Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Exactly how many guardsmen does it take to stop an enemy unit from entering melta range or assaulting a single tank, or even a squadron of 3? and are conscripts worth using as bubble wrap, or just guardsmen? or is it just a massive point sink and you could spend your points better on getting ready to make a counter attack WHEN your tank is destroyed, rather than trying to stop it all together.

I was just reading this blog entry on bubblewrap:

http://kirbysblog-ic.blogspot.com/2010/02/bubble-wrap-units-why-they-work.html

There are several Vassal shots all showing 20 (well, 16 + 2 AC teams). Give the article a read while you wait for a response from a more experienced player (I'm interested in learning more about bubblewrap myself).

Edit: I hope you don't mind if I add a couple of my own bubblewrap questions.

Is it better to use separate 10 man squads or should one blob?
Should one bother with a Commisar?

How many does it take to keep the tank completely safe? Too many.

I mean, imagine that the tank itself came with an upgrade that cost 50 points, but could stop the tank from being assaulted for one turn, provided it didn't move. Alternately, imagine if the tank had a 150 point upgrade that let it be immune to a single bout of drop podding if it hid in the corner. All while giving enemy units cover against hull and sponson weapons.

Would either of these upgrades be worth the price? No.

That the bubblewrap comes in the form of a squad rather than an upgrade doesn't change this

It all depends on placement of the tanks. Tanks wedged in a corner are easier to wrap than those sitting out in the open. I would definitely consider having enough Guardsmen to keep enemies 6 inches away to prevent deepstriking meltas. which means at least three rows of spaced out Guardsmen.

Doing this with your tanks out in the open can definitely be cost prohibitive.

I guess I don't think of them as "bubble wrap", but more of "part of the gun line"... Fully kitted out, the 3 squads + commissar are a bit pricey though (By kitted out, I'm including power weapons on SGT/Commissar, AC/GL or Melta/Plasma when I get around to it for each squad)... But with the LD orders shouldn't be much of a problem. I guess I'm using them (if I ever see a non "Dawn of War" game again) more to do things other than "guard that Hydra/Basilisk with your lives"... Honestly, Chimeras seem like they provide better cover options for things needing protection like Hydras, etc...

Well, sure, if you're already bringing a bunch of chumps to just sort of chill out in the backfield anyways, then there's no real cost to using them as bubblewrap (commissar says wrap, you maggots!)

I don't think I'd pay points just for the purpose of wrapping a couple of vehicles, though.

Ailaros wrote:
I don't think I'd pay points just for the purpose of wrapping a couple of vehicles, though.

I don't think anyone does think like that. You aren't buying infantry to bubble wrap things, you have infantry, and you deploy them bubble-wrapping the tanks. Assuming the infantry have heavy weapons, it's not hindering their original use.

And to respond to the original question, twenty should be plenty (rhyme!) to bubble wrap a tank, or 2 tanks side by side.

The only armies that use bubblwrap extensively are tau and IG. Without it foot IG doesn't work, and tau doesn't work at all.

Several layers are always better than one blob.

Ailaros wrote:How many does it take to keep the tank completely safe? Too many.

I mean, imagine that the tank itself came with an upgrade that cost 50 points, but could stop the tank from being assaulted for one turn, provided it didn't move. Alternately, imagine if the tank had a 150 point upgrade that let it be immune to a single bout of drop podding if it hid in the corner. All while giving enemy units cover against hull and sponson weapons.

Would either of these upgrades be worth the price? No.

That the bubblewrap comes in the form of a squad rather than an upgrade doesn't change this

Except the fact that you get 10 scoring squishies, who can be armed in various ways.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm finding 10 man squads to be superior bubblewrap, just because of assault. The commieblobs stick around in CC, meaning you can't shoot the unit that's assaulting. The combat is also possibly blocking LoS. In addition, the squad gets dragged into the combat due to piling in, and so you can quickly lose bubblewrap coverage where you wanted it.

This is not to say that commieblobs don't get the job done. Sometimes being bubblewrap overlaps with being assualt or objective-sitters. It's just that sometimes cheaper, smaller squads work better for me as bubblewrap.

I just want to say that bubblewrap in 40K is as reliable as bubble wrap in real life, it will prevent incidental damage (IOW stop the tank from becoming a target of oppurtunity) but will not stop a dedicated opponent from damaging it. What you want to do with let's say for example a squad of LRMBT's is make a squad, As you move this squad up the battlefield make sure that the tank closest to your opponent always turns after moving so that his Front armor is facing toward them. The bubble wrap is situated behind this tank-squad in a stagard formation at their max distance apart without breaking coherancy to prevent anyone from using melta guns to full effect on the LR's rear armor. This protects the vulnerable spot on the tank to a reasonable degree while allowing them to stay mobile. Yes your tanks might still die but that's life in the IG, everything is expendable.
I'd have to measure the back end of a LR to get the number of infantry it would take but 10 might be enough? 20 is more then enough.

Cool guys. Thing is my opponents lack large blast, so I thought going in a big shooty blob of tanks and infantry with lotsa dakka would work as a main force, with fast stuff and outflankers moving up the sides.

infantry+armored lists are plenty fine. In this case, though, it's the tanks that support the troops, not the other way around. The fact that the infantry also help the tank is more of a pleasant technicality than it should be the core of your strategy.

Exactamundo. We need lots of squishies to win.

I been taking 2 infantry squads that I sometimes use for bubble wrapping tanks and it works pretty good.