In this post I’ll show you how to get the most out of the Unbreakable special rule
This rule literally states the following:
“If a unit with this special rule loses a round of combat, it is not required to make a Break test. Instead, it will automatically Give Ground (2 inches) as it is pushed back by the enemy.
Characters that are not Unbreakable cannot join units that are, and vice versa.
What changed for Unbreakable in Warhammer: The Old World — and why it matters
In previous editions, if you had this rule you would remain in base-to-base contact and locked in combat with the enemy from the moment one of you charged until one of the two units died. In this edition, in Warhammer: The Old World, that’s no longer the case.
Every time a unit with this rule loses a round of combat, it gives ground 2 inches. That means it breaks contact (it’s no longer engaged), unless the enemy chooses to follow up — that choice is made by the winner of the combat.
In that sense, you could argue the rule is worse now, because it no longer lets us keep an enemy unit tied up until the end of the game, like it often did before.
But there’s a way to avoid that, and it’s the following:
Advanced Unbreakable tactics in Warhammer: The Old World
How to keep an Unbreakable unit in combat
When you lose combat, as I said, you fall back two inches (give ground).
However, if we place another of our units behind the Unbreakable unit in contact with it — meaning the two units are in base contact — things change.
When the Unbreakable unit loses combat, it won’t have space to fall back, bumping into the friendly unit behind it. As a result, it won’t separate and will stay locked in combat.
This is great for preventing not only the Unbreakable unit, but any unit, from giving ground and getting disengaged. But it’s especially useful here, because Unbreakable units will never fail and run.
There are certain units that are particularly good at doing this job.
The first are cheap units, such as Great Eagles, Chaos Warhounds, or a Razorgor.
The “pro” trick
The first thing that comes to mind is to place the front of the supporting unit directly against the rear of the Unbreakable unit.
But there’s a better way to do it: you can place the flank of the supporting unit instead.
Let me explain.
What you can do is move the flank — instead of the front — of the unit you’re placing behind, so that on one of the two sides of the Unbreakable unit you still have a good angle to move or charge next turn.
On the other hand, another very strong option is: if you’ve got a skirmisher unit holding an objective, extend its formation so that one model sits behind the unit you don’t want to give ground, while still holding the objective at the same time.
That way you can do both jobs at once (imagine a unit of ungors under 100 points holding an objective, shooting with their short bows, and preventing a Giant Spawn of Nurgle from disengaging… the value you’re getting every turn is huuuuuuuge).
The most common mistake I see on the tabletop
Imagine this.
The enemy charges your Unbreakable unit in their turn, wins the combat, and doesn’t pursue — which often happens with this kind of unit, because they’re tough, and you’re usually not killing them anytime soon.
Now the enemy is sitting in a spot where you’ve got hard-hitting units ready to countercharge, on top of your Unbreakable unit.
Can you picture the situation? Good.
At this point, most players don’t even think about it, regardless of how the game is going.
The common mistake I see is this: you’ve got a unit that’s about to countercharge and wreck the enemy unit that just got disengaged… and you also charge with the Unbreakable unit.
But you don’t have to.
Instead, you can maneuver it and use its remaining movement to do the same job again somewhere else, or to cover the position where your friendly unit is going to end up after the finishing the enemy.
For this to work, your Unbreakable unit needs to be the one out in front and, obviously, you should only do this with units you know are going to resist — units the enemy simply won’t be able to kill.
I’m going to leave some related posts here. I hope you find them useful.
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