In the spirit of Hulksmash's amazing Tyranid thread, I would like to try to clumsily create a 'one stop shop' for Imperial Guard. Those of you unfamiliar with it can find it here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/319613.page. I can't do this alone though. The codex is just too big for one person to be well versed in every permutation of every option.
I encourage everyone to post their own observations, experiences, tactical choices, mistakes, and achievements, but the only thing I ask is that you please back it up with explanation. Saying, "Eradicators are the best vehicle in the game!" is well and fine, (really, I'll let it slide
) but please, back it up with something explaining what's made you feel that way, otherwise it lacks context and is useless to the exercise at hand. Personally, I think the game has enough chaos and situational circumstance in it that there isn't any real WRONG statement concerning unit effectiveness. That's right, there's no WRONG answer. There are circumstances that Eradicators are useful. There's circumstances that Ogryn are useful. It might not be every time, but they will prove useful in at least certain circumstances, and I don't want that falling in the cracks of the conversation. On the other hand, if anyone IS wrong about something, feel free to point it out, but explain why, otherwise it's just trolling.
So, now that I'm done with my wordy preamble, on to the start of things. I'm going to break down the Codex in a unit by unit analysis. Some things I have more experience with than others, but I will talk of what I have seen and let others fill in the gaps.
A few words on Powerblobs and Tarpitting:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/396245.page#3312775
Assaulting with
IG ICs:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/396245.page#3317380
-- Start of Unit Review --
HQs:
Company Command Squad: In a nutshell, amazing. For the cost of an infantry squad, you get a 5 man BS4 squad, a model with an invul save and 4 attacks at WS4, and the ability to take about any upgrade in the book. The major ways I've seen them run personally include "the special weapon build" and the "gunline support build".
The Special Weapon build usually consists of 4 plasma or 4 melta run in a Chimera. I like to give the commander a power weapon for when they're inevitably forced from their ride, but that is somewhat of a guilty pleasure. I started doing it when I noticed that most marine players like to charge the squad after blowing up their transport, so I thought I would just take a couple down with me.
The Gunline Support build typically involves a standard, and a heavy weapon (generally lascannon). The general idea here is that they stay back with
heavy weapon squads to help anchor them from failing woeful LD7 checks. As you will get 7 or below on
2d6 more often than you will not, the reroll from the standard gives you reasonable expectation that you will pass. This is about the only way I can advocate running
heavy weapon squads, as they're too easy to run off. This also leaves you in a convenient place to use
BiD and
FomT, which
heavy weapon squads benefit from immensely.
I've never had luck with Straken, and Creed/Kell to me seem like a natural extension of the Gunline build mentioned above. If someone else could comment on how to use them effectively, I'd appreciate it.
Concerning Advisors, I recommend that if you have two or more units depending upon a reserve roll, you should take an astropath. You should also take one if you have something depending upon outflanking on to the correct side (like Al'rahem). I do not like the OooF. I feel like
40k rewards you for being the person to have reserves come in at the same time, so I would not want to pay points for something that increases the odds of my opponent getting that advantage. I also do not like the
MoO. Though he's only 30 points, his inaccuracy is a major concern, and the inability to fire on the move makes him inappropriate for the Special Weapon Build. I might be able to rationalize him for Gunline Support though.
KestrelM1 offers the following on upgrades for this squad:
1. The Regimental Standard
- I find there are a lot of people who don't like Leadership insurance, especially one that competes for a BS4 special weapon slot, and isn't exactly cheap. All I can say is that my experience has proven the Standard invaluable, as it saves at least one squad from failure virtually every game. If you're playing Mech Guard you will be making LD8 and LD7 checks constantly. Every Destroyed - Explodes! result is more likely than not going to force both a Pinning and Morale check, and failure on either one can effectively take the squad out of the fight for an entire turn. Get Back in the Fight! can mitigate this somewhat, but rolling on the aforementioned LD8/7 is hardly consistent, and those orders could be much better spent on the highly effective Bring it Down! or Fire on my Target! instead. Re-rollable Morale goes an incredibly long way to ensuring that your squads are dangerous down to the very last (LD7) man. It's a piece of wargear that simply WILL make an impact in every game you play.
2. The Astropath
- This depends somewhat on your army composition, but if any significant portion of your army is able to fire after moving onto the board (i.e. virtually any mech army), then the Astropath gives you an incredibly powerful option: the ability to Full Reserve with far fewer of the associated risks. Facing Drop Pod spam? Simply reserve your army, let the drop pods waste their effort coming down with no targets, then roll on the board and clean up. Facing a shooty army and going 2nd? Reserve your force and retain your alpha strike capability by denying the enemy's ability to suppress your units, or simply retain the ability to pop smoke when rolling on the board. Outflank with incredible accuracy to punish your opponent for deploying in the corners of the board. Even if you never make a single reserve or outflank roll, simply having an Astropath in your army list significantly improves your deployment and tactical options, and that's 30 points well spent. I personally use him in a Straken HQ where his 2A (Pistol+CCW) and expendability (once reserves are on the board) are a big boon.
Lord Commissar/Yarrick: This guy is really the only configurable
IC that
IG get, and so sometimes I feel like that's some of the allure for people sometimes. I find his practical application limited. His is useful for giving a squad high leadership/stealth, and that's about it. He is a natural choice for a squad of
Ogryn. He's also good for attaching to a
heavy weapon squad or a Gunline Support build
Company Command Squad in the interest of keeping the
heavy weapon squads at high leadership, though I would be careful about the latter, as you don't want to lose your commander over a bad leadership roll.
Yarrick seems to be an extension of the Lord Commissar, except you're paying 115 more points (and losing your invul save) for Eternal Warrior, +1T, Fearless on your squad, and a stubborn bubble. I'm still unconvinced that this is really beneficial, though he does provide a location with which to soak S6 and greater wounds in a squad, which I guess could be valuable to someone.
Primaris Psyker: This guy is the only one of two
IG psykers, and their only source of a Force Weapon. Unfortunately, he's only LD9, competes for a valuable
HQ slot, and has some lackluster powers. I could see him being reasonably effective anti-horde in a mechanized list, though for 70 points, you have a good start on another
Veteran squad. I'd rate him as "fun to use, but not competitive".
Elites:
Psyker Battle Squad: These guys can reduce leadership and have a large blast attack. Both are as effective as the squad is strong. Again, this squad suffers from LD9 and is even more fragile than the
Primaris Psyker, since their effectiveness goes down as they take more wounds and they lose a d3 psykers on a perils of the warp. Most of the time, their use seems to be in conjunction with
Basilisks or snipers to pin squads, however, I kind of find this combo gimmicky.
Ratling Squad: These guys are the 'best' sniper that the
IG can get, but it doesn't make them great. T2 and LD6 is not reassuring for determining how long you can keep them on the board, and at the end of the day, most Imperial snipers are quite lackluster. A handful of them might not be a bad idea if you want to tailor against Nids since they can put a handful of wounds on some
TMC, but don't expect them to be a solid feature of any list.
Guardsman Marbo: This guy is basically just a cheap demolition pack you can place somewhere on the board. He has melta bombs, good initiative, and decent
WS, however, I just never see him lasting long enough to use any of them.
Storm Trooper Squad: The most unjustly reviled unit in the codex. I think the big problem is that too many people try to compare these guys to
Veterans. They serve roles completely different. You're paying so much for them because they're a versatile unit. They can deep strike, outflank, or infiltrate, all depending on what you decide you want at deployment. I can't think of another unit in the game that gives you those kinds of options out of the box. I typically run a two-melta and a two-plasma squad, and then deep strike them both.
Ogryn Squad: I have a love/hate relationship with these guys. They're the big assault unit of the
IG, but I feel that powerblobs do so much a better job. I use them mostly for cover for the power blobs or as an assault unit in a meched up army, since they're compact enough to fit into a chimera. They almost always should have babysitting from a Commissar Lord, as their LD7 is not to be trusted.
Troops:
Penal Legion Squad: I want to like these guys. I really do. Scout gives them some options for alternate deployment, which I feel is what the guard needs to invest in if they're going to stay competitive, but they can't really do much once they get there. Their special rules are nice, but they're randomly determined. They also can't have any upgrades. All in all, just too limited for me.
Veteran Squad: These guys are usually considered top notch. Typically when I see them, they have the tried and true format of 3 meltas or 3 plasmas, and they take a chimera. Another configuration I recall someone mentioning (Melissia maybe?) was 2 flamers, a heavy flamer, carapace armor, and a power fist, for a meched up assault unit. I've not actually tried this, though I think it would be nasty against horde armies, if not a little expensive.
Infantry Platoon: Platoons are really weird units. Nothing else like them really exists anywhere in
40k that I'm aware of. For one force org slot, you get 2-many units of basic BS3 troops. This is a really difficult topic to talk about, so I'll limit myself to what I've seen, and let others fill in the gaps, rather than simply speculate.
Platoon Command Squads seem to mostly be run as built-in-cost
SWS (with flamers or
GLs, usually) or as cheap as possible, and exist only to order the platoon they're commanding.
Infantry Squads are pretty competitive. The two configurations I've seen them most run in is combined as either a giant gunline or as power blobs. I will come back to power blobs later, as I think one could talk about them enough to warrant a separate section. Commissars seem to be a must either way. A third way I ran them in the Adepticon team tournament two years ago with surprising results was statically placed inside chimeras with grenade launchers and autocannons. Cheap and able to put out a lot of wounds, the chimeras kept fire off of them while they provided screening for the
Basilisks that I had placed behind them.
Heavy weapon squads are fragile and expensive, but they're also the most cost-effective way of providing 3 heavy weapons, and they don't use up a
FOC by themselves. You can have up to 5 per platoon. They're not a bad choice, provided you have some means of keeping them on the board. For this you should use a
Lord Commissar or
Company Command Squad, as mentioned above.
Special Weapon Squads are very hit an miss. They're the only unit in the codex that can get multiple demolition charges, but they're only a 6 man unit and have only LD7. I've run them in
Valkyries with Demo Charges and suicide rushed them in to marines with notable effect, but they're an expensive unit to only be able to use once, totaling 95 points + cost of the
Valkyrie.
Fast Attack:
Valkyries: I started out on Valkyries and used them for horde cleanup, then switched to Vendettas for anti-tank, and now I'm reconsidering Valkyries for transport. These guys have a lot of potential for nasty alpha strikes. I like the idea of scout moving one flat out, first turn disembarking, and then suckerpunching something with a handful of melta blasts or a
Special Weapon Squad's demo charges. Granted, it's a plan that hinges on getting first turn, but you generally have a good idea whether you're going first or not by the time you scout move. The ability to scout move for a cover save is also useful in making sure you withstand that first turn strike from your opponent as well, since these things aren't exactly easy to get behind cover.
Vendetta: It's like a lascannon squad, but better. These things are highly destructive (and highly rated when it comes to target priority). They're great against Nobz, Vehicles, and
MCs alike. The only downside is that they're easy to take out due to size and only having 12 armor for as much fear as they inspire. With these things, I think the old addage "1 is none, 2 is one" applies quite nicely, though I wouldn't squadron them.
Hellhound/Devil Dog/Banewolf: I like the Hellhound a lot. I have three of them, though I wouldn't ever run it in squads of more than two. They're amazing for killing hordes while opening yourself up for the least amount of counterattack. They wound T4 on a 2+ and instakill T3. There's really not much they can't do pretty well. I wish I could say such nice things about the other two variants.
The
Banewolf seems like a natural choice with it's AP3 and 2+ to wound, and I see a lot of people advocating taking it with a heavy flamer, and getting a range synergy between the two weapons, but what happens when the opponent puts all of the chem cannon wounds on his plebs and puts a heavy flamer wound on the melta guy, and a heavy flamer wound on the power fist guy? The truth of the matter is, this tank is just too close range, and too scary at that range to actually be very useful. I could see it being able to clean up remnants of squads nicely, but if you don't get every last one of a squad, your tank is probably going to be in trouble.
As far as the
Devil Dog goes, it's a BS3 small blast melta weapon. That should explain it's shortcomings already. The guard has so many things that can better do what it does. It's one advantage is that it has the range of a multimelta, so combined with being fast, it would have a better chance of penetrating a land raider at 24" pre-movement phase than, say, a melta toting
Veteran Squad.
Sentinels: Sentinels are good harassment units and make decent tarpits for non-powerfist squads, but I think they get somewhat overshadowed by the other
FA choices that the Guard has. I prefer them cheap and plentiful, three of them outflanking with multilasers or autocannons to try to get some rear armor hits, but beyond that, I don't tend to use them often. I've had people use Armored Sentinels with plasma cannons against my
MEQ to considerable effect before, but that's a lot of points to sink into such a fragile platform.
Rough Riders: I'll admit, I probably haven't given these guys a fair enough chance to comment on them, but the couple times I've tried them, I ran a 5 strong squad that typically got shot up before they could do anything meaningful. I think they just suffer from being too fragile for the priority they draw. If anyone else can comment, I would appreciate it.
Heavy Support:
Deathstrike Missile Launcher: What a strange vehicle... This thing really feels like it belongs in apocalypse. It feels very awkward for standard play. I mean, the S10 AP1 blast with no center (everything counts as a direct hit) seems like an obvious choice for an Alphastrike if it weren't so unlikely that it would actually fire. Indeed, this thing could never end up actually firing. It's just too random for me for anything outside of apocalypse. Does anyone have any experience using it? What do you think?
Hydra Flak Tank: This is another thing people have considered all the rage that I don't understand. Autocannons aren't great antitank. They're
okay antitank, but nothing more. I don't think making them longer ranged and twin linked really improves them much, if you're still needing 5s and 6s to glance/pen. They're like lasguns are to
MEQ. And the auto-targetting system doesn't really mean much when most bikes have 3+ armor. I do want to point out the somewhat obvious utility these have against Dark Eldar. I suppose they'd be great against Ork Trukks as well, but I think that the other anti-tank you already brought should be more than enough to cope with them. One thing I notice is that they deny the cover save from flat out/turbo-boosting from ANY shots fired from the hydra, which opens up to such scenarios as 3x3 Hydras each with a hunter-killer missile just removing a skimmer heavy army from the board.
Leman Russ: I'm going to speak generally about the chassis in general and then elaborate on my thoughts on each gun one at a time. Firstly, the tank comes with 14/13/10 armor, which is remarkably sturdy. With clever positioning, you can make a squadron of two of them almost as hard to kill as a land raider! They have the option for sponsons and a hull lascannon, but I feel these options are all overcosted with a few exceptions depending upon which turret you have. Not to mention that this tank wants you to keep mobile, so you're only firing the cannon and one other gun at a time. Most of the time, I see these tanks being debated with an almost religious fervor, but I'll try to stay as objective as possible.
Main Battle Cannon - Probably the best option in my mind. Magic S8 and AP3 means dead marines, Ordinance means you average about 4.5 on your penetration roll, so effecting glances at a minimum on AV12 should be something you can count on for the most part. It's overall a solid choice. Specific Advantages: Magic
AP and S, long range. Disadvantages: Can't reliably destroy armor. Of relatively small utility against things in cover. Sponsons: I'd keep it cheap. Probably wouldn't give it anything.
Demolisher - This is a very short ranged, but highly destructive cannon. S10 ordinance means you have a pretty good shot at AV13/14, and most AV12 doesn't have a chance. Also cleans up Terminators, Nobz,
ICs, really, about anything under it's marker. Also comes with Rear armor 11, which makes it handy for getting close to things that would assault it out of desperation, as assault grenades aren't even effective anymore. Specific Advantages: Amazing S and
AP. Will mess up armor. Disadvantages: Small use against cover, short range means if you don't wipe out what you're firing at, it will probably wipe you out next turn. Sponsons: I'd consider giving it things that compliment it's range or
AP. Multi-melta or plasma cannon sponsons feel like good choices, as does a hull lascannon, though probably not both at the same time.
Eradicator - This is a medium range cannon that ignores cover, but only has AP4. I see most people disparaging it, and I'm not sure I can entirely agree with it. It's is a slightly less magical S6, which means that it's not penetrating armor reliably, but it is wounding marines on 2+ and instakilling Eldar/Dark Eldar/Gaunts. And it is AP4, so it ignores their cover AND armor. I'd say that if the Main Battle Cannon is a hammer, this is a Torx head screwdriver. Not something you'll use nearly as often, but if you need it and have it, life will be so much simpler. Advantages: Ignores cover for anything that depends upon it. Instakills T3. Disadvantages: Modest range, only AP4. Sponsons: Keep it cheap. If you take any other weapons, make them flamers. You don't want to give a wound allocated cover save to your opponent!
Executioner - This tank is expensive, but has a lot of killing power. My roommate swears by one. Most people will pair it with it's logical companion: the plasma sponsons. Advantages: Lots of plamsa killing power. Decent range. Disadvantages: Expensive as hell. Limited use against armor. Sponsons: None or plasma sponsons.
Exterminator - This is a hydra with better armor that you can fire both autocannons on while moving. You pay twice as much and lose the auto-targetting feature in the process. Personally, I've never taken it, but I think I'd take a hydra first. Advantages: Autocannon shots on the move. Disadvantages: Unless you really need the mobility, Hydras are better for what you get and cheaper. Sponsons: I'd probably pair this with heavy bolters and try to use it for infantry control.
Punisher - This thing seems like it would be great at dealing with hordes, but between
AP- and BS3, you're only going to get a few kills per turn from it. As many shots as it gets, it seems like adding Pask would improve its shooting ability, but then you're adding even more points to made a mediocore tank average. I hate to be negative on anything specific because it makes me feel like I'm not exploring its full potential, but it doesn't seem worth it to me. Advantages: Lots of shots. Disadvantages: Surprisingly expensive, lack of real damage output. Sponsons: Heavy bolters or none.
Vanquisher - While this tank is fairly unreliable, it does do a decent job of damaging armor. I think I would squadron two of them before I would put Pask on it. He just doesn't seem worth it for the points. Advantages: One HELL of a shot. Disadvantages: ONE hell of a shot. Sponsons: None, though I'd find points for a lascannon.
Manticore Rocket Launcher: Holy S10 batman! This thing looks like it could tear vehicles and horde armies apart! I have one, but I honestly find it lacking most times. It's just not AP3. I honestly think I value two Basilisks more. The difference between S9 and S10 ordinance barrage isn't so great to me when there are AP2/3 options out there. It's not that it's bad, it's just situational. I'd rather have something I can count on to be good of regardless of what I'm facing instead of something that's good some times.
Ordinance Battery: Another long section! I'm going to tackle this the same way I did the Russes. The chassis on these is 12/10/10; not very well armored. To make matters worse, they're all open topped. Sure, you can put an enclosed compartment on them, but then they're getting into Leman Russ levels of expensive, and they still don't have AV14. Besides, that's not what they're about. They're supposed to be cheap and powerful, but need to be protected.
Basilisk - This is the jack of all trades. Completely solid and great for hiding behind cover and firing due to being able to fire indirectly 36" away. Any closer than that and you can resort to firing directly and be almost as effective as before. This is the only thing I ever run from the ordinance section, and it never disappoints.
Colossus - S6 AP3 ignores cover? I thought "Sign me up!" until I saw the fine print. This thing looks good, but it can't fire directly and has a minimum range of
24". It was pointed out to me that my range was off. I feel my point still holds true. That means Jump Infantry and anything that really wants to can close on you before you get a chance to hit it. And since it's ordinance barrage, you can't move and fire, so repositioning is a losing battle. Still, could be really good for a alpha strike.
Griffon - These things are pretty cheap, highly accurate mortars. They don't ignore cover, and are only AP4, but you can reroll their scatter. I don't have any horde problems, so I don't normally take them, but I would love to hear other people comment on their effectiveness. To me, they don't seem like they're worth it for the cost of a heavy slot.
Medusa - While I'm sure I'll get blasted for this one; I gotta say it anyway: I don't like it. It's a direct fire only battery, which is unusual. It's also 36" range. While it has an incredible gun on it, it still suffers from AV12 open-topped syndrome. And it's terrifying, so it's going to be a high priority kill. The times I've used them, typically opponents have taken great pains at finding a way to kill it before I get more than a shot or two. Don't get me wrong, it's devastating. You just have to keep it alive long enough to kill it.
707th Lubyan Aquila Banner Motor Rifle Regiment (6000 pts)
Battlefleet Tomania (2500 pts)
.
) and is just about the scariest anti-armour weapon short of a volcano cannon.
).
"hah! take a void bomb from my void raven!" ..... bomb misses, scatters 12" onto Archon in transport..... transport explodes killing Archon..... me 
2nd/283rd Cadian Infantry "Black coats" - 5500pnts and growing 
1750pts. 
1500pts. 
2000pts. 
11000pts.