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So I have 2500pt Chaos and about 1700 pts in SM, I am thinking of starting a Imp. Guard army... Suggestions? I prefer minimal vehicles.

Well seeing as the new Chaos codex is coming in less than 2 weeks, I would say wait to see about refreshing your Chaos marines.

Meh, I been playing chaos for a while and am looking for a non marine army

As a guard player, I'd actually also encourage that line of advice. CSM are going to have cultists very, very soon. 3 point models that you can spam 30 to a troops choice. It's going to be possible to play horde with chaos soon.

If what you want, specifically, is guard, and you want to keep vehicles light, then I'll warn you that the dakka guard community is still trying to figure out how to make them work, as 6th ed completely overturned how foot guard used to be played. On the plus side, by the time you're finally done painting the 150 guardsmen required for a foot horde, the imperial guard will probably have a new codex.

In the short term, there is still some confusion over how to set up our troops slots. Some people are still trying to make 5th ed's combined infantry squads work, while some have reverted to MSU. I've run experiments recently with veterans wearing carapace armor and with conscripts with "send in the next wave!", the last of these being the only option I've really started to feel comfortable with.

In any case, you're going to need to have a lot of guys with lasguns, and probably several guys with meltaguns, and a mix of high-strength heavy weapons (autocannons, lascannons, and the like) are probably not a bad idea. If you don't want any vehicles at all, then you're going to want to make a lot of use out of your elites choices at the moment. Everything but ratlings are okay, and, in my personal opinion, stormtroopers rule the school at the moment.

In any case, most people take a slightly liberal definition of "foot guard", as the guard really is known for its HS slots, and 100% of them are vehicular. Most games I've played as a foot guard commander have had at least a couple of hydras or artillery pieces, or perhaps a russ or two.

No matter what style of IG you want to play, figure it out first. IG can get way out of hand if you don't go into it with a plan.

 martin74 wrote:
No matter what style of IG you want to play, figure it out first. IG can get way out of hand if you don't go into it with a plan.

So very true!

 Ailaros wrote:
As a guard player, I'd actually also encourage that line of advice. CSM are going to have cultists very, very soon. 3 point models that you can spam 30 to a troops choice. It's going to be possible to play horde with chaos soon.

If what you want, specifically, is guard, and you want to keep vehicles light, then I'll warn you that the dakka guard community is still trying to figure out how to make them work, as 6th ed completely overturned how foot guard used to be played. On the plus side, by the time you're finally done painting the 150 guardsmen required for a foot horde, the imperial guard will probably have a new codex.

In the short term, there is still some confusion over how to set up our troops slots. Some people are still trying to make 5th ed's combined infantry squads work, while some have reverted to MSU. I've run experiments recently with veterans wearing carapace armor and with conscripts with "send in the next wave!", the last of these being the only option I've really started to feel comfortable with.

In any case, you're going to need to have a lot of guys with lasguns, and probably several guys with meltaguns, and a mix of high-strength heavy weapons (autocannons, lascannons, and the like) are probably not a bad idea. If you don't want any vehicles at all, then you're going to want to make a lot of use out of your elites choices at the moment. Everything but ratlings are okay, and, in my personal opinion, stormtroopers rule the school at the moment.

In any case, most people take a slightly liberal definition of "foot guard", as the guard really is known for its HS slots, and 100% of them are vehicular. Most games I've played as a foot guard commander have had at least a couple of hydras or artillery pieces, or perhaps a russ or two.

>150 Guardsmen
>Implying thats enough for a foot guard army

Anywho, Ailaros pretty much hit the nail on the head. Chaos will get cheap, expendable meat shields soon, so if all you're wanting are lots of infantry, you'll probably be fine with just cultists, as they are literally guardsmen with a 1 worse armorsave. I highly doubt they will be 3pts, probably more like 4, but they will still be a good buy if you can put marks on them and give them LD buffs with some good special weapons.

General tips if you do decide to go footguard.

1.You live and die by what weapons you take. Autocannons, Lascannons, melta, and plasma guns are the name of the game and you will need a good amount of all 4 to really kill stuff dead. What ratio of each you need depends on the list, but they are all EXTREMELY important. Foot guard relies heavily on our ability to spam the crap out of our special and heavy weapon slots, and you better have a VERY good reason for leaving any empty.

2. LD is very important. Guardsmen are known to run away for a reason. Regimental standards are worth their weight in gold, and commissars/lord commissars still have a use as well, although they're not quite the must buys they were last edition. Lord Commissars in particular can be extremely handy if you decide to run things like ogryn or massive power blobs, as they give their unit a rerollable LD 10 and stubborn as well as a pretty good close combat guy with WS 5 and a S6 fist. Not jaw dropping, but he's tougher than he looks.

3. You need redundancy. Never build your list and just assume 1 unit will live long enough to do its job. How redundant you need to be depends on what it's role is, but a general rule to follow is if you have 3 units designed to kill a certain target, the first one will die, the second one will whiff horribly, and the 3rd might hit just because the dice feel bad for you. Be it scoring units, anti tank, anti TEQ, anti horde, whatever, never rely on just one unit and assume you'll be ok.

Hope that helps a bit, those are just some really important rules to follow based on what I've learned the hard way. Other than that, read the forums, there's usually a few IG ones going on and you can always learn something new. The battlereports area is huge too as it lets you see lists in action and lets you get a feel for what you want to run. Ailaros has a massive archive of them and other playrs like brother SRM post some great reports with foot IG as well. Anything in particular you had questions about OP?

If youre going to start a footguard army, be prepared to shell out a lot of cash, since youll probably need about a ten troops boxes, in addition to 5-6 boxes of heavy weapons teams.

I would start a renegade guard army as an allied portion to your CSM list, and see if you like it from there. Youll have enough for small points games, and if you decide not to go with them, youll have models for chaos cultists that are already converted!

foot or not 3 flyers minimum are a must and an aegis ,because the platform is not allowed sometimes.

Makumba wrote:
foot or not 3 flyers minimum are a must and an aegis ,because the platform is not allowed sometimes.

Aegis can be handy, but vendettas are by no means madatory. Many Ig players do just fine without them.

There are very few true no brainers in the IG codex. The vendetta is probably the closest thing we have to one, I'll give you that, but you can live without them. Plus, if you want to have any friends at the FLGS, Vendettas will make you lose em pretty quick

I've never taken a Vendetta in either of my IG armies and I've never felt the need to. You can do just fine without them, and they're by no means mandatory. They are undercosted and overshadow everything else in Fast Attack, but you don't need them.

Plus, if you want to have any friends at the FLGS, Vendettas will make you lose em pretty quick

dont need friends , just opponents . plus most people play necrons or SR/talon buffed marines anyway . or double dakka jet orks.

They are undercosted and overshadow everything else in Fast Attack, but you don't need them.

ok this maybe a question of different language , but if they are undercosted , buff the IG type of game play and sit in a slot IG never uses , how are they not an out include . its like having 3 obliterators that are flyers and lets not forget that plasma/melta vets do have to go somewhere and not everyone fits behind the aegis.

Just because something is very good doesn't mean you always have to take it. You can also win games without it. It's not like a Tau army where they must take battlesuits to be competitive.

I've never fielded a flyer in my IG army. It just doesn't sit right with me. More room for tanks and men!

If you're going for a WAAC list, then sure, load up on flyers and whatnot, but they are far from necessary to have a good list.

Hmmm... So anyone have a good army list to work off of?

I'm working on an airborne allied detachment to go with my Grey Knights, but I don't think it'd help.

Pointers: DO NOT, under any circumstances, waste points on Commissars with power weapons in Infantry Platoons. If your Guard troops are in close combat they're dead. Period. Keep the enemy as far away as possible. Use the largest guns available to make sure they stay as far away as possible. Shoot the fastest things first. Your artillery (Leman Russes included in this definition) is among the best in the game, take advantage of it. Hydras will wreck speedy enemy armies' days, use them if you have the opportunity. And ABOVE ALL, never forget: If you get into close combat, you're fethed. Shoot the enemy before they get anywhere near you.