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So I have 3 "bad" 40k armies, CSM, Tau and Orks. Im thinking about getting a very large IG army. After reading the codex and doing some research I have decided to create a Valhallan army with Chenkov. I would like to get 3 squads of conscripts at 50 models each and use nothing but Basiliks in heavy support. Plus any fast attack I would like to use I want them to be Hellhounds.

So the question is how pricey do you think it will end up being for me to create this Valhallan army? I've got a bit to throw around but its still daunting for because Im going after metal models.

It'll be pricey, as all Guard armies tend to be. I have an all metal army, about 3000pts total of Mordian Iron Guard, including over 100 metal models for a 1500pts foot list. Buying off GW would have been stupid expensive, but instead I scrounged around on the swap shop and other trade sites (bartertown) as well as ebay for people selling metal minis. Don't care about the paint, metal is really easy to strip.

You know I have an all metal guard army with my Steel Legion. Thank god I got them a while ago when the prices were relatively cheap. But the Valhallans will be quite cool if you could pull it off. If your aiming for the Russian theme dont use Basiliks, use Deathstrikes

Yeeeah, IG armies, especially specialist ones tend to be twice as most expensive than most other armies.

If you want a cheap IG army, I would suggest a primarily blob army with some Tank artillery, maybe a vendetta to spice things up with melta vets. This seems like the cheaper mostly effective army for IG, and costs around as much as your average foot army, which is pretty good. Stay away from Death Korps or stuff like that, or the price skyrockets.

Deadly Hitman51 wrote:So I have 3 "bad" 40k armies, CSM, Tau and Orks. Im thinking about getting a very large IG army. [...] I would like to get 3 squads of conscripts at 50 models each and use nothing but Basiliks in heavy support. Plus any fast attack I would like to use I want them to be Hellhounds. .

So let me get this straight... you have three bad armies, and you want to take a fourth, good army, but play it badly?

Shadelken, chill. Hellhounds are the bane of horde armies existances.

As a guard player, it does get pricey. But totally worth it. I just sold off my Valhallans all 60 of them, sorry I wouldve helped ya out there.

Guard are great for two things.... Tanks and Horders.

100 conscripts is brutal, plus if you like I have Chenkov model. Hes kinda hard to find these days. Horde armies are win, plus if you give them orders they can get things like furious charge and fearless and such. That works out great. Also think about taking a squad of 3 helll hound and 2 vendettas to pop transports and mechs. Otherwise they're going to kill you.

Also since you're going to be doing the horde army, you'll want to take ratling snipers to do some dirty work. Pinning can be awesome when you're shooting at things like Termies. Pin them with sniper fire and then assault them.

As well, Tank lists are awesome. I have 13 Leman Russes, some of which im trying to get rid of. If ya interested PM me and I can help ya out with starting the army. I have 20 or so Catachans, Russes, and Ratlings. Plus Chenkov if you looking for any of those.

This sounds very much like the style of army i'm going for, conscripts, artillery and maybe hellhound(bit more as well though).
Making a conscript army of metal models sounds expensive. i would say that if you want metal troops have less and if you want more get plastic troops, unless your'e loaded.
You could always convert cadians or catachans to make 'em look like valhallans, pig iron do heads wearing valhallan/russian style hats

What's bad about Orks? Orks are a very, very good codex. They're not at the top of the power scale, but they're above average. CSM are fairly competitive if bland, while Tau aren't so hot. Do not use conscripts though - they are seriously one point cheaper than standard guardsmen and have worse WS, BS, and LD, along with no weapon options whatsoever. Just take big blobs of standard Guardsmen. You also can't legally take three squads of 50 conscripts unless you have two infantry squads and one platoon command squad for each. Just take big platoons with lots of special weapons and commissars mixed in. These give you the same gameplay theme of conscripts while not being completely awful. Infantry squads can "blob" up and combine into bigger squads on deployment, so this is not a problem whatsoever.

The idea of massed blobs of infantry supported by lots of Basilisks is a cool one, and very fluffy. It's not the most effective build for IG, which I only remark on because you sound like you want something more competitive than Orks or Chaos. However, I would rather play against this army than any cookiecutter IG tournament list that gets posted in the army list section. It would be a fun, thematic army to play both as and against.

Brother SRM wrote:It's not the most effective build for IG, which I only remark on because you sound like you want something more competitive than Orks or Chaos.

At least I'm not the only one who noticed.

Course, that said, fun is definitely a plus for any army build, and Orks/Chaos do have fun stuff. Tau on the other hand...

Brother SRM really summed it up for ya on the Conscript squads though.

Now some questions and answers.

First and foremost I do not care about playing competitively at all. Thats what my CSM and Orks are for. This army is going to be a fluff army kinda sorta.

Now some questions. I really like the Valhallans but amassing them could get expensive for me. Would either Cadians or Catachans do wave tactics?

Also what kind of massed artillery would be the best support for them? I like Basiliks the most. I was also thinking of maybe using Manticores or Deathstrikes. Kinda like a Katuysha rocket barrage the Soviets used in WW2 lol

Cadian and Catachans are not always Cadians and Catachans.

Cadian armor is regarded as fairly common in most parts of the galaxy known to have mostly temperate climates (ie, earth climate).

Catachan is a lack of armor, considering the idea of extra burden being just that in jungle/forest terrain.

Valhallans as well are simply camouflage made for icy battlefields, and the same can be said of Tallarn (hot), and Steel Legion/Kriegg (Heavy Industrial Air). In fact, Mordian and Elysian can simply be viewed as dress and compact gear respectively.

In other words, invent an army, then use the appropriate armor, or pick the armor and invent the army around what that armor is made for.