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I just got myself a get started box as well as 2 boxes of infantry and a chimera. I'm really not sure where to go from there I'm going to my closest Games Workshop store to play my first game. I have been watching a lot of miniwar gaming batreps and they help a lot with the rules.

My main problem is organizing my army into a good list. The leman russ battle tank has three heavy bolter sponsons. The chimera has a lascannon and a flamer. My infantry has one flamer and grenader in each 10 man group as well as a voxcaster each. The lord commissar has a plasma gun.

I can't find a good way to place them in a good army. Side note what are some recommendations to add to my army I know I need a command squad and i think i'm going as a infantry army. Thanks for any help and tips I get.

Never, ever mix special weapons in a squad. I'm assuming you're using Veterans here. Give your Guardsmen meltaguns and plasma guns, and put them in Chimeras.
Don't take sponsons on Leman Russ Battle Tanks. Snap firing them due to the battle cannon's ordnance rule makes them useless.
Plasma pistols are not good weapons, don't take them.

Miniwargaming gets a vast quantity of rules wrong. Get a rulebook and Codex off eBay and read them.

Ok so put my flamers together and by sponsons are the heavy bolters on the front and sides right? I have the codex and watch miniwargaming for the basics only. I cant seem to find melta/plasma guns anywhere besides the 2 guardsmen for 18 Cad. And its too late to change the plasma pistol. And how many more boxes of infantry and chemeria would make a good 1000 point army? Like I said i'm going for mostly infantry. Oh and my heavy weapons team is a lascannon. Thanks for the tips.

hobbesattack wrote:
I just got myself a get started box as well as 2 boxes of infantry and a chimera.

Welcome to the Guard son! We are no where near close to being the best army, but any victory you can pull will feel all that bit sweeter for it This is not a bad start at all, but you will need more Chimeras, Russes and Wyverns.

I'm really not sure where to go from there I'm going to my closest Games Workshop store to play my first game.

Good move. This is the best way to get to know your army.

I have been watching a lot of miniwar gaming batreps and they help a lot with the rules.

Stop right there. Close the Miniwargaming tabs and delete them from your viewing lists. They are more than just bad when it comes to the rules.

My main problem is organizing my army into a good list.

Always an issue, just ask here and we will be happy to help.

The leman russ battle tank has three heavy bolter sponsons.

I assume you mean a hull mount and two sponson mounts. Remove the sponsons now, they are a waste of points.

The chimera has a lascannon and a flamer.

I think you mean a Multilaser and a Heavy Flamer. Good choice.

My infantry has one flamer and grenader in each 10 man group as well as a voxcaster each.

Remove both of the special weapon. There is a good thread in the Painting and Modelling section on converting Lasguns into Meltas and Plasma Guns. Choose whether to have either Meltas (Heavy infantry and vehicles) or Plasma (Heavy Infantry) and then arm three bods per veteran section with the chosen weapon.

The lord commissar has a plasma gun.

*Pistol*. He cannot have a gun. As soon as you can drop him for a Company Command Section.

I can't find a good way to place them in a good army.

Join the club

Side note what are some recommendations to add to my army I know I need a command squad and i think i'm going as a infantry army.

Okay, but you will struggle. Go for six veteran units, four with triple Melta and two with triple Plasma, all with Grenadiers doctrines and mount each within a Chimera. Ignore the Taurox, it is cheaper but it is awful. Add on to this a battery of three Wyverns, a Company Command section with Carapace, a Master of the Fleet, Vox and three Plasma/Melta guns. Finally add in a squadron of three Leman Russ Exterminators and add in two more Leman Russ battletanks to your current squadron.
It wont be great, but it will work.

Thanks for any help and tips I get.

You are welcome.

Ok I think im going for a more infantry army. Is it really worth cutting of the sponsons on the side i kinda want to keep them. I have been looking around my GW store and it seems that tryanids and orks are the most popular. I might not even field it. I think I shoudl get two for chimeras and some more infantry boxes as well a command squad box for the basics but I might get some wyverns later on. I just watch miniwargaming for the basics as well the tutorial videos they put out. I might even get some orgryns. But thanks for the tips.
Edit: I really don't have the best record with knives and my shaky hands so cutting might also be a no :sadguardsman:

Always always _always_ magnetise your leman russ parts - sponsons & turret pieces - because 1. it makes them easier to transport, 2. it makes for a lot more flexibility and thus satisfaction from your investment and 3. because magnets are fun.

If knife work is the problem consider a razor saw instead as it doesn't require so much precise force as monotonous repitition, which if you're a guard player is something you need to practice

If Tyranids and Orks are the most popular, you are in luck. That makes things easier for you. Ogryns are not particularly good, due to being overpriced, but as always it's your choice.

Do not bother with Ogryns unless you really, really, *really* want to. They are not very good at the moment.

Don't cut anything off the Russ. Depending on the store, you might not have to WYSIWYG your models. So you can play the Russ as a stock russ, as long as you make it clear to your opponent that the sponsons aren't in use. That's assuming you glued the guns in the sponsons. If you didn't, just leave them out when you play.

Also, Wyvern are great. Get some.

Welcome to the Imperial Guard. To reiterate what others have said, get yourself some Wyverns and never mix and match weapons in squads. Veterans are your best troop choice but a platoon of regular guys with a few flamers will come in handy a lot. Heavy weapons teams are weak because they die too easily so don't bother. The company command squad is easily one of your best units. Get them a Chimera and some special weapons. I actually like the Taurox once you swap the ugly tracks for off road tires. For delivering melta veterans I prefer it over a Chimera because it has doors on the sides. Armored Sentinels are ok, they are saved from mediocrity by being the coolest model ever. Your flyers are both pretty good but they are not cheap and tough to paint. Hellhounds are ok. The entire elites section isn't great but Scions can be useful. Learn to use your orders!

If you want to win games, your probably going to need Knight Commander Pask in a Punisher. That's a Leman Russ that wants it's sponson guns and Pask is unquestionably the most lethal thing in the codex. (Though an equal point value spent on Wyverns would be gross.)

The other special characters are decent at best. Basilisks and Deathstrikes are bad. Mantic ores are respectable.

Simple rule for Leman Russ tanks: is it a Battle Tank or a Demolisher? No sponson weapons. Is it any of the other types? Sponson weapons if you want them, but make sure they complement the main gun. (I.E. They kill the same type of enemy.)

My final tidbit of wisdom: If a model has BS4 find them a plasma or melta. Flamers are a waste on BS4 guys. If a model has BS3 give them a flamer or a grenade launcher if you've run out of flamers. Plasma and melta are a waste on BS3 guys.

Good hunting trooper.

hobbesattack wrote:
I just got myself a get started box as well as 2 boxes of infantry and a chimera. I'm really not sure where to go from there I'm going to my closest Games Workshop store to play my first game. I have been watching a lot of miniwar gaming batreps and they help a lot with the rules.

My main problem is organizing my army into a good list. The leman russ battle tank has three heavy bolter sponsons. The chimera has a lascannon and a flamer. My infantry has one flamer and grenader in each 10 man group as well as a voxcaster each. The lord commissar has a plasma gun.

I can't find a good way to place them in a good army. Side note what are some recommendations to add to my army I know I need a command squad and i think i'm going as a infantry army. Thanks for any help and tips I get.

Gonna heavily reccommend you start out small and work your way up as much as possible. We are without a doubt the most expensive army to collect, and buying a ton of stuff without knowing what you need/want in an army is a surefire way to lose your mind.

If you want to go infantry specifically, a few tips I can go ahead and give you a heads up on.

First off, If you're wanting infantry heavy, you're going with platoons and conscripts. Vets really need some sort of vehicle to get any use out of them since they die like regular guardsmen. Realize that if you do want to commit to infantry, we're talking easily a 100 infantry models even for just a 1,000pts list. If you think you can handle this, great, if not, you'll find out pretty quickly. I would heavily recommend buying a unit and painting it before moving on to the next. IG can spiral out of control very quickly and you'll feel overwhelmed.

Secondly, Infantry live and die by three things: Their weapons, their leadership, and their numbers/aka redundancy.

For weapons, this simply means that you should always have a role in mind for a unit, and build its loadout to reflect that. For the most part, special weapons will be melta, plasma, sniper rifles, and sometimes flamers (theyre situational, but potentially handy) others swear by grenade launchers but I've never gotten good use out of them. For heavy weapons, your best options are usually autocannons and lascannons, former is more a multitool weapon, whereas the latter is your heavy AT weapon. I'd recommend watching/reading a few batreps and see why IG players bring the weapons they do, as that's really the best way to learn. Also, if you haven't already, NEVER GLUE DOWN YOUR HEAVY WEAPONS. They're easily magnetized or even just dryfit to the tripod. This way you can experiment and try each type out. You can even modify rocket launchers to fit them if you really want to. Your platoons will live and die by their special weapons, to the point that you will view lasguns as wounds for them after a while, make sure you know why you're bringing the weapons and what they contribute to your force. Simply telling me you brought Plasmas because "AP2 S7 is good" is not a good answer if you put it on a unit that can't really use it. Also, never mix special weapons in a squad except for very specific circumstances. Remember squads usually fire together, so having a GL and a flamer in the same squad is counterproductive. Have one unit carry 2 flamers and the other 2 GL's, you'll see what I mean immediately.

As for leadership, well, guardsmen are people, and people for the most part aren't exactly going to run into close combat with a bloodthirster willingly. Luckily the IG have a ton of tools to circumvent that, including arguably the best form of fearless in the game, in the form of the Commissar. Commissars up your LD to 9, give stubborn (making your unit very tough to break in melee) and whenever you fail a leadership test, will let you autopass at the cost of one execution. It is one of our most important tools, make sure you know how to use them. Priests are another option, but work best with conscripts. Their job is to make a unit insanely brave and stab things, and work best with conscripts because the little boogers are 3pts a model and nobody cares if a 30 man unit disappears in melee. Sure, you can put them in your regular infantry units, but I prefer those to shoot better, which is a commissar's niche. Finally, Company Command squads get access to a thing called a Regimental standard. They are mandatory for Command squads if you are an infantry player. A free reroll to any unit that fails a ld check within 12" is just too good, especially because it kicks in before the commissar. Plus you're an IG player. An IG player without a flag to rally around for a last stand is like a dwarf player without any axes in his army, heresy.

Finally, redundancy. Imperial guard are not known for quality anything, and our codex reflects that. Hence the rule of 3's, a joke that many guard players will quote when building an army. The rule of 3's means that for every "job" that you know you'll need to accomplish, you have to have 3 ways to do it. These can be identical units or completely different ones. The reason behind this is

1. The first unit will miss
2. The second unit will die before they get to shoot
3. The third one will finally hit, because BS 3.

So for example, let's say I know I need tools to kill vehicles. I could just rely on a single blob with lascannons to tackle tanks, but what do I do if they flub their rolls? Maybe I have stormtroopers with meltas deepstriking in, or a tank commander vanquisher hanging out in the backline, or maybe I have a Vendetta gunship squadron waiting in the wings, or maybe I just have another blob with lascannons. The idea is that when inevitably a unit drops the ball, or explodes holding the ball, the next one can pick up the slack. Never, EVER, assume that a single unit will succeed without fail. IG units are so cheap you really have no excuse, we can take a really nice army even at 1,000pts, so you have no excuse for ignoring tools you have available to you. We are not Space Marines or Skitarii who assume they're going to hit with every shot. We have guardsmen who were trained on how to use plasma guns last tuesday and then someone handed them a melta today. They will miss when you need a hit the most, make sure you have backup plans. This is also why you need so many guardsmen, and why conscripts are good. There's so many nasty weapons out there, the best tactic infantry has is to just have more bodies than they have bullets.

And lastly, as infantry you will make heavy use of orders. Memorize those suckers so you can recall them at any time. IG orders are free buffs that you pretty much always have access to, you'd have to be crazy to not use them. Even our platoon command squads get access to good orders now, and have an increased order range, so don't forget it. FRFSRF, Forwards for the Emperor, Move Move Move, Fire on my Target, Bring it Down, and even Get Back in the Fight, all have a multitude of uses and can catch your opponent flatfooted. Nobody expects a 40 man blob to suddenly have moster hunter even on it's lasguns for example, or to make a shooting attack and get a free run move afterwards. Most armies pay quite a bit to get these abilities, especially things like ignores cover, so don't forget them.


As for what to buy, a couple of command squads would be essential right now. You'll want one as a CCS for your HQ, and a second as a PCS so you can make a platoon. Company command boxes are also your main source of special weapons. The problem with infantry is you're just going to always need more infantry, so just keep that in mind to start as well. Also, don't bother with voxes until you have officers that can make use of them. They do nothing for your squads if you have no orders to give. If you're wanting a buying list, I'd shoot for 2 more CCS boxes, some heavy weapon teams, and maybe another box of infantry. I'd also heavily recommend in figuring out a source of meltas and plasmas. Talk to local players, especially space marines, to see if they have spares. Your other option is eBay or other websites that sell 3rd party weapons (which will sadly not be an option if you're going to play in an official GW store)

For the time being, you have about enough to run 500pts games, depending on if you run all vets or a platoon with a vet squad, and if you take a lord commissar or a CCS. I would try to get several games in at that point level for now just to get the hang of things, especially since you have a chimera and a russ, that will give you an idea on if you might want to change your mind and go armored instead.


Hope that helps, bit of a wall of text but that'll give you a lot of general advice that you can draw off of for a while.

hobbesattack wrote:
I just got myself a get started box as well as 2 boxes of infantry and a chimera. I'm really not sure where to go from there I'm going to my closest Games Workshop store to play my first game. I have been watching a lot of miniwar gaming batreps and they help a lot with the rules.

My main problem is organizing my army into a good list. The leman russ battle tank has three heavy bolter sponsons. The chimera has a lascannon and a flamer. My infantry has one flamer and grenader in each 10 man group as well as a voxcaster each. The lord commissar has a plasma gun.

I can't find a good way to place them in a good army. Side note what are some recommendations to add to my army I know I need a command squad and i think i'm going as a infantry army. Thanks for any help and tips I get.

The IG codex is vast.

I suggest looking to the Formations that are available to you. Specifically there are some additional resources you need to look at by purchasing the Mont'Ka Supplement when cash allows.

The infantry is the way I prefer to play IG and I can give you some advice on that. I do not find the Leman Russ's to be able to stand up to the beating many armies are capable of. They work better as support than as a mainline effort. Just too many "hard counter-units" that can feast on the more expensive armor.

I also have on many threads recommended the Psyker+Priest + IG blob combo.

Welcome to the Guard, soldier.

hobbesattack wrote:

As for what to buy, a couple of command squads would be essential right now. You'll want one as a CCS for your HQ, and a second as a PCS so you can make a platoon. Company command boxes are also your main source of special weapons. The problem with infantry is you're just going to always need more infantry, so just keep that in mind to start as well. Also, don't bother with voxes until you have officers that can make use of them. They do nothing for your squads if you have no orders to give. If you're wanting a buying list, I'd shoot for 2 more CCS boxes, some heavy weapon teams, and maybe another box of infantry. I'd also heavily recommend in figuring out a source of meltas and plasmas. Talk to local players, especially space marines, to see if they have spares. Your other option is eBay or other websites that sell 3rd party weapons (which will sadly not be an option if you're going to play in an official GW store)

I'll add to this that you can buy SM fit plasma guns in packs of 5 direct from GW, it's not perfect but it'll amp your special weapon quota up very quickly, which if combined with standard guardsman boxes works out to about $2/pasma gunner

And yes, welcome to the Guard, it gets better.

Just to sorta piggyback off this. I'm also a newish IG player who wants to play a primarily infantry play style. Currently have a few Leman Russ(unbuilt)), a Full 5 squad platoon with CCS and some other bits and pieces. Anyways what are people's opinions on the formations/detachments from the Cadia supplement, specifically the Emperor's shield company/platoons and the Psykana division. I've previously played Orks/Dark Eldar and my friend plays Tau so we have pretty much ignored the psychic phase but I like the idea of having a psykana division to augment the infantry blobs even more than the orders already do.

Get yourself an Aegis Defense Line if you're playing foot guard. You'll have at least one blob that wants to shoot so park them behind it and fire away. Then when they get shot at go to ground for a 2+ cover save, then use a CCS to order them to get back in the fight and stand up as if nothing happened. I would recommend 30-40 models in a blob of any type. 20 doesn't cut it and 50 is so unweildly that you'll never get all of the models to either be in range to shoot or swing in melee.
For your Ordinance Leman Russes it's okay to have sponson Heavy Flamers on them, like your Chimeras, they will often find themselves about to be punched in melee and then you can counter charge with 3 templates.

A couple of tips :
Flamers are guard close combat weapons.
HWTs can be alright if they're mortar squads sitting out of sight on an objective.
You will need Commissar Yarrick in the future.
Scout Sentinels outflanking with AutoCannons are a cheap way to get line Breaker and maybe wreck some things rear armour.
Armoured Sentinels are AV12 in melee, worth keeping in mind, I use them blunt Hound of Khorne charges.
Getting a veteran squad with 3 Flamers and Forward Sentries is a surprisingly good speed bump.

Heavy flamers for the win.

 Verviedi wrote:
Never, ever mix special weapons in a squad. I'm assuming you're using Veterans here. Give your Guardsmen meltaguns and plasma guns, and put them in Chimeras.

Actually, if they are going to be staying in chimeras, you may want to diversify a bit. Considering that a Chimera only has 2 firing points, I generally run a Veteran Squad with an Autocannon, Meltagun, & 2 flamers. CCS, I run Master of Ordnance, Autocannon, 2 flamers. If they get shot out of a Chimera, they probably won't last all that long anyway. Do what you want.

 carldooley wrote:

 Verviedi wrote:
Never, ever mix special weapons in a squad. I'm assuming you're using Veterans here. Give your Guardsmen meltaguns and plasma guns, and put them in Chimeras.

Actually, if they are going to be staying in chimeras, you may want to diversify a bit. Considering that a Chimera only has 2 firing points, I generally run a Veteran Squad with an Autocannon, Meltagun, & 2 flamers. CCS, I run Master of Ordnance, Autocannon, 2 flamers. If they get shot out of a Chimera, they probably won't last all that long anyway. Do what you want.

Eh, I don't know about that mix. I could see 2 meltas/plasma and a heavy flamer though. I don't know why you would bother with flamers when you have the option of a heavy flamer in the vet squad. Plus that gives you a second heavy flamer to add to the hull one, turning chimeras into budget hellhounds if you absolutely positively have to fry some infantry.

Heavy flamers for vets/command squads is definitely an undervalued new addition though. A lot of guard players have no idea they went down to just 10pts, which is an absolute steal. Wish you could get them with stormtroopers but eh, I'll live.

1. Swap Out your Leman Russ Turret for the Exterminator Turret, as you already have 3x Heavy Bolters, an additional 4 S7 AP4 shots will make hordes Cry

2. Put Knight Commander Pask in it (so that AP4 can Sometimes be AP2)

3. Get 2 More Leman Russes with Plasma Cannon Turret and Plasma Sponsons (To Make Hordes and 2+ saves Cry)

4. Give Them All Camo Netting
(Thats your HQ Choice Done)
5. A Company Command Squad NEVER Fails (And Build is Acceptable, as long as you put a Vox-Caster in the Unit) and add in some Advisors

6. Platoons or Veterans, your Choice (Veterans for Smaller games tho)

7.BASILISKS, FIELD AS MANY AS YOU CAN

8.Buy a Baneblade

9.Channel the Spirit and Tactical Genius of Creed, Sturnn and Vance Stubbs

10. Buy a Sly Marbo Model as a Mascot to make you win games

NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

 master of ordinance wrote:
NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

Irrelevant if it kills more than its point value over the course of the game. And it will.

The plasma Russ was saved by the final FAQ, but I think all Russes are overcosted junk in 7th ed.

I do see a lot of str D, though.

It was? How?

Preferred enemy lets you reroll gets hot rolls of "1" again.

 Verviedi wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:
NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

Irrelevant if it kills more than its point value over the course of the game. And it will.

Agreed.

If you try a specific tactic and it doesn't go well, try it again with more Guardsmen.

Do not underestimate massed lasgun fire. Statistics are now on your side.

If you play with alot of infantry, try to have a closest number of avalible orders as you can to your number of infantry squads. Orders are their real power.

 Jancoran wrote:

 Verviedi wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:
NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

Irrelevant if it kills more than its point value over the course of the game. And it will.

Agreed.

No, it might. Assuming your opponent is stupid enough to footslog across the board without using cover at all. Put the infantry in transports, use cover, psychic powers or deepstrike and the Plasma Russ becomes oh so much wasted value.

I don't like small blast templates, and so I REALLY don't like the plasma Russ. Oh, and it's a Russ.

 master of ordinance wrote:

 Jancoran wrote:

 Verviedi wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:
NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

Irrelevant if it kills more than its point value over the course of the game. And it will.

Agreed.

No, it might. Assuming your opponent is stupid enough to footslog across the board without using cover at all. Put the infantry in transports, use cover, psychic powers or deepstrike and the Plasma Russ becomes oh so much wasted value.

This is absolutely true, which is why you have to use more tools in the arsenal to get the most out of them. In my case this usually means scoring the outflank trait.

 malamis wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:

 Jancoran wrote:

 Verviedi wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:
NEVER use the Plasma Russ. On average it will kill itself over a standard game without any input from your opponent.

Irrelevant if it kills more than its point value over the course of the game. And it will.

Agreed.

No, it might. Assuming your opponent is stupid enough to footslog across the board without using cover at all. Put the infantry in transports, use cover, psychic powers or deepstrike and the Plasma Russ becomes oh so much wasted value.

This is absolutely true, which is why you have to use more tools in the arsenal to get the most out of them. In my case this usually means scoring the outflank trait.

You mean the 1-in-6 chance?