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Well then, in my 2000 pts IG List, I've modified it so I now have 60 spare points, and I'm debating where I should put them. Currently, the options I'm considering are as follows.

1) Rough Riders w/ Melta Bomb
2) Techpriest w/ Servitor (or extra armor for a tank...)
3) Find 10 spare points, and take a Commissar for each Platoon.

My list as stands is:

HQ
CCS: Vox, Standard

Fast Attack
Banewolf: Multimelta, Smoke
Banewolf: Multimelta, Smoke

Troops
Veterans: Vox, 2x Melta, Chimera
Veterans: Vox, 2x Melta, Chimera

Platoon 1
PCS: Vox, Laspistols
IS: Vox, Grenade Launcher
IS: Vox, Grenade Launcher
HWS: 2x Lascannon, ML

Platoon 2
PCS: Vox, Laspistols
IS: Vox, Grenade Launcher
IS: Vox, Grenade Launcher
HWS: 2x Lascannon, ML

Heavy Support
Leman Russ Platoon
LRBT: Lascannon, HB Sponsons
LRBT: Lascannon, HB Sponsons

Leman Russ Executioner: Plasma Sponsons
Manticore

Veterans: Vox, 2x Melta, Chimera

add another Melta to the Vets That's 20 points right there.

and you should have either take second CCS, or Not as many Vox Casters in the the army list.

PCS should have flamers, thats the rest of the 60 if adding the meltas

I considered taking the flamers, but I realized that that went against the way I ran my army. I tend to have my Guardsman be an advancing wall of death, ready to throw themselves into an attack, or fall back to shore up defense. As such, I tend to keep my PCS out of harms way so I can use either Move, Move, Move or FRFSRF, as the case may be.

I could always add a few more meltas....though I've found 2 works the magic most of the time. BUt I'll consider it for sure.

Always commissars.

Yes. In this case, the first thing you need is commissars.

Turn the banewolves into hellhounds with a free hull option and you've got two power weapon commissars. Turn the worthless vox+GL in each squad into a power weapon, and now you're cooking with some serious infantry behind that armored wall of yours.

Even if you don't want power blobs, you still need the commies. Any extra spare points should be spent to boost your infantry (which is now sorely lacking in killing power), or your existing tanks (because they're cool that way).

Alright. Commissars it is. Dropping the voxes in the Veteran squads, as those are just completely useless to pay for them....For now, I'll keep the Voxes in the Infantry Squads, as I don't really want a power blob guard army. I tried running such a thing a few times, and realized the play style really didn't fit me at all. But yes. Grenade Launchers will probably also be leaving soon, (when I can replace the models in question with regular Guardsmen), as I'm realizing that more lasguns tends to be rather useful when it comes to FRFSRF entire armies into dust. I'm thinking those dropped grenade launchers will become power weapons for my Commissars.

.....Is that the first time a Guard player has had to say: 'I need more lasguns?'

lol. That might be a partial truth.

Just recently, I've found my self saying "I need more bayonets! Where can I find some of those... you know... stick things with the triggers that they go on the end of?"

And no, you don't need to do power blobs to do blobs, but I still wouldn't recommend leaving them bare. Some plasma guns or meltabombs or flamers or SOMETHING would be a good idea. I mean, the overhead:upgrade cost is very, very high with infantry platoons, so you might as well throw a few useful upgrades on them (unlike, say, vox casters and grenade launchers - that could be a flamer and a meltabomb or a meltagun).

Hmmm....I'm debating whether it's odder that I need more lasguns, or you need more bayonets. Personally I'm leaning towards bayonets.


Currently I'm thinking giving one squad a vox and one a flamer per platoon....Cut back on the amount of points I'm spending on the vox network to a minimum, while still giving me some useful upgrades in my IS. The tanks can't do ALL the work, now can they?

Why are there 2 platoons there at all? Those un-armed PCS aren't a very sensible addition. Why not combine the platoon into 1 big one with 4 PIS and 2 HWS. Then you could get a single commissar, and he'd have a much greater effect. You'd also save enough points to give the infantry some decent weapons!

Yeah, or that.

Really, this is moving from "which unit" to an army list critique, which should probably be scooted over.

Ailaros wrote:

Really, this is moving from "which unit" to an army list critique, which should probably be scooted over.

..and so it shall be !

that's better

So, the list as a whole is okay, assuming you've got commissars. There are a couple of things to change though.

for one, dump the banewolfs. Spending 240 points on a pair of ultraheavy flamers is bad news bears.

Secondly, as mentioned, you're spending over 300 points on PISs that have NO killing power. Upgrading them to power blobs will definitely help.

Thirdly, you're spreading your points a touch thin. Only two infantry platoons in 2k points? Only two mechvet squads? The list is low on redundancy, which means that your opponent can use their 2k points to single out an eliminate any one type of threat relatively easily. Some focus could definitely help this list out.

Alright then, here we go, but yeah...bear in mind this if my fluffy list, built around a kind of Soviet Shock Army/Hold the Line (either one depending on the tactical situation) theme. Not meant to be hyper-competitive, but I still like discussing it.

I guess I took the Banewolves as counter charge, and in that where range isn't as much of an issue, I've discovered they are extra-ordinarily useful. Of course, now that I've changed my LGS environment, I don't have a lot of enemies doing the massed marine charge I put them in to fight...I'm guessing they will be becoming Hellhounds soon enough. I will miss my 12" charge of death though....ah well.

Hmmm, what I'm currently thinking is maybe tossing some autocannons in amongst the infantry squads. I've recognized that my infantry squads tend to do nothing, except maybe whittle down some Marines with massed-lasgun fire. I've tried running power blobs, and it didn't really worked too well for me...I'm also considering adding some flamers to my PIS, if only so they can do SOMETHING when they're attacked instead of just running away...

I've also considered dropping the infantry platoons entirely in order to go full out mech-vet, but I'm trying to avoid that army type with this force. I'm presently toying with the idea of dropping a Leman Russ to take more mech vets....would that be a good move?

If you want a soviet stormtrooper army, there is really only one way to go: power blobs. Neither sit-and-shoot infantry, nor a mechanized spearhead particularly fit the fluff.

If you don't want power blobs, though, I'd either go for non-static infantry+armored, or mech+armored (or infantry+mech, if you want). As it is, you're just trying to do too much with too few resources.

I think I'll be going for infantry+armored with the models I currently have. That's the direction I'm leaning in right now....

Though, I kind of viewed a Soviet Stormtrooper army as: tanks and mech infantry to blast a hole, massed light infantry to exploit with ridiculous amount of artillery backing up the whole thing. That was the fluff perspective I was coming from when I built the army....

the problem is that fluff and the real mechanics of 40k don't always work. You simply don't have the points to do a massive artillery barrage AND an unending human wave AND a knock-out armored punch.

I could see an aggressive mech-infantry list viable even without power blobs. I'd imagine 3 melta mechets, two very large shooty blobs (like with plasma guns) with some hellhounds and maybe some stormies and hydras, or something. The front wave is them getting hit by a mech wave, developed by a second wave infantry mass assault.

Of course, which is why this is my fluffy army, trying to get into the spirit of a Shock Army, but...alas with our point totals can not reach it. However, with a local toureny coming up at my uni, I'm going to be building up a much more competitive list to give me a snowball's chance of doing well. That, of course, will be coming up later. It's 1500 points, so I'm currently thinking infantry + armored army, as that's what I have the models for. I'll be posting up a rough list sometime soon.

if you want to keep the PCS out of harm's way, put them in Chimeras

You might want to collect for an Apoc game. Those have a big number of points.

M.