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Have been saving money for a new 40k project (really disappointed on the new Ork codex myself) and found the Death Korps amazing both artistically and lorewise. First I were going to play them with normal Ig rules since I did not want a siege regiment but then I saw tactics for Death Korps Assault brigade witch gives me the ability to build a mechanized regiment use the Dk special rules. But while forge world has released the siege army list have they released the Assault list? And if they have were to get it and if the haven't how do you buy it?

It's in IA12 alongside the Necron Dark Harvest list and some SM stuff.

It's also not a mechanized list per se, unless you're using Grenadiers (which are troops) and Engineers (elites), regular infantry can't take transports. Somewhat ironically, they're strongest as a gunline with lots of light artillery and tanks with a good chunk of men acting as a speed-bump to anything coming at them, as regular platoons re-enter play from reserves once they're killed off.

That being said, a bunch of 4+ armour, WS4, BS4 ignore 25% break tests all armed with AP3 guns and 2 specials of your choice in Chimeras with mandatory extra armour and an autocannon isn't exactly horrible.

Yep, they are in Imperial Armour 12 (which is a great book).

There are three major "methods" I have found to be effective with the assault list.
1) Last hope infantry waves with artillery support. This works best backed up with inquisition support (specifically Karamazov who can rain down destruction without scatter on your regenerating infantry units). Give each infantry unit an assault weapon (melta or flamer) and grenades so they can grind the enemy down and come back faster.

2) Mechanized Grenadier army supported by spotter tanks and artillery. This is a little less effective but the model count is low and I have found it to work pretty well.

3) A mixed approach with infantry waves protecting spotter tanks and artillery. This is pretty effective actually but needs a decent density of terrain on the board.

I've been playing the list for the last year and a half or so. The rules, as noted, are in IA12 from Forgeworld.

Unfortunately playing it mechanized doesn't work out so well. The chimera variant the list has is expensive as it comes with a bunch of upgrades nobody cares about, and, while AP3 looks cool on paper, the Grenadier units still have a very hard time of things as they're not *that* much appreciably harder to kill over normal guardsmen, and the very low Strength of the Hotshot Lasgun, especially coupled with its very short range (18" rapid fire) means that it fails to generate a relevant number of wounds. A full squad in a Chimera with two specials is solidly in "mechanized kitted out Space Marine squad" territory in terms of cost, and they lack the needed survivability to really make that work.

It really plays best as a gunline with the Grenadiers on foot reacting to threats that close range as Rapiers and Heavy Mortars or Thudd Guns pound stuff from across the board.

Ok, thanks for the answers. What I understand is that while a meq grenadier list might work it is kinda expensive point wise for what it can do. Since my book is yet to arrive is it ok for me to ask some more questions? Because after this answers I have been rethinking my list and trying to think of a way to make it work. From reading different tactics (including yours Vaktathi) I have come up with two ideas.

One is to make the meq list work. Is there not an order that Dk has that make their weapons assault for one turn? For if it is that can be quite strong with grenadiers. A HQ command squad and 30 grenadiers in chimeras getting close to their target can with that order and a charge deal some great damage. Some tanks can give support if I will still try to make it entirely meq with some Death riders for support and hold of anti tank.

The other is to have 1+ (depending on battle size) of infantry Platoons digged down and holding with death riders and grenadiers (with chimera) reacting to the enemy and heavy weapons (mortar, autocannon, lascannon) or artillery reinforcing the line.

So either lots of grenadiers with death riders and tanks on the offensive or a static gun line with a rapid response force. For lore I like them both actually but how would they work game wise? Not looking for the best list to win but for one that that will be fun to play.

EDIT: Just realized, if I go with number 2 is the Siege army list better suited then the assault brigade?

The siege list really offers no advantage aside from being able to take more artillery. Unless you want both heavy and light artillery, it's not worth it.

And yes, there is one order which gives you Assault 2 12'' las-weapons, but remember you can't charge directly out of transports; think of the Korp's ability to fight in melee as an added bonus, rather than a focus. They don't make a good assault army, but they can counter-charge and hold out far better than other Guard.

Death Riders are actually quite good ruleswise (I never went with them as I'm not big on sci-fi cavalry), and combining them with a platoon of men to hold the line for artillery to rain on the enemy isn't actually a bad idea. I'd say go with Grenadiers in Chimeras OR Death Riders; they're both points intensive, and should be used to attack choice enemies your artillery or mass of men can't engage, rather than the focus of your army.

The real winners would be to stack your Heavy Support section with Thudd Guns or Heavy Mortars with perhaps a single heavy weapon platoon. Thudd Guns produce an enormous amount if firepower, and are quite good at pinning things, even Space Marines, while Heavy Mortars, particularly if you give them an assault-brigade specific upgrade to give them ignores cover and shred (re-roll to wound) at the cost of gaining Gets Hot and St5 rather than St 6, can help counter a lot of the cover-boosting stuff in the game. Eldar, Daemons and the like strongly dislike losing their 2+ cover saves. As for the heavy weapon teams, Death Korps actually get lascannons for cheaper than regular guard, and since you never take 25% casualty tests, you don't suffer the big weakness of those squads of being run off the table as soon as one base dies. A bunch of lascannon squads will give you excellent, hardy anti-tank firepower, especially if you buy some fortifications for them like an Aegis line.

Also, if you want to fit any tanks or other heavy choices in there, you can take Griffon Batteries as elites, which have a heavy mortar which re-rolls scatters and carcass shot as well, the special rounds, while only being 20 points more base, and enjoy being on an AV12 vehicle.

The Green one wrote:
Ok, thanks for the answers. What I understand is that while a meq grenadier list might work it is kinda expensive point wise for what it can do. Since my book is yet to arrive is it ok for me to ask some more questions? Because after this answers I have been rethinking my list and trying to think of a way to make it work. From reading different tactics (including yours Vaktathi) I have come up with two ideas.

One is to make the meq list work. Is there not an order that Dk has that make their weapons assault for one turn?

There is, but Lasguns only, not Hotshot Lasguns, and cuts their range in half. Also when mechanized, the Grenadiers are solidly in cost range of a mechanized kitted marine unit, and get expensive very quickly, while the cheap and effective firepower is the relatively immobile artillery units.

The other is to have 1+ (depending on battle size) of infantry Platoons digged down and holding with death riders and grenadiers (with chimera) reacting to the enemy and heavy weapons (mortar, autocannon, lascannon) or artillery reinforcing the line.

Also keep in mind their platoons (mind-bogglingly) have no combined squads nor can carry heavy weapons, heavy weapons are only for HS heavy weapons squads. But overall can be made to work somewhat ok.

EDIT: Just realized, if I go with number 2 is the Siege army list better suited then the assault brigade?

Kind of, the siege regiment doesn't have any access to chimeras, only centaurs, but does have even more absurd access to artillery.

Once again thanks for all the answers, They have given me some insight into creating this army. I think that I will start with some Death riders (awesome models ) to paint and maybe use, orpheus book and the latest Ig book. For one last question, is that all the books that I need to play with the Death Korps? will they cover all options and rules that they have?

IA12 for the Assault Brigade, a copy of the IG codex (as the IA books don't contain quite everything, such as how Orders work) and the Siege Regiment PDF should be all you need to play any DKoK list, picking IA5 may be a good idea even if you have the PDF because of all the fluff it has.

And it's worth noting that IA5 is only £15 on the Forge World site, which is frankly a steal for the content and quality. Half the price of a codex for a ton of fluff, awesome artwork and pics and some campaign missions.