11 posts tagged “imperial guard”

Well, I have decided to repaint my Tau into another color scheme.  The color scheme I chose is the White and Black from Commander Shadowsun.  Now the Vespids and the Kroot will remain the same but everything else will get changed into this color scheme.  Mostly because I decided I didn't like the camo colors anymore because I have enough IG to paint with thier camo colors without worrying about the Tau too.  I might repaint other minis in my arsenal too but I will be focusing on repainting the Tau and most likely purchasing more of them as well over the next couple of months or so. 

Until next time...

Since I forgot to post my 2 newest editions to my Tau army that I received as Xmas presents, here they are in all their glory.  Unfortunately they did better last week against the Tyranids than what they did against the Necrons yesterday.  Enjoy.  I know I had fun painting them.

Happy Holidays to my readers and hopefully everyone has a good New Year's too.  I have decided to start posting other topics besides Battle reports of mine and my brothers games.  I thought I would share what my wish list was for the holiday and to mention that Games Workshop had a contest this year about sending them wish lists and possibly winning up to a $100 dollar item.  Of course I didn't win but congratulations to those that did.  So without further ado here it is:

• Codex: Chaos Deamons
• Warhammer 40,000 Expansion: Apocalypse
• Water Effects
• WH40K: Imperial Sector (a terrain piece)
• The Bloodthirster
• Chaos Space Marine Defiler
• Imperial Guard BaneBlade
• Tau XV8 Crisis Suit
• Tau XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
• Tau Fire Warrior Team
• Kroot Carnivore Squad
• Commander Shadowsun
• Tau Sky Ray Missile Defense Gunship
  
• The Balrog
• Eldar Harlequin Death Jester
• Eldar Harlequin Shadowseer
• Eldar Wave Serpent
• Chaos Deamons Skulltaker

Out of this list I received the Sky Ray and Commander Shadowsun.  Awesome right and when I have finished painting I will post pictures.  Until next time.

This is my attempt at some sort of tactica for the Tau just from what I have been witness to playing them.  In my opinion the Tau are very much like the Imperial Guard.  You want to sit back and let everyone come to you especially with the ranges on some of the guns and the ability for many squads to deep strike.  Not only that but some have the option to do either or. 

The Tau are not very good in assault phase so if possible you want to avoid combat with the enemy at all costs.  For all of the Tau vehicles I highly recommend using the fleschette discharger.  This enables you to attack the assualters before they do serious harm to the vehicle especially since you know that assault marines with melta bombs coming at you and that vehicle of yours is toast.  So you might as well take out as many as possible before they even get to you.  The Kroot are ok in assault and so are the Stealth units. 

As far as their armor goes.  I like have a 4+ save for the average trooper and then the shield drones for certain squads are nice as well.  Then once you get to the crisis units and the stealth team they can get shield generators (only the crisis squad) which are also very nice to have.  If you can I highly suggest taking a shield drone for the stealth team as well as for the Crisis units and then make sure to take shield generators for the crisis units as well.

So in closing treat the Tau as if you were playing the IG.  Stay away from close combat and keep as far back as possible to fire.  Strength 5 weapons are nothing to take lightly so use them well.  The AP value's are not so good on the Tau weapons but you have to take the good with the bad and the Tau have a lot of good going on for them and I hope to keep on collecting them so I can play bigger games than just 1800pts which is all I have right now.

Sorry for the delay.

Round3
For the imperial guard the leader and the commissar from the command squad run for cover.  The battle cannon from Russ3 slays a zoanthrope and a sentinel takes out 2 warriors.  Russ1 wounds the carnifax.  In hand to hand combat the lictor takes a wound.  For the tyranids a squad of termagants slay two troopers and a Warrior takes a shot at the Demolisher and hits but the result is only crew shaken.  The leader and his commissar are killed by a spore mine.  The Hive Tyrant assaults 3 cadians and kills them but the commissar survives.  The carnifax completely destroys the Demolisher.  The last of the sentinels gets hit with a weapon destroyed and then immobilized from a squad of genestealers. 

Round4
For the IG Russ3 hits and vaporizes 3 genestealers.  The Tallarns nuke 2 genestealers.  Then for the Tyranids another commissar gets taken out by genestealers.  The Hive Tyrant kills 3 cadians.  A wandering spore mine nukes the last of the mortar squad.  A warrior with a venom cannon takes out the demolisher.  The carnifax assaults the Ogryns and takes one out after taking a wound himself.  The Hive Tyrant kills another commissar and a sergeant.  A warrior kills another trooper.

Round5
For the IG Russ 3 attempts tank shock but the genestealers and the lictor run out of the way.  Russ 3 shoots the lictor with a plasma cannon but it saves.  A warrior is taken out in hand to hand combat by a commissar.  For the tyranids a genestealer takes out a sentinel for good.  At this point the board is looking pretty scarce.

Round6 (Final)
For the IG the Tallarn sergeant takes out a spore mine.  The tryanids turn and they are doing very well.  A genestealer injures a sentinel again.  A wandering spore mine takes out 5 Tallarn troopers and the Lictor takes out Russ3

Final Victory Points: NIDS- 2066     IG-840

Until next time...

The mission is a Recon set at 1500 points, even though it isn't a recent game it was the only battle report I could find and it was a good game as well.   The report was recorded by our friend Brian and we played at the Game Room in Brick, NJ.

IG- me
Tyranids- My friend Dave

Round 1
IG win the die roll to go first and the chimera takes a chunk out of the Hive Tryant.  The Leman Russ misses and scatters so it fails to wound the Zoanthrope and the Carnifax.  The 2nd Leman Russ hits and kills the Zoanthrope this time.  Tallarn squad with autocannon wounds the Biovore and the Mortar team misses the Lictor.  The 3rd Leman Russ nukes two genestealers but misses another Zoanthrope.  However, the command squad nukes the Zoanthrope anyway.  For the Tyranids turn the Hive Tyrant blasts the Chimera and disables it.  The Tyranid Warriors hits the 2nd Leman Russ but it does nothing.  A Zoanthrope fries the flamer in another Tallarn squad.  The Biovore shoots a spore by the Mortar squad then the Lictor takes out a heavy bolter before charging into hand to hand combat.

Round 2
Another squad emerges from the wounded chimera and the 3rd Leman Russ misses the Zoanthrope with the Battle cannon and misses again with a hunter killer missile into the Carnifax.  The Demolisher wounds the Carnifax but it saves and then gets hit again with a hunter killer missile but it saves again.  The command squad totally misses the Carnifax with a Krak missile.  Then the 1st Leman Russ fries a squad of Gargoyles but misses the Carnifax with a hunter killer missile.  The sentinels then fire a volley of laser hits at the warriors and one dies.  The Ogryns go into hand to hand combat with the Carnifax.  It takes one wound and the combat goes on locked.  The Lictor slays two more troopers.  The Warriors bombard the sentinels and skills one and disables another.  The Hive Tyrant destroys the chimera and the spore mine takes out the mortar squad and pins the rest.  The majority of the command squad gets wiped out by a spore as well and only the Captain and a Commissar survive.  The Carnifax kills two Ogryns and makes the last one run away from combat.  The Lictor is still tied up in hand to hand.

Round 3 to come tomorrow...

As promised here is the rest of my friends Tactica Imperial guard. 

Seriously consider a comm-link for the HQ at least because it adds to the other troops on field's morale.  Sure all of the troops within 12" of a standard bearer can use the officer's leadership score, but what about the poor slobs that are in the furthest trenches.  Well that is simple don't just equips the HQ with a comm-link but equip everyone that can carry one with it.  I can hear some people saying that a veteran sergeant can do the same thing for fewer points- but what happens if the initial roll fails?  The Good: the ability to lend morale support to troops out on the perimeter, The Bad: it is somewhat expensive as it will take up no less than 20 points of comm-links to communicate. 

If you will be taking them into the thick of the fighting consider a Veteran Sergeant as mentioned already above.  I always upgrade to the veteran sergeant.  His ability to take additional weapons from the armoury is an asset.  The Good: Can provide some additional leadership support as well as some additional equipment from the armoury to kit out the HQ.  The Bad: The 10 points might be better used elsewhere, such as another full squad.

The medic isn't a bad choice either for commanders that will ride in the Chimera, or sitting back for support, as he will be able to watch over the others.  If the unit will be getting close to where the action is it might just be better to equip another trooper for hand to hand.  The Good: The ability to heal wounds, etc, is very nice.  Especially when things are getting a little hot for the Command HQ.  The Bad: If the unit gets into hand to hand combat this fellow can become useless until it's all over- and then it could be too late.

Whatever you do take a standard bearer.  The ability of those close to this fellow to take a re-roll for failed morale can't be overstated.  Realize though that it doesn't need to be a flag of some sort.  In the book "First and Only" about the IG regiment know as Gaunt's Ghost's their standard seems to be a set of bagpipes!  For mine I scanned the Imperial Eagle and cut it off the piece of paper and then glued it onto a notecard and then glued it to a wooden dowel.  It's on my website actually.  www.angelfire.com/nj2/commissardave.  The Good: The ability of those within 12" to retest for morale checks can't be talked about enough.  The Bad: There is not really much down side to this option that I can think of except the restriction of the regimental standard being limited to the Colonel's HQ. 

Special and heavy weapons such as the flamers and heavy bolters are best to be though out.  Don't take the flamer if all you are going to do is hang back and shoot.  Also, don't think to take a weapon "just in case".  More often than not you've wasted the points and had one less trooper shooting.  The plasma rifle is a better choice here because it has better range.

Here the Imperial Guard's HQ picks up some serious punch ability.  The HQ may take up to 5 heavy weapons squads.  My recommendation is to take no less than 3 as your forward assets will need all of the support they can get.  Let's begin with the Mortar squad.  I highly recommend no less than one squad of these bad boys.  The ability to hit any enemy in range, and pin them is highly useful.  Of course you have to be good at guessing and you have to pray that the enemy isn't immune to pinning either.  Remember though it's not always vital to kill on every shot, but if you can get the enemy pinned down they are far less effective and you may not have to even deal with them.  The next weapon squad would be the anti-tank.  The most versatile weapon at their disposal is the missile launcher.  With the rules for tanks and vehicles what they are in this edition a Krak missile actually has a good chance of doing some damage to vehicles, and hard to kill personnel.  For me I love the Lascannon and a squad of three has so much potential for damage.  Now we look at the fire support squad.  This is the unit that will be the primary direct support of your troops versus your opponent's troops.  With a squad of heavy bolters it is possible to rain down 9 heavy bolter shots, plus three more lasgun shots, per turn.  The Auto cannon is another one of my favorites and is also a good weapon versus stubborn targets such as light vehicles, and tough troops.  With the mortars you can pin them (as already mentioned), with the heavy bolters and auto cannons you can take out hard targets, and the anti-tank squads can deal sufficiently with most vehicles.  The Good: The ability to place heavy weapons in a sector that needs them most is very valuable.  You also have some flexibility as to what heavy weapons are in the squads, and where they get placed.  The Bad: The heavy weapons in these squads are more expensive points-wise.  If you have enough heavy weapon squads it is actually possible to expend enough points that could have been an additional infantry squad.

The sentinels are another serious consideration.  Could you imagine a dozen of these vehicles striding around across the field?  The sentinel is a very useful weapon platform in that it has the maneuverability, some armour resistance, and the ability to get some support weapons to a needed area of the battlefield more quickly than it's foot slogging cousins.  The Good: The ability to move heavy weapons to an area that needs support quickly, and the increased resistance to small arms fire.  The Bad: It is a vehicle so it can be targeted easier, and it's open topped (some).

Lastly, commissars are good support for the Captain.  They have similar abilities and access to the armoury.  They also can help a unit that is faltering- which is very bad for the Captain.  Personally I have one per squad.  The Good: The ability to beef up the Command HQ, and subsequent leaders with additional equipment from the armoury.  Not to mention the higher leadership to get the men moving again.  The Bad: The Commissar will shoot the other officer if they fail a leadership test.  They take out a leader of your troops and thus provide the enemy with victory points (if that's the scenario) and also remember that nobody gets points if the Commissar shoots the other officer.  Their increased leadership value does not come into affect until the unit they are attached to fails their leadership test.

All in all, I love playing the IG and there is so much versatility troop wise it's amazing.  I use most of the human races from Necromunda as my troop types.  I also have a strict Catachan army as well that does pretty good.  The best advice I can give to fellow IG players is to bulk up on troops sometimes another squad is much better than taking a vehicle.  However, for opponents such as the Chaos Marines and the Space Marines you need squad types that will pack a punch like many tanks and Ogryns.  For any other race go with the extra troops but experiment as well that is the fun of the IG afterall!

Until next time...

Some of the tactics I was using for awhile came from my friend John Houchins.  Here I will recount the same advice he gave me and I might add or subtract from the original but here goes.

Overview
It is of the general opinion that the IG are the weakest, most vulnerable, and under powered basic trooper in the game of Warhammer 40K.  When taken as an individual this is most certainly true.  Their stats show this, their armour protection shows this, and the bugzapper that they carry shows this.  There are some troop types out there that may be worse in any one area, but overall the generic IG trooper is at a distinct disadvantage against any other race- with the possible exception of the grots, but they are backed up by their larger cousins the Orks.  The strength of the IG lies in their numbers, and the shear ability to bring mass firepower to bear upon the enemy.  To my knowledge no other army list in the game has the flexibility that the IG has when it comes to support weapons and vehicles.  When playing the IG you can never fear the taking of casualties, what you must never let happen is the infliction of such upon the enemy.  Use the IG's numbers to hold the line, absorb casualties, and just plain tie the enemy up.  Use the flexibility of the heavy weapons squads to maximize firepower where/when needed.  Use the IG's tanks, APC's, and sentinels to react to a hole in the line (yours and the enemies).  Most importantly do not let the enemy dictate the battle.  You must maintain the initiative by making him react to your moves when and where you want him.  Whenever the IG tries to play the enemies game they will lose.  We can't out race the Eldar, we can't out endure the Marines (Chaos included), and we can't out fight the Orks in hand to hand combat.  In each case you must use the IG's flexibility to exploit weaknesses (both perceived and actual) of the enemy.  No one army "list" will be able to adequately deal with each opponent.  The trick is to learn how to maximize what you have, in the environment you are in. 

Please not that I did use the term flexibility in relation to the Imperial Guard's ability to react to your opponent.  Although the IG has a rigid command structure, it has a wide array of units at it's disposal.  Static defense is just waiting to be flanked and overrun.  A slow attack group is just waiting to be annihilated before it becomes effective.  The battlefield is rarely a static place, and you must adapt to the various challenges that comes your way.

HQ
Here is the crown jewel in the IG's flexibility.  No other army has an HQ selection that equates to what the guard can do here.  It is possible to incorporate hand to hand equipped troops, a vast array and amount of heavy weapons, and you can even incorporate some fast attack capabilities.  Here is going to be the only place for hand to hand combat troops, mostly it's going to be the Commissar's.  It is important to remember the core philosophy of the IG- there is strength in numbers and the mutual support of other units.  Never leave a unit isolated, especially the Command HQ.

It is important to remember that your Captain will never be a death-dealing super ninja.  His bodyguard just isn't up to the task.  If your style is to charge into the thick of the fight with your Captain decked out the HQ to suit it, and don't forget the Commissar and/or Preacher to back them up.  If you prefer to sit back and shoot up your foes equip them as such.  For me the HQ is the morale backbone of the army.  The Captain (which some only take if it is a 3,000 point battle but I take one if it's more than 1,500) leads from the front, but not the vanguard of the attack.  He is there to provide direction, and inspiration to his troops.  He is not there to engage the enemy in hand to hand combat, nor is he to be the main defender in a rifle pit.  The Good: The Captain has extra bodies to soak up some casualties.  He can provide leadership from afar with the proper equipment in his group.  The Bad: they will not be able to stand up to serious hand to hand combat opponents for very long.  Like all IG units they need other units for mutual support.

Tactica IG continued tomorrow....