Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello my fellow guardsmen (or whoever reads/comments) I've been thinking about this for a while, we all know guardsmen are going to die, that's as much as a fact as the Earth orbiting the sun or humans needing air to live but I ask the question how should they die?. What I mean is blobing your men or having them as individual 10 man squads. I can see arguments for both sides.

Blobing: Pros
-Ability to bog down most squads in combat (commissar is needed for this role)
-Only need one successful order for the whole squad (lets face it, it's going to be frfsrf)
-large battlefield presence (moving 30+ men off an objective isn't going to be the easiest of jobs especially if they have cover, a commissar and incoming

Blobing: Cons
-If you only bring 1 blob of men (something I have done for far too long) and they get sweeping advanced or boged down in combat then that is a large amount of your army (points wise) unavailable to assist elsewhere.
-A commissar can be challenged, precision shotted or artillery sniped then you're left with a leadership 8 blob (assuming you have sergeants still alive)
-less tactical flexibility

Single squads: pros
-only one squad can be killed at a time (assuming only one squad is in charge range)
-less easy for your enemy to kill more men as their whole army can't just target one squad
-no need for commissars which in turn will save points
-easier to hide (should the need arise 10 men have a hell of a lot smaller battlefield footprint than a big blob)
more tactical flexibility so you can judge how many men you want per flank instead of having a big blob in one area only

single squads: cons
-easier to pick off
-more men to manage and think about
-more difficult to hold objective (unless you park more than one squad on it)
-need more ccs or pcs to effectively give orders as your men are more spread out
-end up having several damaged and thus less effective squads compared to one slightly damaged blob.

So those are some points from the top of my head. Let me know anymore you guys come up with and how you field your walking bullet catchers.

P.S. I'm not trying to start a thread about power blobs being supposedly dead in 6th ed as I don't care for them at all.

Just a quick note, if your blob w/commissar is challenged, your opponent does not choose which character in your blob might accept the challenge, you do. Therefore, you can have your sargeants soak up the challenges before the commissar has to comitt (or refuse).

I've run both styles, and it all comes down on what you want to do with them.

Heck, for a while I took 12 squads with nothing but a meltagun and just ran them at the enemy with a bunch of heavy weapon squads and Leman Russes chilling out behind them giving fire support.

I STILL don't know how I pulled wins with that list, but I did.

That said, blobs tend to be the way to go, especially if you take allies.

Single squads are the way to go. Large squads are not that more survivable especially given your opponent will have far less units to shoot at and it also limits your shooting versatility.
Also regarding combat, most dedicated combat units will churn through 30 guardsmen almost as quick as 10, though a 30 man squad ready to over-watch is quite an intimidating unit to charge.

Johnson101 wrote:
Single squads are the way to go. Large squads are not that more survivable especially given your opponent will have far less units to shoot at and it also limits your shooting versatility.
Also regarding combat, most dedicated combat units will churn through 30 guardsmen almost as quick as 10, though a 30 man squad ready to over-watch is quite an intimidating unit to charge.

Order efficiency, volume of attacks in CC, Allies, less kill points, less easy first blood, sergeants for speedbumps in challenges, harder to force morale check.

And many more.

Blobs are the superior formation.

Unless you're Mech Guard.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I've run both styles, and it all comes down on what you want to do with them.

Heck, for a while I took 12 squads with nothing but a meltagun and just ran them at the enemy with a bunch of heavy weapon squads and Leman Russes chilling out behind them giving fire support.

I STILL don't know how I pulled wins with that list, but I did.

That said, blobs tend to be the way to go, especially if you take allies.

Not gunna lie, that sounds incredible fun.

I always blob, but I run small-ish platoons (30 men including a comissar), so I do it more for a more survivable squad and easier order managing.

 TheCaptain wrote:


Blobs are the superior formation.

I don't think a blanket statement like that is fair. There are times when using MSU is better. However, it is incredibly situational; for example playing against an opponent with a death star, or on a table where you couldn't get cover for large blobs.

I tend to run blobs more than MSU, but there can be distinct advantages to keeping them separate. The beauty of blobs is that you don't decide in the list making process, so you can deploy as appropriate.

I think it depends on the mission you are playing. If it is objective based I'd say MSU or maybe blobs of 20-30 to hold objectives. If the mission is KP I'd go with blobs of 40-50 to reduce the number of KPs available to your opponent.