Well then. Sanguinary Guard. Possibly one of the coolest models out there with some decent rules to boot. Whilst they are probably a wee bit overpriced (35 maybe?) due to the lack of invulnerable, these guys are basically flying battering rams and whilst not survivable against anything which ignores saves, they can and will kill most things they touch thanks to lots of master-crafted power weapon attacks. And they can be made Troops with Dante. So I got an e-mail in about these guys in relation to Stelek’s new ‘Best Of’ list which can be seen here from Terry:
“Hey Kirby, was reading Steleks blog on non DOA sang guard. Which got me thinking about the idea. I like the idea of 25 2+ PW weilding marines flying at you. I also like the idea of having fire support for them running across the board, supported by a distraction/diversion unit (ala pod). Although Im not sold on steleks list, and was wondering your take on it. (FWIW, this is the blog and the list).
For me, I think if your NOT going to DOA sang guard, than mephiston starts to look really good (so does the sanguinor as well, for other reasons, such as the +1 attack buff). I personally think FNP makes this army incredibly difficult to kill, not to mention the FC really adds to their strengths. I like steleks idea of podding melta, just not sold on his choice of using stern guard to do it. I also think the sang guard should have melta pistols, instead of being naked.
Anyways, how would you do this list. would you change anything. would you not run sang guard across the board and only DOA them (which really changes the design of the list)."
First of all, I like what Stelek has done with the list. Rather than use the usual Jumper or Hammer concepts, he’s done something different which is what Stelek does. Whilst I would prefer the list with Priests (not for FNP but FC as S5/I5 master-crafted power weapons are scary.) and potentially infernous pistols for back-up, it’s impressive regardless. Let’s answer the rest of the e-mailed questions.
FNP does indeed make any Sanguinary Guard army difficult to kill but doesn’t help against what they struggle against, low AP weapons. However, FC does make Sanguinary Guard a lot more impressive on the charge striking at a higher I and S5 so to me, those Priests really do help. Sure they make Sang Guard nearly impossible to kill with non-AP1 weapons but their main goal is to make them better in combat. Mephiston though…really digs into your points. Dante is in the list for SG as troops, without Dante, an SG force isn’t a good idea and thus you sink a lot of points into two guys. They are both super killy but points can be spent elsewhere.
So, Stelek’s list takes nearly as many SG as possible and backs them up with two very multi-purpose units in an Honor Guard + Sternguard who can drop in + a bunch of missiles for big beasties and popping transports. A Bloodwing list focuses on core Jumper concepts but runs Sanguinary Guard instead of ASM as Troops. And a Nipple/Sanguine Hammer list uses Devastators like Stelek’s list but with more bodies but with the flexibility for the SG to drop in using DoA. They all have their merits and with Stelek’s style, I don’t think it can really be “improved.” Personally I’d run Priests instead of the HG squad but you then have to add a unit or change a unit for Dante to drop with, etc.
Anyway, I might try and put together a 1750 list but will do that tomorrow.
