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Hi, recently I started playing guard. So far, I have two battleforces, two chimeras, 5 ratlings, and a basilisk. I am wondering if there is anything I should know that just simply sucks. Is there anything that I should should not equip on my troops? Are there any "must haves" that I should know about? All I really know about Imperial Guard is that they can have a lot of troops and they aren't the best in close combat. So any advice that you could give me would most likely be beneficial.

Tanks...
Did I mention Tanks

And lots of guard to use as meat sheilds...

It depends...Honestly, Tanks are a safer bet than a basilisk unless you're going for more than one, or a large battlefield.

Combined squads are good, but other than that...I don't know...Don't rely on verterans too much? Don't underestimate the use of orders. Commissars are good in Combined sqauds.

Chimeras should be used for Company or Platoon command.

Ogryns make great meat shields for low AV artillery. Ratlings are for killing lowcount squads and heroes/MC. Grab yourself at least 3 LRBT/demolisher kits for the variety. Have at least 2 melta's, plasma is your friend and flamers are for things that get too close. Put hvy weaps in separate squads NOT in your infantry squads. Valkyries make great anti-tank and troop drop.

OK there are three basic elements to a guard army (beside weird, fringe type units or bizzare tricks)

Infantry: platoons filled with infantry squads w/heavy and special weapons, often formed into blobs, backed up by HWSs. Such squads have the advantage of range, durability (as long as you can pass some leadership tests) and the orders system (which cures a lot of the basic guardsman's problems, like leadership and ballistic skill.

Mechanised infantry: squads in chimeras and valkyries/vendettas. CCSs, PCSs, veteran squads are the usual choices for this kind of thing. These squads benefit from lots of the high-powered special weapons, and from demo charges.

Armour: Hellhounds and the entire heavy support section. Nothing subtle here, vehicles are pretty tough in the rules right now and IG vehicles carry heavy ordnance. Artillery is as popular as tanks (especially manticores and medusas) but if you are a beginner you might take LRBTs first. They're super tough as long as you keep them away from assaults and deep-striking meltagun units.

In short, it's good to build an army focussed on 1-2 of those areas. Like you could have some artillery batteries, surrounded by several platoons of guardsmen (this is a good way to keep people from assaulting vehicles or blasting them at close range); or you could have all veteran squads in chimeras and valkyries with some tanks backing them up; or you could have infantry spread across the board, with some valkyries+squads held in reserve to grab objectives late in the game


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, also guard are not an 'elite' army. Low characteristics on most of the infantry, and BS3 on all vehicles, mean that you should never rely on only one unit. Take as much of everything as possible - by which I mean, don't waste points on upgrades. Choose a unit, buy the guns you want (assuming they work well together) and then move on. Think very carefully about all non-weapon upgrades - some are worth it if you have an idea of what they will help your army with, lots more are just not very useful.

Example: Commissars, voxes in an infantry-based army. Useful. Decide where you need them, put them in the list. Camo netting on mobile vehicles like LRBTs, Hellhounds. Not Useful. Never take these.

Conscripts can help a lot too. They are great and cheap meat sheilds and with orders can cut things down. the only real downside is painting up 50 more dudes.

Check out the Imperial Guard Codex review in the Articles section. It has everything you need to know!

Thanks everyone.