Marine Allies

[Joeyray]

Greetings Gents!
Looking into a potential small detachment of Guard as Allies for my Marines, now I have a very "shooty" army at the moment but want to expand a little.
I haven't dabbled in guard since 3rd Ed. so I am a little stuck for what I have on offer. I would prefer to base their organisation and image on Starcraft's Terran Marines so it would hopefully be Karskin/ Storm Troopers in a Valkyrie to Represent the Marines/Dropship with a bit of heavy armour to put some more templates on the table.
Thanks in Advance!

[Beachymike123]

by the sound of things, you're going to want mostly veterans mounted in valkyries. this is a good way to go, but bear in mind that veterans aren't marines and are much squishier. however, their ability to carry multiple special weapons and doctrines can make them a serious threat (for the storm trooper/kasrkin look go with the Grenadiers doctrine for better armour save). 

if you're looking to expand on that basis, how about making your guard an mechanised division instead of valkyries? ie, put your squads in chimeras and back it up with a russ of some kind? that way, your marines rain death from the skies while your guard crush the enemies under their iron tracks, plus they will be able to redeploy to capture objectives, and the chimera will be able to block LoS, give decent cover from enemy fire and provide a decent amount of firepower in return. if you go with a platoon, all mounted in chimeras, you'll have up to 5 infantry squads, 2 HWTs, 2 SWSs and a PCS (who can issue orders) all as one troop choice, which will give your opponent something to think about when battle commences. 

good luck with your endevour. 

[Joeyray]

Thanks for your words Leinmann, a mechanised force could work well with my Sternguard and Terminator frontal assault with some heavy guns to keep my opponents occupied! 

[WarriorFish]

leinmann has raised some good points, I'd recommend at least looking at the Platoon options. While Veterans are good and with carapace will fit your theme nicely they're competing with your Marines a bit and can be pricey for Guard units. A single platoon can have a very large amount of troops in, featuring enough heavy weapons to make your Marines green with envy (unless you're Salamanders)!

 

If your Marines are more shooty then you can afford to have more of the Guard's infamous pie plate weaponry as there's less chance of scattering on to your elite Marines. Whatever you decide Guard are versatile and very good allies for Marines. Just remember to maximise efficiency your allied force should complement your primary, so in this case your Marines are the elite force and your Guard provide the boots and extra guns - just what they're good at! :D

 

Of course this isn't to say not to do your original plan! Especially as it's a cool idea - just as long as you're aware of the potential drawbacks :)

[Argun]

As the resident IG artillery nut, I second the idea of adding some of the IG's well-known artillery to this kind of force. I'd suggest colossi if you've got opponents who like to hide in cover. (The look on their face when you hand them a 5" template with barrage, and no cover saves at S6 AP3 will most likely be priceless!)

If you don't want artillery, then I'd suggest getting a Russ variant or two. Personally, I'd suggest the Punisher for it's 24" Heavy 20, S5 shots. Upgrade that with Pask (and possibly sponsons, but I'd keep it as stock as possible) and you've got a murder-machine on your hands!

[WarriorFish]

Funny you mention it, I was just talking about that - trooper Argun you're needed in the 812th Repainting sector!

For the record, all mainstay Imperial armies ally very well together (nobody cares about the GK) with slightly differing benefits depending on what you take:

Marines - Elite, expensive but durable and flexible

Sisters - More numerous but still elite, excellent shooting and melta/flamer

Guard - Very numerous but soft, lots of big guns and tanks

Mix and match for your favourite combination