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Total newb here with both Shadow War and Guardsmen... any thoughts?

EDIT :: List updated further down in thread!
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Original list::
Veteran Sergeant — Laspistol (15), Chainsword (25), Clip harness (10)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Special Weapons Operative — Sniper rifle (40), Camo gear (5), Red-dot laser sight (20)
Special Weapons Operative — Sniper rifle (40), Camo gear (5)
Special Weapons Operative — Flamer (40)
Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Guardsman — Shotgun (20)
Guardsman — Shotgun (20)

Red-dot laser sight probably not great for a sniper given the slim chance of alerting the target. I've heard Snipers should take telescopic sights and toxic rounds for maximum ouch factor.

Also, why give the Vet Sgt. a clip harness? I would consider dropping a guardsman to deck out the rest of the squad a little more.

Your guard do seem pretty barebones, I would also suggest dropping one or two so you can gear the others up a bit.

Something to keep in mind, while lasguns are ever reliable, sniper rifles, shotguns and flamers are far from it. it might be worth considering taking a reload for them, flamers especially since they are forced to take ammo tests after each use, so it is far more likely to fail an ammo roll than anything else. At the very least I would buy them a backup weapon.

Also your squad has a manpower cap, gear does not. At the end of each match you'll get some pts to get new fighters, if you're already at cap you're basically just losing pts. Deck out what you have, then you can use those 100pts post game to fill in spots.

I didn't even think about the manpower cap... you both make great points.

Thanks!

Anytime

Happy hunting! <3

Veteran Sergeant — Laspistol (15), Chainsword (25), Camo Gear (5)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Veteran Guardsman — Lasgun (25)
Special Weapons Operative — Sniper rifle (40), Camo gear (5), telescopic sight (20)
Special Weapons Operative — Sniper rifle (40), Camo gear (5), telescopic sight (20)
Special Weapons Operative — Heavy Flamer (100), Weapon Reload (50), Carapace Armour (20)
Guardsman recruit — Shotgun (20)

So it's 8 fighters now... Do you think the Heavy Flamer guy is too expensive?

Admittedly I've not had any experience with flamers in SWA so take this with a grain of salt, but they don't seem like they'll be very useful, unless you have tons of terrain to hide him in and move from cover to cover, he's likely to get picked off before he gets close.
If you're facing a melee heavy opponent, then that's fair enough, but outside that I don't think I'd bother.

Again it'll vary depending on opponent, but most basic enemy weapons will have a -1 (or better) save mod, so the fancy carapace is reduced to a 5 or 6 in most cases, ignored in others. Carapace is still nice to have mind you, but it's always an after thought for me.

Shotguns are already poor long-range weapons with their -1 to hit past 4", putting it on a rookie means it's hitting on 5s, and that's without factoring in any cover. Basically this guy is likely to miss most of his shots. shotguns are pretty niche in their use, I think if you're going to give one out you need to put some work into them: Red-dots, BS4+ user, maybe camo gear to help the man get into range.

As for snipers, I would personally take the Red-Dots over the scopes, Lasguns being as weak as they are, your specialists are really the only ones that are going to be doing the damage, so naturally you want them to hit their marks consistently.
Also snipers being the 7+ ammo rolls they are, might be worth shelling out some pts for reloads, but that's probably not a priority for now.

Well you make a great point about recruits hitting with the shotgun... hopefully they can get upgrades quick, although I've already modeled them up hah: