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I'm devising two 500pts lists for my starter IG army. You can see them both here: one is mechanized, the other foot-slogger. While arming and equipping mechanized vets is pretty easy (either meltas or plasmas), I'm not sure which heavy (or AT) weapon to give to my two twenty-men "blobs". After all, the one thing they're good at is laser spam - rolling 40+ dice each in rapid fire range, which should be a killer against hoards. On one hand, with BS 3, I'm not sure that giving them expensive plasmas or meltas would be very useful. On the other hand, without these, they'll be ineffective against enemy armour. I thought about grenade launchers as an alternative, as krak grenades give a certain punch against light vehicles, and frag grenades allow them for anti-infantry use; but, again, with BS 3, I'm not sure if it's worth the points. I'm also not very keen on giving them

My main AT unit in this list will probably be either a Veteran Squad with plasmas or a HWS with either Missile Launchers (versatile) or Lascannons (powerful).

In the 1,000 points list, I'll probably have 30-man or even 40-man blobs, with the same decision to make about them...

One of the best things you can give blob squads is Lascannons. Even if they are only BS3... you are going to have a lot of them. A few of them is bound to hit the side of a barn and one is going to wreck what you are shooting at. Meltaguns are good too for blob squads and Plasma guns are always excellent. Grenade launchers are just pointless.

I use plasma guns and las cannons in my blobs, but I also rely very heavily on Bring it Down (which is also why I use a small vox network) because you're right, BS3 is terrible. If you can twin link it though, that's when it becomes dangerous. I also don't mind the missile launcher, but most Guard players hate it. I find it's a convenient tie-in because it can handle AT duty decently well and can fire frag missiles when your blob is shooting at hordey units (a lot of people will tell you the frag missile is useless because of displacement, but in my experience most people don't spread their troops out far enough to avoid templates). I also used to love auto cannons since BS3 means you're getting at least 1 hit most of the time, but if you have any Tyranid players in your meta you'll find that auto cannons do a wonderful job bouncing off monstrous creatures.

I like ACs in my blob with Melta guns.

This is the mentality behind it... if I am moving, the snap fire for the AC is still two shots. If Stationary, without 'BiD", you have effectivily a 75% chance to hit once with the two shots. It is still Str 7, so can be used as a light AT weapon (transports and the like) and gives your blob something to do at range if camping.

The Melta gun gives you something that will kill terminators and vehicles up close and at 10pts isn't terrible. You can still assault and fire them and they don't kill your guy on a 1. Remember you can't assault if you fire Rapid Fire weapons, so the Melta guns and pistols give you something to shoot before you go in.

Also make sure you have 1 Commissar in each blob for Stubborn and Ld 9. I will also point out your Sergeants and Commissars say 'power weapons', not power swords. You can give them all power axes to make them AP 2, Str 4, Init 1 to take care of Terminators and other 2+ armor saves. Keep one as a sword or naked CCW/LP for challenge purposes if you want, but take advantage of the fact you have at least 2 Sergeants in a 20 man blob. Also make sure everyone who can have melta bombs takes them.

A small properly kitted out blob preforms better than a poorly equipted large one. You can't 'hide' HWTs in blobs as effectivily as you could in 5th (same is true for Characters and Special weapons), so you might be better off making use of Heavy Weapon Squads with a Lord Commissar within 6" of it and give /them/ 'BiD' while they are in cover.

You don't have to, but if you want you can also take extra Commissars. Personally I can make better use of the points, but having extra characters for challenges or to tie up nasty enemy characters is a possible tactic. IG is one of the few Dexs that can multiple characters in a unit.

Another option is flamers and heavy bolters. This can be viable if your tactic is to force the enemy to fail by rolling 1s on armor saves. This means you have to generate /alot/ of shots, specially to make up for that BS 3. This can be super cheap as well since your not wasting points on more expensive weapons. Using this for multiple small 20 man blobs that are 'disposible' (you don't care if they die, as long as they do some damage) can work, but they can be worthless against big, tough MCs and Vehicles... much less vehicles and flyers.

Good luck.

In my 50 strong blob I run flamers and krak grenades with axes. The blob is anti infantry anti mc for me, so heavy weapons interfere with my mission. I want lots and lots of first rank second rank, plus each guardsmen is s6 in combat with a walker or mc. I don't get melta bombs because I want to swing with my axe instead, so melta bombs are less useful. Finally the flamers are my over watch protection, as I get 5d3 flame hits on any charger.

For heavy weapons, I like an aegis line with heavy weapon squads behind it. The aegis seems to fix my biggest complaint of heavy weapons teams, their fragility. A 2+ cover when gone to ground is huge. Plus you can use get back in the fight for shooting at full bs.

Plasma and Lascannons with a rune priest behind an ADL. It's the obvious superior.

Las cannons and commissars. Best value per point n infantry squads

 BlkTom wrote:
This is the mentality behind it... if I am moving, the snap fire for the AC is still two shots. If Stationary, without 'BiD", you have effectivily a 75% chance to hit once with the two shots. It is still Str 7, so can be used as a light AT weapon (transports and the like) and gives your blob something to do at range if camping.

This is a bad argument. The relative effectiveness of weapon A and B is entirely independent of what BS the model is shooting at. There is absolutely no benefit to taking an AC to gain two shots when snap firing, if a LC is a better weapon when firing at full BS it's still a better weapon when firing at BS 1, or at BS 10.

I'll add Commissars (and either up the blobs to 30 men each or add one more blob) when I go to the 1,000-point level...

 Peregrine wrote:

 BlkTom wrote:
This is the mentality behind it... if I am moving, the snap fire for the AC is still two shots. If Stationary, without 'BiD", you have effectivily a 75% chance to hit once with the two shots. It is still Str 7, so can be used as a light AT weapon (transports and the like) and gives your blob something to do at range if camping.

This is a bad argument. The relative effectiveness of weapon A and B is entirely independent of what BS the model is shooting at. There is absolutely no benefit to taking an AC to gain two shots when snap firing, if a LC is a better weapon when firing at full BS it's still a better weapon when firing at BS 1, or at BS 10.

This. In this edition, the LC is better all around*, and IMO was great in 5th too.

*EDIT: Except against the obvious GEQ and hordes. But that's what lasguns and flamers and the like are for!

 Unit1126PLL wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:

 BlkTom wrote:
This is the mentality behind it... if I am moving, the snap fire for the AC is still two shots. If Stationary, without 'BiD", you have effectivily a 75% chance to hit once with the two shots. It is still Str 7, so can be used as a light AT weapon (transports and the like) and gives your blob something to do at range if camping.

This is a bad argument. The relative effectiveness of weapon A and B is entirely independent of what BS the model is shooting at. There is absolutely no benefit to taking an AC to gain two shots when snap firing, if a LC is a better weapon when firing at full BS it's still a better weapon when firing at BS 1, or at BS 10.

This. In this edition, the LC is better all around*, and IMO was great in 5th too.

*EDIT: Except against the obvious GEQ and hordes. But that's what lasguns and flamers and the like are for!

I still rather have LC HWSs and ACs in the blob. Flamers are just so weak to really wound and get past armor saves, even with the multiple auto-hits, to be a 'must-have' over a melta gun.

golan2072 wrote:
I'll add Commissars (and either up the blobs to 30 men each or add one more blob) when I go to the 1,000-point level...

At least one commissar is mandatory in a blob. You're spending a lot of points on a single unit and LD 8 is the biggest weakness. Without commissars you fail way too many morale checks, especially in combat (since you always lose combat by enough to make you LD 0), with commissars you have a 97% chance of passing a morale check.

 Peregrine wrote:

golan2072 wrote:
I'll add Commissars (and either up the blobs to 30 men each or add one more blob) when I go to the 1,000-point level...

At least one commissar is mandatory in a blob. You're spending a lot of points on a single unit and LD 8 is the biggest weakness. Without commissars you fail way too many morale checks, especially in combat (since you always lose combat by enough to make you LD 0), with commissars you have a 97% chance of passing a morale check.

+1

Commissars prevents Sweeping Advances.

Commissars are 1w, in flak armor, and only have a 4+ los. Any halfway decent hit from an indirect fire weapon should snipe him out of the squad along with directed hits or a sneakily deployed unit like a drop pod has the potential to shoot him 1st.

Space wolves and blood Angeles have some very inexpensive IC that can give a blob ATSKNF on a high leadership, 3+ save, 2+ LOS potentially multi wound platform.

 schadenfreude wrote:
Commissars are 1w, in flak armor, and only have a 4+ los. Any halfway decent hit from an indirect fire weapon should snipe him out of the squad along with directed hits or a sneakily deployed unit like a drop pod has the potential to shoot him 1st.

Space wolves and blood Angeles have some very inexpensive IC that can give a blob ATSKNF on a high leadership, 3+ save, 2+ LOS potentially multi wound platform.

This. Imperial Guard blobs work because ATSKNF is probably the best USR in 40k. Give them a Rune Priest, 5 plasma guns, 5 power axes, and call it a day. Rapid Fire away with Prescience, and use Counterattack when you get assaulted. Feed a random sergeant to any challenges, and not much will kill all 51 bodies, since you can't be swept. The only folks having trouble running Power Blobs are the ones who refuse to ally in Space Marines.

 BlkTom wrote:


I still rather have LC HWSs and ACs in the blob. Flamers are just so weak to really wound and get past armor saves, even with the multiple auto-hits, to be a 'must-have' over a melta gun.

Your lascannons are so much easier to kill this way.

LC's belong in blobs where they can reliably benefit from orders and ablative wounds.

and flamers are for overwatch defense, while meltas are for keeping armor away / keeping it from Tank Shocking you all over the place.

Edit:
5x Flamers (in a maxed blob squad) is ~10 hits on charging units, which against, say, Khorne Berzerkers is ~2 dead. That's 8 fewer Guardsmen-murdering attacks hitting your blob. For 25 points. Fair deal.

It's even more hilarious when you get charged by, say, another blob squad / howling banshees / Hormagaunts / orks. ~7 dead just from the flamers.

 Unit1126PLL wrote:
and flamers are for overwatch defense, while meltas are for keeping armor away / keeping it from Tank Shocking you all over the place.

Edit:
5x Flamers (in a maxed blob squad) is ~10 hits on charging units, which against, say, Khorne Berzerkers is ~2 dead. That's 8 fewer Guardsmen-murdering attacks hitting your blob. For 25 points. Fair deal.

It's even more hilarious when you get charged by, say, another blob squad / howling banshees / Hormagaunts / orks. ~7 dead just from the flamers.

5x Plasmaguns are the obvious superior.

When the charging unit is a turn away from charging, Plasma kills several, no matter the armor save.

When the charging unit is a turn away from charging, Flamers do just about nothing.


Flamer overwatch is not something to be excited about. Focus on giving your blob more firepower. They're there to shoot guns and take wounds.

DaddyWarcrimes wrote:

 schadenfreude wrote:
Commissars are 1w, in flak armor, and only have a 4+ los. Any halfway decent hit from an indirect fire weapon should snipe him out of the squad along with directed hits or a sneakily deployed unit like a drop pod has the potential to shoot him 1st.

Space wolves and blood Angeles have some very inexpensive IC that can give a blob ATSKNF on a high leadership, 3+ save, 2+ LOS potentially multi wound platform.

This. Imperial Guard blobs work because ATSKNF is probably the best USR in 40k. Give them a Rune Priest, 5 plasma guns, 5 power axes, and call it a day. Rapid Fire away with Prescience, and use Counterattack when you get assaulted. Feed a random sergeant to any challenges, and not much will kill all 51 bodies, since you can't be swept. The only folks having trouble running Power Blobs are the ones who refuse to ally in Space Marines.

Read the entire rule for counter attack. The blob takes a leadership test for Counter attack but only models with the Special rule get the bonus so only the rune priest will get bonus attacks.

tankboy145 wrote:

DaddyWarcrimes wrote:

 schadenfreude wrote:
Commissars are 1w, in flak armor, and only have a 4+ los. Any halfway decent hit from an indirect fire weapon should snipe him out of the squad along with directed hits or a sneakily deployed unit like a drop pod has the potential to shoot him 1st.

Space wolves and blood Angeles have some very inexpensive IC that can give a blob ATSKNF on a high leadership, 3+ save, 2+ LOS potentially multi wound platform.

This. Imperial Guard blobs work because ATSKNF is probably the best USR in 40k. Give them a Rune Priest, 5 plasma guns, 5 power axes, and call it a day. Rapid Fire away with Prescience, and use Counterattack when you get assaulted. Feed a random sergeant to any challenges, and not much will kill all 51 bodies, since you can't be swept. The only folks having trouble running Power Blobs are the ones who refuse to ally in Space Marines.

Read the entire rule for counter attack. The blob takes a leadership test for Counter attack but only models with the Special rule get the bonus so only the rune priest will get bonus attacks.

This is true, Even so I still think this is the best set up.

The way I run my blob sqds most often is:

4 sqds,
1 Libby with a F. Axe attached(blood angles, not cause they are better just preferred for the rest of the list).,
3 power axe sargs, 1 base sarg(for challeges)
4 plasmas

68 las shots
8 plasmas
2 bolter shots
is still deadly in overwatch hitting on rerolled 6s, flamers while not bad, are not needed IMO

As for heavy weapons, I use HWTs to sit on objectives in cover and shoot, If fired upon by anything of note they GtG.

Im working on a blob where I will have probably 3-4 infantry squads where I will be using power axes and plasma as well. I will have a rune priest instead for divination. Because I will have the rune priest cast prescience, and PCS or a CCS to grant FRFSRF which will bring a lot of pain!