Those of you who follow this burgeoning Wargaming blog have probably heard me deride my old Ork army. One of the things I couldn't stand about Orks was the lopsided feel of the army. The shooting phase took a huge back seat and the assault phase was in the fore. Now the IG codex is the opposite but I feel it is a bit more fun for a few reasons.
1. Guardsmen shoot better than Orks.
2. Guard have lots of big blast templates which are always fun.
3. They create massive devastation in the first 2 turns.
4. Vendettas and Valkyries.
5. Ork assaults were always large and bit of a headache, especially when you pulled off the multiple assaults.
6. I find the IG, in particular my Nurgle Guard, to have more character than my Orks.
Another thing that keeps me interested in the Imperial Guard are tanks. I have always been a huge fan/student of tanks and armored battle. The IG codex gives you a better platform from which to build lists with massive amounts of armor. Lets take a look at the specific things I like about playing Imperial Guard.
1. Tanks. Vehicles are fun to use in games of 40k in my opinion. I like firing large cannons at the opposing forces and watch them wither away. I also find running up with tanks and dumping squads of men out to rapid fire into enemy units and again,
2. Large Blast templates. Throwing pie plates around the battle fields of the 41st millennium can be pretty satisfying. Especially if those pie plates are making a MEQ army disappear.
3. Diversity. You can build all sorts of different vehicles and army lists using C:IG. From the multiple Leman Russ variants to the Ordnance selections C:IG really has a weapon for everything.
4. Weaken Resolve. Hands down one of the best Psychic powers in the game. In my opinion Lash, Jaws, and Weaken Resolve are the 3 best powers available.
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Rough Drawing of "Fragile Weak Things" by Wacky Artist Neil Camera |
1. Useless Assault phase. Face it, the IG aren't supposed to get into close combat that's what Space Marines are for.
2. No real option for a counter assault unit. Ogryns are too expensive and pretty ineffective and Rough Riders are definitely an offensive unit that is only good for the first round of combat as long as they charge.
3. If you go first you win; second you lose syndrome. IG and Dark Eldar both suffer from needing to go first. Depending on the types of units you take in your IG list going first or second may not be that different, but for the most part IG players need to go first so they can get more long range shots in.
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| In case of losing the roll to go first; Break Glass. |
So... Would this fall under opinion piece? Just Kidding. Nice article I thoroughly enjoyed the read. Do you think you could write a little more about the 3Ms though? I would be interested in seeing if you would add Missiles into the Ms.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the 'go second and lose' bit, why don't you consider an astropath with one of your company command squads and holding everything in reserve? Alpha strike lists aren't the only viable IG list out there.
ReplyDeleteif you need to go first to win, you are playing or deploying completely wrong. this applies to any army.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that it seems like a lot of competitive shooting armies like dark eldar, tau, and mech imperial guard rely on a make or break 1st shooting phase. As a tyranid player who plays a deepstrike list having a good shooting phase for me is dropping a spore full of 16 devilguants and unleashing 48 stregth 4 leadership reducing shots at 18 inch range and hoping to wipe an expensive unit out before losing the glass cannon unit next turn.
ReplyDeleteOr having a zoanthrope brood pop a land raider with a good psychic rest. Gotta love that 18 inch warp lance of doom.