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One of my main armies is dark angels, and I was thinking about buying an army with some cheap infantry to get some warm bodies. I much prefer the look of Mechanicus units over IG, but I don't really know where rangers/ vanguards fall on the elite/ chaff scale compared to marines/ guardsmen. Would they work for the role, or would they end up being basically the equivalent of tacticals and defeating the purpose, granted while looking cool.

7pts for rangers, 8 for vanguards.
They are a tiny bit tougher than guards with 6++ and4+ saves.
They have good guns. 30" bolters on the rangers, 18" assault 3 s3 double damage on 6 on vanguard.
They are very flexible depending on which dogma you give them and which psalm you use each turn.

Okay, so they fall about dead middle between marines/ guard point wise.those ranger guns have some range on them!

I have been having great success with my mixed army of adeptus mechanics and salamanders. The rangers with the Stygies VIII Dogma are really solid. 7pts for the aforementioned stats, AND -1 to hit them over 12'' is incredible value. In all of my games they have killed a surprising amount and have survived more than you might expect. 105pts nets you three five man units, which can really help block deep strikers, and still contribute pot shots from their 30'' range rifles. If you are just using them as chaff I recommend 5 man units and no upgrades.

The other route that has worked well for me is an auxiliary detachment consisting of a single unit of 10 vanguards with 3 plasma calivers using the Lucius Dogma to allow them to deep strike. Costs 2CP if you don't run a larger detachment of Lucius, but 122pts for 6 deep striking plasma shots at 18'' range that can potentially hit on 2s re-rolling 1s with the right canticle plus another stratagem is pretty juicy. And don't forget they still have the 27 shots from their radium carbines.

In my opinion rangers and vanguard are the best troops in the whole game. They do a lot for their cost.

Interesting to hear such a positive review of them. An admech battalion to support a knight detachment is an interesting option- all the more so if they are decent units.

depends I view rangers as a high quality screening unit that can at least have some offensive output on the game but with guardsmen they have 2 jobs screen and sit on objectives any shots they get to take is a bonus

In an army list with units like knights they are amazing for the cost. As above you can go minimum but I like to go just above so they can sit on objectives longer. 8 Rangers with an arc rifle is just 60pts and unlike other chaff in the game can actually contribute to the battle. Stick them in cover and your opponent has to at least work to dig them out, whiy, with knights bearing down on them, often a tough choice.

Admech troops are superior to Guard in every way. Equivalent points will get you tougher more survivable guys with much better guns, and the fewer bodies gets made up with doctrines.

Where they fall behind is in having expensive HQs that don’t really support a small 3 squad detachment, where IG gets dirt cheap and useful psykers and commanders.

 Badablack wrote:
Admech troops are superior to Guard in every way. Equivalent points will get you tougher more survivable guys with much better guns, and the fewer bodies gets made up with doctrines.

Where they fall behind is in having expensive HQs that don’t really support a small 3 squad detachment, where IG gets dirt cheap and useful psykers and commanders.

Eh... Plus 75% points for only +1 save means they're not as durable.

And, with orders, Guard can put out more damage at 24", against certain Toughness values.

+1sv +1inv -1 to hit (assuming stygies) makes them comparably durable
Thats 44% fewer W receivedvs BS4 or 37% vs bs3 but having half the W to begin with
Then due to moral you only need to kill 7 guardsman to wipe the squad

Vanguard can be deep striked with the stygies strat
Vanguard are better at shooting without buffs
However vanguard have a shorter range and are therefore best employed moving forwards as a mid table line.
The -1T they grant in CC is great when supporting a marine unit

Rangers have the longest range and are cheapest however there guns are fairly useless if you want something cheap to sit on an objective maybe but the others are better.

Infantry most effective unit at 12" when buffed by FRFSRF. Also has some decent weapon upgrades for if you want to hold an objective backfield and still contribute
The extra models allow for better screening
Need Character buffs to optimise uping cost
Also a lot of models if your going to be moving them a lot
Surpriseingly fast with orders