Ideal Quantity of Guardsman

[BattleKing]

I am having difficulty figuring out the sweet spot on the amount of infantry to take in a 1500 point game. I currently have 90 guardsmen (10 of which are veterans) supported by 3 Company Commanders and a Lieutenant. All 90 are boots on the ground and I have an additional 9 HWTs to either add to the squads or form dedicated HWT squads.

 

I have heard many players suggest that 100 guardsmen would be the minimum they would take unless you were running a mechanized list.

 

 

I just wanted to get players opinions on what works for them?

 

[Wassa]

I rarely take more than 6x infantry squads, usually barebones too.

 

I prefer more vehicles, maybe some hws’s in the rear. Generally my infantry are just there to protect the tanks. If they want to shoot and charge them the men then thats fine!

[domsto]

I play 90 Guardsman.

6 squads with plasma and 3 with plasma and Lascannon.

They make up a good screen and with plasma and lascannons hiden in them they also have a good damage output.

[WarriorFish]

100 sounds plenty, a good number but a bit much for a minimum! At 1500pts 60 troopers is a good number for me too, I don't find that I particularly need more and you can get away with less if you want. Though if you're looking at 40 then you'll want some other units to help fill the role of escort/protection etc as that would be a bit low.

 

I don't think you need to worry about numbers with yours, but as far as defaults go I'd start at 60 at 1500pts and adjust to suit your needs (mission, meta, etc)

[BattleKing]

No right or wrong answer.

 

From a purely analytical perspective though, 6 squads of nothing but riflemen are probably the most efficient, as they let you screen units that can put out superior firepower for cheap.

 

All this is entirely subject to the list and what you want it to achieve. People can write novels on this stuff.

 

You could certainly write a novel on this sort of thing. I keep going back and forth on how many to take.

 

I always saw guard as a horde like army and I initially set out with a goal of hitting 150 troops.  At 600 points bare-bones that seemed appealing!

 

However, once I hit the 90 mark I feel like I have enough now. I have a mix of flamers (4) and plasma (4) in 8 squads. And in the Veteran squad I have 3 meltaguns.  Not sure how competitive the meltaguns are as you pay through the nose for them! Especially when I pack them into a Chimera.

[duz_]

The majority of this editon I've only run 3-4 infantry squads and then the difference in Scion squads to make up 2 dual battalions
I've not had an issue with that build so far?

Depends what style of guard list you want to play and what your strategy is

If its drown them in so many squads and bodies that they can't all be removed then yes, I'd say at least 6 squads would be required 

[WarriorFish]

There's also logistical concerns; more models means more to carry, plus this can slow games down (unless you use movement trays). Plus from a meta point of view horde is strong in 8th, so it might be nicer not to overload your opponent too much ;)

 

Melta has always been one of my favourite weapons (along with flamers, naturally), but it's hard to love in 8th. They still do good work for me but it can be hard to get in range and you really want it on a BS3+ platform. Scions are my delivery platform of choice currently :)

[FallenSoldiers]

“more” is almost always the correct answer.

[sairence]

Never took more than 60 in 8th. I actually like to finish games.

[FallenSoldiers]

Movement trays + assault dice app = no issues on time even when running upwards of 100 infantry models

[Escaflowne_Z]

In previous editions, I would play two platoons of 30 plus command squads, plus 3-4 more squads of veterans, back when they could take doctrines.  Nowadays, since they removed platoon combining as a standard option, I take 30-40 guardsmen, plus two squads of veterans in my normal lists in 8th edition.  I really miss the old platoon rules. 

[MARK0SIAN]

Ive found anything more than 80 tends to be redundant in most games. 80 can do all the jobs I need for infantry with some redundancy built in and I then tend to rely on my tanks to actually do the killing.

 

I’m not sure how well this advice is going to hold up against the incoming ork codex though. I’ve got a feeling they’re going to make Eldar look like Grey Knights so I’m anticipating needing a lot more sacrificial units.

[Halfpint100]

I usually run 60-80 infantry and 1-3 HWT. Potentially with a command squad, a smattering of characters and lots of tanks

[sairence]

Movement trays + assault dice app = no issues on time even when running upwards of 100 infantry models

I have rarely moved my guys in ways that movement trays would help with. They look nice but in practical terms I'd take them off the tray almost all the time, to fit in cover or to wrap around something...so it'd defeat the point.

 

What dice rolling app would you recommend? Never used one.

[duz_]

There is an offical GW one Assault Dice

 

http://assaultdice.com/

 

Takes some practice getting used but helpful

[noigrim]

too much is never enough XD

 

seriously tho I'm aiming at 120 to create a pair of battalions

[librisrouge]

More.

[GuardDaddy]

I use a lot of infantry. Time issue is not something I've come across. But that's because I have multiple simple units so dice rolling easy. Im rarely splitting fire beyond hwt/swt at something then offloading lasguns into something. The dice app duz linked is great for that. I like it a lot. In fact I'm so sad I sometimes use it when list building get a feel for weight of fire... I know j can go the math easy enough just like seeing what it looks like on a few roles....