Imperial Guard in Depth -- Basic Army Designs

Posted by Ranillon on 7. June 2009 21:57

Well, I’ve gone through all of the units in the new IG codex.  Yet, each is really just a part of the larger organization that is a complete Imperial Guard army.  Today I am going to go over the common basic designs out there and how well you can use them given the new codex.

Mechanized Infantry

The good news is that it is almost as easy to have a mechanized – that is, all mounted – army as it was in the last codex.  Heck, the chimera is even a whopping 30 points (on average) cheaper in cost!  The bad news is that there are now a number of units that can no longer hitch a ride.  In the old rules you could, by definition, give a chimera to any unit necessary.  Now, you can only do so if it’s listed as a transport option.  In the new book there are a number of important exceptions.  Most notably this includes heavy and special weapon squads, conscripts, and penal troop squads.  The last example is unfortunate if understandable – you don’t give traitors and shirkers their own tank to ride around in – but the rest are a real pain.  It means that for a platoon you can only take command and infantry squads in a fully mechanized army, thereby really limiting your strategic options.  It’s a pity too as the new chimera rules allow up to five models to fire out the top hatch at a time.  Imagine being able to fully use your special or heavy weapon troopers from inside the comfy confines of a chimera!  Oh, well.

I suspect that this limitation is going to encourage people to use veteran infantry squads (which can also take chimeras) over platoons in their mechanized army.  Units can’t take orders while embarked and the special units available from a platoon are denied you.  It’s simpler just to use vets.

Carapace Armored Infantry

If you were one of those fellows who preferred to have all of your infantry fitted out in 4+ armor you are out of luck.  You’ve gone from being able to have most of your men in carapace armor to only having veterans and storm troopers.  Technically speaking you could still have “all” your army up-armored, but only of course if you greatly limit what you put into it.  Hope you didn’t spend too much time converting all those miniatures!

Deathworld Jungle Veterans

You can sort of still play a jungle veterans army.  Obviously, you will need to fill your army with infantry veterans.  From there just be sure to take either the Forward Sentries or Demolitions doctrines.  Either fit within the general theme of jungle fighters.  However, you can’t duplicate some of your old abilities.  You can no longer move through trees with ease or infiltrate.  You also can only do this for veterans.  Any other infantry unit is stuck using the same rules as those bumbling city dwellers who don’t know a Catachan death vine from a hole in the ground!  You also can’t give sentinels extra attacks or take units of (non-short and barefoot) snipers. 

All these differences aren’t that much of a pain, really.  You just need to alter your concept of a “jungle force”.  For instance, giving a deathworld army a few Valkyries allows you to use them as mobile infantry in the manner of American troops in Vietnam.  Clearly, you won’t want to take a tank heavy force – heavy vehicles and thick jungle don’t usually go together well.  The absence of a lot of jungle warfare specific rules means your “jungle” army is going to look and act a lot like any infantry heavy IG force.  Still, that does also mean you can “cheat” and get in effects that you normally wouldn’t have seen in a jungle army before – such as, for instance, having 5+ armor.

In the end modern Deathworld armies are going to be more a matter of flavor than rules than in the past, although you can still have enough of the latter to make your army distinct from the typical example.

Drop Troop Army

Just say no. You just can’t take a real Drop Troop force any longer, at least in the same complete fashion you could in the old codex.  Few units can now deep strike; certainly nothing like a complete organization.  All those grav chutes on your infantry models just became meaningless jewelry.

A possible replacement for the Drop Troop army is an all Air Cavalry force using Valkyries and Vendettas.  It is certainly possible – you can take as many as nine of them, enough to carry an entire army.  However, as I have already hinted in previous posts there are a number of serious limitations.  Sure, you can take nine, but only as part of as many as three squadrons.  Every squadron member must move together and, worse, fire at the same target.  An Air Cav army is already going to have a problem with firepower and being forced to concentrate what you do have on just three enemy units is simply horrendous.  It definitely makes for a finesse force that wins through movement and position, not sheer boom.

The Horde

With prices on many units coming down it is now easier than ever run an Imperial horde.  You can take 100+ models for as little as 500 points.  That means that at normal game point totals you could be looking at 300+ man armies!  It would certainly make for an impressive sight.  It also wouldn’t necessarily be ineffective – you can include a lot of heavy weapons in the mix.  Sure, you’ll lose men in droves, but what do you expect when running a horde?  It would also be tactically limited if for no other reason than your army wouldn’t have much space in which to move!  Still, if you are a masochist when it comes to modeling and painting the IG horde army strikes me as a viable idea.  At the very least I’d love to see it played at a tournament.

The Imperial Gun Line

The arch-typical IG force, the new codex has certainly done nothing to limit its effectiveness.  Quite the contrary, you now are spoiled for choice.  It’s easy to take five to ten tanks of various sorts backed up with a good amount of infantry.  That represents a lot of targets for the enemy to take down, many of which pack considerable firepower.  Any opponent is going to be dismayed when you start dropping a dozen templates and/or roll twenty dice at a single go.  The main limitation of the traditional gun line is a lack of mobility, but fortunately the new rules provide enough ways to get units moving to mitigate this fact.  A few valkyries or chimera mounted veterans should be enough to grab needed objectives, especially when backed up with a veritable forest of big guns.  You’ll need to be careful, however – in some scenarios the enemy could just cherry-pick his targets and leave you without the right units to win even if you otherwise pummel his force.

Nevertheless, the gun line is likely the most overall forgiving of IG army designs (even if a bit boring).