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Finally starting Guard but do we get any counter-assault options?

I still have nightmares about Chaos Khorne Berserkers massacring my 50-man platoon squads and lascannon teams in 4th/5th edition. How do you guys deal with assault oriented armies in Drop Pods and Land Raiders?

Any good allies we can take to give them a taste of their own medicine once they hit our gunlines?

IG avoid assault by having ten more copies of the unit your opponent just charged.

 Peregrine wrote:
IG avoid assault by having ten more copies of the unit your opponent just charged.

Ok...

With the new models coming out Kastelan Robots make for good IG allies equip them with double power-fists and sending them against MEQs/TEQs?

We can ally with anything Imperial so counter-assault options are huge. Units native to AM codex aren't great, Roughriders are a trap unit and Ogryns don't really stack up to dedicated melee from other books.

I tend to use throwaway speedbump units to buy more time. Generally speaking something will eventually get through, just do your best to ensure it's just worthless chaff that gets assaulted. Conscripts work well with Priests or Commissars to tie up annoying melee enemies for a while.

 DorianGray wrote:

With the new models coming out Kastelan Robots make for good IG allies equip them with double power-fists and sending them against MEQs/TEQs?

In the Guard we have enough ways of dealing with MEQ/TEQ without having to get stuck in with bayonets.

 DorianGray wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
IG avoid assault by having ten more copies of the unit your opponent just charged.

Ok...

With the new models coming out Kastelan Robots make for good IG allies equip them with double power-fists and sending them against MEQs/TEQs?

Honestly, if you're fielding Kastelan Robots?

You are better off fielding Twin-Linked Heavy Phosphor Blaster and carapace mounted flamer/ Heavy Phosphor Blaster.

Those Luminagen shots will strip away a point of cover from whatever you're shooting at, and if you field the Kastelan as a Cohort Cybernetica(Tech-Priest Dominus and 2 Kastelan Maniples as a single unit) then for every Priest you have a single Kastelan Robot can light up another target.

You join in a priest, a xeno inquisitor with nades and take a few power axes so that it's your opponent who want to avoid getting assaulted now.

Running a large combined squad of 40 to 50 guardsmen (4 to 5 10 man Platoon Infantry Squads), all Sergeants armed with power weapons (Axes or maces, Axes preferred) and each 10 man squad having one flamer in it (Overwatch help, 4 or five x D3 automatic hits against a charging foe will generate a few wounds against them on the way in). Pair this with a basic (or Lord) Commissar and Priest attached to keep them from breaking, and hymns respectfully. A second group of Guard Conscripts, 30 to 40 strong, with a second priest and a regular Commissar attached as a flank tarpit unit.

Then add in a few (3 to 4) bare bones Veteran squads with the Forward Sentries doctrine to act as a Vanguard for your large infantry squads. Put them in cover, so their camo cloaks can help them stay alive, and let their snare mines help slow down charging foes from a flank.

Also, and I swear by this by the way, Krak grenades are your friend. It can add up points wise, but having a 40 to 50 man infantry squad charge in, the Zealot rule allowing for reroll failed to-hit, with Priest Hymns helping with re-roll failed saves they'll need to make before they swing, each guardsman attacking with one Krak grenade shot (ST:6, AP:4) is going to hurt something. You'll generally wind up inflicting at least 20 wounds on whatever you're fighting, assuming all models get to pitch in with their krak grenade attack, and then the Sergeants get to swing their 3 power axe swings at I:1. That's 12 to 15 attacks (Depending on # of Sergeants, 4 or 5 respectively) swings at +1 Strength (S:4), AP:2. Odds are good you'll net another 3 to 5 wounds. If any enemy is left standing and doesn't fail leadership/is fearless then the next assault phase, wash/rinse/repeat. Even getting charged doesn't hurt too badly, as you'll still get on average 15 or so wounds with the 40+ Krak grenade attacks. This squad operating from behind an ADL is also very fun as you can use the 4+ cover then jump the wall & charge them when they get close enough.

The thing is, Guard are going to get charged. That's just how it's going to work. The trick to it is building the unit to either make charging in supremely difficult (Veterans with Snare mines inside terrain) or built to charge them and/or absorb the charge and then rear back to slam the unwitting charging foe in the teeth with an avalanche of krak grenade attacks.

It won't work against every foe you face or every time you get charged, but it'll surprise your opponent enough to make them wary and hopefully slow the opponent down enough to let the rest of your force keep hammering away with big guns and vehicle support.

That's one solution for you that doesn't even require allies.

Not the be-all end-all, but it's fun none-the-less.

Take it easy

-Red__Thirst-

Get a Divination Primaris Psyker in your blob, and if you manage to roll Foreboding it's absolutely glorious. 30+ Guardsmen Rapid-Firing Lasguns at full BS in Overwatch (along with Prescience for re-rolls to hit!) is the ultimate charge deterrent bar-none.

And the icing on the top is Foreboding also gives Counter-Attack lol.

 GoonBandito wrote:
Get a Divination Primaris Psyker in your blob, and if you manage to roll Foreboding it's absolutely glorious. 30+ Guardsmen Rapid-Firing Lasguns at full BS in Overwatch (along with Prescience for re-rolls to hit!) is the ultimate charge deterrent bar-none.

And the icing on the top is Foreboding also gives Counter-Attack lol.

That is fun for sure, though in my experience one should never bank on psychic rolls, as they can be both fickle and merciless!

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

Broadly agreed to everything listed.

A big Guard Infantry Platoon can just swamp an enemy, and massed power axes are actually quite lethal. A priest giving fearless and rerolls to hit makes the force nigh unbreakable, and even a unit like bezerkers can just disappear under sheer weight of numbers.

However.....that's nearly 400 points by the time you've given it all the trimmings.

A handful of solo infantry squads or conscript squads is pretty valuable. Deploy them as a skirmish screen, so they get charged first. They will get massacred and fall back, at which point yon super-assault-deathstar is stuck within rapid fire range of an Imperial guard army. This is, usually, a very unhealthy place to be thanks to the terrifying number of heavy and assault weapons a platoon-based guard army can muster.

Best example - a fifty point platoon command squad with four flamers can gut an ork mob in one shooting phase.



I'd agree that a primaris psyker with divination is a good pick as a general-purpose commander; max out on divination and you [b]know[/i]you get Prescience, which is a damn good power to start with. Forboding, Perfect Timing, and Misfortune are all awesome, but you don't have to rely on getting them. It's the discipline's big advantage over telepathy, which is mostly just people trolling for invisibility.


As far as allies go - pretty much anything goes. If you want a pure melee ally, then either pick an appropriate space marine force (a Black Templars crusader squad and chaplain, or blood claws and wolf priest) or an inquisitor with henchmen.

Inquisitorial Henchmen probably give you the best bang for the buck in counter-assault - rack up the right combination of henchmen and they're unutterably lethal. Crusaders give you storm shields, death cultists give you loads of power weapon attacks, arcoflagellants give you a million S5 attacks, and priests give you zealot and rerollable saves.