Blanks

To field squads of guardsmen with nothing but lasguns is an ok idea. Imagine, an army of 200 guardsmen, for around 1000 points. Not bad. But when you really break the numbers down. You end up with something sad. The lasgun just plain sucks. It's not the guardsman's fault that he has the worst weapon in the entire game. But the fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter how many bodies you put out there, when they just can't kill anything. Lets look at it this way. The real pay out, is that for every 3 squads of well equipped (using that phrase lightly) guardsmen, you can field 4 blanks. I'm sorry, but my money is on the guys who have 6 shots that instantly kill guardsmen going down range at 48 inches. I mean really, the trade off is just not worth it. However. If your goal isn't killing the enemy at all, but instead to simply be more survivable... well, there's a better way to do that too... its called forward sentry veterans. clocking in at twice the price in points, I would put my money on the ten men with a 3 up save (2+ if go to ground) over the twenty 4+s any day. And for less money too.

All in all, blanks are a great choice if you are Donald Trump, and cost is simply not a factor. But at that point, if you're just going for bodies on the table, consider conscripts.