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Looking at Imperial Guard as a possible 2nd army. But I am still newish to 40k and was wondering how they work, the whole order system and platoon system. I kind of like the idea of them mostly being on foot I did look over at Ailaros's blog but it's greek to me to be honest with all the abbreviations. Thanks for the help.

The various order's are like special abilities that can be given to chosen squads based off of a leadership test. They add a little something extra and an interesting strategic element (IMHO). The platoon system is how the troop choices are chosen, 1 platoon takes one troop choice. Your basic platoon is a platoons command squad and then 2 infantry squads of 10, after that you can add heavy weapons teams, special weapon teams, more infantry and such. But the entire platoon takes up only one troop slot which makes it real easy to put a lot of models on the table. Hope that helps somewhat.

Imperial are cool because they have a gakload of cool tanks. The infantry are dirt cheap, so itll let you afford those awesome tanks if you want them too.

Orders follow a chain of command as described in the codex, and they do a large variety of different things.

The platoon is basically a single unit that can separate into independent squads. Purchasing one platoon and splitting it does not count for the purposes of having the minimum of 2 troops.

The thing I like about being an IG player is since there's such a large variety of different play styles, nobody knows what to expect when they play me since I change army types like I change shirts, I've made about 10 different 2000-point lists for different purposes. You could go with as little as 50 Guardsmen (I say "as little as 50..." shows how desensitized I am to Guardsmen numbers) and your HQ and then fill out the rest of your list with 9 tanks upgraded to the max, all serving different roles on the battlefield from tank-hunting to shelling to infantry-razing and further, and rush forward with your WALL OF IRON I and my friends have labelled it, and the sheer amount of explosive firepower will keep the enemy in check if the scatter-dice are in your favor. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you could bring hordes of Guardsmen with literally hundreds of individual models with a massive stockpile of weapons on-hand, as a single platoon can have up to 112 infantrymen outfitted with lasguns, boltguns, shotguns, lascannons, mortars, snipers, plasma guns, meltas, flamers, missle launchers... The list goes on. Keep in mind, however, that each platoon has different squads in it which function independently, so those 112 men are 5 Guardsmen squads, 5 heavy weapons squads, 2 special weapons squads, a platoon command squad, and a conscript squad who are all separate. You don't use them as a single unit unless you only have Guardsman squads, in which case you can combine the squads to make a single blob of Guardsmen. At any rate, you have the option to make pretty much any style of army you want, and they are one of the most adaptable armies IMHO. Some people like slowly rolling over the enemy in tanks. Some love to watch the enemy fall as rank after rank of entrenched Guardsman fires en masse. Personally, I enjoy throwing masses of conscripts at the enemy to bait them into close combat together and then shelling the crap out of them with my lines of artillery safely stowed away behind a thick line of heavy weapons equipped infantrymen.

Only downside I have run into is the cost. The sheer number of models needed can be bank-breaking, which is why I and my friends still play with rippy bits of paper labelled "C" for conscript for the most part. Just the one infantry platoon mentioned with every slot filled could cost around $250 American (I'm guessing from quick calculation) and then each vehicle is typically $50 also, my favorite regiment would end up setting me back about 800 dollars with 165 infantrymen and 9 heavy support as well as 3 fast attack models. But hey, there are ways around the price! Like not fielding a full armored regiment AND a mass of infantry. Or not paying the extra price my local game shop owners are charging for "importation" fees from Britain to California like I can't seem to stop doing. W00t supporting local small businesses!

Yipyioh wrote:Personally, I enjoy throwing masses of conscripts at the enemy to bait them into close combat together and then shelling the crap out of them with my lines of artillery safely stowed away behind a thick line of heavy weapons equipped infantrymen.

Oh hello, Chenkov.

PS: Enjoyable description!

It's not the stats or the models or the armor that got me into IG. It's just the picture I get in my head every time I fire 9 artillery pieces simultaneously. And the Techpriests. Those guys are fun.

I Have to second Yipyioh with how much guardsmen can cost. Buying chimeras for all of your unit's will drain your wallet
fast. As it stands though I belive the most expensive army out there is mechinized Guard. I could be wrong though.