grenadiers

Every now and then I am reminded that Imperial Guard are only supposed to be good at one thing, and that's gunlines. There's really no way around it, Imperial Guard are at their best when in a giant line, and all firing their guns.
However, I always have tried to find ways around it, from using a few stormtroopers to using mass assaults, from ogryns to rough riders, I've tried em all.
Today we'll be focusing on Grenadiers. Now there are a few ways to go about using regular guardsmen and the best way is to use veterans with the grenadiers doctrine. Now these men are double the points of regular Guardsmen, therefore you can only take half as many, but with increased BS and increased armor, you have a unit that can assault fairly well, just remember that the more of these men the better, however, don't skimp out on them either, because a unit with three plasma guns is more than worth it's point cost when it comes to Space Marines anyway.
As far as using them, if your opponent is a gunline, then run up the table using straken to give a well timed move move move order or two, using cover as you go, and when you finally get there, if its another IG army, get the regular guardsmen first, they should fold like paper, ifnore the heavy weapons for now, they are surprisingly resilient in assault, and shouldn't be firing at you since your in close combat. pretty much follow what can fold like paper first, other than that, you might want to consider dodging the tougher enemy troops, as they are likely to kill your guardsmen pretty easily. In the end these men should be well supported by heavy tanks and or artillery, use those supports to kill the things that you know your guardsmen will have the most trouble assaulting.

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.

Caught in the Devil's Rope

Barbed Wire, Razorwire, Devil's Rope, Satan's Hedge, so many names, all given to one thing, and it's been relatively left out of warhammer. The rule's that are scattered about the books state that it acts as both difficult and dangerous terrain. Big whoop, one in six men should die, who cares? Well, I do.

For starters, how do you make it? Well, hopefully before noon tomorrow (Sunday), I can put a video up and instruct you guys how to make it, it's ridiculously easy, and undeniably useful.

Now, how do we use it? For defenders there is one concept I want you to grasp: Barbed wire is a tool to control your opponent with. Use it to effect his decisions, like where to assault, where to manoeuvre, and most importantly, where to avoid. People are just damn reluctant to trudge into barbed wire. Place barbed wire where you are weak, and if you did it right, and your opponent doesn't always think things through, he will either put too much, or too little pressure on that spot, either way, you win. In short, while it won't kill a lot of guys, it will affect your opponent's decisions, in a positive way for you. For example, if you place your trenches forward and center, and place a forest of razorwire in front of it, spread your line a little thinner than you would normally, but spread them out so they look bigger, your opponent will concentrate on this area with most of his forces. Leaving the rest of his forces spread thin, and unable to cope with the firepower of your remaining units. However, doing this will leave your center broken, plan for this, and you should make it out ok, just make your opponent split his forces again, each half going after the half of your army, and again, due to the way your forces will split, you will have the upperhand, and in the end, victory. The other option your opponent has, is to avoid the center all together, in which case, just sit tight in the trenches, and pour your forces to the weaker side of your opponent's battleline. At this point you control most of the board, if its annihilation though, your going to have to kill the rest, but life in the Guard isn't supposed to be easy.

Well, that's all nice, but what if I find myself heading into the hornets nest? Well, to be entirely honest, just keep on running in, razorwire will slow you down a little, but in the end it won't change the outcome of a battle, so if you're going through Hell, keep going!

Hunting Rhinos

Imagine stalking the crater pocked battlefield with a rocketlauncher pressing it's weight into your shoulder. The seemingly quiet moments before you hear the low growl of your prey. Totally ignoring the rest of the battle as you take a knee. Squinting as you press your eyes to the viewfinder and aim, slowly, deliberately...

Now here we have a unique dilemma for any army, how to deal with the rhino rush. Simply outmanoeuvre it, and present it only with options you preplanned. For example, lets pit two squads, a platoon command squad, and an autocannon heavy weapons team, against ten Space Marines in a rhino. Set it up with the autocannons a little further back in the center, the squad on your right with the platoon command squad, and the other squad on the left, but within four inches of the autocannon team. Alright, the rhino should play like Space Marines, and attempt to crash into what looks like a gunline. Once he is approximately one turn away, I'd say about 14 or so inches, use the command squad to give the MMM order to the squad next to it and run them up the right, trying to get in range of the side armor. Then use your squad on the left and run them forward and a hair left getting very close to the rhino. If your like me and have grenade launchers in your platoon command squad fire all of them at the side, seeing as they used their MMM order on the other squad. Now the rhino has an interesting choice, do I disembark? move in any particular direction? stay put? Well, if he runs away, you win. If he gets out, he has to wait to assault, so you can now out manoeuvre him or shoot him down if you've got the chops. If he stays put, no matter what direction he turns the rhino, its side or rear armor will be available to one of your forces, which should at the very least have a grenade launcher, though I highly recommend bringing rocket launchers, at least one per platoon. There is no right answer for the Space Marine Player. You have provided him with the illusion of coming within a hair's width of breaking your line, and replaced it with him naked and in the open.

Inner Conflict

One of the stranger things you will likely have to face at some point, is another Guard army, or whatever army it is you collect. I recently discovered a new pocket of wargamers, with the somewhat disheartening news that 2 or 3 of them, already play Guard. Which has spurred me into a, how to kick my own ass, lesson.

First off, lets talk about how I would kill me. If it's annihilation, then I have combined squads, don't bother trying to kill those straight up, pin them. With mortars, firing at compact units of Guardsmen pretty much guarantees a pinn. Then chip away the rest of my army, until you have to deal with the bigger formations. If it's objectives, place your objectives as far away from my army as possible, and in open ground. If it's firebase, then again, place it in open ground. In conventional warfare, you just can't beat Guard, they will hammer you into the ground, and then shit on the dust that were your remains. So that said, that's how I'd kick my own ass. No, I will not reveal my counterstrategies, there have to be some secrets, especially considering they will probably read this.

Second, lets see how to deal with treadheads. It should go without saying but, bring lots of heavy weapons. Second, there is an unexpected route Guard can take, and that is the priest. Now I've always been a fan of the priest, but it wasn't until recently I truly advocated vehicular destruction with him. all he needs to do is roll his 2d6 and get 5 or higher, and your vehicle is at the very least unable to fire. There is yet another, and even cooler way to take out tanks than those mentioned above. My personal favorite style of tank warfare, is, well, tankwarfare. That's right, tank V tank. I will almost always have the upper hand here, with my tank ace in my Vanquisher, good luck there with your Russes. Now if you want to have a vanquisher just for this, I recommend just the bare minimum here, camonetting, and that's it. No stubber, no sponsons, no heavy armor, just the tank ace and camonetting, this is pure tankhunting. Now how to deal with the tanks. First thing you want to do is target the single tanks, more than likely they aren't using squadrons, if so, probably just one. Then deal with the tougher nuts to crack, that way they can't target as many units, minimizing casualties, which is what my support vehicle (in this case my vanquisher) is trying to do the whole time. Now that you have one unit of a few tanks, close combat is best, denying them those coversaves, if you can run a squad with meltabombs out there, or use stormtroopers also sporting handy meltabombs, then you've got them where you want them.

Lastly, how to deal with mechanized, this is a piece of cake to deal with, first off, bring lots of autocannons (check), bring lots of grenade launchers, missile launchers, and meltabombs (check, check, check) and well, let them come to you (CHECK). I personally hate mechanized forces, it's a waste of points, especially for Guard. But there is another trick for wiping the floor with mech, and that is the killzone. Once you have destroyed/immobilised the transport, they will bring them out of the back, and the rest of your army, who can't Peirce tank armor, are just itching to mow them down. Now they are stuck, if you have barage weapons, now is the time to use them, once pinned, attempt to maneuver a small force to either finish them off, or force them to move into the field of fire provided by the rest of your force.

I am the LAW (light anti-tank weapon)

I'm about to eat my own words. I have, as of about 6 hours ago, fallen in love with the missile launcher. I have always disliked it, and failed to see the practicality of it. Until today. During a lecture at one of my classes, I had the image of Imperial Guardsmen trudging through a jungle, and for some reason in my mind I pictured one of the Guardsmen having a LAW on his back. Then it hit me. Just having the rocketlauncher doesn't mean you have to fire it. With that in mind, I modeled my men accordingly. Now I can keep my previous strategy, but if the need arises, I have some anti-tank power too.

Now with my new found realization, comes some questions. First, when to use the LAW. Simply put, on defense. You see, part of my strategy is to forgo the whole static gunline, in favor of a torrent of Guardsmen pouring into the meatgrinder, or straight up outmaneuvering you. With the MMM! order (it's magically Delicious) Guardsmen are the fastest foot mobile army around, we don't need transports, and people don't expect that. So adding a heavy weapon greatly hinders this, because you can't fire it and move. Well, for some reason I pictured having a heavy weapon meant standing still, and I bet that's what my opponent will think too. Second, when is it good. Basically, against transports, and Space Marines, if you hit a Space Marine, he is dead, no rolling. That's one of the main reasons I brought the LAW on board, as a lasgun has a 13% chance of killing a Marine, I figured 15 points is enough to have a 50% chance.

Now finally, are LAWs right for your army? If you fight Space Marines a lot, yeah. Otherwise, not so much, but hey, when is a Light Anti-tank Weapon a bad thing?

Recruiting

One of the things that I feel a little guilty about, is recruiting new players, but it's also damn fun, and keeps the hobby interesting. If you play this game, odds are, either you got someone into this game, or someone got you into it, there is just no way around it, it's a two person game.

Now you could argue that I am doing a good thing, bringing something this awesome into someone's life, but to be honest, I wish I had never heard of warhammer, because I am far more than addicted, its just so damn awesome.

Now recruiting new players means a few things, first it means, getting them to choose an army. Next getting them to buy the army. Then, getting them to assemble and paint the army. But wait, there's more, it means getting them to learn the rules. That is a lot of stuff, and certainly not for the faint of heart.

Getting them to choose the army, while difficult, is the easiest step, pretty much because it's free, and requires no commitment. If you're like me, then you spend countless hours simply finding ways to categorize armies, like comparing each army to a metallica song, or nation in world war two, or even shapes. I know that makes no sense, but I get bored easily. I personally find the person will automatically have a connection with the army, and choose pretty quickly on their own.

Next comes the big hurdle. The deal breaker. The heartbreaking point of no return. Breaking it to them how much this is gunna cost. I have spent more money then I dare look at, on this game. If you can get someone to buy an army, then you've got them.

Next comes the tender love and care they must put into their army. This is a process that will give them the personal touch, and the reason to fight. Sadly, this is the least paid attention to part. Please, care about your army, and give them a narrative.

Lastly, getting them to learn the rules, this is the fun part, but also a headache inducing part. For me, the rules are second nature, I simply don't even have to think about them anymore, but God forbid, I have to explain why it is the way it is. There is no way around it, you are going to have some long matches, that are filled with lots of re-reading rules. My first three matches were all over 7 hours long, and that was with only 1000 points, go figure.



Now all these steps, and procedures mean nothing if you can't hook the person to begin with. For me the easiest way to do this, is to show them your army. Just have a friend come over, to watch the big game, easy because the super bowl is coming up. While they are there, you will just happen to walk by your army on a grand display. Pretending to be embarrassed you attempt to hide your ode to nerd-dom. Seeing this as some dirt to get under you they pry further, however, they are inherently jealous, as they are impressed by your awesome collection. Then, after giving your story of how great the 41st millennium is, you can ask them if they want to play. They almost always say yes, so long as you smell nice. Then while you are playing, bend the rules. Bend the rules, a whole stinkin' lot. Trust me, they have no idea why they are rolling the dice, and they never remember the rules the first time around, they aren't invested that much in it yet. When they have the match of a lifetime, thanks to your impromptu rule changing, they will have had so much fun, that you can then begin spinning your web.

Of course that makes us sound evil, but who doesn't love being the bad guy every now and then?

A Guided Tour Through an Imperial Guard Rifle Platoon

Some of you may notice the Tom Clancy book reference there, if not, check out his book "Marine" it's a fantastic read for military buffs, or proud Americans. Now I am going to take you through the backbone of my Imperial Guard army, the infantry platoon.

For starters, we have the Lieutenant and his bunch, consisting of five lads, we have the Lieutenant himself, who only carries a chainsword and bolt pistol into battle. Next we have his adjutant, a young chap, who has earned the right to carry the platoon standard, which has my trademark, Aquila-planet-anchor (note another Marine reference) symbol as well as a platoon designation. Then we have two Grenadiers and a flamer or a meltagun, depending on how many points I have left. There we have our platoon command squad, perfect for hanging tough with the guys, and there to lead a charge or smash a light tank. The focus of this unit is to stay with the rest of the squads, and make sure they get the job done, no matter the cost, mission first, then troop welfare, then your own welfare, that's how we do it in the 325th.

Next in line are the poor dogfaced soldiers themselves, military men have never been pretty, but by God, we are dependable. Consisting of ten men, a Sergeant armed with a boltpistol, chainsword, and meltabombs, 8 men with lasguns, bayonets, and a whole lotta guts, and lastly a lone man with a grenade launcher. Now, you may be wondering, where in the galaxy are the heavy weapons? Well, they wouldn't be mobile infantry if they were afraid to move up, now would they? Guard are some of the fastest footsloggers in the game, with Move, Move, Move! they easily get the most out of their running. That all being the case, I take advantage of that, and don't bog my lads down with heavy weapons. It's easy to meld the two units together, but they are more effective separate, and prevents that static gunline that looks so good on paper, but in practice, not so great. I usually take three squads of Guardsmen, that gives me a large amount of men, but not necessarily overkill.

Special weapons squads are an often avoided choice by guard players. Most opt for a unit of veterans instead, favoring their higher ballistic skill. Well, when it comes to flamethrowers, ballistic skill doesn't mean shit. For more on my special weapons, search for my combat engineers, they are the subject of another article.

Lastly we have the heavy weapons teams, these are wonderful given the right circumstance, used improperly, and you've wasted your points, and more importantly, your money. Now, I prefer to take different heavy weapons per platoon, but there is one mainstay through out all of my platoons, and that's the autocannon, I field six of them for every platoon, that's two units of three for you numbnuts out there. The autocannon is my absolute workhorse, when I point them at you, you die, plain and simple, and with range 48, I can point them very far indeed. Now for one of my platoons I take a team of mortars, this provides the barrage, and pinning power my lads need to make sure they wipe the table with the softer units. For the rest of my platoons, it's lascannons I bring, they give my men the firepower to crack the toughest nuts.

Best of all, a platoon built in this way is almost exactly 500 points (508 to be exact), so it's easy to build lists. Now how do I use my platoons? Well, in the beginning of the game, I give each platoon a reasonable objective, such as securing a table quarter, or parking in the middle of the board making it difficult for the enemy to move around. Occasionally platoons will need support from other platoons, like in the event of an officer dying, or needing a few extra lascannon shots. Generally, I don't combine squads, unless it's annihilation, or I will be doing a lot of running, in which case one order gives you more bang for your buck when it covers thirty men, instead of ten. I don't combine my squads because I like the autonomy of a squad, if it needs more men, then they are there, if it doesn't, then they can go their separate ways. Multiple squads are also better on defense, where one can go to ground and survive that extra turn of shooting, or one can make a sacrificial charge to cover the retreat.

In the end, I like platoons because I like the men, and never forget the tired, aching, bloody infantry.

Riders of the Rivermark

One unit that I never see, and believe me, I mean never, is rough riders. Why? I read up on them, and they are fantastic, simply throw a unit of them (only 55 points mind you) into a 5 man tac squad of Space Marines, and watch the carnage, statistically they should win the overall combat. Now the key to all this, is the hunting lance, which give you strength five, and initiative five, and counts as a power weapon, suck on that Space Marines. Now, it does have a flaw, in that, it only works one time, but by the end of that combat, they should be half dead anyway, but hey, 55 points taking out close to a hundred points, not bad, not bad at all. Now, one of the things that you rarely see, is the cavalry special rule, in that they can charge, 12 inches. That means that from 18 inches away they can deliver 11 strength five power weapon hits.

What's the downside to these badasses, well, after their first charge, they aren't much, and the fact they are WS3. Other than that, you can't ask for much more out of 55 points. But all that aside, why do we see none of them? the answer, is GW's fault. $12 a model, and it's not even cool looking? WTF! The need a plastic kit, and to make these guys look cool, ditch the damn Mongol hats already! Either do that, or I'm converting some Rohirim, to fight alongside my IG. Imagine that, Rohirim with lasguns and flamers, sounds purty cool to me.

Wartorn Streets

After playing a few Cities of Death games, I truly do appreciate the role infantry play in close combat support. People always say it's advantageous to keep a squad of infantry or two near vehicles, so let's take a deeper look into this.

First and foremost, against things like lascannons or other pesky ranged anti-tank, Guardsmen that surround the vehicle provide it with a 50% coversave, this does not mean that they take the shots, simply, they distract the shooter. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly in the confines of Cities of Death, they can screen the vehicle against assaults, you can't charge through a unit to get through to another. As Guardsmen however, when used in this manner, you forfeit their lives, so use this at your own discretion. Thirdly, when used to support one another there is nothing they can't tackle.

Some Guard scenarios often encountered in Cities of Death:

Space Marines: SM's benefit very little from Cityfighting, they have better armor than the cover provides, and their armor goes with them. Guardsmen however, benefit greatly from Cityfighting, using a plethora of cover, and orders to make sure you squeeze every last percent of probability out of them. That said, here's the best way to tackle a squad of Space Marines. Wait for them to come to you, trust me, they will, they think of Guardsmen as squishy, and easily beatable, a perception I love to fuel. Now when they do, make sure you are positioned about 20 inches away, that way, you can have line of sight (LOS), fire on them, and they have to either run to be in rapid fire range, or stay put, where they are at the mercy of your barrage weapons, and platoons of Guardsmen. Tanks are especially handy here, particularly the demolisher, who's short range (only 24') is no problem. Tanks are particularly great against Space Marines, as it denies them their armorsave, and most likely, gives instant death, and with a screening unit of Guardsmen, it should be an especially tough nut to crack.

Tau: Mobile Tau provide an especially daunting experience for Guard players in Cities of Death. They can fly over the buildings and hit your brave Guardsmen from any angle. However, there is a method of easily defeating them. First, when they disembark, hit them with multiple pinning weapons, mortars and sniper rifles are my preferred method, and you need at least two, that insures they will be pinned. Once pinned, charge them, they're only Tau after all, and with a flamer or two (a necessity in Cities of Death) you should wipe them out no problem.

Tanks: Guard have an advantage in both the tank, and screening unit categories here. Their tanks are usually better, and their screening units are cheap and there are plenty to go around. Just make sure you have screening units, and you're Leman Russ's should come out ok. Speaking of the Russ, it's important to know what loadout to take. For starters, the sponsons, just ditch 'em, they will be of little help in the narrow allies, if you want more anti-infantry, the stubber is a better option. Instead of a lascannon or a bolter, a flamer should really help, at the very least, it can clear opposing infantry from buildings. Heavy armor isn't all that necessary here, you should really be parking it anyway, or screening it with units. Dozerblade you can take depending on how much rubble you have.

Tank Hunting: In Cities of Death there is no shortage of vertical terrain, take advantage of this when tank hunting, because the top of a tank has the same value as the rear (yet another advantage for the Demolisher, who has rear 11). Now this works best for me with deepstriking units. Usually an opponent will lock down a street or intersection, so simply drop down with some stormtroopers, with a melta or two, and hit them from above. Killing the tank will immeasurable aid the Guardsmen about to overtake the intersection. All that said, pay attention to the loadouts of your opponent's deepstriking units, so that doesn't happen to you.

Orks: Few armies give my Guardsmen more trouble than Orks. A single Ork Boy, on the charge, could easily expect to kill two or even three Guardsmen. So the trick here, is to bring fewer Guardsmen, and a few more tanks. Now I'm usually no fan of "treadhead" armies, but for Orks I make an exception, especially in Cities of Death. A few Punishers will wreak havoc against those pesky hordes of Orks, especially if the Guardsmen nearby take the brunt of the assaulting powerclaws. Particularly troubling to me, is that intact buildings provide little help against Orks, saving you only from one round of combat, because the nob in the unit will simply blow it up with his powerclaw. So really, just stay as far away as possible, and get those Punishers out there.

Last Stand

Because I play a horde army, I have a vast collection of models, and this allows me to do things others can't. I often use my collection as a whole for campaigns, things like waiting on reinforcements and such. However more and more, I find myself enjoying custom zombie games. Here are the rules I follow for my zombies, feel free to take or drop what you like.

Zombie: 3pts per model, must come in hordes of 15-30
WS:3 BS:0 S:3 T:4 W:1 I:1 A:1 Ld:10 Sv:- (6+ invulnerable)

Special Rules: Feel no Pain, Fearless, Rage, Vulnerable to Templates
Shambling: must roll D3 and that is how many inches you may move in the movement phase, (you may also run D3, but may assault 6, this is because zombies gain a sense of urgency when attacking to their prey).
Conversion: when a zombie wounds an enemy infantry model, on a 4+ the enemy model is replaced by a zombie under the control of the zombie player (including models with multiple wounds).
Horrifying: any unit that suffers a wound from zombies must take a morale check.
Endless horde: at any point in the zombie players turn he may select a unit of zombies and remove them from play. On that players following turn, that unit arrives at full strength, just like it was at the beginning of the game. It counts as arriving from reserves.
Undead Mob: all models in the unit must be in base to base contact with as many models in the same unit as possible. (this is not necessarily the death penalty for breaking this rule, but simply try and keep them as jampacked as possible, they are zombies after all)


I like to play this with night fighting rules, and the defenders may choose a building or ruin to have a searchlight. I also prefer to play smaller point games, and in very small areas, so the zombies dreadfully slow movement isn't too much of a hindrance. Small points keep it balanced, and more epic looking, since it would be a platoon of Guardsman against over 100 zombies.

The more buildings you have for this the better, because it adds to the zombie theme, and it really helps the zombies out, by blocking line of sight and preventing the rage special rule.

Lastly, keep in mind, this isn't a perfect points value for everyone, because this requires an extensive amount of models, however, I find it the most fun. Here is a higher points zombie, that I don't really use, I am just throwing it out there for people who want a smaller game, but to keep the zombie theme.

New Age Zombie (infected): each model is worth 16 points and must come in units of 15-30
WS:4 BS:0 S:4 T:4 W:1 I:5 A:1 Ld:10 Sv:-

Special Rules: Fleet, Counter-Attack, Fearless, Furious Charge, Night Vision/Acute Senses, Rage, Vulnerable to Blasts/Templates, Endless Horde (see above) Horrifying (see above) Undead Mob (see above)

You'll notice the humour in calling it infected, or a new age zombie, because more and more zombies are no longer what boards where to the Karate flicks of old. It used to be zombies where totally different, I prefer the classic myself, slow shambling easy to kill. Now they are stronger when they are dead? Does that make sense to anyone? I know, they are infected... this is all an argument for another day.

Now the "infected" are a lot stronger than the zombies before, hell, these ones have fleet. These zombies will almost always win on small maps, I like that because I think it adds to the narrative. Now, you'll also take note, that these zombies no longer have the Conversion special rule I gave the old ones, that's because they are already beyond great. Now clocking in at 16 points, and with no armor save, you can expect to lose an awful lot of them.

Deployment is also key, make sure that the defender is holed up in a city block in the center of the table, then the zombie player may enter from whichever table edge he chooses.

Final words of warning, this is in no way supposed to be a competitive match, just damn(ed) good fun.

Real Fireworks

More and more meltaguns are taking over, the question is, should they be? Just a thought here, don't kick my ass for it, but these are supposed to be rare weapons, and yet, they are probably one of the most common special weapons. Now what if they put a limit, like, 3 Meltas per army? That would certainly be welcomed by me, even though I don't use vehicles that much, I don't use a lot of Melta either. And while we are speaking hypothetically, perhaps it's time to make a new weapon, an LMG would certainly be welcomed on my part, like a S3 assault 3 AP6 weapon, with range 24. I think that'd be nice for sure, I'd put one in all my squads. Now I can hear the griping allready, that's what the Heavy Bolter and other Heavy Weapons are for. Well, two things, first, a Heavy Bolter is the equivilent of a Mk19 Grenade Launcher, it fires 44mm explosive shells, just like the Mk19, only difference is the Heavy Bolter has a rediculously high rate of fire. Now that said, the Heavy Bolter is also a Heavy Weapon, I just want an LMG, you know, Light Machine Gun, one that can be used for offense.

Anywho, my new years Resolution is to learn how to play Warhammer Fantasy as well, I'm torn between Warriors of Chaos, Dwarves (I will forever pronounce it the Tolkien way, the way God intended), and Orcs (no not goblins too). Happy wargaming, and new year.

Vanquisher

Hands down my favorite tank is the Vanquisher, there isn't a vehicle in the game (apocalypse withstanding) that has a chance in hell of surviving a hit from a Vanquisher. For me the Vanquisher is my answer to mech, and anything my lascannons can't handle, and it does both jobs perfectly. I also am a fan of slapping a lascannon onto it, so if the cannon misses, and it certainly does, I have a back up. Speaking of which, if I had to say it had any weaknesses, well it misses, with only BS 3, its a risk that you could never hit anything. The other weakness is, it lacks versatility, it can kill infantry, but only one at a time, so that's useless, except against heroes. In order to add some versatility, I had to add sponsons, and a stubber, so it's pretty expensive, but it's gunna take more than a weapon destroyed to take this sucker out of the game. Now I am usually a fan of taking squadrons, but not here, you only need one Vanquisher, preferably with camo netting, and just hide it somewhere. With 72" range, there isn't a whole lot it can't hit, so feel free to put it anywhere on the table. Lastly, I do realize the Vanquisher isn't for everyone, if you have a gunline consisting of 25 lascannons, don't bother, you're covered, but for people like me, who don't have a whole lot of anti-tank, it's a Godsend.

Frozen Fields

Earlier today, warhammer.com, released an article that focused on winter battles. Being the ever obsessed player that I am, I had to try out the new stuff. I quickly found myself not caring for the 40k entry however. I simply didn't have crystals, and the crystals didn't change the game much, it was fairly boring. However I did rather enjoy the Warhammer Fantasy article, so I combined a bit of the two, and had a great time. It would behoove you to read the article before reading mine any further.

Now the tank rules, I kept, but that was pretty much it as far as 40k side of the article. I really liked the concept of fighting over a frozen lake, so I went with that. It was only a 750 point game, and on a very narrow table. Now I won't go into detail, but the rules for sinking into the ice, are a godsend if you fight space marines, they are almost guaranteed to fail, which is great. However, because I use Straken, he wound up falling through the ice because a nearby unit fled. I really enjoyed playing the winter battle, and recommend you and a buddy try it out.

Psychology and Mind Games

One of my favorite aspects of the hobby is the battle of wits and, if I'm feeling particularly evil, mind games. Now The real key to mind games is doing the unexpected, and for IG that's three things: massive reserves, HQ's, and snipers.

Massive reserves are the easiest, simply pull another two hundred men out on top of your force, and watch their expression change. To take advantage of this, downplay your army, and keep them hidden in your travel case or whatever. Downplaying your army should be easy, just get your ass kicked, and throw a bit of a fit, then when he is over confident and overextending his frontline, launch the counter attack with a massive platoon or two, and watch him burn.

Now HQ's are surprising as well, because of orders and mainly Straken. Straken is the strongest human being... ever, including space marines. He is strength 6, Primarchs are only strength 4. Anywho, he is also a fantastic leader, and only around 90 points. Now the key here is to create an aura of awesome around him. Given a medic in his command squad, he has 3 wounds and feel no pain, and 3+ save, and toughness 4, unarguably the toughest IG model around. So, either, march him out, and put him and his squad in cover, and let them get shot up (this only works with people you play regularly) and let them get frustrated at how much firepower they have to pour in to take out 5 men. Or march him out and wipe out large units of crappy infantrymen, and let them watch in horror as a few men take out a platoon. Of course the second is best, because it gets kills, but in the long term, the first approach makes the strongest impression. Also Orders are important with HQ's because we are the only army that gets them a lot of players won't know what they are about, so use that to your advantage.

Lastly and most difficult to master, are the snipers. Now the best snipers are the ones they will totally ignore in most missions, and those are 3-5 squads of Ratlings (Hobbits). Now they key here is to have your opponent disregard them, which in all but annihilation they should, also feel free to make a distraction, a nearby demolisher or platoon works great. Then use the Ratlings to snipe at their HQ, if you get lucky, you can take out a whole bunch of stuff. Best of all, there is no harm done if it doesn't work, they were only 30 points.

Combat Engineers

One of my favorite units is my combat engineers. They are a special weapons team with three flamers and a demolitions charge. Now these weapons are all only practical if I'm really close, and with a 5+ armorsave, and only 6 men in the unit, how will I ever get them where I need them? Well, that's where the transports come in. Preferably, a Vendetta, which can zoom in from a table edge, and drop these badboys pretty much anywhere guaranteeing at least one good round of whoopass, and with a transport capacity of 12, I could squeeze in another special weapons unit, however I think that's too many points for what I want to accomplish. Now if a Vendetta is not available, a chimera works, but my suggestion here is to take them with a whole bunch of other Chimeras as part of a mobile platoon, just seat these guys with the officer in the command Chimera.

With three flamers there isn't a whole lot that can survive that, well, at least anything on foot. But that's what the Demolitions charge is for, it lends an incredible amount of versatility. If I need to crack space marines ridiculous armor, then the demo charge will do that. If I need to blow up a building, then the democharge will do that, no matter what, the democharge is perfect for the situation, so long as you are close by. Now I know what your thinking, whats the point of blowing up the transport if your flamers can't burn the survivors. Well, the Vendetta does a wonderful job of popping transports, with even one twinlinked lascannon shot, firing at the rear/side armor of a transport, is usually enough to pry it open, then the recently disembarked flamers can burn the even more recently disembarked screwed whoever it is.

When using my combat engineers I use them to pry the enemy off objectives. When my friend who plays Tau parks on his objective with a bunch of firewarriors, I simply fly up my flamers, and burn them off of it. Now it gets even better, after they turn those lads into a fine layer of ashes, they can now hold the objective, because they are troops. And when its an annihilation match, his kroot are doomed.

There isn't a single thing on the board my Vendetta/combat engineer team can't take care of, from killing hordes of troops, to blowing up tanks and monsters, they've got the tools for the job... of course they never survive, so all their awards are given posthumously, but this is war after all, and they know the price.

Facing the Swarm

When I started playing Warhammer 40k, I was originally 3rd edition Tyrannids, and I hated it. I always lost, ALWAYS but I persisted because I knew that I wanted to play Guard, and could win with them, because I knew a lot of real life strategies and tactics. So I returned my friends army as soon as possible, which was my 17th birthday, and got my own army. However, thanks to having played Tyrannids I know what its like to be on the other side now. Granted, a good bit has changed since 3rd edition Tyrannids, but it looks like it hasn't changed too awful much. That said, Tyrannids are a bitch to fight as Guard. Our men are too soft compared to the onrushing hordes, and we really have to use thought if we want to win.

The major problems when fighting Tyrannids are, charging 12", Genestealers, and Carnifexes. That's pretty much it, but those are big problems. Not only are Hormagaunts slightly better than Guardsmen, but they are way faster, and equipped with the right things they can crush Guardsmen.

There are a few units that really shine against Tyrannids though, those units mainly being Commissars, and wait for it... Priests. Priests, who uses those? Well with the coming of the new Tyrannid codex, you might want to stock up on them. For 60 points you get a man with an eviscerator (one of my favorite weapons in the game) rosarius (4+ invulnerable save), but best of all, he and any unit he is with may re-roll failed closecombat attacks. Used with a unit of 20 or more Guardsmen, with a Commissar and a Priest, these lads will actually win close combat, which is important against Tyrannids. Now Commissars are necessary as well if you want to stand a chance, their enhanced leadership, combined with stubborn will prevent your men from breaking. Also they are good fighters, and sure to get a lot of kills.

Now one of the keys to killing Hormagaunts is to time your step forward. Your average table is 4X6, and naturally he is going to place his Hormagaunts as close as possible making them 36 inches away from your table edge. He will move up 12 inches, making him 12 inches from your advancing line, here is where you spring your trap. Take 2nd turn, deploy your men about 8" from your table edge, and they should end up around 16" away. Now simply step forward 6" and fire at full auto with a FRFSRF, which is just about the only order you want to be giving throughout the battle anyway. With a standard of 30 Guardsmen and an officer's cadre that's almost one hundred shots. You are going to get charged anyway, and those 30 or so extra shots, are definitely worth their weight in gold. Now when you get charged is when the Commissar, Priest, and Platoon Standard, come in handy. Each of those three models is designed to help hold the line and win closecombat.

Genestealers are worse to deal with than Hormagaunts, assuming you have taken second turn, its a good idea to castle up against Tyrannids, not only does it make the battle look cooler, but it really is a good idea. However, Genestealers are going to make you think twice about it. With scuttlers, they can outflank, and if they have a Broodlord with them, well, lets just say it's gunna get nasty. Now Priests and Commissars will help with this, but they are needed at the front line where they will stem the tide against the Hormagaunts and Carnifexes. So when you castle up be aware of what units you want to fight the Genestealers. I like to use my mortar team and stormtroopers for this. My mortars which naturally are in the back, are of no use against Tyrannids, they may kill a few, but in reality, they are worthless, but they do provide a nice target for the Genestealers. Best of all, they are almost assured to die in the attack, being only 3 models with 2 wounds each. So when the Genestealers come in, slam down your stormtroopers, and let their flamers and hotshots do the talkin. Also worth noting, is holding units in reserve, a nice unit of veterans with shotguns ought to be able to deal with those pesky Genestealers.

And last, but the furthest from least, is the Carnifex. These monstrosities soak up Autocannon fire like they like it, and smash through helpless lines of Guardsmen who can't even scratch them. So how do you deal with these? I focus my Autocannons on them, and my tank, which should kill at least one per turn, so long as you give your Autocannons the Bring 'em Down order. Then when they get close, either have my Vendetta finish em off if possible, or have Straken bring em down personally, with a plasmapistol and like 5 str 6 AP1 attacks, he is bound to kill one himself. If you don't have those models, then perhaps a battery of tanks or chimeras could do it, but short of that you will be hard pressed.

Just remember, let them have first turn, and deploy accordingly, if your line is stretched it will break.

Battle Report: Breaking The Terminus Line

Background: Due to heavy shelling and rain, a marshy pocket opened up in the Terminus line, the final defense of the chaos bastion. However a full scale assault wouldn't work, the rest of the line is still to heavily defended, and the pocket is fairly small. So a single platoon was sent in to breach the new found pocket in the line.

Battlefield: Smack in the center of the 5X4 table was a large marsh, with a single duckboard bridge leading across it. On the attackers edge I placed a small forest that was clearly heavily shelled (i.e. no leaves, broken trunks, and craters). Two craters were also placed at random, I represent that by using a scatter die. And that's all the cover the attackers got. Defenders got plenty of cover: a watchtower, over 5 sandbagged positions, and a small generator next to command post at the very edge of the board.

Forces:
attackers:
Captain Colt (colonel straken)
special weapons squad w/ three flamers and a democharge
veteran squad w/ three snipers and an autocannon
Lieutenant Wal (chenkov)
and two squads of basic guardsmen with boltpistol sergeants and grenade launchers

Defenders:
Lieutenant w/ bolt pistol
5 squads of blank guardsmen
autcannon squad
mortar squad
stormtrooper squad
leman russ

Deployment:

Defenders deployed first, placing the Lieutenant in the watchtower, along with three of the squads
at the base of it deployed in sandbags. Then smack at the end of the bridge were the autocannons, and the tank. Over on the right side, were two more squads behind sandbags, and the mortars were hidden behind the generator, touching the edge of the table.

The attackers then deployed with their two squads and Lieutenant wall in the craters facing the majority of the enemy at the lip of the marsh. Special weapons squad, along with the command squad were placed as close as possible to the duckboard bridge. Lastly the veterans were placed in the bombed out forest, across from the two squads and mortars.

First Turn:
My plan here was to use my veterans to pin the .50 cal autocannons, who would simply pulp my men crossing the bridge. Well, instead of pinning the autocannon squad, they killed them all, which was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. The two squads with the Lieutenant moved up, and fired upon the defending platoon, and rolled terribly only causing three enemy casualties. At the end of the turn I used scatter die to represent where shells would fall, these shells however weren't explosives, but smoke canisters, representing the support a unit would get in this position. I rolled a 3 sided die, and rolled a two, so I got two smoke shells. Then I rolled a die for each, which represented the size of the smoke, one was a large, the other small. Then I rolled a scatter for each. Now the large one landed smack where I wanted it to, right next to the duckboard bridge, provided a nice coversave to my men who were marching in a single file clusterfuck. The other I tried to use to support them as well, but rolled off to the right, and in front of the forest.

So now the defenders opened up, and the two squads and Lieutenant took a heavy beating, losing all but three men in a squad, and the Lieutenant missing all of his men, save a standard bearer. Other than that, they didn't manage to kill anyone.

Turn Two:
The Imperial Guard side managed to get revenge on their fallen comrades, and then some. The passing special weapons squad, and the Command squad burnt the living bejesus out of the entire platoon. The attack was punctuated by the demolition charge blowing up the watchtower and causing it to collapse, killing the Lieutenant as well. The remaining few chaos worshipers ran off praying to their new found gods for deliverance. Which unfortunately was answered.

It was answered in the form of stormtroopers raining from the blood red dawn, just as the sun came up they landed right at the head of the duckboard bridge, and fired everything they had at full auto on to the men. Them accompanied by the coaxial bolter killed the entire special weapons squad. But again, the mortars and the other two squads failed to do anything.

Turn Three:
The captain and his retinue charged the stormtroopers, in an attempt to save themselves from the tank's cannon, which barely missed last turn. However the heavy flamer wiped out all but one of the stormtroopers, and the other fled, leaving my Captain totally exposed to a finishing shot from the battle cannon.

The Leman Russ fired its cannon with a thunderous roar, only to have the shell splat harmlessly in the mud. Again, the other squads and mortar, did NOTHING, honestly it was getting embarrassing, but against a 3+ coversave, and armed only with lasguns, and firing at range, there wasn't a whole lot they could do.

Turn Four:
The Captain and his unit assaulted the Leman Russ, ending up with two penetrating hits, and rolling a 2 and a 5, leaving the tank destroyed.


At this point the battle was simply mopping up, which was rather easy, which just proves, that though outnumbered, the forces of the Imperium were not outclassed, and won the day.



I purposefully massively outclassed my forces, I mean really, 60+ against 30+ and the 60+ had a tank to boot. The big turning point was certainly when all the flamers opened up, and the democharge went off. To lose 35 men in a single turn was a death knell for them. However any awards I would give my special weapons unit, would be awarded posthumously. Other than the Flamers, MVU would probably go to my veteran snipers, who failed to kill anything after turn one, but turn one, they certainly saved the day. I know that my men wouldn't have stood a chance of getting across that swamp had those autcannons been able to fire.

Battlements

One of the things that players take for granted is the lovely scenery that GW provides. However, perhaps they should, in favor of their own terrain. While I may not be the next Jawaballs when it comes to painting, I like to consider myself a builder before a painter. I have more terrain pieces than units, and part of that is the ridiculous price of the miniatures, but also because I like to create things with my own two hands. From mounds of sandbags, to complex bunkers. From simple billows of smoke, to full on landscapes. Best of all, it all looks good. But this article isn't to brag about my collection of terrain, its about something different entirely.

How certain terrain effects gameplay is a key factor to winning battles, and as a Guard player, its also key to my units survival. Now there is a lot more to it than just being cover, provided you have the time, and you can make a terrain piece that's as essential as the unit within.

I like to add Palisades and barbwire to my pieces, that makes any unit assaulting a unit within require a dangerous terrain roll. Also, boarding up the windows in a building with some popsicle sticks (as long as it looks good, I like the ones that have flat ends, that way you don't have to cut all the ends off) lends the ruins a better coversave. If you like trenches (my favorite) then another good idea is to make the area leading up to the trench sloped, and add some rubble as well (miniwargaming recently released a video on meteors, and in that is a unique terrain idea, that using water and glue soaked toilet paper makes for some great looking freshly moved dirt) this makes gettin up the slope difficult terrain. At the entrances to the trench a barrel, or even some sandbags, will prevent total destruction if attacked from the side. Lastly, a firing step in the trenches is handy if facing Tau, or even hiding from tanks, simply keep your men off the step, so that the entire model is hidden, then when the Tau are in range, simply step onto the firing step, and open up.

I hope this article has inspired you to make some fantastic terrain, that not only looks good, but is functional to winning the battle.

Love at First Fight

It has been quoted that there is nothing a dogface loves more than artillery, and it couldn't be more true. What is it about them that we love so much? Is it the heavy firepower? The impunity of range? Or just the scale of it all? Probably all of those and more.

Now in Warhammer, the only real pieces of artillery I can think of is the Ork kannon, and the Space Marine Thunderfire Cannon, why don't the guard get a real artillery piece, other than the $80 Forgeworld model? I know, I know, we have the Basilisk, but its mobile artillery, and I'm sorry, but I hate the way it looks compared to the Forgeworld model, which is more expensive, and slightly worse. But enough griping, lets talk big guns.

Now when it comes to mobile artillery, Imperial Guard is king. We have so many choices, but in all reality, the only one worth taking, is the Basilisk. All the other guns, are either too short ranged, or too weak. The Basilisk is cheap, and more effective in general. So it will be the subject of this article from here on out.

Now, many players say that it is killed by its 36 inch minimum range, well they're wrong. Its 36 inches, if you fire indirectly, if you fire head on, it can still fire. That said, it is a problem nonetheless. Now you counter this, by how you place it on the table. Unlike most units, you want it opposite of where you want to use it. Most units you place nearby where they will effect. The Basilisk should be as far as possible from its target. Also, make sure it is deep in terrain when you place it. It doesn't have to be tall terrain that blocks line of sight, or even terrain big enough to give it a cover save, just enough terrain to make a Deepstriker think twice. Granted, if the enemy unit makes it, you lose your artillery, but he is now in the middle of freakin nowhere. The real threat here isn't Deepstrikers, but Outflankers. The only way to stop Outflankers, is to put a massive piece of terrain between your Basilisk and the edge of the board. So in the beginning of the match, take heed and see if there are any outflanking units. Now that we have spoken of its downfalls, we can get to the fun stuff.

The Earthshaker cannon is without doubt, one of the best weapons in the game. It's ordinance, it's 240" range, it's strength 9, and its AP3. Fired indirectly it can hit the top of a vehicle, so it's auto penetration. Fired directly, it's strength 9 so it's going to probably penetrate most vehicles. Against infantry, it's large blast, and against even Space Marines, anything under that template is just gone, no rolls, just gone. Oh and did I mention it's pinning? Against Guard, Tau, Eldar, Orks, and Chaos Space Marines, it does wonders with pinning. Against hordes, odds are you will pin multiple units, against elite armies, you stand a chance of either pinning, or just plain wiping our the whole squad.

With all these options where do you aim? Well, if you are like me, and play mostly infantry, then take out what can kill your troops, they are the main element of your army, so take out either what they can't, or can take them out. If you play mech, then take out what can take out your Chimeras. Its all pretty straight forward really. Take out what is the deadliest to your units, leave your troops, or whatever other main element you have, to take out those guys parked on the objectives.

The Basilisk is a support unit, it should never win battles, simply help you do so, either by sacrificing itself to an enemy elite (i. e. Deepstriking terminators, who are now too far away to do anything), or helping your main element survive.

Infantry win firefights
Tanks win battles
Artillery win wars.