Astra Militarum as Allies list help

[awilden]

Hi all, I'm currently putting together a small detachment of guard to go with my blood angels, and so far have ordered;

Start Collecting! box: 1 commissar; 10 troops; 1 Heavy Weapon team; 1 Leman russ
1 Cadian shock troops box
1 Cadian command box

so roughly;

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Lord Commissar
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1 Infantry Platoon
1 Heavy Weapons Squad (can make 3 teams, with help from a previous thread where i asked how to maximise the number of teams from 1 sprue, and what bitz to ebay etc.)
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Leman Russ Battle Tank
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The Blood Angels are pretty heavy into assault, and have transports (rhino/land raider, pods), so i would assume the best place for these guys would be at the back and/or taking objectives and shooting like crazy.

Is there anything I'm missing I'd really need to make the allied detachment good, or ways on equipping sergeants or allocating special/heavy weapons that would make the list really good?

I still need to get a codex so i have mainly gleamed the requirements from what i could scrounge online, so i don't think I'm missing something completely crucial that makes what i ordered unplayable until i get X or cant take Y without Z etc.

I don't want to make the list too large, and would prefer to later down the track if i want to dip my toe further into the Astra Militarum experience and make it into a full list, or expand the allied list to a larger % of the total, rather than going nuts and making it huge right from the start.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[awilden]

(just as a side note, i didn't realise you could get those icons for the HQ and Troops to pop up in the post lol, not sure what the Heavy one is, that didn't come up as a little icon)

[WarriorFish]

The code for the Heavy Support icon is:

I've added it to your post for you, you can find it along with other emoticons by clicking the smiley face icon in the text editor, next to the font colour and media buttons :)

 

It's not a bad support list as allies, Guard are better focusing on shooting in a way to help your BA who'll be doing the main lifting. Guard have a good variety of weaponry so should be able to give you what you need for example tackling hordes, or demechanising your opponent. One thing to keep in mind is that Guard can throw a lot of nasty AP3 around so with your BA closing in probably best to take choices without large blasts that could scatter on friendlies.

 

Fortunately there are many Russ types, but with a bit of tactical planning you can reduce the risk so it's not a huge factor. For the troops keeping them numerous and cheap helps, especially as allies to Marines - flamers and grenade launchers are cheap and effective for example. Generally I prefer to focus Infantry Squads on either special or heavy weapon but having both has merits especially in an allied force I think. Maybe something simple like flamers/grenade launchers and autocannons?

 

Have you decided on a colour scheme for your Guard?

[awilden]

Thanks for updating that

Yeah that's a good point about the blast weapons landing on the Marines, i didn't even think of that to be honest. Especially since they are fairly low ballistic skill to start with.

I was thinking of going the standard green/khaki GW scheme, i really like the look, although a full green wouldn't look too bad, also the grey (i think its grey) Starship Troopers uniform look. I'm still semi looking at the moment, it's still the GW standard scheme at the moment, but if i see something that really pops and i like, i might go that. Also I'll have to look into any rules on numbering and whatnot (really should get the codex), but i didn't want to make it really out of the ordinary, I'm thinking the way to make them stand out is weathering/damage, and cool battlefield like bases (have some secret weapon brand razor wire already, and might try make some sandbags). I'll just probably want to try make the bases look like they fit with the Blood Angels.

[greycat]

I would go for 3 autocannons but put it inside the squads so they cant be targetted out. Stick them on an objective and just provide long range support. The platoon command squad issues orders to the platoon.

It would be 375pts for a commissar, platoon command squad, 2 infantry squads, all with an autocannon each and a leman russ.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Using the heavy weapons you've built, I'd hide some of them in the infantry squads, especially if you plan to use them for back field support. Remember that the Heavy Weapon Squads are part of the platoon not a separate troops choice, something that is often forgotten or overlooked by new guard players.

 

My platoon, is generally an autocannon with my platoon command squad, and missile launchers in my 3 infantry squads, and 3 heavy weapons squads, 2 mortar squads and a heavy bolter squad. Recently I've been toying with the idea of using a basic company  command squad with a master of ordnance hiding with the heavy weapons behind an aegis defense line, making my mortars ignore cover with orders. Meanwhile I take Commissar Yarrick up front to issue orders to my leading edge. Company commander ends up as my warlord, and hiding in the back (Yarrick, like any lord commissar can't be the warlord if a senior officer is present).