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Hello,

I'm trying to start an IG army, and so far I think I've decided on my initial 500 points starting force:

CCS, Chimera, 4 meltas (145 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)

Total:495 points

After I get this, to expand to 1000 points I'm looking at adding 2 vendettas, a manticore and Marbo, and get something like this:
CCS, Chimera, 4 meltas (145 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Guardsman Marbo (65 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Manticore Rocket Launcher, hull heavy bolter (160 points)

Total: 980 points (probably magnetize some bolter sponsons on Vendettas to get to 1000.

For 1500 I want to add 2 more veteran squads with plasma guns and a stormtrooper squad to carry in one of the vedettas:

CCS, Chimera, 4 meltas (145 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 plasma, lascannon (190 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 plasma, lascannon (190 points)
Stormtrooper Squad, 2 flamers, in vendetta (95 points)
Guardsman Marbo (65 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Manticore Rocket Launcher, hull heavy bolter, camo netting (160 points)

Total 1485 points.



so, are these lists any good? Any changes I should consider?

First off, welcome to the Imperial Guard

Second of all, you clearly have a great grasp on the Imperial Guard.

In my honest opinion I would swap the lascannons for missile launchers, This will give you the option to tackle both infantry and vehicles, and save a few points. Lascannons have a magical special rule where they always fail when you need them the most. Always.

Vendettas are lovely.

I would swap the Manticore for a Leman Russ. Far more reliable, more versatile, take the Battle Tank, you will love life

Marbo. I rarely field him. Marbo is simply too wonderful for words, believe me. But in the end he can be cut down so simply, it upsets me when I lose him. Sure, he can kill lots, but for only a little more you can take a lovey Griffon. Once your opponent has been hit by the Griffon Heavy Mortar, they will see the wonderfulness of the Imperial Guard.

At 1500 points the Manticore will find a good home. Add another Russ rather than the Stormies, drop the lascannons entirely on your Plasma Veteran Sqauds. Those guys will need mobility.

Also, with Imperial Guard, there are always upgrades. Bring yourself right up the the point limit as much as possible. Even if you end up throwing in a hunter-killer on a tank or two, they could go a long way.

Best of luck

diepotato47 wrote:
First off, welcome to the Imperial Guard

Second of all, you clearly have a great grasp on the Imperial Guard.

Thanks

diepotato47 wrote:
In my honest opinion I would swap the lascannons for missile launchers, This will give you the option to tackle both infantry and vehicles, and save a few points. Lascannons have a magical special rule where they always fail when you need them the most. Always.

Well, I'm a bit reluctant to give up lascannons tbh. Them and vendettas are the only way I really have to score penetrating hits vs AV14(str 8 meltas and krak missiles can at most get glances if I understand the rules correctly). I've also haven't heard too many good things about missile launchers.

diepotato47 wrote:
I would swap the Manticore for a Leman Russ. Far more reliable, more versatile, take the Battle Tank, you will love life

That's definitely an interesting idea. Thing is the Leman Russ confuses me a bit with the ton of variants it has. Which one would you recommend?

diepotato47 wrote:
Marbo. I rarely field him. Marbo is simply too wonderful for words, believe me. But in the end he can be cut down so simply, it upsets me when I lose him. Sure, he can kill lots, but for only a little more you can take a lovey Griffon. Once your opponent has been hit by the Griffon Heavy Mortar, they will see the wonderfulness of the Imperial Guard.

From what I've read Marbo is a love/hate thing. Some people swear by him while others wouldn't touch him. I'd like to give him a try and see if I like him or not, especially since his RL cash cost is next to 0(can make him out of an unused guardsman).

diepotato47 wrote:
At 1500 points the Manticore will find a good home. Add another Russ rather than the Stormies, drop the lascannons entirely on your Plasma Veteran Sqauds. Those guys will need mobility.

Also, with Imperial Guard, there are always upgrades. Bring yourself right up the the point limit as much as possible. Even if you end up throwing in a hunter-killer on a tank or two, they could go a long way.

Best of luck

I was thinking about dropping the lascannon altogether from plasma squads or, points allowing it replacing it with an autocannon for better anti-infantry stopping power. I'll redo the point calculations as soon as I decide what Leman Russ variants I want in my army.

Melta weapons roll 2d6 plus 8 for armour penetration, and add 2 to your roll on the vehicle damage table. For the price of one lascannon you could have two melta guns. The catch with melta guns is they are short ranged. When shooting at tanks, stand at least 6 inches back, there is a very high chance of the vehicle exploding.

The Leman Russ Battle tank is probably one of the best choices for any beginning army. The blast from that will instant death most Space Marine characters and take away their armour save. In addition it has a very long range. It finds a home in almost every Imperial Guard army. Believe me, you will love it.

It is important to try things out, so yes, take Marbo. He will always preform, but keeping him out of harm's way is a bit of trouble. But with the Battle Cannon on the board, I think your opponent will have more to focus on

For your Plasma Vets I don't think a heavy weapon will be a good way to go. Mobility will be the key. Even though you can now move and snapfire heavy weapons, it might be best to leave the autocannons.

If you can fit a second Leman Russ in to your 1500 point army, another Battle Tank will again find a happy home. If not an Exterminator will be a great addition, it gives you four twin-linked autocannon shots, for the same price as a Battle Tank.

Marbo works great if you've cleared all the troops off your opponents Quad-Gun. Make him appear and shoot away best of all if your opponent brings on a flyer you could possibly be firing at its rear Armour. He wi actually do more damage doing this than dropping a demo charge. If your opponent has no quad gun then plan B is use the demo charge. Plan C is hide him out in your opponents deployment zone for line breaker.

I would always field a Manticore before I field a LRBT. The LRBT is fantastic but the Manticore can kill things out of line of sight, it can snipe out important characters from squads, if great horde control anf can take heavy Armour. The only down side is AP4 but in saying that it will drop MEQ by making them need to make lots of saves

Redid my 1000 and 1500 army lists a bit:

1000 points:

CCS, Chimera, 4 meltas, astropath (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Guardsman Marbo (65 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Leman Russ Battle Tank (150 points)

Total 1000 points.

1500 points:

CCS, Chimera, 4 meltas, astropath (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 meltas, lascannon (175 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 plasma (170 points)
Veteran Squad, Chimera, 3 plasma (170 points)
Guardsman Marbo (65 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Vendetta (130 points)
Leman Russ Battle Tank (150 points)
Manticore Rocket Launcher, hull heavy bolter(160 points)

Total 1500 points. Not sure whether I should replace the astropath with camo netting on the manticore.

Keep the Astropath he will serve you better.

Would it be worth trying to get the points for an ADL on this list?

So far your list seem great, especially for a new player. To be honest for this type of list the ADL is not that worth it. Vendettas are your best choice IMO for anti air so for 30 points more I would get another.

Yep, your new lists look great. Keep the Astropath, he will help you out tonnes. An ADL probably won't help you too much considering most things are mobile. best of luck

If you were to drop the Astropath I'd replace the meltas in the CCS with Plasmas. You really don't want your CCS getting close to the enemy as he will give away an easy Kill Point and Slay the Warlord.