Barrage Weapons – The Vehicle-Wrecking Super-Snipers of 6th Edition

Barrage Weapons – The Vehicle-Wrecking Super-Snipers of 6th Edition

In a prelude to the Heavy Support part of my Imperial Guard review, I am going to have a look at the way the rules governing Ordnance Batteries, Barrage Weapons and Indirect fire have changed. There are a lot of subtle changes, but what they add up to is a range of tanks that have become the Vehicle-Wrecking Super-Snipers of 6^th Edition.

The focus of this article is on the best of the Barrage weapons, so it is very Imperial Guard-orientated, but many of the rules also apply to Whirlwinds and simlilar units. Whether you use IG as your primary force,  are considering allying in some Ordnance Batteries or are just likely to face them, you need to know these rules.

New: Includes the IG 1.1 FAQ  changes

Getting more from your Squadrons - Splitting by Immobilisation

Today's topic will be about getting more use of the new Squadron rules, firstly because it seems a lot of players are still unaware of how much more user-friendly they are (it's almost as if GW want you to buy more models!) and secondly because I'm going to be showing how you can exploit them to their full potential. And yes I do mean 'Exploiting' the rules, but I don't have even twinge of conscience over it since it may help combat the Necron Flyer spam lists that are currently causing a lot of people grief.

Update: Just a few days after this article was published GW in their infinite wisdom change the immobilistion rules in FAQ 1.1; if a vehicle suffers an immobilisation result it now also loses a Hull Point. With this change, it becomes a lot less viable to use the tactic of purposefully immobilising vehicles in order to split up a squadron into individual components, and the Hydra is probably the only case where it might be even worth considering.

IG Codex Review in 6th - Part two: Primaris Psyker

 
30 things you need to know about the Primaris Psyker

The Primaris Psykers and The IG

As I mentioned in the first article in the IG Codex review series, I’ve heard quite a few people are interested in allying with the Imperial Guard and using the Primaris Psyker as the mandatory HQ in order to get access to the rest of the codex's goodies. This article is aimed both at them and at the many stalwart players who use IG as their primary army and are interested in how access to the new Psychic Tables has changed the only Psyker in their codex apart from the Psyker Battle Squad.

IG Codex Review in 6th - Part one: HQs

 

IG Codex Review in 6th: Part one HQs

This is the first in a series of articles taking a long, hard look at how the Imperial Guard Codex stacks up in the 6th Edition of the rules. There will be more focus on what has changed than what has stayed the same, so I plan to do in-depth look at the transformed Primaris Psyker and the Valkyrie/Vendetta as flyers, and then end with ally options.

Back to Basics: Valkyries & Vendettas in 6E

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it is a scout-outflanking Flyer gunship with Hover mode that can act as a Fast Skimmer and is an infantry transport.

 

Depending on its mode and speed it can fire four, two, none or all weapons at full ballistic skill, or fire two missiles (but unlike other Flyers, only one at full BS), or fire all weapons at BS1.

And since everybody and their pet-squig is considering allying one into their army, the above should be enough to convince you that it's high time we take a look at the rules and see how they actually work in 6th Edition.

Imperial Guard in 6th: Initial Analysis

Imperial Guard in 6th: Initial Analysis

The armies of the Imperial Guard have been so profoundly affected by the transition to 6th Edition rules that it is still taking time for all the changes to sink in.

I made an initial list of changes that affect the way Imperial Guard armies play and quickly got to 60 rules, of which about 40 are positive and 20 negative, but in the grim darkness of the far future nothing is quite that simple and as you’ll see many of these are rules that cut both ways.

3++ Nerdcast: Episode 3 - 6th edition knowledge expansion...

Next Nerdcast! This is unfortunately... well a rather unstructured one. And that's saying something for us! SirBiscuit and AbusePuppy don't join us and I'm busy packing Tyranids for the weekend's tournament so we left the two.... what should I call them :P? Who knows but they ran amok! lol

There's some good information in here, we just jump around a lot unfortunately! I've compiled a sort of table of contents below of what we go through below so you can skip to the more relevant parts or listen to the entire conversation and enjoy it all!

Our main focus is what's good/better in 6th (Orks discussed briefly 1:30-2:30 mins) with some focus on a couple armies specifically. This includes:

Back to Basics: How Rhinos, Razorbacks and Chimeras work in 6th

How Rhinos, Razorbacks and Chimeras work in 6th

As anyone who has received their rule book will know, rather than having 5th edition discarded and replaced there are a thousand tiny changes that add up to a very different picture. I've made a start at trying to compile how the new rules effect one of the most important factors in shaping the game: the imperial transport vehicles.
The psyker, flyer and ally rules are getting most of the attention, but it is the affect of the rules on the most common transport vehicles in the game that will really decide how this edition of the rules plays.

Last chance to beat the 5th Edition’s most expensive armies

Last chance to beat the 5^th Edition’s most expensive armies

We’re on the verge of moving out of the 5^th Edition, and Gamesworkshop are about to rip the nice safe, warm blanket of a simple Force Organisation Chart away from us and replace it with complexities like allies, terrain slots and the doubled-down FOC at 2000pts.

Whether that is good, bad or ugly remains to be seen, but a side effect of this change is GW will be taking away from us a completely useless game people have played over the last few years:

How many points can you legally spend from a single FOC?

Email in: 1850 Blob guard

"Hi Kirby,

Still being relatively new to the tournament scene I was after some critique from a fresh set of eyes on this list I have. Not having a lot of experience against guard and even less experience playing guard any advice of the list itself, comp score, how you think it will play in the current metagame would be appreciated.

HQ

Command Platoon - 215pts

Straken, Laspistols & Close combat weapons, medipack, camo-cloaks, bodyguard

1,500pts of Angry Guardsmen, 100% Meltavet free.

Luca from Italy requested help in rebuilding his 1500 point list to have more of a chance against some of the other armies he faces. The requirements of the sort of army he wants to run are:

1.         No Meltavets
2.          Avoiding chimera Spam
3.          Infantry heavy force
4.          Leman Russes

I like the fact he is pretty specific about the sort of army he is after, and is trying to steer it away from the cookie-cutter ‘netlist’ builds – in fact, I would like to strongly recommend anyone who sends in a list looking for advice is equally specific about what they hope to accomplish and how much they are willing to change.

The Problems

By his own admission the problems with his current army are that he is forced to play a reactive rather than proactive game, the best he can hope to do in ‘Capture and Control’ is draw, and playing ‘Seize Ground’ is a struggle since the distant objectives aren’t threatened by his slow moving troops.

Let’s see if we can take his list and his requirements and turn it into something aggressive, surprising and competitive.

Email in: Please could you provide your assistance?

"Hey Kirby, 

I've been reading a lot of your extremely useful articles and I've noticed that you help people who email in lists. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me sort out a 1500 competitive imperial guard list.

The two lists below are ones I've been using with a fair bit of success, I feel the first list is better at killing infantry of all varieties but lacks anti tank and the vendetta is to much of a target.

The second I feel can handle anti tank quite well and has a lot of redundancy, however its isn't as adept at killing marines.

I feel that I need to try and bring the two lists together, however I'm struggling do this without diluting the lists strengths to much or not have enough redundancy or the list being to small modelwise.

Email in: Imperial Guard 1850pts

"Hi Kirby,


I'm going to wintercon this year in june in the ACT, comp is being marked out of 5, what would you score this list and what changes would you make, I think this is probably 1/5 was hoping for a 2 lol tear it too bits guys.



This is a similar list to leviathon, just with a few more toys I have dropped the scout sentinels as I did not get a whole lot extra out of the list with them as they where usually unsupported and just cheap kill points.


All chimera's have multi laser & heavy flamer, 11 meltaguns should be sufficient for tank hunting that said I have 7 multi lasers, 7 heavy flamers and 5 heavy bolters, plus potentially a minimum of 7 to 9 large blast markers.

Guest Article: Blob Guard Part 4: HQs continued & Wrap-up

The Sabre and Dice

The next HQ I’ll briefly look at (For good reason IMO) is the Primaris Psyker... so what does he bring to the army? Very little...While his lightning arc could be useful for thinning down tougher targets or hitting light vehicles, this means he has to be forward leaving him open to being removed form play via Jaws / Mind war or just outright killed in assault by something which likes squishy punchbag targets.

Nightshroud as his other power is again not that viable as the majority of units are at least Ld8+ so while it might stop a unit here and there shooting, you it will be far too situational to be of benefit unless you pair him with a lord commissar and put a mass of heavy weapons in terrain. Between the making them roll leadership to be able to shoot you, and the Lord’s camo cloak you can hopefully survive better.

Guest Article: Blob Guard Part 3: Platoon Command Squads & HQ

Corbania Prime

Moving on to the platoon command squads (PCS) I‘ve gone for just 3 meltaguns due to points restrictions, and also to add some more close range anti terminator and tank. I was tempted (And even included in early list trials) a Lascannon or even autocannon heavy weapon team, but I found this led to them being focused fired down for quick kill points and to remove a heavy weapon. So now they remain hidden close by for orders and backup fire, and are able to move as required which I found myself reluctant to do with a heavy weapon included which made things tougher in decision making.

Email in: 40k Doubles Tournament - 1750pts Mech-Guard & White Scars

"Hi Kirby,

Love the blog, its been a real help getting up to speed with 5th edition as a long absent player. I was hoping for some feedback for an upcoming 40k Doubles I am attending with a friend in few months - he's taking Guard, I'm taking White Scars. We're pretty happy with the lists but it never hurts to get more feedback while there is still time to assemble and paint.

This is the Warhammer World doubles tournie and as 'Battle Brothers' we each get to add a USR to one of our squads in each Force - the options are skilled rider, move through cover, acute senses, counter-attack, furious charge, stubborn and stealth. We share a force organisation chart but both players have to have a minimum of 1 HQ and 1 Troops, 875 points each.

Guest Article: Blob Guard Part 2: Heavy Weapons Continued... & Upgrades

Plastic Fish

Last post we looked at the size of blob squads and touched on the Heavy Weapon options. This post is going to go into such into more detail and look at the other upgrades Blobs should or should not have based on my experience. Well let’s look at the options...

Heavy bolters.

3x S5 shots at decent range, and one o the cheaper options.... but what’s the use? Most blob armies will already have masses of lasguns and power weapons to handle anti infantry, so why give them the lowest Str heavy weapon option? In my opinion not worth it.

Guest Article: Blob Guard Part 1: Squad Sizes & Heavy Weapons

Greetings, I’ve been using my own Blog to document the progression and tactics etc employed when using a 'Blob' guard list since October 2011 and have continued through evolutions of the lists based on my findings and I’ve asked Kirby if I could post them on 3++.  He agreed!

Now I'm not a newcomer to guard, having used mechanised guard as one of my main armies for years alongside marines of various chapters (Favourite being the codex boys still) until I got the bug to try out the less seen infantry horde, or as its dubbed online, ‘Blob’ guard. This was all started after coming across a very nice site which is where I got my inspiration for starting this army.

The Walking Dead: Zombie Guardsmen!

Master Shake has been at it again. Fresh off finishing the Orkquisition, his big Grey Knights counts as project, he's back with the Zombie Guard.

And who doesn't like zombies? They are all over the TV and internets, so why not make a 40k army of them?  Well he did, and if this first veteran squad is any indication, his new army will rock.

Greatcoats- New Imperial Guard Henchmen / Stormtroopers

MBG here with some fun little conversions I did recently....

The other day I finally had my chance to work on a project I had been really looking forward to doing for awhile, Greatcoats.

I had this conversions idea way back when I was doing my traitor guard that I never got to implement, but I really though would look great.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of alternate kits out there to use for Greatcoat models- all of which are great, but I'm just kinda a Games Workshop fan boy and only like working with their kits.