Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

===Elites=== 

*'''Ogryn Squad:''' Big meaty man-things with pretty awesome assaulting guns. And we ''do'' mean big; these meatheads are some of the toughest infantry in the game,  in terms of toughness score and wound count; they're almost as tough as Hive Guard, only with one more wound a man, and at 10 points less a model. Assaulty wall of meat that crumples most things it collides with, including blobs and tarpits. Lovable to the end, which will be soon, seeing as these guys are a firing magnet, lack a good armor save, and usually don't fit into Chimeras - expect them to footslog if you take a full squad. Keep them the fuck away against anything that could Instant-Death them (which isn't much; they can power through anything short of S10), and get them into melee as soon as possible. However, even there they might have some problems against opponents like Necron Warriors, but at least they will be keeping them busy and away from glancing your Leman Russ tanks into scrap. Your priests' war hymns work on Ogryn, so attaching one can potentially grant Ogryn rerolls to wound, rerolls to save, or smash for the preacher. This makes a high toughness squad tougher ''(a reroll of a 5+ save is a 44.4..% pass, more or less the same as a 4+ [50.0%])'' though it easily negated as it's ignored by AP5 and is only rerollable in assault.  For a relatively cheap preacher it could go some way towards improving some of the issues with Ogryn - namely lack of AP close combat weaponry.  Leave them at home against the Tau as pulse rifles will devour them, ignoring their saves and wounding them on 4s and Tau overwatch will ensure they'll never get to assault. 
**Also worth noting are the special rule changes. On the one hand, Ogryn are still Stubborn (Not Bad) and they've gained Hammer of Wrath but they're now Very Bulky and have lost Furious Charge (Fuck). This means that Ogryn can't gib T3 models on the charge anymore. It also means that Ogryn can't use transports reliably. If you know you will be up against Tau, NEVER bring Ogryn. They will be shot to pieces and with no cost effective way of getting them to charge Tau, Ogryn just can't kill them like they used to.    
**If you do want to take Ogryn, it's best to take a squad of 4 Ogryn, fit them behind and ready to embark into a Chimera you jacked from a Platoon Infantry Squad and rush them towards the enemy, hopefully through some cover. Drop the Ogryn next to their goal, torch the designated squad/secondary squad that supports your designated target, and let the Ogryns crumple their way through. With toughness 5, most infantry weapons will have hard time wounding, provided they do hit (which can be a godsend against Tau). Remember that once you win the combat, Ogryn can be fired at, so try using the Chimera to catch bullets.
**Or have a ten Ogryn blob with 2 Primaris Psykers (Biomancy and/or Divination) and watch them kick the enemy's ass so hard, that their grandchildren are gonna feel it. Mind you, at such a point cost it's likely that the enemy could do quite a bit of damage before you get to them. 
**Odd tactic: use Creed to get a reliable outflank warlord trait and have them come in on the side of the table. Have your big meaty squad park in, or near, some terrain where some shooty squad will likely be sitting, and shoot them up with some solid S5 shots. Sure you'll suffer from return fire, but you've already done some damage to begin with and you're likely to survive, especially if you have a cover save. Next turn you can charge what's left of the squad you shot at and push forward.
**Interestingly enough, Straken now gives units within 6" of him Furious Charge, meaning that you can still gib T3 models on the charge so long as they're close enough. To really apply this tactic you need both squads to be reasonably intact and for them both to be near each other. To put it bluntly, one of two things will happen: both squads will die horrible deaths or both squads will charge your opponent's front lines and wreck shit up ''(Even Space Marines will struggle to save the many S6/4 wounds you can inflict doing this)'' A risky tactic, but one that can catch people off guard. 
*'''Bullgryn Squad''': The Ogryn Squad's more melee-oriented relatives if equipped with mauls and brute shields or mobile cover with grenade launchers and slabshields. Enhanced with a 4+ armor save and comes with Hammer of wrath, relentless, and very bulky. Their slabshields gives +1 to cover for anything behind them and improves their armor save by one if they are in b2b with another model from the unit. Mobile Aegis line. Use them to give your advancing armor column, which of course has camo netting, a 3+ cover (Taking into account the expendable guardsmen you require) and screen incoming enemies. The power maul version is for smashing skulls and the Brute Shields give the Bullgryns a 5+ Invulnerable Save (FAQ removed the close combat only restriction) and the ability to re-roll Hammer of Wrath hits. Right now the Maul/Shield combo appears to be the better option if you're willing to pay the extra points per Bullgryn.
**With our new access to divination, this squad can become quite the melee deathstar they should be! Take a 6 man bullgryn squad, add a cheap priest and a ML2 primaris psyker and roll on divination. Bam, for 380 points, you have a fearless, 3+ armour (when stacked), hopefully 4+ invul save unit with 24 T5 wounds, puts out 25 S5 attacks on the charge, that rerolls hits and can either reroll armour and invul saves or wounds. This unit in combat will NOT die if kept away from Str 10 atacks.
**'''Alternate take''': Bullgryns with the default items have a 3+ default save when in base contact with another Slabshield Bullgryn, the same as Space Marines. Only AP2 weapons can hope to shift them in close combat when a 3+ is combined with Toughness 5. For extra cheese, simply keep two Bullgryns with the default kit, and upgrade the rest to the BruteMaul combo. Then your screening Bullgryns can take the hits and roll the easy 3+'s, and when in combat your S7 Bullgryns can take over and punish enemy deathstars. Just beware of pie plates and power klaws!
**'''Counterpoint:''' There's two major things wrong with Bullgryns, and Ogryns too. While they can deal with their own lack of armor pretty well (they get a big pile of wounds apiece and need s10 to be killed in one hit), they can only ever get AP4 (excepting attached characters like a Commissar with a Power Fist). This forces them to power through 3+ and better saves with sheer wound count, which at 4 attacks on the charge per man isn't necessarily impossible, but will result in a lot of trouble against TEQ. Also, they have no anti-tank options ''at all''. With s7 at best and no vehicle-effective AP, they'll struggle against walkers (most of which are AV 12 and 13), and AV14 rear armor units like Land Raiders and Monoliths are completely immune to them. Make no mistake, they're as pricey as Terminators but they ''cannot'' go toe-to-toe with them; point them at crowds and light vehicles ''only.''
**'''Alternate Take:''' You can compensate for their lack of good AP with attached characters (and in 7th edition this is stupidly easy; Inquisition, anyone?), but they're not supposed to be 'pointed' at ''anything.'' Bullgryns are a unique type of unit in 40k: a ''defensive'' melee unit. Their job isn't to wreck the enemy in close quarters, it's to keep them from charging your tanks and flimsier infantry, and to draw fire away from them. Their sheer toughness and wound count, combined with the slabshield armor save, means it'll take pretty much anti-tank weaponry to shift them in significant numbers, and that's anti-tank weaponry NOT going into the Demolisher/Medusa you're creeping up the field behind them, and if the enemy decides to prioritize the tank instead, it enjoys a 3+ cover save with camo netting.
***Also note that because of the way the Slabshield's rule is written, it stacks with any and all cover effects. Thus, putting your Bullgryns behind an Aegis Line and a line of tanks with camo netting behind ''them'' (or similar, really any unit that can take camo of some type) results in a unit with...well, let's count them out. Aegis grants a 4+. Camo adds 1. Slabshield adds 1. That's right. A'' '''2+''' ''cover save. Pricey, but between the save and the dedicated melee unit screening them from enemy close combat troops, your tanks ''will not die.'' Moreover the height of a Guard Tank's turret allows them to shoot back without the slabshield working both ways (or just use Barrage weapons).
*'''Ratling Squad:''' Your dedicated snipers. Bump up the squad to 10 BS4 Sniper Rifles for 100 points, and you'll get a pretty good payoff. By simple statistics, you should land at least 6 shots, and at least one AP 2 shot and 1 wound that you can choose to allocate to priority targets. Use this to take out high-point, low-numbered enemy squads. Despite what AP6 may make you think, shooting Gaunts and Grots is just a waste of time. To lessen the problem of T2, place ratlings into Ruins for a 3+ ''(with stealth)'' cover save, but try to have them cover as much firing area as possible. Don't send them into close combat - despite what I4 may make you think, they don't have a Close Combat Weapon, so their pistol does not give them an additional attack. Place them on a second floor of a ruined building and laugh how enemy keeps scattering off harmlessly into the air. They can also run after shooting, so you can run them from cover to cover. Ratlings do have another usage other then just snipers. Placed these halflings on a aegis defense line or Bastion. Their BS skill of 4 is pretty average for the weapons they will be manning. More importantly, is their cost. At 30 points for a three man squad with BS 4, this is practically a steal. Granted you won't be using much of their running ability. All and all, ratlings can a good cheap way of taking out sergeants and other models with weapons you don't want near (or far) from your forces.
**For 100 points, 10 ratlings have BS4 and sniper Rifles. This makes them powerful monstrous creature killers. No matter the target's, toughness, these little hobbits will always wound on a 4. Multi wound you say? 10 ratlings with that ballistic skill and sniperweapons are bound to shave off some wounds. And if things go south, simply shoot and run.
**Another fun trick is to stick a Primaris Psyker (or other psyker you need protected) in the squad, then plop them in ruins. Your Psyker can hand out blessings, such as the all-important Prescience, to nearby vehicle squadrons, and the Ratlings can cover-tank for him with a 2+ GtG save! You can do the same thing with Veterans & the Forward Sentries doctrine, but this is cheaper (unless you want 8 Ratlings or more) and more weapon-efficient, since it gets you more sniper rifles.
*'''Wyrdvane Psykers:''' Wyrdvane Psykers are a "utility" unit with an awkward amount of utility. A ML 1 Brotherhood of Psykers, they can roll on the Biomancy, Divination, Pyromancy, Telekinesis and Daemonology disciplines. As a ML 1 Psyker unit, this means they always know the Primaris and one random power. Keep them out of melee: Although they have a pistol/ccw combo, WS and S2 make them fold fast!
**Wyrdvanes are generally in an awkward position, especially since they compete with the Primaris Psyker whom has access to the same Disciplines, while having better WS/BS, a Force Weapon, being able to hide in a unit and being 10 points cheaper. The main advantage the Wyrdvanes have is that they get more wounds per point, and so you can afford to lose a model or two to Perils. However, they really gain most their mileage from their Formation. 
*'''Tempestus Platoon:''' They've got the same stats, but now come in platoons, if you so choose. For 1 Elite slot you can get up to 4 squads, that's a lot of boots on the table! 
**'''Tempestus Scions (1-3):''' AKA, ''Storm Trooper Squad''. They lost infiltration, but kept deep strike and move through cover and they got 4 points cheaper. And they can take orders.  Yeah.  First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire with hot-shot lasguns.  Hell yes. (Adam Troke future proofed it.) They can take more special weapons too! Also, now can take a power fist, but at an increased cost and the troopers no longer carry pistols and CCWs with their lasguns, making them less viable for CC. They can take a Chimera, a Taurox, or a Taurox Prime. Now these guys are one of the best at capturing enemy back field objectives, just like their fluff, but a Taurox Prime makes them fast (if you need that for a Deep Striking shooty unit) and gives them a hell of a punch.  But it'll cost you. Cost you plenty. A Veteran Squad is 7.5 points per pop with Grenadier doctrine while a Scion squad is 12 per dude plus 10 extra for deep strike. Aside from the Hotshot lasgun, they have comparable statline but the vets can take a heavy weapon, 3 special weapons and a voxcaster plus objective secured. That's nearly 5 points per head for deep strike and move through cover with vastly inferior upgrade options (and ap3 HS-lasguns which can really hurt if you manage to wound with them). Worth it? Depends but remember that you're essentially a GEQ that is only 2 points cheaper than a MEQ. But even so, your more likely to inflict greater casualties then the same amount of Bolter armed MEQs on anything with armor that's 4+ or better. 
**'''Tempestus Command Squad (0-1):''' Like Platoon Command Squad, but with stormtroopers: can issue Junior Officer orders in a 12" bubble, but also Deep Strike, Move Through Cover and has BS4 and Carapace Armour AND can pack four special weapons (but cannot increase it's size). They can also get the same options as a Platoon Command Squad (Medic, Voxcaster, Platoon Standard). May give stormies the support they always lacked or threaten dug up units with four meltas/plasmas. Also, the Tempestor Prime (Stormtrooper Captain) strikes at Initiative four and any Ld tests for Stormtroopers are taken on his Ld9 within 12" of the CS. Has potential.
**At the end of the day, however, it's usually a better choice to take your scions as an Allied detachment instead of an FoC choice. In exchange for the 'tax' of taking a Tempestus Command Squad (with the associated Militarum Tempestus Order list) you get Objective Secured on the Scions you were going to take normally anyway, AND you free up an Elite slot for other stuff. In short, if you're going to take more than a single squad of scions, do it in a separate detachment. Keep in mind though: Scions taken in a separate detachment can only take Tempestus Scion orders from their own command squad, while Scions taken as an elites choice can receive orders from your CCS, and that includes the orders that Tempestus Scions can't issue.
*'''[[Sly Marbo]]:''' In an interesting twist of Fate, GW's brought back a fan favorite... a month before 8th edition drops and invalidates his datasheet. Still, we're happy! Sly Marbo takes 25 points as his fee for hanging with your gay-ass army list. He's faster than a normal Guardsman (WS/BS/I5), and comes with some special tools to get the job done. His Ripper Pistol is a [[Awesome|Sniper Pistol]] with ''AP3'' (because fuck Mary Sues in pauldrons), and he also gets a Poisoned 2+ Envenomed Blade. He comes with Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, and Meltabombs. Special-rules wise, he has Fearless, Fleet, Hit & Run, Feel No Pain (as though that matters when he's getting doubled out with anything S6 or better), Move Through Cover, and Stealth. He must always be placed in Reserves and may be placed up to 1" away from an enemy model. Also, he can immediately enter ongoing reserves upon consolidating, sweeping a unit, or using H&R to get out of combat and can set up within 18" of his previous location when he left the field. More importantly he can make 3 pieces of terrain dangerous terrain for the enemy (which is why you include him in your army). His Ld 7 is not much of an issue due to ''Fearless'', but is an issue if he deals with attacks that force a leadership test. Also, his blade is AP-, so you better hope he hits on that 2+. Lastly his CQC ability is hindered by the fact that nothing can assault out of reserves. (It is rumored that this is why GW is making 8th edition.) Much like old Marbo, you want to use this guy as a melee suicide attacker to ruin some expensive squad's day before dying gloriously. If he draws the fire of even one unit for one turn, he's made his points back. If you want him to more reliably survive, have him go after lone small model count objective campers.
{{40k-Nonvehicle-Model-Profile|Sly Marbo|25|5|5|3|3|2|5|4|7|5|fnp=5|type=Infantry (Character)|composition=1 (Unique)|clear=Yes}}
====Forge World====
*'''[[Hades Breaching Drill]] (Forge World):''' Recent update hit it hard. No more S10 goodness, no more melta cutter shots, and if it fails to wreck a vehicle or the building its popping from under, it would just die. You can no longer ride vets (and therefore score objectives with them) using Hades - it comes with its own shotgun-armed veteran team, and they even cannot charge from the hole it leave behind. On the bright side, Hades is no longer lumbering, meaning it actually can ram something, and it gets Chimera armor instead of Rhino.
*'''Field Artillery (Forge World):''' There are two kinds of Artillery units in the Guard arsenal: small squad-sized units whose job it is to deal with a specific enemy very, ''very'' well, and larger, platoon-sized units whose job it is to deal with ''everything,'' though not perfectly. Field Artillery falls into the former category. They're immobile, dirt cheap, durable, and eat blobs for breakfast. Heavy mortars are what you expect them to be - stronger mortars with bigger blasts. Like the ones on the Griffon, but without Accurate Bombardment. Quad guns on the other hand spam enormous amounts of weaker anti-infantry blasts with extra -1Ld for the pinning test penalty (for total -2). 12 S5 blasts would kill a ton of bugs/orks/other guard (especially under «fire on my target»), and have a good chance to pin down heavier infantry (like, say, terminators). Take them to nostalgia about the passed times of Thudd Guns.
**'''Tactical Note:''' The choice between taking these and a squadron of Wyverns is largely down to you; Wyverns offer a weaker base profile but get rerolls on everything, making them better against most targets (except other vehicles, since the heavy mortar's ordnance power can punch through the side armor on some units; the Wyvern doesn't reroll vs AV). On the other hand, as vehicles, they're vulnerable to assault and high-AP weaponry, whereas your artillery crew are just vulnerable to assault and tend to stick around if given cover, given their high shooting toughness. In terms of actual money, however, the Wyvern is by far the easier option; as a Forge World model, Field Artillery will gouge you.
*'''Salamander Command Vehicle (Forge World):''' Fast scouting open-topped vehicle with Chimera armor. It can burn some infantry with flamers, but it's not a Hellhound - the main reason to use the command Salamander is it's ability to reduce enemy cover save by one. This works great with heavy tank/artillery lists.
*'''Atlas Recovery Tank (Forge World):''' Basically a Leman Russ tractor - this thing is designed to tow immobilized tanks and help Techpriests in their field repairing attempts. Towing is fun but mostly useless, but double repair rolls per turn is good in a heavy mech list. Also the "transport" rule have been removed from the Atlas in FAQ. So no cheap AV 14 transport for primaris psyker.