Imperial Guard in Depth -- Fast Attack

Posted by Ranillon on 19. May 2009 23:32

Today I talk about the Fast Attack choices in the new Guard army.  However, I first want to discuss a topic that is going to come up repeatedly from here on out – Vehicle Squadrons.

Most any player excitedly reading over the new codex probably drooled (at least at first) over the listing of all those Fast Attack and Heavy Support options that can come in squadrons.  Yup, you can take three Hellhounds or three Leman Russes for just one choice!  Pretty cool, eh?

Well, maybe not as much as you think.  In some ways vehicle squadrons are as much of a pain as a blessing.  They may give you more tanks, but at the cost of connecting all of them together at the proverbial hip.  Vehicle Squadrons have to move in formation and, much worse, have to all fire at the same target.  That’s a serious tactical limitation.

Imagine this scene for a moment – knowing that you are playing an Ork horse you bring three Hellhounds and fit each with an extra Heavy Flamer.  That’s six total templates full of greenskin roasting goodness.  You rush the trio forward and time things just right so that they get to launch all weapons at the approaching tide of ork all at once.  Only one problem – all six of those templates have to be fired at one single unit!  A squadron that could possibly lay waste to half your opponent’s army in one go must instead concentrate on one single group.  Sure, those boyz are so much barbeque, but what about the other hundred who just saw their mates burnt to ash?  Do you think they’ll be nice enough to stand still while your squadron flames each in turn?

The primary limitation of squadrons is that they can in effect tie up a lot of your firepower – instead of being able spread out the shots in the most efficient manner you have to concentrate on just one target.  Accordingly, squadrons work best when its components have little enough firepower individually so as to combine well.  For instance, a pair or trio of lascannon armed Sentinels would make for an effective vehicle killer.  By comparison, a squadron of three vanquishers armed with lascannons and multi-meltas would be a waste of points.  Sure, one target is pretty much vaporized, but under normal circumstances you could very well bag three.

The basic lesson:  The more expensive the squadron in total, the more likely you are being inefficient with your points.

Now on to the unit reviews…

Sentinels

These, um, Imperial walkers now come in two flavors – plain and extra armored.  They also get access to almost every heavy weapon in the Emperor’s arsenal, including the new choices of missile launchers and plasma cannons.

The Scout Sentinel receives scout and move through cover, but suffers from a wafer thin 10 armor rating.  They also can’t take plasma cannons.  By comparison, the Armored Sentinel loses the special abilities, but packs a front armor of 12.  Both are, of course, walkers.

In both cases the best way (as I see it) to use Sentinels is to take advantage of their particular rules.  Scout Sentinels can get in behind or to the side of the enemy force while likewise being able to cut through terrain to gain an advantageous position.  Use them to back up moving forces.  Their armored brothers are better for stabilizing the gun line.  Keep their front armor toward the enemy and you have a mobile heavy weapon that is as hard to kill as most vehicles.  Sure, it’s still kind of wimpy when compared to something like a Leman Russ, but it costs a lot less and is also a less tempting target.

Another important use for Sentinels is close-combat.  A single attack and strength 5 isn’t exactly devastating, you say?  True, but remember that unlike other vehicles in close-combat walkers use their front armor.  For an armored Sentinel that’s potentially huge – not because you can expect it to kill very much in melee, but because it can tie up entire units for perhaps the rest of the game.  For instance, drop an armored Sentinel on a group of 10 regular space marines and you get 55 points effectively negating 170+. That’s a pretty good exchange for any IG player.  A mere scout sentinel can use this trick as well, although in fewer instances and likely for fewer rounds.  Still, holding back a powerful group for a turn or two may be all you need for victory.

Finally, since they only come with a single weapon (not counting the optional HK missile) sentinels work well in squadrons.  Being cheap you’d probably want to take entire groups anyway.

Rough Riders

I’m beginning to wonder if GW has something against horses.  To my mind Rough Riders have always been a cool concept saddled to mediocre rules.  Sadly, that didn’t change with the latest codex.  In fact, the rules are hardly different from before.  You still only get one single “use-it-and-lose-it” power attack combined with the speed of cavalry and the vulnerability of a regular guardsman.  They are also twice the cost of a vanilla trooper.  No special abilities and few options. 

Much of the rest of the new codex is a breath of fresh air compared to what came before, but Rough Riders are still a comparative pile of poo.  They are fragile one-shot wonders seemingly destined to reenact the Charge of the Light Brigade when included in any battle plan.  They aren’t useless, but compared to the other possible Fast Attack choices at your disposal they are clearly disappointing.  If you ask me they should be able to get a power attack whenever they charge and scouts to boot.  That would make them a good buy.  As it is I suggest using them only because they are nifty, not because they are an integral part of your army.

Hellhound Squadron

We now return you to your regularly scheduled effective unit.  Hellhounds went out and got two new brothers, the Devil Dog and Bane Wolf.  All of them are rather nice.

The regular Hellhound is still the monster of hot, flaming death we’ve all come to love with pretty much the same rules as before.  The Devil Dog replaces the flamer with a multi-multa.  Finally, the Bane Wolf is a wonderful infantry killer – it always wounds on a 2+ and is AP3.  You can’t use it at extra range, though.  On top of all this you can now take multi-meltas as secondary weapons along with heavy bolters or heavy flamers.

I like all of these choices.  The Hellhound is just a good all-around tank that, thanks to its strength of six, can even go after light vehicles.  The Devil Dog – especially if you double up with an extra multi-melta – is a nasty anti-vehicle threat.  Yet, I may like the Bane Wolf the best.  Some are going to balk at its 1 – yes, one – strength, thus making it useless against anything with an armor value.  However, it is otherwise death incarnate for any infantry not in the equivalent of terminator armor.

Being “fast” you use these tanks when you want to get somewhere and still be effective.  Tank shock followed up with gouts of template death seems an especially good tactic.

Valkyrie/Vendetta

Admit it – Wasn’t it the Valkyrie that made you the most excited to see the new IG codex come out?  An Imperial Guard skimmer that had once upon a time been a pricey (in real $) Forge World kit now suddenly made available to the masses?  Anyone interested in Air Cavalry?  Can you look at the model and not have Wagner playing in your head?  And, they even come in squadrons!

You don’t need to be a tactical genius to realize that Valkyries/Vendettas make for great transports.  They have decent armor, are fast, and can even drop chute troops anywhere along their flight path.  Imperial Guard have never been so mobile.  The vehicles are also pretty good shooting platforms with the Valkyrie being better suited to anti-vehicle and the Vendetta to anti-tank.  Add in a good mix of possible weapons and what’s not to like?

Well, squadrons for one – and for reasons already mentioned.  However, the movement restrictions for squadrons also hit Valkyries/Vendettas hard.  The whole point of fast transport is to be tactically flexible, but a squad is required to stay together.  You’re either going to have to land your troops all as a mob or take the risk of a lot of drop chutes.  Likewise, although they can carry twelve models, for a force as potentially large as the Imperial Guard that’s not very much.  You’ll want to reserve seating for more elite troops that can be effective quickly and/or when cut-off from the rest of the army.

As for weapon load-outs I suggest either a Valkyrie with rocket pods to shoot up infantry or the Vendetta to act as a gunship.  Both cost the same while filling different combat niches.

More to come...