DAO Union Tactics

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DAO Union
Setting: Grimdark Future
Games: Grimdark Future,
Grimdark Future: Firefight
Species: Mixed
Version: v2.50

Note: as 3rd edition has just launched, the following might not be accurate.

Why Play DAO Union

You want shooting, and lots of it. While DAO melee tends to not be the best, they do have a few tricks up their sleeves, but the biggest thing they bring to the table is effective guns, vehicles, and battlesuits.

Pros:

  • Lots of AP(1) and AP(2) weapons
  • High volume of fire
  • Vehicles can be fairly mobile with Strider as a common rule
  • There are multiple ways to improve shooting even further

Cons:

  • Most units are pretty expensive
  • Low-average number of activations
  • Limited melee options
  • Morale is average at best
  • The majority of your units suffer in the Defense department

Special Rules

  • Accelerator Drone: Extra 6" range for a Spotter Squad's Pulse Carbines. Considering how nasty Carbines can be, this can be a pretty nice upgrade particularly in a combined unit.
  • Beacon: Place Ambushing models within 6” of this model, ignoring distance restrictions for Ambush. This is going to be highly situational, and is mostly useful for last-round objective contesting. Spotter Squads and Stealth Suits can take this.
  • Elemental Power: Before attacking, pick one other friendly unit within 12” of this model, which may move by up to 6". Use to move units into cover or to a position where they can attack.
  • Good Shot: Many of the core DAO units get this rule, which is basically just a +1 to shooting, not much more to say.
  • Inhibitor Drone: -3" to charging this unit, this is a Spotter Squad and vehicle unique upgrade. At 15pts this is a bit expensive, but it gives one quite handy benefit - Ambushers can no longer charge this unit the turn they come in. For a units set up to be backline fire support, that can be a nice safety assurance.
  • Shield Drone: Gives an entire unit Stealth, if you know you're going to be sitting back and shooting, this can be nice, but your value may vary.
  • Spotting Laser: On a 4+ place a marker on an enemy unit. a friendly unit may remove markers and get a +1 to shooting per marker. The +X is one-time use only, so best used either against very tough targets or units with Stealth. You'll get the most utility out of this when either using Suits or combined units, so save your lasers for your hard hitters.
  • Stealth Drone: Enemies within 18" take a -1 to hit when shooting this unit for each drone they have.
  • Volley Fire: The hero and its unit count as having the Relentless special rule. Take great advantage of big volume of fire.

Psychic Spells

  • Killing Blow (4+): Enemy model within 12" takes an AP(4) hit. making this a pretty cheap sniping power.
  • Patience (4+): Grants 2 friendly units within 6" Stealth when they next time they get shot. This is important since most of your troops are pretty poor with defense.
  • Boldness (5+): Two friendly units within 6" get +2" next time they Advance, or +3" next time they Charge/Rush. which won't really be enough to act as an escape button. It can however nudge a unit into cover or into combat.
  • Devastating Strike (5+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 5 AP(1) hits.
  • Deadly Surge (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take six hits each, making this an ideal anti-mob power.
  • Pacification (6+): Two enemy units within 12" get -2 to hit next time they fight in melee. which can pretty easily turn the tables when trying to stall a combat. Really, don't expect any better.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

  • Battle Suit Elite: A flexible tough combat hero who can function pretty well either on his own or with a unit of Battlesuits. He has a ridiculous number of weapon upgrades, so let's cover them one by one. Unlike normal suits, Elites can take up to 3 of these guns in any combination. In addition, there are the typical drone upgrades. Gun Drones make a very solid combo with the Elite's high quality as you'll be able to get more shots off per point, though you're paying more as a consequence. A Mini-Shield Drone is a good choice for a Solo Elite.
    • Shooting: Your Elite comes with two Heavy Suit-Bursts that can be swapped for different special weapons, and two Suit-Bursts that can be swapped for a Rapid Heavy Suit-Burst or a Plasma Sword and Shield combo. Swapping the Heavy Suit Burst with a Suit-Fuse provides AP(4) Deadly(3) in order to demolish any Tough units by negating their Defense scores. Suit-Bursts and Suit-Ions provide mid-range firepower, but one provides Rending to take care of Regeneration, while the other gives a constant Blast(3) AP(1). The Suit-Frag provides long-ranged firepower but is hampered by Indirect. The Suit Plasma provides a mid-range source of AP(4) to take care of anything with high defense. The Suit-Frag provide AP(2) and Lock-On and a long range of 24". Suit-Flamer gives cheap multiple attacks for low defense units. Finally you can also swap in a Heavy Suit-Plasma which has A2 AP(4) and a range of 24, making it ideal for taking care of high defense units at range, or you can take the Heavy Suit-Missile, the longest range option available to the Elite which has two attacks at AP (2) and with Lock On.
    • Plasma Sword and Shield: Your lone melee option, AP(1) with Rending gives this a decent reason to consider it for a defensive measure as Shield Wall keep your Elite in the fight for a bit longer.
    • Equipment: Your heroes can pick out one drone to provide extra utility. The Gun Drone provides you with some supporting fire. The Spotter Drone provides access to a Spotting Laser. The Mini-Shield Drone provides Stealth.
  • Grunt Leader: The Infantry Hero for DAO has a number of options and builds, most of which serve as force multipliers for DAO units. There are a number support options which determine the role that the Grunt Leader can serve. As with the Battle Suit Elite, you can also supplement this with up to two different drones for additional uses.
    • Upgrades: Captain confers Volley Fire, providing Relentless to the whole unit for some extra shots. High Elder confers Psychic for both support and offense that are independent of shooting. Ethereal confers Elemental Power, which is incredibly helpful in shifting a group of friendly models over without activating them and extending their threat range.
    • Ranged Weapons: By default, the Grunt Leader carries a short-ranged Pulse Shotgun with a potent AP(1) to rip through armor. For a mere 5 points, you can extend the range of that by either buying Pulse Carbine or buying the extra long-range Pulse Rifle that sacrifices a shot.
    • Melee Weapons: A lot of these weapons come with sacrificing both the shotgun and the CCW, which can be risky. The Holy Sword is arguably the most cost-effective melee option, providing A3 AP(1) Rending for a well-rounded melee option. The Holy Batons, while A2, come with Blast(3) to cover a wider group of enemies and thus is made to handle mobs. The Holy Dual-Spear comes with AP(4) to reliably injure high-defense units like Destroyers. The Holy Halberd comes with AP(1) Deadly(3), making it best for Tough units. In addition, you could equip the Grunt Leader with the Pulse Pistol (a short-ranged Pulse Shotgun with one less shot) and Ritual Blade for extra melee. This loadout lets you replace the Ritual Blade with either the affordable AP(1) Rending Plasma Sword or the mighty AP(4) Plasma Gauntlet.

Infantry

  • Grunt Squad: Your core shooty infantry, these guys hit hard no matter what you give them and have a pretty decent 4+ def. They have some special weapons and turrets that can add to their anti-tank capabilities pretty substantially. They also have the option to take a drone; a Gun Drone adds some cheap extra fire power to the unit, Spotter Drone gives a valuable source of Spotting Laser, and Shield Drone gives Stealth which makes them a bit more resilient against shooting, if expensive. All this leaves you with one of the more versatile basic troop choices.
    • Shooting: By default, each Grunt comes with a Pulse Shotgun for short-ranged firepower. For relatively cheap, they can improve the range of these guns by buying the squad either Pulse Carbines or going for long-ranged Pulse Rifles in exchange for a shot. In addition, there's the Plasma Rifle that can be taken for cheap AP(4) firepower. The Flamethrower provides a high volume of fire though less effective against armor. The Burst Carbine is also rapid-fire but has Rending if you're going up against a lot of units with regeneration. The Fusion Carbine provides high AP and Deadly(3) to fell Tough units. One model can also buy a Support Turret, equipped with either a Missile Pod with Lock-On to dent flyers or Smart Missiles for more static warfare.
  • Spotter Squad: At first glance, this is just a squad of Grunts with Carbines, Scout and less Defense. However, they have a number of additional upgrade options that make them worth considering. Each squad member can take Spotting Laser alongside the Spotter Drone though this makes them a rather expensive target. It's worth considering this option if you think you can keep them at a safe range or protect them through other means, as it will be pretty difficult to prevent an opponent from shredding them. They also have Inhibitor, Accelerator and Recon Drones alongside the basic drones.
    • Shooting: Up to three of the Spotters can replace their carbines with one of three long-range options. The Ion Rifle has Blast(3) AP(1) to handle crowds. The Scoped Rifle has Sniper, letting it be useful in picking out single models. The Rail Rifle has AP(2) Deadly(3), letting it crack enemy heroes and dent tanks.
    • Drones: Alongside the Gun Drone, Shield and Spotter Drone, a Spotter can also access a set of unique drones. The Inhibitor Drone provides a sizeable bubble to deter charges, giving some protection from melee. The Accelerator Drone boosts the range of the units Pulse Carbines, letting them match range with the special guns. The Recon Drone, while expensive, pulls double duty - Not only is it an extra gun with Rending to pop the occasional armor, but it also has Beacon, making the area around the Spotter a safe spot for anyone using Ambush.
  • Stealth Suits: Tough(3) Ambush unit with Stealth. They're pretty vulnerable to Fusion but are useful for securing objectives or striking vulnerable units with their Burst Carbines. Each Fusion Carbine is only a 5 point upgrade, making for a cheap vehicle popper. They can also purchase a Spotting Laser, while Beacon allows you to act as a set-up for further Ambushers.
  • Battle Suits: Ambushing, flying, gun platforms mechas. Each Battle Suit can take up to three guns in a variety of combinations and up to one drone per squad, this means a basic squad can have up to nine weapons and a drone. You can also sacrifice a slot for a Plasma Sword and Shield, providing some melee power and defense, but this will require you to purchase one for every model - including any attached Elite.
    • Guns: By default, each Battle Suit comes with three Suit-Bursts, one of which can be swapped for a Suit-Plasma or a Suit-Missile, and the other two can be traded for a single upgrade, losing attacks but gaining special rules like Blast and Deadly. Suit-Flamer gives gives a Reliable Blast (3) for taking care of horde units, Suit-Fuses provide AP(4) Deadly(3) in order to demolish any Tough units by negating their Defense scores. Suit-Bursts and Suit-Ions provide mid-range firepower, but one provides Rending for anti-regen, while the other gives a constant Blast(3) AP(1). The Suit-Frag provides long-ranged firepower but is hampered by Indirect. The Suit Plasma provides a mid-range source of AP(4) to take care of anything with high defense. The Suit-Missiles are your longest range weapons, provided with AP(2) and Lock-On, which isn't as powerful as it would be against Aircraft.
  • Gun Drones: Gun Drones benefit from Fearless and Flying, while sacrificing AP to put out the same amount of Fire Power. With Shred Ammo, they make an excellent option for heroes with Captain to attach to, allowing them to roll an extra attack for each successful rend on the first roll. For a little less, they can grab Precision Rounds which ignore cover. Finally, they can also grab Regeneration. Probably one of the most powerful choices for TAO right now.
  • Sniper Drones: You've got a bunch of flying Pulse Rifles for a cost cheaper than equipping grunts with them, but you only get 3 instead of 5. The only way to make that better is if you slap on a Drone Controller and grant those flying rifles Sniper, thus making them even more scary.

Vehicles

  • Hover Transport: Fast and Strider make this transport incredibly mobile when compared to their contemporaries. It's also got a hefty bundle of shots with its Dual Heavy Twin Guns and a Heavy Burst Carbine. If you're looking for an artillery transport, you could upgrade the Dual Heavy Twin-Guns with alternate guns, be it more Heavy Burst Carbines to handle most infantry, Twin Heavy Frag-Pods to handle crowds or Twin Heavy Smart Missiles for long-range artillery. You can even buy Homing Missiles on top of everything else if you need to take down the odd vehicle at a high price. If you're looking for protection, you've got two choices: the Anti-Charge System to reduce the range you can be charged from or a Distortion Engine for Stealth. The former will likely be a very important take if you see something coming at the transport before you get the troops out.
  • Hover Tank: This takes a hover transport and sacrifices its burst carbine and transport capacity for Tough(12) and a big gun. Even with that though, it remains every bit as customizable as the Hover Transport and then you can make your main gun fit the particular occasion you need it for.
    • Main Gun: The stock Sub-Railgun is quite a powerful pick with AP(1) and Blast(6) to handle crowds. Buying Spotting Lasers can give you a relatively safe 6 AP(1) hits against a large unit but in most cases you're better off upgrading. The Ion Cannon upgrades this for pretty cheap with another shot at AP(2), but makes it Blast(3), making it more applicable against things like Destroyers. The Railgun is specially-made to destroy tanks with AP(4) Deadly(6). The Homing Missile Array is equally effective against vehicles, but Indirect does limit your mobility. The Frag Missile Array is your most expensive option, but it fires enough to demolish most infantry.
  • Hover Attack Bike: A lighter option than the other DAO vehicles, equipped with Dual Twin-Guns and a Burst Carbine to make it equipped to handle Infantry. Alongside the weapons available to most tanks, you can also replace its Burst Carbine for a Fusion Carbine, making it a fast and inexpensive anti-tank weapon.
  • Heavy Battle Suit: A tank on two legs, capable of gearing up to destroy anything. On top of its other guns, it can get Homing Missiles like the tanks and either a Twin Plasma Rifle for anti-armor or Twin Smart Missiles to handle crowds. They can take Shield Drones or Gun Drones for additional support.
    • Main Guns: By default, each suit comes with a Quad Frag Launcher, allowing it to level hordes in short order. You can replace this with either a Twin Heavy Rail Rifle for anti-tank at a discount or Quad Missile Pods for long-range barrages of doom with Lock-On.
  • Heavy Stealth Suit: This suit is uniquely able to Ambush while also having Stealth and the option for Stealth Drones for additional protection. Within its 18" range by equipping two Stealth Drones, it's able to lay down a lot of firepower which can be tweaked either towards infantry or vehicles depending on build. The Heavy Ion Carbine is a decent all-rounder, while the Heavy Fusion Carbine can present a serious threat to tanks. The Twin Flamethrower is just a flood of an attack, though you could instead buy a Twin Burst Carbine for more protected infantry or a Fusion Carbine if you want more bang.

Aircraft

  • Razor Fighter: The cheap fighter, equipped with only a Twin Burst Carbine for dogfighting and an Ion Cannon to blast mobs. If you want better range, you can replace the burst carbine for a Smart Missile Pod for anti-armor firepower that can bypass cover. This can be combined with the Homing Missiles to handle tanks, though suffering from Indirect at every turn.
  • Sun Bomber: Better armed to spread the love. The Missile Pod covers direct fire (and can be doubled for 30 points) that bypasses cover while the Pulse Bombs eradicate nearby hordes and the Twin Ion Rifles can handle more distant crowds. As with the razor fighter, homing missiles aren't a very worthwhile purchase because of Indirect and mandatory movement.

Titans

  • Tide Titan: The closest you have to an elite melee unit. Fortunately, those Heavy Plasma Swords provide a lot of attacks at AP(1) with Rending and the Twin Plasma Rifle gives a bit of anti-armor. Either sword can be replaced with either a Twin Heavy Burst Carbine or Twin Heavy Ion Cannon for shooting up crowds or a Nova Shield for Regeneration. If you need shooting without compromising melee, you can replace the Twin Plasma Rifles with either the Twin Fusion Carbine or Twin Smart Missiles.
  • Surge Titan: Even tankier at Tough(24), but you are now only available to shoot with a literal array of bullets with Cluster Rockets firing upon everything with AP(1) while the Pulse Blaster blasts crowds. If you wanted something even more dedicated to handling tanks, the Pulse Blaster can be traded in for a Pulse Driver. If you wanted another gun, you can pick up the Twin Flamethrower for a barrage, Destroyer Missiles to dent tanks and/or Twin Smart Missiles for expensive long-range coverage. That Flamethrower can be replaced with either a Twin Frag Pod to pop crowds or a very costly Twin Burst Carbine to handle most infantry.

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

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  • Your Infantry are some of the most flexible in the game due to a variety of upgrade options.
  • Spotting Lasers are unique to DAO (and Rebels) and can be key for setting up attacks with powerful and expensive units. If you choose to lean into this, then protecting both units with spotting lasers and the units that rely on them will be how your list carries the game.
  • Because DAO are lacking in melee, they have be very careful dealing with aggressive opponents.
    • Be mindful of activation: prioritize targeting units that have not yet activated but could try to charge you
    • Moral Tests are Key: If a unit doesn't pin or route, then it can shoot back against what charged it on the next round. If a unit is pinned, it will have to spend its activation unpinning itself, and can easily be charged again. Heroes can be very useful here and tipping the dice just slightly in favor of your units.
    • Remember that if a unit fights more than once in a turn, it will only hit on 6es. As a result, sometimes it may even make sense for you to charge an enemy to cause a route or a pin because they're unlikely to have many successes after the first fight.
  • DAO are also quite vulnerable to ambush. It can help to use some of your fast units to move quickly to support units that get ambushed by opponents. In general, it can be useful to keep a cheap screen around vulnerable units and those with the indirect rule to prevent ambushing units from disrupting them. You can also use your own ambush abilities to counter and screen your models if you expect your opponent to try this kind of tactic.
  • Play conservatively. If you have firepower advantage you want to fall back when the enemy big melee squad is closing in.

Tactics

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  • Artillery Spotting: DAO have unit access to Spotting Lasers, which can be expended to add any value to their attack rolls. This can allow powerful units to effectively operate at a 2+ to hit with shooting (as a natural one always fails). Generally, spotting lasers are best distributed throughout your list with a limit of one or two per unit, rather than relying on spotter squads alone to avoid them being made vulnerable to enemy counter attacks. Used effectively, this gives the DAO devastating fire power.
  • Use Ambushing: A number of DAO units have the Ambush trait. These units can take drop in within 9" of an enemy to take advantage of powerful but short ranged weapons like Flamers and Fusion Carbines. This can be used to help keep powerful units safe while setting up Spotting Lasers and to target opponents with valuable support units that are left relatively poorly defended. This can also allow you to grab a number of neutral objectives and force your opponent to divide their forces and attention onto a number of objectives at once. Finally, Recon Drones and Stealth Suits have the unique Beacon trait-- this makes the DAO uniquely able to set up Counter Ambushes: if an enemy attempts to ambush a valuable squad such as Spotters or Stealth Suits holding a deployment zone, then DAO are able to set up one of their own ambush units to serve as a screen.

See Also

DAO Union
Overview - Tactics - Firefight Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Firefight Quickplay Armies
Grimdark Future tactics
List Building - Strategy - Special Rules
Alien Hives - Battle Brothers - Blessed Sisters - Custodian Brothers - DAO Union - Dark Elf Raiders - Dwarf Guilds
Elven Jesters - Eternal Dynasty - Havoc Brothers - High Elf Fleets - Human Defense Force
Human Inquisition - Infected Colonies - Jackals - Machine Cult - Orc Marauders - Prime Brothers - Ratmen Clans
Rebel Guerrillas - Robot Legions - Saurian Starhost - Soul-Snatcher Cults - Titan Lords - Wormhole Daemons
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