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I currently play Tyranids and Orks and have been thinking of selling off the orks to run a mech build. I used to play both BA and IG but its been a while. Who is running a more effective mech build these days, IG or BA? Or is there another chapter other than BA that does it better? I've heard there tanks are all fast and from what I've seen on Dakka they are my first choice.

I've done xenos for a while, part of me misses having an imperial army!

Both IG and BA are good codex to build a mech list. BA are much faster and there units are more survivable. IG are slower but hit harder and can field more on the table. When it comes to cost, I think BA is a bit cheaper to build the IG. Really its up to you, if you want 3+ save and FNP or do you want more and heavier guns.

Tau can run a very effective mech list and are really cheap $wise. So long as you don't mind playing with a slightly outdated codex

Having Played BA mech, I've gotta say it's probably not the best way for them to fight, but it does work. Now if you fill your list with rhinos full of assault marines you have something. If only BA had access to the Predator Angrinator. and powerfeet.

Well, i dont know about BA but i play imperial guard and i am planning on getting more mech in. In a targeted upcoming list im building i have:
1 Chimera
2 Bane wolves
2 Basilisks
and 2 Leman russes

Its nothing special but its what i feel will be cool to play on the battlefield. Not to mention there is also Valkyrie's/Vendetta's; fast attack sentinals(meh) hell hounds/devildogs; All russ varients all basilisk varients; hydra flak; manticore; deathstrike etc.

I dont know about blood angels side of things but i say mech guard is pretty darn flexible as all the troops are cheap. (with this list i run a command squad inf platoon and vet squad)

Both are really cool armies so i'm not surprised that this is a tough choice but good luck in re-finding an army!

For mech nothing beats ig. The sheer amount of vehicles is crazy. Also having 5 fire points on chimeras is much better than 2 or zero. I run 2 manticores a leman russ 4 chimeras a hellhound and a scout sentinel in 1850. It took a while to build up the force but it is impressive to look at. Also superheavies blend in well with guard tanks.

I would say for a variety if vehicles guard. For spam take ba. Then again if you like dreads take ba.

@rogueeyes

Just a single scout sentinal? what wep and how do you run him?

Heavy flamer usually. Sometimes av autocannon depending on the day our the model I grab. Always out flank. It is a cheap annoyance unit. Plus for catachans it is fluffy.

Imperial Guard by far have the largest variety of Vehicles in any one army, unfortunately, the majority of them are ignored for the obviously cheaper ones: (Vendetta, Chimera, Hydra, Manticore).

I find Sentinels and Armored Sentinels great support walkers. Imo, they're cheap enough to field with their multi-lasers alone and provide excellent fire power for Infantry Squads and Chimeras.

Interesting,

IG have the most choices,

BUT BA mech is easy...

I am going to go with BA cause I want both mech and deepstrike game styles, in case one gets boring.

as a side track, I have a cotez GK list that was super mech'ed up with 6 dreadnaughts + 6 razors/chimera. 12 vehicles at 1750 points. It's kind of like IG in a wierd way in a marines codex
pie plates in the form of the odd psycker and plasma cannons

As for mech, I'm not sure. But if it's just pumping out vehicles you want, then go for guard all the way. With space marines I prefer to use drop pods; half can deep strike first turn, plus little to no chance of mishaps because of guiding system. Tau are great because you can just fly over buildings, but they still only move 12" since they aren't fast skimmers; I like the 4+ cover the disruption pods give though. I don't consider guard to be an all- out mech force, but does anyone know if the banewolf can carry models? or is it just the chimera? Also, if you are also considering it, the Dark Eldar are amazing; open topped means they can charge same turn as departing from their vehicles, plus the vehicles are fast and deadly to all tanks. They're very weak though... those are the only armies I know much about.
Pros/Cons:
Guard: +can get a lot of transports with ample amounts of troops; +amazing firepower at their disposal; taking artillery and heavy weapon teams can take out those pesky anti- vehicle forces - not so tough chimera -only one transport vehicle that has little firepower
SM: + Transport variety; drop pod can deliver troops quickly and accurately, with the risk of not being backed by additional forces; razorback offers fire support along with heavy weapon; rhino can repair self; Land raider is one of the best transports in the game (price aside)with large capacity, plenty of firepower, and amazing durability + all tanks have smoke launchers -no foreseeable negatives atm...
Tau: +skimmers can fly over terrain that you would have to go around + front armor tougher than other transports -pricier than most transports, as well as the disruption pods' cover save - no firing points -if immobilised, then the vehicle with its passengers are destroyed
DE: + able to go very fast + can charge out of vehicle into combat + lance weapons can dent opponent's vehicles +as with tau, they can fly over terrain +/-very weak armor, and if immobilised then the vehicle is destroyed along with passengers, but can take invulnerable save and reduce opponent's ability to fire

Guard is better. The chimera is a solid choice, plus it av 12 front. Also the valkyrie or vendetta are good transports. Guard has such a variety of tanks, it makes a treadhead like me happy.


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Plus ba are pretty boys who polish their armor too much and turn into vampires. Lol

Imperial Guard. They work great at any points level, from 1000-2500. Front AV12 on every vehicle is tough for a lot of armies to deal with and the massive amount of vehicles limits the possibility of people getting side shots on your AV10. Manticores in the back field don't require LoS and can hide very well (assuming you play with LoS blocking terrain...as everyone should), Hydras swat skimmers from the sky and crack open AV10-11 with ease. Melta and plasma vets are excellent troop choices. Psyker battle squads in a chimera can either dish out a high strength large blast template or make a unit run away every turn.

Finally you have vendettas. There's a reason mech guard is still one of the hardest armies out there. Mech BA is very good as well, but Guard just does mech better.

I'm not sure which is better, but a BA army is probably safer from a financial standpoint. In both cases, you have a lot of expensive (dollar-wise) vehicles, and in both cases the dudes inside can be repurposed for a foot (or JP) army. The difference is that Blood Angels can be used as other types of Marines, and there will always be playable Marine armies out there. So, you have more protection against 6th edition making your army worthless. I haven't been playing that long but I believe the previous Guard codex was terrible.