[Tyndmyr]

It started simply enough. I wanted some human auxillaries for my tau army...so I scrounged up some metal cadians and a box of catachans some folks I knew werent using. Upon assembly though, I realized the catachans were not at all my style, and anyhow, they didnt go well with the armored tau look. Not having all that many metal cadians, I picked up a box of the plastic ones. They're terrific.

In fact, I like the look enough that Im considering going with the theme. Its not as if it'd be hard...steal a Leman russ from my space wolf army...god knows I have enough rhino variants around that I can at least proxy any vehicle decently well. If necessary, I can use SM allies to fill out the force org until I get a few more...but Ive always wanted a proper swarmy army.

So, tell me, good move, bad, anything you feel is liked/disliked/unusual about the guard?

[HailTheRuss]

well, as i once heard, if you like big clanky tanks and have a callous disregard for the value of human life, the IG are for you!

but seriously,

guard are a numbers army, although generally not assaulty. well pretty much never assaulty. id grab some special weapons and heavy weapon! guard just arent guard without lots of guns! thats the strength of the guard. lots of men, lots of tanks, lots of guns. the leman russ is probably the finest battletank of its price anywhere.

There are generally 3 kinds of guard

- infantry heavy, two kinds, theres absurd numbers of heavy and special weapons, and i have seen an all-infantry, all-lasgun army once... so very, very many guard...
- balanced mix of units, usually somewhat flexible, but have a battleplan! i usually play this one.
- and one of my personal favorites, heavy armor! tanks all over the place! treads of doom! pie plates of suffering! hellhounds of burning death! chimeras laying down walls of fire! its....just beautiful. armored company is a specialized list of tanks!

and as for the negatives.. well theres a good reason theres so very many of them. the basic lasgun is not very good, which is why it is often referred to as "the imperial flashlight". and guard are also not very good in combat. specialized assault troops will rip through a guard line. guard do have some close combat units, but they are uncommon, and generally not very good aginst true assault troops.

anyhow, welcome to the ranks, soldier! victory with the guard is usually hard won, but quite satisfying!

[Nightmare]

Welcome to the ranks soldier!

Going to the guard is ALWAYS a good move. They have plenty of fire power, tonns of conversion opportunities, and big fat tanks.

What else doyou want?

Hell, you can even customise your army using doctrines!

Don't like something about the guard? not weird enough? slap a doctrine on such as chem in-halers!

[cabomhn]

Guard is probably one of the best armies around. If you are a treadhead then a guard army is a must. Like nightmare said there are endless possibilities for conversion and personalizing your army. If that interests you then you should go for it.

[Nightmare]

anything you feel is liked/disliked/unusual about the guard?

Personally?

Like:

- tanks. Nice big, powerful tanks. With nice big fat templates.
- The Human factor. Yeah okay, your guardsmen aren't genestealers or daemons, but there humans. Good humans, with a gun. I keep getting images of ww2 documentaries in my head when ever i think of the guard.

Dislikes:
- plastic cadians. Not because there bad models (which they aren't) it's just that the tables are flooded with them. But thats just me.

[Aftercresent]

Originally Posted by Tyndmyr

It started simply enough. I wanted some human auxillaries for my tau army...so I scrounged up some metal cadians and a box of catachans some folks I knew werent using. Upon assembly though, I realized the catachans were not at all my style, and anyhow, they didnt go well with the armored tau look. Not having all that many metal cadians, I picked up a box of the plastic ones. They're terrific.

In fact, I like the look enough that Im considering going with the theme. Its not as if it'd be hard...steal a Leman russ from my space wolf army...god knows I have enough rhino variants around that I can at least proxy any vehicle decently well. If necessary, I can use SM allies to fill out the force org until I get a few more...but Ive always wanted a proper swarmy army.

So, tell me, good move, bad, anything you feel is liked/disliked/unusual about the guard?

I really hope you stay on track and join the Imperial Guard.

The greatest appeal of the Imperial Guard, is that you can line up a fully painted 2000 point army, and just listen to your fellow gamers cringe at all the heavy weapons. Nah, to be serious, the feeling you get when you finish an IG army is total elation. You're strength will always be in your numbers, but there are a lot of tricky IG units that can be quite effective.

People say the Lasgun is a downside, but it plays on the Imperial Guards strength. Massed lasguns, just like massed anything, will assure you that at least a few of them will fail their armour save.

Good luck!

[Nightmare]

People say the Lasgun is a downside, but it plays on the Imperial Guards strength. Massed lasguns, just like massed anything, will assure you that at least a few of them will fail their armour save.

yeah, but you feel the sting when you fire no less than 60 shots and fell a single space marine

[balistafreak]

Hey guess what? I switched from Tau to Imperial Guard too! Ha! Ha!

But back on topic, the lasgun is a weapon that really gets people. Either:

A: You fire at a unit, and they fail to do anything significant. People just accept that as lasguns just... suck.
B: You fire at a unit, and they whack through an entire unit of Terminators. Now that's humor!

The main hilarity comes from the fact that AP - is no better than AP 3/4/5, etc. when dealing with armor of a class one lower (as in 3+ to 2+). That way, people mutter and groan when their heavy bolters don't harm Marines, krak missiles Terminators, bolters carapaced-Guardsmen... but everyone laughs when a lasgun kills a 300 point Badass Barney Hero.

Keep on going! Guard is awesome, and their fluff can be customized to ANY situation with doctrines. I myself run a force of Tau Loyalists using Grenadiers, Veterans, Carapace, Iron Discipline, and one other Doctrine I feel like at the time.