bigted Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Which do you prefer, infantry platoons or vets? What are effective load outs for these guys? Are special or heavy weapon teams worth taking? How important is it to give vets transports? Really, anything you can tell me about platoons or vets would be much appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatOneMarshal Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Which do you prefer, infantry platoons or vets? What are effective load outs for these guys? Are special or heavy weapon teams worth taking? How important is it to give vets transports? Really, anything you can tell me about platoons or vets would be much appreciated. Thanks! I like to think of it this way do you want to go mech or infantry heavy? If infantry grav then platoons because you can have a lot of bodies and I would give them flamers for them or maybe plasma guns also give them either lascannons or auto nabobs for heavy weapons. Special weapons and heavy weapons squads are IMO to fragile for their cost but it's something that some people love others hate. Platoon command squad is good with vox and four flamers. If you want mech them Vets because veterans are very fragile without the transport and they can use the chimeras fire points all the way with their 3 plasma guns or melta guns. Hope this helps. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3924462 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommissarZac Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 It really does all depend on what you want in an army. I run vets simply cause I want more Tanks. My strategy is kill everything on the board so no one can claim the objectives. So instead of taking blobs I take walls of Ceramite. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3924471 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendrik Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 i often field mechanised platoons, due to their lower point costs. I then toss a meltagun in each unit, mount them in a chimera and call it done. good enough in most occasions since my infantry doesn't leave their chimeras that often. both offer their disadvantages and advantages. vets: -high BS, making the more expensive special weapons more reliable (+) -highly upgradable. 4+ save, cover saves, they can have it.(+) overoutfittin g them can be a problem since at the end of the day they still won't be marines, and 4+ armour is still easely negated.(-) easy to play,in nature not that different from the marines most of us are/were used to, only weaker (+) platoons: -cheaper, albeit only when taking more than 4 infantry squads due to PCS tax. (+) -come as you are, no means to increase their survivability whatsoever, thus less temptation to overoutfit them (-) -only 1 special weapon, thus not specialising them in any role except for lasgun tactics. However, 1 meltagun can suddelty make them a thread to your opponent as well. use them like this as well. taking out stuff they can get, leaving the dedicated tank hunting/2+ hunting to other units. blobbing also makes them a much larger thread, especially when combined with FRFSRF order(+/-) -anti-air units: sabre platforms. these things are golden (+++!!) -heavy weapon squads. some people love them, some prefer to hide that 1 heavy weapon between 8 ablative wounds. whatever setup you prefer, a dedicated long range fireteam can do some damaged when placed right/ignored due to other more intimidating threads. I used to always field at least 2 mortar squads hiding out of LOS on an objective.7th edition somewhat migigated this tactic since now a wyvern (same points) can do the job almost as good, if not better (due to more dammage output, and let's face it, if the enemy got this close to capping your heavy weapon squad would be oblitatated as well). (+) -special weapon squads: often overlooked, but very usefull for last minute dropouts from a valkyrie/vendetta on an objective with their triple flamers Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3924527 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarriorFish Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Yes, it entirely depends on what you're doing and need but as my preference the answer is both! A Platoon and a Veteran squad fills up the mandatory FOC Troop slots neatly, and you can get lots of your infantry needs from a single Platoon so that is enough for me. I can then add Veteran squads if I need a bit more troubleshooting, or another Platoon if I feel like a bit of a trooper horde :) Platoons are about keeping things cheap and numerous I think, a single cheap special weapon makes them useful enough and with fellow infantry squads around they will do well tackling enemy infantry and generally holding the line. Veteran squads are generally better with a transport so they can close in for effective special weapon use but there are non-transport builds for them at long range. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3924598 Share on other sites More sharing options...
librisrouge Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 It all depends on how many men you're really wanting to take and what role they have. If you're not mechanizing though, just go with platoons. Vets really prosper in an environment where their three special weapons mean something and that means mounting up in Chimeras (Taurox can bite me) and getting in the enemies faces. Platoons struggle to advance unless you're willing to go full human wave on the enemy...which is fun as hell but adds two hours to any game (just trust me here.) If you're looking for something in between, consider a single platoon to hold a section but I cannot emphasis enough the awesomeness that is a 30 man Conscript blob with a Priest attached. For a bit more than a buck you get 31 fearless men that have a big enough foot print that they can practically bubble wrap the rest of your army alone. If they die without doing anything...so what?...just killing that many men was worth their points in distraction. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3924770 Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW1 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks for putting this post up. I was struggling to work out what to build my grunts as when I finally get round to painting them!!! :D Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3926659 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeGrunt Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 My current favourite setup is a squad of Vets with Carapace and 3x Meltas in a Chimera, with a Platoon of 20 Guardsmen and 50 Conscripts along with a Priest. The Conscript blob is an awesome sight to behold... Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3926678 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 One thing about platoons is the rule that allows them to combined the Infantry Squads. This actually gives Guard a rather nice melee answer. Take power axes on all of your sergeants in a 50 strong blob squad and you get 15 S4 AP2 attacks on top of whatever else you throw your foe's way. It doesn't seem like it is effective, but even just three in a large blob goes a long way. Toss in a Commissar and place him against your table edge and advance the 50 other guys without ever moving him so there is a chain of Guardsmen leading back and when they hit something in the assault it will take forever for the Commissar to pile in and he'll be the last guy killed for that stubborn Ld9. Conversely you can actually win assaults with large blobs and Primaris Psykers as casting Hammerhand or Endurance on a platoon makes them particularly annoying for many foes as you have weight of numbers at S5 or with a 4+ FNP. Primaris Psykers with Iron Arm can ID T4 if they have a force staff, making them reasonable in the assault as they are also T6 with that 5+ invulnerable. Not amazing, but for 75 points and 1-3 per detachment they are a nice way to provide an unexpected buff. Heck, if you get lucky with the Perils for your psykers and roll a 6 and pass your Ld test they get a 3+ invulnerable and if not, well they were cheap anyway so who cares? Add in a Priest or two for extra buffs as well. Most people underestimate Guard in the assault, but like everything in the codex, weight of number wins out and when you buff them with psychic powers and/or Priests you can actually be kind of scary. I usually run my blob aggressively at the enemy and against most Marines I win assaults and often times I am the one charging. It throws your opponent off when they expect you to camp and instead you are rushing towards him which causes their line to have to shift to adapt to the unexpected giving the rest of your shooting force the time it needs to reap a hefty tally. That said charging a 30 strong mob of Orks is not going to help, so pick your assault carefully. The other fun thing you can do with psykers and combined platoons is shoot for Gate of Infinity. With three level 2s for 225 points, you stand a reasonable chance of getting it. Deep striking the large platoon right in your foe's face and having a command squad (of any kind) close enough to order FRFSRF is a huge surprise for many people as you can drop all that nonsense right in the way of your foe. I have used that tactic to catch more than a few people off guard as many people really do not expect Guard to be aggressive like that. You can also toss them farther off if there is an open flank and you are expecting outflanking stuff to come on, such as Scout Sentinels. This is particularly useful in tactical objective games when you just need to move across the table on short notice. If your foe is expecting his aircraft to come on, you can use this to block flight paths as your large army can occupy a big chunk of your deployment zone and Gate of Infinity can be used to throw a large number of bodies off to areas where flyers would be expected to line up for good shots. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3926906 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigted Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks for all the replies guys! I think i'll do some playtesting of my own and see whether I like platoons or vets more, but at the moment I'm liking the sound of 2 platoons to bring bodies to the table and sit behind an Aegis line for a hard to shift objective holder and 2 or 3 vet squads positioned along the line to give it a bit of backbone, add killy power and bring special weps to the table. Then I'll have a command squad with Straken in a chimera to give out orders and counter assault (this is a catachan list so I want to include him). Then I can have a couple of basilisks and wyverns to force the enemy to close with me and one or two russes to provide heavy firepower. I'm new to guard and haven't even played a game yet (I have a catachan defense force at the moment and will hopefully get some more guys soon) but that's the basic idea I have in mind. Thanks again! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3926959 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarriorFish Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Sounds like a plan, don't forget to show us pictures of your troops :tu: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302201-platoons-versus-vets/#findComment-3927041 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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