Hi all, Jwolf here. After the medics revived me, I took a long look at the Spanish vehicle rumors for the Imperial Guard. Here are my impressions:
TROOPS
Penal Battalion: 50 pts. 1 Custodian and 9 Penal troopers. Ld 8. Rifle and close combat weapons. Scouts, Stubborn, "Desperate".
~I don’t even care at all what “Desperate” means. With Stubborn, LD 8, and Outflank these are ideal units for taking it to the enemy. I will use regular crumbling line troops in my zone (can’t have those combats lasting 2 assault phases!), but these are certainly the aggressive objective seekers of choice.
Chimera: 55 pts. 12 10 10 Tank, Amphibious, Mobile Command Vehicle. Multi-laser, hull Heavy Bolter, searchlight and smoke launchers. Options: Upgrade Multi-laser to Heavy Flamer or Heavy Bolter - free; hull Heavy Bolter to Heavy Flamer - free; Storm Bolter or Heavy Stubber +10pts, Hunter-Killer Missile +10pts, Dozer Blade +10 pts, Extra Armour +15pts, Camo Netting +20pts.
~This drops the cost of a Chimera as I run them from 94 points to 70 points, and makes not taking Extra Armor a reasonable possibility. Affordable transportation makes mechanization a viable decision.
FAST ATTACK
Hellhound: 12 12 10 Tank, Fast. Inferno Cannon: 12" Template, S6 AP4 Heavy 1 (like the previous version but there is no roll to hit and no partials, but reaches 12").
~This trades 6” of effective range for moving fast and firing, making Hellhounds a lot better for breaking those Ork assault waves. And they were already great at doing so. Considering that a point reduction is also likely, these go from fantastic to unbelievably good.
Devildog: 12 12 10 Tank, Fast. Fusion Cannon: 24" S8 AP1 Heavy 1, Blast, "Fusion".
~The Hellhound has to struggle, as unbelievably good as it is, with the Devildog and its Melta cannon. I’ll have to try these out a bunch to determine what mix is best for my forces.
Banewolf: 12 12 10 Tank, Fast. Chemical Cannon: S1 AP3 Heavy 1, Template, Poison (wounds on a 2+ to "targets with resistance").
~While the template is scary, this is still a melee-range weapon. It’s simply not as good as the other 2 choices. I’ll try it out, but I believe this is the one I won’t have to take every time.
HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Special Rule: Can choose to move 6" and fire all weapons or fire nothing and move 6" +1D6".
~If that applies to all Russ chassis tanks, the angels will be singing over the graves of our enemies. This seems too good to be true, if rumors of lower tank point costs are also true.
LR Battle Tank: 14 13 10 Tank. Battle Cannon.
~Love the old LRBT, but the specialists are just better.
LR Exterminator: 14 13 10 Tank. Exterminator Autocannon: Heavy 4, Twin-linked.
~Possibly useful if the vehicle is cheap, but the limitation of a weak turret mount seems crippling.
LR Vanquisher: 14 13 10 Tank. Vanquisher Cannon: AP2 Heavy 1, +1D6 penetration.
~Penetrates Landraiders on average rolls, and has an AP2 cannon. This will have to be very expensive to not be a default choice.
LR Eradicator: 14 13 10 Tank. Eradicator Nova Cannon: 36" S6 AP4 Heavy 1, Large Blast, Ignores cover saves.
~This one is great if you know you’re fighting Orks, Eldar, Tyranids, Guard, or Tau. Otherwise, not much attractive about a weak main gun that still allows 3+ armor saves.
LR Demolisher: 14 13 11 Tank. Demolisher Siege Cannon.
~It’s hard to go wrong with a 10/2 cannon.
LR Punisher: 14 13 11 Tank. Punisher Gatling Cannon: 24" S5 AP- Heavy 20.
~I can see the appeal of a vehicle with 29 S5 shots per turn. I’ll probably play with this one sometimes. Turning a LR into a strictly anti-infantry vehicle seems like a reasonably poor option, but rolling all those dice sure seems like fun.
LR Executioner: 14 13 11 Tank. Executioner Plasma Cannon: 36" S7 AP2 Heavy 3. (I assume blast).
~This is the Terminator terminator. Assuming it has Demolisher options, this vehicle has FIVE Plasma Cannon shots per turn. I believe I can find a slot for a firepower platform of this magnitude.
Basilisk: 12 10 10 Tank, Open Topped.
~Good old Bassie looks to be finally ready to become scenery except in Apocalypse games.
Medusa: 12 10 10 Tank, Open Topped^. Medusa Siege Gun: 36" S10 AP2, Heavy Artillery 1, Large Blast. "Fortification Buster" Ammunition: 48" S10 AP1 Heavy 1, Blast, +1D6 penetration.
~The Medusa will be hard not to take – 10/2 Large Blast with better range than any other 10/2 Ordnance. That, by itself, would be very good. Add in the best vehicle killing shot around and all you need is fine Corinthian leather and some bucket seats for this is baby to have it all.
Colossus: 12 10 10 Tank, Open Topped^. Colossus Siege Cannon: 24-240" S6 AP3 Heavy Artillery 1, Large Blast, Ignores cover saves.
~“Oh, were those your Marines in 3+ cover?” The only drawback of the Colossus is the minimum range.
Griffon: 12 10 10 Tank, Open Topped^. Griffon Heavy Mortar: 12-48" S6 AP4 Heavy Artillery 1, Large Blast, can choose to "repeat" (re-roll?) deviation dice roll.
~The Griffon, one of my long-standing favorites, will need to be extremely cheap and available in 1-3 per choice to even get consideration as a Heavy Choice. Now, if I can have one as a Platoon support weapon, that changes the equation.
Manticore: 12 10 10 Tank. Storm Eagle Missile: 4 only. 24-120" S10 AP4 Heavy Artillery 1D3, Large Blast.
~Great model and can really change the landscape on turn 1. Limited ammo should mean lower cost, but we’ll see how this one turns out. The potential of 3 10/4 pie plates into the enemy on turn 1 doesn’t compete with a 10/2 pie plate every turn for general killing power.
Deathstrike: 12 12 10 Tank. Deathstrike Missile: 1 only. 12"-960" S10 AP1 Heavy Artillery***, Blast (radius 1D3+3").Special Rules:- Cannot be fired on Turn 1. Each turn roll a D6, weapon can be fired on a 6. Modifiers: +1 per turn, -1 for each crew stunned or weapon destroyed results sustained. Can always be fired on the roll of a natural 6.- Any weapon destoyed results received are ignored, the only effect they have is to delay the launch.- Hits on vehicles in the area of the Deathstrike Missile are not calculated at half strength but at S10.
~This seems like a fun thing to have a battery of for Apoc games, but unreasonably restrictive for normal play. 1 Shot weapons, no matter how good, are toys and better relegated to wargear, not FOC slots.
MISCELLANEOUS
Ogryns: 25 pts, S5 T5 A3 Sv4+ and have "rabid assault" (Furious Charge?)
~Might be fun to play a Guard with allied Daemonhunters list with Ogryns in it, but Ogryns are competing for points with so many better choices that they’re just for fun and not reasonably placed in a competitive list.
Valkyrie: Skimmer. 24" move. Troops may disembark at any point in its movement, but more than 12" and they take a dangerous terrain check
~Well, I’ll have to have at least a couple of these; we’ll see what the final armor rating and points costs are. If the Valkyrie is 12/12/10 with decent weapons options and under 100 points, I’ll probably find a place for one regularly. If the Front Armor is 11 or less, these become fancy toys for occasional use.
CONCLUSION
So, what to take, what to take? I think 1 Hellhound and 1 Devildog will find their way into every list I build. For Heavies, there are lots of rumors of Squadrons and/or multiple tanks in each slot, as well as some tanks as Troops support platforms. So I’ll rate them by hull:
LRBT hull: Vanquisher, Battle Tank, Eradicator, Exterminator
LRD hull: Executioner, Demolisher, Punisher
Chimera hull: Medusa, Colossus, Manticore, Basilisk, Griffon, Deathstrike
~Now of course half of this list could be baloney, but there are very few "crazy" standouts to mark it as wish-listy. Time will tell. How would you guys work these vehicles into your IG armies if these things wee accurate?
