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Hi Dakka! Looking for advice and a verdict on sanguinary guard in 6th edition as a possible allied detachment.

I have been sucked in by the allies rules and I'm really looking forward to being able to model and paint and play some cool units without having to buy a whole new army...

I have guard and necrons, and have been looking at allies for mainly with guard. I am planning on getting an Eldar detachment for a farseer with doom and some pathfinders behind an aegis for 2+ cover saves and some nice sniping (should be a fun unit).

I have also been thinking about an ally that can do what guard can't - assault and strike hard deep in enemy lines.

When I looked into Blood Angels I love their background and was immediately drawn to Sanguinary Guard adding dante as hq (for troop and precision deep strike)

So what's the verdict on them?

Thanks

Good, but expensive point wise.

Make sure your army has a need for them, first. They did get important buffs in 6E and are a solid choice, but that doesn't mean they'll make good allies for every list.

For example, if you're just looking for a unit to contest objectives in the opponent's backfield, they're probably too expensive and Storm Troopers would do it better.

More directly, "striking hard" is too vague of a goal for a unit. Is it going to go tank hunting? Contest objectives? Distraction? Once you've decided on the goal, the unit selection becomes much simpler.

Ricter wrote:Make sure your army has a need for them, first. They did get important buffs in 6E and are a solid choice, but that doesn't mean they'll make good allies for every list.

For example, if you're just looking for a unit to contest objectives in the opponent's backfield, they're probably too expensive and Storm Troopers would do it better.

More directly, "striking hard" is too vague of a goal for a unit. Is it going to go tank hunting? Contest objectives? Distraction? Once you've decided on the goal, the unit selection becomes much simpler.

Not tank hunting as I should have more than enough in my guard list for that. My guard is really a gun line, and so a unit that can precision deep strike and cause some damage in the enemies backfield really appealed to me, and hopefully that would both enable me to distract the enemy giving me more time to shoot them down with guard and possibly contest an enemy objective in their deployment zone that i would otherwise not be able to reach easily.

I like the idea of storm troopers but they've never really worked for me, they might have a decent turn of shooting if they land successfully (which isn't always a given) but then normally get wiped out the following turn.

It's also kind of a hobby project, I really like the idea that I can get a couple of cool looking units and use them without having to buy a whole army.

My guard have little assault capability and I hoped some 2+ save fnp jump troops would fill a gap guard can't fill and be able to survive to deal damage to distract the enemy enough so shooting has more chance. Obviously spending that many points on a unit I wouldn't want them to just be a suicide unit, but if they've taken out an important enemy unit and messed with the opponents plans then that'd be great.

Basically my guard and quite static, so I thought what better to compliment it then jump assault special troops

Thanks

KefkaZ wrote:Good, but expensive point wise.

Good against what? Not against tougher cc units like MC's or Termies.
But good vs. smaller MEQ units like Dev's or Havocs.

They're potentially ok against Termies, depending on how the glaive comes out of the faq.

IF they're allowed to use axe glaives as axes, then they have a use against any non NDH GK Termies and LC equipped assaulters. If not then you're quite right that their main target will remain as power armour or worse.

Personally I've given mine plasma pistols so they can soften up teqs before going hth if needed or I have my hand forced. Doesn't make them cheap though!

Having looked a bit more into it, I still like the idea and the models, but as you say azreal they will be stuck against NDH GK's. Having said that their FNP kind of negates the no invul against other things that won't be killing with instant death.

Still, with furious charge from a priest (and the FNP) they should be ok against most things that could inflict instant death, and then dante gives them hit and run should they want to get out.

For 550 points (which is a LOT in a guard army bearing in mind) I could get:

Dante
Sanguinary Guard (chapter banner, 1 infernus pistol, 1 plasma pistol)
Sanguinary Priest (Jump pack)

Giving a unit with a 2+/4++ IC, FNP and Furious charge, +1 attack from the banner, pinpoint deepstrike, a few more extra's and then whatever master crafted power weapons the faq comes out with. Even if it's not the most competitive it still seems decent.

I think for a unit that will also serve as a bit of fun and a cool modelling project, then it's looking pretty good!

It depends what you're going to be hitting, but you have two much better options not far removed from what you've proposed.

If you want something to destroy something by shooting - go with Dante and an Honour Guard. They won't scatter, and you can take 4x either melta or plasma guns depending on your target. Because of this loadout, don't worry about the Chapter Banner - and bear in mind it can be suicidal if you don't deploy into cover or blocking LOS.

If you want to go the assault route, ignore Dante altogether and get Vanguard - they can charge on the turn they come down, so you don't have to weather a storm of shooting first. Descent of Angels should mean you don't scatter too far from target.

In either case you'll need to take some Troops along for the ride, but 100pts for a normal squad that can Deep Strike by itself and cause another distraction is no big deal.

The issue there is that those are not troop choices and they end up being just as expensive...

As a blood angel player looking to start a Tau army sometime in the future BA seem like killer Allies...

Dante + SG+priest = small tight killing package
Reclu+ DC+ Droppod = larger angry killing group
Libby + Ras+priest = cheap basic BA goodness

@super thanks for the advice, I may keep these things in mind if I go for a full BA army (seriously tempted haha)

Problem is as hazal says that then I'd need to find extra points for troops.

I'd rather be shooting at termies with all my guard plasma than charging them, so the sang guard should be tough enough against most other things.

Blood angels definitely have some great units though - in terms of interest, coolness, background and ability... GW plan has worked and after thinking about getting one or two units I now want to start a whole new army haha.

Thanks for the help everyone!

For the Honour Guard, granted, you would have to find the extra points. But the Vanguard will only set you back about 200 for a kitted out 5-man unit - that means you can get your Troop option and STILL have change.

Dante is the expensive choice here... admittedly I would even look at picking someone other than him to drop the Honour Guard down and hope not to scatter too far. A Librarian would be nice for Shield cover saves to weather the following turn.