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So I'm hoping to start an Imperial Guard army sometime within the next few months, though it will probably be awhile haha, and had a few questions:

I really like the idea of leaning heavy on mech and I don't see many/any lists out there that are showing pintle-mounted heavy stubbers. Obviously they aren't too great, but they're a defensive weapon so I would consider them useful for Chimeras/short range Leman Russes

The other side of that is that I never see Punisher LRs, I feel like while the short range on such a slow tank is a bad idea in concept but that in practice 20 shots (possibly 32 in a perfect situation) is just too much for almost anything to withstand. I know STR5 isn't exactly top choice for light vehicle killing but in a pinch it would at least have a chance, and if the vehicle is in the center of the map a 24" range goes a long way!

Grave chute insertion... has it worked well for you guys?

Giving an infantry squad a chimera, having them hop out turn 1 and putting a heavy weapon squad of 3 Lascannons/missile launchers in it seems like a good idea to me, clearly I'm not the only person to think of it so how has that worked as mobile Anti-Tank for you guys or would you suggest just sticking with the meltagun Vets in there?

Lastly... what have you guys done for Penal Legion squads? I was thinking that if I field a squad of them that I'd simply remove their heads and glue on some generic ones to symbolize they are prisoners, is there an easier way you guys have done? I'm a pretty bad painter, though I like doing it!

20 shots is not as good as a large plate high strength (or even small plate) shot. The AP suffers and you will only have luck against poorly armored troops. On top of all that you are 50/50 on dice rolls hitting. (Where as plates have a MUCH higher chance of getting hits.)

I've been rolling a exterminator, I'm switching to a demolisher for the tank knock out power of a S10 large plate and barrage.

Penal legion are cheaper then vets, so a spam might be good with them. (And they are an upgrade for close combat if you roll right)

Checking my Force Org Standard Chart, it should be possible to field 9 Lemun Russ's.....I know some people like tanks, but if that's not enough for you then I think you need a different game lol. (You can't fit that many tanks into any other army.)

Go play guard small scale, FYI first time playing you will get your ass handed to you a couple times till you figure out that Guard is a very different army..... Gotta protect your troops and think ahead of your fire lines and where/when/how to charge. (Guard can do well in assault if timed and applied correctly.)

HAVE FUN! Guard can be a pain, but super fun to play.

EDIT: Melta Gun vets with demolisher skill out of a valk can be alot of fun :-)

Punishers are very expensive for a very weak gun. You're only going to hit 10 of those shots on average, and wound with 2/3rds of them if you're shooting anything T4, which most of your targets will be. That will end up being like 6-7 wounds on a Space Marine squad, which might kill 2. A Battlecannon pieplate will do significantly better. Heavy bolter sponsons will do some extra wounds if you're shooting infantry, as Leman Russes aren't really suited to tank hunting.

Heavy stubbers are awesome, but are often dropped for the sake of efficiency. A lot of net lists focus on minmaxing and building cookie cutter armies that all look and play the same. Heavy stubbers give 3 shots at strength 4 at 36" range, which is a healthy addition to any firing platform. I never leave home without em. If you've got the points to spare, they're useful.

Heavy weapons teams are awful for mobile anti tank. They need to stand still to shoot. If you leave them in a gunline in your deployment zone they'll do fine though. For mobile anti tank you'll want outflanking sentinels with autocannons or the trusty standby of veterans with melta guns in Chimeras/Valks. As for grav-chute insertion, I've only done it once and lost 3/4 of my squad. It was hilarious and ineffective. In theory it could work.

For penal legion, you could get Catachans and paint their clothes orange. That's the easiest way to go about it. You could also convert some, using Victoria Lamb's Penal Guard conversion kits: http://www.victorialamb.com/store.html they're about a third of the way down the page.

Brother SRM wrote:As for grav-chute insertion, I've only done it once and lost 3/4 of my squad. It was hilarious and ineffective. In theory it could work.

Yeah but they are sooooooooo cool when they do land. Opponent: "He's 2 feet away, I'll just move up my land raider a little bit" ME: *ZOOOOOOOM DROP BOOOM! BLAH DEATH.

It's a suicide unit for sure, but oh so much fun and devastating when pulled off. Something about a bunch of guard with big ass guns willingly deep strike/dropping next to tanks and hardened units lol. (I usually pair the vet squad with demolitions for the plate demo pack and meltaboms assuming they survive a turn lol.

I got ya on the mathcraft as to why Punishers are bad against Space Marines but I was figuring 10 shots will land, against T3 enemies you're likely to take out a lot of them, even DE with FNP you'll knock some out, but I guess Exterminators are even better at that, huh?

Brother SRM wrote:For penal legion, you could get Catachans and paint their clothes orange. That's the easiest way to go about it. You could also convert some, using Victoria Lamb's Penal Guard conversion kits: http://www.victorialamb.com/store.html they're about a third of the way down the page.

That link is awesome! While it might not be plausible due to the financial limitations I'm already facing, I'd definitely go for the Highland Guard theme for the army. That's an AMAZING idea (I'm half Scottish and am a bagpiper so that kinda sold me on ImpGuard army to replace my Eldar haha)

Brother SRM wrote:Heavy weapons teams are awful for mobile anti tank. They need to stand still to shoot.

That's why I said you would put them in a Chimera, the tank can move as needed and then you have 3 teams in there with 3 fire points, right?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

sfshilo wrote:Checking my Force Org Standard Chart, it should be possible to field 9 Lemun Russ's.....I know some people like tanks, but if that's not enough for you then I think you need a different game lol. (You can't fit that many tanks into any other army.)

That's the whole plan with some Vendettas and possibly Bane Wolves w/ HHF =D