For me the most obvious thing I see
GW doing to Guard is removing the ability for Officers to order themselves. I just see that happening. No more Straken getting to fight twice, no more Company Commanders moving halfway across the board by issuing Move! Move! Move! on themselves, no more Tank Commanders giving themselves reroll to hit of 1 (even though thematically at least this one makes sense, as they're ordering their crew, not themselves literally).
I'm not going to count removing Grinding Advance, because while I do think it should go, it should also be accompanied with drastic changes to the actual profiles of the weapons
I do agree with you. Removing Grinding Advance makes it easier to balance the Leman Russ with other vehicles.
However, the amount of buffs it needs to remain at 160 points would probably be a lot. Something like:
- 14 wounds
- 2+ save against ranged attacks (3+ save against melee)
- Battle cannon flat damage 3 (other turret weapons get similar buffs)
Even with all that, I still don't think a Russ is worth 160 points. Maybe 140 tops.