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.

I got a lot of advice here on how to build my first 40K army, Imperial Guard Tallarns. Yesterday I played my first two games, winning against Eldar and Tau. I was up the night before until midnight with finishing touches on the final few models, but eventually everything was painted.

Things that worked very well:
Cameloline camo is amazing in 5th edition, with 3+ cover saves if the troops are in cover. There's a lot of incentive to never move them out of cover.
The four flamers with the infantry platoon junior officer were invaluable in the first game. They're also the most fun.
In both games, players focused on destroying basilisks for a while until they realized the rest of the army was more dangerous.
I'm in love with sentinels, but they need to run around like distracting giants in WHFB. In both games, a sentinel with a broken gun charged in and tied up a unit for half the game.
All those combined lascannons were eventually effective against armor. Eventually.
Rough riders need melta bombs if they want to attack vehicles.


Here are a few photos and a final list, which was modified even further with yet more advice from other folks:










The List:
1500 Pts - Imperial Guard Roster - Imperial Guard Tallarns

HQ: Command Platoon (6#, 135 Pts)
0 Command Platoon @ 135 Pts
0 Command Squad @ [80] Pts
Cameleoline
1 Junior Officer @ [70] Pts
Cameleoline; Iron Discipline; Honorifica Imperialis; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
1 Honorifica Imperialis @ [25] Pts
4 Guardsmen @ [0] Pts
Cameleoline; Lasgun (x4)
0 Sentinel Squadron @ [55] Pts
1 Sentinel @ [55] Pts
Lascannon (x1)

Troops: Armoured Fist (11#, 166 Pts)
9 Armoured Fist @ 166 Pts
Cameleoline; Lasgun (x8); Meltagun
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Laspistol & CCW
1 Chimera @ [86] Pts
Searchlight; Multilaser; Hull Heavy Bolter

Troops: Infantry Platoon (46#, 625 Pts)
0 Infantry Platoon @ 625 Pts
0 Command Squad @ [165] Pts
Cameleoline
1 Junior Officer @ [45] Pts
Cameleoline; Iron Discipline; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
4 Guardsmen @ [110] Pts
Cameleoline; Flamer (x4); Chimera
1 Chimera @ [86] Pts
Searchlight; Multilaser; Hull Heavy Bolter
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW

Fast Attack: Sentinel Squadron (1#, 56 Pts)
0 Sentinel Squadron @ 56 Pts
1 Sentinel @ [56] Pts
Searchlight (x1); Lascannon (x1)

Fast Attack: Sentinel Squadron (1#, 55 Pts)
0 Sentinel Squadron @ 55 Pts
1 Sentinel @ [55] Pts
Lascannon (x1)

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (8#, 88 Pts)
7 Rough Rider Squad @ 88 Pts
Close Combat Weapon (x7); Hunting Lance (- LP) (x7)
1 Sergeant @ [11] Pts
Cameleoline; Laspistol; Hunting Lance

Heavy Support: Basilisk (1#, 125 Pts)
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability

Heavy Support: Basilisk (1#, 125 Pts)
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability

Heavy Support: Basilisk (1#, 125 Pts)
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability

Total Roster Cost: 1500

Wow very interestng paint job very vibrant and bright. But tell me where is that camo supposed to blend in, a candy store perhaps? Other then that good luck with the tallarns the changes in 5th will make shooty armies like IG and Tau, Dark Eldar have to revamp thier tactics a bit but seems to me with the new consolidation rules it works out to be an advantage, so good luck man.

These guys are stationed on a blood moon of Thex Prime (mentioned in the 5E rulebook). Any rocky, red sand world will do, with Mars being a good example if it wasn't covered in IG factories. As for color schemes, I don't think an IG army should be limited to any combination, considering they're settled on millions of different worlds.

I agree the colors were very vibrant in comparison to what I am used to seeing it looks fine. THe condystore comment was just to poke a little fun. I could not agree more no colo schme is limited to any army you paint what you like or think fits best with your armies fluff provided you give it one.

That camo doesn't help 'em much on the ice world does it? Good to know about cameoline, though - I'd suspected it, but you've given good confirmation to that.

Death By Monkeys wrote:That camo doesn't help 'em much on the ice world does it? Good to know about cameoline, though - I'd suspected it, but you've given good confirmation to that.

I find it amusing that I get a 3+ cover save in my bright red pajamas on a snow capped hill because you can't see me....

Nice looking army

Scha-wing! There's something you don't see anymore, an all-Tallarn army. Nice.

i think they looked like they were cold on that snow table

that's a cool paint scheme

You don't see all-Tallarn because they've been pulled from the shelves and bumped in price.

JohnHwangDD wrote:You don't see all-Tallarn because they've been pulled from the shelves and bumped in price.

It's a real pity, too. All the 2nd ed metals are still great, IMO they're better infantry than most historical ranges. I have a full praetorian army, but I love the look of the tallarn, and have 2 small platoons along with 3 big 'ol Rough Rider squads.

Yup. The 2E metal Guard are great sculpts.

Lucky for me, I managed to score a blister of Tallarns for my army yesterday, along with a couple blisters of Mordians for RTM. They were half price from when blisters were $6 each. At $1.50 per model, it was a good day.

It helps to own a game store, but it was still pricey, even at cost. The good news is that just about everything is available from direct sales. The only model I had to get from eBay was the rough rider sergeant, which isn't modeled correctly anyway, but looks cool. Tallarn tank crewmen included an autocannon gunner model and a rocket launcher model with a Cadian arm attached from the basilisk sprue. The guys on the basilisk platform holding their hands over their ears are from other special weapons teams (I forget which). The flamers were rocket launcher models with flamer bits, not even a conversion, just assembly. Armageddon sentinels are also readily available from specialist games. Next I'll be adding Forge World snipers and a lascannon team for some variety.

Anyway, I was putting off playing 40K for years because I didn't care for the models or the genre. The Tallarns were the only models that inspired me to want to do the painting. I've learned that without the inspiration, I'll quit painting long before I'm finished. My last army was a fairly conventional paint job for Ogre Kingdoms, so I wanted something bright and fun. Since starting to paint the Tallarn, I've been reading a lot of 40K novels and could now see playing other IG armies, as well as Tau. I'm also addicted to Forge World, but can't possibly justify the expense.

I remember my Tallarn Army quite fondly. It was the old missile launcher model that made me want to do the army in the first place...