Warhammer 40K Tactics

[SolkaTruesilver]

First, I have to say this: I watched just yesterday Spaceballs, and notice how much the Spaceball's uniform for the prison has some distinctive features like the Cadian's. Anybody ever tried doing a Spaceball army?

The next part of my post is less funny. I recently got my hand on a 4th-edition Imperial Guard codex, and some rules just caught my eyes...

... All weapons and wargear must be represented on the models.

...The type of xenos species the regiment specialises in fighting myst be apparent from trophies such as helmets/heads suspended from belts and behicles or special standards. Some for of reprensentation of the race in question on the regiment's members is mandatory for this Doctrine.

What the hell? Okay, I guess I understand why Xeno Fighter must have some sort of representation, since it'd be too easy to just switch between different kind Xeno Fighter to face your new opponent, but I'll have to go trough buying a few xeno units and sticking them on my guard just so I am allowed to take a doctrine?

And when I am building my army, I'm going to make damned sure I have every single combinaison of gear available for my psyckers, officer, priests, commissars, sergeants, etc... because I FREAKING NEED THE PROPER ITEM ON THE PROPER MODEL?

Does that apply to the vehicules and heavy weapon teams as well? if I installed Heavy Bolters on my Leman Russ, and I want to play it with flamers instead, I'm simply screwed, is that it? I'll have to go buy another Leman Russ, and install flamers on it?

Okay, maybe I am overreacting. Maybe players are leniants about this peticular rule, I don't know, I haven't played much WH40K - yet -. Off course the players must know Games Workshop's pact with the devil to make more money, so perhaps they have learned to do away with some rules GW seemed to have created just to make people buy more models?

What's the community's attitude toward those rules?

[tyckspoon]

70% of wargear options can be represented by sticking on a little tab of Green Stuff in approximately the right shape and then painting it correctly. Alternately, for pistols and knives and the like just glue a random gun at the character's waist. Nobody except maybe the people who vet armies for Games Day tournaments is going to be looking closely enough to notice, or is likely to care. In fact, it's been my experience that the people who check armies for official GW events are the only ones who care about exact representation. Entire games have been played with proxy models (ok.. so the Termies are the Nobs, the Guardsmen are Shootas..) without complaint, although probably with some confusion; compared to that, having a model that doesn't have his melta-bombs represented on the figure isn't really a problem. So.. mostly, I would say don't worry about it.

Or you could look into modular construction for the figures you expect to be changing loadouts a lot. Rare-earth magnets are popular for that; stick them in the shoulder joints instead of glue and you can pop sets of arms on and off. For tanks, sometimes you don't need to do anything- just don't glue the turret and sponson weapons down. The rest of the model frame will often hold them in place, letting you swap in and out different sponson weapon drums or variant turret patterns.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I see what you mean. It just seemed so frustrating if I had to go back and install grenades on my shock troopers just so I can actually begin using those, and then having to remove them from my models when I don't? Wtf?

about "just putting a gun on their belt": the thing is, so far, I like the way my models are painted. The heavy weapon came with strats, etc.. and holstered weapons are carefully painted to that they look like it. I don't want to have to add and remove parts of my models everytime I want to change my army list.

But the other point (about having a stealthy melta gun, lol), it perfectly valid. That is why, earlier in the thread, I specifically asked for how many more Flamer/Grenade Launchers/Sarges I'd need. If worse come to wort, I'll come up with little flags to identify special weapon (You that flamer with the little flag? Well, he's a proxy for a melta gun user, don't confuse him with his buddy with a REAL flamer) and warn my opponent beforehand.

I wonder, what do I have to tell my opponent about my current army list? For example, do I must tell him what's fitted on my Leman Russ when he asks it at the beginning of the game? Should I warn him that "this squad" is equipped with grenades? Should I tell him what kind of grenade?

[Dervag]

I think it would be poor sportsmanship not to.

After all, you're at least supposed to give your enemy full information about your army's weapons loadout by having it all visible on the models. Since that's not practical, you should probably volunteer information about which squads are armed with antitank weapons and stuff like that.

[Wraith]

I think you guys have an absolutely perfect answer to this question. Different configurations of the same model is strictly speaking unnecessary, but at the same time they shouldn't be needed if you're using the correctly sportsman-like attitude

On a slightly different subject, in my little circle of opponents I seem to have broken the metagame and thought you guys would like to know

I should explain what I play in order to make this clear: Mech Eldar, supported by lots of Warlocks and Farseers.
What this means is that half of my 2000 point army has T6, with 3+/5+(Cover) saves which I usually get to reroll, while the rest is comprised of 4+ Invulnerable, or simply T8 W3 for my heavy choices - all of which are Fearless to boot.

It's not an unkillable army by any stretch of the imagination but I freely admit it's quite a daunting one and a pain-in-the-everything under certain situations - Take And Hold, for example.
My opponents, however, have over reacted to an alarming degree and have either bought entire armies to take me out, or have modified their existing ones to the extent that they are unrecognisable from the lovingly-crafted themes they used to represent. The Slaaneshi/Tzeench Chaos Marine player has found a gratuitous influx of Obliterator Cults, 5-Man Havoc Squads, Plague Marines and even an (Undivided) Defiler. The guy who originally played with a plethora of Railcannons and Ion Blasters in his tailor-made Tau army, has recently swapped the whole lot out for a Deathwing-themed army: 35 Terminators, backed up by 3 Vindicators.

Three S10 Pie-plates working in unison does not, for a fun game, make.

Flamers in Tac Squads have been switched for Meltas. Perfectly servicable Missile Launchers have spontaneously metamorphed into Lascannons. Nothing is even entertained as a viable option unless it is at least S9, Ap2 or both. Essentially it means that everything can kill everything else in one shot, and taking anything less than a fully-fledged MEQ squad is invariably a sacrifice by the end of Turn 2.

In short, the War has escalated to the point where the next step is to start introducing Apocalypse-Grade "Strength D" weapons into normal 2000 points armies, and that is a boundary that I'd rather not see crossed.

Needless to say, despite having the deep-held satisfaction that you inspire dread like no other you know of, this became very old very quickly. Playing with nothing but high-end, high power enemies sucks all the tactics out of the game, and it usually boils down to 'whoever does the most damage in the first turn, wins'. Chaos Marine Armies should not follow the same mindset as Imperial Guard tank armies, for crying out loud!

I'm no longer sure if this is a rant or a boast, but I'm open to responses to either.
I'm seriously considering ridding myself of my Ghost Army and taking something deliberately 'softer' just to encourage other Players to loosen up a bit, but I realise that such change will come slowly and I will be in for many-a severe thrashing in the meantime; thrashings that may only encourage them to KEEP their superior, Las-infested armies.

Suggestions as to what I should play next are greatly appreciated, along with any observations you might wish to add.
Even if they're just different versions of 'well, you started it and you're just getting what you deserve', or if you want to agree with me that the modern 40k game is leaning on the fashionable crutch of 'Super Heavy Weapons = Win', as - with the welcome exception of a few very dedicated theme armies that have been discussed on this Forum - seems to be the case everywhere I look, I'd like to know.

[Eldan]

Not everyone plays superheavy... I play a mixed Eldar army. Granted, I have fire dragons, a falcon, a wraithlord, reavers and the like, but I also play with harlequin and two pathfinder squads in the same army.

On the other hand, my main opponent is a Tau player who loves Railguns. As in, maximum number of broadsides and a tank. Infantry with railguns. All that stuff. Everything that doesn't have a railgun is a suit. And a minimum amount of firewarriors. It's really annoying. At least Falcons never die. But having the Wraithlord obliterated as soon as he leaves cover... meh.

On the other hand, my friend once tried a Chaos army with a lot of proxies and he went down in two turns, all models dead.

[Wraith]

Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate that everyone plays the army they like, and that they are all very different as and when they want/need to be. It wasn't my intention to blindly say "Everyone plays silly armies because they have too many Tanks", and I apologise if it seems that way.

I suppose that what I mean is, like your Tau friend, Eldan, it just seems that Power Gaming is VERY powerful, and every other Forum I visit that has people suggesting armies and wargear invariably has the most common advice being "take more lascannons" rather than "try new things".

I know that everyone reading this thread has alternative selections and backups in their armies, so I hope I don't have much to fear in saying that what *I* usually play against is the sort of army as described above, which I tend to find unimaginative and lazy. Worse still, it often seems to work and I'm at a loss to find ways to influence this for the better.

For example: Another friend, who I have not yet mentioned, has made progress in this area with a Khornate Marines army, though almost entirely due to the new Destroyed Vehicle/Disembarking rules that means he's better off if his tanks are one-shotted in the first turn. It's small progress, and still based on the idea of elite (not the FoC designation, mind) squads winning the game single-handedly.
And he also has a Vindicator 'just in case'.

Maybe I should just accept that I'm getting old, let it go and move on. After all, I had been playing for several years when the original rules for the Eldar Prism Cannon was released and at the time, judging by the reaction of non-Eldar players, you'd think that a 'S9 Blast' weapon was going to single-handed win games for you - never mind the s8 Large Blast abomination you could make if you took 'Prisms in all 3 Heavy Choices!
A single weapon that is now S10 Large Blast used by a heavier, slower army might not seem so unreasonable, in comparison...

[Zorg]

i dont have the book at hand right now, but the crusader doesnt name extra armor (i think) the ereta ads machine spirit.
the dreadnought, on forgeworld there is a psycanon glaive like weapon type dreadnought, the psycanon cant be put on a dreadnought standard the other weapon could simply be a standard dread weapon.

The Crusader is listed as having Extra Armour in the special rules section, that's why it costs 5pts more than the regular type (Ex-A costing 5pts back then).

My bad on the Dread - Imperial Armour 2 gives the option for a Psycannon at +40pts, but is otherwise the same. The close combat weapon is a fancy looking, but standard, dread close combat weapon.

In regards to proxying miniatures, it really depends on the situation - I'd be really annoyed and probably quit the game if I was told as the shooting started that the heavy bolter weapon team were actually lascannons, but I'd be fine being told beforehand.

Things like greandes and whatnot not so much, but if a tank has different weapons to those shown or a character has a powerfist but the mini doesn't I'd want to know beforehand.

I guess the reason for the rule is if in a tournament playing 6+ games over a weekend it'd be pretty confusing by the end of it trying to remember what's what. For just a friendly pick up battle I've no problem, having fought an army of "all the Fire Warriors are Kroot, and all the Kroot are Fire Warriors". Personally I like to be able to look at my opponent's army and make my tactical descisions based on what I see without having to ask what each unit is.

I usually only use one or two melta guns in my Marine army, and three missile launchers, but have four and six of each respectively just in case I need more for the list. Likewise my heavy/special weapons when lined up are about a third of my total figures because of this - I have a dozen Vet Sergeants of various persuasions, which is ok as I can throw them into a Vet Squad if needs be.

Here's a good article on why collecting a ridculous amount of stuff is a good thing. My favourite quote is: "if all you have is 3,000 points in your army, you will always field the same force and your opponent will develop tactics to stop you." My main opponent has around 2,000pts of Tau, I've got around 6,000pts of Marines if I reach for the Rogue Trader shelf, so can throw a wider variety of things his way.

[Zorg]

I suppose that what I mean is, like your Tau friend, Eldan, it just seems that Power Gaming is VERY powerful, and every other Forum I visit that has people suggesting armies and wargear invariably has the most common advice being "take more lascannons" rather than "try new things".

One thing I found to combat this is using scenarios other than the standard missions. For example I'm playing a campaign against the Tau. The first mission was 400pts combat patrol, limited to Troops and Fast attack, night fighting rules.

The next mission is a 1500pt pitched battle (yet to be played). However it is in dense urban terrain (actual urban, not standard 40k ruins), with every building being a scoring objective. The buildings are destructable though, and if they are all destroyed the defender wins.

Normally we both play fairly mechanised armies - I like my predators and dreads, he loves suits and devilfish. The terrain will be so tight that vehicles won't be very mobile in most places, and very vulnerable to flanking. We've both admitted to having terrible trouble coming up with a list - but that's why I designed the scenario, to make us both try new things.

Mixing up scenery types often works - playing a game with really heavy terrain when you normally use a fairly light amount etc

[SolkaTruesilver]

Which means the ones who spit the most money have the best advantages.

Hmm.. can't say I'm crazy about that. But I guess it's somewhat fair game.

Do anyone have developped some way of running a truly good strategic campaign simulation? And I am not talking about territory control Risk-like (like Dark Crusade) but a true situation with army movement and terrain reconnaissance?

[Eldan]

Yes, we do that. I ususally play once every two weeks or so against those Tau. In open field battles with few cover, he usually hands me my ass on a platter by turn 2. And by that I mean nothing left standing except the pathfinders, which he can never take down.
Another factor is that we are both rather poor students, so my 1500 points Eldar is all I can pay for, same with him. We both know what we will be facing, except maybe minor equipment changes.
So we started to play combat patrol and cityfight (cityfight means twenty empty cardboard boxes as buildings. Our terrain consists of a table with a fake grass mat and a handful of craters). And behold, I own him. Pathfinders on a tower? Win. Scorpions hopping from building to building? Win. Swooping Hawks launching an attack on a tank from a rooftop? More win. The battles actually got interesting again.
Well, we also have another friend who plays pick-up heavy orks. Because he likes pick-ups.

[Bryn]

When Cities of Death came out, I got a load of city terrain, and I never play without it. Since I play Guard, I need my cover, but more importantly, terrain has a huge effect on the battlefield and games are a lot less interesting without it. I will always put every single piece of terrain that I have on the table (and I've accumlated a fair amount over time), which is cluttered but a huge amount more interesting than simply placing gunlines on a field.

For the most part, I pick my models based on their design and how well it fits into the style of my army. Though I play Guard, I generally go for detailed vehicles that look futuristic as opposed to the more historical design of Death Korps artillery pieces and certain tanks. I have never got a Baneblade, since I don't think it would work with my army; when I collect Vostroyans, however, I might. I picked Artemia as opposed to Graia pattern Hellhounds for similar reasons.

In the future, I will finish collecting everything I want for the Verdis 8th (read their story here), and I'll collect Vostroyans. Then I'll pick army lists based on a different style: more russes, more gothicness, maybe even a baneblade.

Battlefield effectiveness does influence me but the models are more important.

Just got back from Games Day, btw! The Macharius should be on its way. I'll post pictures when I get it.

[Psychotic]

I prefer the fluff list over the high power'd list anyday. Sure, you're probably not going to win as much, but you played the way you wanted to. The fluff behind my Chaos Space Marine chapter is that they've only been recently converted to Chaos they don't even know that it's happened. So all my models are from the Space Marine model line and I don't use any Chaos units that don't have a direct counterpart in the SM line (IE. Raptors = Assault Marines, Termies = Termies, CSM Squads = Tactical Squads, Chaos Lord = Commander, Havoc = Devastator). Sure, I get torn apart by those lists that have 3 Leman Russes or 2 DP's with Lash, but when I win I like to savor it.

[Eldan]

Heh. The fluff I made up for my Eldar was that they are a small craftworld who swore to protect the old Eldar worlds from intruders. They are focusing on a small area were the Tau are currently expanding, that's why they are running into them all the time.

[SolkaTruesilver]

The fluff for my IG unit is that they are the Gue'Vesa Regiment that was allowed to form an independant unit of human warriors that would fight for the Tau Empire.

The whole idea is that they still have faith in the Golden Throne and the Emperor (you don't throw trough the windows 10 000 years of religious brainwashing overnight), but they believe that the Imperial high-authorities have been corrupted by power over the years. The Tau see that the humans are more.. productive and focused when they are still somewhat religious, so they believe that religion is in keeping with the Greater Good.

So, any human in the Tau Empire who wants to join the Army (but that is not needed by a proper Tau regiment) will join the Gue'Vesa Army. That lead to a pretty various combat force, but they are strongly equipped by former Imperial equipment (when the Imperial worlds joined the Tau Empire) and the Tau can also copy and reproduce Imperial Equipment with ease.

I also tried to give my army Tau Colors..

Look inside for picture. Tell me if I got it wrong...

Spoiler

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But I was wondering if I could give the "Xeno Hater : Space Marine" doctrine to my army. I know it's not standard, but I am sure the Gue'Vesa would have fought their share of Space Marines over the year... And after all, maybe they would see the Space Marines as some sort of freak artificial mutation of humanity? A pawn of the Imperial High Command?

[Eldan]

Hmm. Nice one. You are apparently a lot better at painting then I am.
I'm cheap on the colour scheme: I took the alaitoc one, but with black instead of yellow. Well, since I kicked out my guardians, I only have the wraithlord, farseer, vyper and falcon in ship colours, but still.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Hmm. Nice one. You are apparently a lot better at painting then I am.
I'm cheap on the colour scheme: I took the alaitoc one, but with black instead of yellow. Well, since I kicked out my guardians, I only have the wraithlord, farseer, vyper and falcon in ship colours, but still.

Thanks, these were my first model painted ever (save 10 goblin cavalry done 2 years ago). The tank & 20 guards. (oh.. I painted 10 more guards since I made the picture, lol)

Now, I wonder if I should made my conscripts (they will be the Catchatan(?) models) or wait to get my next shipment of Shock Troopers, Stormtroopers, Leman Russ & Heavy Weapon Team (x6) and paint them instead? Bah! who am I kidding?!? I will have to wait I passed my exams before I do any more painting..

Hey, Oh Great Master of the Imperial Guard named Z-Axis, if you like Hellhounds, what do you say about a squadron of Sentinels outfitted with flamers? I mean, I was thinking.. if you are about to fight other Guardsmen or Orcs.. Deploying 2x 3-Sentinel Squadrons with Heavy Flamers on them would hammer pretty hard in the first turn anyway, with the Scout Special Ability!!!

[Selrahc]

Deploying 2x 3-Sentinel Squadrons with Heavy Flamers on them would hammer pretty hard in the first turn anyway, with the Scout Special Ability!!!

This may be something that has changed*, but I think since all that scout does is give you an extra six inches of movement before the first turn, and because the range of a flamer is 8 inches, and because you only get 6 inches movement, coupled with the fact that games are supposed to start with armies 24 inches away from each others deployment zones, means that you would either be limited to hunting infiltrators(If you get the first turn) or to give your opponent a chance to shoot them down(If they get the first turn).

I'd use them as a deterrent to horde assaulters. Sit back behind cover between your line and theirs, then any horde that wants to charge past, gets 6 heavy flamers in the face, then assaulted by tanks.

*as far as I'm aware the only change in scout is a thing about it letting you come in from reserve on an opponents table edge.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I see what you mean. having 6 Walkers using cover to funnel the ennemy into specific area where your heavy weapon crew will be able to beat/crush them. On the other hand, you'd have to prepare anti-toughy weapon to stop them from hammering the Sentinels to death. (Lascannon cover jumps to mind)

But still, I think that 3x Sentinel with flamers (120 points) might be more usefull on the long run against a horde than 1 Hellhound (115 points)...

EDIT: By the way.. do the Imperial Guard's Power Weapons have special rules else than ignoring armor? 'Cause I want to know how good are the Force Weapons weilded by a Honoria Imperial Sanctioned Psyker... hehe..

[...Pirates?]

If something's listed as 'power weapon', then all it does is ignore saves, which should be the case for the Imperial Guard codex. I read in one White Dwarf an IG player doing a battle report against some orks recommend the strategy of the force weapon and the Honorifica Imperialis, and in fact I believe he ended up killing the warboss, although the warboss may have killed him simultaneously.

[Bryn]

Hey, Oh Great Master of the Imperial Guard named Z-Axis

I wish I was

As for flamer-outfitted sentinels, there's no reason they and Hellhounds are mutually exclusive. I take my Sentinels as part of the Command Platoon, as a Sentinel Support squad. So far, they've been pretty rubbish with multilasers, so I'll experiment with flamers and see how that works out. I like the idea of holding them back to catch assaulters, especially since 5e means that there may well be a squad sitting out in the open without the protection granted from being locked in close combat.

The big advantage of Hellhounds is that you can throw the template 24" and orientate it how you want (arguably, people really disagreed on whether or not this would be possible; I fall on the side that it is, others fall on the side that it isn't). This means that if there are, say, a bunch of Fire Warriors in a building, you don't have to run up close before removing them.


Considering that a few people have been posting pictures of models, would anyone be interested in having a 40k (and WFB) models thread just for that?

[Eldan]

We could. Need to get my camera running first, but why not.

[Zenos]

I've painted my third tank, now I have:
-1 HQ platoon consisting of a command squad w/commissar
-An infantry platoon consisting of:
A command squad (made them from ordinary soldiers with white painted helmets and shoulder pads, I've got my own colour coding system for my army) with close combat weapons (well, rifles with bayonets, close enough) and a proxy commissar.
3x squads with HBs and grenade launchers.
-One armoured fist squad with flamer
-One sentinel squadron of 3 catachan patterns
-One hellhound
-3x leman russ tanks

[YPU]

The big advantage of Hellhounds is that you can throw the template 24" and orientate it how you want (arguably, people really disagreed on whether or not this would be possible; I fall on the side that it is, others fall on the side that it isn't). This means that if there are, say, a bunch of Fire Warriors in a building, you don't have to run up close before removing them.

I say its possible with some sort of incendiary missile type of weapon which orientates itself in the preferred direction right before impact. But the hellhound has a flamethrower like weapon modelled on it, fuel tanks and all, I cant see how that would work. Or are we talking it being possible in the rules?

Considering that a few people have been posting pictures of models, would anyone be interested in having a 40k (and WFB) models thread just for that?

Good idea. Might well be some master converters and painters hiding here in the playground.

[Bryn]

Please, let's not drag the hellhound debate back. Still, here's the illustration I did last time to explain my thoughts on the matter...

Spoiler

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Artemia pattern hellhound driver, are you ready?




See also here for a real world reference of what I'm talking about.

What I do is check with my opponent which way I can point the template before the game, in the interests of not causing arguments.

I'll go and post the model thread now.

[YPU]

ah, i see. Good point tough that would need to extend to other weapons as wel then wouldnt it, tough you could say it does has by far the most fuel to use for it. ok, its posible.

[Kane]

Maybe make it a showcase and modeling thread? Two related functions and it give me a place to ask questions about modeling...

[Bryn]

Maybe make it a showcase and modeling thread? Two related functions and it give me a place to ask questions about modeling...

Sure, feel free to ask about modelling in the thread if you like

[Kane]

Well, in that case, I also just realized another kind of over due question.

Are tactics for fighting Tyranids the same as for fighting Orks? [with Tau]

My Nid friend didn't get teh Assault brood he was hoping for, but he got the Orky part of an AoBR set. He also is likely to expand that one soon. So... Any advice in that regard?

Also, how do you suggest basing models? I've done a few, and going for an urban look, I painted adeptus battlegrey or Charadon Granite, let it dry, applied glue via paintbrush, (I cleaned it up afterwards!) and then dipped it in the sand, waited for it to get kind of dry, and painted that. (mostly Charadon and Adeptus Battlgrey, but also some boltgun metal-ish too.) I think the result is okay, but it's the first time I've done this stuff, so...

Also, is the PVA glue sufficient to glue scenery to the base? I cut up some sprue pieces and painted them to look like broken metal or rebar. (urban theme)

[Wraith]

EDIT: By the way.. do the Imperial Guard's Power Weapons have special rules else than ignoring armor? 'Cause I want to know how good are the Force Weapons weilded by a Honoria Imperial Sanctioned Psyker... hehe..

I read in one White Dwarf an IG player doing a battle report against some orks recommend the strategy of the force weapon and the Honorifica Imperialis, and in fact I believe he ended up killing the warboss, although the warboss may have killed him simultaneously.

Having played with a Grey Knights army, I can assure you that a Force & Power Weapon is THE weapon of choice for killing characters. There really is no better feeling than turning one wounding hit into "all the wounds you have left" on a simple leadership test, provided there's some of your allies around to thin out the bodyguard a bit (Tau Shield Drones especially).

Having said that, the things I really need it to work against (Daemons) are now Eternal Warriors, which are immune to instant death and therefore immune to the effects of Force Weapons. Remember what I said earlier about Codex: Daemonhunters being broken?

Just pick your targets accordingly and it'll probably work out. Eternal Warriors are to be avoided, but for everything else? Their Invulnerable Save is bound to fail sooner or later, and you only need 1 wounding hit...

Also, how do you suggest basing models? I've done a few, and going for an urban look, I painted adeptus battlegrey or Charadon Granite, let it dry, applied glue via paintbrush, (I cleaned it up afterwards!) and then dipped it in the sand, waited for it to get kind of dry, and painted that. (mostly Charadon and Adeptus Battlgrey, but also some boltgun metal-ish too.) I think the result is okay, but it's the first time I've done this stuff, so...

Sounds perfectly fine to me, however only you know what kind of scenery you're playing in . A grey/silver sand is perfectly acceptable, the only exception being that you're playing on a green, grassy table and are utterly pedantic about such details!

Also, is the PVA glue sufficient to glue scenery to the base? I cut up some sprue pieces and painted them to look like broken metal or rebar. (urban theme)

I recommend that, once the glue and paint is dry, you mix up some PVA glue with water so that it's quite thin (about a 1:3 ratio is fine) and paint it over the top. It will dry clear - thus not spoiling the visual effect of your handiwork - and will also 'seal' the sand and make it much harder to scratch off when you're moving the models about or simply putting them in and out of their case.

A trick that I didn't learn until fairly recently, meaning that ideally I need to go back and re-base my entire 70 model army...