Elementary, my dear Watson
I recently ran across an interesting discussion online that categorizes 40k armies in terms of the basic elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water.) Like almost any classification system, it does break down at some points, but it is pretty consistent and offers some very good insights into the various types of armies. I'll be doing in-depth articles on each one in the coming weeks. When I have finished them, you will be able to click the link here. If you wish to check them out from the start, please click here.

Fire Armies
Fire is all-consuming and overwhelming. While most Fire armies can move fairly quickly, their movement is all about getting to the enemy as quickly as possible, not tactical maneuvering beyond flanking. The Fire army wants to overwhelm it's opponent. Fire armies tend to spend most of their points on causing damage with specialist troops or weaponry.

The Archetypal Fire armies would be a Tyranid Genestealer list with moderate numbers of Genestealers and perhaps a little bit of antitank fire; or a Blood Angel Space marine army with Assault Marines spearheading the assault with powerfist squads in rhinos following on. Although there are some Fire armies that focus on shooting, by far the bulk of them are assault-based. Thus, much like last week when I focused on shooting for Earth armies, I will focus on assault for Fire armies.

Fire Tactics
Fire tactics revolve around causing as much damage as possible and making contact with the enemy as soon as possible. These may include concepts such as flanking attacks and tarpitting or boxing-in the enemy army. There are two primary strategies that most Fire Armies use to win their games: Fast Assault and Mob Assault. Although these strategies are related, they handle a bit differently, so I'll cover the tactics involved for each in it's own separate section.

The distinction between Fast Assault and Mob Assault is that of options during the game. A Mob Assault army generally does not have much mobility to adjust to changing conditions during the game. On the other hand, a Mob Assault army generally has a lot more troops, designed to be able to soak up losses on the way in. A Fast Assault army doesn't have the bodies to take the damage, so it must use it's movement to avoid it. Please note that not all of these tactics will be present or available to a given army, they merely show the range of possibilities.

Fast Assault
The Fast Assault Strategy is to get into contact with the enemy as swiftly as possible, with a secondary goal of a flanking attack to create local superiority. While some shooting may be used to deal with particularly dangerous shooting units or enemy assault specialists, the army doesn't have much available to shoot. The movement available to units will be primarily used to close the gap to the enemy quickly, reducing the time spent under the guns of the enemy. Sometimes the movement may also be used to "terrain-hop," starting behind one terrain piece and moving behind another.

Numerous High Toughness Creatures/Numerous Vehicles
Using multiple Vehicles or High Toughness creatures increases their survivability. If you only have a few, it will be easy for enemy heavy weaponry to pick them out, concentrate on them and annihilate them. If you have a lot of them, they can hide behind each other and their sheer numbers overwhelm the enemy Heavy Weapon capabilities. In addition, less-important Vehicles/Creatures may be used to interpose themselves between enemy heavy weapons and more valuable targets (either other vehicles or an important unit.)

Counterassault
In a Fast Assault army, Counterassault is sort of backwards from the usual model. In this case, it means that the less-valuable unit assaults first, with a follow-on with the more valuable assault units. Sometimes it may be done by assaulting a lead unit to 'draw' it away from it's position, allowing follow-on units to hit a juicier target behind it. Alternately, it may be used to hit an important unit to tie it up and keep it busy, or to pull a flank unit away from reinforcing the 'main' fight.

Template Weapons
Template weapons are used to destroy large formations of troops. In addition, their presence may cause enemy units to spread out a little, which can make them less effective in initial assaults, or even in shooting. Note that mobile units with flamer templates are particularly effective, as they can provide support in multiple areas and can generally line up for the best possible shot. Template weapons can be used to thin out large target units or even to "divide by fire." This is done by aiming an assault at one flank of an enemy force, and firing into the units in the center. This can wipe out enemy units and prevent them from effectively reinforcing the 'victim' units.

Shooting
The purpose of shooting in a Fast Assault army is to concentrate on and eliminate strategically important enemy units. As there is little shooting available, sticking to target priorities is vital. The target priority will depend on the enemy army. An army with powerful assault specialists will require them to be thinned out by firepower, while an army with powerful shooting that can threaten primary assault units will need to have it's shooting reduced quickly.

Suicidal Close Combat/Tank Destroyer units
Fast Assault armies sometimes use surgical strike units to take care of particular enemy units. These aren't expected to survive the game. The neutralization of the enemy target is their contribution to the game.

Mob Assault
The Mob Assault Strategy revolves around using huge numbers of troops advancing relatively slowly into the enemy army. Without having spent points on movement, the Mob Assault army can afford large numbers and absorb a great deal of damage on the way in. Once in contact, the huge numbers of the Mob Assault army can stick enemy units in place, keeping them from maneuvering or supporting other units.

Numerous High Toughness/Numerous Vehicles
This is usually implemented by taking the maximum number of high toughness creatures or vehicles possible. The idea is that the enemy won't have enough heavy duty firepower to take out all of the targets - and the surviving heavy hitters smash through enemy troops that can't hope to take them on. Of course, the ones that pose the most threat will be shot down first. For that reason, take a lot of the same thing, so the enemy can't eliminate your most effective heavy hitter.

One benefit of taking numerous high Toughness creatures or numerous vehicles is that the majority of enemy firepower cannot hurt them. For example, while a Tactical Squad with a missile launcher can potentially inflict a wound on a high Toughness creature, or destroy a vehicle, the rest of the bolters in the squad will be ineffective. If the Tac Squad shot at a high Toughness creature or a vehicle, that Tac Squad isn't shooting at the regular troops in the Mob Assault army, which means that more of the basic troops will survive to enter close combat.

Cannon Fodder
Somewhat the opposite of the High Toughness Creatures/Vehicles tactic, Cannon Fodder in a Mob Assault army is supposed to provide so many cheap targets that they overwhelm the enemy shooting. In addition, they render most anti-tank weaponry useless. Against a Gaunt, a Lascannon is no more powerful than a Boltgun.

Once the inexpensive troops reach assault, they will generally engage a huge chunk of the enemy lines at once, tying up units and blocking lines of sight and creating a massive traffic jam in the front of the enemy army.

Shooting
Similar to the Shooting in a Fast Assault army, the goal is to destroy important units on the way in. Sometimes an enemy army will have units that can hold up the assault or even pose a threat to the bulk of the Mob Assault army. Such units might be Dreadnaughts that will be mostly unnaffected by the bulk of the Mob Assault Army or they might be Tanks that can inflict massive casualties or even Assault Terminators that will shred most of the Mob Assault Army once they close. Shooting can be used to reduce the effectiveness of any of these targets.

Suicidal Close Combat/Tank Destroyer units
In the same way that Fast Assault armies use Suicidal Close Combat/Tank Destroyer units, Mob Assault armies also use them. Some of these missions may be fulfilled by shooting, but others can only be done in close combat, which is why these teams exist. Their targets will vary both by the enemy army and the other capabilities of the Mob Assault army.

Playing against a Fire Army
Playing effectively against a Fire army requires attacking their time. The longer they take to get to your lines, the more time you have to shoot them and the less time they will have left in the game to do their damage. This can be achieved through deployment (set up nearer the board edge, use a split deployment) or through mobility (moving back or laterally to delay contact) or through the use of roadblocks or speedbumps (vehicles or Cannon Fodder troops to slow the advance.) Fire armies are typically well-designed to take on Earth armies or Fire armies, but they usually have a much harder time against the mobility of Air and the flexibility of Water.

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