Rules for Play: The Imperial Guard Infantry

Everyone loves the Guard for their tanks, but tanks aren't what win games. The billions of common footsoldiers in the Guard capture countless worlds and defend almost every world in the Imperium.

Basic Principles

1) Get in cover with shooting units.

2) Play for objectives.

3) The tactical defensive is crucial.

4) Doctrines.

5) Concentrate fire.

1) Get in cover. Find cover and use it. Keep mortars behind cover. Anticipate the enemy's likely routes of advance and get in cover to block these. You know that your lascannon will miss half the time, but your opponent knows it will hit half the time. As simple as this is, I see lots of Guardsmen set-up in the open to maximize their fields of fire. This is fine for MEQ, but suicide for IG.

2) Play for objectives. The IG can win any game with objectives if the player is focused on the objectives and has slightly favorable luck. However, you can't win in the same fashion that a MEQ would. For example, consider the Take and Hold. As this mission is generally played, someone gets their uber command sqaud on the objective and slices up all comers. This won't really work for the Guard. I favor reducing my enemy to no scoring units to contest the objective and having a weaponless Sentinel (or some equally inoffensive unit) in range to win. Remember that your squad heavy and special weapons are generally expensive decorations, and maneuver to win objectives rather that taking a few generally ineffective shots.

3) The tactical defensive is crucial. This means infiltration, the Macharian Cross, and EARLY aggressive maneuvering matter a lot. Yes, the Guard can shoot a lot, but generally the first couple of turns you have fewer targets than you'd like in range, and if you sit still your infantry squads may be unable to contest any objectives, and thus can be ignored by your opponent.

4) Doctrines. Always take Iron Discipline. Always take Drop Troops. Sharpshooters tends to net you nothing on an infantry platoon through an average game, and makes heavy weapons and support weapons teams too attractive to enemy fire. Close Order Drill is great, and worth it if you can spare the points. Light Infantry makes you faster in cover and provides infiltration, which is huge - it not only lets you get better positioning, but further lets you set up troops after all normal deployment is complete. Hardened Fighters can be good, but requires finesse and Commisars or Priests (or both) to be truly effective. You may find a need for Ratlings, Ogryns, Storm Troopers, or Grenadiers. Die-Hards can also be put to good use in certain circumstances.

Cameoline, Carapace Armor, and Chem inhalers are for losers, and an IG army with any of these is destined to lose almost every game against competent opponents. Mechanized is pretty, but too brittle to win.

5) Concentrate fire. The Guard depends on volume of fire to accomplish goals, not single high strength shots. This means you prioritize targets and goals (i.e. 'I'll shoot the Dreadnought until it is at least shaken',) and do this until you've accomplished your goal for the shooting phase, then turn everything against your next target. Deciding which units to fire with first is important, and a lot easier if you keep your target priorities and goals organized. It may matter more to kill a single assault Marine in range of one squad than to kill a Land Raider in a different part of the board this turn, but you have to think about what you're doing before you pick up the dice.

Advanced Tactics

1) Find the keystone and kick it out.

2) Galipoli = bad. Stalingrad = good.

3) Sparse command weapons.

4) Hardened Fighters + Advisors = Dead MEQ.

5) Aggression.

1) Find the keystone and kick it out. Most Marine players, all Chaos players, and a high percentage of other players have a keystone unit, a tooled-up command squad being the most common choice. Drop a truck on this unit, every chance you get. Ignore everything else to kill this unit, and let half of your army die to kill it if need be. Yes, Ordnance is very good for this, but so are plasma rifles on drop troops. Small stormtrooper squads are ideal choices for this mission.

2) Galipoli = bad. Stalingrad = good. If you're going to charge, use as much cover as you can and bring every body possible. A charge that sees 40 of 50 Guardsmen killed and their opponents wiped out is a winning charge. Sending 5 squads forward one at a time to be defeated in detail sucks.

3) Sparse command weapons. Command squads are already valuable targets to your opponent. Yes, dropping 5 guys with plasma weapons right next to your opponent's Terminators and blasting them down would be awesome. But more often than not, what will happen instead is that your command squad becomes a higher priority target, and every wound costs a special weapon. One special weapon is fine. Two is too many.

4) Hardened Fighters + Advisors = Dead MEQ. Everyone knows the IG has to stay out of close combagt with Marines. Sure, Roguh Riders will countercharge, but otherwise, guardsmen avoid close combat. An infantry squad with Close Order Drill, Hardened Fighters, and a Commisar with a powerfist can really help with this problem. Plus, I love hitting Marines on a 3 and wounding them on a 2.

5) Aggression. Fortune favors the bold. Everyone expects the Guard to form a massive firebase and sit back. This can win games against some opponents, but in many games the objectives will be unattainable by a static gun line. Unless your opponent is obliging, he can hide most of his forces from effective firepower and rush out in the last turn to win the game. Aggressive play prevents this outcome.

Remember that Faith in the Emperor matters more than anything else. Grab your T-shirt and Flashlight, and charge.