TACTICS are the playable cards that could be considered the "Spells", "Sorceries" or "Magic" of The Horus Heresy: Legions.
They all share the same gameplay mechanic of being used, do some type of effect (deal damage, give a buff, interact with other cards, etc) and move to the "graveyard". Thus, they don't remain in play like Troops does, and don't have Ad/Hp values.
Tactics commonly don't have Traits like Troops does (except for Tribal Traits), but do use Traits for its effect/condition for the effect: If a Tactic states "Deal 3 damage. Courage: Deal 2 more damage", then the secondary effect won't trigger until its condition (the enemy having more units than you) is met.
All Primarch Warlords, and Primarch tier ones, comes with a unique type of Tactic call Reckoning/Whispers of Chaos (it might have other names, like "Madness", but it's the same game mechanic). The Reckoning/Whisper "transforms" your Warlord into a "better" more powerful version of itself, and offers different abilities than the original (in some cases changing how the Warlord is played). These Special Tactics are not the same as the "regular" Special cards, they cannot be copied (by normal means) and replaces one of the starting cards of a player when the match starts.
Some Warlords do, however, come with a Special Tactic that can be copied and doesn't replace a starting card. This card functions like regular Tactics, giving you varied effects, buffs or anything else the card states.
Proper use of Tactics, when building a Deck, is fundamental for any type of competitive play. A player might opt for a "Troops only" Deck, but that won't only make it really slow (as in most cases the Troop will have to wait till next turn of being played to act), it will leave him with very little solutions in any giving scenario, and in return be easily controlled by the opponent. In other words, it's never recommended to build such a Deck.
On that regard, there are cases of "Tactics only" Decks (often of the "Gimmicky" Archetype). Usually they have a good playing curve, be tied to what your Warlord can do, and in general use low cost removals. As before though, it's easy for a lot of Factions/Decks to be able to just whether this kind of play style and "brute force" the victory, so unless having a very niche/well formed idea of what the Deck will be, it's not recommended.
If one does consider playing in this way, the best type of Decks one should use are the Aggro-type (lots of damage and maybe a couple of Troops for their "Tactic-like" effect), Control-type (stalling the match till late game and finishing with powerful hard hitting Troops or Tactics), or a Duelist-type one (the Tactics will be for supporting your Warlord). In all this cases, the Troops they have are very low in amount, but still necessary.
A player might add up to 2 (maximum) of the same Tactic in any Deck, or 1 for Legendaries, but there's no limit to it if, during a match, they can create the same card over and over.
The category of these cards will be "Tactics", "Special", "Mission" or any other a particular Faction might state for them, however, all of them are considered Tactics for gameplay purposes.
Categories[]
● Tactic[]
- The most straightforward, any card that's not a Troop or Warlord, will be considered a Tactic. Thus, be eligible for any game mechanic like Copy or "create a card" (except for Reckoning/Whispers) that targets Tactics.
- They can be played any number of times as long as the Player can keep creating the same one.
● Mission[]
- Beside having the Tribal Trait "Mission" (for sub-categories purposes), this cards can be used by all Factions, be it from the original Faction itself or by using the ones provided by the Neutral ones.
- Missions will always start in your hand when the match starts, but can be replaced if one so chooses (and will have to wait to draw them before playing them).
- They all share the same mechanic of giving a reward after the stated conditions have been met, and all of them are of the Legendary rarity.
- The same Mission can only be played once, even after getting the reward. However, one can play different Missions as much as they can bring or get during a game.
● Counterattack[]
- While not being categorized as such, Counterattacks are a unique type of Tactic that a player will always get when it starts second in a match.
- They cannot be collected, but all Factions receive one.
Special[]
The "Special" type is varied in what it does, and how can be used by a player, but cannot be "collected" (in the regular term of the word). They come in three different ways:
● Reckoning/Whispers[]
- All Primarchs-Primarch Tier Warlords have them (and in some cases have a different name).
- They transform the Warlord into another version of themself, and replaces one of the Player's starting cards.
- Unlike Missions, this card cannot be replaced, and will stay with the Player (occupying a space in their hand) until played.
- Both previous points are applied, as an offset, because of the general powerful "strength" of this type of Warlords, specially when they transform.
● Warlord Special[]
- Often called "Warlord's Purple" or just "Purple card", this Special always starts in a Player's hand when the match begins.
- They cannot be replaced, but don't replace one of your starting cards.
- In most cases they offer some kind of buff, or create more cards.
● Created[]
- Some Traits or cards creates Special Tactics, like Daemonhost, Marks of Chaos or Mutations.
- They're added, where you can view them, to the Collection tab, but otherwise you can't interact with them nor play them directly (the card Mutate gives a Mutation to a Troop, but you can't play the card Mutation gives).
- Thus, they're only a card for categorization and ease of information.
- This Special Tactics will always give a buff of some kind.
Categories by Factions[]
Some Factions have "unique" types of categories for certain Tactics they use, but all players might access them if they can copy or create them. As before, all are considered Tactics for game mechanics.
● Psychic Power[]
- From the Thousand Sons Faction.
- Most of the time, they're tied to the special Resource Psychic Energy, or interacts with the Psyker/Focus Trait.
- Because of this, is harder for a Player (that copied or created them but is not a TS Warlord) to use them properly.
● Secret Card[]
- From the Alpha Legion and Blackshields Factions.
- The AL and BS Factions share the "Trap" Tactic, but the "Secret Order" and "Secret Identity" are from the AL Faction only.
- The first two works by targeting the enemy deck or troops, while the last one works on your Warlord.
● Augmetic[]
- From the Iron Hands Faction.
- All of them share the same effect (deal 1 damage first and then give a buff) and can only be used on your Troops.
- They can only be created, if you want to play them, but will stay in your hand till you see fit to use them.
● Artifact[]
- From the Salamanders Faction.
- They deal damage or give a buff of some kind.
- They can only be created, if you want to play them, but will stay in your hand till you see fit to use them.
● Warband[]
- From the Blackshields Faction
- This category works mostly for differentiating from other Tactics, and synergy better with the BS Faction, but otherwise don't offer any type of unique gameplay.
Tactics by Faction[]
-Click in any to see the full list of that Faction Tactics.
Traitor[]
File:Sohicon.pngSons of Horus · File:Worldeatersiconbig.pngWorld Eaters · File:Emperorschildreniconbig.pngEmperor's Children · File:Deathguardiconbig.pngDeath Guard · File:Ironwarriorsiconbig.pngIron Warriors · File:Alphalegioniconbig.pngAlpha Legion · File:Nightlordsiconbig.pngNight Lords · File:Thousandsonsiconbig.pngThousand Sons · File:Wordbearersiconbig.pngWord Bearers
Loyalist[]
File:Ironhandsiconbig.pngIron Hands · File:Salamandersiconbig.pngSalamanders · File:Ravenguardiconbig.pngRaven Guard · File:Spacewolvesiconbig.pngSpace Wolves ·File:Ultramarinesiconbig.pngUltramarines · File:Bloodangelslegacyiconbig.pngBlood Angels · File:Whitescarslegacyiconbig.pngWhite Scars · File:Darkangelslegacyiconbig.pngDark Angels · File:Imperialfistlegacyiconbig.pngImperial Fists
Auxiliary[]
File:Custodesiconbig.pngLegio Custodes · File:Ruinstormlegacyiconbig.pngRuinstorm · File:Sisterslegacyiconbig.pngSisters of Silence · File:Agentslegacyiconbig.pngAgents of the Sigillite · File:Traitorlegioslegacyiconbig.pngTraitor Legios · File:Loyalistlegioslegacyiconbig.pngLoyalist Legios
Unaligned[]
File:Blackshieldsiconbig.pngBlackshields · File:Defenderslegacyiconbig.pngDefenders of Caliban · File:Knighthouseslegacyiconbig.pngKnight Houses
Neutral[]
File:Imperialarmyiconbig.pngImperial Army · File:Mechanicusiconbig.pngMechanicum · File:Chaosiconbig.pngChaos
