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You should do a rematch and see which side comes out of the pile of smashed corpses alive after many turns of brutal close combat and dice rolling. As an Imperial Guard player, I also want to see the limits of the power blob which you have played so well...

Anyway, keep your reports coming, I always read them with such excitement!

You'll have to forgive me if this has been brought up in previous battle reports, I've been reading through them but haven't seen it addressed a lot.

With your priests being IC's, how do you keep them from being picked out and slaughtered by every enemy you attack? With vehicles this isn't a problem, but I wonder why the BA player didn't simply apply attacks against the priest immediately and kill him before he could strike.

Very interesting series of reports here, Ailaros. I'll have to keep reading through them to better understand the tactics of this type of Guard army.

You just don't put priests at the front.

Power blobs (especially 42-man power blobs), are so big that a priest can be many, many inches away from the front line of the assault and still be in coherency with the squad. If I had wanted, it would have taken several turns of free 6" movement in order for the priest to finally make it into base contact with something.

When he's not in base contact with anything, he can't be targeted in close combat.

In this particular case, I kept my priests a little further forward because it's one of those times when it's worth risking priests in order to get their eviscerator attacks in. Of course, my gamble failed because of bad luck, but still, they gave priests a 4++ for a reason.

I understand not just throwing the priest in front to brought down. I guess my experience has just been my opponent throwing a whole lot of attacks against the priest (on the occasions I've used them) when I was trying to get some eviscerator attacks in...he simply gets dragged down before he brings his weapon to bear. Although I suppose that might be part of the point, if you're opponent is using attacks he would otherwise be applying to the blob.

I'm curious if you could see any use for veterans in your army; not for assaulting, mind you, but being an additional meltagun squad that functions similarly to the PCS. That and they could put a little bit of firepower into a unit in the form of shotguns.

I think the idea is that 'getting the attacks in' isn't worth the chance of him dying. You have to be very careful about placement of the priest to ensure he lives.

That and sometimes, he'll get lucky and sometimes he won't. I guess it is the Emperor's hands now.

Although, it is important to note that after assault has been worked out and you're about to pile-in, IC's must move first in effort to get into base-to-base contact, if at all possible. Then you move the remaining models.

Yes, but if the priest starts out 18" away from the nearest enemy model when the assault begins, it's going to be a long time until the priest is forced into close combat. Surely it's worth wasting a few bayonet stabs to keep the priest out of close combat when you don't want him there.

Really, priests aren't close-combat machines, they're fragile buff-givers. That is, unless you're facing against a lot of vehicles (which generally pose little threat to priests), in which case they have the mother of all meltabombs. The best part is that you can move the priest forward and backward every movement phase, so you can more or less always keep him out of it when you don't want him in, and always get him in when you're fighting against a vehicle.

Not to mention the fact that you have so many guardsmen you can probably wrap up a squad near the priest so it is impossible for him to get into base contact without running to the other side of the combat.

Ailaros wrote:Yes, but if the priest starts out 18" away from the nearest enemy model when the assault begins, it's going to be a long time until the priest is forced into close combat. Surely it's worth wasting a few bayonet stabs to keep the priest out of close combat when you don't want him there.

Really, priests aren't close-combat machines, they're fragile buff-givers. That is, unless you're facing against a lot of vehicles (which generally pose little threat to priests), in which case they have the mother of all meltabombs. The best part is that you can move the priest forward and backward every movement phase, so you can more or less always keep him out of it when you don't want him in, and always get him in when you're fighting against a vehicle.

calypso2ts wrote:Not to mention the fact that you have so many guardsmen you can probably wrap up a squad near the priest so it is impossible for him to get into base contact without running to the other side of the combat.

True. However, you must move models that are in the IC's way first and then move the IC. So, if the priest is blocked by 5 models, you must move the intervening 5 models into contact first, then move the IC after them so that he can get into base-to-base. You can't move the 20 models in front of him and then say "Well, he can't make it in." You have to make a lane for him as much as you can. See the Rulebook FAQ:


Q: An Independent Character attached to a unit that is
reacting to being assaulted, or making a pile-in move,
must move before other friendly models to attempt to get
in base contact with an enemy. What happens if the
Independent Character is blocked from getting to enemy
models by friendly models around him? (p49)
A: If it is possible to move friendly models out of the way
to make space for the Independent Character then they
must move first. Followed by the Independent Character
and finally the rest of the unit can move. If the
Independent Character is still unable to make it into base
contact he must move as close to the enemy as possible.

I think what it comes down to is the priest is many, many inches behind the front of the blob (read: very back), so that even when he moves his maximum 6" in towards the front-line, he's still far outside of attack range. That would at least keep him out of the first round of combat, perhaps second if he's more than 12" behind the front-line.

At least that's my understanding.

Another question for Ailaros, how do you feel about the Basilisks you've run? I've seen them pop in and out from time to time. Does their stationary nature not jive too well with the charging army?

I love your reports as well.

I like the literary stand point you take on them by writing the thoughts of the commander at the end of it.

I find it kind of amazing that My 4th Expeditionary Cadre has a better track record against the Blood Angels(and most other space marines, in fact they totally smashed a Khornite army yesterday) Yet when facing Imperial guard it they struggle.

This battle shows you that not every army is 100% on top.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh also. I find it helps to kind of play the race you have chosen the way they are depicted in the fluff.

This BA player was being rather timid in my opinion. Had he been more aggressive, he may have sent your forces reeling.

Accolade wrote:Another question for Ailaros, how do you feel about the Basilisks you've run? I've seen them pop in and out from time to time. Does their stationary nature not jive too well with the charging army?

So, artillery is nice, but the problem that it has is that it ONLY contributes killing power to my army. Even then, it sort of stops once I start getting targets into close combat. Plus, most artillery only copies what my priestly power blobs are already good at killing. There have been some specific instances where I've been glad I've had it, or have wished I had, but those times seem few and far between.

Meanwhile, I have other killy options that, though not quite as killy, also help me in other ways. Ogryn, for example, don't do quite as much damage, but they help me immensely with field position. With a basilisk, my blobs get charged by a squad of berzerkers, and they're on their own. With the ogryn, I've got the hurt RIGHT THERE that can deliver a counter-blow, or, better yet, absorb the attack in the first place, all while being able to contest objectives and give cover to units behind them. That's an awful lot of extra stuff tacked on, which makes them more worthwhile to me, even if they don't have as much killing power.

But ogryn are just one example among several. In the end, there are a lot of things which are killy AND synergize with a guard army. Artillery is only killy.

Not to say it's not also cathartic....

Do you have a written Bio of your Imperial Commander. Do you have a model of him as well?

My commander is Sir Daxos P. Clinton III (KAP, EKS, ICM of Foleran Armies in his Majesty's Royal Dictate). I haven't made any other fluff for him other than the fact that he's based off of the Sir Joseph character from the HMS pinafore.

The model for him is currently my dakka avatar. For some reason, he's very camera shy on the table, and I don't have any good pictures of him doing anything. My website has a picture of him in the "about" section.

How did you get your army to look so...unique? I am amazed at how the faces and hair of them are so different.

The heads are actually all just regular cadian shock troops heads with the helmets removed with a hobby knife. Once accomplished, I just GSed on ears and hair.

When I thought of this idea, I thought I was insane. Then I actually did it and it wound up being surprisingly easy.

Well they look fantastic.