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Something that popped in my mind is a bargain-basement variation of the Melta vet spam- the melta platoon spam!

A PCS with 4 Meltaguns in a Chimera is 125 pts
A platoon squad with a melta in a Chimera is 115 points
A special weapon squad with 3 meltas (IF IT COULD TAKE A CHIMERA, WHY IT CANT I DONT KNOW) wouldbe 120 points.

So bare minimum you could have a PCS and 2 troops all mounted up for 355 points which gives you 3 AV12 vehicles and 6 meltaguns.

Minimum troops in the FOC gives us two of these at a total of 710 points (not bad).

A Melta Vet squad is 155 points. So two troops would be 310. They're more accurate, but you can't take as many in the FOC. They're also fairly concentrated.

I'm curious if anyone went the cheaper route, and made an army of Chimera spam- Each and every Chimera has a Tank Killer in it, so just popping one doesn't really do much.

This also brings up the realization that Special Weapons Squads can't take dedicated transports, but if they could, they'd be a fantastic deal.

I think you're giving up a lot by spamming regular guardsmen instead of vets. The lack of three special weapons combined with lower balistic skill means that those fragile guardsmen who just disembarked might not get the job done. With vets, and three BS4 meltas, you can be pretty sure you're killing what you're shooting at. You'll still be a ripe target for retaliation, but you will at least have accomplished your mission.

True, but a Chimera is a Chimera, and a Melta Hit is a Melta Hit. With the cheaper Platoons, you are spreading out your targets and avoiding wasting excess shots on the same dead tank.

Many armies can deal with a handful of AV12 vehicles. But few armies will be able to deal with a dozen of them.

Here's a list that combines regular infantry platoons, vets, and stormtroopers to do something like what you're talking about:

http://yesthetruthhurts.com/2011/05/imperial-guard-jargon/

1 CSS w/ 2 melta & astropath in a chimera
3X5 stormtroopers w/ 2 melta in chimeras
1 PCS w/ 3 melta in a chimera
2 infantry squads with meltas in chimeras
2 SWS with 3 meltas each
2 units of vets w/ 3 melta in chimeras

Then some hellhound variants and Leman Russ tanks for fire support.

Heavy flamers on every vehicle hull.

2 of the stormtrooper units deepstrike, and the SWSs load up in their chimeras on turn 1. The third stormtrooper squad outflanks in its own chimera.

So that's 9 chimeras, 25 meltaguns, 7 scoring units. Mechvets can't match that for the points.

The infantry squads have less firepower than mechvets, but they cost a lot less too. Playing variants of this army, I find that I typically use them either as cheap screening units or as objective-holders, so they're not shooting their one meltagun most of the time anyway.

Here is my mech vet list that has more armor and more reliable shooting meltas.

CCS w/4 melta and astropath in chimera
CCS w/3 melta, 1 flamer in chimera
Marbo
6x 10 vets with 3 meltas in chimera
3x armored sentinel w/autocannon
3x manticore

At 2k points, that is 16 pieces of armor, 25 meltas, 3 outflanking sentinels for side shots/distractions, Marbo madness, and a potential 9 S10 pie plates each turn.

Not only that but the vets fire their meltas with more accuracy, and get three shots with them, as opposed to one shot per infantry squad, making their fire much more effective.

augustus5 wrote:Here is my mech vet list that has more armor and more reliable shooting meltas.

CCS w/4 melta and astropath in chimera
CCS w/3 melta, 1 flamer in chimera
Marbo
6x 10 vets with 3 meltas in chimera
3x armored sentinel w/autocannon
3x manticore

At 2k points, that is 16 pieces of armor, 25 meltas, 3 outflanking sentinels for side shots/distractions, Marbo madness, and a potential 9 S10 pie plates each turn.

Not only that but the vets fire their meltas with more accuracy, and get three shots with them, as opposed to one shot per infantry squad, making their fire much more effective.

This is kind of the point of the OP, Augustus.

For your 6X10 vets, you pay 930 points. That's 6 chimeras and 18 BS4 meltaguns.

As an alternative, you could take this:
2 PCS, 4 meltas each
4 Infantry squads in chimeras, each with a melta
3 SWS with 3 meltas each and a chimera bought for a stormtrooper squad

1070 points for 21 BS3 meltaguns, but also 9 chimeras and 9 scoring units. So you have almost the same melta firepower (the larger number of meltas partly offsets the lower BS--you'd need 3 more meltaguns to match it exactly) but 50% more scoring units and tank hulls (and 8 extra bodies, but that doesn't matter as much).

So that's the question of the OP--does a mechvet list actually have more armor and more melta for the same points? I think mechvets can get a bit more melta, but the inherent cheapness of infantry platoons means you get more armor from infantry squads.

It doesn't matter that each infantry squad only has a single melta. Four BS3 meltas fired from four different units scores the same expected number of hits as three BS4 meltas fired from a single squad. Single meltas even have the advantage that they never score an overkill, and can kill theoretically up to four units in a single turn, as opposed to the max of a single kill for the vet squad.

Exactly! By going the economy route, you could flood the board with Chimeras. Dont get me wrong, 6 melta vet squads in chimeras is nasty, but I honestly feel like its not the only way to go with Mechanized guard. The abovementioned mechanized platoons are only two troops choices on the FOC.

Its spreads out your meltas more and makes losing a vehicle or two a non-issue. It also maximizes the cost effectiveness of the Chimera transport.

More bodies and chimeras are better. You are more resistant to damage and the chimeras are inherently a steal that add to the firepower. Three more chimeras means 3 more multi-lasers, so 9 more S6 shots, plus 3 more hull-weapon shots. If you have extra points to spend, it would also mean 3 more heavy stubbers.

Personally, though, I still think the blended version is better than one or the other. It offsets the less efficient buy-in cost of the second platoon and makes up for lost firepower with mech vets:

1 PCS w/ 4 melta
2 Infantry platoons w/ 1 melta each
2 SWS w/ 3 meltas in chimeras bought for stormtroopers
2 mechvet units w/ 3 meltas each

905 points, 18 meltaguns (10 expected hits), 7 chimeras/scoring units

That compares favorably to 930 points for six mechvet units with a bit more melta (12 expected hits) but fewer units.

And, of course, it leaves 3 troop slots open for further mechvet units if you want them.