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I've had a chance to look through the book today, still doing it now. I've been reading about how people think IG power blobs are dead and gone because power weapons got nerfed and leaders can be picked out, however...

The power weapon nerfing wasnt that bad. My seargents and commisars rarely killed things, it was the sweaty blob of fists, bayonets, and anger that felled terminators.

In regards to being picked out, snipers aren't too big of a threat, with roughly a 8% or less chance to put a bullet where they really want it. Precision strikes could be a problem, but like I said the power weapons were never the hammer in my unit. I could just leave a commander or two with high leadership in the middle or the back.

Am I missing something? It's not looking great but I don't see any reason to up and stop running blobs.

If nothing else, blobs always have the Look Out, Sit! rule. That helps a lot. I agree with you; these blobs should still be viable though have to be more carefully played.

guiltl3ss wrote:If nothing else, blobs always have the Look Out, Sit! rule. That helps a lot. I agree with you; these blobs should still be viable though have to be more carefully played.

Exactly, so I'm not worried at all about shooting. Doesn't do crap in melee, but that just means I need to restructure my sgts, and have my Commissars act a bit more cowardly.

Snipers and any character can pick out the commisar on a 6, and he can also be challenged in CC robbing you of his important leadership buffs

You can refuse a challenge though
As far as I know you can at least

Zachilles wrote:Snipers and any character can pick out the commisar on a 6, and he can also be challenged in CC robbing you of his important leadership buffs

On a 6 they can choose him (17%). Then I get a look out sir (8%). Then I get an armor save (5%). So worst case scenario I still have an 8% chance of losing him from a standard sniper. I'm none too worried. I also can't think of any sniper weapons besides marbos ripper pistol with an AP that goes right through flak. Last I checked at least there wasn't a ton of super lethal sniper weapons, but I'm willing to accept I'm wrong about that.

As for CC, yeah that's def going to pop up. Just have him and a sgt on standby. When he slinks away then the sgt can rally up.

Edit - Just looked over the weapon list, the only weapons I need to worry about are ripper pistols, hexrifles, and exitus rifles and pistols. These dangers can be slighty mitigated by just spreading out the squad a bit, and getting the head of it to assault the sniper while the important troops stay as far back as possible.

Its not just Sniper weapons you need to worry about. There are also Sergeants carrying Plasma Pistols(or Psycannons in the case of GKs) and just standard weaponry getting allocated to the Commissar.

Its not the end of the world, it just means that Power Blobs arn't a sure fire tarpit anymore.

Grey Templar wrote:Its not just Sniper weapons you need to worry about. There are also Sergeants carrying Plasma Pistols(or Psycannons in the case of GKs) and just standard weaponry getting allocated to the Commissar.

Can you give a pg number where it says pistols can be shot in CC? I've heard people talk about it but i can't find it.

I mean regular shooting. Any character(all sergeants and equivilents are all characters)

Precision strike also applies to CC too. So you need to worry about getting hit with a power weapon of some kind.


Some units are completely made of characters(Nobs and Paladins)

Of course you can play that game too with a Power Blob as all your Sergeants are characters.

Necroshea wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:Its not just Sniper weapons you need to worry about. There are also Sergeants carrying Plasma Pistols(or Psycannons in the case of GKs) and just standard weaponry getting allocated to the Commissar.

Can you give a pg number where it says pistols can be shot in CC? I've heard people talk about it but i can't find it.

Unless I have missed something, that was just a rumour.

Grey Templar wrote:I mean regular shooting. Any character(all sergeants and equivilents are all characters)

Precision strike also applies to CC too. So you need to worry about getting hit with a power weapon of some kind.


Some units are completely made of characters(Nobs and Paladins)

Of course you can play that game too with a Power Blob as all your Sergeants are characters.

Ah ok I get you now. Yeah, Looks like my sgts might need to be rekitted out now. At range best I can do is just hope they make it past all the dice rolls, but in melee I'll have to keep at least one sgt and the commy at the back. Not even sure if it's worth it to outfit the others with power weapons now, I'm pretty sure they're gonna be the first to eat it.

I'd model all your Sergeants with Power Axes. They go last most of the time anyway and having +1Str and AP2 is a nice little boost.

That way you can get a few AP2 hits in there and the higher Str doesn't hurt either.

If the only argument against blobs is that it's easier to lose the characters now, then there are no arguments. Blobs come with 3+ characters. Losing any one of them is trivial.

Blobs are better now with their 24 inch gun and Str 4 AP 2 close combat attacks.

Grey Templar wrote:I'd model all your Sergeants with Power Axes. They go last most of the time anyway and having +1Str and AP2 is a nice little boost.

That way you can get a few AP2 hits in there and the higher Str doesn't hurt either.

You know...I've never stopped to think that you could use anything but a power sword...wow.

Or you can just toss AP out the window and give them power mauls. Str5 Guardsmen FTW!

Ah, i see it's a new 6th edition thing. Power lances...lol.

Have you looked at the RR character yet

I used to run blob guard, and now I am leaning away from that. I realize that there is a slim chance to lose your commissars/sgts from sniper fire, but thats to armies with only a few sniper rifles. What about those lists with ONLY sniper rifles? And that commissar has to survive multiple rounds coming straight at him.

I would much rather spend the points on msu's with heavy weapons and flame throwers. This will destroy me in KP games, yes, but that is only 1 in 6. And with the addition of allies, guard can now bring proper assault units. That is what I will be doing as my guard lay down some serious covering fire.

Grey Templar wrote:Have you looked at the RR character yet

You mean mogul or RR in general? The models are god awfully ugly. I've been trying to find some 28mm dirt bikes to mount my guardsmen on for some time now for conversion purposes, but no luck.

DarknessEternal wrote:If the only argument against blobs is that it's easier to lose the characters now, then there are no arguments. Blobs come with 3+ characters. Losing any one of them is trivial.

Blobs are better now with their 24 inch gun and Str 4 AP 2 close combat attacks.

Focus Fire also hurts a fair bit since you can whittle them down that way.

Honestly blobs have become a bit more defensive in my opinion since 6th came out, but that's not a huge deal in my eyes. Personally I believe the Aegis Defense Line is a HUGE boon for the Guard, since now for the price of an infantry squad we are now getting cover for all of our troops behind it.

Anyway, the power blob is no longer a surefire tarpit but it is still a very powerful unit. Its application just can't be as berserk as before, since I know in 5th I just charged them forth.

On the other hand, a psyker in a blob with Divination is a beautiful thing, especially the Primaris with Forewarning and Prescience. Forewarning gives the blob a 4+ invulnerable save, and prescience allows you to re-roll failed to-hit rolls for the squad!

Alternatively, Biomancy is downright brutal against your opponents. Enfeeble makes your target units a joke, reducing Marines to S and T 3, so your lasguns wound them on 4's and autocannons can cause instant death. Endurance grants your guardsmen Feels no Pain.

UMGuy wrote:I used to run blob guard, and now I am leaning away from that. I realize that there is a slim chance to lose your commissars/sgts from sniper fire, but thats to armies with only a few sniper rifles. What about those lists with ONLY sniper rifles? And that commissar has to survive multiple rounds coming straight at him.

I would much rather spend the points on msu's with heavy weapons and flame throwers. This will destroy me in KP games, yes, but that is only 1 in 6. And with the addition of allies, guard can now bring proper assault units. That is what I will be doing as my guard lay down some serious covering fire.

What armies of only sniper rifles? That one guy playing a 10th company Space Marine list with nothing but scout sniper squads? Big freaking deal. A sniper hit is allocated on a 6 and they still need to roll a 4+ to wound, and the most common source of sniper rifles (Space Marine scouts) are a wussy BS3. Once in a while you'll face a bunch of snipers who can ruin your day, but I really wouldn't worry about it.

UMGuy wrote:I used to run blob guard, and now I am leaning away from that. I realize that there is a slim chance to lose your commissars/sgts from sniper fire, but thats to armies with only a few sniper rifles. What about those lists with ONLY sniper rifles? And that commissar has to survive multiple rounds coming straight at him.

I would much rather spend the points on msu's with heavy weapons and flame throwers. This will destroy me in KP games, yes, but that is only 1 in 6. And with the addition of allies, guard can now bring proper assault units. That is what I will be doing as my guard lay down some serious covering fire.

I'm going to love fielding my templars as allies. I'll have my blobs backed up by BT assault squads sporting storm shields and the occasional power maul. Super effective? Prolly not. Fun to play? You betcha.

Necroshea wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:Have you looked at the RR character yet

You mean mogul or RR in general? The models are god awfully ugly. I've been trying to find some 28mm dirt bikes to mount my guardsmen on for some time now for conversion purposes, but no luck.

Yeah Mogol. RRs with 5 Str5 attacks on the charge is scary awsome(they have 2 CCWs right?)



One alternative is to get some Fantesy Knights and say they are Feudal World conscripts(most RRs are anyway)

Brother SRM wrote:
What armies of only sniper rifles? That one guy playing a 10th company Space Marine list with nothing but scout sniper squads? Big freaking deal. A sniper hit is allocated on a 6 and they still need to roll a 4+ to wound, and the most common source of sniper rifles (Space Marine scouts) are a wussy BS3. Once in a while you'll face a bunch of snipers who can ruin your day, but I really wouldn't worry about it.

Guard...Ive already seen lists posted online of guard with EVERY special weapon being a sniper rifle. In 2k you can get an unbelievable amount of sniper rifles in a guard army. Also with them being able to force rerollable cover saves will be a tough list to play as guard, not generally effective against many others, but I imagine it will happen.

Grey Templar wrote:RRs with 5 Str5 attacks on the charge is scary awsome(they have 2 CCWs right?)

Only 4 attacks I'm afraid, the lances have a "no 2 ccw bonus" rule.

If a Guard army is using its special weapon slots on sniper rifles, more power to them. The new rules made sniper rifles better, but not strictly "good" by any means. Pathfinders have become viable, but guard units with sniper rifles, Space Marine sniper scouts and so on are still far from scary. I might model up a special weapon squad or two of snipers for my Valhallans just because it could be a cool painting/modeling opportunity and to take advantage of the better rules, but I wouldn't say they were the best option out there. Just a unit that can occasionally get lucky and kill a sergeant or plasma gun once a game or something.

People saying power blobs are dead probably has something to do with this article that I wrote saying just that.

As for rough riders, you can't charge them at something fresh off the table from reserves. Reserves was pretty well the only way to guarantee keep them alive until they got to charge, but now you've got to field them on the table. In a world where cover got worse, along with an awful lot of problems for assault units in general.

We're going back to the days when guard CC was all counterassault oriented. Not completely worthless to take a decent assault unit or two, but you can no longer build an army around close combat with guard.

I would think that shooty blobs are still viable, but the traditional Power Blob-Commissar-Power weapon blobs aren't nearly as good. I haven't played any battles as Guard in 6th, but I'm sure there are still options for Guard players besides Chimelta-vet and leafblower.

DOOMBREAD wrote:I would think that shooty blobs are still viable, but the traditional Power Blob-Commissar-Power weapon blobs aren't nearly as good. I haven't played any battles as Guard in 6th, but I'm sure there are still options for Guard players besides Chimelta-vet and leafblower.

I played Hybrid IG in 5th, and it is still very devastating. It actually feels like it is more dangerous now than before. All I did was drop some melta from the vet squads and gave them plasma. I saved the points by changing the special weapons teams over to flamers. The gun line backing them up is absolutely terrifying now.