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Hi i m a new guard player, was wondering if some more experienced players could gimme some help with tactics or tips on generally using the guard, specially against space marines

Well that is an excellent question, and the simple and short answer right now is "we do not know" The new book is due out shortly. It changes everything. However there are plenty on this board who can offer insight. What are you more interested in?

1) Air Cav
2) Infantry heavy
3) Tank Heavy
4) Gimmik?

5) All of the above


Best advise, get your army up and running, get the codex when it comes out and start playing games

I'm not an experienced guard player, perse, but some tactics I have found or thought of to be beneficial are:

Always remember, tanks are your strongest unit pretty much. Nekkid LRBT's(150pts ea) are stronger than you think, and are arguably the best tank for it's price. Also keep in mind the Exterminator and Demolisher

Medusa's with BB shells will more than likely to do damage to a SM Landraider (S10, AP1) so keep that in mind.

But pretty much, all of the new tanks have their own plus-side. Also, keep the Artillery Sergeant Pask in mind for one of your LR's. improves from bs3 to bs4, I think you can reroll wounds(?) and you scatter less, which is a major plus lol

Power in Numbers are just about as true for the IG as they are for any army. 50 standard guard = 1 KP and roughly 250pts clean, as opposed to the Marines, where my GK Marine squad of 10 costs roughly around, if not over 300pts, for 1 KP. So do the math there

Creed and Kell are very beneficial. I don't know if they still require a 1500pt list to be used, but 4 orders and increased range can go a long way.

Some orders to keep in mind:
-Bring it Down!
-Fire on my Target
-First Rank, FIRE! Second Rank, FIRE!

Also, Commissars are (rumored to be) a good investment, especially Lord Commissar (cuz what guardsman doesn't love getting shot in the back of the head with a BS5 Bolt Pistol?)

PSYKER BATTLE SQUADS!! 10 per squad, at the least! Anything less than 10 per squad and you're wasting your time lol

Hmmmm...

Vet's are considered troops now, BS4, basically an all-around higher statline than standard guard. but you're limited to only 10 per troop choice, which isn't bad. it's actually better if you enjoy a speedier deployment. Use them with Chimeras and always have Special weapons. Meltas are generally mandatory among vets. There's also Sgt. Harker, who gives a vet squad some good bonuses.
Vets are also used alot as Air Cav, since Meltas aren't meant to be walked across the field

50 man blobs of standard guard are delicious for you. I recommend having Vox's (re-rollable Ld tests for orders) and I forget which character gives it, but you can give them Ld10 pretty much, so ya. FRFSRF x 50 = 100 @ 24", 150 @ 12" and if anything gets too close to you(within assault) and you're feeling like charging out with 100 melee attacks... yah, 'nuff said.

You can have tank squadrons, of 3 tanks per squad. (so 9 tanks fill up all Heavy Support slots) but they can end up being huge point sinks. I recommend only have 2x2, or 2x3 (3 squads of 2) and your tanks must maintain coherency and must fire at the same target(per squad)

in terms of going against SM, aside from the Medusa, invest in a lot of Lascannons and Meltas, and of course a Psyker Battle Squad. There's a new melta-cannon, with 72" range, but at BS3 w/out Pask.
in 50 man blobs, you have 5 Lascannons per merged-blob. so ya Psykers will put out a pie plate with strength equal to their squad size (10x psykers = S10 with an AP based on d6) so you can get lucky with another S10 AP1 pie plate, with 36" range I think they have. so ya.

Oh ya, and also, it seems to also be mandatory to have two Company Command Squads. able to give out even more orders, and I forget the strategy for them. I'm sure someone will post here mentioning it.

If you gave a point limit for a battle you're thinking of, I'm sure everyone here could help you out a lil more with making a list.

Thanks for the advice, my army is just under 1k points atm(927) i am thinking of bulking it up by adding a leman ruse exterminator thats what i think its called anyway(the one with the big ass plasma cannonxD) 2 armoured sentinals a mortar heay weapon squad and a company command(atm my HQ is a Commisar lord).

imho, I wouldn't bother with a mortar squad, even though they're like free I hear. But still, go for a Missile Launcher instead.

Why, aren't you in luck? There just happen to be a ton of articles on this very subject!

foil7102 wrote:Well that is an excellent question, and the simple and short answer right now is "we do not know" The new book is due out shortly. It changes everything. However there are plenty on this board who can offer insight. What are you more interested in?

1) Air Cav
2) Infantry heavy
3) Tank Heavy
4) Gimmik?

You left out Mechanized which is Chimera Heavy with a bit of artillery and tanks. Throw in the odd Valkyrie/Vendetta, Sentinel, and Hellhound to season to taste.

@Forlorne
There are a lot of factors to consider:
a) What type of opponents do you usually face?
b) What size army do you usually play?
c) How much can you afford to spend?
d) How much time do you want to spend building, converting, and painting?
e) What type of army inspires you to spend money and time?
f) How much terrain do you usually use on the table top?
g) Do you play friendly games or tournament style competitive games?

I like mechanized. It's expensive as hell but I like it. I will gladly pay for it, build it, paint it, tote it for 40 miles, and play with it all day long - win or lose. If you don't like the army type, it doesn't really matter whether it is effective or not. I like being able to detail 60-70 infantry models instead of factory painting 200+. I like having infantry that packs a lot of firepower. So my natural inclination is to choose veterans as my troops. I like vehicles with tracks and armor so I take Tanks, Chimeras, and Hellhounds instead of armored skimmers (Valkyries and Vendettas). It's a personal choice. YMMV.

Forlorne wrote:Hi i m a new guard player, was wondering if some more experienced players could gimme some help with tactics or tips on generally using the guard, specially against space marines

What does your list look like now? What other IG models do you own?

I like shooting the crap out of SMs with S6 or S7 weapons. If they have AP3 or better, that's a plus but usually I'm firing a lot of multi-lasers and autocannons at them. My plan is to make them take a lot of saves. I'll gladly Tank Shock them if they're not packing a veteran sergeant with a melta bomb or a power fist.

Ordinary LRBTs do a number of SM squads other than Terminators and elite guys (Death Company, etc) with FNP.

Do you face walking SM armies, Rhino mounted armies, or Drop Pod armies? Against Drop Pods, I'll usually hold everything I can off the board in Reserve to see where the SM player drops half his pods on Turn 1.

I also like castling with my armor and artillery in a corner of the table. The enemy cannot Deep Strike anywhere but in front of me.

Valkyrie chassis with variable loadouts with variable transport capacity (max 12).

Compliment anti-tank with anti-troop. Vendetta with GL or flamer guard (ideally a PCS/Vets) & compliment rocketpod wielding valkyries with melta or/and demo charge vets.

Allows you to deal with both properly with each combo compared to a half-measure. Gives you the flexibility to deal with varied lists aswell as the raw firepower to deal with single-themes.

&

Anti-cover ap 4. Doesnt matter how you do it, just that you do do it. Ap2-3 generally can be afforded to either not hide in cover, be un-numerous (due to cost) enough to deal with a 2-3+ armor going to a 4+cover or be dealt with with massed AP4+ firepower.

Mobile AT (See the above). Removes the need to have cover-save negating anti-armor. Or just use imperial guard infantry h.weps & 'Orders!' to great effect.

Ordenance. Better armor pen. Helps reduce vehicles getting LOS-cover saves. Helps hide your own armor. & specifically the medusa is by far the best counter to a monolith.

i do know that you will be able to have lemon russes in squads of three. this will only count as one heavy support choice

This is an army list made up of what i currently own
HQ

Commissar Lord
Power Weapon
Carapace Armour

90pts


Troops


Infantry Platoon Alpha

Platoon Command squad
Power Weapon
Bolt Pistol
Vox-Caster
Medi-pack
2x flamers

87 Points

Infantry Squad 1
Vox-caster
Flamer

Infantry Squad 2
Vox-caster
Flamer

Infantry Squad 3
Vox-caster
Grenade Launcher

180pts



Bravo PLatoon

Platoon Command Squad
Bolt Pistol
Medi-pack
PLasma-Gun
Vox-caster

82pts

Infantry Squad 1
Vox-caster
Grenade Launcher

Infantry Squad 2
Vox-caster
Grenade Launcher

120pts

Heavy Weapons Squad
Missile Launcherx3
90pts



Veteran Squad
Meltagunx2
Vox-caster
Demolitions
Chimera
Heavy Flamer
155pts



Heavy Support

Leman Russ Battle Tank
W/Heavy Bolters
Extra Armour
185pts


I normally play against an Ork player but i have also played a few games against Blood angels, which i have lost the vast majority of.

Forlorne,

Thanks for posting your list and the type of opponents you face regularly. This information really helps me to give you much more focused comments.

My initial impression is that your list relies too much on simple lasguns and short range flamers. You ought to put a HB or AC in every line squad. I prefer ACs because they have a longer range, wound T4 on a 2 and can help you out against AV10-12 vehicles (like Ork Trukks and SM Rhinos, Razorbacks, and Drop Pods).

Does your Ork opponent rely on an infantry horde, Nob bike units, or a lot of fast transports? Ordnance barrage templates are helpful against the horde. Griffons are especially accurate but you may have to wait until August to buy a kit since GW is not producing them yet and the FW models are prohibitively expensive.

I also believe that a CCS would help. It's order "Get Back in the Fight" seems especially useful but "Bring It Down" may come in handy for your ML squad.

Thanks JB The list is composed of what i have atm so the reason behind the lack of many units is due to the fact i havent got them, i am hopefully going to get a CCS soonish tho.

My ork opponants army consists of 2 AoB box sets.