Oh yes you can control the game! Just place 5 dark reapers at the center and the enemy marines will cram up behind the central building to avoid death. Then watch as the two prisms take turns of delivering indiscriminate fire on the beleaguered troops. How about pinning, especially the Eldar and their dark cousins can really use terror tactics, last game vs. 15 destroyer Necrons I deliberately spread my fire and tank-shocked whenever possible, after 10 tests a 5 destroyer squad broke and went off table! A lost battle turned into a massacre in one move!
The principle of the 5 elements is really very ancient and is likely to have derived from Greek-Egyptian magi. Hermes (known afterwards as achieving Godhood) was the first to introduce them along with alchemy and what is now called the Kabalah. In the following centuries, after massive destruction and war this knowledge was re-implemented by the Pythagoreans, Platonics and Jewish priesthood. It essentially dictates a way of understanding the world via schema parallelization. IOW what we are doing right now, converting abstract moves in a game to a pattern resembling the nature of water and the other elements.
The five elements combined form the pentagram, a classic symbol of protection and wisdom with its reversal meaning the opposite. When your pentagram is used right, the opponent sees it reverse and gets the worse while you are getting the best. The effort of the general is to angle the two fighting star symbols in such a way that their sum vector points to the enemy.
There is virtually no operating army in 40k that does not consist of a little bit from every element. The water generals GK still have fire-power and earthly toughness along with airy land raiders to get them there. Earth then gets into air freezing it and turning it to water, water also comes from the burning of earth to air which then comes down as rain. I.e. the GK get in transports and become water, come out and fire and produce rain.
Now about the real types of commanding according to elements. Fiery armies and generals rely on short bursts of explosive energy, or high energy inflicted upon less for longer times. A classic fire approach with Eldar is 3 warwalkers sprinting out of cover and pumping tons of shots at the enemy. Or a fire dragon squad moving with a serpent and suddenly destroying a 500 point unit in one blow! These units and generals work like hunters, and in the Eldar war machine like feline beasts of prey. Like a lion, the dragons unit may be waiting for 3-4 turns to attack but when it does, it is deadly. A fire general must therefore learn to ease his temper and know when to attack, but when he does he must obliterate like there is no tomorrow. The fire general usually has limited resources and chances of attack and must therefore be very skilled; he must constantly be on hunting mood and must be ready to take the best risks. The fire general wins through skillful killing. The main enemy of a fire general/army is a water army, which is too elusive to hit and kill outright. The best victim is an earth army, he will usually hit that static wall with haste and his fire will outright chew all resistance.
In relation to the other armies, the Eldar are indeed the most fire tempered. Some might say "but BA have more assault and Tau have firepower". Yes, but nothing matches the sudden destruction the Eldar can bring, in fact they are so devastating that they can literally obliterate half an army in one blow and look good doing it. The sudden and immense devastation is also seen in the other players’ reactions yelling cheese at the Eldar above anything else.
This however does not mean that the feline space warriors have no other elements within. Earth generals can be found leading Eldar armies as well. Ever seen those guys with 2-3 largish guardian squads Avatar and one or two Wraithlords and some scorpions infiltrating? Yep, that’s them, I met one at the last games fair in Athens and he made it 2nd I must inform you (in reply to all those crying for the falcon no brainer…). What he did is to set up a solid line and wage a total war of attrition with the enemy. Scorpions were usually send to suicide to delay the enemy and keep him afar and under fire, snipers taking damage and yet surviving and then punching some carnifex to the ground. Wraithlords taking on tanks, 2 preds for each WL only for the WLs to win! Avatar making guardians a nightmare and prohibiting central control to the enemy. The earth general is the most static and to some extent reactive, he wins through positioning. His problem is that he cannot sift position if something goes wrong. His main advantage is that he takes minimal risks and will do well on most battles. His plan is to hold the enemy down and keep him coming piecemeal, then falling into a wall of bricks and perishing. His most favorite enemies are air and sometimes water, while fire as we described above is his worst match. Air will lack the hitting power to shift the mountain and water has a chance of drowning the earth army, but can also be absorbed/reflected.
Air armies are all about mobility, it is the sacrifice of hitting power and enhancement of speed that gives such armies/generals power. The air general strives to be unpredictable and abrupt, in that respect he resembles the fire general yet the difference is that instead of killing blows the air general relies on a series of isolated mini-strikes. A classic Eldar air force is one with many vipers, falcons, hawks, spears and bikes. These units will try to approach isolated formations and instead of utter destruction will at first eliminate the enemy return fire. They will hit tank sides and rear, force morale checks, and finally dedicate all firepower to whatever remains unaffected, thus minimizing their own losses by disruption, some critical killing and target saturation. The air general wins through discipline and concentration. The worst enemy of the air is earth; imagine all those light skimmers with their tons of str 6 firepower falling into a solid block of 25 terminators! Fire is usually an even match and water is to be decimated. Yes air is the best way to destroy water, since the air does not try to capture or burn it, the air simply moves it out of the way or avoids it. Example, the fluid avenger force will not have enough speed to counter the Eldar air army and will fall out of place going piecemeal or the air will be so fast that its power will destroy portions of the water army one by one.
Finally the water army, the most elusive with the cunning generals leading it. As I said water armies rely on blending with terrain using it as much as possible and some mobility to remove serious threats. Fish of fury tactics fit well here as well as some solid core at the center. One never really knows what the water general will do next as in the maelstrom of currents all possibilities emerge. A classic Eldar water stratagem occurs when the next to infiltrate rangers appear right next to a squad of Necron warriors/destroyers and at the first turn move/fleet and charge 12”+d6” thus negating an undesired firebase. The Necrons did not expect that, even if someone infiltrated that close it would be stupid their general thought. Yet the water general is a master of deception and will sacrifice 200 points on turn one since that will allow him to switch to an all out attack to the vulnerable Necrons. He adapts to the foe and kills him in a 100 different ways. The water general wins through deception and patience. The best match-up for the water general is a fire one especially if he is very aggressive and can get angry easily. Earth is an even match and air is difficult to control.
However there is also another type of general, THE general, the top of the pentagram, the Aether one. More soon…