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What is it exactly?

How is it executed?

Opinions on its usefulness?

(Would it be any better w/ Krieg Guardsmen, who have WS 4?)

usually between 30 and 50 infantry in an infantry platoon and a commisar.

all the sarges and commiscar get power weapons.

the post "non mech ig" is rather extensive for this.

Thanks. Would DKoK make a more ideal power blob (what with WS 4)?

I dont know what rules DKOK use, I'm guessing IA. WS4 isn't really that much worse than WS3, you are still hitting a vast majority of things on a 4, and most are hitting you on a 4 now instead of a 3, I wouldnt pay more than a point per model for it though.

the advantage of a power blob isn't that they are really good, it is that they are extremely cheap, resiliant, and bring a good number of power weapons to the table, they excell at winning fights against things like space marines through attrition. "good" close combat units will still tear through them or get tied up for a long time.

If points permit I've found dropping heavy weapons & taking 5 x meltas is also useful, but taking the Commissar is a must.

I've done this once in a game, but the end results allowed a merged platoon to batter their way through a host of Eldar and a Wraithlord in pretty short order.

The IG power blob makes a decent assault unit, right up until something that can outrun & outrange them makes it its mission to wipe you out.

I use an infantry-heavy list with lots of power weapons. here are my battle reports. You can see lists and examples of how it plays out on the field.

I don't know anything about DKoK rules, though. If they have WS4, that would be nice, but not ultimately necessary. So long as sergeants can take power weapons and squads can take hidden commissars, then they can take power blobs.

Death korps cost 1p more, but their sergeants get power fists. Worth it.

Would suggest if points permit 2 Commissars... :-) There are a few ways to take out the first one like Mindwar or Vindicare, especially if the power blob is the sole focus of the army...

ph34r wrote:Death korps cost 1p more, but their sergeants get power fists. Worth it.

wow very nice, wish they were legal in normal 40k!

Also if you really want to be aggressive instead of shooty, give your Krieg Guardsmen LASPISTOLS!

pchappel wrote:Would suggest if points permit 2 Commissars... :-) There are a few ways to take out the first one like Mindwar or Vindicare, especially if the power blob is the sole focus of the army...

People take mindwar or vindicares???
It's not worth it for 2 commissars.

I do :-) But I guess it isn't too common then... Still, something to watch for out there...

to be fair, though, a commissar with a power weapon is cheaper than another PIS with a power weapons (points, money, and timewise). If you already have 30 dudes in a blob, and you want to up-power it some more, it's worth considering just adding more commissars. You don't get the extra durability, but a 30-man blob is already plenty durable, and once you start getting bigger, it can be unwieldy.

Ailaros wrote:to be fair, though, a commissar with a power weapon is cheaper than another PIS with a power weapons (points, money, and timewise). If you already have 30 dudes in a blob, and you want to up-power it some more, it's worth considering just adding more commissars. You don't get the extra durability, but a 30-man blob is already plenty durable, and once you start getting bigger, it can be unwieldy.

This is actually a really good idea. Three extra power weapon attacks every round for 50 points scales really well into armies where you're already maxed out with all the infantry that you want in big point games.

Or if you've used up all your troop slots and want to buff up your blobs. That happens pretty often in Daemonhunter lists with inducted guard ally blobs.

Jaws of the World Wolf is probably the most widely used ability that has the ability to pick out the commissar.

The commissar would survive half the time (dies on a 4+), but it could still happen (I've done it once to a guard player when i had nothing better to shoot at with my rune priest), though i don't think it's really something you should base your decision on when designing your army, since only SW have Jaws, not all SW lists use Jaws, and a lot of the time other powers (like Living Lighting or murderous hurricane) would be more useful anyway.

So, basically, i would agree with Ailaros, and base your decision on whether or not to take more then one commissar on whichever your army needs more: the 45 points, or 3 more power weapons attacks (4 on the charge).

Ailaros wrote:to be fair, though, a commissar with a power weapon is cheaper than another PIS with a power weapons (points, money, and timewise). If you already have 30 dudes in a blob, and you want to up-power it some more, it's worth considering just adding more commissars. You don't get the extra durability, but a 30-man blob is already plenty durable, and once you start getting bigger, it can be unwieldy.

rather than adding 1 more power weapon to your unit, wouldn't it be better to spend those points on a priest, and sticking him in the rear of the squad where he probably won't make combat, getting like 80% of your swings to hit intead of 50%?

I already bring a priest.

Adding a second isn't as helpful as adding a second commissar most of the time, I'd think.

Oh, well I don't bring priests most of the time and I didnt see them mentioned previously in this thread

Ailaros wrote:I use an infantry-heavy list with lots of power weapons. here are my battle reports. You can see lists and examples of how it plays out on the field.

How does one get 7 man Infantry Squads?

You don't.

I can only assume he means 8 guys plus the Sargent and flamer guy.

:-) He usually fields Meltas and flamers in a mix IIRC... But we play a LOT of vehicles locally in most armies...

Yeah, i think he was questioning the lists on the site that that Ailaros linked, which say

"7 guardsmen, Sergeant with LP+power weapon
Guardsman (w/ flamer)"

I can only assume that's a typo and he means 8?