Learn Objectives, Tactics, & Strategy (LOTS)
Strategic Concepts
So, you've read the rulebook. You purchased some models (or found some proxy counters or whatever). You know how game goes, and the difference between Fury and Focus. You know how to Activate your units, and you know that a Feat requires timing. You know that there are two ways to win the game; Victory by scenario or by assassination. Gathering Scenario points or eliminating the enemy 'caster. Now, lets take a look at some of the common dynamics that are used by players to understand their games, and what happens on the board. You probably want a balanced list that has enough flexibility to grab some points ( or at the very least stop the opponent from doing so) and finish off the enemy caster if the opportunity arises. When you create an armylist, you want it to be able to cope with a lot of different situations, depending on what kinds of enemies you usually play against. Before you go to war, you might contemplate what sort of strategies and tactics are available to you. The strategy is the over-arching way you are going to play the game in order to win. It also defines what kind of models you want to field. The tactical side of things is represented by your faction's ingame shenanigans, such as possible ways to ensure that you strike first, avoid being hit, or survive a hit.
So, you have quite a few strategic options to choose from. The army will invariably be better at some things, but some times it is not enough to read the cards (or war room), figure out which is the most killy, and then just take that. Your army synergy is crucial, and choosing abilities that complement each other and your strategy. You want your list to be good at killing the enemy, true. You might also want it to be able to limit your opponents options, dictate what they can or cannot do, and survive the retaliation of your clever opponent. Either way, it is a good idea to have a feeling what it is your army is trying to do, and few armies are able to do it all.
Destructive Power
This is obviously what the game is about, but it is less obvious once you start analyzing it a little. You want to destroy as much as the opponents army as possible. So this is about the relevant qualities a model may have that enables it to be destructive: amount of attacks, attack accuracy, damage amount and threat range. You want it all, but the balance is the tricky part. The opposite side of the table might just as well field a gargantuan or a devastator or something else that requires a humongous damage output of your most hard hitting models - or it may be a horde of zombies that require numerous attacks to clear. Or it may be a dodgy solo, that might really hard to hit, or even to target it. You want anti armor, anti infantry, and anti-solo qualities. Of course, the model is pointless unless it can deliver the attacks. Better reach and an excellent Speed score helps you deliver those attacks, as do movement tricks such as Counter Charge, Vengeance, Rush and so on. The added value of the models Speed and weapon range gives you the threat range, but remember your potential speed modifiers, such as casting Rush or Mobility, which may inherently change how dangerous a model really is. A model with bad attacks but an outstanding threat range can threaten other models with bad defenses, such as certain support solos. So you want a decent spread of categories, or ways to switch your attacks from category to category. Thresher can turn a single hard hitting attacker into an infantry mulching machine, and the model can now support both anti infantry and anti armor roles in your army composition. Combined Attacks works the other way, turning a great many attacks into fewer and more efficient attacks. All potential attack modifications theoretically allow a greater field of flexibility that modify your attacks, such as Carnage, Calamity, Chiller. The balancing act depends on the spells, abilities and feat of the warlock or warcaster and your support models.
Attrition
Your attrition capacity is related to your destructive power, but really has a lot to do with your defenses as well. If your army is able to stay alive on the board longer than the enemy, you are playing the attrition game. The army might combine really numerous and / or tough elements, or powerful spells that increase the resilience of the army. It can dish out enough damage to remove more of the opponents models than the opponent can remove of yours. This should allow you to gain a progressively better position evert turn. At some point this should open up for either the possibility of assassination or gathering enough scenario points to win.
Board Control
Some warlocks and warcasters mainly smash face. Others are able to stand back and through other means dictate what the enemy can and can't do. This can happen through feats or spells, such as the feats of the Harbinger of Menoth, The Old Witch of Khador or the spells of Krueger the Stormwrath that dictates tactical limitation around them by punishing and discouraging movement. Since this allows the player better tactical possibilities than his opponent, maneuvering should allow the player to set up assassination or gather enough scenario points to win. Board control is a highly efficient tool that, while in itself it does not assist attrition or destruction, though it may provide scenario victory by denying access to areas or moving the enemy away. But board control is everything that allows you to regulate the position of the opponent, such as throwing enemies, knockdowns and some cloud effects.
