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.

Hey Guy,

Not sure this is the right forum, but I could use help starting a small foot army. I bave experience with armored based lists and want to try something a little different especially since in smaller point games my group frowns upon Leman Russ's. With this type of army I am going to be sticking to 1000 points or less. I ckuld use advice on tactics and how to use this type of army as well as what type of units and loadouts should I bring. I have no experience with these types of list and need to be pointed in the right direction.

Thank you

Welcome to the FootGuard, where life is cheap and Conscripts are cheaper!

For any foot list, there are a few units you'll want to make heavy use of, and others that are more for filling specific gaps.

The Regulars:

Platoon Infantry Squad, Lascannon, Meltagun: Clocking in at 80 points for just one infantry squad, this might seem expensive, but when you're taking multiples of them and buffing them with Orders and other command options like psykers, it's easy to see where the value is. Guard excel at bringing more of a given weapon than the enemy can deal with, and in this setup, 3+ squads combined will put out enough firepower to down tanks at range, and with the meltas, threaten anything that comes close. These are probably the staple of a FootGuard list.

Platoon Command Squad, 4 Flamers: this unit, as well as providing valuable orders to the Infantry units they come with, also makes a great counter attacking squad. It is a reality that the enemy, if they are trying to, will break your line at some point, and the best way to greet them is with 4 Flamer templates right behind the Infantry. This puts out enough damage to kill or cripple almost anything that gets through, from an Ork Horde to a Terminator Squad, and if they try to charge you, a potential 12 automatically hitting Overwatch shots. At 50 points, this unit is to good to dismiss, especially as you have to take them anyway to unlock Platoons.

20-30 Conscripts, Priest: possibly one of the best points-to-effectiveness objective holders in the game, 21+ Fearless wounds is nothing to be sniffed at for as little as 85 points, not to mention the fact that, should you need to fix bayonets and get stuck in, they will be rerolling hit and possibly wound or save rolls, which can be quite the shock. Their cheapness also offsets the relatively expensive Lascannon/Melta Infantry Squads.

These three will form the core of most Foot Lists, and you can use the units below to plug meta/army specific holes.


Special Weapon Squad, 3 Sniper Rifles: Clocking in at only 36 points, they are the cheapest Objective Secured scoring unit in the book, and, when mixed in with larger squads, can cause some interesting target priority issues for the opponent. Do they shoot the larger squads, leaving the SWS to score untouched, or do they target the SWS, probably overkilling them, and leave the blobs alone? Taken in multiples, they can also do a good job of removing Special Weapons or taking wounds from MCs.

Veteran Squad, 3 Melta/Plasma, Grenadiers: This unit offers several things over the Platoon at the cost of some durability and ablative wounds. They have a better point-to-damage/footprint ratio due to the extra Special Weapons they can bring, and shoot them at a higher BS, so will land more hits. They concentrate this firepower into a much smaller footprint, and so are easier to hide and you are more likely to have the weapons where you need them against a given threat.

Tempestus Scions squad, 2 Plasma/Melta, 5-10 Men: While not packing as many special weapons as a veteran squad, the Scions bring something arguably more valuable and certainly harder to come by in a foot list- mobility. Deep Striking a squad or two of these can not only threaten enemy assets with a hail of Special Weapons fire, but also allow you to put units right in the enemy territory, diverting attention and possibly scoring Malestrom objectives in the process. Often, an opponent will not expect this type of reach or aggression from Foot Guard, so Scions can be a very nice trick to have up your sleeve.

Ogryn squad: Much like Veterans, Ogryn largely offer what the Infanty Squad does in a more concentrated form, but instead of the upgrades, they reflect the anti-infanty firepower and sheer wound count of a combined infantry squad on a much smaller footprint. This makes them ideal units to counterattack or spearhead an advance, able to dish out and absorb damage without leaving a gaping hole in your battle line.

Aegis Defence Line: Quite simply by providing a 4+ Cover Save, this fortification doubles the survivability of the Guardsmen behind it against most guns. It does bring a drop in mobility as it can force you into a fairly static position, but if you were planning on remaining still it can invaluable.

I like 50 conscripts with a priest. The guyz can tarpit anything till the game ends. And the enemy eats his elbows off when he HAS to shoot at 3 ppm fearless guyz. And they're reasonable in mellee.

Also, you can pull a blob deathstar with xeno inquisitor and someone like Azrael. Rush into mellee and murderise everything with numbers, krak nades and power axes. You can go balls out insane and attach a GK indep in there to make your blob s5 with hammer hand. Note, however, that they're pretty vulnerable to getting tarpitted with something invisible as they have no H&R...White scar biker indep, anyone?

You want some Ministorum priests to make your units Fearless.

Don't be afraid of taking casualties, use your men as shields for characters and heavy weapon teams (lascannons or autocannons are probably your best choice)

A lot depends on which armies you play against though.

Thanks for all the advice, it's a lot to take in. I know for the heavy weapons models you would want them dispersed throughout the middle, but where would you recommend putting the special weapons models? If they are towards the front they will likely die quick, and if in the middle they have almost no range.

I like the idea of using meltas as much as possible, but I am intending to start this army in small point games (since it will take time to a mass all these troops) where worrying about armor isn't much of a concern. Would the gernade launcher be a good replacement at this point with its small blast or krak gernades?

Lastly the priest; I love the priest. I used him once with some basic troops and he help up a Tau battlesuit commander and his squad of crysis suits for three whole turns of combat. My question about the priest is that, even though awsome, he seems fragile and could easily be lost in a challenge. Would it be a good idea to pair him with a commnisar?

Also what would make a good HQ? I was thinking a Lord Comnisar for the above reason. There is also the Company Comand Squad with a few more orders to choose from. Are these the ones you guys would take and more so with the CCS, how would you load it out and use it on the field?

Thanks again guys

The meltas/other specials in Infantry squad are far more a defensive/deterrent weapon then and aggressive one, so keep them back until you need them, and then reshuffle when a target gets close to bring them in range.

GLs are decent if you bring enough, but aren't so defensive. If you don't want Melta, I suggest Flamers, as they should make charging that much more dangerous while still sitting at the back.

I like a LC for command, but objectively a CCS is better, adding more Orders, a Regimental Standard (very useful) and maybe an extra HW slot should you need one.

With Priests, just refuse challenges, or take them with a Sarge. I say pairing him with a commissar is a waste, as there's too much overlap.

Its not that I am against metla, its more so in the smaller points games I plan on starting with I don't feel like I would use them to their full effectiveness. I do on the other hand like the idea of flamers for both being assault weapons, but also and more importantly the wall of death.

For a little trial list I was thinking something like this at 498pts

CCS-Regmental Standard, 3x Flamers
PCS- 4x flamers
3x Platoon blob- 3x Autocannons, 3x Flamers
24x Conscripts w/ Priest
Veterans- 3x snipers

I hope this list will give me an idea of what to expect, but I am a little concerned since my veterans are just a place filler.

It's decent enough, especially for 500 points, the only bit I don't like is the sniper rifles, although it's hard to see what else you could fit in for the second Troops while keeping the blobs. At any rate, 74 bodies is going to be hard to deal with at 500 points.

As others have said, welcome to foot guard!

I actually recently gave a tonne of advice to another person interested in foot guard in this thread:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/622956.page#7356626

I chime in about half way down the first page of the thread, but overall the thread consists of him asking question and me giving answers.

Hopefully this will answer many of your questions that are likely to crop up when you start foot guard (:

Santange11 wrote:
Its not that I am against metla, its more so in the smaller points games I plan on starting with I don't feel like I would use them to their full effectiveness. I do on the other hand like the idea of flamers for both being assault weapons, but also and more importantly the wall of death.

For a little trial list I was thinking something like this at 498pts

CCS-Regmental Standard, 3x Flamers
PCS- 4x flamers
3x Platoon blob- 3x Autocannons, 3x Flamers
24x Conscripts w/ Priest
Veterans- 3x snipers

I hope this list will give me an idea of what to expect, but I am a little concerned since my veterans are just a place filler.

At 500 points that's pretty good; but I'm with Paradigm, the sniper rifles are pretty meh for Guard. True, they're only 5pts a piece, but Veterans REALLY shine with special weapons or a heavy weapon. Truthfully, I'm not really sure they even belong in the list you're aiming for, maybe another IS for the platoon?

 Frankenberry wrote:

Santange11 wrote:
Its not that I am against metla, its more so in the smaller points games I plan on starting with I don't feel like I would use them to their full effectiveness. I do on the other hand like the idea of flamers for both being assault weapons, but also and more importantly the wall of death.

For a little trial list I was thinking something like this at 498pts

CCS-Regmental Standard, 3x Flamers
PCS- 4x flamers
3x Platoon blob- 3x Autocannons, 3x Flamers
24x Conscripts w/ Priest
Veterans- 3x snipers

I hope this list will give me an idea of what to expect, but I am a little concerned since my veterans are just a place filler.

At 500 points that's pretty good; but I'm with Paradigm, the sniper rifles are pretty meh for Guard. True, they're only 5pts a piece, but Veterans REALLY shine with special weapons or a heavy weapon. Truthfully, I'm not really sure they even belong in the list you're aiming for, maybe another IS for the platoon?

I agree with snipers not being all that great I love my upgraded veterans with special weapons in a chimera, but there are so few points to use. If I upgrade them or add another platoon I loose/weaken the strength of my mobs. If you have an alternative to this , great. I will try toying with this to remove the veterans and add that platoon in.

If you drop the flamers on CCS and 4 Conscripts as well as the snipers, you could buy 2 plasma or 3 meltas for the Vets, which would give them a lot more punch. I think between the PCS and the Platoon you have enough flamers.

I'd have to drop in to pitch the use of fortifications.
The Wall of Martyrs is good for the IG, with trenches and the bunkers. If your group frowns on the Russ, keep it simple and leave the turrets at home.
The bunker is the price of an Aegis line, but is a Land Raider with no tracks, and windows big enough for 8 to shoot out of. It gets options for toys, like the ammo dump and quad-gun.

The downside is the price. You'll need the Stronghold Assault book for the rules, and the models aren't that cheap.
Get them on the table though, and your Guard will than you for putting walls up for them.