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Hey all,

So as many of you may know, I've been trying to run an IG Tank List, but my major problem has been defending against deep strikers and or melee. I've starting running infantry blob to protect my tanks, with some success, although more success never hurt, to be honest. I'm currently running 65 soldiers, of which 10 are veterans, 55 are one platoon, with 5 for a company command squad, 30 conscripts, and 20 normal troops which are protecting 5 tanks behind an Aegis line. I sometimes run a Knight Paladin as well. I've been thinking of throwing in a Minstorum Priest to give my guys the zealot rule, so I feel like that should help them stop more scarier units as well. Has anyone tried this? How did it work out?

Priests are excellent for Conscripts. When you literally just need meat shields, not much will serve you better than a priest. Also do not forget that the priest has Rosarius, granting him a 4+ invuln save.

The other option to think about (though, this does not seem to be what you're going for) would be a Commissar. While Commissars do not grant Zealot, they do have a high leadership making it easier to accept orders. Again though, if you're literally just looking for a fearless meat shield, the priest is very hard to beat.

The problem with running blobs to protect tanks is that they are basically good for nothing else and they cut into the rest of your army in a big way because they cost so much. If you have the models, I suggest using armored sentinels to defend against melee. They will are immune to str 5 and below in CC and actually contribute to shooting in a significant way. 9 Armored Sentinels put out 27 str 6 shots per turn and will tarpit most units indefinitely. They also, being vehicles, have a huge squad footprint considering the 6" coherency they are allowed. They also serve to further dilute incoming AT firepower by swamping them with yet more AV12 targets. If you run the Recon Company (and you should) you also gain the option to outflank them, which allows for tactical flexibility.

Against deep strikes, Coteaz with plasma servitors does an admirable job.

ExFideFortis wrote:
The problem with running blobs to protect tanks is that they are basically good for nothing else and they cut into the rest of your army in a big way because they cost so much. If you have the models, I suggest using armored sentinels to defend against melee. They will are immune to str 5 and below in CC and actually contribute to shooting in a significant way. 9 Armored Sentinels put out 27 str 6 shots per turn and will tarpit most units indefinitely. They also, being vehicles, have a huge squad footprint considering the 6" coherency they are allowed. They also serve to further dilute incoming AT firepower by swamping them with yet more AV12 targets. If you run the Recon Company (and you should) you also gain the option to outflank them, which allows for tactical flexibility.

Against deep strikes, Coteaz with plasma servitors does an admirable job.

I asked about this before, specifically about using Armored Sentinels/Sentinels to defend against melee, and people recommended against it. I was told that they don't make for a good tar pit.

My armored sentinels are a bit too vulnerable to powerfists and the like so I don't really consider them to be good tarpits (but, over the years my armored sents have tied up many enemy units that lack high strength cc attacks).  I prefer to use conscripts, infantry platoons, and/or ogryns (all with a priest) as tarpit units.  However, as Fortis mentioned, armored sents can be good firepower and screen units (that have the option to outflank if you use the Montka book's sentinel formation).

I didn't know that blobs came without priests. It's been a staple of my army list writing for years. The 25 point character makes the whole unit fearless, makes them reroll attacks the first round of combat even if you get charged and you have a 50% chance of getting another buff every round of combat. Fantastic value. Having a unit that needs to be killed to the man to be eliminated and is objective secured has won me many games.

The sentinel idea has gotten a little better now that grenades only work one at a time. Now an armored sentinel can stick it out against a tactical squad for quite a while. However, they will still get pulped by a power fist while a power fist does little damage to a blob each round.

The zealot rule will prevent you from going to ground though. If the main purpose is to protect tanks behind an Aegis def line, being able to go to ground for a 2+ cover save means some armies won't be able to remove your conscripts in time to punch a hole for their deep striking buddies.

Obviously cover ignoring weapons and barrage templates centered behind the line will make them sad.

Counterpoints for why you should consider a commissar.

1. Commissar costs the same. Unless you buy a power weapon which will bump him up to 40.

2. He buffs LD to 9, and he lets your models go to ground. On top of that, he is essentially making the squad fearless with none of the drawbacks. Namely going to ground. Because if you do fail your leadership save, you just kill a conscript and autopass. That's great, and then you can still act normally. The priest ignores LD checks, but then you have the issue of he won't let them go to ground, and your guys can't disengage models in melee that they can't hurt (which you'll be surprised, sometimes you do want to disengage)

3. Commissars are more utilitarian. Priests are very much a one trick pony. He makes your guys angry and slightly less bad at stabbing things. A commissar makes your units reliable. You KNOW that model will stick around, you KNOW it'll pass leadership checks (because orders are very important, and rerolls like your standard take place before the commissar blams somebody) and you know that if the enemy wants that unit gone, they either need to kill the commissar or kill the entire unit. While they can't leave the unit once attached, you still get the choice to deploy them with whatever unit needs them at the start of the game.

So yeah, neither one is a no brainer in my opinion. Priests are a good choice, just realise that there are tradeoffs, especially since you are running them behind an aegis.

If you are going to blobblewrap a tank; you give every infantry squad in the platoon a heavy and a special and keep a senior officer in command range.

The lets your blobs contibute to the battle.

A Commissar or a priest are both also helpful to keep the blob in place.