Over the past couple of weeks, whilst working on odds and ends for my Brotherhood of the Forge Witchunters Count-As, I've been going to my Imperial Guard army. You've all got that army somewhere... The one you always mean to use more, but you never do. The one you intend to buy new units for to "refresh" them, but spend money on your favoured army...
Anyway, in a bid to put all my 40k stuff to use, I've been playing non-Britcon practice games using my Imperial Guard army, with the aim being to get the hang of using the Guard, then introduce my Brotherhood of the Forge units into it.
So I thought I'd do a bit of a "What I've used and What I thought" type article about everything.
#1. Vendetta Gunships
I know, a lot of people kicked up a fuss and cried about these online - or the flip side of the coin - spammed them to death in Tournament settings. I've been using all 3 of the Valkyries I bought myself for Xmas, because they look awesome on the table. I use them in a similar to vein to how one would probably use Land Speeders, but with the reliability of 3 Twin Linked Lascannons, not much is standing up to them. They're useful for a "guaranteed" vehicle stopper or Character sniper.
#2. Guardsman Marbo
There was an article on Dark Future games I read today that kicked this article into gear: Dark Future Gaming Marbo Article. I personally, think he's an ace addition to any army, capable of providing either a game deciding block, or a moment of utter comic relief as his Demo Charge flies wildly back onto himself. The only downside I have with him is his lack of Eternal Warrior. I'm still needing to get to grips with him a bit more - such as using Stealth USR in combination with cover, and also timing my combats with Hit and Run USR. I'm looking forward to using him the next couple of games.
#3. Tanks in General
Never rely on Pie Plates. They're all well and good in theory, but the scatter dice has not been my friend the last few games. It's all well and good every few years to take out that deepstriking assault squad and Chaplain in a single shot, but that's offset by the 99 other shots where it veers wildly off target.
I've also learnt that with the Leman Russ special rules, I NEEEEEED to remember about the Lumbering Behemoth special rule. The amount of times last night, that I forgot I could fire an extra weapon, I'd have to take my shoes off to count them up.
The other factor is that Tanks can die easily, one needs to accept that fact. In the past few games, to be able to add more tanks, I've skimped on upgrades. I'm still not sure what the best option is here, but I think the points for Heavy Bolter sponsons may be worth it. Against hordes of Orks and Tyranids, those extra few shots can make all the difference.
#4. Psyker Battle Squads
I really like these guys - mostly because I think Psykers should be on every table going. I have to admit, they can be extremely destructive and can all but guarentee a unit starts running - combined with the Guard's shooting and ability to cause morale checks, you're onto a winner here.
I wouldn't go as far to add another unit in the army, but I wouldn't mind chucking in a Primaris Psyker with them. He uses his power, Battle squad uses Weaken Resolve to make the morale tester's LD drop. Which relies less on the Chimera they were riding in.
#5. Guard Survivability
It's inevitable that Hordes of Guardsmen will die in droves. Especially with Flak Armour. I've taken to using Veteran Squads (until I can be bothered painting up my platoons) and made a habit of upgrading them to have Carapace armour. Admittedly it's a bit more expense in the force, but to me, the survivability outweighs it. I would have lost against Space Wolves last night, had it not been for the fact off shooting attacks, my men were getting Armour Saves.
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So for now, that's what I've currently been thinking about when it comes to Imperial Guard. I'm quite keen to get my Guardsmen and Heavy weapons painted up, so that I can start using some regular Platoon setups, but until I work through my existing backlog, that won't happen. Plus, with Veterans and Mechanised, it's a lot less things to move around and transport between games...
What do you guys think? It's hard not to be influenced by the internet, but similarly it's also hard when one of your favourite units in the book happens to be one of the most used and one of those "We all hate X" units.
Do you guys hate to play against Vendettas and Psyker battle Squads? Are we seeing them less now some people have moved onto the IG "blob" armies?
SB.
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