Tactics: Shaltari Tribes – The Gate Pool

An incredible lack of organization on my part led to the Shaltari Tactics series taking a month-long break, but fear not! We’re back today with another tactics article. We’ll be continuing the Shaltari Tribes exploration, with a discussion on getting the most from your Gates.

If you’ve played more than a game or two with Shaltari, you know that the Gates are their lifeblood on the battlefield. They can be used to run circles around the opponent and to get your units into position instantaneously. Unfortunately, without them the Shaltari are just an expensive amalgamation of units that must remain defensive in posture to stay alive. I spent many games in this predicament with my own Shaltari, wondering with a sense of frustration why my games were always so close when I was taking so few casualties. In many games I’d annihilate more than half of my opponent’s army at the cost of as few as two friendly units (at 2,500 points), but the game would still come down to the line with me struggling to find points at the final hour.

The goal of our Gate Pool, then, should be to remove this reactionary approach to Shaltari. We know that we have to keep our units out of harm’s way as much as possible. They’re simply too fragile to go head-to-head with the enemy. We also know that our lack of Indirect Fire weapons means that we have to get through the urban jungle quickly to engage those pesky enemy artillery and support units, such as the UCM Drone Base and the Scourge Annihilator.

These are a few simple tips I’ve picked up during my time with the Shaltari. Feel free to disagree in the comments and add your own selection to the discussion. After all, the goal of these articles is to enhance our level of gameplay and make the time spent more enjoyable for all parties.

1.         Proper Gate Numbers

This is a big one for me. When we started, I simply bought Gates to reflect what came in the largest starter army. As we expanded quickly to 2,500 points, I started to realize that I wasn’t playing with a heavy enough saturation of Gates.

Many players online believe that less is more when it comes to Gates. While this is a solid principle, I do think it leaves the Shaltari player in more of a reactionary situation if not balanced appropriately. You don’t ever want to be caught in a situation where you have exactly enough Gates to finish your plan in the following turn. If the enemy destroys even one Gate, you will be forced to improvise. This is bad for the Shaltari; the enemy should feel as if we planned the course of battle all along, otherwise we’re wasting the potential of the Gate system.

My general principle is to bring enough Gates to transport all units that I could ever have a reason for transporting, with one or two spare in each category (Fine and Standard Mass) to replace casualties. This gives me the first turn to lift in everyone who might need to be lifted, with spares for anything that chooses to remain Dematerialized.

As an example, I’ve started bringing two groups of two Spirit Light Gates. I’ve found over the course of twenty or thirty games that the Haven Terragates simply cannot pull you out of a tight situation adequately when the late game rolls around. They are too slow, and the Gates that can move them are usually too cumbersome to have been in position in advance. The speed of the Spirit Gates also means that they can move up the battlefield and drop advance AA in the form of Yaris, while still being in position to offer CQB opportunities for my Firstborns. My regular opponent has become fond of Archangels in recent games, and the extra pair of Spirits have gone a long way to limiting their impact in the mid game, meaning one failed turn of Reaction Fire doesn’t leave my Gate reserves reeling.

I also like to bring four Eden Gates, in order to drop Tarantulas and Tomahawks up the field when necessary. As a rule, my Tomahawks move on from the board edge. However, I’m also realizing they have potential as mid- to late-game harassers, pushing along the enemy flanks to attack artillery, command, and support elements. This forces the enemy to either accept the loss of their specialists or to divert valuable frontline units in an attempt to drive them away. Given the proper dispersal of Gates, you can then redeploy the Tomahawks to the opposite side of the field, leaving their fighting force spread thin with little to show for it.

In recent games, I’m starting to prefer three Edens and a Firedrake. The gunship’s attacks from range are too weak to justify their use instead of ferrying soldiers to midfield on the first turn. If the scenario happens to favor driving on from the edge with more of my units, he can always take an opportunistic shot or move full distance on the first turn, to get his weapons to better effective range.

Shaltari have a specialized tool in the box for any enemy unit, but it is vital that this tool be inserted in the proper area of the battlefield. Without the correct number of Gates, this can be a problem that causes the diminutive aliens to struggle securing a victory in the late game.

Ultimately, finding the right number of Gates is up to each individual play style. With that said, never allow them to simply be the last thing you use to fill up points. Take the time to plan the missions your Shaltari may encounter, and ensure that you have enough Gates to cover the task.

2.         More Gates = More Options

We obviously cannot plan for every eventuality on the battlefield, but we can cover more unlikely scenarios by bringing more Gates to the fighting. We’ve all played that Dropzone Commander game where it comes down to the last activation, and in these situations having an extra Gate can be the difference between victory and defeat.

In addition, Gates have a big role to fulfill in lateral play. When I talk about lateral play, I’m talking of ways we can play around our opponent and his forces. This might come from mental manipulation, or from maneuver that carries past a center of power. Each Gate is potentially a brand new Deployment Zone for your army, and your opponent will forget that at his own peril. Even if you have no plans to move your units forward, a single Gate nudged into an advance position can cause a raised eyebrow, and your opponent will wonder what you have in mind for his toy soldiers.

Aircraft, engage at your own peril!

Gates can also be used to cover certain areas of the table, in an attempt to create “No-Fly” zones for the opponent. His Fast Movers and Dropships will have to think twice about entering these areas, because they face free punishment from the Gate power fields if they do. This tactic is particularly useful when screening your own Infantry from incoming enemy CQB specialists. A pair of Raven-A’s loaded with Praetorians will gladly jump a squad of Braves searching for an objective. However, if they are left with no choice but to run the gauntlet of three Edens’ worth of Reactionary Fire, then they just might reconsider their chances.

Similarly, these screening tactics can be used as zone denial for enemy Fast Movers. Gates that travel in packs also form harder targets for enemy Fast Movers, as they must cross through the surviving Gates’ Reactionary Fire once they’ve engaged their target. I have shot down several Archangels in this manner, as they worked to cut out my network of Spirit Gates.

Gates = Initiative

Initiative is one of the most decisive factors on a battlefield. I’m not referring to the roll to see who goes first; rather, I’m referring to the quantity of control your force exercises over the course of play. If you are making decisions based on your own goals and objectives on the battlefield, then you are exercising initiative. If you are instead responding to situations created by the enemy, then you have lost control of battlefield initiative.

As I said earlier in this article, it is easy for the Shaltari to fall into a reactionary method of warfare. With our superior maneuverability and good resilience through technology, it is common to be wheeling into the enemy each turn and firing on their units as they advance. However, this is not true battlefield initiative, since you are still responding to the enemy’s plans. The goal is to exercise control over the battlefield, and to continue with your mission while the enemy works to stop you.

Gates are the primary motivator behind Shaltari initiative, because they give us incredible mobility when compared to the other factions. While Scourge Hunters may be faster than our Tomahawks while providing offensive firepower, we can easily lure them into an advance as they chase after our MGTs. At that point we can simply teleport the Tomahawks to another area of the battlefield, having stolen two or more turns of firepower from the Hunters and leaving them stranded in an isolated part of the battlefield.

There are many different maneuvers and strategies with Gates that effect initiative. One of my favorite comes in the opening turn of the game, while everyone is rushing to secure their portion of center table. The fast Dropships that work to this end for each faction are all relatively easy to destroy, and if used aggressively then they will be left largely without support.

My usual opponent is UCM, so once his Praetorians have made their move I will bring a pair of Spirit Gates on 15”, then I will drop out a squad of four Yaris 3” and advance at 6” Movement. This puts them on the center line of the table, with their Skimmer bonus and Passive Saves intact. The speed of the Yaris also means that I don’t usually have to expose my Spirits to enemy fire in order to complete this rush to the center. I bring two units of Yaris and four Spirit Gates for this very reason.

So now I have taken the center of the table with a formidable number of AA shots and an extremely advanced Sphere of Influence for my quicker units. The goal at this point is to win the Initiative roll in the following turn and move the Yaris out, engaging the enemy light Dropships and (hopefully) destroying them before their cargo can have an influence on the game. Even if there are no Light Dropships near the front, you can usually find a Gunship squadron or some other target worthy of your attention.

Even if you lose the Initiative roll on Turn Two, you still retain battlefield initiative, because the opponent is working to thwart your plans, rather than executing their own. They will either move to counter the Yaris with something they’ve already dropped, or they will at the very least peel away with their Infantry to avoid a takedown. It may even work out that they drop the Infantry in the building, at which point the Yaris can strand them by knocking down their transport. Through it all, the Skimmer bonus and the Passive Save will be working to stop incoming damage. The longer the opponent spends working against your Yaris, the more time the rest of your units have to gain forward advantage.

None of this would be possible without the Gates to ferry the Yaris into position.

I’ve also had a lot of luck keeping a pair of Edens floating near one another, in anticipation of dropping Tarantulas once the UCM Heavy Armor is committed. This is even more true when facing PHR Walkers, as they are even slower once on the ground. I will keep my third Eden and my Firedrake near to one another in a different area of the battlefield, just in case an alternate drop site becomes viable instead.

This tactic has worked incredibly well against the Gladius formation my opponent runs. There have even been games where they’ve been forced to pick up and dust off once again in an attempt to negate the damage my Tarantulas are waiting to do. This is still a win for the Shaltari; anyone who has faced them knows they are terribly hard to stop with our E10 weaponry.

Early in my play with Shaltari, I struggled with the concept of elite Infantry. Every time I jumped an objective, my opponent would simply follow me in with thirty Legionnaires, cutting me to pieces and leaving my wondering what I was doing wrong. Again, this turned out to be a Gate problem, and I was needlessly ceding initiative when I had the proper tools all along.

This is one of the problems I found with relying too heavily on Haven Terragates. Once I upgraded to four Spirits, I started to find that I could easily push the center of the table and wait quietly behind Buildings for my opponent to jump into them. At that point, I had more than adequate Gate coverage to ensure that the fight was swinging in my favor.

Protect Those Gates!

It should go without saying, but you can never be too cautious with Gate protection. If your enemy has Fast Movers, you can almost bet that they will be targeting your Gates. Use this knowledge to your advantage, and position your AA choices near the Gates. Better yet, use War Spears and bring them in as an ambush unit each time the enemy Fast Movers rear their primitive heads.

It’s also worth noting that your Infantry can make Reactionary Fire attacks. If you are searching for an objective in a rear Structure and have little incentive to go to the wall, then go to the wall farthest from the enemy, and park your Gate nearby. The enemy will have little to do to damage them, yet you will be in a prime position to deliver retribution to any Fast Movers that threaten your Gates.

Conclusion

Gates make the Shaltari what they are; involve them in your list-building process from the beginning, as they are much more valuable than the dropships of the lesser races. Protect them and bring them in adequate numbers, and they will return your investment many times over.

That’s all for this time, but there will be more Shaltari Tactics articles coming in the near future. If there is a subject you’d like for me to write about, or a unit you’d like to see with a closer look, then feel free to comment with your suggestions. Thanks for reading!