(possibly) Revisiting Guard for a challenge

[Frater Cornelius]

So, I have plenty of hobby armies for fluff and modelling/painting. Now I am looking for an army to start tournaments again.

Guard is one of the two armies that really appeal to me visually (after necessary conversions have been done), so I want to revisit them with a slightly different mentality.

You see, I am sort of beyond 'bring more dakka than the enemy' in order to win. I do not really want to outshoot the enemy. If I win the game, I want to outplay him. Hence, I am very interested in high output units, which usually comes with decent maneuverability or deployment options but have low durability. Dark Eldar Mech and Tau Crisis lists usually epitomize the concept of the Glass Hammer.

Well, since these guys here are literally the Hammer of the Emperor, do you think we can upgrade the 'hammer' to a nuclear warhead and put the word glass in there? I want a list that has extreme output and good maneuverability as well as deployment options, but is let down by durability. If I play my game correctly, I win sky high. If I make a mistake, I lose within one round of shooting.

Thoughts on how to make this sort of porcelain exterminatus that requires more skill to play beyond throwing more dice at the enemy?

Let me be clear though, I do not want to intentionally handicap myself. If am I am playing an army that uses the movement and deployment phase to win as opposed to stats or mass, I want it to have a suitable output to balance it out. If Guard can not make a list like that without major trade-offs or with intentional handicaps, do tell me.

Forgeworld units are fine. Forgeworld lists, rather not.

Hope you can help

[FashaTheDog]

You, sir, are looking for D-99.  Open up Imperial Armour IV 2^nd edition and behold fast moving Guard that can hit hard and move like the wind with maybe 50 or so total models if you push it.  The only transport option for D-99 are Valkyries, but most units come with deep strike as well so they can find their own ride to the table.  You can take deep striking Sentry Guns, a pair of Cyclops in a Valkyries, or Vultures for Heavy Support.  Deep striking Sentinels and Tauros are the order of the day for Fast Attack (both can take a Valkyrie Skytalon as a transport, which can also be run alone).  Your only Troops choice is a Veteran Squad that starts at five models for 50 points and can add more at 8 points a model, but only gets a single special weapon.  Your three Elites are similar, but are tasked to specific roles.  Decimation Squads are 60" ranged sniper units, Extermination Squads all come with flamers, but can upgrade to heavy flamers or grenade launchers, while Executioner Squads are plasma or melta equipped.  Round off the list with a Command Squad with access to the ever useful long range ground scanner and a pair of special characters, Major Durra as a Command Squad upgrade and Inquisitor Solomon Lok who can also take a retinue of Inquisitorial Henchmen which may include Major Durra. 

 

It is a small list that plays vastly different from most other armies and really relies on blotting out the sun with weight of Valykries.  You will win huge with this list or you will be scoured from the table in short order.  A compromise between this and regular Valkyrie heavy Guard is the Elysian list out of Imperial Armour III 2^nd edition, which features the same aircraft, dune buggy, and Drop Sentinel theme, but with a more company level feel than the elite secret black-ops team that is D-99.  In this list you get platoons, Storm Troopers, Vendettas, Lord Commissars (who can also deep strike), more traditional Veteran Squads, and Naval air support in the form of Heavy Support Avengers, Lightning, and Thunderbolts (the latter being my favorite thanks to Dan Abnett's Double Eagle).  This list is also flyer dependent, but likes to vary the flavor more than D-99 and has some numbers behind it to make it more durable.  Best way to look at Elysians is as the next logical step of the aircav lists from the GW codex while D-99 takes this theme even further to the next extreme with an elite strike team trope added in, just in case you were worried about outnumbering someone with Guardsmen.

[Castellan Cato]

You may want to look into MT Scions.  Build them as highly specialized squads (2 melta/plasma/flamer, 4 for command squads) and deep strike them in behind enemy lines.  Can add fast, but brittle tauroxes and always useful valks so some ranged firepower.  A second detachment of guard would give you some tough blobs to sit around on objectives, or knights are a good bet too!

[Frater Cornelius]

D-99 are a pretty good call. My only concern is that not all tournaments allow fw lists. Still, the option is interesting and I will make my research regarding this. Thanks for the pointer.

 

Returning to the world of regular IG, MT feels like actively handicapping myself. I will include C:AM MT though, no question.

[WarriorFish]

Scions sound appropriate, but you can definitely build a glass hammer Guard army. Just take lots of tanks and/or artillery! :P

[FashaTheDog]

Scions sound appropriate, but you can definitely build a glass hammer Guard army. Just take lots of tanks and/or artillery!

Tanks are only glass hammer against some armies. Against others they can be unstoppable juggernauts against which they can only turn to their false heretical/xenos gods to pray for a quick death.

[WarriorFish]

Still sounds good to me