Sanguinary Guard Loadout

[aluriel00]

How are people running them?

 

Axe, Sword or Fist?

Boltgun, Inferno or Plasma?

 

I'm thinking Axe and Plasma for shooting out of CQC and for an extra attack.

 

What works and what doesn't?

[Indefragable]

So far I've been running 6-8man squads (I feel we really can't afford more than that with the way things are costed) with swords and plasma pistols (yes, I am that guy who ordered tons of bits), with 1x ax/death mask dude. I almost always have a Sang Priest nearby so I like the swords better. I think that's a minimum. If a game is big enough, I add in Sanguinor as well, a Libby or two, and then mayne Dante if I am going Air and or I am getting into ridiculous points levels.

 

I feel SG are emblematic of our predicament in 8th where you need to dump so many support characters to bring them up to par, let alone get a competitive edge.

 

Alternatively, I think 4 man squads with plasma and axes could be a heck of a disruption force in an enemy's backfield. No data yet to back this theory up.

[Silverson]

I have been running two squads of five with the sanguinor deep striking down behind line of sight terrain usually were the enemy devistators (or other such unit) are.

 

Running 3x swords 1x axe and 1x fist in each squad and two plasma pistols (tho will be adding more when they get back from being painted.

 

It has worked well so far as it has been able to pick off units at the back while the rest of my army gets up the field fast (I have been playing all jump Marines mostly)

 

* we don't play tournament competative games in our group so it's probably why they are doing ok (but far from what I'd bring if I know my oponant is bringing a strong list)

Edited August 29, 2017 by Silverson

[Karhedron]

Plasma is the way to go when using the Index list but you really want to keep them close to your Warlord so you can reroll failed hits. This makes overcharging a lot safer. The Sanguinor is a great warlord if you are running SG. He does not bring a reroll bubble but that does not matter as the SG get their own reroll from being close to him. Instead he brings a +1A bubble which is great for all those expensive weapons. He is also a pretty awesome beatstick.

 

S5 is a bit of a sweet spot in 8th edition as there is a lot of T4 and T5 units out there so the extra point of strength over S4 almost always gives you +1 to wound. It also means you can wound T8 units like Knights and Land Raiders on a 5+ rather than a 6.

 

Because of this, Axes make a good choice for SG unless you are planning to include a Sanguinary Priest. He brings his +1S bubble along so you can go for Swords to save points and also get the extra point of AP. The Priest is also good for patching up wounded models. If you are feeling lucky, you can even try resurrecting fallen ones. A Sanguinary Ancient is a pretty decent choice as rerolling 1s to wound is always handy as is ignoring Morale. The other Character who works well is a Librarian. Unleash Rage is awesome on SG and Shild of Sanguinious is nice if you are facing Plasma spam.

 

Just beware of committing too much to a single build. There is a good chance that things will change when our Codex drops.

[Are Verlo]

My guys are modeled with a mix of weapons; axes, swords, pistols and quite a few bolters.

If I had known I should have skipped the bolters. In all my games, perhaps once or twice, I got to advance and shoot a target in cover; a few heretics in a ruin that was defiling an objective is the one story that goes down in history as "glad my SG had assault weapons". Mostly it is "I wish they had more plasma"

[Karhedron]

I suspect that things will change again when the Codex finally arrives. The Index lists have a few anomalies like this.

[Thoridon]

For now I've adjusted mine to have 5 with axes and 5 with swords. Each weapon set has 2 with inferno pistols.

 

I figure SG are the all-rounders so there's no need to give them Fists when I have TH/SS Vanguard or TH Death Company as full monster hunters. The axes and swords work nicely against infantry (along with the 2+ and extra wound) while the D3 gives a little boost if they run into tough multi-wound enemies.

 

Having 2 inferno pistols in each set of 5 means if I do need them to take on big targets I can have them jump close, fire off some melta and try to finish them off with a charge. Or position close to a big target for the melta shots before charging something easier.

 

The weakness of the swords and axes is the low strength on each. To help with that I have a jump pack Priest who'll likely go round with them, either letting the swords wound T7 on a 5+ (and T4 on a 3+) or giving the axes a 4+ roll vs T6, depending on the enemy units.

 

I'm intending to run these as 2 groups with the separate weapons (5 swords with 2 inferno, then 5 axes with 2 inferno) but in a bigger game I could try running them all together with both the Priest and Sanguinor. Smaller games I'd likely just take a single group of 5, though I could mix the weapons if wanted.

 

Will have to see how it goes.

 

I was going to find plasma pistols for them all but then decided I didn't want to risk overcharging expensive units, even if they do have a reroll character tagging along.

 

My single Fist SG from 7th had the banner in the unit, so he's now the standalone Ancient in case I want to use that.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Thoridon

[Karhedron]

Running them a single unit makes them more vulnerable to Battleshock. The main benefit for doing so that I can see is buffs like "Shield of Sanguinius" that only affect 1 unit rather than having a bubble aura. Mind you, a 4++ only helps them against lascannons and plasma.

[Thoridon]

Running them a single unit makes them more vulnerable to Battleshock.

 

I think a single large unit in a bigger game is when I'd take the Ancient for morale immunity, but then it becomes a choice of which support characters to give them to avoid all eggs being in one basket.