=][= Unit(s) of the week: Conscripts =][=

[duz_]

It has come to the Commissariat's attention that some of you have not being keeping up with your regular training requirements. As such we intend to rectify this immediately by commencing an intensive re-education of the command corps. Failure will not be tolerated!

 

This will be a weekly series of threads aimed at discussing the units available to the Astra Miliatrum in 8th edition. This can become a resource for those finding their feet in 8th and our brothers in arms who have joined the fight in the glorious Imperial Guard.

 

The next series will cover our main battle line units, Troops.

This particular thread will be dedicated to our newest and some might say bravest brothers in arms, Conscripts!

 

Conscript spam was definitely a thing in last edition, 30+ conscripts with a priest made them neigh unmovable to most units.

This edition the no longer benefit from fearless, however with a Commissar to keep and eye on them they are not likely to flee from combat either. 

 

I have only run conscripts once so far this edition. 20 of them plus a Lord Commissar provided a well needed buffer against some errant Grey Knights who attempted to destroy my Artillery and Tank lines. 20 of them did their job, however none other than the Lord Commissar lived to tell their tale after the first turn. 

If you want to have some cheap and large volumes of bubble wrap in your back line I can see 1-2 squads of 30+ of these units being a great asset, a Commissar is an absolute requirement though! 

If you're lucky with your objective deployment too, placing a large squad of these on top of one will certainly deny your opponent seizing it from underneath your nose for at least a turn or two!

[WarriorFish]

I've never used conscripts for background reasons, but with how cheap infantry is I see less reason to use them unless it really is only models on the table you're after. You'd need to keep that commissar well protected though as he'll surely be a priority target...

[Truesight]

I'm going to be giving conscripts a real run this edition.  I've bought a friends catachan army and have Stracken, a priest, and over 130 Catachan models now.

 

I'm planning to use this:

50 Catachan Conscripts 150

50 Catachan Conscripts 150

Stracken 90

Ministorum Priest 35

Commissar plasma pistol 35

460

 

Every conscript gets 4 shots and 3 attacks. 100 bodies that are actually a threat and leave a lot of room in the list. They're extra annoying because you can pick where to remove from now, so just take the least useful blocking models first and force your enemy to kill the whole block.

[Kinstryfe]

On the topic of Conscripts, how are people finding them? I've been running one or two blocks of 50 with Priest and Commissar support, and they're done incredibly well thru just sheer volume and stubbornness.

At what point do Conscripts just get unfair to use? I'm loving the amount of bodies on the table, but I somehow feel that dropping 200-300 will get me CENSORED BY THE INQUISITION by my opponent. Any new ideas or strategies for them now that the edition has been out for awhile?

[Halfpint100]

I run a single squad of 50 with a platoon commander and a commissar. Most of the games, they get shot as people try to kill the horde, they kill a fair bit as well. But usually I rarely move them and abuse the fear from the opponent that comes with fielding them

[Mitchverr]

I genuinely think the fear factor is what makes them scary, conscripts are not OP, they aint changed in a couple editions, you could do this back in 7th too (i faced conscripts in 7th with priests making them fearless), I would say do a 2 regular squads for 1 conscript squad, and if you are doing friendly just limit it to a couple of them, but in a competitive setting, go for glory, its the other guys fault if he doesnt bring snipers or anti spam weapons, guard isnt the only spam army that can overrun with a spam unit.

 

Oh, and always remember to keep enough room on your table for other stuff. lol.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Mitchverr

[JeffJedi]

I've use a blob of 30 on my front lines and they absorbed a massive amount of firepower before they were wiped out. Truly there is nothing that can overcome the human spirit when properly motivated by a Commissar.

[duz_]

Funny thing about conscripts only thing that has really changed is that you can now field them as single unit entries than 0-1 per platoon.

In 7th they were just as good! You just didn't see them or guard as often.

 

Plus 3/4 of the armies were able to shred them with default AP5. Now that's no longer the case! :D

[MithrilForge]

Honestly...i just want to see peoples pics of their squads of 30+ or 50 conscripts just for the sheer size of it ....and proof that they have painted up 100 or more conscripts   

 

Mithril 

[Withershadow]

Only first 25, and only base-coated.  75 more to go!

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by Withershadow

[Kinstryfe]

It's night here already so I'll try to get a picture of mine tomorrow with some light.

 

But, really, if you have 6-10 squads of Guardsmen, you can put together a unit of 50 Conscripts :)

[MithrilForge]

Gee - Withershadow ...100!! DKoK... i sense some time in your past i felt the screams of many dollars crying out then your wallet went silent ...

Looks awesome though  

 

Mithril  

[Withershadow]

Money is transient.  Service to the Emperor is eternal.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Withershadow

[Tirak]

I'm running two 30 man conscript squads in my brigade. They're an excellent infantry screen and have real "Back Off" power thanks to FRFSRF. It's fine if they get shot to pieces because they're a small part of an army pointswise, but a big source of a lot of shooting. Being able to confidently march a conscript squad forward to screen infantry and tanks, gives you a vital extra turn of shooting from whoever is making use of the screen. And woe betide any opponent who doesn't think the Conscripts will accomplish much if they get close. Conscripts won't hurt tanks, (well they can and I've done it but it's not pretty) but thanks to good synergies and sheer numbers, but with proper preparation they are a hammer that can shatter an enemy infantry line.

 

I didn't want to run conscripts at first, and had resisted doing so when I got into guard back in 5th, I viewed them as beneath my mechanized guard, but after hearing some convincing arguments about the nature of conscripts (i.e. trained but green soldiers vs my view of them as little more than penal legion cannon fodder) I came around, and I'm glad I did. They've become a vital component of my army, which thanks to 8th edition rules has become less mechanized and more on wing, and the flexibility and expendability really help anchor my fighting force.

[olcottr]

I used to run a 20 man conscript squad with the SITNW rule from a Counts as Chenkov.  With that gone, will I have to increase size of my conscript squad?

[Kinstryfe]

I used to run a 20 man conscript squad with the SITNW rule from a Counts as Chenkov.  With that gone, will I have to increase size of my conscript squad?

I would. I've found anything below 30 is too easy to neutralize, and I try to run 40 or 50 for maximum effect. Sometimes only a few survive the battle, so in my opinion bigger is better.

[librisrouge]

I'm working on getting a list running with 180 conscripts in it. They're our best unit at the moment, in my opinion. Very cost effective and our faction has one of the best (if not THE best) leadership boosts in the game, via commissars. Even with just lasguns, they can accomplish surprising amounts of things. Remember, two conscripts have the exact same odds as one marine to damage anything T8 or more with shooting. Not the best use of their talents? Sure Still, its going to come up sometimes and people get so made when my little guys start plinking at dreadnoughts with FRFSRF.

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I think conscripts are great but I have limiting myself to using a single unit of them in anticipation of a nerf given the outrage from the community over T3, 5+ save models.  In their current configuration in my list I support them with a platoon commander and a commissar and just run them up the board to disrupt my opponent's scheme of maneuver or to swamp an objective or two while the rest of the list does the actual killing.  I have had some bad experiences against World Eaters.  When facing them I tend to string them out across a broad frontage to soak the inevitable blitz and then shoot the crap out of them in my following shooting phase.  The poor conscripts usually get butchered but such is service to the Emperor.

[Withershadow]

The "outrage" stems from when someone spams the crap out of an effective unit (see post right above yours).  That number of models, regardless of their effectiveness, is really tedious to deal with as your opponent takes 4 hours for their movement phase, and gets increasingly worse as the unit becomes more effective.  Nerf or no nerf, I would never degrade myself or my opponent in such a way.  Even the 100 dudes I mentioned above, about 20 are crew for artillery, and the rest are going to be used as regular infantry and SWS squads.  Krieg doesn't have conscripts. :P

[Jolemai]

Is bubble wrapping still a thing this edition then?

[Withershadow]

Absolutely, I would say.  Especially with the amount of accurate deep striking available, bubble wrap is important both for pushing back the 9" no deep strike bubble, and for absorbing volumes of fire. 

[librisrouge]

I don't know if its degrading or whatnot. I've used conscripts for editions now. I used them with Chenkov. I used them with priests. Now, I use them with Commissars. They're tougher than ever but hit much softer. I'm sorry that people are upset about having to kill them but 100+ warm bodies is very fluffy for many IG regiments.

[Withershadow]

It's also fluffy for Space Marines to cleanse entire planets with a single squad (or like in the Chaos Codex, a single Chaos Champion).

 

Anyway, I meant it in the sense of your soul slowly dying as you have to move all those guys every turn.

[librisrouge]

Yeah, moving them is an entirely different beast. Which is why I often don't. I don't need to secure very many objectives from dead enemies.

[duz_]

Rightly or wrongly I suspect GW will unfortunately rebalance Conscripts in the near distant future. The Frontline guys have advised people about building lists around exploiting them and they've had good prescience so far.

I personally would be hesitant to invest into large quantities of models for the sole purpose of running multiple conscript squads.

 

On a more serious note we expect the officers of the barracks to act with decorum. We can disagree with one another but please avoid making personal snipes.