Good tanks for 500-1000pt games

[War Father]

Hey everone,

 

My frends kid who is 10, is ready to start painting and playing 40k. After many campaings in the Dawn of War video games, he has chosen the Imperial guard to be his host. I have a lot of Guard guys (back when they could be Inquistor storm troopers), so mainly we want to get him some tanks. I don't know much about the Imperial Guard, so I come to you guys for some help. What tanks would be a good fit in 500-1000pt games. He would mostly be playing Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle, Tau, and Tyrands.

 

Thanks for any info you guys can share! =)

[redmapa]

A leman russ with a battle cannon is awesome, at 500 you can squeeze in 2 and wreck entire squads,at 1000 you could try and add 2 more main battle tanks or an executioner

[War Father]

I got a hold of the Imperial Guard Codex and it looks like there are 7 types of Leman Russ Battle Tanks. GW sells two kits of Lemans.

 

Box A - Imperial Guard Leman Russ Demolisher

This can make 1) Demolisher

                        2) Punisher

                        3) Executioner

 

Box B - Imperial Guard Leman Russ Battle Tank

This can make 4) Battle Tank

                        5) Eradicator

                        6) Exterminator

                        7) Vanquisher

 

The three that really stand out to me are:

1) Demolisher (Box A) - Good at killing many 2+ Armour guys. Also has max strength to crack armour tanks well enough too.

2) Punisher (Box A) - Good vs. Horde Armies. 20 shot gatling cannon seems like it would feel great to roll all of those dice.

7) Vanquisher (Box B ) - Anti-Tank. Only one shot, but if you hit you will be doing a lot of damage.

 

@redmapa - Looking at the Battle Cannon (Battle Tank), it seems it's pro is its high range. What kind of roll does the Battle Tank play in your armies? 

 

I'm curious what everyone else thinks about the Leman tanks. Based on the 3 that stand out, it looks like Box A - Imperial Guard Leman Russ Demolisher seems to be the better buy for first starter tank. Does anyone agree?

[WarriorFish]

I don't think there's a right answer to this (as far as there ever could be anyway!) as the Guard codex is full of so many options. Generally the Leman Russ and it's Battle Cannon is a good first addition to a list, but in smaller point games it can make for a lot of expensive eggs in one basket.

 

For less than 1000pts I'd go with the many lighter support vehicles we have. Chimeras could be a good standard to bolster the infantry but that depends on how much AT you can muster elsewhere. Sentinels can mount heavier weaponry and support infantry well and there's the ever reliable Hellhound and variants if you want some assault tanks.

 

If you're at 1000pts then I'd take a single Russ, either a standard Battle Tank or Demolisher depending on the make up of the rest of your army.

[redmapa]

@redmapa - Looking at the Battle Cannon (Battle Tank), it seems it's pro is its high range. What kind of roll does the Battle Tank play in your armies?

the battle tank wrecks infantry and vehicles with equal ease, as long as you dont scatter too hard, granted its not a dedicated vehicle killer like the vanquisher but unlike the vanquisher it can perform two roles, with the new ordnance rules you'll be getting at least a glance everytime you shoot

 

for heavier infantry i use the executioner which is a bit useless against tanks but it can rack up more wounds then a demolisher against terminators and the like and it has more range and if you invest in sponsons you can actually fire more weapons reliably than with a demolisher

 

these are my preferences, your choices are pretty good too

 

i agree with the fish though, its better to build a list and then see if it benefits from tanks or something else and what roles those tanks should fulfill

[hendrik]

it needs to be pointed out that the standard leman russ kit will allow you to make both the vanquisher and the standard battle cannon. they both use the same gunmount and can be switched out without any need for pinning/magnetising. same goes with the hull mounted weapon, although some pinning/magnetising might be interesting.

personally i think the standard leman russ is the best tank kit of the two

[Hellios]

I'm not a huge fan of the punisher cannon... If you do decide to take it... Take Pask as well.

[hendrik]

i've found pask not to be worth it in general, in fact, you might as well just ally an armoured battle group, using the command task as a cheaper pask, and a normal leman russ as the mandatory troop choice...

[Office temp]

Huh, I've always heard that in the field putting Pask in the punisher turns it into the turbosodomizer 5000.

[lionofjudah]

I would run 2 LRMBT's with heavy bolter and no sponsons and a Plasma tank with plas sponsons...I kit mine out with extra armor, dozers and pintle stubbers and they dish out some pain....Pask is good on the Punisher but that gun is not an anti-meq weapon at all. The vanq is solid at much larger point levels but for the sub1k games you need pie plates and dice rolling to thin out the other side.

Few chimera mounted squads would be nice to shield the big tanks and charge forward to the objectives- even in 6th the chimera is a solid and well rounded vehicle for the points.

[redmapa]

Huh, I've always heard that in the field putting Pask in the punisher turns it into the turbosodomizer 5000.

 

a punisher with pask costs 230 pts and it has no ap value and you'll never score 20 wounds on a squad, even orks will get saves, an executioner with plasma cannons costs the same and throws 5 plasma blasts a turn, NOTHING gets an armour save and you'll be wounding far more often with s7 than with s5

[Hellios]

I would like to say I think the Punisher cannon is rubbish... Although TL-Punisher cannons on a Vulture look sweet! I just wanted to note that if you have to take a Punisher cannon... take Pask... At least some of those 20 shots might hit.

[hendrik]

pretty much any other leman russ variant is better then the punisher. now if it were AP4 or something!

[WarriorFish]

I'd pick the Eradicator over the Punisher for clearing out infantry. I still plan on using my magnetised Punisher turret though just because it looks cool but I don't expect it to be cutting enemies down like wheat before the scythe.

Don't forget that the Lumbering Behemoth rule has been replaced with "Heavy vehicle" from the 6th rule book meaning that if you fire an Ordnance weapon you can only make snap shots with other weaponry. You can fire them at full BS when moving at combat speed though (page 83)

[Centurio]

I prefer the Executioner with plasma sponsons and a lascannon on the hull.  Its expensive but it has never failed to dish out the damage and live up to its name.  I especially love to use 3 of these.

 

Remember that you can build the Demolisher kit so that all the weapons are interchangeable..... without even using magnets.  So you can try a variety of loadouts.  I'm not sure about the new standard Leman russ kit.