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There are a plethora of issues with Codex: Astra Militarum, but rather regurgitating what has already been brought up in numerous other threads (7th vehicle rules, point costs, many units never used/viable) I'd like to discuss orders.

Orders - Which prior to codex release military tempestus were the defining attribute of the imperial guard rarely receive mention. What could be one of the most interesting army specific abilities often plays little role at all. Why?

Prerequisites to use an order:

[x] Officer must be alive
[x] Officer must be within 12" of unit (Unless modified by warlord trait/special rule)
[x] Can only issue to non-vehicle (Unless tank commander)
[x] Can only be issued to units within IG codex
[x] Can NOT be issued to units embarked or received another order that phase
[x] Ordered unit must pass leadership test
[x] If double 6's rolled, incompetence.

So before you can even issue an order, most of the above criteria need be met. Assuming you are successful you get to choose from the 11 orders that exist. 3 of which are exclusive to tank commanders. 3 others that require a senior officer. The orders themselves are pretty good overall, some better than others. The range of orders that are available and the way orders function however is a problem.

Order distance/Vox Casters - This is the 41st millennium is it not? Why are officers not able to shout more than a few feet away? Lets give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the gunfire/chaos makes it difficult for infantry to hear. Isn't this why radio equipment exists? Why do vox casters not provide orders infinite range?

Cannot issue orders to vehicles - Why are vehicles unable to receive "Bring it Down" & "Fire on my Target" orders? Why can vehicles only receive orders from tank commanders? Again, lets play along with their narrative and assume only tank commanders are experienced enough to order around other vehicles. Why then can't infantry/heavy weapons teams embarked in a vehicle receive orders? Again, are we to assume that radio equipment/basic communication technology doesn't exist?

Orders available - Simply put, there isn't enough. The very reason orders exist is to provide means for a commander to react to an ever changing battlefield at a moments notice. Why are there no orders like:

Flank The Enemy!

Targeted non-vehicle unit within 6" of the board edge, exits the field and enters ongoing reserves. Non-vehicle unit enters on the following turn using outflank special rule.

Intended to give IG much needed mobility to infantry. Balanced by IG infantry being mediocre/fodder/tarpit.

For the Emperor!

Models within targeted non-vehicle units leadership is increased by 1.

Affix Bayonets!

Targeted non-vehicle units WS is increased by 1.

I came up with these just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are way more creative minds in this community that could come up with more/better orders. Point being, there is a great deal of room for improvement. If GW altered the way orders function and gave commanders more tools at their disposal I believe the army could be much more competitive.

This is probably for the homebrew session and will be moved, but as now, I would focus on 4 things:

1) More chances to give minor orders, Sergeants should be able to do that, at least in the MT codex (or they should add an intermediate officer rank, perhaps for Elite).

2) The range should be increased, and the 6+6 blunder should be limited to the specific officer

3) The vox should give unlimited range between two vox-bearing units.

4) Some order is half-arsed. As an example, they should give an implementation "forward for the emperor" to the MT in order to scatter after DS. Two orders to get Crusaders OR fleet is ridiculous.

(sorry if I write from the MT standpoint but points 2-3 are valid for every IG force).

EDIT: if you ant more from orders, you should condense them. Having 157153712571 to choose is confusing. If you want to buff them up, make the single order slightly more powerful and orders in general easier to deliver.

I can agree on the vehicles limit, that could be removed.

Just give the vox unlimited range and allow orders to be taken on the Officers LD, with rerolls.

Delete the existing system, start over.

How would I do the Order system, if it was necessary to keep it as based on the officers and whatnot?

A multi-layered system, with the rank not only having different Orders but different interactions with the army and units.

Example:

Senior Officers have the ability to issue a Strategic Order to the Astra Militarum Detachment they are a part of, as well as Combat Orders and Support Orders.

In my vision, a "Strategic Order" would be an Order that has no one single effect, but rather it would be something that would affect the army as a whole...and would remain in effect until the Order is superseded, whether the Senior Officer who issued it is alive or dead. Strategic Orders would be issued during the Movement phase.
An example of this would be:

"Last Step Backwards"--While this Strategic Order is in effect, Astra Militarum units that are within range to contest or control an Objective are Fearless and add 1 to the value of whatever weapon they are firing.

Senior Officers, obviously, would remain as the Company Command Squads. The following special rule would be elaborated upon as well:

Chain of Command: Only the Senior Officer chosen as your Warlord may issue a Strategic Order. If your Warlord is slain, another Senior Officer may assume command and issue Strategic Orders.

From there, you go down to the Platoon level:

Junior Officers have the ability to issue Support and Combat Orders.

Support Orders would be Orders which only affect those units directly within the Junior Officer's Platoon structure and would be issued during the Movement phase and would remain in effect until superseded. Examples would be like this:

"Dig In!"--While this Support Order is in effect, units in the Platoon gain +1 to their Armor Save while within Cover.

Then, lastly, you get down to the Sergeants in each squad.

Sergeants have the ability to issue Combat Orders.

Combat Orders would be similar to those we have now, but they don't force a shooting attack. An example of this would be:

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"--Units within this squad double the rate of fire of their weapons.

There's more ideas I can throw out there for things like Vox-Casters, but realistically I do not feel that Orders should require a Leadership test. I do think there should be something associated to officers/sergeants dying though and I'm giving that some thought.

I think the orders do need some reworking but not too much, just some simple things can really change up how they work. I think the Cadian Battle Group was in the right direction making orders centered more on your central command and making them plentiful, longer range, and more likely to go off. Being guard you really should have a lot of your command priorities tied up in high command, and everything filtering down to the bottom (but not like in 5e where it was a bit of a pain to start at the top, just make the top better at orders).

1. Unlimted range on vox, Why else would you want to take them?

2. Why aren't there any voxes in HWT? that would be the one unit that makes the most sense to be able to give firing coordinates to. There should be a lot more options for Vox on units.

3. Rework/Combined orders. Some orders are almost never used, some are the only ones used (FRFSRF and Ignores cover) I would also like to see one that makes lasguns assault 1 or 2 at short range 6-12 inches to get some flexible assaults in. (and on a side note, let Sgts have lasguns!!)

4. Love the idea of a "standing orders" set by the commander, maybe have it like the Deathwatch where it can be changed on a very limited basis and can involve things that are flavorful but not too powerful, like a bonus on regrouping and ignoring 25% on shooting (No Retreat, No Surrender!), -2 to scatter on templates (Fire For Effect!), +X inches on vehicle movement (Send in the Armour!), Reroll 1s on lasgun shots (Conserve Ammunition!), +1 on reserves (Send in Reinforcements!). All kinds of ways to change how the order of battle is run, and have it set where it stays in effect and if the commander dies its stuck (kind of like the programming on kastellans) with options on warlord traits and relics to change it more often.

Additionally MT need a whole bunch of order fixes. Their sgts need to be able to give one order of lesser quality to their squad, while their commanders should get a large radius and 2 orders. I think the majority of their orders are fairly decent to pretty awesome, there just isnt enough to go around. Even having 1 extra order on the prime could make that army turn around completely.

They don't need a huge rework, most of the issues with the orders are issues with the rest of the system as a whole.

There are a few though

1. Units having voxcasters should be able to receive orders anywhere on the table. All Vehicles count as having vox casters for purposes of them receiving orders, but squads mounted up inside need a vox of their own, which leads to

2.Units mounted in vehicles may be given orders, but both the officer and target unit must have voxes.

3. Officers may issue orders to any unit in the army, but most have a vox to issue orders outside of 12" or to vehicles (regardless of range) unless vehicle is open topped.

4. Tank commanders count as a regular officer in all respects with a vox, and may issue orders from the hatch. Tank commanders may issue orders to vehicles outside their squadron. Perhaps impose a limit like they only get access to junior infantry orders so there's still a reason to take CCS.

5. A couple new orders wouldn't be bad, but we really don't need much aside from a "Fix Bayonets!" rule to give the unit counterattack. Every other potential role an order could fill is already represented.


Any other issues would really just be fixed by rebuilding the core rules or the codex. For example, Heavy Weapon squads should be able to combat attach to a platoon, tanks should be able to receive regular orders, and obviously the vox change that I still can't believe hasn't been fixed. Another way to get commanders on the table more would be allowing them to be independent characters with the option to purchase a dedicated retinue for things like the regimental standard, or just joining a regular unit like a combined infantry platoon or a squad of veterans.

However, saying all that, the orders aren't bad by any stretch, it's just they're implemented a bit weird. I'd much rather other sections be fixed, like sarge's being given the option to carry lasguns, an option for a single infantry squad as a choice for kill team, points being adjusted for units like the Hellhound line, Leman Russ's lumbering behemoth rule reworked so there's actually a point to taking sponsons and lascannons on ordnance vehicles (like, I dunno, a russ staying put gets to ignore penalties for firing ordnance and may fire other weapons normally) etc. etc. etc.

The real problem with orders is the exact same problem with all other buffs/psychic powers that exist in the game: They're massively underpowered when it comes to the smallest scale stuff in the game (say, a 50-point guardsman squad) and massively (well, in theory) overpowered if they can be applied to some of the biggest scale stuff in the game for the exact same cost and difficulty. (Say, 5 basilisks, a 50-man infantry blob with tons of stuff, etcetc)

My redesign for Guard orders would be this: Separate orders into squad orders and force commands. At the beginning of the player's turn, one force command can be selected. A Platoon Command squad can use Infantry focused force commands, a Tank Commander can use vehicle focused force commands, and a CCS can choose either. Force commands affect any units within 12" of the commanding unit as well as any units with vox equipment (add vox as a vehicle upgrade). Force commands require no LD tests.

Squad commands can be issued by Sergeants, and affect only individual squads. These require leadership tests.

Force Commands represent overall battlefield strategies the commander has chosen to adopt, and reward a specific style of play rather than flatly buffing the effectiveness of units. Squad commands, because they require a LD test and reward keeping the sergeant alive and acting, are mostly where the buffing abilities go.

An example of a force command for vehicles might be "Damn the casualties!" enabling all blast weaponry to be fired into close combat for the turn. A Squad command might be "Take cover!" granting Move Through Cover and Stealth for the duration of the turn.