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Hi Guys,
So I've been thinking about what my next army might be, and having CSM and Tyranids a (filthy) Imperial army seems to be an obvious choice, and a shooty one at that. I was thinking Astra Militarum, the bonus here being that it would also be a nice gesture towards a friend of mine who died who played guard. I am, however, not at all familiar with AM in 8th, not having played with or against them, so I was hoping for some help. I came up with the following list, and would appreciate some comments.

2000pt AM BlitzKrieg - 2x Battalion and Spearhead - 10CP

Battalion #1
1x Lord Commissar: Power Sword (54)

1x Primaris Psyker: Force Stave (40)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Veterans: 3x Plasma Guns (99)
w/ Taurox: 2x Autoguns (70)

10x Veterans: 3x Plasma Guns (99)
w/ Taurox: 2x Autoguns (70)

Battalion #2
1x Company Commander (30)

1x Company Commander (30)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Vox-Caster, Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

3x Bullgryns: Slabshields, 3x Bullgryn Mauls (126)

3x Bullgryns: Slabshields, 3x Bullgryn Mauls (126)

Spearhead
1x Tank Commander: Battle Cannon, 3x Heavy Bolters (213)

1x Basilisk: Heavy Bolter (108)

1x Basilisk: Heavy Bolter (108)

1x Leman Russ Battle Tank: Battle Cannon, 3x Heavy Bolters (168)

1x Leman Russ Battle Tank: Battle Cannon, 3x Heavy Bolters (168)

1x Valkyrie: 1x Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters, Hellstrike Missiles (166)


The strategy I was thinking was roughly this: Shell the gak out of everything with my tanks; wrap them with my infantry squads; drive up mid-field with objective-sitting Veterans; deliver Ogryns in the Valkyrie where they need to go. I was thinking a Cadian army would be good for all of this, but I'm hardly married to it.

So what do you guys think? I'd love to hear any suggestions, although I will hedge that one thing will not be changed: the addition of a Lord Commissar. They were my buddies favourite model in the game, and that will be him, and he stays.

Cheers in advance!

Looks like a perfectly workable list. and the Lord Commissar is perfectly acceptable IMO. His leadership buff is a nice feature.

The voxes and grenade launchers are suboptimal, and mortars should be in HWTs hidden behind terrain, not making line squads that are going to die anyway more expensive. Drop the mortars and voxes and you ought to have points to spare for a dedicated mortar squad or 2. Swap the GLs for plasma guns and you should be good to go. Consider switching your bullgryns to a squad of 5 and 1 ogryn bodyguard with slabshield and the deathmask of ollanius pius relic for extra oomph in melee. Have you decided on a regimental doctrine yet?

da_emprah wrote:
The voxes and grenade launchers are suboptimal, and mortars should be in HWTs hidden behind terrain, not making line squads that are going to die anyway more expensive. Drop the mortars and voxes and you ought to have points to spare for a dedicated mortar squad or 2. Swap the GLs for plasma guns and you should be good to go. Consider switching your bullgryns to a squad of 5 and 1 ogryn bodyguard with slabshield and the deathmask of ollanius pius relic for extra oomph in melee. Have you decided on a regimental doctrine yet?

I disagree in regard to the mortars and grenade launchers, they are cheap (super super cheap at 5 points for mortar) additions to units and are protected by the bodies in an infantry unit. Also the grenade launchers two options for shots make it surprisingly versatile. Although I do agree that the voxes aren't the best bang for your buck. They do have the interesting strategem of fire on my target though. I think only 4 ogryns would be able to fit in that Valkryie though I do like that idea. I also like the idea of taking a deathmask, but I would put it on an ogryn bodyguard. Characters are really important to imperial guard so I always take a bodyguard to protect them, having the deathmask helps heal wounds your ogryn takes to make him that much tougher, and dont bother beefing him up since he takes mortal wounds without a save to tank wounds for your characters.

Hi nice list.

I would consider lascannons on the leman russes instead of the bolters for additional punch and range, maybe even drop the sponsons with bolters. Also I think that manticores are generally better than basilisks due to the way higher dmg output. Plasma in the guard squads is also only 7 points per gun, so I think that's worth considering.

Thanks so much for the tips, guys. I have revised my list based on these suggestions, and wanted to see what people think:

2000pts #2 Astra Militarum - 2x Battalion + Spearhead - 10CP

Battalion #1
1x Lord Commissar: Power Sword (54)

1x Primaris Psyker: Force Stave (40)

10x Guardsmen: Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Mortar, Grenade Launcher (55)

10x Guardsmen: Plasma Gun (47)

10x Veterans: 3x Plasma Guns (99)
w/ Taurox: 2x Autoguns (70)

10x Veterans: 3x Plasma Guns (99)
w/ Taurox: 2x Autoguns (70)

Battalion #2
1x Company Commander (30)

1x Company Commander (30)

10x Guardsmen: Plasma Gun (47)

5x Militarum Tempestus Scions: 2x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 2x Plasma Guns, 1x Plasma Pistol (78)

5x Militarum Tempestus Scions: 2x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 2x Plasma Guns, 1x Plasma Pistol (78)

4x Bullgryns: Slabshields, Bullgryn Mauls (168)

1x Ogryn Bodyguard: Slabshield, Bullgryn Maul (52)

Spearhead
1x Tank Commander: Battle Cannon, 3x Heavy Bolters (213)

1x Basilisk: Heavy Bolter (108)

1x Manticore: Heavy Bolter (133)

1x Leman Russ Battle Tank: Battle Cannon, 1x Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters (180)

1x Leman Russ Battle Tank: Battle Cannon, 1x Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters (180)

1x Valkyrie: 1x Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters, Hellstrike Missiles (166)

What do people think? This one also has the benefit of being 2000pts on the nose.

A reminder is that the Valkyrie can max take 4 bullgryns, so just one of your squads can be transported by it.

A small change would be to put one of the lascannons on the tank commander instead of on the normal leman russ, just to get that better BS

Oh, oops, it's supposed to be one squad of 4x Bullgryns. I'll make the change above ASAP.

But good tip on the lascannon. I'll make that change too.

Crusaders would go well in this list, It's always a good option to have 1 10 man squad of them in a more CC guard list. The act of faith can only be used one per turn but it allows you to attack twice, heal or move 2x the distance. So there is really not much point in having more than 1 unit of them.

With that they're the fastest moving infantry unit for guard (using act of faith) and the most survivable with a 3++. T3 is their biggest fault though. The mesh well with guardsmen and can reinforce a gunline so nothing can easily break through since they have 25mm bases.

You're putting a lot of hope on those squishy veterans to take and hold points. The ogryns could give good support to them if someone charges them. But it's also pretty easy to decimate a guard unit. You could consider scions who are a bit more durable and have an easier time defending with more weapons. Ratlings are worth considering too since they can dig in and are dirt cheap.

Edit: sorry didn't see your update. Good call on the scions, but if you pump them up to elites and make them command squads you can sink more spec weapons in if they are going to take and hold objectives or alpha strike, since they aerial drop you can also save points on bothering to transport veteran elites- just scrap them for more scions?

I think you should test it out. Experience is the best teacher. Everyone has different play styles too. Looks solid enough to run with as is IMO.

Your Primaris Psyker is costed incorreclty, since CA it's 38 + 8 for a Force Stave (46 Total)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You should probably also think about which regiment your detachments will belong to when you are designing AM armies. Your 2nd battalion contains Scions for example but is not eligible for the Storm Troopers doctrine.