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I've been alternately playing with an IG infantry Blob from 20 to 40 in strength and I am not getting a whole lot out of them. In most games I take them as a fire bases with ACs. The problem I'm running into is I don't that the squad produces much for it's point cost. In most games the blob quickly comes under anti-infantry fire or is assaulted early into the game. In recent games I've played its been:

-Shot to pieces by GK Terms w/ prescience and perfect timing

-Bombed to all hell by DE ravager jetbikes

-chewed up by BA Death Company deathstar.

I've won 2 out of those 3 games mostly due to troop spam but I feel the infantry blob is the weak link of my list.

What loadout do you use and how do you use them?

In 6th edition blobs are quite weak when compared to other options. Power blobs are mostly dead if you are not running them with some powerful ally combination. Shooty blobs are good when using with BA or SW librarian (because of Prescience power).

How I run my shooty blob: 40-50 guys, 4 plazmas, 4 ACs, Runepriest

How can be runed power blob: 30-50 guys, power axes, flamers, Azrael (DA guy)

But running an army with mostly blobs is not going to help you in your games. Without allies, the IG-blobs are not really effective (too costly, low firepower, low standing power).

If you still want to play them without allies, take Aegis and hide behind it with blobs with Plazmas and AC/LC. But in my humble opinion, MSUs are better.

You never buy a blob for shooting, they're not very efficient for that unless you go pure anti infantry and spam FRFSRF, and even there it's iffy.

If you're taking a blob, it should be to either

1.) hold an objective

2.) be a defensive power blob for your main line

3.) to deny ground (slow down infantry, block deepstrikers and outflankers, etc.)

Or 4.) to deny killpoints.

Other than that, they're not that amazing. they're a much more defensive unit, unlike in 5th where they could just walk across the board and beat someone's skull in.

I've been toying around with power blobs again, which is where you take 30 to 40 guys, give them all power weapons, throw a commissar in there for stubborn, and wear things down in close combat. It's working really well so far, but I've been up against good matchups for them. I'm kind of hesitant to say anything official unit I end up in a match where they're at a disadvantage. if they can hold their own against nobs and other close combat beasts though, then I'll be takin them all the time as a defensive unit to slow down assault units.

I've also been running lord commissars and primaris pyskers to see who buffs the blob more as well. Lord Commissars are great, and a 30 strong blob with 4 power mauls makes an amazing unit to put a lord with a fist in. That many S5 and S6 hits will ruin just about anyone's day

Yeah I think I'll be allying with my Ultramarine Libarian and using Force Dome and Gate w/ a power axe blob and see if I can cause some damage with that,

Yeah, blobs are dead. I agree with Moustaffa that the primary use for combining squads has returned to denying KP and holding ground. Even with some of their fringe benefits (increasing efficiency of orders, etc.), they're still just too fragile to really do anything.

That said, I think it's possible to have ONE blob in your army if you really want it. Start with a really sweet special character from some marine codex. Something that will beat hideous face and can't just be easily picked out. Then buy them a bunch of guns and hide them behind an ADL. That way, they'll have enough survivability (especially if they go to ground), and will still have something whatever to do if they are charged.

Certainly the day where several blobs formed to core of a foot guard army are gone, though.

I dunno. I think there are some tactics out there that remain for a list with at leaset two large blobs. One of them being Al' Rahem out flanking with one large blob and the other hiding behind the ADL with Lord Commissar and camo cloak. You've got one defensive blob and one offensive blob your opponent has to consider. Maybe you just now have to play aggressively with blobs. Have them just run straight into the fight and go balls to the wall. Give them some armor and special unit (like stormtrooper support) and I feel it will still work in some cases. Pure foot-guard might be dead, but I think you can still pull off some strong lists with hybrid foot guard (with more emphasis on the foot).


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Just read you article Ailaros. There's one thing I didn't really agree with and that is your example of a space marine sarg with powerfist in assault with you. I think a great way to counter that is simply accept the challenge or challenge him to a duel. Have one of your sarges pick up the call and this is where I feel power axes have a place. They will probably kill each other in the challenge but who lost more here? Obviously the SM player. For one his sarg costs more and two he only has one such , while you have 3+. That is the way I look at it.

WhiteWolf01 wrote: Maybe you just now have to play aggressively with blobs. Have them just run straight into the fight and go balls to the wall. Give them some armor and special unit (like stormtrooper support) and I feel it will still work in some cases.

I don't know if you've seen my 5th ed battle reports, but I don't think you could possibly play blobs any more aggressively than I played them.

By-unit cover, hidden power weapons and commissars, and taking casualties from the rear were all required to make a highland charge with a blob army. Now none of those things exist.

Yeah, you can have a single blob hiding behind an ADL (which is why I made a comment to that effect above), but I wouldn't even hold out home for al'rahem. I found that my opponents already stopped having a tough time dealing with him in 5th ed, and now that guardsmen are flimsier (and can't get into close combat the turn they show up from the board), I don't see them doing anything more than holding an objective that somebody else took for them.

... not unlike the role of infantry platoons in general nowadays.

I'll give em a look for sure. Haven't looked into your 6th Batreps yet. I guess I've just had different luck with blobs or maybe our local metas are just different? The only real army my blobs have had trouble facing so far have been necrons. They just destroy me every time when I run a blob or two. Though that shouldn't surpise me, I'd still like to beat them with a blob just so I know it can be done which is why I keep trying.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some good batreps there. I did notice in one of your tactical overviews (Guard v. Guard?) you talked about the lack of durability the PCS now has I think? Have you considered running your PCS w/GLs in a chimera? I've often found that to be generally durable in 5th and somewhat more so in 6th due to HPs. That and have you considered bringing allies or do you intend on sticking with straight-up guard? I've been playing around with the idea of running a Brother Cap and a 5-man squad of GK termies to give some more durable support to my blob. Give the brother cap a master crafted psycannon and another in the squad with psybolt ammo. Run them all with swords and drop em in like stormies. I have yet to try this but I have a feeling it will help.

Also, In your last post you mentioned the highland charge, but I probably should have mentioned I've recently been moving away from trying to get my blobs into CC and more towards overwhelming firepower with FRFSRF to weaken whatever will eventually assault me. In addition to that, I've started treating them as more of an expendable unit. Perhaps that is part of my luck? I don't know if that is a reason for the difference in our opinion of blobs in 6th, but for me, it has worked relatively well against SM and the like. Other shooty armies, not so much (refer to previous statement about crons). So yeah, still looking to fine tune my own army for 6th.

At least it is good to know stormies have new life!