In Part 1 we went over the majority of the Army List, touching on HQ, Elites, and Fast Attack. Part 2 we'll close out the Army List review by going into detail about the two sections that showed the most change and additions: Troops and Heavy Support.
Oh and if you're wondering about the photo at let, it's a photo looking out of the side door of a modern day Valkyrie as it flew this author over the beautiful sands of Iraq.
The first section you'll notice a lot of changes and additions in the Elysian Army List of IA:8 is in the Troops section. It all starts off similar to the C:IG counterparts - Elysian Drop Infantry Platoons consist of a Platoon Command Squad, 2-5 Drop Infantry Squads, 0-4 Heavy Weapon Squads, 0-3 Special Weapon Squads, and 0-1 Drop Sentinel Squadrons. Yes, you can attach Sentinels to Platoons, potentially giving you the ability to field A LOT of Deep Striking MM Platforms. I digress.
- Elysian Platoon Command Squad: +5pts more expensive then their codex counterpart, the main differences at first glance are they have Iron Discipline and Deep Strike included in that +5pt tax. With regard to options and upgrades, they still get Commissars for the same price, the Commander can take a Homing Beacon for the cost of a power weapon, and sadly they are only limited to only 1 special weapon and NO (yes I mean zero, nilch, zinch, null, nada, nyet, kein, etc.) heavy weapons. That means your Command Squads are really just there for leadership and maybe to throw in a special weapon now and again. On the upside, they can take Valkyries as Dedicated Transports (again three cheers for this awesomeness), and one guy can have a Lascutter. I didn't mention this in Part 1 because this is the first time it's seen in the Army List. It's basically a S9 Powerfist but it's limited to only 1 attack. That means no bonuses for charging. It's a real hit or miss weapon and more than likely won't win you any combats (you are Guard after all) but could be nice on some fast moving or deep striking Veteran or Infantry squads, insofar as they (the Lascutter) are a nice last resort "one shot at glory" attempt at cracking stationary vehicles in CC. It costs the same as a power weapon to give this to a Guardsman in the squad. Upside of the Lascutter is that it's wielded by Joe-Schmo in the squad so can't be singled out in combat, but again the odds he'll be able to even use it in combat are slim. If you've got points around to spare (which you usually won't) it's a "meh" upgrade for Squads.
- Elysian Infantry Squad: +10pts more than their Codex counterparts, they too get Deep Strike and Iron Discipline for that price hike. They lose the ability to take heavy weapons though, and by and large have all the same options as their C:IG. The only three new additions are, as has been previously mentioned, the ability to take Dedicated Transport Valkyries; to give one of your guys a Demo Charge (I guess this was FW's "in lieu of" substitution for loss of heavy weapons); and to "upgrade" your Sergeant with a Auxiliary Grenade Launcher. On the Demo Charges, for the cost of a Heavy Flamer in C:IG, you get basically a one shot Battlecannon. This actually works well in a Elysian Army list solely because you will more than likely always be within range of the enemy to use it, whether it's because of Deep Strike or because you turbo boosted your Valkyries up the field didi-mau to get them in range to lay the hurt on. Demo Charges are pretty much auto-include in Elysian Infantry Squads. They fill the role of "heavy weapons" in this elite and light, mobile force. As for Auxiliary Grenade Launchers, they too are auto-include. A 3pt upgrade to give you a 12" Krak Grenade shot? You'd be foolish not to.
- Heavy Weapons Squad: Here again we see the Iron Discipline and Deep Strike tax of 5pts. Only difference to C:IG is you come standard with a Mortar, and can upgrade to a Heavy Bolter (+5pts) or a Missile Launcher (+10). That's it. You are limited to three weapons: mortar, Heavy Bolter, and Missile Launcher. It pretty much goes without saying, if you take these you'll probably be taking Missile Launchers.
- Elysian Special Weapons Squad: +5pts more expensive than C:IG., but come with the Army wide bonuses of ID and DS. Costs and weapons choices are exactly the same. The only new addition is you can take 3 Demo Charges instead of being restricted to just 1. Each Demo Charge costs the same as a Heavy Flamer. Is a 3 Demo Chare suicide unit worth it? Probably not seeing as they'll more than likely kill themselves with one of those shots. It could be a brutal one hit wonder on fairly static parking lots / gunlines though if you pull it off. 3 large blast templates that could scatter deeper into enemy territory (and thus on more vehicles/troops) is a scary prospect. Yet again though, it's hidnered by it's very random nature.
- Elysian Drop Sentinel Squadron: Already covered earlier, what I want to point out really is the fact you can attach these to the Platoons. This means you could run 3X3 Sentinels in Elites and 6X3 Sentinels in Troops. Granted that would set you back 1350pts (before factoring anything else and assuming you're running MM's because if you're not you're an idiot. Yes you, guy who's reading this thinking he'd run them with Heavy Flamers.) Personally, and I'll show a list below later, I think 3X2 in Elites and running 2 Platoons with 2 Sentinels attached per Platoon is a solid Sentinel strategy.
- Elysian Veteran Squad: Whooo wee there is a LOT going on with these guys. Starting with the tax, for +10pts you get the Army wide bonuses. So let's look at the good stuff. You can give one Vet a Lascutter (not worth it), you can give EVERY Veteran with a Lasgun an Auxiliary Grenade Launcher for 3pts per (totally worth it...just not on all), you can still run the tri-Special Weapon loads (with same prices as C:IG and including Heavy Flamers at one per squad), and you can get one Heavy Weapon for the squad (you know out of the 3 they're allowed). Doctrine-wise, Demolitions and Grenadiers make a return with the same costs as before, and the new kid on the block for Doctrines is Forward Sentries. It gives all your dudes camo cloaks and one carries a Homing Beacon. Now this Doctrine would have been SOLID GOLD if they also gave them Infiltrate b/c you could then infiltrate these bad boys far forward and have all sorts of good things deep striking close by come turn 2. Sadly they just have have Deep Strike. Uses for this Doctrine are limited - either push as far forward in your Deployment Zone early on, and forgo shooting turn 1 to move + run into a good midfield position, or have them Fast Rope out of a Valkyrie turn 1 into midfield. In my Veteran list below I'm aiming for the former.
And of course, like everyone else, they can take a Dedicated Valkyrie. Which brings me to a side issue in Troops, and that is Dedicated Transports: there's only one folks, and it's the Valkyrie. It's exactly the same as in C:IG, but how you equip it will differ, and here's why. In C:IG Valkyries are rare and relegated to the FA slot. Moreover they compete with the venerable Vendetta for space. To differentiate between the two I ALWAYS encourage people to upgrade to Multiple Rocket Pods on Valkyries to give you a decent anti-infantry option in FA, and because frankly the Vendetta and other units in the codex do anti-vehicle much better. In C:IG keeping the Hellstrike Missiles is pointless. Not so in the Elysian Army List. Here you're trying to get the most out of your points as you're restricted in units and in space available. Moreover, you'll struggle to find long range anti-tank in this army list so any chance to get it is a bonus. Yes this means a lot of times some of you're Valks will only move 6" so they can shoot their "one shot at glory" missiles, but this leads into tactical play: which Valks will scoot forward as fast as possible to drop off squads and which will sit back to lend some (weak) fire support. Plus as I'll show you in a minute, there's an option in the Heavy Support section which does Rocket Gunboat better than the Valkyrie.
So Heavy Support, the bread and butter section of the C:IG and the defining factor for Imperial Guard. What changes does the Elysian Army List bring? A lot actually. In fact it's literally two pages long and only has four choices. Slim pickings indeed. First up, and possibly the de facto "go to" choice in the section is the Vulture Gunship. The reason call it the "de facto 'go to'" choice is that it's based off the Valkyrie/Vendetta airframe, and is the same unit type (Vehicle, Fast, Skimmer) with the option of being used as a Flyer in Apoc. Games. Coupled with one of the recent Apoc Books saying they were kosher for regular 40K Games means if someone were to use this list in normal games, these would pretty much make an appearance as they don't have any new or crazy unseen rules that would catch your opponent off guard. The tradeoff is, unlike their cousins, they don't get Scout, just Deep Strike. With all that said, these bad boys come in +5pts more than a Valkyrie base and come armed with a nose mounted Heavy Bolter, a Multi-Laser, and two Hellstrike missiles. While cheap to start off with, it's their weapons upgrades which cause them to skyrocket in price. First set of weapons options (originally referred to in IA:3 as "Hardpoint 1") require you to upgrade your Multi-Laser for either: a TL Autocannon (15pts); a TL Missile Launcher (25pts); a TL Lascannon (30pts); or two Multiple Rocket Pods (40pts). Now a TL Autocannon is "Meh" - it's the cheapest of upgrades and coupled with the Bolter can put out a bunch of mid STR dakka for taking on light transports, but it's ability to take out hordes is poor and you still have those Hellstrikes - so if you're firing the dakka guns, you're wasting the tank busting ability of the Hellstrike. Same goes for the ML and LC - single shot AT weapons (even with rerolls) aren't that great. Now the Multiple Rocket Pod, while expensive, is totally worth it and I'll show you why in a moment. The second round of weapons upgrades are even more restrictive and have you upgrade your Hellstrikes for one of the following options: 6X Heavy Bombs (40pts); 6X Hunter-Killer Missiles (40pts); or 2 Multiple Rocket Pods (30pts). Now these options, while more expensive, open some interesting builds up. As I said above upgrading Hardpoint 1 with MRPs was worth the 40pts to do so and the reason is you could then upgrade Hardpoint 2 to have two more MRPs. That's right for 175pts (or some 80pts cheaper than two Valkyries kitted with dual MRPs) you have a Gunship that throws out 4 large blast templates a turn that are Defensive Weapons by nature. So the 24" range of said weapons is mitigated as you can now move 12" into a good position and still fire.
The final weapons upgrade option is the most expensive and most limiting (though it's possibly the coolest looking on the model) and that is to trade both the Hellstrikes Missiles and Multi-laser for....a Punisher Cannon (50pts). No thanks, I'll pass.
As for vehicle upgrades there are only a handful, but a few of them are super sweet. Flare/Chaff launcher is a 10pt one use only upgrade that allows you to re-roll an Immobilized result on the damage chart. Not too shabby I say. Armored Cockpit is what Extra Armor should be (but it costs an arm and a leg for it - 20pts): on a 4+ Shaken/Stunned results are ignored. Infra-Red Targeting is dirt cheap and gives the vehicle Acute Senses, while it's counterpart, Illum Flares, allow you for the same price as IR Targeting to "light up" an enemy unit spotted by the carrying vehicle. The bonus is ANY unit can then target the "lit up" the following turn provided range/LOS is good. Downside is it's one use only. IR Targeting and Illum Flares are a killer combo (especially seeing as Valkyries/Vendettas and Vultures all have Searchlights standard too). The last option isn't too hot (Distinctive Paint Scheme) so I'll skip it.
With all that aid I'll give you two possible Vulture variants, both of which I plan on using. First up is the "Fire Support Gunship" variant.
Vulture - 2X MRPs, 2XMRPs, Armored Cockpit, IR Targeting
Total: 200pts
Flavor as you want with aircraft upgrades, I went with AC and Targeting, but for another 15pts could have gone whole hog and added Flares and Chaff. Anyway, this variant's basic premise is simple - move forward with troops, look for anything not in an armored box, throw 4 large blasts on it with some HB fire, wipe it out (or at least inflict some casualties). Variant 2 is more of an anti-vehicle platform, the "Strike" variant:
Vulture - TL AC, 6X Hunter Killer Missiles, Armored Cockpit, IR Targeting, Flare/Chaff Launcher, Illum Flares
Total: 200
I threw every upgrade on just because, but basically use this variant to go hunting for light vehicles. You can move 6" and fire everything, or 12" and try to pop something with the Autocannon. You can make the strike variant more expensive by upgrading to a TL ML or TL LC if you want. Personally if I were to do so, then giving it the TL ML would be the way to go.
If you want to use the Heavy Bombs, I'd say use the "Fire Support Variant" and upgrade the second set of MRPs to 6X Heavy Bombs. Then you can move 12" fire off the rockets and drop some large blast templates over people.
Moving on in the Heavy Support section, next up we come across the following:
- Elysian Sentry Gun Battery: Immobile, AV10 all around gun emplacements that have to choose a restrictive firing mode before every game? No thanks. It comes with a TL HB standard and can upgrade to a TL LC cheap, but what kills it are the special rules. Point Defense Mode, is the first firing mode and basically allows you to shoot up to 36" within a rigid and set 90 degree arc. Easy for your opponent to avoid. This coupled with the fact that the Guns have a preferred target type (i.e. it will always target and shoot it's preferred enemy type within range, so HBs go for non-vehicle units, LCs go for vehicles and MCs. Only if there are no units of this preferred type w/in range will they engage the nearest enemy unit. Blah) means a smart opponent will just skirt around the 90 degree firing arc and leave your guns silent all game. The second firing mode is Sentry Mode. In this mode it can target all enemies around it (yay for 360 degree firing arcs!) but wait they can only do so out to a whopping range of....18"? WTF, over. Now I get an 18" TLLC that has to fire at vehicles in that range? Who's going to run a vehicle that close to a TLLLC (the answer: no one)? As I said, while cheap (35pts base, can get up to 3 per slot) the firing modes and targeting rules just make these things useless.
- Valkyrie Sky Talon: 30pts cheaper than a base Valkyrie, this guy loses the ability to carry troops but can carry either one Tauros (or variant) or two Drop Sentinels. Bonus (I guess) is that while they count as Heavy Support choices, they don't take up a FoC slot....huh, wait what? Sooo they're choices that leave me my 3 slots in the FoC for Heavy Support? Interesting....
Upgrades are minimal (read: only 1). You can get 2X MRPs for 30pts. I guess you could call this the most effective Fire Support Gunship variant out there. For the same cost as a base Valkyrie you can get the 2X large blast templates of the MRPs. I can see these being used in lieu of Vultures in a list that makes heavy use of Drop Sentinels or Tauros'.
- Imperial Navy Air Support: This is a fluffy choices for the Army List, but really will only see use in Apoc. Games. With that said, the two choices are for either a Thunderbolt Fighter or a Lightning Fighter, the Lightning being the cheaper option. Personally if you're going to do it, I'd take a Thunderbolt with 4X Hellstrike Missiles for 210pts. This gives you 2X TL Autocannons, a TL LC, and 4X Hellstrikes. Fly this guy on the board and blow up a vehicle. If you're trying to save points, a Lightning with 6X Hellstrikes will set you back 185pts, but gives you a TLLC and 6X Hellstrikes to go vehicle hunting with. All in all though, while fun and fluffy for a Heavy Support choice, you'll never see this outside friendly games and Apoc.
So with all this said, how about I show you all some lists. The first one is your standard Veteran list, only Elysian style. It's also the list I'm in the process of building (about 90% put together right now) and then painting.
HQ:
Elysian Command Squad - Homing Beacon, Medi-Pack, 3X Aux GL (On Vox, Medic, and Vet), Vox Caster, Meltagun, 1X Bodyguard, Krak Grenades, Valkyrie
Total: 239
Some things I'm thinking of doing to shave points and re-invest elsewhere in the list is maybe drop the Bodyguard and Krak Grenades
Long Range Scanner Section - 2X Extra Guardsmen
Total: 62
Troops:
Strongpoint Assault Squad - Elysian Veteran Squad (here on out abbreviated EVS), Vox, 3X Aux GL, 2X Melta, Heavy Flamer, Grenadiers, Valkyrie
Total: 264
Assault Support Squad - EVS, Vox, 3X Aux GL, 2X Melta, Heavy Flamer, Valkyrie, Grenadiers
Total: 264
For both of these squads, Grenadiers was a late addition and afterthought. I decided I'd like to have some survivability in some of my squads.
Rapid Reaction Force - EVS, Vox, 3X Aux GL, 2X Melta, Heavy Flamer, Valkyrie
Total: 234
Pathfinder Squad - EVS, Vox, 3X Aux GL (1 on Vox), 3X Sniper Rifles, ML, FO
Total: 154
FA:
1X Vendetta
Total: 130
1X Vendetta
Total: 130
1X Vendetta
Total: 130
HS:
Vulture - 4X MRP, Armored Cockpit, Infrared
Total: 200
Vulture - 4X MRP, Armored Cockpit, Infrared
Total: 200
Total: 1997
This next one was my first attempt at using an ample amount of Drop Sentinels. One thing I'm looking at doing is maybe drop the Veteran Squad and use the points for two Sky Talons and one more Drop Sentinel somewhere. That'd give the list some more anti-horde and one more DS MM for a total of 8. As it stands now:
HQ:
Elysian Command Squad - Homing Beacon, Medi-Pack, 2X Aux GL (Vox and Vet), Vox Caster, Meltagun, Officer of the Fleet, 1X Bodyguards
Total: 161
Officer of the Fleet and the Bodyguard are expendable. They are also on the chopping block now that I'm looking at this list again.
Long Range Scanner Section - 2X Guardsmen
Total: 62
Elites:
2X Drop Sentinels - 2X MM
Total: 100
2X Drop Sentinels - 2X MM
Total: 100
1X Drop Sentinel - MM
Total: 50
Troops:
1PLT, HQ - PCS, Aux GL (for PL), 1X Meltagun, Vox, Homing Beacon
Total: 63
1PLT, 1SQD - Aux GL (SL), 1X Melta, Vox, Demo Charge
Total: 98
1PLT, 2SQD - Aux GL (SL), 1X Melta, Vox, Demo Charge
Total: 98
1PLT, SW Section - SWS, 3X Melta
Total: 70
1PLT, Drop Sentinel - MM
Total: 50
2PLT, HQ - PCS, Aux GL (for PL), 1X Meltagun, Vox, Homing Beacon
Total: 63
2PLT, 1SQD - Aux GL (SL), 1X Melta, Vox, Demo Charge
Total: 98
2PLT, 2SQD - Aux GL (SL), 1X Melta, Vox, Demo Charge
Total: 98
2PLT, SW Section - SWS, 3X Flamer
Total: 55
Drop Sentinel - MM
Total: 50
Assault Squad (Vets) - Vox, 3X Aux GL, 2X Melta, Heavy Flamer, Demolitions, Valkyrie
Total: 264
As I said dropping them could net me 2X Sky Talons with MRPs and an additional Sentinel somewhere...interesting
FA:
2X Vendettas
Total: 260
2X Venators - 2X TLLC
Total: 130
2X Venators - 2X TLLC
Total: 130
Total: 2000
Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this review and hope it inspired you all to join the ranks of the Guards most elite fighting branch: the Airborne!
