Imperial Guard Tactics & Tips

Here are a selection of tactics and tips I have built up while playing IG. Further ideas and suggestions would be appreciated.

Basic Tips

• Always take a comm-link if you take a barrage-capable tank (Battle tank, Basilisk, Griffon). 30 points isn't much for a S8 2" blast marker every turn (if you get past the interferance!).
• Deploy Basilisks and Griffons at the start but keep all the other tanks in reserve. If you don't want to keep them off the table for long you can move them back on in turn 1 at any speed from and position on your lines. This will probably mean your enemy will have to move their heavy weapons to be able to hit you, losing at least a turns fire.
• If you are making an assault squad use a flamer and give the squad the Guerrillas veteran ability. The -1 to hit will not affect the flamer as it uses the flamer template.
• If you are taking a penal squad as Colonel Shaefer's Last Chancers and you give them the Guerrillas veteran ability the -1 to hit doesn't matter as much because the whole squad get to re-roll any miss when shooting (the re-roll must be accepted). This gives a much better chance of hitting while running.
• If you play on a board with a lot of trees and woodland take a squad of Ratling Snipers with the Stealthy veteran ability then infiltrate them into the woods 3" from the woods edge. Beacause of the veteran ability their LOS will be increased to 4" so they can shoot out without being able to be shot at! It will also take the enemy two turns to charge you as they can't see you until they are inside the woods. If they do get to you you get a +1 mod in HtH combat and if you think you need to run away you ignore the movement penalties so you can usually out-run the enemy's troops.
• If you are taking a Rough Rider's Command Squad always take the battle standard. You get +1 in HtH combat and it doesn't cost any points.
• Rough Rider's are exellent assault troops. A lieutenant charging an enemy with a battle standard in the group can have a weapon skill of 8!
• Psykers:
  • For a 1000 pts battle or less there are two choices. The first is to take a psyker as normal. The second option is not to take a psyker at all. This can save up to 170 pts for which you could have another tank or squad in a points-tight battle, eg, 600 pts. If your opponent takes a high level psyker (like a Farseer for Eldar or a Warphead for da Orkz) they will be stuck rolling 1D6 for the warp flux and they will have wasted loads of points due to the low chance of being able to energise level 3 powers. This can be quite a risk, your opponent could take a Warlock, but if it works you have a good advantage.
  • For 1000-1500 pts battles take a Psyer Lord or a couple of low-level psykers (the first is recommended if your pretty sure you can keep him alive).
  • For 1500+ pts battles ALWAYS take a Psyker Lord and a least one other mid-to-high level psyker.
• Psychic Powers:
  • Lightning Arc: IMHO this is one of the best psychic powers available. Six S6 hits with D3 wounds and a -3 SM is great for trashing Ultramarines!
  • The Gate and Displacement: Both of these powers move troops around the battle-field but The Gate can be much more powerful when used properly. Potentially it has a maximum range double that of Displacement, you can come out of either side of the gate marker and you can't shoot through it so you can come out the side away from the enemy and use the marker as cover! However, beware of the fact that enemy troops can go through the gate as well and could end up in-between your own front line.
  • Hellfire: This is a useful power for wiping troops out of cover like woods, etc, as it's a blast marker. It can also be useful to use as cover since it blocks LOS so you can stop Devistator fire or vehicles from coming through a gap in the scenery.
  • Scan: This is a good card to use as a round opener for your opponent to waste a nullify on and it only uses 1 force card. If your opponent doesn't nullify it however you will be able to see his hand of warp cards and 1 randomly chosen power card so you can work out which order to use your powers in, so he can waste nullifies, and when to keep your nullifies. The detection of hidden models also opens the way for Lightning Arc on your next go!
  • Assail: This can be very useful one game and totally useless in another. You can use it to knock models at the edge of the table so they go off the board and are counted as dead. You could, for example, push the enemies general into a vortex grenade's blast marker! You can also move your own models to effectively increase their movement by 6".
  • The Carmine Assassin: This power isn't really useful unless your fighting against IG or Eldar Guardiens.
    Question: Does a 6 always fail regardless of toughness?
    Answer: Well, there was about a 50/50 split when I asked for opinions over several months but one person said the Rules Boyz said it does so I suppose that answers it then...
  • Machine Curse: This is good to pin down Wolf Guard Terminators as they can't move OR fire! It is also a useful way to destroy Dreadnoughts -- Machine Curse them then charge them with a Commissar with a Power Fist (maybe with Combat Drugs, just to be sure :-). It will then have no WS so you can attack it just like other vehicles. Make sure you destroy it that turn or in the psychic phase it may be nullified and you have a fair chance of being killed in the HtH phase of your opponents turn, then again, it's only a 40-60 point Commissar!

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