About the Author
Introduction, or where did the Guard go?
8th Edition
How to Play the Imperial Guard
Tips and Tricks
A word on allies
Concluding Remarks
About the Author
Zackary ‘Ol One Eye’ Ong hails from the good old days of Warhammer 40,000 4th Edition, navigating his early years with the 3rd Edition Imperial Guard codex. Hailed as the “Old Bird Colonel” on internet forums, Zack fondly remembers the days of doctrines, when there were only two Leman Russ variants and Orders did not yet exist.
After a break where Zack focused on growing the competitive scene, he sees an opportunity to stage his comeback on the tabletop, if only to show the young whippersnappers how to properly defend the Imperium.
Introduction, or where did the Guard go?
Regardless of which iteration of Imperial Guard existed, a common theme bound them together – overwhelming firepower. Stalin once said that quantity is a quality in itself and no other army in 40k exemplifies this better than the Imperial Guard. Be it massed infantry sporting plasma or heavy weaponry, or the voluminous, high strength firepower from “leafblower” type lists, victory was decided because the Imperial Guard has destroyed its foes before they can even leave the deployment zone. If all else fails, the sheer number of men will wear down the opponent with attrition.
/I loved the smell of salty tears in the morning/
Why did the Imperial Guard fall out of favour in recent years? A few reasons come to mind - the growing unreliability of vehicles in the game, dramatic points adjustments and a severe lack of mobility that prevented grabbing far off objectives. But none stands out more than the existence of Death Stars, in all forms. Nigh unkillable blobs, they were the very anti-thesis of what the Imperial Guard, sorry Astra Militarum by now, set out to achieve. These Death Stars were hit on snapshots thanks to Invisibility (which also negated template weaponry), stacked all manner of saves from equipment, Jink and special characters, and finally moved fast enough to reach your lines in one turn. This effectively meant you that you had only one turn to kill an unkillable unit before it barrels into your front lines and shut down your shooting for good.
That's not to say that they didn't try - in American tournaments, Renegade Imperial Guard lists using the Forgeworld Siege of Vraks army list saw a good amount of success. Featuring the Siege Tyrant (which significantly boosts the firepower of ordnance batteries) and cheap, cheap artillery, the list is however backed up by Daemonic summoning "farms", which considerably improved their objective-grabbing reach and attrition rate.
So the question is - what changed in 8th Edition?
8th Edition
Let's start with the biggest change - the new ruleset has ensured that the interaction of special rules will no longer result in deathstars. From characters only benefiting units with specific keywords, to the reduction of over-the-top psychic powers like Invisibility, units are at the mercy of shooting. Add in the changes to AP, where even Terminator-class armour can be laid low by the likes of autocannons, and suddenly, firepower is a reliable option to deal with large, tanky threats.
The second change is the introduction of Reinforcement Points in summoning lists. With an actual limit to the number of extra models one can bring, it is no longer an uphill task to destroy enemy threats on objectives etc. In a similar vein, armies that generated value from "free" abilities i.e. Space Marine Battle Companies and Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation no longer exist, leaving the Imperial Guard with an advantage in terms of the maximum number of units you can bring.
There are also a plethora of other changes that favour firepower armies. Going through them really quickly:
a) vehicle damage table no longer existing means that vehicles can now keep shooting even if they
become less effective eventually.
b) being able to voluntarily retreat from combat opens up more opportunities to shoot.
c) template weapons are no longer at the mercy of scatter randomness and enemy model positioning.
d) a simplified morale phase means no more pinning (a double edged sword!).
All these mean one thing, you can shoot more often and more reliably; answering why firepower-based armies in 40k are more viable now. But why the Imperial Guard, specifically?
/MEN./
Strengths of the Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard has amongst the cheapest access to special weapons and heavy weapons in the game. Infantry Squads are extremely cheap and can carry a special weapon per unit. Command Squads are now a separate unit choice, boosting a high ratio of special weapon to model - 1:1, in fact. Scions can also pack two special weapons a unit, and can even be accurately directed to their intended target. Heavy Weapons Squads and Special Weapon Squads no longer need to be saddled with Infantry Platoons, and can be purchased as separate choices. What is the implication? An Imperial Guard army that boasts 24 Plasmaguns, 3 Inferno cannons , 6 Autocannons, 5 Taurox Battle Cannons, 10 Hotshot Volley Guns and 9 Mortars (actual numbers from an initial draft list I did) is no longer a pipe dream. And that isn't even optimised.
Mortars? Yes, which brings on to my next point - blind spots no longer exist for indirect fire weapons. That means there is absolutely no safe zone for anybody in no man's land against artillery, and it so happens that the AM pack the most artillery in a single list? Mortars cost only 27pts per squad of three, Basilisks are a little over a 100 and deal more hits reliably at higher strength than Leman Russes. The Manticore costs a little more but packs a greater punch in terms of potential and strength. The only time minimum range matters is when paired with a Master of Ordnance, who grants a reroll of 1s on to-hit rolls when Artillery units target models outside of 36". The real implication is that even if dedicated assault troops reach the first rank of your frontline, your artillery can still keep firing and since templates no longer exist, your hits are subject to even less variance.
You might have an inkling of what the next strength is - Imperial Guard units are really point efficient when it comes to bringing these special and heavy weapons to the table.
(Let's take the humble plasmagun as an example, as it dramatically improves the firepower of an average Guardsman. Each unit is kitted out with the maximum number of special weapons they can take, and the minimum number of models they must take.)
- Infantry Squad with Plasmagun (47), hits on 4+
- Special Weapons Squad with 3 Plasmaguns (45), hits on 4+
- Command Squad with 4 Plasmaguns (64), hits on 3+
- Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 Plasmaguns (61), hits on 3+ AND can arrive outside of 9" of
target
The fact that the core of your infantry no longer needs to rely upon lasguns to do damage means an Imperial Guardsman has grown a lot deadlier to Marine equivalents, even Terminator equivalents. And before you mention how plasma kills your own guy, I will repeat these mantras to you: 1) you still have 23 more plasmaguns where they come from 2) life is cheap 3) the target you want to kill is more valuable than the life you lost trying to kill it. Also, Imperial Guard orders effectively negate the chance of Overheat.
My final point on Imperial Guard strengths is attrition. By now you would have heard of the infamous Conscript Platoon with Commissar - 50 men that only ever lose 1 model from Morale. What if I told you that isn't the most efficient way to bubblewrap your main gunline? Infantry Squads do the same job, but can only ever lose max 10 men at a time, because that's the maximum squad size. Face it, do you really expect a dedicated assault unit to kill any less? In return, you get to outfit your bubblewraps with special weapons, form line after line of Guardsmen that the enemy has to plough through while having to resist the firepower of the remaining Imperial Guard. Lets not forget that you are running multiple small units - perfect victims of shooting from enemy units that cost many times more. The point is that - the enemy is investing and expending significantly greater amount of points to kill units that cost less than 100 points each. This already puts the opponent at a disadvantage in terms of trading firepower.
But fare thee warned, this does not mean that the Imperial Guard is the most powerful faction. Far from it. What are its shortcomings?
Weaknesses of the Imperial Guard
We may have the most special weapons / heavy weapons at extremely point efficient units, but we still only hit half the time. This becomes extremely annoying when you are faced with do-or-die situations, when you really need a huge threat dead. This can however be mitigated by the right units and Imperial Guard orders, as well as automatic hits on Flamer type weapons. This will require planning and prevents you from using brute force to win a game.
Firepower-based lists traditionally want to go first. Who doesn't want more turns to shoot before the inevitable assault, or to weaken the enemy's own firebase first? The problem with 8th edition Imperial Guard lists however is that you are likely to have a bucketload of units; easily twice or thrice your opponent's. When player turns are determined by who finishes deploying first, you are not likely to get the first turn. Sure you can mitigate it - units in transports, reserves, seizing the initiative in missions that allowed it (don't forget the CP reroll!) - but the odds are still stacked against you. Therefore you have to plan for it - bubblewraps, the right guns in the right place, etc.
Finally, the new deployment zones will also challenge the Imperial Guard, namely because of fire lanes. For a good while the deployment zones were all directly across from each other, with a single angle of attack. 8th has introduced, in one case re-introduced, deployment zones that aren't as straightforward anymore. Not only are they smaller and harder to deploy your ginormous army, they also present multiple angles from which the enemy can attack - meaning you have to divide your forces to defend multiple fronts. You already only hit half the time, now you need to halve it again? Urgh.
/Did i also mention that this deployment map has the shortest distance between zones? Man, I hated this map./
Now we know how the game has changed and what the strengths and weaknesses are of the Imperial Guard. How do we go about playing the army? Here are some considerations:
How to Play the Imperial Guard
First thing first, repeat after me - LIFE IS CHEAP. This can be interpreted in many ways -
Don't waste points trying to keep your units alive, especially when you can use these points to buy more units. That means no medics, no bunkers. In some cases, no standard bearers. If you are going to lose the entire unit from a volley of fire or a round of attacks, a single point of morale is not going to accomplish anything.
Points are always better spent getting more guns. In cases when you can get more guns versus more platforms, get more platforms. For this reason, I firmly believe Basilisks and Manticores are superior to the likes of Leman Russes. I brought you to the table to kill, not to be not killed!
While playing, do not hesitate to sacrifice units to buy your more valuable units more time to fire. Move your Infantry Squads up, surround enemy units with men. Space out so units with Fly can't land behind your men. At the end of the day, you have only sacrificed 40+ points to put 200+ points out of position.
Second, don't pretend to be a Space Marine. The Astartes are a sharp, surgical scalpel designed to perform pinpoint strikes, the Guard is a giant sledgehammer swinging to the face. We are waves upon waves of guns on infantry, vehicles and aircraft - don't pretend that we are anything else but. This is reflected by the simple fact that we pay far less per unit than most armies bar the other hordes. In the same vein, don't pretend that any one unit can accomplish the task alone. Gaunt's Ghosts is a story, Caiphas Cain a myth. Your reality is Thirteen Hours - if you don't have the stomach to bring 100+ infantry and 10+ vehicles, don't play the Guard.
Third, there are many ways you can flavour your Imperial Guard army. You can play Infantry Companies, Armoured Companies, Mechanised Companies, even Drop Troops. But no matter the type of army you play, you need to know what type of weapons you have, how many of each you have at any given point in time and whether they are in the right position to use them. For example, a Mechanised Company can pack many Multilasers / Autocannons from their Chimeras and Tauroxes. Consider what other weapons you need to fill the gap. A Drop Troops Scions army can pack a healthy amount of Plasmaguns and Meltaguns so are there high strength, high impact weapons that you can pick to supplement? This might seem an obvious point, but I have seen players who go “OMG PLASMA SO CHEAP SPAM SPAM SPAM” (yours truly, included) to the point that they forget to bring weapons that can even decently hurt a T8 target. An interesting way to consider is - at what ranges are my weapons most effective? If you are filling out a Vanguard detachment with Flamers as a deterrent, mind that you have committed a portion of your points to being only effective at 9".
What's that? You want tips and tricks? I suppose I'll share.
Tips and Tricks
I want to take a moment to talk about a concept that has not been touched on in a few editions: counter-charge. This is a controversial point even within this article, since Zack has been going on about how every point spent should be on guns. But the decision is based on how many points one is willing to invest to delay the enemy while protecting your gun lines. In this edition, assault promises to be more devastating than ever, and even now the forces of Chaos and xenos plot to launch first turn assaults upon your lines. There is only so much that the bubblewraps can hold off, so consider beating them at their own game - after all, charging allows you to strike first and pile on the damage before they have a chance to respond.
Rough Riders are cheap! Their Hunting Lances can now wound Marines decently while knocking off a chunk of their armour, and they are not entirely irrelevant in a mirror match thanks to their Flanking Manoeuvres. However, they still suffer from a low attack count and general flimsiness.
Bullgryns have received an amazing improvement in terms of survivability and their Mauls hit like an autocannon round, but they are much pricier and slow to boot, forcing you to spend some points investing in a Transport to get them to where they can be useful.
If investing in an entirely new counter-assault unit is not your thing, might I propose your own officers? They are compulsory in every list, they all fight decently well with a respectable amount of attacks, and charging allows you to swing FIRST with a powerfist - which are also stupid cheap, by the way. Don't forget that there is a new "Fix Bayonets!" order that allows an Imperial Guard unit to fight again in the Shooting phase!
Deep Strike got you down? Occupy the midfield from even before the first turn. Ratlings can deploy more than 18" away from enemy models after both sides have deployed (this puts them at roughly 6" ahead of your deployment zone). Scout Sentinels have a free move of up to 9" before the first player takes his turn. With these units occupying the midfield from turn 1, the enemy has to hold his deepstriking units in reserve for a turn more while he shoots your annoying halflings and mechanical walkers, or contend with deepstriking his units much further away from your main gun line than expected. Whichever the case, you've delayed your opponent. Keep shooting. Who asked you to stop shooting!?
/Are they dead down there, yet?/
A Word on Allies
Before we depart, allow me to add a few words on list building. As it stands currently, there is no real tangible benefit to having a <keyword> Astra Militarum army, not until Games Workshop releases the faction-specific stratagems that they’ve promised. As such, there is no real need to constrain oneself to using on Astra Militarum units, bar maybe an old general’s pride. Consider the following two keyword based armies in building your lists:
Imperium - the most obvious one. Consider beefing up your gun lines with Adeptus Mechanius Kastellan Robots and Onager Dunecrawlers. Set up a stronger midfield with Adeptus Astartes or Adepta Sororitas. Create weaknesses with Assassins. Scare your opponents with Questor Imperialis or Adeptus Custodes. The possibilities are endless in the Imperium Grand Buffet! However, stick true to your roots otherwise why were you reading this article in the first place…?
Genestealer Cults - The Genestealer Cults have a special rule, Brood Brothers, that allows them to field an Astra Militarum detachment for every Genestealer Cult detachment, even if they do not share any Keywords. What this means is that an Astra Militarum army has an excellent assault unit in the form of Purestrain Genestealers and the Patriarch, can debuff their opponents with the Magus’ Broodmind discipline and even reach far-off objectives with Cult Ambush units.
Concluding Remarks
The Imperial Guard is a significant commitment to collect and play. If you've come from a background of Space Marines or Eldar, don't be surprised if your single Imperial Guard unit cannot accomplish as much as that of another army's - they are just not designed to be that way. You will lose games before you get comfortable with the idea that "life is cheap" but at the end of the day, the battle is won if you have ground the enemy to dust under the weight of massed firepower or under your steel-toed boots, by any means necessary.
Best of luck.
By His Benevolence,
Lord Commissar 'Ol One Eye' Zacharias Ong