Imperial Guard

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Loopyloops
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Imperial Guard

Post by Loopyloops »

I wanted to start a 40k army...And I really liked IG, that was, until a group of local 40k players told me how awful they were, and how it was impossible to win games with them...


I'm all for a good underdog army, hence why I enjoy the Dark Elves...


But, are they so weak as to really have no chance of winning a game with them?


I really don't want to pick another army, but if I must, it'll probably be CSM.
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Aspiring executioner
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Post by Aspiring executioner »

Actually they are quite a good army just IMO they suffer from horde close combat armies such as Tyranids. They have the best Heavy Support options in the game IMO along with many versatile options.

Guardsmen can be armed to take on just about anything plus they shoot en masse which elite armies such as Space Marines or Chaos or Grey Knights suffer from greatly. Always have stormtroopers as they have good BS can have two special weapons and can be deep striked or be mounted in a chimera to swiftly take objectives or take out key enemy units (synapse creatures comes to mind). I hope you still want to collect IG as they are quite competetive.
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Skaris
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Post by Skaris »

Imperial guard have just as much chance of winning as anyone else. I've had games where I've had my arse handed to me when I've used my guard, then made some small changes to my list and wiped the same person out to a man in 5 turns the next week.

If you like the look of them then I'd say go for it, its a very versatile list, and trust me, they'll soon stop saying how crap they are when you start slapping down 3 pie sized blast templates a turn.
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Post by Fingol23 »

Guard also have a huge amount of variety and the most succesful player in my club uses guard. Admittadly it is a last chancer plasma cheese fest.
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Mr. anderson
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Post by Mr. anderson »

They have the best Heavy Support options in the game


Actually I find Eldar heavy support choices far better... but that's just me... (sorry... gotta advertise my favorite 40k army...)

But I actually don't think that IG is bad at all, for one thing they have something that nearly made me start them (TANKS!). Their tanks really rock... Just try not to use a purely footslogging army. One of my friends does it. I have never lost a game against him. Never. The biggest success he had against me was to take down a fire prism and immobilise a falcon. If you manage to get a healthy combination of infantry, walkers and tanks IG can be truly scary (I've faced an army like that once. I barely managed to get a draw out of it), especially with BS three-and-a-half (sharpshooters), carapace armor and the entire army with LD10... that's deadly.

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Akimoto
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Post by Akimoto »

IG are just like any other army, they can be awesome if you do things right, or they can just plain suck, the only exception to this rule is eldar, who rock no matter what you do :D

but yeah, when you can take three pie templates for your heavy support, and can have a possible 100 shots from one troop choice for 300pts, you should be able to disprove your local group's theory...
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Post by Skazna »

Tournament 1500points 40k, just finished helping to run today, had 4 gaurd armies in it (out of 20). 2 where armored devisions, which did not do that well, and 1 was all infantry that did fairly well Won 3 drew 4 lost 1 (was up against some of the harder armies on the first day).
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Post by Vorchild »

There are some truly sick things that you can do with guard. Some of which null and void the tyranid horde armies. Armoured battle groups come to mind. An army of 4 russes is just plain wrong. My IG army is the complete opposite and has only a horde of infantry. So much that the army at 1500 pts covers 6 square feet of table space. Against a fast army of nids though, its all about that first turn of shooting because they close so fast. Hardly a weak army though in my view.
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The griefbringer
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Post by The griefbringer »

Guard are somewhat unique in that they are a horde-shooting army. Lots and lots of cheap guys with guns.

Nobody can throw more dice in the shooting phase than Guard (with the possible exception of the new orks).

I have a buddy who plays IG and in a 1500 point list can throw down 9 barrage weapons, 2 ordnance, 6 heavy bolters, 3 autocannons, and about a zillion lasguns. That will put a dent in anything, and pin some stuff besides.

They aren't the easiest army on earth, but they can definitely rock the field.
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Vallorn deathblade
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Post by Vallorn deathblade »

gaurd 40k= good if balenced.

gaurd apocalypse= recipie for beards crafted from puerst cheese!

on a sane note though they can be very nasty or very weak especialy against low armour high bodycount armies like orks or nids.

deep sriking obliterators daemons terminators and manny manny units or turbo boosted nurgle bikers tend to put large holes in thier lines
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The griefbringer
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Post by The griefbringer »

I've seen IG handle itself quite well against all of those things.

Army list crafting and deployment, however, need to be elevated an extra level in order to be a successful IG general. The whole army just isn't mobile enough to react to situations as they unfold in the battle. You need to have a lot of back up plans and contigencies in the works *before* the dice hit the table.

They are challenging and fun, and one of my favorite armies to play with or against. I recommend them highly.
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Loopyloops
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Post by Loopyloops »

Thanks a lot guys!

You're rekindled my aspirations of serving the emperor in a non-super-human fasion.


I'm excited now, I love limitless army lists... Thanks again....


My hopes of playing 40k were kinda crushed when my local groups' 40k group told me they sucked....


I'll prove to them the error of their ways.
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Post by Alkkrision »

Assuming they all play Space Marines from their remark then.

Guard IMO are a bit difficult to get right, but with so many combinations you'll pick a good setup pretty quickly and they can be absolutely devastating due to the sheer amount of firepower they can put out. Yes unfortunately in most cases if they get into combat they're going to be lucky to get out alive. However you can spare the losses early on just so long as you can pour the firepower back out, which as I say in most cases you more than likely will.
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Post by Manticoreslair »

guard are hard to use,
the fact that they come with almost no armour and str 3 guns doesnt help.
but you play every army to its strengths.
guard are great at setting up a firing line (a huge one which if you walk out in front of, well its your funeral)
also their tanks are great, the basic heavy support has armour 13/14. and amazing turret weapons.
and they also have good combat units. a heavy gun line that can be combined with storm troopers in a chimera or some ogryns can really spoil your day.
also the doctrines can help hugely, mainly sharp-shooting (even rockets, but not plasma) makes them a lot harder.
they can do everything you just have to really balance it.
too much firepower and you will be out manouvred and ripped apart, too much combat and you will be shot to death on the way.
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Post by Kargan daemonclaw »

Guard are not fancied for tournament play. Do a search for GT results and it's pretty hard to find guard winning any GT, especially one with a big emphasis on winning games.

With Guard it's very easy to get carried away trying to make an army that looks like a realisitic infantry company or similar military formation. They often don't translate well into 40k.

In tournaments guard often struggle from lack of ability to complete objectives. If you are a static gunline, those units are not the ones that are getting to the loot counters or into the enemy deployment zone in Recon.

Guard a quite good at VP harvest or cleanse missions but often struggle at loot, take and hold or recon type missions because guard don't like getting close to the enemy.
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