struggling vs 2+

[noigrim]

My guard is composed of infantry with a single plasma and mortars and have a hard time vs 2+. Any ideas to fix this?

[WarriorFish]

Spam fire is the classic response, as weight of dice remove any problem (the question is how long it takes ). However as this is more of a fallback, so it's best when supplemented with some more dedicated fire power. A load of lasguns can plink wounds off, this is great to finish units off so you can focus your heavier guns on the next target but isn't effective enough as the primary solution.

 

If you're sticking with infantry then you're more limited in options, but there's still plenty to choose from. As a couple of examples some heavy bolters with their higher strength can put some wounds on, and that -1AP helps show the difference between a 2+ and 3+. If high strength isn't that necessary, perhaps some Scions could be the answer? Even if you're not thinking Hotshots they can load up on plasma (on BS3+ too)

 

It'd help if you let us know what type of 2+ save you're having difficulties with too

[FallenSoldiers]

What type of force do you usually run? What are the 2+ saves on? Leman Russ Battle Cannons do well as do Basilisks.

 

The other option is strictly weight of fire. Dropping lots of mortars on a terminator will eventually cause them to fail so 2+

[Frater Cornelius]

My guard is composed of infantry with a single plasma and mortars and have a hard time vs 2+. Any ideas to fix this?

Moar dakka. No seriously, that's pretty much it. Between cover, the new Stratagem, invulnerable saves and so forth, high AP weapons on 4+ tonhit infantry are not going to make much of a dent.

 

The best -2 and -3 weapons can be found on tanks. A Leman Russ, Marticore and Basilisk does a solid job. I am partial to the Russ myself.

 

On infantry, unless you plan to run Plasma Scions, I would recommend weight of fire. It is cheap, it is not subject to random swings, unlike single shot guns, on 4+ models, and it will do a decent job. I am looking at Heavy Bolters, Mortars, FRFSRF and all that. It will also help you against the inevitable horde armies that break up the 2+ save bonanza once in a while.

 

Beyond that, Knights bring more of that juicy -2AP on a very reliable platform. I consider -2 to be the sweet spot against most mainstream armies.

[KillerClamato]

Disclaimer: For this post I will assume 2+ save means TEQ models.

Infantry in a guard list will typically do terribly against TEQ, for a few reasons. These factors are:

1. Low BS - 4+ is not great. That means even under ideal shooting conditions - no modifiers - a guardsman will only hit half the time.

2. Low strength. The basic infantry small arm of the guard is a lasgun. S3 AP0 wounds most models in the game on a 5, which means those half hits only a third will go through. Regardless of how you compose your guard list, your infantry will primarily be armed with either this gun or its slightly punchier, shorter-ranged cousin, the Hot-shot lasgun.

3. Poor special weapon density. Guard infantry squads allow one special weapon and one heavy weapon. Unlike their Astartes counterparts in a Tactical Squad, for instance, who can take one special/heavy weapon per 5 models in a tactical squad, plus a combi on the sergeant. Tac squads are hardly gunfighters by any stretch of the imagination, I realize this, but I am merely using their loadout options to illustrate a point.

I am of course only speaking of the infantry squad in those points. Should we shift to Heavy Weapons squads or Special weapon squads, or even the Scion or Regular command squads, you can fix the 3rd and 2nd factors, but at the cost of resilience. Even parked in cover, four to six guardsmen (or three two-wound guardsmen in the case of HWS's) will not survive even the most advantageous exchanges with an opposing force.

Scion squads do a little better - they have great BS, they can take big squads with transports, mitigating resiliency, and they have better special weapon density than an infantry squad, plus Hotshots do apply a hefty AP penalty to the enemy. However, the vast majority of the weapons in the squad are still S3.

So what is good at killing TEQ in a guard list? Vehicles. Simply put, vehicles. These are the platforms in a guard list that most efficiently carry the requisite High STR, High AP, multiple damage weapons that make short work of these types of models. I see those have already been mentioned in the thread, so I will not beat a dead horse, but that is what I recommend. 

If you do plan on sticking with infantry, take your Anti-TEQ options redundantly, as in, more than one. Take two. Three if you can, because most will not survive first contact with the opposing force, and it would be best to put them in transports so you can control when and where their firepower can be utilized.