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I'm going to be running a clan raukaan chapter master with an honor guard squad, I haven't been able to find anything showing what a good build is for the squad itself though. I know they don't have a whole lot of options but what I'm looking for are things like squad size, what form of power weapons should I take, is it worth it to take a banner and if so which one etc.

The squad will be mounted with my CM in a LR and lets say I'd like the squad to be prepared for all comers as I usually face a good variety of foes.

Thanks for the help

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
I'm going to be running a clan raukaan chapter master with an honor guard squad, I haven't been able to find anything showing what a good build is for the squad itself though. I know they don't have a whole lot of options but what I'm looking for are things like squad size, what form of power weapons should I take, is it worth it to take a banner and if so which one etc.

The squad will be mounted with my CM in a LR and lets say I'd like the squad to be prepared for all comers as I usually face a good variety of foes.

Thanks for the help

If you have the points I would go for Assault Terminators with TH/SS because they are much more survivable. If your unit comes up against any AP2 the Honor Guard will die really quickly. If you're set on using them, I would give them all Relic Blades. That squad would be 175 points which is 50 points cheaper than the termies.

Also what type of power weapon should I give the champion? forgot to add that

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
Also what type of power weapon should I give the champion? forgot to add that

Give him a relic blade too. It gives marines S6 AP3 at I4.

 Random Dude wrote:

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
Also what type of power weapon should I give the champion? forgot to add that

Give him a relic blade too. It gives marines S6 AP3 at I4.

The relic blade option says "Any Honor Guard can replace their power weapon for a relic blade for X points". The Chapter Champion is not listed as an "Honor Guard" and so cannot take a relic blade.

Honor guard are amazing, honestly their biggest downside is that you have to pay a "chapter master" tax to take them, which can effectively double the points of the squad if you kit him out properly. Now at base cost 85 and 25 ppm a full 10 man squad is only 265. That isn't bad considering that isn't even the cost of a full strength terminator squad. And TH/SS termies are better than honor guard but I'm assuming you just want to use the honor guard so I won't suggest using the terminators. Honor guard come with power weapons for FREE, which means you can kit them out however you want. Do you want to kill MEQs? Go power swords, do you want to put wounds on most MCs? Go power mauls, worries about pesky 2+ armor saves? Get power axes. My preferred choice is a mix of all three. The axes can come in handy if you want that extra chance to pop vehicles as well as the power mauls which are strength 6. Now I would also suggest taking the chapter banner for 25 points. This gives them all +1 attack as well as a leadership roll bonus. Now they have 2 attacks base, +1 for having a bolt pistol and CCW, +1 for the banner, and +1 on the charge. That's 5 attacks each and 6 for the champion. That's a lot of dakka! Throw a chaplain in there or a librarian to grab hammerhand, invisibility, or endurance and you have a crazy powerful assault unit which will kill almost anything in close combat.

hyozanman wrote:
Honor guard are amazing, honestly their biggest downside is that you have to pay a "chapter master" tax to take them, which can effectively double the points of the squad if you kit him out properly. Now at base cost 85 and 25 ppm a full 10 man squad is only 265. That isn't bad considering that isn't even the cost of a full strength terminator squad. And TH/SS termies are better than honor guard but I'm assuming you just want to use the honor guard so I won't suggest using the terminators. Honor guard come with power weapons for FREE, which means you can kit them out however you want. Do you want to kill MEQs? Go power swords, do you want to put wounds on most MCs? Go power mauls, worries about pesky 2+ armor saves? Get power axes. My preferred choice is a mix of all three. The axes can come in handy if you want that extra chance to pop vehicles as well as the power mauls which are strength 6. Now I would also suggest taking the chapter banner for 25 points. This gives them all +1 attack as well as a leadership roll bonus. Now they have 2 attacks base, +1 for having a bolt pistol and CCW, +1 for the banner, and +1 on the charge. That's 5 attacks each and 6 for the champion. That's a lot of dakka! Throw a chaplain in there or a librarian to grab hammerhand, invisibility, or endurance and you have a crazy powerful assault unit which will kill almost anything in close combat.

This is why I am iffy about giving them relic blades as it seems a shame to just throw away their +1 attack for BP/PW. Since they are obviously a combat squad and my CM is gonna be kitted for combat is it worth it to take a full squad of 10? I'm also debating between a LR Crusader or Redeemer for the squad. Which PW would help the champion best all around in challenges? I'm thinking the power sword so he can strike at initiative and take out MEQ or weaker. A power axe would let me damage TEQ but if I'm in combat with a TEQ something went wrong anyway, the Maul would let me strike at my champions I and slow down whatever it is I'm fighting but wouldn't let me do jack against anything MEQ or better.

 Random Dude wrote:

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
Also what type of power weapon should I give the champion? forgot to add that

Give him a relic blade too. It gives marines S6 AP3 at I4.

Be careful about buying upgrades for the honor guard. The one thing they have going for them is they are 25 point 2+ save units. If you start buying upgrades you have to start comparing them to terminators and ask yourself why you're still taking honor guard.

Keep em cheap is my advice and give them a transport to protect them from AP 2 shooting.

+1 to the guy above me, to he perfectly honest the champion is pretty much the most useless model in the unit. Give him a power sword so he can kill unwieldy sergeants and nobs and such and just let him do his challenges. He most likely will not live past turn 3 and you shouldn't upgrade him at all.

Yeah I think I'll just keep a PS on the champ. So we got the chapter banner, a mix of PW types in the squad for variety and a PS on the champ. What about unit size?

Well, with 5 Honor guard with power swords and a chapter banner, you're looking at an average of 8 space marines killed on a charge. When you add on whatever kills your HQ is getting, I'm sure you'll pass 10 kills, which is about as big as SM squads tend to get.

So if you're not going to be going up against anything stronger than T4, 5 should be fine. Against Plague Marines, you might want more, you get the idea.

I'd run a 3-2 split of axes to swords, but that's just me.

5 including champion or 5 before champ

I find with Honour Guard the best way to build them is to the strength of the Chapter Master or Captain they will be running with.
IE, if they're going to be following the leader into assault, take flamers and power swords.

I tend to run them naked 6 strong, 3 mauls and 2 axes with the champ having a sword.

I have the chaptermaster running around with another squad. The honor guard are just 150 points of bully unit. They go after weak shooty units and eat up some AP2 shooting(keep it away from other stuff)

I run 8 of them with my chapter master. 5 power swords, 3 power mauls, and a banner. and I stick the unit in a drop pod.

The honor guard act as extra 2+ wounds for the chapter master and the banner provides that extra attack. Sometimes I stick a barebones chaplain in there also for the re-rolls.

the nice thing about running them in a drop pod is that you get to pick where they pop out and limit who will be shooting at them. Makes it easier to avoid the ap2 weapons. And holy crap if you dont see the enemy army revert their tactics to deal with this unit popping up in their backfield.

I have been wanting to run some also, and as far as I can tell, the Land Raider is the only thing that makes sense as a delivery tool. They are powerful and super fragile, why, some ask, considering they are marines with a 2+ save, are they fragile, certainly people don't consider marines fragile. Few units have as big a target on their head, and that's the problem with the unit; 2+ save, all power weapons, and a butt-load of attacks, any opponent who knows what they are will throw all there fire power on them and a 2+ with no invulnerable in the current meta is just points wasted, better to just spam TAC squads and force the opponent to make less optimal decisions as to where to point all there fire power. So as I say, I feel like putting them in a land raider and guaranteeing you get to assault and kill at least one unit of your choice is the way to go. I like to use WS for this as a scouting land raider is win. My problem with drop pods for honor guard is there shooting - it's just bolt guns, for the sake of the shooting phase they are a super expensive tac unit. They will get shot to smithereens the turn they land, not being able to charge. And if you put the pod down where they aren't exposed, then you're probably not near your quarry and not charging the following turn anyway.

I am a big fan of the HG, and I have no problem taking them and a CM to every game, if the points will allow. Probably the best thing about the HG is their 2+ armour and free power weapons. My squad of HG works like this, 5 models, plus a Champion. 3 of them are armed with P.Swords, and 2 carry Axes. The Champ takes the Thunderhammer and swaps his gun for a CCW. This seems silly but it allows you to strike at init during risky challenges. I usually forgo the standards, just to save on points and this has never hurt me. The reason I take the axes is for the AP, which is sorely needed when facing TEQ, but the swords do a fine job on most anything else. You could go with Mauls, but that seems to me more like something you would tailor for Orks and the like.

Delivery system? I hate to say it but when running with the Chapter Master it's probably best to footslog them. I know that sounds crazy, but if you built your CM properly, ie Shield Eternal, you can just march him out front to tank wounds. If you're playing IH Tactics then he's all the more survivable. My main thing with this is that I want to be able to use my Orbital Bombardment and being stuck in a tank all game seems like a waste of what can be a game ending weapon. Yes you will lose men from not having an invul, but if the enemy is scared silly of your HG and wasting Anti-Tank shots on them, then thats less firepower leveled at the rest of your army.

Some will try to hurt you with massed small arms fire and this is the best because a 2+ will fail you a heck of a lot less than 3+! I've had games where my HG soaked so much fire and come through unscathed that people have refused to play my HG.

Also, put a Chaplain with them for extra fearless lulz!

A Drop Pod might be worth considering as it would give you many of the same benefits but start you much closer.