enemy in Close Combat. The problem is that if you have Brawler skill, you are more than likely pretty powerful in Close Combat so it isn't exactly like enemies will be rushing in to fight your Close Combat specialist! The most likely use you will find from it therefore is after you engage enemies, if you do not incapacitate them immediately in the fight, when they inevitably fight back, the Brawler has a good chance of coming into use (your opponent's only alternative is to flee the combat which usually gives you a free attack). If you find your Brawler engaged in Close Combat, it may well be a good move not to Go For Broke, particularly if engaged by multiple enemies.

Mounted Models: Bear in mind that while mounted, your models are fast moving but easier to hit. In general terms I'd use them to get you where you need and then dismount. It's worth having a look at the strengths of your characters if you are thinking of using morks or skimmers in your game. Clue: Johnny Alpha is best employed on a skimmer, Wulf on a mork! 

Flame Weapons: It's very easy to forget that these weapons ignore modifiers for cover - note that this applies to Kansyr's blister effect Hand Blaster. In addition to that, Steelkreeg's firepak can also scatter and automatically stun enemies if it pins them - that's on top of any damage inflicted! Nasty!

Blast Weapons: Another thing I always forget is that targets of Blast Weapons gain +1 to their Evade, even if they have none. Note to self: this means Steelkreeg does not automatically die if a Time Trap is thrown at him, he does have a (small) chance of survival! 

Heavy Weapons: It's a serious dilemma when you're carrying a Heavy Weapon whether to Go For Broke or not - to the point that I almost feel like the best thing to do with Heavy Weapons is to give them to models without Star Chips! Be mindful that your Heavy Weapon may not necessarily be the best option. Take Max Bubba: you'd think you'd always want to use that Blazooka but his gun is more effective unless you are outwith blaster range or you have a nice group of targets to fire at. If the opposite is true, either an Aimed Shot or Two Snap Shots with his blaster are better options than the Blazooka itself. Also, think very hard about where you position any model you have that is only armed with a Heavy Weapon. You need it to be in place to fire immediately otherwise you will not be able to shoot when you activate. Once you've played Steelkreeg a few times, you'll know what I mean!

Armoury Cards & Chicanery Cards: These are so variable that it would require an entire post on each to deal with the myriad weapons and tricks. First to mention is that they're great fun and succeed in bringing a lot of the flavour of the strip to the table. Note that Cartridge Armoury Cards cannot be played by any named character other than Johnny Alpha. You'd need to create your own characters with a cartridge blaster to use them with anyone else.

The best advice I can offer is to take your time reading what the effects of all cards you are dealt are before the game starts and try to keep them in mind throughout. They are all useful in their own ways but T-weapons in particular are deadly. Medpacs and any Chicanery that revives characters or can return Star Chips to the bag are very powerful too. Pray your opponent doesn't have any of these! 

General Game Tactics: 

1. Be clear how you want to operate each of your characters in your band ahead of play. For example, you will want to use Johnny Alpha for ranged combat, while Wulf should be engaging enemies in Close Combat. There is a tactics guide for every named character in the rulebook on this blog, these can better guide you how best employ your characters.

2. Keep your models a good few inches apart. Bunched groupings attract fatal T-Weapon or Heavy Weapon attacks.

3. Get into position as quickly as possible and attack as often as you possibly can.

4. Target enemies at the closest range (easiest to hit) and pick off the weaker ones (lowest Resist) first. The faster you reduce the number of guns firing upon you, the quicker you will achieve victory!

5. Make use of additional Armoury and Chicanery Cards but do not become obsessed with doing so!

6. Don't forget the Scenario goals - it's easy to get drawn into a straight up fight which may be fun but a savvy opponent could exploit this by, for example, stashing Cache markers in a Hold-Up.

7. Have fun!

Coming Soon: Tactics for S/D Agent bands and example S/D Agent bands.

Two bands prepare for battle in a Showdown! scenario I recently played!