If you snoop around on the forums a lot, you may come across two very common types of list for the infantryman's IG: Mechanized or Static Gun-line. It seems to be common consensus that the former is quickly rendering the latter obsolete, but I think a healthy balance in the two is a good approach. I call this: "Mech with an Anchor".
I have gotten in 3 games in the last week with my newly-raised IG army, at varying points levels, and am starting to form ideas on what works and what does not. For example: lone Sentinel = fail. Squad of Sentinels = not fail. I have noticed that the mechanized veteran squads definitely increase the army's mobility, but at some sacrifice in stand-off punch. The normal infantry platoon has better access to the heavy weapons with specialized squads, and thus are able to hold off heavier units with the aid of such weapons. I don't necessarily like the cookie-cutter lists that are circulating the nets now, that mainly consist of veteran squads in Valkyries or Chimeras copy-paste-copy-paste... This is A) too expensive, with how much a valk or Chimera kit is running these days, and B) somewhat unimaginative. The Gunline lists are not much easier on the wallet, and becoming somewhat outdated due to their immobility. I wanted to create a slightly fluffier force than either extreme list, to keep games at the club more interesting and to keep more money in my wallet. I settled on a mix between the two, opting for a single Veteran squad in a Chimera (with plans to buy at least one more Chimera kit in the future), two Veteran squads on foot, and a single Infantry Platoon.
The Infantry Platoon, for a single troops choice, can contain nearly any amount of points you wish to dump into it. It is possible to make a single platoon worth just over 2700 points at full strength (and with the most expensive wargear options)... that's almost an apocalypse game right there! Not that anybody would want to, much less be able to, field a platoon of that size, but it's fun to think about! I opted for a smaller size, fielding a simple two infantry squads, two heavy weapon squads, and the PCS. One heavy weapon squad was comprised of Mortars, and the other Lascannons. The PCS was outfitted with a fun little combo: two Flamers, a Vox, and a single Heavy Flamer. I would take more infantry squads, to help blob them up, but I don't have that many models yet.
This is the basic premise of the Mechanized Anchor strategy: Your 'Mech vets are the outriders, pushing forward as quickly as possible in their transports to take and hold objectives. The next wave are your less-mobile, but still as dangerous, veteran squads on foot, along with any other limited mobility units such as Sentinels or Tanks. The last wave is a mass of regular Guardsman, as many as you could fit into the platoons. Use the PCS to burn out any dug-in opposition and rally the infantry or drive them forward more quickly with orders. The heavy weapons, still troop choices, sit back on the rear objectives with the Company Command squad to play Goalie. A trio of Lascannons with a Company Commander's "Bring it Down!" order is usually enough for the games I play, but I have considered stepping it up another squad of autocannons or missile launchers for some anti-infantry defense. A trio of mortars is handy, dependent on the opposing force. I find that the mortars do little more than piss off MEQ forces, as the mortar shells do little to harm anything but the most basic troopers.
You need mobile anti-armor assets though. I have heard good things of the Devil Dog, but I do not have the money to buy several kits and run multiple tank units in my already-tight list. Therefore, I opted for one big slugger that can dish it out as well as it can take it: the Leman Russ. The variant used is a matter of personal taste, but I use the LRBT to fulfill the role of anti-armor platform and I equip it as such: A Vanquisher with an additional Lascannon does the trick nicely, but I prefer the Demolisher if I think that the range will not be an issue and I have enough points. The large blast at STR 10 and AP 2 allows the Demolisher to play equally well at either anti-armor or anti-infantry. If I feel that I have enough AT already in my list, I will generally rely on the old fallback: the standard LRBT. The battlecannon is perfectly sufficient as a general-purpose munition, able to still put the hurt on MEQ and able to penetrate all but the heaviest vehicle armor.
You can go back and look at my old list, but it hasn't changed much. I am finding that the Guard has a special little niche for nearly any type of player; from treadheads, to horde footsloggers, to Mechanized and Air Calvary, the Guard has a slice of it for us all. Grab a fork and dig in, or your E-tool if you feel so inclined!
Don't forget, next post is the 100th of this blog! It may be a few days, as I want to collect enough material to make it memorable! Watch for it!
Until next time,
--FP135
This is very similar to the set up I was thinking of doing. I wanted a full mech guard but it is just too expensive to do so i was going to do the same type of thing with the infantry platoon anchor.
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