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How good is Captain Al'rahem for IG? I was thinking of taking a platoon for him in Chimeras of his PCS and 2 platoons with a couple special weapon squads with flamers to outflank with. I know the special weapon squads won't survive long, but I am hoping they would provide enough of a distraction to be worth the points. Has anyone tried something like this? Or I should ask how effective have people found something like this to be? Given the models I have, 2 Chimeras I mean, it seems like it would be fun to try out.

Your not alone my friend. I too am trying to incorperate Captain Al'Rahem into my new IG force. I have yet to actually use him in battle but I have been working on a list with him in it. In my list i'm running him in a command squad designed for assault in a chimera. He is acompanyed by 3 units of guard in chimeras. I havnt decided what special weapons to use but im considering running two special weapons teams with demo charges without a chimera to bring some extra beef to the flank assault. Ill let ya know more after i playtest a couple times. If you come up with anything please let me know cause i'm in the exact same situation. I have no clue how well this will work.

He's okay. Outflanking chimeras is nice, but you already have outflanking capability in other units - despite the opinion of them here, I actually run two Penal Legion squads in games over 1500 - 160 points isn't too high a price to psychologically keep your opponent out of the side 12" of the board. Sentinels are fine too, and a multilaser scout sentinel is cheaper than a chimera - I just really don't see the need to outflank a platoon - you'd probably want those firing turn 1 anyway. In reality, your opponent will stay clear of the board edges (which is why I use the 2 penal squads, just because of how cheap they are) so unless you outflank something for anti-tank to hit side armor, there isn't really all too much point. Flamers/Demo, in my opinion, will just push your opponent towards the middle of the board like Penals would, and not get to attack before getting shot down by an opponent with decent shooting.

However, if you include Straken in your list for some assault power, Al'Rahem might actually be more useful against, say, the new nids because of 4 S4 I4 Test-less Force Weapon attacks on the charge. Just drop in a medic and a few assault weapons (meltaguns preferably, since you'll be going after big things) and you have a decent assault unit assuming you have them in a chimera so they don't die on the way or have a wave of Guardsmen with them to get them cover saves.

A friend of mine runs:
Big Al and 4 plasmagunners in a chimera with multi-laser, heavy flamer, stubber.
3x infantry squads plasma pistol, plasma gun in Chimera with multi-laser, heavy flamer, stubber.
He runs them 6" from the edge and lights up any thing he wants. He's been doing very well against the new bugs using the platoon to down tervigons, while the tanks shoot the left over gaunts.

The problem with Al is that he removes options from the table. You MUST outflank any and everything in his infantry platoon every game whether you want to or not.

For me this overrides any potential benefit you get from having some guardsmen sneak up behind the enemy. And while on that subject, why are guardsmen sneaking up behind the enemy?

Losing shooting phases to potentially get closer to the enemy has never really struck me as a great idea for anything from the IG dex with the exception of stormtrooper suicide squads.

well, I've used him a few times, and had mixed results. The first time i played some marines and big Al's boys took their objective away. Good times. The secon time Al & Co got fed to some angry orks. Bad times. That being said anything that forces my opponent to bunch in the middle of the table makes my Battle Cannons and Artillery very happy. Sign me up for enemy bunching.

He works great for me so far....you can check out how Captain Sidewinder (my alrahem, I use the Col Schaeffer model) and his platoon works in my ongoing thread here....http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/275485.page

As you can see I've blobbed the squads together with a commissar and given them power weapons...that close to the enemy they actually get to use them often!

Even without the chimera, the "Like the Wind" order makes the blob mobile..take note that you CAN shoot as if stationary first then move as per the die roll, as the squad can stay still during the movement phase and thus fulfill the requirements to shoot all weapons....

Yeah, that's the kind of army I want to have. Might just copy the units. Read over your battle reports. Looks like it would be a fun army to field.

You can replace the devil dog with a vendetta, and have it carry something (such as the flamer SWS)....the penal legion is also not too optimal, so you can use the points for something else...

but yes the army is fun to play with...

Wait is this for an hq?

Get the codex and all will be revealed.

I don't know if I like Al'Rahem. As cool as outflanking a mass of infantry can be, they're just Guardsmen.

Al'Rahem is tactically limiting. If you take him, the WHOLE platoon has to outflank, making Heavy Weapon Teams worthless, as they will be firing on Turn 3 at the very earliest.

Al'Rahem is also pretty expensive, and practically requires the taking of an Astropath to avoid having Guardsmen where you didn't want them.

All in all, I would avoid him.

my brother has used him to great effect. And I will begin to use him as well. But because of the limitations to outflank I will put his platoon in a squadron of valks

Wait then why bother taking him? The Valks can already outflank, and they can outflank with their cargo embarked.

I have some roughriders that I will be using as well as already having Chimeras. Going with what costs the least $ while still being fun and effective.