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hello everyone, first post here.
I'v dug up my old IG army that i collected years ago and am wantin to get back into 40k.

I want to make a ordanance heavy army and was wondering whether a conscript platoon would be any good for holding the enemy in the middle of the board so i can bomb the crap outta them with morta's and basilisk. My worries are that if i hit my own men (although they're only consripts) i'l kill a lot, and they're likely to run away quickly. Would vets be better or maybe even both?



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all i wanna know is how long can 50 conscripts last for? would they be any good at delaying and enemy advance so i can get more shots of with artillery or is there a better alternative?

If your Conscripts are with a Commissar they could conceivably hang around for quite some time.

I don't know how you plan to hold up enemy units and shoot at them at the same time though. Ordnance is always good though! There's never any shortage of Manticores in competitive IG lists.

Conscripts cannot take commissar upgrades.

What you are describing is a tarpit - something that can hold the enemy for a few turns while suffering casualties. That kind of construct is done by combined squads of infantry with a commissar upgrade. The commissar keeps them fighting by making them stubborn, testing on his Ld9, and giving a reroll on the check by summary execution. However, whatever enemy you tarpit is locked in CC and cannot be shot (you are not allowed to shoot into CC or your own men).

Conscripts have to be played differently. They are supposed to lose in one CC phase and run, so that the enemy is open to be shot on your turn. Alternatively, take Chenkov and pay for the conscript upgrade (send in the next wave). At the beginning of your turn, you can declare the conscript squad locked in CC destroyed, remove it, and re-enter in full strength from your edge. That leaves the enemy open to be shot.

What is not clear to me is if Chenkov can recycle them this way ad infinitum. If yes, cool!

Huh. I could have sworn I played against conscripts with a commissar. Oh well.

You could use a Lord Commisar with a conscript squad.

I personally wouldn't though, I'd take Chenkov with Send in the next wave and use the conscripts to bubblewrap my artillery vehicles. They run off the board? No big deal. They'll come back, and my tanks are already on my board edge, so they don't have to go far to re-wrap the artillery.

Bear in mind you can't target the enemy while they're locked in CC, so there's that.

And if you want a tarpit unit, don't use conscripts. Use powerblobs, they're much more effective. The only way to get a commissar into a conscript unit is to use a Lord Commissar (who is pretty expensive for what he does as is) who can be singled out in close combat. Once he's dead, your conscripts are going to be running very quickly.

With powerblobs, their Commissar can't be singled out, and with Sergeants and Commissars equipped with power weapons, they actually have something to hit back with.

Conscripts, while cheap, aren't worth the discounted price. They're 1 point cheaper, but WS 2 BS 2 Ld6 and cant take any special weapons or upgrades.

A power[weapon] blob of regular infantry will cost more, but is capable of doing MUCH more for the points you pay.

Monster Rain wrote:Huh. I could have sworn I played against conscripts with a commissar. Oh well.

That combo is legal only if he was a lord commissar, who is an independent character, not an upgrade. But that build is really weak.

It must have been the Lord Commissar then.

Thanks for the clarification. The only IG I've played against for ages is Chimera wall and Vendetta spam!