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Hiya all whats the best lay out for a command squad that would be static with the troops.

I would take:

CCS + Regimental Standard + Vox Caster + Chimera: 125

If you have the points, stick a MoO in as well plus whatever other advisors you want (except Bodyguards, of course!)

Give the last two guys a heavy weapon, either autocannon or lascannon is good.

Consider taking Creed so that you get 4 orders a turn, and that Furious Charge order.

I run my CCS to direct my Heavy Weapons teams. They have a Mortar Team, and Kell. It weighs in at 140 points, but the output increase of my teams makes up for it.

+1 for Creed. 4 orders at 24" is nothing to laugh at. At first I felt that taking Kell was points wasted, until i remembered the Ld 7 on HWS and Spec Wep squads. Having autocannons light up hull down transports with a "Fire on my target", followed with a FRFSRF on the contents , and "For the Honor of Cadia" charge from a squad with a power weapon Commisar is hilarious, especially when it all tests on Ld 10. I run Creed, Kell, and a Vox in my CCS. A Chimera is a must have for such a valuable unit too. Of course this is quite a pricey CCS, but the number of Ld 10, 24" range orders justifies it IMO.

personally I'm a fan of 3 plasma + medipack + chimera (plasma pistol and carapace armor are optional but not optimal IM)

Also I've heard people having good luck with stracken cc squad ccs but haven't done it myself.

dumplingman wrote:personally I'm a fan of 3 plasma + medipack + chimera (plasma pistol and carapace armor are optional but not optimal IMO)

This is a great loadout except that you forego the regimental standard, and I always find cause to regret not taking a regimental standard. Last time I did that my CCS did great but my army ran away.

Since then I've settled on just 2 plasma guns and the RS, and they still put the hurt out. Bodyguards can do well in this squad; every model is precious and those 2 ablative wounds can really help. I'm also inclined to take the carapace armour and plasma pistol. It gets expensive, but it is a strong unit that can punch out 5 twin linked plasma shots at 12" with the use of the 'bring it down' order or with the enemy re-rolling cover saves with 'fire on my target', and it can do some damage in melee. Make sure to put them in a chimera and plonk them in your centre as a reserve.

The CCS is best used a special weapon / rapid response team, and plasma is the best option for them because they can use it better than anyone else in the army. BS4 and the orders give you the best chance of killing stuff, and the carapace armour and medic stops you from killing yourself. I think that every IG army wants some plasma and the CCS does plasma much better than any other unit in the IG list.

Meltaguns can also fly, but for the above reasons I think you are best off leaving the melta duties to mechvets.

Grenade launchers and flamers are poor options, the first isn't strong enough to make good use of the BS4 and the other doesn't use it at all. Run flamers in the PCS.

A good 'budget' CCS option is autocannon, regimental standard, power weapon for the officer, and maybe a bolter as well. It's tempting to skimp out on the power weapon but I wouldn't recommend it. Sooner or later the bad dudes hit your lines and when that happens, you want your best melee fighter to at least have a chance to kill stuff. Consider a vox if you run big infantry blobs. This CCS does not require a chimera although if it is being used to dish out orders to HWS you may want one to protect it.

I found the other heavy weapon options to be fairly poor. A lascannon is too expensive considering that you wont be twin-linking it. A mortar or heavy bolter won't do much. A missile launcher could be OK but with only one shot might be ineffective. The autocannon works purely because it is shooty enough to blow something up without wasting an order on the squad, and cheap enough that you wont be wasting lots of points if you end up moving or assaulting with the unit.

For a infantry firebase babysitting CCS the standard is a MUST, UNLESS there are commissars in the line squads. Without them, ld8 squads just can't hack it under shooting pressure from opponents...

I run mine very simple...a standard, an autocannon, usually with an astropath..but I keep them mounted in a chimera for protection.....if I were to give the spare guy a weapon, it will either be a grenade launcher or a sniper rifle.....and maybe also a boltgun for the company commander....

Jimole you do have a point about the standard, however, I also run blobs with commisar so the casualyless reroll isn't that nessessary for me.

if gw didn't reverse their "furious charge and counterattack work together" SW FAQ ruling, i'd say straken hands down for ANY guard army as he grants both those in a 12" bubble. for an offensive or moving horde army, i'd still say straken. fire pistols and then charge at I4 and S4 for 2 attacks, probably winning the assault with a blobbed squad and denying your enemy the chance to shoot or a charge bonus on their turn.

i tend to use my command squad for one purpose, morale/orders. i go for minimum size and buy a regimental standard, simply standing behind the blob squads issuing orders and making sure they don't run (unlikely due to commissar's stubborn and the standard). i realize i'm wasting their BS 4 but when i ran them with meltas or GL, i'd just end up a target early on or putting them in harm's way.

Have you considered running them with Sniper Rifles? It's cheap, and you get some 36" harassment fire. It's fantastic against squads with lousy leadership (I'm looking at you, Kroot), and you're not out a lot of points. It also will give you the odd wound on TMCs.

I'd have to agree that's a good setup for a static CCS, Lorek. Cost down, range up, pinning is golden for a gunline.

Has anyone tried just bloating it out, and keeping it short-ranged and CC-oriented, so that if the enemy is shooting at it, its hard to kill and they're not neutralizing the true threats anyways (except of course it is holding the line together)? I'm talking advisors, bodyguards, medic, standard, a lord commissar for good measure, stick it in a chim and maybe even tack a priest on... best for high pt. games.

Lorek wrote:Have you considered running them with Sniper Rifles? It's cheap, and you get some 36" harassment fire. It's fantastic against squads with lousy leadership (I'm looking at you, Kroot), and you're not out a lot of points. It also will give you the odd wound on TMCs.

i have and that's actually the conversion that is next on my IG list (my army was built at the middle of 3rd edition so i'm pretty much cannabilizing parts for "new" guys). the sniper rifle takes advantage of their bs4 and has decent range so they can stay safe and give orders. it doesn't hurt that they're only 5pts each!

murdog wrote:I'd have to agree that's a good setup for a static CCS, Lorek. Cost down, range up, pinning is golden for a gunline.

Has anyone tried just bloating it out, and keeping it short-ranged and CC-oriented, so that if the enemy is shooting at it, its hard to kill and they're not neutralizing the true threats anyways (except of course it is holding the line together)? I'm talking advisors, bodyguards, medic, standard, a lord commissar for good measure, stick it in a chim and maybe even tack a priest on... best for high pt. games.

i wouldn't bloat out the command squad but instead just upgrade it to include straken. then add in a single commissar and a priest to a max sized platoon blob squad and you have 52 models with furious charge and rerolls to hit when they charge. that's almost 120 attacks if everyone is in at str4/init4 with rerolls to hit! sure the priest can be singled out in CC due to his IC status but you only need him for the first turn since his benefits is only when you charge. to put this in perspective... your guard blob squad is 10 inches away from an ork squad of 30 slugga boyz running up the center (like orks tend to) in order to close for combat. in shooting you only fire pistols and assault weapons, killing maybe an average of 3 orks (las pistols and melta guns). you then charge the orks and statistically kill over 35 orks (more than they have) BEFORE they get a chance to fight back. now who sucks in close combat!??!

Can you fit 52 models into close combat against a standard 10 man squad? No. At most you can fit about 35. The magic number is 30; anything more and you're wasting bodies. Also, the Priest should be in the back so he can't get singled out. Sure, he can't swing, but is losing that 45 point model worth getting 3 extra hits in? No it isn't, because if you've done it right you're going to win the fight and you'll need him for the next one.

DarkHound wrote:Can you fit 52 models into close combat against a standard 10 man squad? No. At most you can fit about 35. The magic number is 30; anything more and you're wasting bodies. Also, the Priest should be in the back so he can't get singled out. Sure, he can't swing, but is losing that 45 point model worth getting 3 extra hits in? No it isn't, because if you've done it right you're going to win the fight and you'll need him for the next one.

did i use the example of a 10 man squad? no, i said 30 orks. did i say you always get 52 models in? no, i said you get almost 120 IF everyone is in. lol, you're arguing with me despite the fact that you agree with what i said.

Are Orks the only opponent you face? I used the example of the 10 man squad because that is the standard squad size of most enemy units, if not smaller. There is only a single archetype of Orks where you'll fight 30 man squads. Getting the full use out of that 52 man squad is too specific for it to be worth the extra 100 points.

Question.

How would you kit out a Platoon Command? I imagine cheaply but if their just sitting back perhaps a Mortar or a ML?
Sorry but it's not that OT, and I've been wondering.

Hello.
With my footslogging infantry I tried some configurations for my PCS, like a melta team to hunt advancing rhinos.
Many deceptions. An opponent with half connected brain and some ressources will gun them to bits before they act.
Even when this PCS succeeded, they got wiped out next turn anyway. Waste of a nice small squad.
This configuration would be effective in a Chimera, but is still not supporting my line squads.


I'm trying the cheapest version now :

- Bolt pistol for the officer (because of the mini)
- mortar team.

I play footslogging infantry, and will try his efficiency for orders on a blobbed squad while firing some mortars shells, that's the idea.
But I already regret this decision after first tests. Seems I will be kicked badly for my next tournament (1000 pts).

No answer against fast vehicles or rhinos or their passengers. Nothing to dissuade deepstrikers. Nothing to punish a fast enemy that would have slayed a line squad in front of them. In these situations a couple of flamethrowers would be handy.

Just adding 2 flamethrowers : still cheap, some potential at any distance, hiding & shouting an order.


Any comments ?

I've been happy with AC/2x GL for the PCS.

I run my CCS with 3 Plasmaguns and a Medipack.

My army build is Chimelta's and Vendetta's with IST's, different army builds need different CCS's to compliment them.

I run mech vets with zero to zero use of orders. 3 plasma and a medic in a chimera for me.

Really depends on what the army is doing. One of the things I like about the IG command squad is that it is so versatile. In 3rd edition, it seemed like most Army HQs were simply CC powerhouses, which is nice but not really flexible. With the Imperial Guard Command Squad, you have a lot of options.

Personally I would always suggest putting them in a Chimera- Its cost-effective and extends the Order Radius a bit. A variant I want to try:

Command Squad in Chimera with Vox, Standard, and MotF. They are flanked by two 30-man blobbed squads, each of which has a Commissar and vox. Not sure which has priority, but me I'd try and argue that the standard could be used for Ld re-rolls instead of the (which does the same thing but you lose a guardsman in the process).

The number of bodies plus the MotF stymes some deepstrike efforts. Both blobs will be Ld9, Stubborn with re-rolls. This Command Squad is more support-oriented, which depending on the opponent, means it will hopefully get ignored. But the 'Bring it down/Fire on my target' re-roll that results in a critical kill will definitely define its value.