Imperial Guard -- First Impressions

Posted by Ranillon on 30. April 2009 22:12

With the new Imperial Guard Codex just out I haven’t been able to go over it in detail, but some immediate observations do come to mind.  I will doubtlessly write more articles on this subject in the near future, but here are my first impressions.

Dark Angels Look Even Older – Unfortunately, this and the recent Space Marine codex make it clear that the Dark Angel book was the last before GW’s new policy of filling new army lists with all sorts of goodies.  As a result the comparatively meager Dark Angel codex seems pretty tame, even boring by comparison.  It wasn’t too amazing at the time, but now it’s clear that any mystique it may have had is disappearing quickly.

‘Hunters Have Gained – Both the Witchhunters and Daemonhunters books just got better now that they can access the improved Imperial Guard rules.  It’s fortunate that the codexes tell you to reference the IG book instead of listing unit’s statistics!  Likewise, while the new IG Storm Troopers are superior they are also a lot more expensive, so things balance out there. 

The only real potential problem comes from GW’s chronic lack of army list updates.  For instance, the Hunter books state that you can use inducted Sentinels and Leman Russ tanks, only now there are 2 different types of the first and 7 of the second.  Just where do you draw the line?  I can hear the arguments starting already…

Oh, one more thing – Inquisitorial Storm Troopers are just screaming to have Valkyries as transports!  Wouldn’t that at last make them a tempting choice?  Imagine being able to airlift your Inquisitor and fifty of his closest friends into battle!

Speaking of which….

Drop Troops are Dead!  Long Live the Air Cavalry! – You can no longer play a true Drop Troop army with Imperial Guard, but in exchange you could theoretically load everyone on Valkyries and Vendettas.  However, whether doing so would be effective is still something I haven’t worked out.  It would mean having a small IG army, something that on its face sounds a bit dumb.  More seriously, however, is that Valkyries\Vendettas go around in squadrons.  You can buy as many as nine – enough to equip a full army – but you could only have them in no more than three different groups.  Furthermore, those groups would have to move together and all fire at the same target.  That really limits your tactical possibilities.

The New Hotshot Lasguns are Cool – It’s hard to argue with a weapon that is AP3 as it makes IG Storm Troopers a real threat to the many power armored forces out there.  This is balanced out with the Trooper’s new higher cost, however.

Why Did They Include the Deathstrike? – Don’t get me wrong, the Deathstrike missile launcher is pretty nifty.  I just don’t see how it is a “standard” IG tank as opposed to a special circumstances Apocalypse vehicle.  Likewise, given its limitations it doesn’t seem worth the points.  I get the feeling it was included for no other reason than “man, it’s so cool!”

Guard Orders Rock! – The new ability for commanders to give their troops order is just simply killer.  It can really make a difference.  It can allow a unit to do everything from take extra shots, to moving further, to rallying once broken.  Just give everyone a vox and you’re ready to go.  I can see many a game hinging on a commander’s ability to successfully issue the right order at the right time.

Boom and Bust Tanks – The Bane Wolf, Punisher, and the Medusa all look like great buys, at least at first glance.  I'm not as sure about the Devil Dog and Griffon, but none of the tanks look like obvious busts.

Hungry, Hungry Hydras – Nice to see that the price (compared to the FW version) of Hydras has been cut in half. Their special rules also make them nice against (jet)bike armies.  I always did like the model too.

More to come…