This primer is an attempt to provide league participants with a strong starting point from which to make the most of their league experience.

What is an Escalation League?: An escalation league is a series of games played at increasing point values.  From a starting point of 500 points (basically the contents of Assault on Black Reach or a battleforce box), a participant can build their army up to a standard tournament size and have it painted as well!  At Heavy Support Games, our escalation leagues run for 12 weeks and there is a megabattle in the 13^th week.  Each week members play several games and earn league points for wins, losses and draws.  Every two weeks the point value of the games increases – so there are two weeks at the 500pt level, two weeks at 750pts, and so on up to 1750pts.

This escalation in points allows a participant to build and paint their army at a measured pace.  This avoids the common pitfall many gamers experience of purchasing everything all at once and creating  the daunting task of trying to finish an army in one go – eventually getting fed up at the whole process.  For this reason escalation leagues are the best way for new gamers to get into the hobby, or for veteran gamers to start a new army.  Another benefit for new and veteran gamers alike is the ability to break the mold of the standard 1750 or 2000pt tournament lists and learn how to play their army at different point values.  This can provide incredible insight into the best uses of individual units – at 500 or 750 pts every model is precious and a single mistake can have terrible consequences!   Participants must make the most of their units to win.  This often leads to exciting small games where each die roll is critical and valuable lessons are learned that are directly applicable to larger games or tournaments.

There are several steps that every participant should consider during a league.

Army Selection: For an escalation league the first step is choosing an army you will feel comfortable playing at a wide range of point values.  You may have the perfect army list at the 1750 tournament level, but unless you feel you can build a balanced force for that army at 750 points, you may have a tough time.  At lower point values the composition of your force will primarily be the troops and HQ necessary to fill out the requirements of the standard force organization chart, leaving little room for the devastating, but expensive, toys you may be used to relying on at 1750 or 2000 pts. As all of the current armies are viable in an escalation league (with the possible exception of Necrons), choose an army that works with your play style, personality, or just looks great on the tabletop!

Your Army List: Once you have decided on an army you think will be enjoyable to build over several months, you should first build a 500 pt army list to start the league with.  This list will often be built around the contents of a Battleforce box or a selection of models from an existing collection.  I will use a Space Marine army as an example of a sample force for the escalation league.

The key to an effective 500 or 750 pt army list is to make sure you can handle the objective missions by having enough mobile scoring units, while making the most out of inexpensive choices your opponent will have a hard time dealing with.  Another factor to consider when building an army list is to ensure that you have an “answer” to anything your opponent can throw at you, whether that is infantry, armor, monstrous creatures, etc.  Here is a sample 500 pt army list (this army list is built for the “40k in a Flash rule set for 500 pt games posted on our event rules page)

100 – Librarian (Bolt Pistol, Force Weapon, Avenger + Might of the Ancients)
260 – Tactical Marine x10 [170], Meltagun [5], Multi-melta [Free],
Razorback [40], Twin-Linked Assault Cannon [35], Hunter Killer Missile [10]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Multi-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Multi-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
—-
500 pts

By combat squading the Tactical marines, you gain a scoring unit while Land Speeders in this configuration are inexpensive and pack a highly mobile punch.  The army has four melta weapons – great for busting any of the light vehicles or transports your opponents may bring.   At the same time it also brings to bear two heavy flamers and one template psychic power to deal with horde armies.  The assault cannon on the razorback is a good choice as it destroys the light vehicles you may encounter as well as being effective against enemy infantry.  The army is highly mobile and also has psychic defense provided by the librarian (not to mention he is great in close combat!).  This list therefore would provide the player with the ability to deal with any threat they may face, without falling into the trap of over-specialization.  It also provides mobility as well as redundancy – key tenets of any effective 5^th edition 40k army.

From this starting point it is highly recommend that the player plan out their army lists out to 1750 pts.  Although the final list will almost certainly change based on battlefield experiences, it provides a rough sketch of where the army is headed thematically and can be a plan for future purchases.

Here for example would be a 1000 and 1750 pt version of the list posted above.

100 – Librarian (Bolt Pistol, Force Weapon, Avenger + Might of the Ancients)
125 – Dreadnought [105], 2x TL Autocannons [20]
250 – Tactical Marine x10 [170], Meltagun [5], Multi-Melta [Free], Razorback [40], TL Assault Cannon [35]
215 – Tactical Marine x10 [170], Meltagun [5], Multi-Melta [Free], Melta Bombs [5], Rhino [35]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Multi-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Multi-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
85 – Predator (Autocannon) [60], Heavy Bolter Sponsons [25]
85 – Predator (Autocannon) [60], Heavy Bolter Sponsons [25]
—-
1000 pts

100 – Librarian (Bolt Pistol, Force Weapon, Avenger + Null Zone)
105 – Dreadnought (Multi-melta) [105]
105 – Dreadnought (Multi-melta) [105]
105 – Dreadnought (Multi-melta) [105]
300 – Assault Terminator x6 [250]
250 – Tactical Marine x10 [170], Meltagun [5], Multi-Melta [Free],
Razorback [40], TL Assault Cannon [35]
215 – Tactical Marine x10 [170], Meltagun [5], Multi-Melta [Free], Melta Bombs [5],
Rhino [35]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Mutli-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
70 – Land Speeder [50], Mutli-melta [10], Heavy Flamer [10]
260 – Land Raider Crusader [250], Multi-Melta [10]
85 – Predator (Autocannon) [60], Heavy Bolter Sponsons [25]
85 – Predator (Autocannon) [60], Heavy Bolter Sponsons [25]
—-
1750 pts

The concepts underlying the larger lists are the same as described above.  By having the complete picture of where the army list is going, you can plan your purchases and your painting schedule.

Modeling and Painting: Just as important in the GW hobby as list construction is the modeling and painting of your army so that you end the league with a fully painted force.  The escalation league format means that every two weeks at least one unit will be added on to your army.  The composition of this 250 point jump varies based on the army in question (generally Space Marines and other armies that are more expensive points-wise on a per model basis are easier to build and paint).  There are several universal tips that will help make this a pleasant and manageable process for even the most novice painter:

1)    The biggest mistake among miniature wargamers in the painting arena is the hesitation to begin painting your force until you are skillful enough for fear of being labelled a “bad painter”.  This usually comes from the unrealistic comparison of your work to that of the ‘Eavy Metal team you see in the pages of White Dwarf or the work of the most skillful painters in your local shop.  This is one of the reasons why you see many unpainted armies on the tabletop.  The only way to become a proficient painter is to paint miniatures and the best way to do that is paint the armies you are working on.

Focus on simple and effective techniques such as dry brushing and washes, which give great results with little effort in the beginning.  Having the expectation that you should be able to pull off complex highlighting and fade effects on you miniatures without having mastered the basics is foolish and will just lead to you putting off getting the essential practice you require.  Ask other painters or store staff for recommendations on techniques or a demonstration.  In this hobby people are most impressed by the fact your army is completely painted first and foremost so give it your best shot!

2)    This leads to tip #2 – don’t take too long on any individual model!  Especially in an escalation league you simply cannot afford to spend 5 hours on each basic model as you will burn yourself out and never finish by the deadline.  Instead the following approach is usually the best for most gamers.  First assemble and prime you miniatures.  Build a paint them in the largest batches you can manage (five or more is best) to minimize wasted setup time. Use spray primer as you will save yourself hours and end up with a much better result.  During the winter the best way to spray is indoors using a large box to shoot the spray into.  This is very effective and prevents any mess indoors (ask a local store for an appropriate box if you don’t have one, they usually have dozens of shipping boxes around).
Next line up all of the models you will need for the next point increase and basecoat them all together (again coloured sprays are fantastic for this, but a large brush will work too).  The best thing to do to get your models ready for battle is to paint them first to a tabletop standard, which is usually three colors not including the base coat.  So in the case of Space Marines, just prime them, spray on their main colour, do their guns in boltgun metal and their eagles/shoulder trim in a third color.

Spraying takes about 15 min for each coat plus an hour to dry in between, and then the boltguns should take about 5min per model and 5-10 min per trim.  Just try to keep the paint all on the area you want it on and correct any mistakes after.  Congratulations, your models are ready for the tabletop and from a distance of a few feet will look just the same as if had invested hundreds of hours on them.  Using this technique a squad of tactical marines and a rhino (about 250 pts) should only take approximately about 3 hours of total painting time.  The best part about painting your models to a tabletop standard first is that you can go back and do detail work and highlighting any time you want, to make them look even better!

3)    Especially in a league where your list may change week to week, another good recommendation is to use modular weapon options.  Most Games Workshop kits come with most or all of the weapon options available.  Having access to all of these while keeping a WSYWING army (what you see is what you get – for a better experience for both parties) means using modular weapon options.  For example on a land speeder or a predator, why limit yourself to a single weapon option when you could quickly switch to any of them!

The best way to accomplish this is to use either blue tack or magnets.  Magnets are more advanced and are inserted into both the base of the weapon and the weapon attachment location to allow for a firm connection that is easy to switch.  Blue tack works very well as an alternative – simply roll up a small ball of blue tack and insert it into the connection as you would plastic cement, and then insert the weapon.  On plastic kits it should easily hold it in place.  Blue tack wears out over time so every couple of months you will need to replace the blue tack in the joint (which shouldn’t be a problem as $4.00 in blue tack should last you a year or more!).  Make sure to paint the different weapon options as well after you magnetize them, or before you blue tack them.

Playing League Games: In an escalation league you will be playing two or three games in a single day.  This is a perfect opportunity to improve your play and tactics.

• Speed is the name of the game, so to increase the pace of the game you should always be thinking about how you will respond to your opponent’s actions as he is doing his movement and shooting during his turn.  This way when it becomes your turn, you don’t have to begin to develop a strategy in your head, you just need to implement it on the tabletop.
• The key to victory is playing smart and making your opponent play to your strengths.  To accomplish this, deploy and move your units such that you force your opponent to target your most survivable units while exposing the maximum amount of your firepower.  Set up “kill zones” using terrain and objectives so your opponent must move, limiting his vehicle based shooting and moving his units into an area where you can light him up.
  Position your units so that you use your mobility to threaten his units and limit his movement options.  A land speeder with a multi-melta has a 24” threat radius for maximum armor penetration (12” move, 12” short range shot).  By positioning it behind blocking terrain on one side of the board your opponent will be forced to deploy his large vehicles (land raiders, Leman Russes, etc.) on the other side of the board or risk being blasted to atoms if he moves up.  Factor that in to your deployment to either force them to make that dangerous move to get to your objective, or as a means to distract your opponent, making them waste their extremely expensive unit in a manner that limits its impact on the battle.
• Keep in mind that if your opponent has blast weapons you should always deploy at the maximum of unit coherency (2”) and preferably in a line. In 5^th edition this will reduce the effectiveness of his blasts and maximize your shooting angles and cover saves in most situations.
• Finally, remember that 2/3 of the time you will be playing an objective mission in 5^th edition 40k.  It doesn’t matter how many units you have lost if you hold the most objectives at the end.  Keep this in mind at all stages of the game and play to hamper your opponents movement (kill zones and threatening units are great for this) such that you maintain control at the end.  Don’t be afraid to give up an objective on Turn 2 or 3 if it means an advantageous position that allows you to recapture it or other objectives in Turn 5, when it really counts.

Hopefully this primer has given you a better handle on how to get the most out of an escalation league experience.  The only way to become a better player or painter is to play or paint!  An escalation league provides you with ample opportunities for both and should result in a great new army or a better grasp of an existing force when you are finished.  May all of your dice be sixes (except for morale checks!)