How Do I… Match Unit to Model
A frequent dilemma that comes up for players as they prepare their forces for battle is how to classify a particular model for the upcoming battle. Should it be an Armored Unit? What about a Behemoth? If it is light in armor and weaponry, should it instead be a Recon Unit? While there is no easy answer for this, there are a couple of perspectives to keep in mind.
First, remember that your force is structured around the units, not the models. The model simply serves to remind the players of what unit it is for this battle. So if your army has four Armored Units in it, it really doesn’t matter if you are going to use a German Panzer III or Panzer IV tank model to represent them. The important thing is that you chose models that will help you remember what the unit is supposed to be – there is nothing more frustrating than to lose a game because you used armored car models to represent Armored Units, but forgot that during the game and instead used them as Recon Units.
The other thought process on marrying models to unit types for a battle, is asking the question of what would that models status/role be in relation to the other models on the battlefield? For example, assume you are playing a mid-war WWII battle on the Eastern Front and have a Panther Tank and two Panzer III models available to you. While technically all three could be Armored Units, the Panther was so much more superior to the other tanks it would not be unreasonable to use it as a Behemoth Unit instead.
Now if you are playing out a late war scenario, and your opponent is fielding some IS-3 heavy tanks for the Russians, and you have added King Tiger model to the mix, that same Panther tank might better fill the role of Armored Unit since it would no longer be the most dominant unit on the battlefield. In a similar vein, a self-propelled gun used in a tank heavy battle might be used as an Anti-Armor Unit due to its thinner armor and lack of a turret, while the same gun might be used as an Armored (or even a Behemoth!) unit in an all infantry battle due its dominance of the battlefield in that situation.
By keeping an open mind to how to match units in the game to the models being used, you will be able to get more mileage out of the models you already own (always a good thing) and you will have more flexibility in experimenting with different scenarios and army lists. All of which will keep your games fresh and exciting, and your tactical mind buzzing with future possibilities – which is all us gamers really need in life, right?
