Total swarm

A friend, who's only been playing tabletop games for about 6 years, recently decided to start an Imperial Guard army for 40k. He's used to playing Space Wolves or World Eaters, and so is struggling to adjust to the quantity rather than quality. We were discussing this and the limitations that the organised play restrictions that can really hamper the Guard: whereas in third edition you could have 5 heavy weapons squads as part of a HQ slot, and in 4th could have another 15 in the Heavy Support slots, you're now limited to 3 in a 2,000 point force, etc.

The discussion shifted to maximal playing: getting the most models and Command Points possible. He's often faced a Tyranid swarm with his marines, and was in disbelief when I said that the Guard could out swarm the 'nids, because Guard have cheaper HQ. What followed was my obsessively perusing the Codex, Chapter Approved 2018 and Imperial Armour: Index: Forces of the Astra Militarum for 5 hours, determined to pull together a list for a Guard force at 2,000 points that would be tournament legal and consist of 3 full Brigades.

I'll not bother to transcribe the development, I'll just present a horrifically huge 2000 point army. I've not assigned Doctrine, Warlord Trait, Relic, etc., because, really, they aren't important.

BRIGADE: (636 points)

HQ
Lord Commissar with bolter and powersword (35).

Company Commander with bolter and chainsword (31).

Primaris Psyker with Force Stave and laspistol (46).

TROOPS
6 Infantry squads with a chainsword for the sergeant (40 each, 240 all-in).

ELITES
Special weapons squad with sniper rifles (30).

Special weapons squad with sniper rifles (30).

Platoon Commander with laspistol and chainsword (20).

FAST ATTACK
Armoured Sentinel with multilaser (35).

Armoured Sentinel with multilaser (35).

Armoured Sentinel with multilaser (35).

HEAVY SUPPORT
Heavy weapons squad with mortars (33).

Heavy weapons squad with mortars (33).

Heavy weapons squad with mortars (33).

BRIGADE: (674 points).

HQ
Lord Commissar with bolter and powersword (35).

Company Commander with laspistol and chainsword (30).

Primaris Psyker with Force Stave and laspistol (46).

TROOPS
6 Infantry squads with a chainsword for the sergeant (40 each, 240 all-in).

ELITES
Platoon Commander with laspistol and chainsword (20).

Command squad (24).

Command squad (24).

FAST ATTACK
Tauros Assault Vehicle with heavy flamer (51).

Tauros Assault Vehicle with heavy flamer (51).

Tauros Assault Vehicle with heavy flamer (51).

HEAVY SUPPORT
Tarantula with twin heavy bolter (34).

Tarantula with twin heavy bolter (34).

Tarantula with twin heavy bolter (34).

BRIGADE: (651 points)

HQ
Lord Commissar with boltpistol and powersword (35).

Company Commander with laspistol and chainsword (15).

Primaris Psyker with Force Stave and laspistol (46).

TROOPS
6 Infantry squads with a chainsword for the sergeant (40 each, 240 all-in).

ELITES
Command squad (24)

Platoon Commander with laspistol and chainsword (20).

Commissar with boltpistol and chainsword (16).

FAST ATTACK
Scout Sentinel with multilaser (35).

Scout Sentinel with multilaser (35).

Scout Sentinel with multilaser (35).

HEAVY SUPPORT
Sentinel Powerlifter (45).

Sentinel Powerlifter (45).

Sentinel Powerlifter (45).

That leaves 49 points for a few upgrades, or a third heavy weapons squad, some more Commissars, or whatever else you fancy. Personally, given the ridiculousness already, I'd be tempted to go with another infantry squad and 9 bolters, although swapping the special weapons squad or squads for Veteran squad or two, with a heavy flamer, or 3 snipers or a heavy  bolter, would be a similar option . It's also an incredible amount of models (albeit 9 are Forgeworld and 6 are discontinued), and a shocking 39 Command Points.

Tactics:
Mortars stay at the back, laying down covering fire,
Sniper squads and tarantulas deploy at the front of the deployment zone and lay down covering fire/pick off support characters.
Sentinels and Tauros Assault Vehicles fill the mid-field to restrict deep strike.
Everything else creates a target saturation screen, literally presenting more targets than the enemy can deal with.

No, I'm not planning to build this force. Even a horde player has to draw a line somewhere. That being said...


*Edited to correct a miscosting of the Platoon Commanders (transcription error).*

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crossing the Rubicon

There's been a lot of fuss made over the past couple of years about 40k's new Primaris marines, about existing characters being upgraded and the doom of the traditional space marines.  There's some validity to it all, but, something most people forget, or simply don't know, is that a similar change happened almost 30 years ago.  Back in first edition, in Rogue Trader, marines started with profiles barely advanced from the humble Guardsman, with power armour that gave a 4+ save. A 4+ save was a big thing back then, and the other means of getting it - Carapace armour or layers, such as mesh and flak - came with movement penalties and other downsides. Back then, the S4 of the bolter made it an enviable weapon. Marines were a  powerful force. The miniatures, dating from before or around the time that marines became superhuman giants, were small by modern standards, about shoulder height to a modern traditional marine, mostly single-piece (except  for backpack) and wearin...
Read more

How to build: Imperial Guard Landspeeder

It's a bank holiday in most of the UK today, but not here in Scotland, where it was 3 weeks ago. It's very hot and very sunny, and most of my neighbours have taken the day off. As such, I'm finding it hard to get motivated. My mind keeps drifting back to Saturday's post on reclaiming the Land Speeder for the Imperial Guard of 40k. The biggest issue, beyond getting the relevant guns (multilaser, lascannon, plasma cannon), is the crew. The majority of surplus crew that collecting Guard produces are designed to be poking their heads out of or standing in tank cupolae. There are 8 that i can think of that aren't: the artillery deck crew from the Accessories sprue/Basilisk, the 2 deck crew from the Hydra/Wyvern, the commander from the Baneblade, who has legs allowing them to be assembled as a separate model, the commander for the Deathstrike/Manticore, the 2 crew in a Taurox and the crew of the Sentinels. The 3 standing models and the squatting one are completely unsui...
Read more

Imperial Guard Assault Squads

The idea of the 40k Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum having dedicated assault troops seems ridiculous nowadays. Since 1996, the basic structure for the Guard has been well established as the 10-man rifle sections, 5-man command sections (now 4-man with the officers split off), and 6-man support units. This makes active sense, and has strong real-world parallels: in modern military, few units are armed primarily for hand-to-hand combat, and such has been the case for nearly 300 years.  Despite this, close combat has always been a significant part of 40k. Back in first edition, the game launched with the assumption that ranged combat would be the norm, as can be seen in the early army lists, but, over time, some time around the start of the 1990s, that shifted. Close combat had moved out of the shadows, and the Craftworld Eldar had the cutting edge of this, with Guardian Storm squads (with laspistols and powerswords), and Howling Banshee and Striking Scorpion Aspect warriors.  On ...
Read more