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So, I want to build up a Guard army from the ground up and I got two 5 man boxes of cadians to try color schemes on, So that gives me 10 Lasgun cadians. Anyways! I was looking arround and found this http://www.games-workshop.com/en-SE/Cadian-Defence-Force The Cadian Defence Force. And I thought, If I buy two of those, I have a steady base for my army! A Tank Commander with companion Russ and two Infantry Platoons of 1 Platoon Command Squad in chimera and 2 Infantry Squads, and one Heavy Weapons Squad (One of them will get 3 Infantry Squads,, By building a extra sergeant and flamer frm one box for use with the 10 cadians I already got) I want mostly infantry with some vehicle support, Only want a couple of Leman Russes, And they will be anti-tank.

That would certainly get you off to a good start. However, what I'd do is use Command Squad as a CCS, and by throwing the HWTs into the Infantry Squads, you'll get 6 extra guys to make a second PCS. That way, you get to put your tanks in HS, a CCS as HQ, 2 Platoons (1 of 20 and 1 of 30, plus Command Squads in each).

If you want a primarily Infantry army, have you considered converting the Chimeras? A few extra bits, bought or scratch-built, and you could have a pair of Hellhounds or Basilisks. I think that would fit better than just putting your PCS in Chimeras because you have the models.

Well, I was planning to have the command squads in chimeras as protection, So they dont get shot out by small arms fire, And so they can manuver away from the enemies easily. I dont see how I get 6 extra guys for a extra command squad though.. I'm probably missing something..

As for converting, I'm horrible at converting.. XD

Merellin wrote:
Well, I was planning to have the command squads in chimeras as protection, So they dont get shot out by small arms fire, And so they can manuver away from the enemies easily. I dont see how I get 6 extra guys for a extra command squad though.. I'm probably missing something..

As for converting, I'm horrible at converting.. XD

every heavy weapons team takes the place of 2 guys in a platoon command squad or infantry squad. Every three HWT's replaces two guys, so if you have 3 of them you have 6 leftover guys

You get the 6 extra guys from the Infantrymen that are replaced by the Heavy Weapons Teams in the Infantry Squads, and you can use those to make a PCS and still have a mini left over. Putting the HWTs as upgrades to the Infantry rather than on their own is a better choice anyway, as it gives them better Ld and durability and gives the Infantry more punch.

So basically, instead of having:
10 Infantry
10 Infantry
10 Infantry
6 HWT

You have:
8 Infantry+HWT
8 Infantry+HWT
8 Infantry+HWT
6 space minis (PCS)

Ah, sorry. My brain is a bit slow tonight, I blame being tierd.. XD That might be a good idea... I was thinking of giving the heavy weapons teams Lascannons. Hmm.. They cant move and shoot right? I dont want all my guys just sitting at my back field, I want them to move, Capture objectives and stuff.

I can think of worse ways to start a guard army. The main problem with this way, though, is that it gives you both an infantry platoon and a single chimera. Generally speaking, you're going to want either vets in chimeras (so have an extra infantry squad per chimera), or infantry platoons on foot (so have an extra chimera per infantry squad.

You may possibly want to consider getting one of those boxes and then two more chimeras or one of those boxes and three more boxes of infantry instead. That way you could run two infantry platoons, or two units of vets and a CCS all in chimeras.

Other than that, I'd get some more special weapons. The regular cadian infantry just give you flamers and grenade launchers, and you're probably going to want something that packs more of a wallop.

I want large blobs of infantry marching along the table. One of those boxes and two more boxes of Cadians (Along with the 10 I already got) Would net me a full 50 man blob.. But then I'd still need another full platoon. While two of them gives me two platoons and a HQ..

Just an idea, but you could convert the chimera into a makeshift wyvern. With the mortar bitz from the HWT, stick a mortar in the cargo bay of a chimera, then pop open the rear hatch. Glue the chimera top hatch to a stick and put that in place of the turret. Then you can run it either as a chimera or a wyvern, both are great additions to starter armies.

Might i suggest mantic corporation marines for the infantry? http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/warpath/corporation.html

I will say that 2 defence force boxes will be a great start. With all of the models that you have at your disposal, you will be able to write up quite a few different army lists. I would recommend that once you get everything put together, try out a variety of army list builds. When playing the IG, it can be a overwhelming at all of the options and the manner you can field them. So fully experiment and never play the same list twice.

I wouldn't worry about writing an ultra competitive list right now and buying two of the PDF forces will be a solid base to any list you want to write in the future. You are right to want a large amount of infantry as the anchor to your army and these box sets will give you a solid base. From here you can ad some of the better stuff in the codex (more leman russ, wyverns, and vendettas).

Right, and that's the important part. Unlike a lot of the battleforces of the past, this one has no bloat in it. You're going to use dudes with lasguns and officers and chimeras and russes sooner or later. Most lists will include three of the four of those, and there's nothing in the box that's going to be riding the pine for whole rules editions or anything like that.

Very true. 2 boxs of those , 3 chimeras , 2 wyvern boxs and either recast special weapon yourself or buy weapon pack from somewhere and the army is ready to play.

That defence force box is awesome. I recently started Guard and picked up 2 of them. Excellent core to the force and every model has seen table time. That's fairly rare for a bundle.

A few things that may help you stretch your dollar...
1. base the heavy weapons guys seperate on 28mm round bases. You can have one guy pointing and the other holding the triggers (consider it a remote firer trigger)
2. base the big heavy weapon base empty.
3. Do each of the heavy weapons seperate (except missile launcher and morter) horse bases. You'll need to find something besides the tripod for 2 of them of course. beads, rubble. whatnot I took a buncha autocannons to convert for ogryn. The morter, looks good on a round termy base and the missile launcher you can put on a normal standing trooper.
4. When ya use a heavy weapon, just pop whatever combo you want onto the big HW base. If you mix in normal troopers as gunners and get a few spare HW bases, you can REALLY stretch your buck by fielding ALL the varients.