New 8th player, basic IG army building questions

[Gravelight]

Hi everyone. I'm getting back into the game and have a ton of Imperial Guard models from storage, so I'm starting with them as my first army. There are others I want to play as well, but I figure with what I own I can get a good base army and ally in things I like as I go on. I want to build my regiment based on what I like most about the Guard, which is basic meat and potatoes stuff and nothing horribly fancy. So....infantry and tanks, basically. I don't mind the odd Sanctioned Psyker, but I shy away from Abhumans and Stormtroopers (Militarum Tempustus now?).

The first thing I'm really curious about is how many officers to keep around. The way the slots are set up I figure I can pull off a Brigade pretty easily, so I'll have six infantry squads of some configuration. I don't know how many orders I should have available to pass around such a force. I'm also curious how officers deal with speed issues. If I give movement orders to infantry I can see them getting out of range. Or do you just stick a vox on everything and hold officers back with more static squads? Also curious how important Comissars are, since they work very differently from the last time I played and I don't know how many I want around or how to equip them. Would an infantry force work well in this fashion or should I have some Chimeras around to ferry important stuff?

I'm also wondering if you run squads you expect to be giving the First Rank Fire etc. order, is it wise to run them only with default lasguns?

Finally, of course I'm planning to run tanks. Just reading the base rules, infantry with little to no transports and tanks seems to benefit well from the Tallarn doctrine. Are there other doctrines I should be looking at as a new player? Tallarn just jumped out to me.

[Kinstryfe]

I've found most people run either Catachan or Cadian, depending on the tanks they take. My army runs Catachan and is pretty similar to how you described, infantry and some tanks. Tankwise, I pretty much run Basilisks, Russes or Tank Commanders, and Hellhounds, all of which can benefit from the doctrine. My infantry squads are usually one of three types. Mobile screens just get a flamer or grenade launcher, line squads get a plasmagun, and backfield squads get a plasmagun and sometimes a heavy weapon team. I also always run 6 squads minimum, and games above 1k I'm pretty much always running 8+. Usually I also run some mortar heavy weapon squads as well. Due to all of the infantry I usually run 3 company commanders for 6 orders per turn, and occasionally will add platoon commanders as points increase. I don't usually bother with transports because in a pinch a squad can be ordered to run like the wind across the board. Positioning is important for this. You want the unit you'll order basically the full 6" in front of the officer to maximize range if you're not running voxes.

 

Frfsrf planned units, I still give a plasmagun. Losing a few lasgun shots is usually worth the trade-off for having a threatening gun in the unit.

 

Whichever doctrine you use, just make sure to use the benefits fully. That means cadians tend to stay put, Catachans you should be willing to charge and use that s4 in combat when it's helpful, and tallarns you'll want to keep mobile and make use of that. Hope this helps your planning.

[Gravelight]

Thank you, Kinstryfe. This may be kind of a weird question, but do I have to use Catachan models if I want to make a regiment use the Catachan rule? Everything I own is standard Cadian pattern infantry, although I'm making a custom regiment.

[GuardDaddy]

Play as whatever regiment you like as long as opponant clear.

 

In regards to original post be aware of 'the rule of 3' for 2k pts size battles using matched play rules. This limits you to only 3 of each data sheet except for troops/tranports.

 

So only 3 company commanders for example.

[Kinstryfe]

In theory, any guard sized model with appropriate guns can be used as any regiment. Given that only 2 regiments are readily available from GW, I've never ran into anyone questioning that as long as you're very clear about it with your opponent. Now, if you're using Cadian or Catachan plastics as something else, it may be a good idea to not paint them in the studio's exact colour scheme just to avoid confusion, but even that is just a suggestion. But red armoured Cadians or black clothed Catachans? Obviously a different regiment that just happens to use those doctrines.

 

The only thing you should try to do to avoid confusion for both yourself and your opponent is to make sure that if you're using multiple doctrines in separate detachments (like Cadian infantry in a battalion and Catachan tanks in a spearhead detachment) that you make sure that those models are somehow distinguishable from each other, especially if things overlap (5 Cadian infantry squads, then 2 Catachan squads I'm the other detachment). I've seen people try it without a way of telling them apart and it's almost always a huge mess.

[GuardDaddy]

You can get Brigade easily and that gives lots of command points (CP). These give 'buffs' and are a big part of 8th edition. You are correct about procimity of officers to give orders - but as they are generally pretty poor they can advance )(run) and still give orders. You can also move a couple of squad models and chain back so squad is within 6" order bubble. Or use vox as you say.

[Gravelight]

Thank you. I was only really concerned because there are Catachan models. I also wasn't planning on using more than one doctrine and will be painting them as a my own custom regiment so that shouldn't be an issue. I must have missed the rule of three so I appreciate that.

If I have enough heavies is a separate Spearhead detachment a good idea to give my Leman Russes the Defenders of Humanity rule? And do you like to give your Sergeants anything like a boltgun, or just keep them baseline and cheaper?

[Kinstryfe]

If it's a larger game and I'm running a third detachment, it'll often be a spearhead of Russes. Why not? Very occasionally it can come in handy.

 

Personally I keep my Sergeants bare. I know some people advocate for a Bolter for them, but I actually like having the 3 s4 attacks from a chainsword because I tend to play them a bit bloodthirsty.

[The Titanz0r]

If I have enough heavies is a separate Spearhead detachment a good idea to give my Leman Russes the Defenders of Humanity rule? And do you like to give your Sergeants anything like a boltgun, or just keep them baseline and cheaper?

 

 

If it's a larger game and I'm running a third detachment, it'll often be a spearhead of Russes. Why not? Very occasionally it can come in handy.

 

Personally I keep my Sergeants bare. I know some people advocate for a Bolter for them, but I actually like having the 3 s4 attacks from a chainsword because I tend to play them a bit bloodthirsty.

 

I put my Russ tanks into their own Spearhead, lead by a Tank Commander. I run my main line as Armageddon, and the Spearhead as Tallarn. Anything that wants to move and still be able to shoot, like Sentinels and Russ tanks, goes into my Tallarn detachment. The ObSec on the Russ tanks does help, as well, since you can just park one on an objective and force your opponent to deal with it. My Infantry are all Steel Legion with Plasma Guns, for the 18" rapid fire range. This has helped more than a little.

 

I'm a strong advocate for bolters on the Sergeants. For a negligible 1 point, your NCO can actually contribute to a fire fight instead of just using harsh language. Keep in mind, the bolter is only a replacement for the laspistol. The chainsword is a separate option for 0 points, so you gain nothing by not taking it. All my Sergeants have a bolter and chainsword. If you're running Catachan, you'd get 5 S4 attacks (2 from the rapid fire bolter, and 3 from the chainsword) on your turn for shooting and fighting.

[Wassa]

First Rank Fire Second Rank Fire should be your most common order.

 

There are times when you'd want to use others though:

- Take Aim for Heavy Weapon Squads, or back field squads with only the Heavy Weapon in range, especially as Cadian.

- Get Back In The Fight, for falling back and shooting.

- Fix Bayonets, for a free fight phase in your shooting phase (very useful as Catachans). Bonus points if you kill the enemy as they can then shoot afterwards.

- Move Move Move for grabbing objectives or moving when you're out of range anyway.

 

There are some special Regimental orders too but they are very situational.

 

 

As far as Regiments go it depends on your playstyle:

 

- Cadians are best for shooting in large groups, and sacrifice movement for reroll 1s. On their own it doesn't seem that good, but they can buff their whole army to have Marine accuracy against a single target each turn which will eliminate threats turn 1. They also have the Relic of Lost Cadia allowing a 24" bubble of reroll 1s to hit and wound, rerolling all failed hits and wounds against Chaos. They have a tank order allowing them to reroll the number of shots for the main turret weapon.

 

- Catachans are the strongest infantry and they hit like marines in close combat. Their vehicles can also reroll the number of shots for all random shot weapons. They can be buffed to get 3 attacks each (4 on sergeant, and another if he has a chainsword), so these are really the only regiment where you want to upgrade their close combat weapons. The order to make them fight again in the shooting phase can be devastating to enemies who think you're rubbish in combat.

 

- Tallarn are your most mobile regiment and can deep strike men and tanks which can be surprising.  They can move their vehicles and shoot without penalty, and can move, shoot, and move back with an order. But they don't get any buffs to shooting or combat.

[duz_]

Welcome to the Barracks!

 

There's already been good advice so far

 

We also had some discussion around the various units early in the edition

Those can be found in the resource thread here

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/264401-astra-militarum-resources/

 

Straying away from Bullgryns would be a shame this edition

Leman Russes and Hellhounds and great and Mordians are clearly the best regiment ;)

[Schlitzaf]

Going to put a shout out to my Vostroyans; Vostroyans have nice Doctrine (+6” range/15” rapid for affected Weapons is nothing to sneeze at). Their strategem +1 to hit, is actually super nice, I use with with my Plasma And Heavy Teams. Our order is meh, espacially considering fallback and shoot order. But it has its niche applications. One of the best little things about Vostroya. Is we can make an appreciable good combat character. Company Commander with w/Power Fist And Vostroya Relic/WT. 2+/5+, S6 hitting on 4’s, rerolling everything. It’s no Straken but half the points.

 

In general Vostroya is nice as a support force because hang back and in backfield, while still contributing.

[HallofStovokor]

So, here's the trick with officers. You should have enough to order ever infantry squad in your army. Cadians can sneak by with less due to their warlord trait which allows them to order issue an order and have another unit within 6" get the order for free. Only Cadians and Catachan can take 4 HQ slots that can order troops (company commanders and Creed or Straken respectively). Other regiments will supplement this with platoon commanders. Here's what each regiment is good at.

 

Cadia: massed fire, artillery, tanks, and holding ground.

Catachan: Artillery, tanks, melee, taking ground.

Tallarn: movement, deepstrike, taking ground and tanks.

Valhalla: tanks (tanks degrade slower), morale (relic to make infantry fearless) , massed infantry (they can bring back a killed unit).

Vostroyans: ranged fire.

Mordian: Morale, overwatch

Tempestus Scions: Deepstrike, movement, accuracy, special weapons.

 

Each regiment plays slightly different, but every regiment except scions has can perform each battlefield role you might need. Scions are a special case, as they have no heavy support or fast attack choices. Most people play them in other armies so they can cover what weaknesses of other regiments.