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Offline Scottiedog113

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Starting guard.
« on: April 21, 2017, 11:37:03 AM »
Iam new to warhammer 40k and I want to play guard but don't know what I should play and or use. I have been looking at blob guard thought.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2017, 12:30:03 PM »
The first piece of advice I always give is this: play what you think is cool. You're going to spend a lot of time and money on these things, so liking how they look is key.

Beyond that, blobs of guardsmen defending lines of artillery is a tried and true strategy.

Offline Cavalier

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2017, 02:22:06 PM »
Hey Scottiedog. Always happy to see a new Guard player on the boards. While I don't play Guard myself, my brother does. He's my number 1 opponent... and being my brother we talk a lot about his army.

A nice big block of Guardsmen can be very effective... but only when properly supported. The number one force multiplier for these units are orders. Command Squads issuing orders makes your rank and file squad of Guardsmen with some special weapons very deadly. Make sure you have a variety of weapons options for them, whether they be special or heavy because depending on your playstyle and how you support them, you want to have your options open. Buying and painting a lot of Guardsmen is a big investment of time, so make it worth it by having all your options available in terms of weaponry as time goes on.

Priests are also bring a HUGE impact to Infantry squads. Getting those boys fearless allows them to take horrific losses and still able to deliver a nasty counter-punch especially if you can keep your special/heavy weapons alive.

So for just starting out... I'd definitely invest some time in figuring what special/heavy weapons suit your playstyle and getting some decent support characters/command squads to get the most of your Guardsmen.

I recommend having a good amount of anti-tank with your Guardsmen. If their is one thing I've noticed is that IG tanks seem to all be anti-infantry.... Leman Russ, Basilisk, Eradicator, Punisher, the dreaded Wyvern (HIGHLY reccomend this thing.... absolute nightmare). I definitley recommend having some solid melta and lascannon or even just missile launcher options for your Guardsmen. My brother always seems to run into a wall when it comes to taking out my Wave Serpents. Ignore Covers orders with a good spread of anti-tank will go a long way.

My final advice is... perhaps hold off on OVER committing to any kind of tanks until 8th edition rolls around. I think vehicles are probably gonna get a big upgrade... and certain weapons may work differently. I wouldn't hold off completely... but I'd not run out and buy 6 standard Leman Russ or anything.

Anyway those are my thoughts. I hope they help. If you have any specific questions please let us know we are always happy to help. Good luck!
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2017, 02:50:33 PM »
One pretty good rule of thumb for Guard is this: Infantry kill tanks, tanks kill infantry.

Don't bother with flamers and such on your infantry squads. You want to give them autocannons, plasma guns, lascannons, and the like. Drop squads of Scions with a pair of meltaguns and a plasma pistol are pretty sweet. Vets in Chimeras stacked with meltaguns, etc.

Then let your Basilisks, Leman Russ, and so on wipe out the infantry, and they can do that very, very well.

Offline Saim-Dann

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2017, 10:11:33 PM »
Welcome to the hobby, Scottiedog113!
Taking on an IG army as a newbie... very impressed. They are not your average army and aren't easy to master. That's as far as my knowledge on them goes, mate. Take Cavalier's advise and don't invest big till 8th ed arrives. While your waiting though, watch some batreps on YT and see how they wield the IG. Take note as to what units impress you. Again welcome! you've picked a winner as far as hobbies go.

Offline Looshkin

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2017, 02:17:35 AM »
Welcome to the boards Scottiedog! I'm not a guard player, so I'll dip out of this conversation nice and early; however, I'll echo what others have been saying. Before you make any large investments, make sure you think out what type of force you'd like to field. There's nothing worse than buying a load of units and then never having a use for them. If you have a group of friends that play, or a gaming store near you, see if you can get a game in using someone else's army, or using proxies.

If you're going to paint your army...pick something that you find cool. Nobody gets tired of painting cool units and cool colour schemes...people get board when it becomes a grind!

You've made a good start by coming to a board for advice. Use the resources available - there are some terrific generals on the board, while if you want help with painting or modelling advice, head over to the project boards with your questions.

Welcome to the hobby, I hope you enjoy your stay!!
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Offline TheEldarGuy

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Re: Starting guard.
« Reply #6 on: July 5, 2017, 10:02:39 AM »
Guard are my second army, but as they say "second on the charts, first in the hearts" (and they do say that, by the way).

First thing you'll notice, is that to field some of the Emeror's finest, you might need a lot of models. A lot of models. It can seem. Like a daunting task at first.

My recommendation is to make use of the 5 man push together box sets. I guarantee that when playing, they shoot with the same ballistic skill. Unless you get as many boxes as you can and make a conscript unit.

I like to use one normal box of guys (in my country about $50) and then pick up two of the 5man boxes (total value of $25) and voilĂ , two legal squads. Pick up a starting army box ($140 here), and you get some guardsmen, a tank and a Lord Commisar HQ.

8th edition makes out T-shirt saves something, and the humble lasgun is almost on par with the space marine boltgun, and finally a capacit to outnumber many of the opponents by at least 3 to 1 model count. Quantity surely makes up for quality.

 


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