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. Although this article finishes the 4 elements, there is still a discussion of Beatdown, and once I've written it, you can find it here. If you wish to check them out from the start, please click here.

Water Armies
Water is formless. By itself, it has no shape. It is shaped by whatever surrounds it or attempts to contain it. The Water army has the capacity to move, shoot and assault and so it can perform effectively against any target. Unlike the other army types which attempt to force the battle to conform to one particular style, the Water army has the flexibility to shape the battle in whichever way may be most effective at the time. The Water army acquires shape based on the opponent and situation it finds itself in. The Water army plays yin to the opponent's yang.

The Archetypal Water Army would probably be Grey Knights. Every standard unit has the capacity to fire at full effectiveness while moving and has substantial assault capability as well. The Grey Knights also typify Water armies in that each part of the army is quite expensive, since they are paying for that flexibility. Another option for Water would be Deathwing, for the same reasons. There are variations on the Water army as well that use units in groups, such that each _group_ has movement, shooting and assault capability, even if no one unit has all those capabilities simultaneously.

Water Tactics
Water tactics involve using the flexibility of the army to it's best advantage. As such, many of the previously mentioned tactics can apply here, with one primary distinction. The cost of each model or unit in the army will almost certainly preclude usage of fodder-type tactics.

Flanking Attacks
The Flanking Strategy is to hit the enemy in a small area with most or all of the army, and to do enough damage to keep the Water army safe from counterattack. The Water army will not have the numbers to absorb damage if they get caught. Unlike Flanking Air armies, however, most Water armies will not have the speed to do a total redeployment and escape from the enemy counter. For a Water army, a flanking attack will be more likely to be done by a few units (instead of the entire army.) The units might move up on one flank and whittle down an enemy unit through shooting, then wipe it out in assault. As the enemy aligns to counterattack, they would then use their shooting to start damaging another enemy unit as they pull back in a fighting withdrawal. In subsequent turns, as the enemy attempts to close with them, Water units in other areas may also make flanking attacks, creating a wolfpack effect.

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.) Vehicles in a Water army are often used to keep infantry safe, either by acting as transports and thus keeping the infantry under the protection of armor, or by interposing themselves between shooting or assaulting units that might be able to counterattack. High Toughness Creatures can be used in the same way, though they typically have less maneuverability than their vehicular counterparts.

Elite Assault and Fire-Augmented Assault
In a Water army, Assault is handled differently than in Earth or Fire armies. In those armies, assault is typically initiated by Cannon Fodder troops, and then the Elites follow on. In the Water army, there are no Cannon Fodder troops. The assaulters in this case are the elites and have to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. If they cannot wipe out the enemy enough to prevent a counterassault, they will generally avoid the assault until they can. Given that Water units can generally shoot at full effectiveness and still assault, they will typically use that shooting to give them the edge in the assault.

Target Denial
Target Denial in a Water army mostly consists of keeping out of range or Line of Sight from the bulk of the enemy army. An additional level of Target Denial can be achieved by first limiting return fire, then obliterating what can shoot, either through powerful shooting or an Elite Assault. Even without achieving a total denial of return fire, it is possible to severely limit return fire. Ideally, the limited fire can be directed into a unit that it cannot affect. Thus, maybe a Heavy Bolter squad is forced to fire at a heavy vehicle that has moved between it and a troop unit.

Shooting
The shooting in a Water army focuses around Sniping and Plinking. Sniping takes out specific high-value or strategically important units, either destroying their ability to damage the Water army or simply increasing their margin of victory through points or by taking out objective-takers. Plinking is shooting designed to do a little damage to the enemy while taking very little in return. A variation on plinking involves limiting line of sight to the non-special portions of an enemy squad (ie: in a 10-man Marine squad with Lascannon, Plasma and Powerfist Sergeant, it would be limiting line of sight such that only the Bolters can see the firing unit, then shooting some of them. The opponent is unlikely to take any casualties on the special members of the squad, so there will be a few less to return fire (and, of course, the special members won't have line of sight on the Water unit in their turn.)

Template Weaponry
Template weaponry is very handy for Water armies when engaging numerous foes such as Orks or Tyranids. Having weaponry that can thin the hordes can be vital to a small Elite army. In addition, the use of Template weaponry tends to make the opponent spread out his or her models. With spread-out models, each unit takes up more space. This in turn makes it much harder for the units to support each other effectively and makes the job of cutting off a unit from the rest of the army much easier.

Playing against a Water Army
Playing against a Water army is very challenging simply because of their flexibility. It is much harder to predict enemy moves if they can move, shoot and assault equally well. Probably the most effective way to play against a Water army is to limit it's options. The easiest way to do this will likely be to keep your army in one wedge. If they cannot separate individual units from the rest of your army, it will limit their use of mobility and assault. Water armies will be best used against Earth or Fire armies. Air armies will typically have a mobility advantage against them. Against other Water armies, prepare for a strategic chess match. If you can force them to commit to an attack or defense, you will have a big advantage.

Final Notes
I have never played a Water army, or at least I have not played it _as_ a water army. I have a lot of experience with Fire armies, and some with Earth and some with Air. I think that both Deathwing and Ravenwing could make very effective Water armies if built and used correctly, and I am definitely looking forward to finishing my Tau and Dark Eldar so that I can work with my Deathwing again. While I have used them in the past, I either used them as a Fire army (Transport assault with Landraiders and the Terminator squads) or as a mobile Earth army (With nothing but Terminators and some firepower upgrades such as Cyclone launchers.) Both were fun, but I think that using them in a true water style will let me make the best use of their wonderful flexibility.

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