Onto the imperium, IG style

[niddy]

hi!
ive been a tyranid synapse creature and an ork WAAGH! warboss but now, im going to be the commander of the imperial gaurd.
in short i collect lots of armies.

now ive set my sights on the imperial gaurd and was wondering what to get. all i have got so far is the cadian shock troopers.

any tips on what to get?

[Haraio [MALAL]]

Yeah, I think you'd want to buy at least four boxes of Cadian Shock Troops. As far as I can remember, a troop choice consists of a minimum of two units plus command squad. So, in a basic Guard army you need:

Main HQ
at least 5 guys

Troop choice 1:
command squad = 5 guys
Squad 1 = 10 guys
Squad 2 = 10 guys

Troop choice 2:
command squad = 5 guys
Squad 1 = 10 guys
Squad 2 = 10 guys

So yeah, what I would do is buy 5 boxes of Cadian troops. That way, you get 4 ten-man squads, and you can break the last one up into two five-man command squads. Then get the metal command squad box, and you have a basic guard army. Now add tanks and troops as see fit^^

[koran]

Dont forget that you can do away with some of the vast amount of men you need by having an armoured fist unit. That way you need:

Main HQ
at least 5 guys

Troop choice 1:
command squad = 5 guys
Squad 1 = 10 guys
Squad 2 = 10 guys

Troop choice 2:
Armoured fist squad = 10 guys
Transport = 1 chimera


Whatever you do you will need to go one of these two ways. Before you decide on anything further you really need to decide a theam behind your guard. I mean you dont need one but it helps to give the army character if you do and sometimes will indicate what choices you should make.

For example my guard are a force of xenos killers (specifically nids). From their background the are a mobile strike force (therefore I have alot of units in chimera and a centaur for one comand unit) and no leman russ (people scream at me for this but it sets me appart as almost all guard armies have one of more... boring). Also du to the "purging" natured of them (and more background fluff concerning their battles with Nids) they use alot of flamers, so thats the special weapon I have.

Alot of people have screamed at me for this army, it goes against almost everything guard players say should work but I know after like 25 battles, no defeats and only one draw, that it works very well if used properly.

So yeah, make a theam and stick to it. It makes your army look better and diverge from the typical guard gunline with tanks (which against many enemies doesnt work or soley relies on luck and not tactics).

[niddy]

does the 5 man squad contain a sargent?
any way i like the idea of having 2 squads and a command squad as one troops choice.
ill go with haraio's idea.
i also have another problem, i lost a guy from a 10 man squad and cant find him! is there any way that i could replace him with somthign different?

[Haraio [MALAL]]

Buy a special trooper blister pack, or a heavy weapon team^^

[niddy]

what about the sniper, can he replace that guy? and i thought you could only have one special weapon per 10 men?

this is really confusing me, how exactly do you set up a command squad, is a veteran sargent counted as a normal guy and if a support squad is one normal squad (whatever that means to the IG) plus a heavy weapon team, how many peeps is that counted as!?

im so confused!!!

can anyone just explain the basic layout of the IG!?!?

[koran]

Do you have to codex? Its pretty clearly explained in there.

Basically each troops choice has a command squad made up of 4 "normal"guard and one junior officer.

You then have 2 -6(I think its 6) units of 10 men as part of the same troops choice (the ment the junior officer is in command over). In each unit one man can have a special weapon, one a heavy weapon and one can be upgraded to a veteran sergent.

You then have an over all command squad (the HQ choice) which can be a better officer and again he has 4 men attached to him like the other command unit.

[koran]

Do you have to codex? Its pretty clearly explained in there.

Basically each troops choice has a command squad made up of 4 "normal"guard and one junior officer.

You then have 2 -6(I think its 6) units of 10 men as part of the same troops choice (the ment the junior officer is in command over). In each unit one man can have a special weapon, one a heavy weapon and one can be upgraded to a veteran sergent.

You then have an over all command squad (the HQ choice) which can be a better officer and again he has 4 men attached to him like the other command unit.

[niddy]

errrrmmm... i dont have the codex no... i was gonna get it but then i found i had to get all this command squad mumbo jumbo. thanks for explaining it tho

[koran]

No problem.

If you have a local GW they normally will let you have a look at the codex.

It does get a bit more complicated as there are several options you can "attach" a few squads to the HQ command unit that normally are different force organisation options.

I think Im explaining this poorly. Let me start again for if you didnt get that.

You can add 5 units to the HQ command unit. These can be up to one sentinel unit and up to five heavy weapons squads. These do NOT use up their normal force organisatrion chart positions in your army and represent the HQ comand groups scouts (the sentinel unit) and their defence (the heavy weapons). You dont have to have these but they are handy in higher points value games cos it means you can blag 4 fast attack choices (well as long as one is a unit of sentinels) and have three leman russ and still have some heavy wepon units....

Its fun.

[niddy]

ok... could i pull off using a sergant as a junior officor, can i have 4 normal lasgun men in a command squad and do u have to have a seragent in each 10 man squad?

[Haraio [MALAL]]

Yeah, the minor command squads can simply be a sergeant and four normal guys, but as your army grows you might want to upgrade them. The main HQ, however, should have some decent upgrades. Especially consider a Master Voxer, since he can give all units with vox casters the general's Ld^^

I think all units need a sergeant, but they can have the same weapons as the normal soldiers. I've seen some people simply giving the sergeant a normal lasgun, but I would give him a sword and pistol. Both because the extra attack will come in handy if assualted, and because it looks cooler^^

[niddy]

hmmm suppose... but when you withk about it not much can survive 30 str 3 hits... any way let me get this straight...


you have to have 20-50 men in 1 troops choice. there has to be a command squad leading them. the command squad can consist of a seargent, and 4 men.


is that right?

last question (hopefully)
a command squad is part of the troops choice, but can be taken seperatly as a HQ choice, right?

[invictus]

One infantry Platoon (all at minimums) is:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Command Squad - Junior Officer + 4 Guardsmen
Infantry Squad - Sergeant + 9 Guardsmen
Infantry Squad - Sergeant + 9 Guardsmen
---------------------------------------------------------------
You can have up to 3 (I think) more Infantry Squads in the Infantry Platoon.

As for your HQ you are getting confused with some of the terms. You buy Platoons, squads are part of the platoon.

So for the HQ you would need to buy 1 Command Platoon, which consists of 1 Command Squad + various support squads. Which is essential what you said, but better to get in the habit of using the right terms

[niddy]

WOOOOO i finally get it!