Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tactics: No Tanks and No Leman Russ make Granesh something something…

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Hey everyone,

So I finally have time to embark on this part of my hobby and get a new blog post up. About what though? I haven’t had a lot of time to work on personal projects (Which I’m sure my Lord Commissar is ready to execute me…), I got the first group of Skaven finished, as well as two Killa Kans and the Weirdboy. So what on Earth could I write about?

Well last week, during a rather exciting lecture, I drew up a new Imperial Guard list….by memory…which scares me a little…anyways, its got two vehicles in it, as well as over 120 infantry-sized models! It should be fun, I’ll test it out in November when I can actually get a game in…..

2000 Points of Camo Tide!!!

HQ

  • Company Command Squad with Straken, Kell, 2 Meltas, a Medic, and an Astropath
  • Lord Commissar with Power Fist and Meltabombs

ELITES

  • Psyker Battle Squad with 2 Additional Psykers in a Chimera with Extra Armour
  • Guardsman Marbo: The One Man Army

TROOPS

  • 2 Identical Infantry Platoons with:

Platoon Command with Power Weapon and 4 Meltaguns.

5 Infantry Squads with Power Weapons

3 Autocannon Teams

3 Missile Launcher Teams

  • Veteran Squad with a Power Fist, 3 Meltaguns, shotguns, and Demolitions.

FAST ATTACK

  • Valkyrie with Multiple Rocket Pods

HEAVY SUPPORT

  • NOTHING!!!

This should be an interesting army for a couple of reasons. The synergy should be fairly apparent, with a lot of Power Weapons and Meltaguns messing up armoured enemies and tanks. The Psyker Battle Squad is used to either lower Leadership before Straken hits a unit, or to drop a S6 Ap D6 pie plate on an enemy. Marbo is just there for a Psychological sake. The Lord Commissar attaches to the Veteran Squad, which then goes into the Valkyrie, which plays as my usual distant objective grab. Kell is also in the Command Squad just because he has Carapace, a Power Fist/Weapon, and the Regimental Standard, which makes him MEAN.

So I want your opinions on the army? Does it look viable? What should I fix, change, scrap?

I’m also going to have pictures of some Bad Moonz and Storm Vermin up soon, so expect more from the painting table!

Granesh

6 comments:

  1. If the intent is to use the big blog squads, I would suggest dropping either the Autocannons or the MLs and using the points to buy 1 commissar for each platoon blob for morale and using whatever points are left to add meltaguns to the squads themselves.

    The cost of one commissar for each blob is a steal, and he can also bring another PW along for the ride if desired. A few meltaguns will help since they're moving forward anyways, and if placed well can discourage enemy tanks from getting too close/tank shocks. Meltabombs on at least one guy could be good insurance too in case you get stuck with a walker.

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  2. I was thinking about the commissars after I wrote the list, in which case I'd probably drop the Lord Commissar. He's there just to help the Veterans a little, but I don't expect to win a game because of him. I think the Heavy Weapons teams need to be there because of my lack of vehicles.

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  3. I would love to fight an all infantry guard army with my Orks. An all out horde on horde battle would look and be an epic match, and the carnage would be fitting of the Imperial Guard novels.

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  4. I think the lone Valkyrie is going to be a liability, because EVERY anti-tank gun in the enemy army is going to be pointed at it. Either take a middling force of vehicles (Chims for command squads, etc) or stay away from them entirely.

    Power Weapons/Fists on the command squads aren't going to do much- you don't want them to be getting into fights. (Obviously the blobs want them.)

    Creed in your CCS would weaken your melee strategy a bit, but do a good job of replacing the Valkyrie by giving you a late-game outflanker.

    Missile Launchers are basically just worse than Autocannons. Only take them if you want to get maximum milage out of your HWT boxes. (They are also okay on BS4 guys, like CCS or Veterans.)

    I think you may be overloading on meltaguns a bit, assuming you don't run the Valk. With no mobility, the 12" range is really confining. Run at least a few to bring down things that get close, but use Lascannons for tanks and Autocannons for transports.

    The PBS will have the same problem as the Valk- their lone Chimera is going to be a huge target. Try running them without it and in a small (5-8 man) squad- you can hide them behind some blocking terrain and pop out one guy to blast some Marines or send a squad running. They'll still be a target, but a smaller visible one.

    Veterans don't help a lot if you don't have a way to deliver them. If you dump the Valk, also drop the Vets.

    You don't actually have all that much shooting, since you have so many points tied up in melee upgrades, etc. I struggled a bit coming up with an all-infantry Guard list, and this is what I eventually came up with:

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  5. (con't due to char limit)

    (1500)
    Company Command Squad (85)
    Vox, Standard, Missile Launcher

    Company Command Squad (85)
    Vox, Standard, Missile Launcher

    Ministorum Priest (45)

    Guardsman Marbo (65)

    Psyker Battle Squad (80)
    +2 Psykers

    Infantry Platoon
    Platoon Command Squad (55)
    Missile Launcher, Sniper Rifle, Vox

    Infantry Squad (75)
    Lascannon, Vox

    Infantry Squad (70)
    Lascannon

    Infantry Squad (70)
    Lascannon

    Heavy Weapon Squad (60)
    3 Mortars

    Heavy Weapon Squad (75)
    3 Autocannons

    Infantry Platoon
    Platoon Command Squad (55)
    Missile Launcher, Sniper Rifle, Vox

    Infantry Squad (75)
    Lascannon, Vox

    Infantry Squad (70)
    Lascannon

    Infantry Squad (70)
    Lascannon

    Heavy Weapon Squad (75)
    3 Autocannon

    Heavy Weapon Squad (75)
    3 Autocannon

    Infantry Platoon
    Platoon Command Squad (30)

    Infantry Squad (105)
    Power Weapon, Commissar w/Power Weapon

    Infantry Squad (60)
    Power Weapon

    Infantry Squad (60)
    Power Weapon

    Infantry Squad (60)
    Power Weapon

    Important things to note: Vox all over the place lets you take maximum advantage of orders, which are a big strength of not running vehicles. Standards + Comissar help keep dudes in the fight. Missiles are there so I don't have to spend extra money on HWT boxes; they would otherwise be replaced with ACs on the PCSs. Priest is likewise there for fluff reasons and is entirely replacable. PBS is a nasty surprise for those that forget about them and can help drive a unit of Nob Bikerz or the like off the table first turn. The two smaller platoons normally blob up and get three TL Lascannon shots against things (thanks to orders) or pour absurd numbers of Lasgun shots into them; the Comissar platoon is there to absorb charges and can be kept separate if you are worried about claiming objectives or they have ueber assault units that can carve through it quickly. Station it in front of your main line and just keep shooting.

    (A "horde" IG list needs roughly one body per ten or fifteen points, which your list falls a bit below. You also, as I said, don't have a good shooting component to take advantage of those big platoon screening units. HWSs can run off the board very easily if they aren't in Commissar range and can be shot down, whereas large combined infantry platoons have twenty-five wounds you have to chew through before anything meaningful occurs.)

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  6. Wow, you went to town AbusePuppy!
    I was trying to stick with Straken, as without him, you lose Furious Charge and Counter Assault, something that's really necessary, I feel, in the force. The Valkyrie/Veterans are a reoccuring theme in my armies because I love my models, so they're expendable and changeable. I do like the second Company Command, as the orders are definitely a good thing to have; however, I don't like the Lascannons in the Infantry Squads. The unit is supposed to be moving forward, rapid firing/Meltagunning, then when the enemy gets in range, you shoot the Meltas and assault.
    Very nice, I might throw up your post in a future blogpost just to get another discussion going!

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