Using Stormtroopers

Lets face it, Stormtroopers are awesome, but they aren't the super-warriors they are cracked up to be. With a modest improvement in morale, and a minimal increase in ballistic skill, the only thing they really have going for them is their equipment, which is mediocre at best. And all this clocks in at 16 points a model. All that said, they do have their uses, mainly coming in the form of their Special Operations special rule. Basically you can either more accurately deepstrike, infiltrate/pin, or scouts. You have to choose these beforehand, but they make a world of difference. The other thing that makes a big difference is their loadout. Now for some odd reason they don't get as many special weapons as veterans, but they get more than standard guys, so go figure. With only two special weapons, you have to choose wisely. I either use plasmaguns, or nothing. See when you take plasmaguns you still get that awesome low AP and with higher strength. Now the hotshot has a lot of power on its own...well AP power...not really strength lol (would it have killed GW to have made it str4?) anywho, the whole point of this squad is to fight high armoured units so you want to take things that help you do that. I'd love to say there was more to it.... so I will... I posted an article earlier, and it has a few more tips...

semper gumbi (always adaptable)

Now I've never been a fan of jack of all trade units...on a large scale. While it's better for the unit, it's worse for the force as a whole. Because they end up effective at nothing or rediculously expensive in points. So I've done my best to avoid these type units.

That said, I have one in my list. See, having one unit that can do just about anything, is worth it as you always have a unit that's right for the job. Now I've done my best not to make this unit over powered, because that's just not fun to play against. So here's what I have and then what would be the best possible unit:

What I have:

sergeant Bastone

sniper rifle

heavy flamer

plasmagun

grenadiers

rocket launcher

best loadout:

sergeant bastone

3 plasmaguns

grenadiers

rocket launcher

Now what makes this unit so great? first of all, bastone can give orders, infact he's better than any lieutenant, and since he's leadership 10, he rarely fails. Now why grenadiers its so expensive in points? Well for starters, I wanted this unit to have some degree of survivability out of cover, because I've already invested a lot in them, and second, because with a plasmagun, there's now only an 8% chance of user death.

It's worth the high points to have the ability to do anything, granted they won't be going out and killing everything, but it's nice to have the option, and flexibility.

how to stop a WAAAGH!!!

A measly 5 orks on the charge, as long as one is a nob with a powerklaw, can kill around 15 guardsmen no problem. That's right, you pretty much have to kill the orks to the last one to prevent the death of your men. Well, the first row of your men anyway. So how do we deal with the onrush of boyz? First and foremost, they boyz are the greatest threat to a horde guard army, forget the killakanz forget the lootas, forget the deffkoptas, focus everything you've got on the boyz. The killakanz go down eazy with autocannons, lascannons, and tanks. The lootas are a bit of a threat, but in the end they won't make a big enough dent, as their BS is awful. And lets face it, who actually fears deff koptas?

So how do we kill the boyz? pinning won't work, with the mob rule. lasguns just aren't powerful enough. and autocannons don't have a high enough rate of fire. The answer? blast weapons. The basalisk and leman russ in particular, because they cause instant death, and are large blast. That said, it's still not enough, that's where the lasguns come in. Is there anything that can be done other than just shooting the whole game? well, not really. A thought however is to tank shock a unit of small boyz. see death or glory is kinda stupid, I always do it just cuz it's epic, but it's a terrible plan, and a great way to kill a nob with a powerklaw. And if they don't death or glory, then they are moving backwards, which is even better.

Terminators? ...fuck.

Of all the units in the game, one of the ones I fear the most is terminators. Should I really be afraid?

Statistically, if thirty five guardsmen each got two shots, statistically thirty five would be hits, 11 or so would wound, and then only one would manage to make it's way through the armor. So with that in mind, an entire platoon of guardsmen, firing rapid fire, will not manage to even put an actual dent in the terminators.

What's the answer? well, they were using lasguns, lets run those statistics with my current platoon loadout. The unit has quite a few plasma weapons, and other AP2 and AP1 weapons, meaning approximately four terminators would die from their fusillade. That's infinitely better, but still not enough. Those terminators are going to be in close combat next turn, where there is simply no hope for our guardsmen.

What can we do when Terminators deepstrike? First, back up. A lot. Then when the termi's move forward, they still won't be in range. So what you want to do is pour fire on them, and to prevent them from killing your entire force, surge one squad forward, so you still get all your killing power, and the termis don't get the charge, tying up one expensiveass unit for at least two turns, especially if you have a commissar, or a standard bearer.

In the end will you ever kill all the terminators? yes, but the key here is to feed them units to tie them up, on average they will come in on turn two or three. Meaning no close combat until turn four or five if you manage to back up fast enough. And then they can't really make a difference now can they? ...what? you mean they managed to prevent a platoon from firing for a turn? and still killed a few squads? yes, but hey, this is the only way short of loading up on lascannons (a pussy move btw) to prevent total annihilation, so get over it.

fields of armor

I usually am not a fan of playing treadhead type units. Hell for the longest time I only fielded one tank, and that was just because the original guard starter box had it. Well, know as my army nears it's zenith in size, I find myself wishing for more armor. See, the leman russ has amazing capabilities for the cost, however, that makes it a bitch to play against. My solution? squadrons. Fielding 3 tanks as one unit of beastemodeness. My squadron commander will be my older tank, so that it stands out, and my two new tanks will be the regular units in the squadron.
commander loadout:
stubber
bolter sponsons
lascannon

standard loadout:
....what? I didn't change anything from the normal russ.

so together they clock in at exactly 500 points, which is my limit for what these guys could cost. So why field this unit in the first place? other than just being badass, and pretty fluffy too, there are benefits to squadrons. Primarily crew stunned now = crew shaken. Other than that, you have to fire at the closest tank, so if you work that tank into cover, the rest don't even need it and they still benefit from it. Not to mention if you field these tanks separately they can't see or shoot through one another, as a unit they no longer have that problem.

So what's the goal of this unit? three things:
one: soak up fire. They are going to be the most obvious threat on the table, so the enemy is going to go apeshit on them, luckily they have the balls to take it.

two: versatility, these guns can kill infantry, tanks, buildings, you name it, they can kill it, and the crappy ballistic skill of guardsmen is negated by the fact its a large blast weapon.

three: space marine killin'. At strength 8 and AP 3 this thing is practically made to kill space marines, so that fills a much needed role in my army.


lastly, why the switch to treadhead lovin all the sudden?
well, first off, I was watching full metal jacket (favorite movie btw) and I saw the guys marchin' behind the tanks and just thought for a moment about how awesome it would be to see guard doin that. Secondly, I recently bought a new army case (a tackle box) and realized the motor pool at the bottom was sadly only filled with a few vehicles, with plenty of room to spare, so that's just begging for more tanks. All in all, I'm not switching to treadhead, or mech, and I'm fielding a lot of heavy tanks, in a manner that isn't overpowered, and still looks cool to play with or against.