Why play the Death Guard?

Aside from easy, characterful conversion opportunities, and extensive fluff and
information available on Mortarion’s Legion, Plague Marines are a very intriguing
animal in our new Chaos Space Marine codex. Point for point, a Plague Marine will
outperform a Chaos Space Marine with a Nurgle Icon. The intriguing thing is not the
outperformance itself, but how they outperform them.

Outperformance, as mentioned above, is nothing new with Cult Troops. All Cult Troops
are specialists at first glance, and a look at their wargear and statistics can usually
determine what the purpose of the model is.

Khorne Berserkers, with 4 attacks on the charge, WS5, and Strength and Initiative of 5 on
the charge, no ability to take rapid fire weapons, and nothing besides pistols, and close
combat weapons, you don’t have to be a genius to understand that this unit wants to make
it into close combat. No-brainer.

Noise Marines are somewhat peculiar. They offer speed, but they quickly become
expensive with all their sonic weaponry. The idea one gets when they look at a Noise
Marine unit is that they are a group of Marines who want to walk forward, laying down
loads and loads of assault weaponry firepower, and finish off the survivors in CC with I5.

Thousand Sons are Marine killers, and a seemingly dying breed in 5th Edition. Slow and
Purposeful means they shoot their full 24 inches on the move, but unreliable movement
means you can never depend on them to be exactly where they need to be to deny cover.
This means reliance on mechanized transport becomes mandatory, and they run into the
very real problem of ‘overcooking’ a target and becoming stranded. Basically, a Rhino-
mounted squad of Sons will drive up, leap out, and rapid-fire with AP3 bolter rounds.
They will likely liquefy whatever they shot at, leaving them utterly stranded and
vulnerable to a foe’s counterattack. While the 4++ helps versus lascannons, melta, and
plasma, a smart foe won’t waste them on a Son. Bolters kill ‘em like regular Marines, and
at 23 points per model, a failed 3+ save against a Tactical Squad’s bolterfire hurts.

So, as you can see, Cult troops seem to be specialists. They are there to pretend they’re
Eldar, doing one thing very well to the exclusion of all else. However, without the tricksy
defensive psychic powers and reliable, super-quick transportation the Eldar use to support
said units, a high reliance on Cult troops quickly reduces an army’s model count, and you
begin to see lists suffer from a bad case of Elite-itis. This is why Cult based armies tend
to fail in the face of fluffless, combination armies of min-max Chaos labeled ‘Black
Legion’ to excuse the use of nine Obliterators, and a pair of Lash of Submission users.
Lash means the Cult armies can never get close enough to bring their skills to bear.

The obvious answer, then, is Chaos Space Marines, right? The bare-bones CSM has
more, and better equipment than a Tactical marine, and a lack of the ability to form
combat squads is actually a blessing, as a more specialized role can be defined in a larger
squad of Marines, who are better at both close combat, and mobile firepower, than a Tac.
But what about dedication to a Chaos God? Well, why not hook up the squad with an
Icon, right? You may not be a full-fledged cultist with all the bells and whistles, but you
still acquire a few benefits. The problem with this is peculiar, as it doesn’t apply to every
Icon in the same way; in some cases, the cost is cheap enough for the Icon to justify CSM
over Cult troops, such as in the case of Slaanesh and Khorne, but due to 5th Edition’s
wound allocation, one failed save on the bearer of the Icon means the CSM lose all the
benefits you paid points for, and may fail at their intended role as a result. In the cases of
Nurgle and Tzeentch, the same problem remains, but is compounded by the further fact
that, point for point, you are paying more for a less reliable, less beneficial buff.

So, where does this leave a Plague Marine of the Death Guard?

Well, let’s have a look at him. Okay, he’s fat, and he’s ugly, but we’ll offer him the same
examination we gave the other Cult troops (and go into more detail, because, after all,
this is a Death Guard article, right?), and see if we can figure out what his ‘role’ is. All
Cult troops we’ve looked at were specialists, right? Khorne assaults, Tzeentch pops
power armor, and Slaanesh mows down hordes and strikes fast, for a Marine. Cool. So,
what does our friendly Death Guard battle-brother do?

Hm. He has, as expected, a 3+ armor save, even if his power armor is rusted, decayed,
and merged with his flesh, in some cases. He has T4(5), which means he looks vulnerable
to a blast from a heavy weapon or high-powered special, like a plasma or melta weapon,
but seems more well-protected from small arms fire.

So what, right? For 23 points per model, all we have is a CSM with T4(5) and a 3+ save,
with lower initiative? The Icon of Nurgle could have given us that, and been slightly
more cost efficient in a large squad of 10 Marines, or more, and with so many bodies, our
Icon is unlikely to die, and they have higher I. Why pay so much for the Plague Marine?

Have a closer look; Yes, he is T4(5), and yes, he does have a 3+ save, like any other
Marine. The benefits, however, do not stop there. As we look closer, we see he has more
to offer, in the form of Feel No Pain, and Blight Grenades, as well as the standard
equipment of any other Chaos Space Marine. The weapons options are all highly
specialized, at first glance, which seems to give us some clue about their role.

We have a slightly slower (Ini.3), very tough Marine, with high powered, low range
weapons, and flamer options for cooking hordes, and enemies in cover. They are
equipped with grenades which steal a foe’s charging attack, as well. All of this suggests
Plague Marines are, as rumor suggests, ‘campers’. They find a nice patch of cover, dig in,
and sit beside a battlefield loot counter until the game ends, trading bolter fire with foes.
Between cover saves, stolen charge bonuses, high toughness, power armor, and FNP, we
get the immediate feeling that these guys, placed in cover and going to ground, won’t die.

Well, that’s true. But so what? The real question is, can a game of 5th Edition, on
average, be won with a war of attrition, where a Plague Marine army pretends they’re in
4th Edition, hides in cover, and denies imaginary victory points to a faster enemy? No.
So, that means Plague Marines are useless on their own? That they need other,
specialized Cult troops or basic CSM to back them up, and do the hard work?
Basically, shock troops to get their cover-save couches warm for them?

On the contrary, I feel 5th Edition has made the above statement less true than 4th
Edition, and I will explain the number of reasons why I feel that way.

1.) Cover saves are ubiquitous in 5th Edition, and are almost always 4+. A Plague Marine
in cover has all the defensive benefits of a Thousand Son, with better close-combat
prowess, and we no longer need to be in a piece of terrain to have cover. Cover can be
maintained effectively while on the move.
2.) Vehicles have become more durable, which means a Rhino, with its own cover save
due to smoke launchers, will often survive to carry the Plague Marines to their
destination, living beyond turn 2, 3, and sometimes even 4.
3.) 4th Edition was more about victory point denial, and victory point acquisition, than it
was about loot counters, and even a loot counter mission could be won by victory points.
5th Edition is all about claiming and defending loot counters, no matter the cost in victory
points, aside from Annihilation. Unless you plan on only winning 33% of your missions,
plan on being mobile.

Plague Marines are intriguing, as mentioned previously, because I have concluded that
they are not specialists at all. On the contrary, they are generalists with durability, which
fits perfectly with the Death Guard fluff; Mortarion valued a strong, resilient warrior who
could perform any role required of him on the battlefield, and with the Plague Marines,
this is precisely what you get; they don’t hit as hard in assault as a squad of Khorne
Berserkers, but with a powerfist and a fusillade of melta or flamer fire, they can hit hard
enough to solve a problem (certainly harder than a 5 Man combat squad with one flamer).
They deal with hordes with flamers, rather than Sonic Blasters. They handle Marines
with plasma fire, and rapid-fire bolters. They destroy armored vehicles with melta blasts.
In the world of Warhammer 40,000, they are what every general wants most; reliability,
and adaptability. You have the security of knowing that, no matter what, enough Plague
Marines in one place will solve any problem for you; from a Rhino, to a Titan.

A Khorne Berserker cannot say that. A Noise Marine cannot say that. A Thousand Son
cannot say that. A Plague Marine will always be able to do something in any situation.

Some Things To Consider About Plague Marines

As mentioned above, Plague Marines are generalists. With Krak, Frag, and Blight
Grenades, a bolt pistol, a combat blade, and a bolter, a Plague Marine with no upgrades is
equally comfortable destroying all but the thickest armored vehicle (Krak’ing rear
armor), standing in cover and rapid-firing his bolter, or snapping off a pistol shot and
charging into the fray with his foe. On top of that, a 3+/4+ Feel No Pain combination
equates to the same survivability against any weapon which allows him an armor save, as
Terminator Armor. Combined with higher toughness, this means a Loyalist Terminator
will die to a smaller amount of bolter shots than a Plague Marine. That being said,
specializing a squad is a great idea, as the basic troop is already fantastically equipped for
any unforeseen circumstances. I am of the firm belief that every squad should have a
specific role, and redundancy should be present.

To illustrate the point, I’ll summarize: Always take two special weapons in a Plague
Marine squad. Never take two different weapons. If you do take two different weapons,
NEVER mix assault and plasma weapons. You do not want to deny yourself a charge
option, and you do not want to dilute the effectiveness of your squad’s ability to
accomplish their role. Rely on the basic Plague Marine durability and generalist
equipment load out to handle unforeseen problems, but always focus on the role. When
you follow this advice, you will have a squad with a sharp, specialized point, and a rock-
solid generalist foundation, durable enough to handle misfortune and problems as they
arise, in order to provide you, the general, time to adapt and react. Which conveniently
brings us to our next topic of discussion: speed.

Adaptability and Reaction

Adaptability and reaction requires speed, focused firepower, and specialization. Yes, a
Plague Marine squad built properly can handle almost any problem, but some problems
are more quickly and easily solved by a squad more specialized towards that particular
issue; for example, you can destroy 10 Scarab Swarms with a 7 man Plague Marine squad
with no champion and powerfist, and a pair of melta guns, but the double-flamer
powerfist squad will probably eradicate them in a much quicker, more satisfying fashion.
But what if the scarab swarms are 18 inches away, and all we have in range are the Melta
boys? What if the meltaguns only hit once, and the bolter fire only sheers off another
scarab base, before the scarabs land on top of the Plague Marines in question? Yes,
they’ll be fine, but they’ll probably be tied up until Turn 5, instead of happily cooking
tanks into piles of molten slag, or putting holes in the Nightbringer with their meltas.
What could you have done to prevent such a tar pit situation?

Mechanize!

Mortarion did not like to rely entirely on tanks and heavy support, but he was no fool,
and if the situation called for it, the armor would be used. Well, 5th Edition calls for it,
and you have the Prince of Decay’s blessing; each squad of Plague Marines should be
equipped with a mode of transportation, because specialized squads HAVE to be placed
wherever they will have the greatest impact on the battlefield. A possible 18 inch
redeployment is absolutely impossible to ignore, and you are handicapping yourself if
you leave Plague Marines on foot. Do not mistake the Run rule as a handout to
footslogging armies; Run is unreliable, and is only around to allow an unfortunate squad
who lost their transport the chance to make a mad dash for the safety of their destination.
Relying on chance to get you where you need to be in time, and sacrificing a turn of
shooting for that unreliable chance, is not a game-winning mindset. Mechanize.

Nurgle armies have long been regarded as slow and steady; an imperturbable wall of
bodies advancing on their goal, laying down bolter fire and being picked off with heavy
weapons, or else a static, cover-camping army only comfortable in their own deployment
zone, and increasingly weaker as they extend outwards from their point of origin. This is
a stigma which has carried over from 4th edition, and a lot of older Nurgle players are
still trying to win by attrition, when the road to victory no longer lies there.

Ironic, isn’t it, that the most adaptable Cult army suffers from such a stagnant mentality?

Proactive approaches to battle is how we win 5th Edition. We hold the advantage when
we seize the initiative in a way our opponents do not expect; when we come to them,
champing at the bit and frothing at the mouth, sweeping en masse from one battlefield
marker to another, we defeat the foe’s preconceived notion of how he was going to win.
So, I say it again, victory lies in a proactive approach, and in 5th Ed., it’s all about speed.

Let us examine our two sources, then, of speed for ground troops.

Rhino

The Rhino has been substantially upgraded by the shift from 4th to 5th edition, in such a
way that extra armor seems unnecessary to me, now. Loyalists beat us in technology, no
matter how many upgrades we add to a vehicle; in upgrading to ‘Keep up with the Jones’,
we secretly handicap our own advantage: cheap wheels. Our transports, while not quite as
fancy as a shiny Ultramarine ride, are durable and cost-effective, and with a Cult based
army, saving points means more boots on the ground, and boots on the ground win wars.
In 4th, a destroyed Rhino meant entanglement. On top of that, Escalation meant no
transport squads started on the table. Finally, an easy-to-achieve penetrating hit on a
Rhino meant the Rhino died 50% of the time. There were many reasons not to use a
Rhino in 4th Ed., and footslogging wasn’t a bad idea, when a battle could be won just by
outliving the enemy, and whittling him down slowly over the game.

In 5th Edition, the Rhino got his horn back. With deployable cover saves, penalties to
glancing hit damage, and vehicles only dying on a penetrating hit of 5 or 6, Rhinos
became more durable than they ever were with an extra armor upgrade. On top of that,
the doing away with of entanglement for Fearless troops, and no more Escalation, etc,
means every squad which is NOT focused on close combat should have a Rhino. Period.

Land Raiders

The Land Raider in 4th Ed. was an unreliable pointsink. The Land Raider in 5th Edition
is a bear, and can withstand horrifying amounts of antitank fire, especially if kept within
cover. Beyond this, it offers a Death Guardesque generalized load-out of weapons, and
can function as both anti-infantry and anti-tank, statistically as effective at popping
enemy tanks with a pair of TL’ed lascannons as 4 single lascannons would be. A havoc
launcher adds anti-infantry firepower, but a combi-weapon is a waste. Daemon
Possession is a good upgrade, but expensive, and extra armor is fine, too. However, I
prefer my Raiders to be clean, and they perform their role similarly regardless of
upgrades. That role is, primarily, to ferry Plague Marines into close range, and close
combat, usually with a powerfist and a pair of assault special weapons. Once again, there
is no reason to take a Land Raider without Plague Marines inside; if you want anti-tank,
pick up more Rhinos and Meltas, or Obliterators (but Obliterators are definitely not Death
Guard, nor are Raptors, or Bikes.). If you do not intend to transport Plague Marines
primarily, do not bother with a Land Raider.

If you do bother with a Land Raider, one is too few, and three is too many. Two is ideal.

Loading Out Your Plague Marine squads, & Defining Roles Clearly

As may have already been mentioned here, and elsewhere, a Plague Marine squad of 7
men costs around 160 points, which makes a squad expensive to start off with. However,
when one takes into account the fact that a Tactical Squad of 10 men will likely cost
more, and perform less effectively in both shooting and close combat, we start to worry a
little less about adding a few bells and whistles. Take a look at a full squad of 20 Necron
warriors. This comes to almost 400 points, and I would wager a Plague Marine squad of 7
with a powerfist, and a pair of meltas, or flamers, mounted in a Rhino and costing over
100 points fewer, would chew them up in a handy fashion. No matter what, remember
your Plague Marines are, first and foremost, a brick wall. Enemy units of equal
(sometimes greater) value will bounce off of them, and will usually be ground down.
Remember, except in very rare occasions, we should be HAPPY to be charged by
wounded foes. And, of course, even happier when we are the ones doing the charging.

So, we know our Plague Marines, while expensive, will usually outperform similarly
costed squads of enemy models. Now, let us look at squad configurations, what they do,
and why they are effective.

Squad Size

10 Plague Marines is a durable, powerful squad, and a pair of special weapons and a
champion means people will be very scared of them, if they're smart. They will attract
fire, and be whittled down slowly and surely. However, kept safe inside a Rhino or Land
Raider, I can see why one would feel inclined to field them. However, in our case, our
'Sacred Number' still seems to apply. 7 Plague Marines is cheap enough to field in large
numbers of redundant units ( four or five groups, sometimes more, in 1850 games ),
while still retaining combat effectiveness. The 10 man squad is, in my opinion, a fallacy,
and one related to the even worse travesty that is the 14 - 20 man squad. We're not a
Horde army. Trying to invest too many points in maximizing squad size leaves us with no
points for upgrades, and large numbers means footslogging. Huge, footslogging squads
mean we're very, very easy to be captured beneath a large ordnance blast, even if the blast
scatters several inches. With such large squad sizes, it's highly unlikely they will be in
cover very often, which means the number 'advantage' is another handicap in disguise. 7,
friends, is an ideal number. They fit in a Rhino, they're easy to hide in cover, and they're
big enough to be effective, but small enough to field in big numbers of squads. Division
of firepower is another advantage this allows.
Now, we'll discuss combat roles for squads.

Flamer Squad

A Flamer Squad is designed for, primarily, cooking gribblies. A pair of flamer templates
reaks devestation on Ork mobs, and firing pistols or rapid-firing bolters alongside the
blazes of promethium will cause a 30 man mob to wither. The same blasts will reduce
Gaunts and Genestealers to ashes and cinders, bake Guardsmen, and cause swarms of
scarabs and rippers to be flash-fried. However, aside from effectiveness on hordes,
flamers are highly effective on any squad you can find all bunched up, and a Rhino-
mounted Flamer squad should first tankshock an intended target to cause them to bunch
up to one side or the other, before depositing the squad in question to catch the bunched-
up enemy with templates. Even power armor and Necron living metal will melt when you
can catch 8 - 10 models beneath the template. With two flamers, you double that number.
This is the same as getting automatic bolter hits, against power armor (cover doesn't
matter, they have a 3+ save anyway), and 16 - 20 bolter hits, plus another 5 - 10 from
pistols or rapid-firing bolters is enough to make a foe 'feel the heat'. Sorry, couldn't resist.
My personal preference is using Flamer squads, complete with a powerfist champion, in a
pair of Land Raiders, as anti-horde (and anti-whatever) dual spearheads. However, a
Flamer squad does not NEED a powerfist to be effective. A powerfist simply means they
can deal with a slightly larger variety of threats, like Monstrous Creatures and
Dreadnoughts. Like a Melta, a squad with Flamers can always choose to charge in and tie
up or finish off a weakened foe.

Melta Squad

The Melta Squad is primarily aimed at vaporizing enemy vehicles and Dreadnoughts.
While not quite as effective in one strike as a squad of five Fire Dragons, they don't die as
soon as they hop out of their vehicle and make their move, which means they have the
opportunity to leap back into their Rhino after a successful strike, and move on to another
target. Melta Squads are highly effective at destroying expensive enemy models with 2+
saves, and Monstrous Creatures alike, and a powerfist in the squad means they will be a
diverse fighting force, very capable of demolishing monsters, vehicles, and well-armored
enemies. High invulnerable saves are the bane of this squad, as they nearly neutralize
their advantage. Like a Flamer squad, a squad equipped with Meltas can always dash in
to smash their weakened foe, or stationary, damaged vehicle with powerfist punches and
Krak grenades.

Plasma Squad

The Plasma squad, or 'Plasma Death' squad, is usually comprised of 7 Plague Marines,
and a pair of plasma guns, and sometimes even a Champion with/without a powerfist, but
usually equipped with a plasma pistol or combi-plasma. Six plasma blasts means enemies
will be very scared to come near 'em, and their primary purpose is to park themselves in
cover, usually on a claimed objective, and take advantage of the reasonable range of a
plasma gun, sniping models out of expensive squads, whittling enemies down with
spatters of bolterfire, and melting them under rapid-fire plasma rains when they manage
to close the distance. The problem with this squad, that I see, is their stationary nature,
and their easily countered weaponry. A Plasma Squad is useless against a squad mounted
in a Land Raider, driving up to shake their hand. A Plasma Squad kills their own range if
they change position. A Plasma Squad cannot charge into combat if they fire their
weapons, and a Plasma Squad is the only 'specialized' Plague Marine squad which is
more effective out of combat than in, so a smart foe will find a way to tie 'em up.

On top of that, plasma guns periodically blow up and kill you, so firepower can be
unexpectedly reduced by an unlucky overheat, even with Feel No Pain.

Should Champions always be included in Plague Marine squads?

I personally don't think so. Your mileage may vary. I used to feel like they all needed
one, and it certainly makes them all seem scary in close combat. The problem is, Plague
Marines, while very much desiring to close ranks with a foe and leap into close combat,
are not close combat monsters like Berserkers or Harlequins. Their desire to close ranks
with a foe comes from the defensive benefit this offers; hidden in melee, they no longer
worry about ordnance blasts, plasma blasts, meltas, and whatever else may pop them.
Power weapons aren't all that scary, typically wounding us on 5's (and 6's, if in the hands
of an Eldar), losing their charging bonus, and hitting us on 4's (sometimes 3's, with an
IC). The only thing that really concerns us in close combat is a powerfist, or a Monstrous
Creature with high weaponskill, and multiple attacks. These are rarities, and should be
avoided when possible, until victory is assured. What I'm trying to say is, making every
Plague squad a CC threat does not really play to the Death Guard's strength, which is
defense. You CAN beat a Berserker at his own game, but you need an unreasonable point
investment to pull off what a smaller, cheaper, Berserker squad could handle. You also
make the foe actively try to avoid getting anywhere near your Plague Marine squads,
fearing your powerfists.

This is, counter-intuitively, a bad thing.

You see, when the enemy actually puts more effort into dodging us, he makes our life
more difficult. We want, as mentioned many times before, to be locked in melee. One
good volley of weapon fire, and a charge, is Christmas morning to us. On top of that, a
powerfist in every squad means a Champion in every squad, and a Champion in every
squad means less bodies in your army. Remember, we want specialization with a
generalist foundation, and points expended on generalizing every squad into a CC threat
is, I've come to conclude, points wasted. Therefore, specialize: If you have a Land Raider
mounted squad (or two, like you should have, if you run Land Raider builds), they need a
fist. A guaranteed charge with a powerfist and some assault weapons is golden, but a
powerfist in a Rhino is a defensive fist, and that defensive fist will actually mean we're
locked in combat for less time than we want to be. And also, a powerfist means the foe
will be too scared to tangle with our squads, and will prefer to run like a little girl.
They're not really THAT devestating, but they are psychological, and they spook
Independent Characters. Plague Marine armies should be insidious. You want to lull the
foe into a fall sense of security, and certainty. Confidence breeds complacence, and he
will be of the mind that what works on a normal Power Armor squad will work on us.

Plague Marines are not 'Fire' elements like Berserkers. They are 'Earth'.. but, with our
build, they are 'Fast Earth'.. Not so much a 'Mud' build, as a 'Falling Rock'.

They bury an enemy. They are Catcher's mitts. They are.. Flypaper. But without a
Flyswatter, or a Baseball Bat, we're still stuck in a war of attrition. We need to find our
'Fire' somewhere else.

I had a foe who infiltrated Commander Shrike into my deployment zone, with a squad of
Assault Marines, and a Veteran Sargeant with a power weapon, and the barely concealed
glee on his face when I diverted only ONE Rhino squad with a pair of Melta Guns to
handle the enemy unit was all the confirmation I needed to have, to know that Shrike
would be dead within a couple of turns.

The Proper Mindset

Think of your squads as 'Effects', and 'Strikes'. Think of your army, and your foe's army,
as a body. Following this, identify the components:

Flamer Squads are Erosion. This is their 'Effect'. Like a river, they wash away weak foes,
and break off the brittle edges of stronger ones. They erode.

Melta Squads are Scalpel strikes. They vaporize and 'slice away' key elements of a foe's
army, cripple him, and strike precisely, and hard. They should be used on hard, small,
important enemy parts.

Plasma Squads are Large Rocks. Funny name, but pretty exact for what they do; they
fire in large numbers, and strike hard, but they take a steady aim to hurl, and if your foe
can close with you, he can keep you from throwing stones. They should be used on large,
distant enemy squads of hard models, aiming to pick them off from a distance, and work
best in squads of 2 or more. However, as they are expensive, more of these means less,
more versatile squads. Large Rock squads are pretty useless in certain situations; i.e.,
when faced with an Ork Horde of over 150 models. Small units of expensive models are
their prey.

These are the Plague Marine squad 'effects'. Next, we will examine the Daemon Prince,
our HQ of choice, and the effects they represent.

Daemon Princes of Nurgle

Daemon Princes are our 'Flyswatter' model. The 'Baseball Bat'. Like the rest of the army,
a Prince should come with Wings for mobility, and like a good little Death Guard player,
you should give him a Mark. With Toughness 6, and an 18 inch threat range, he was a
counter-punch in a more defensive, less 'goal oriented' 4th Ed. army. 5th Edition requires
him to be a little more proactive in his methods, and aims. Flown behind cover, or hidden
behind a Land Raider, Princes lurk and bide their time until the foe overestimates his own
killing potential and foolishly assaults a Plague Marine squad, gets caught in assault
himself, or misjudges the threat radius of the Prince. A slightly revealed Prince will
benefit from a 4+ cover save behind a Rhino (or Land Raider, depending on the height of
your Prince), and in this regard is JUST as durable to anti-tank weaponry as a Tzeentch
Prince, but far more durable versus small arms fire. He will, if used in this manner, take
the heat off of your Rhino squads, and further divide enemy anti-tank, thus helping to
ensure the survival of your armored column.

Let's face it, though. Like the rest of the army, the Prince wants to get his claws into
something. However, unlike the rest of the army, the Prince tends to finish whatever he's
involved with VERY quickly.

Let's look at some Prince builds:

The Warp-Time Nurgle Prince

Terrifying in close combat, and super-effective versus vehicles as well, a WS7 S6

Monstrous Creature with I5 and re-rolls to Hit and Wound is spooky in close, and draws
a lot of attention. Hide him well, and use him to leap out and shred unprotected stationary
or 6 inch moved vehicles, and squads of enemies your Plague Marines are holding in
place. As mentioned previously, the Plague Marines will usually win a fight eventually,
especially with a powerfist. The Daemon Prince is what usually turns the tide of battle
immediately, and demolishes enemy foes already locked in combat, usually chasing
down and Sweeping Advancing fleeing foes. Make sure you want the fight to be over
when you send him in, as you will likely end up stranded outside of combat at the end of
the assault phase, and you'll want vehicles to hide behind or cover to Massacre into,
hopefully.

This Prince is also highly effective at neutralizing enemy squads numbering 10 models or
less, such as Tactical squads, Necron warrior groups, etc. He can also shred Monstrous
Creatures with as much ease, rerolling against their toughness.

My personal favourite.

The Rot Prince

Characterful, and effective in certain circumstances, a Rot Prince has the advantage of
being able to kill models in squads he's not otherwise engaged with. Wreaking havock on
hordes, a use of Rot usually means 12 - 15 dead Orks per turn, on top of whatever he
slices up in close combat. The problem is, he's too focused on something which doesn't
really show up all the time: hordes. He's effective in close combat, but in close combats
which REALLY need to go your way, the extra reliability of Warp Time, in my mind,
trumps the effectiveness of the Rot. I mean, hordes aren't usually going to beat the Prince
in close combat anyway, typically wounding him on 6's, so he'll probably win combat
and deal extra wounds as-is. Saving the 10 points on Warp Time is a point in the power's
favor, but we're not really as worried about 'earning points back' as we were in 4th, so..
Try it out, and see how it works for you.

The Doombolt Prince

No.

The Gift of Chaos Prince

Bad in Kill Point missions, as the Spawn are free points for your foe. Good for sniping
powerfists and special weapons, and even better for popping pesky Independent
Characters. Too bad Tzeentch does this better, with 2 tries per turn. Somewhat useful, but
too unreliable for the amount of points the power costs.. Again, Warp Time will probably
be a much better investment. Also, useless on vehicles.

The Wind of Chaos Prince

Cool. The power denies you a charge, a lot of the time, however, and our Prince wants to
be in close combat, not stranded. Besides, he's primarily around to help swat the Plague
Marine's "flies", and he can't template engaged enemies.

____________________________

So, with the builds illustrated, we now have our 'effects'.

The 'erosion' of Flamers.

The 'incision' of Melta Fire.
The 'large rocks' of Plasma Guns.
The 'flyswatter' which is the Daemon Prince.
The 'flypaper' which is the Champion-free Plague Marine squad.
The 'Right Hook' which is the Powerfist Plague Marine squad in a Land Raider.

Now, we can examine the 'anatomy' of an army.

The Anatomy Of An Army.

There are 'components' in an army which I try to identify when I face off with someone.

Roughly, they are the 'Arms', the 'Legs', the 'Heart', and the 'Head'.

The first thing to understand is that not all armies have heads, and not all armies have
legs. Legless armies are weak, and do not concern us. Headless armies are common, and
can (and often are) effective forces.
The Head
The 'Head' is the 'Support' HQ. They do not exactly 'think' for the army, but often enough,
the 'Head' determines the nature of the army. Eldrad is an example, as an army build
based around him would rely on re-rolls to accomplish tasks. An army with Korsarr'o
Khan as a 'Head' would be devised around speed, and reserves, etc. Any army which
relies on an HQ for a nature to be defined has a 'Head'. Cutting the head off is usually
difficult, and usually has an impact on the army, but usually, the bigger the impact, the
harder the 'Head'. An example would be Eldrad; killing Eldrad means the re-rolls and
tricky attempts to use psychic powers are neutralized, but try powerfisting a re-rollable
3+ invulnerable. Kill Khan, and you remove a powerful HQ who lends excellent benefits
to his squad, but the remainder of the army retains the power to outflank, so you do not
cripple them. Khan is easier to kill, however.

The Heart
The 'Heart' of an army is the Troop core. The Troops are an army's workhorse, and
without Troops, your foe is unable to accomplish his goals. Striking the 'Heart' is
difficult, in some cases, and is easiest when the opponent has an army with many large
groups of Troops spread out across the board, or small groups consolidated into one small
deployment area. Combat squads are Hell to kill off, because each one will leave you
stranded when you blow through it in close combat. When faced with such situations, it is
better to avoid concentration on the 'Heart'. In the other situations depicted, strike at the
'Heart' when able, and rip it out. Do so early, and victory will be all but assured.

The Legs
Simply speaking, you have 'biped' armies, and you have centipedes. Centipedes are the
annoying ones; armies with too many legs to break. Armies like Jetbike Eldar, Seer
Council lists, or Khan builds based entirely around Bikes are centipedes. They have
mobility built into them, and there is no way to strip them of mobility without killing
them. So, instead of trying to tweeze their legs off, just step on them. 'Biped' armies are
mechanized armies, to one degree or another. They 'carry' the enemy army around to
where he wants to be. In cases such as these, blow apart the Transports, and you break the
legs of your opponent's army. An enemy army with broken legs, early on, will do one of
two things: Turtle, or press forward with determination. If they Turtle, it is not enough to
break their mobility and let them cower and brace themselves. Pursue your foe, and crush
him utterly, using his choice of being stationary to ensure your forces smash into each
isolated, stranded section of his army, one at a time. If he chooses to press the attack
without mobility, he becomes overextended, and his firepower is reduced if he chooses to
run; not all units will move the same distance. If he moves only 6 inches per turn, gun
him down from a distance, and destroy him in assault with a consolidated attack from
multiple Princes and Plague squads.

The Arms
The arms of an army are the army's 'Arms'. Heavy weapon squads, battle tanks like the
Land Raider and Leman Russ, Predators, and so on, dedicated assault squads like
Harlequins or Biker Nobs, Fire Dragons in a Turboboosted Falcon, Terminator assault
squads in a Land Raider Crusader, whatever. They are the 'fists' of the army, when the
army comes in swinging. Tear off, block, deny, isolate. You 'isolate' them by tank shocks,
'deny' them by terrain placement before the game, 'blocking' the foe with more durable
units and holding them down for your own 'Fists' to strike them down, or 'Tearing Off'
the fists from a distance with superior firepower. A foe with no fists can still contest you
in the end, but if you break his fists earlier on, you will be able to walk across the field
with impunity, and burn down the remainder of his force.

Once you identify your own army's anatomy, and the anatomy of your foe's, you are well
on your way to devising a means of dismantling him.

What follows are some general strategies against various army types; more specific
examples will be posted later, as I write them.

General Death Guard Tactica

For Orks, I can safely say a 150 Ork Horde is easily defeatable in close combat.

Orks die from:

1. Having I2 when they are not charging

2. Being Fearless, with a 6+ save.
3. Being S3 when they are not charging.

What an Ork is, is a slow guardsman with more attacks, slightly higher toughness, and a
worse save, if you deny him a charge. So, the question becomes, how do you deny Orks a
charge.

The answer is: Land Raiders.

Yes, Orks can deal with AV14, but they deal with it only through CC, or through highly
unlikely lucky shots from Zzap guns, and other scatter weapons. We cannot create a plan
to handle a hypothetical enemy around the 'super unlikely direct hit S10 Ordnance blast
that rolls a 6 and, oh crap, you didn't have a cover save that turn'. I mean, it happens, but
very rarely. We have to plan a tactic around what is 'most likely' to cause us issues. What
is the issue, then? Power Claws. They strike at S9, and can penetrate a Land Raider on
the charge.

Okay, so we know the main source of concern for AV14 with Orks: Nobs, and
Warbosses with claws. Cool.

How does this apply when you see a 30 Ork Boy squad with a Claw Nob in the squad?
Simple; it doesn't. Drive your Land Raider right through them. They will scatter to one
side or the other, or they will try a stupid Death or Glory attempt, and their precious Nob
will be run over, and the squad will break. Either way, doesn't matter. He's only S8 on the
Death Or Glory, because you deny him a Furious Charge. So, with his horde shunted to
one side and bunched up, the Land Raider squad hops out, and drops a pair of Flamer
templates on 'em.

I will tell you from experience; it is not difficult to get 8 - 12 Orks under a flame
template. Double that, and you have 24 S4 blasts which deny them armor, and cover
saves, plus another 5 pistol shots. 27 or 28 hits, on average, should yield around 14 - 16
dead Orks. This is from ONE flamer squad in a Land Raider. Now, what do you suppose
happens when this squad, accompanied by a Daemon Prince hiding behind the Land
Raider leaps out, with Warp Time, and the flamer squad charges in? 18 more WS4, S4
attacks. 9 will land, on average, and 4 or 5 will wound. This should be around 4 or 5 dead
Orks, barring super-lucky 6+ saves. Combine this with the Prince's 5 WS7 attacks, who
re-roll to hit and wound with S6, no armor saves. 20 - 25 Dead Orks, at this point. Now,
he has to divide his attacks into whatever models are base-to-base with his own, so
whatever Orks touch the Prince swing at the Prince, period, etc.

So the 4 - 6 boys remaining (I'm being generous, here) swing miserably at our Plague
Marines, or our Prince. They're S3, so they wound either one on 6's, and have a harder
time hurting a Plague Marine due to our 4+ FNP than they do the Prince, so trying to
have the Prince based with the Nob is a good idea .. a 5+ invuln. is cool, when the
alternative is zip. Whatever. Let's say they get lucky, and wound a Plague Marine and kill
him. The Claw Nob swings, hits 1.5 times, and wounds 1.2 times. The Orks deal 2
wounds, total.

Guess how many our Plague Marine / DP combo did? Heck, even with no DP, the Boys
would still fold, and if they didn't get dropped below 12 models, they'd be taking Fearless
wounds.

You defeat Orks by finding ways to pre-empt their assaults, and divide their squads with
tank shocks. You reduce their numbers with flamer templates, and you dive in and finish
them.

You getting the picture, yet? I mean, I can't really tell you 'This will work all the time',
because each game is different, but these are the conditions you should be trying to bring
about with a Plague Marine VS Horde army situation.

Khorne Daemons, again, are not that hard-core, and I'll be happy to stay inside my tin
cans and drive circles around them, carefully choosing which vehicles to unload
passengers. With Khorne, you defeat them by accepting that a few guys are probably
gonna die when you assault, and planning for it by sending (perhaps) 2 squads charging
into one, killing them with Fearless combat resolution wounds, and moving back. We
have less DPs, but their DPs are FAR more expensive, and we have plenty of firepower
to put wounds on 'em. Depends on army composition, where they deepstrike, how much
cover there is.. Too many unknowns for me to tell you what will usually work. My
general advice would be to take advantage of how slow they are (no transports), their lack
of firepower (few/no guns), their over-costed HQs, their random deployment (both
deepstrike, and which army half appears first), etc. Use your own transports to ensure you
can bring your entire army's firepower and assault power to bear on 'chunks' of his.

Berserkers without Lash make me Lol. They have crap for firepower, and yeah, they're
good in assault, but after you blow up the Rhinos, they footslog through bolter fire to get
to you. 4 or 5 Berserkers will seriously struggle against Nurgle marines. 3 powerfist
swings aren't that much better than 2, and while T5 doesn't help on powerfists, Blight
Grenades drop 1 attack from every assaulter, and THAT is HUGE. Do the Math. 15
attacks from 5 Berserkers (assuming a wounded squad of 8), 12 of which are normal, 3
are Fists. 2 fists land, and 8 normal. Of the 8 normal, 4 wound, due to T5 VS S5,
assuming the 'Zerkers charged. Cool. Of the 8 wounds, we lose .5 Plague Marines. The
fist likely kills 2, but 1's aren't uncommon. Our counterattack will likely kill 1 - 3
berserkers, which means the lethality of their next turn (loss of Furious Charge, also),
drops to nil.

Monstrous creatures? I can't emphasize this enough; range them, and light them up, one
at a time, with lascannons. When the wounded ones come near, leap on 'em with Warp
Time princes and shred through their remaining wounds. Hop forward with melta squads
(Or plasma, but I absolutely loathe plasma.. ), and rapid-fire and melta 'em. Throw
powerfist squads at wounded Carnifexes to finish 'em off. Yes, you will lose men, and
yes, FNP doesn't help against MC attacks, and powerfists, but the point is, such attacks
are a rarity. You are not going to go through a battle without losing a single man unless
you're A ) Super lucky, B ) Up against an inexperienced player, or C ) Playing too
defensively. You are aiming to minimize losses, and avoid them where possible, but don't
be afraid to tangle with a 'Fex with 1 or 2 wounds, if you have a 7 Man Plague Marine
squad with a fist. They'll chew him up.

Imperial Guard Battle Cannons and the like? Sure, I've faced IG also, and Leman
Russes suck, but what can you do? Toss lascannon fire from your Raiders to shake and
stun 'em when you can, aiming always for side armor, and roll Rhino Meltas up in their
faces under the covering fire of the Raiders. Pop smoke. Next turn, hop out of the Rhino,
melta the tank, and if that fails, assault it, and Krak Grenade it to death. Ordnance hurts
like Hell, but it's unreliable, and a lot of IG players place too much faith in the big guns,
hoping for those bullseyes. Get stuck in.

These are general examples and bits of advice I have to offer; my army composition is
different from your's, likely, and I include units that make my strategies work. The same
strategies may be impossible with your own army list, but this is what I finally settled on
for my Nurgle army; I tried defensive wars of attrition and objective holding, but
opponents like Eldar can swoop in and contest at the last minute, dedicated assault troops
can 'counter-assault' me off of an objective, and people can shell me all day with
battlecannons. On top of that, people EXPECT Nurgle to do this. They expect us to be
the least proactive Chaos army out there. They expect to see us hop into cover, sit on a
marker, and shoot bolters and plasma all day, and that's why Orks usually aren't scared of
us, along with a lot of other armies. They know objectives are scattered all over, and our
army will have to split up to claim things.. And while we're tough as nails, we're not so
tough that 7 Plague Marines can handle 90+ Orks landing on top of them. 30 is fine, but
90 or more? No.

You HAVE to be proactive to win decisively. You cannot fight a war of attrition in 5th
like you did in 4th. You do not win by victory points any longer; you win by claiming.
You claim by going over to the enemy and getting into his lines, assaulting whatever
weak points you find with all-purpose weapons (Melta and Flamer are the name of the
game, here. No matter what, meltas and flamers can handle any situation, and leave you
with more options available after firing.), bolt pistols, and a 3-attack-per-man charge in
the end, if needed. Your Princes hide, draw fire, and win the fights you need won
'immediately'. You crush 'chunks' of the enemy, because bigger armies are never
consolidated. They spread out, so you slam your entire force as quickly and as harshly as
possible into the various body parts detailed in the previous section, 'The Anatomy of an
Army'. You strike the heart of the enemy (Troops), the legs of the enemy (Transports), or
the arms of the enemy (Big guns, heavy tanks, mean HQs, etc.). The heart is usually the
most well-defended, but the most crippling. Rip out his heart, and the enemy will still
have a few spasmodic attacks left to toss your way, but the fight will be out of him. Break
the legs, and he'll crawl towards you, allowing you to pick and choose where to strike
next, with him too slow to react. An enemy with broken legs who stays aggressive is an
easy win. Break the arms early, and the enemy will be toothless, and easy prey. Break
them late, while managing nothing else, and he will still be able to dash around and
contest.

TACTICAL SPECIFICS: How (In General) To Deal With " Insert Enemy Here "

NECRONS

We will start with a focus on Necron army squads, and how they function. Necron armies
are comprised of cookie-cutter squads with very few options; Of all the armies in
WH40K, a Necron army is one which will offer few (if any) surprises. One vehicle, and
usually no more than one upgrade option for every squad in the Codex. (Usually
disruption fields, which no Necron player ever pays for, AFAIK.) What does this mean to
you? Several different things.

#1. Every Necron army will be 99% WYSIWIG, unless proxied models are used. If you
see a Destroyer, you know what the squad had, and what the squad does, if you are
familiar with the Codex (By familiar, I mean reach the level of knowledge where you can
tell you enemy exactly what his weapons are, what they do, how far they shoot, etc.
Saves and T values help, also.. For everything else, keep their Codex handy, and refer
frequently to it to make sure they're not being tricky. Necron, Tau, and Eldar players have
a certain reputation.) You will never run into an Immortal Squad with a Necron missile
launcher, or somesuch (for example).
#2. Every successful Necron army revolves around a gimmick. If the Necron army has no
gimmick, the Necron army loses. Therefore, identify the gimmick before Turn 1 starts
(before deployment, even). If the Necron army has no discernible gimmick, steamroll it.
No planning required. If the Necron army has a gimmick, examine the Necron army's list,
and identify units which do not support the gimmick.

1.Anything which does not support the gimmick of the army weakens the army.
Memorize this. This is very important to understand.

2.All gimmicks expose a glaring weakness. Exploit the weakness, or cripple the
gimmick, whichever comes easier. Memorize, also.

Some example gimmicks:

3 Monolith Army: Three indestructible (nearly) Necron vehicles. The gimmick, here, is
obvious; he wants you to focus firepower on the Monoliths, and not his drastically
reduced model numbers. You are not going to reliably kill 2 Monoliths in 6 turns. If you
are trying to kill his Monoliths, you are playing into the strength of his gimmick.
Therefore, ignore the gimmick. Kill the 'Crons with antitank weapons, plasma weapons,
power weapons, sweeping advances, and so on, denying his Monolith's secondary
gimmick: rerollable WBB.

Destroyer Spam: Usually comprised of 3 squads of 5 Destroyers, and reduced numbers

of foot soldiers; minimum numbers of warriors, large numbers of Immortals, and some
(or one) Lord, either Destroyer-bodied or on foot, with a Veil, to warp firepower around.
The gimmick, as you can see, are the Destroyers. The foot soldiers are the distraction;
Destroyers will speed around and try to liquefy stuff with massed S6 AP4 firepower.
Death Guard are not particularly terrified of this; mechanized Death Guard even less so.
Pick off the Destroyer squads with Anti-Tank, Plasma, Melta, and whatever else. Like a
wasp, and a mosquito, you know which one is the real problem. Focus your efforts on
killing the wasp, and don't waste your effort on chasing the Mosquito around.. Only swat
him when he comes near you, and otherwise ignore his bite.

He might make you itch a little, but that's about all.

Necron Army and Player Weaknesses

Necron armies come from an ancient and inexplicably poorly FAQ'ed Codex, filled with
good options, horrible ones, and weird rules even Necron players have issues with, or try
to fudge with vagueries.

The weaknesses of the army are, as mentioned above, reliance on 'gimmicky' builds to be
effective in a competitive setting, a smattering of really bad choices in the Codex which
will handicap the Necron player, though he will likely deny it, even if you warn him in
advance, and finally, an army whose squads do not offer a lot in the way of versatility.
Necron squads do one kind of shooting well. Heavy Destroyers provide fair anti-tank.
Destroyers provide good anti-infantry. Immortals provide much the same, on a slightly
smaller scale, and so on. The Codex takes a few swings (and subsequent misses) at close
combat, in the form of Flayed Ones, Pariahs, etc., but one look at the special rules (Gauss
Weaponry, etc.) says, " We're Necrons, and we're not happy if we're not shooting stuff. "
This is bad. No matter how skilled your foe is, one look at each squad on his army list
will tell you, straight away, what each squad is aimed for. His Heavy Destroyers aren't
going to be charging into melee unless he's a moron, and so on. The 'uncertainty' factor is
stolen from the Necron player by his Codex.

The main weakness of a Necron player is somewhat similar to the saying, 'An owner
begins to resemble their pets', and I feel this applies to many armies. Eldar and Tau
players are very similar; smug, and self-assured. They are used to speed, and being able
to move whatever squads they have, wherever those squads need to be. They feel
indestructible, because their speed usually allows them to mow down average and poor
players with ease; If you don't have some sort of solution for crippling their speed (or
don't know how to apply the solutions you do have), or no means of surviving long
enough to close ranks with them, deny them their avenues of fire and victory conditions,
etc., you are basically finished from Turn 1. Because of this, Necron, Tau, and Eldar
players begin to develop an attitude which reflects their way of winning. They're all
smiles and confidence, until you start punching holes in them, or they fire their whole
army at you, and when the dust settles.. those Plague Marines are still there. They rely
on gimmicks which still work, but which were far more exploitable and dangerous in 4th
Ed., and with the nerfing of the Glancing Hit, Necron armies were seriously toned down.
The problem is, a lot of Necron players still vainly rely on the same strategies and tactics
which functioned perfectly fine in 4th Ed., but perform much less effectively in 5th. The
bottom line is: They are, 9 times out of 10, overconfident. Surprise them. Use their
overconfidence to your advantage.

Baby, Don't Fear The Reaper

The Codex: Necrons has a lot of very expensive options. Some are very durable, and
have uses. Some are very expensive, and have no uses.

The Monolith is highly durable. If you have absolutely NOTHING to shoot besides the
Monolith with a Land Raider, I'd suggest going ahead and moving a full 12'', rather than
firing on it. The Monolith is a multi-purpose tool in a Necron army, providing mobility to
otherwise slow ground troops, offering an Ordnance blast which can snipe individual
models (powerfists, ICs, etc.), loads of anti-infantry firepower, and rerollable WBB. The
Monolith is like Eldrad, in an Eldar army; if you don't have a psychic hood, you have to
suck it up, ignore him, accept his advantages as par for the course, and move on. Well, if
you have a Monolith on the table, and you have no S10 weaponry, you may as well move
on, accept the advantages as par for the course, and focus on the Necron army instead..
for, while the Necrons gain many benefits from a Monolith, they also take penalties. You
see, Monoliths are very expensive, and every point invested in a Monolith is a point
which isn't invested in a Necron model. Less Necrons on the field means the Necron
army is easier to phase out. Finally, firepower can be reduced by forcing the Monolith to
function as a portal by pressuring the Necron army.

This keeps them from firing their silly Ringpop Laser.

Bottom Line: Ignore it, unless you have the means to reliably handle it (9+ lascannon
shots have a fair chance of doing some damage.)

The Nightbringer is a different story. A massive chunk of a Necron army (nearly 400
points!), the Nightbringer offers a short-range lascannon shot, and some fair close-
combat ability. The problem is, he's slow, easily avoidable, only has a 4+ invulnerable,
and generally sticks out like a sore thumb. The Nightbringer does not support any Necron
army gimmick. If he is around, the Necron player has handicapped himself, and is either
inexperienced, overconfident, or both. Pulverize the Nightbringer with massed firepower
from lascannons, meltas, and even heavy bolters. (I once scored 4 wounds on a
Nightbringer with 6 heavy bolter shots.) If you see him on the table, along with a
Monolith, a large group of Pariahs, the Deceiver, etc.. Chances are, your foe will have
around 1100 - 1200 points of Necrons. Force a phaseout, after your crush his C'Tan.

Remember; every point of a Necron army not invested in Necrons, is a point closer to
phaseout.

General Anti-Necron Strategies

1. Necron resurrection orbs and Tomb Spyders are a problem. Find a way to assault the
Lord, hopefully by attacking a unit he has attached himself to, and shred him with a
Daemon Prince, or shred his attached squad, and catch him in the Sweeping Advance
which will inevitably follow. Tomb Spyders should be picked off with melta and anti-
tank weaponry, or finished off with a powerfist.

2. Necrons are easily swept in close combat, and a sweeping advance with no other
Necron squads nearby, Orbs, Spyders, etc., means all the Necrons lying down will be
scattered and demolished. Never avoid CC.

3. Never be afraid to approach with vehicles, but use caution. Lucky glances can mean
immobilization, even if they cannot destroy you; therefore, for expensive vehicles like
Land Raiders, only plow into their lines when you are certain you can deliver a charge.
With Rhinos and the like, blow smoke launchers, and drive until they blow your tires.
Charge them on the following turn. They’re not particularly scary to vehicles anymore.

4. Use mixed assaults to your advantage. Include several enemy units with several of
your own in one large close combat, crush them, and Sweep them when they flee.

5. Use assaulting a squad with a Lord to your advantage; as the Lord must consolidate
first, assault from an angle which draws him (and his Resurrection Orb) away from other
squads he was supporting with it, nearby. Follow up with an assault (hopefully on the
same turn) on the unsupported squad, and demolish them with power weapons, etc.

6. If a Lord is in a squad which loses combat, and the squad flees, so does he. If you
sweep the squad, he is swept along with it; no WBB allowed.

The Imperial Guard

There are numerous flavors of Imperial Guard. Some emphasize huge amounts of foot
soldiers and conscripts. Some focus on massive, stationary gunlines, with huge amounts
of heavy weapons. Some are more fixated on mechanized Guard, carrying special
weapons like meltafire and plasma where they'll be more effective. Some eschew such
strategies in lieu of huge amounts of Leman Russes, and Basilisks.

Each flavor of Imperial Guard has a particular flaw which can be exploited, and the key
is identifying the flaw, and making sure your counter is capable of closing the distance,
and handling the problem. We will first discuss how Imperial Guard function in 5th
Edition.

5th Edition is kind in some ways to the Imperial Guard, and very hard to deal with in
other respects. The problem is, each different Imperial Guard variant reacts in a different
way to 5th Edition, and a mission which may pose a dilemma to say, Armoured
Company, will be fairly easy to compete in for an infantry-heavy mission. Each
Guardsmen variant, therefore, requires a different reaction and playstyle. However, never
fear. A Death Guard army founded firmly on an all-comers mindset will be able to
prevail under any circumstances, and IG specialize. This leads us to the inherent
weakness found in every Imperial Guard army -- The problem with Imperial Guard is the
inherent specialist nature of each army list, and not necessarily the individual
components. They run into a similar problem which confronts Tyranids and Orks; an IG
list will either do one thing very well, and try to solve all problems with their one
strength, or else diversify, and do everything subsequently poorly, with very few
redundant units. Practitioners of this mindset feel a mediocre response to every situation
is better than no response at all; They are correct, in a way, but the point is moot: they're
still probably going to lose.

Just because a Storm Trooper has an attack profile, it doesn't mean he wants to be in
close combat.

He has a response to it; it just won't make much difference, 99% of the time.

Armoured Company

The much feared and vaunted Armoured Company is ultimately a one-trick pony, much
like Nob Bikers. They boast huge amounts of firepower, and huge amounts of durability,
but the vehicles themselves cannot claim objectives, and they usually have very small
scoring power. What this means is, they will have a very small number of vulnerable
scoring units, and they'll want you to waste your time engaging insurmountable amounts
of AV14 front armor, while their Armored Fist squads try to win the game.

What you need to be doing is baiting them. Locate positions of strength on the battlefield.
Use wrecked Rhinos as walls which can deny firepower a lock on the Plague Marines
hiding behind 'em. Your Land Raiders will be used in a defensive manner, hiding behind
cover and firing lascannon sponsons to cripple the Armored Fist squad Chimeras, and
plink away at side armor on the various heavy tanks. Expect heavy bombardment from
Turn 1 onwards, and compensate accordingly. Hide your armor, and keep your squads
inside vehicles. Remember; if he spends a TON of points on Doctrines, he will have far
fewer vehicles. If he spends fewer, each vehicle will be weaker, and vulnerable. The way
to win a game against Armoured Company is to guard objectives in your deployment
well, and use a sudden rush from a Daemon Prince (or a pair), and focused firepower
from meltafire, krak grenades, powerfists.. whatever..

When he reaches for you, make sure he draws back a nub. Reach for HIM once he has
overextended himself. Turn 3 - 5 is when you should become more aggressive; and you
should become, generally, more aggressive than you were the turn before, all the way to
the end. Make sure you know the rules for each one of his tanks; some have bizarre shells
which roll 2d6+8 for armor penetration, but require standstill in order to fire, and never
scatter.. some have weird anti-magnetic jelly on them which makes grenades bounce off
on a 4+.

The rules are old, and strange, but if you know them, you'll be prepared. Remember, he
has a lot of armor, but if you can keep him from bringing all of it to bear, and cripple and
destroy his few scoring units, he will be forced to start moving his vehicles in order to
contest and attempt to steal objectives from you; if he moves, some of his rules are
useless, and he is wasting those points. Either way, if he moves, his firepower is going to
be reduced, and you want to make sure that the only weapons he CAN use on you are
imprecise, unreliable ones.

Imperial Guard Infantry Heavy Builds

You'll know it when you see it; Infantry Imperial Guardsmen are basically trying to be a
'shooty' horde army, and in many ways, they succeed. They have high leadership, high
numbers, and usually use a strong firebase of indirect fire behind their lines (Basilisks,
etc.). They also usually add in squads of heavy weapon gunners in defended areas, who
shell you with lascannons and heavy bolters. The idea is the same as an Ork army, in
terms of scoring; The "Camo Tide" is going to wash over the board and flood you, and
roll over the objectives also. You break them in much the same way as you break an Ork
horde: You do the unexpected. You rush right up into their face with everything you
have, and smash into his lines like the fist of an angry god. You will likely route a squad,
so try to assault multiple squads when you can; 7 Plague Marines can easily carve up 60
Guardsmen. If they fall back, and leave you high and dry, or you massacre, try to move
CLOSER. Yes, you will be rapid-fired by every flashlight in his army, but they'll wound
you on 6's, only hit half the time, and you have a 3+/4+ save in order to soak 'em. If you
come under fire by heavy weapons, his own army will provide you with cover. Finally, if
you can close within 36'' of his Basilisk, he will no longer be able to aim the shells at
you; 36'' is the minimum range. Therefore, always come closer.

Needless to say, Flamers are your friend in situations like these.

Land Raiders, Rhinos, etc., are also fantastic for in match-ups with Infantry-heavy
Guardsmen armies. Guardsmen armies like these love to flee off the board when you
tankshock 'em. Just beware of special weapons; know where his Melta weapons are, and
make sure you have a solution for them before you proceed.

Imperial Guard Gunline

You can really use the same approach as above; he'll have more heavy weapons, likely,
but he will also be more stationary. Expect armored support of some sort, and be ready to
cook anything with treads with your melta squads. Needless to say, as above, flamers are
wonderful.

Some numbers to keep in mind..

.50 * .16 *.33 *.50 = 1.36%

The odds of a lascannon blast landing, rolling a penetrating hit (6), and destroying a Land
Raider in cover, in the hands of a Guardsman.

Battlecannon's chances of immobilization on a Land Raider are worse.

On a Rhino, with smoke, we'll assume a Battlecannon lands a bullseye on it.

.75 chance to penetrate (due to 2d6 for armor penetration; normally, a 50% chance) * .33
(chance to destroy) * .50 (chance for smoke).

Less than a 13% chance to be destroyed, which is better than a 2+ save. Now, factor in
that only 33% of the shells roll a bullseye?

Around 4 - 5%.

OooOooOoh. Scaaaaary. FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=rolleyes.gif"

Imperial Guard Tank Heavy

Less ground troops means less roadblocks and speedbumps between your meltaguns and
his precious vehicles. Get your Plague Marines close to his tanks with as much speed as
possible, and knock 'em out with krak grenades, meltaguns, powerfists, and lascannons.
Your Daemon Princes also serve as highly effective vehicle killers, and will shred his
ordnance sources (Leman Russ, etc.) with ease. Remember, you always land a blow on
rear armor on vehicles, and Guardsmen tanks tend to have good frontal armor.
Unfortunately, they cannot say the same about their rear armor, like we can.
Unfortunately for them, of course. Once his vehicles are dead or incapacitated, clean-up
work is all that remains. Just make sure you accomplish your goals quickly enough to
ensure, even if the game ends by Turn 5, you'll still be victorious.

General Anti-Guardsman Strategies

1. Like a Tyranid or Ork player, Guardsmen usually don't care if you mow down 10 men
in