[Ekiel]

So I'm finally gonna take the plunge into starting guard. Going for the battle force first thing, and might just buy 2. I'm going for tons of soldiers in a 1000 point range to begin with, and I know there will be lots of them. I like the idea of issuing orders with a company/platoon commander and that's what I want to build around.
But I'd like some inside info. What would be good boxes to buy while expanding my army to get the most bits and extra's for my money. Sorta like if you are collecting tau vehicles, buy a sky ray because it has everything. What would be choice selections. And any info in regards to this would be appreciated, I'll eventually add vehicles anyways to reach higher point values.
Preemptive thank you for all replies and helpful information.

[Warpspiderman]

Well, by going with the battleforce you're making a pretty good investment in an infantryman's army. Aside from the sentinels, everything is obviously on foot. You'll need the command squad for the company and platoon levels, so that's great. You also get the heavy weapons, which are CRITICAL for having a purely infantry based army. They boost your firepower in any way you need: anti-tank, anti-infantry, really anti-anything. They work great with orders, as do your swarms of infantry.

With this in mind I suggest you get Creed, combined with Kell if you want. He is the Eldrad of Imperial Guard orders. He makes twice as many, twice as far, and twice as accurate as a normal cmmander. And he has a cigar and a wicked cape Other than that, just load up on platoons, heavy weapons, and some vets. You might do well with a penal legion squad, too. You can make them by taking a Catachan squad (or anyone really) and painting them up all prisoneree.

Honestly, the battleforce is your best bet for an infantry horde. There's no magical set you're going to get that has a bunch of magical components. However, kit-bashing is extremely fun and useful when you get enough kits. (which inevitably you will with Guard) You can combine leftover sprues to make extra special weapons for veteran squads, special weapons squads, and specialized HQ squads. Not to mention sweet looking basic troops.

When you do get to the vehicle level: the Leman Russ is the way to go for heavy support, at least for starters. The Demolisher kit as you probably know comes with a whole bunch of variants you can use, which is pretty helpful. At this point it would be good to get some chimeras or valkyries to put some of your more important squads into, also.

[FrisbeeForLunch]

In short the spiderman is right. One thing I'll repeat with more oomph is Chimeras: They're much cheaper than they were before (although extra armour is now more expensive) and you can now shoot with 5 weapons out the top hatch. Logically speaking 3 of them should only be lasguns but the rules (unless I have missed an Errata or FAQ) say that they can be any 5 weapons. In my book, they're great for command squads (either type) as they boost the range a bit (sort of), you can protect your commander (sort of) and, if you load up on special weapons in that squad you can fire them in a 360* arc without getting hurt. Sort of.

Anyway, for around 60 points it's a good investment for a couple of squads (especially command squads).

Oh, by the way, get the codex SOON! There are a lot of specialist things you really should consider before getting too much of anything (except infantry and heavy weapons). For example, after a few Battleforces you may wish to buy ordinary infantry boxes as you want to occupy your Fast Attack choices with something other than Sentinels, like a pair of hellhounds and a vendetta. Or something.

[Maine]

Originally Posted by Frisbee

In short the spiderman is right. One thing I'll repeat with more oomph is Chimeras: They're much cheaper than they were before (although extra armour is now more expensive) and you can now shoot with 5 weapons out the top hatch. Logically speaking 3 of them should only be lasguns but the rules (unless I have missed an Errata or FAQ) say that they can be any 5 weapons. In my book, they're great for command squads (either type) as they boost the range a bit (sort of), you can protect your commander (sort of) and, if you load up on special weapons in that squad you can fire them in a 360* arc without getting hurt. Sort of.

Logically it can be any 5 weapons, as they're shooting out of the hatch now. The model may still have the hull lasguns, but they're no longer part of the rules.
[/quote]

One downside to Chimeras is that a unit cannot receive an order if in a Chimera (though company and platoon command squads can issue orders from within them)... so no 5 lasgun FRFSRF out of your mobile bunker. Also, passengers can't shoot out of a transport if it moves more than 6", which also limits utility...

I myself run a mech horde (2 Platoons w/ 7 infantry squads between them, and 7 Chimeras in total in my army). I've found its good to have some non-mech squads, even in a nearly full mech list.

[Ekiel]

First of all, much thanks for the helpful words thus far. I don't have much knowledge currently of the guard, but will get my dex soon so that should help change that.
I think I might do some chimera's, I do like the issuing orders while inside a armored transport trick. That sounds niffty. But those will come later, want to focus on my infantrymen first .
And I think that the battle box is definitely good for my first purchase. I actually wouldn't mind running armored sentinels in my lists as well. They are on foot anyways technically . And they'll provide some nice big weapons, provide cover fire while advancing with my troops, potentially lock enemy squads up in CC, or anything else I could use them for. Was also planning on magnetizing the armor casing and roll cage to make it interchangeable between armored and scout, so I can spice things up.
I am curious though, on how many heavy weapons squads would be good to run in a 1k list? Seeing as I don't know points, just whats a general number. They are in my mind good for holding home objectives and providing general cover fire.
That and how many command squads are recommended. I was thinking about 2 right now, until I get a better feel for the army. I obviously need a dex so I'll probably run out and get one this weekend. That should help alot.

[Warpspiderman]

Originally Posted by Ekiel

They are on foot anyways technically

mwahahaha good point

Originally Posted by Ekiel

I am curious though, on how many heavy weapons squads would be good to run in a 1k list? Seeing as I don't know points, just whats a general number. They are in my mind good for holding home objectives and providing gen
That and how many command squads are recommended. I was thinking about 2 right now, until I get a better feel for the army. I obviously need a dex so I'll probably run out and get one this weekend. That should help alot.

I think two would be a good number. I would definitely recommend one of them being autocannons, and depending on whether you need more anti-tank or more anti-infantry get either lascannons or mortars.

[FrisbeeForLunch]

To decide how many weapon teams you want, I think you do need the codex. You can decide some things with only a knowledge of it but some things you kind of need it to get the numbers right. I'm going to draft out a sample list (with APPROXIMATE points costs that might help you think about how many specialists you will see in a 1K army)

SEMI-MECHANISED 1000 POINTS APPROX. LIST
Company Command with vox-caster and Chimera (115)/115
Platoon Command with vox-caster, Mortar and Chimera (100)/215
2 Platoon Squads with Grenade Launcher (110) and 2 Platoon Squads with Plasmagun and Chimera (240)/565
2 Veteran Squads each with 3 Flamers and 1 has a Chimera (225)/790
Armoured Sentinel Squadron (3 models) with Lascannons (200)/990

Vox-network: Limited
Infantry-Special Weapon Ratio: 1 in 7
Infantry-Heavy Weapon Ratio: 1 in 18
APCs: 5 Chimera
Vehicles: 3 Lascannon/Armoured Sentinels

Weaknesses: Only one squadron of anti-tank, no Av12+
Strengths: Good amount of Flamers and anti-meq/anti-teq, good number of models and chimeras
Expansion: Hellhound, Infantry Platoon, Veterans, Ogryns, Enginseer

Will die against: Nidzilla, Space Marine Mech Terminators, Necron powerhouse
Tactically equal against: True swarms, vanilla Marines, vanilla/mech Eldar
Advantage against: Semi-mech swarms (like orks in wagons)


Hmmm, I just noticed, this has no Heavy Weapon teams. I'd swap out one Guard squad for an Autocannon or Missile Launcher HW Squad