Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

=====Militarum Auxilla=====
Per the current FAQ, this is explicitly ''not'' a {{W40Kkeyword|<REGIMENT>}}, so you can't e.g. assign it to your Commander.

*'''Bullgryns''': From zero to hero! Their Slabshields and Brute Shields got buffed: Slabshields give them +2 to armor save rolls as of the Codex, while Brute Shields give them a 4++. Did I mention either option is now free, and you can mix and match them with the weapons now? Like regular Ogryns, they get an additional attack the turn they charge. With their upgraded Power Mauls (+1 D), that's gonna hurt a lot. Finally your Terminator-cost unit can match with ''actual Terminators!'' If only they could take orders. Also, consider the slabshields and power mauls for T5 2+, and distraction carnifex them to make your opponent leave your tanks alone. Even with powermauls you'll still be able to manually lob one grenade a turn, so they're not losing as much firepower as you'd think.
**In a high point game, consider the Ogryn Battlewagon, A Stormlord has space for 40 models and has 20 firing ports; take two minimum squads of Ogryn/Bullgryn, 20 infantry, a priest, and your choice of final buffing spot (commissar/officer etc..). With the Stormlord behind them as fire support there is very little that can survive this. Khorne begs to differ, but its is a very impressive apocalypse load out no doubt.
*'''Nork Deddog''': Need a capable bodyguard? This is the guy you're looking for. If a character within 3" of him takes a wound, he can take a mortal wound on a 2+ to cancel out the wound on the character - and with 6 wounds he can do it a ''lot''. Coming with a Ripper Gun, his huge knife (S:User AP-1 D2), 4+ armor, and the ability to headbutt an opponent (the headbutt counts as a melee weapon that can't be used for more than one attack) with the same potency as a battle cannon (S8 AP-2 DD3) he wrecks a decent amount of face in melee, too. Finally, he can make a heroic sacrifice if he loses his final wound in the fight phase: he can immediately attack, even if he had already been selected to fight beforehand.
**Note that Nork's bodyguard ability isn't optional - you are ''required'' to roll the die if a nearby character is hurt. It's just the kind of guy he is.
**Nork will actually die far, far faster than his points in Bullgryn, while dealing less damage, to boot.  Make sure you take him for his Loyal to the End bodyguard ability, ''not'' for anything else.
*'''Ogryns''': Probably one of the most improved Guard units this edition (though due more to how the game changed than anything else). They're cheaper, they get a bonus attack on the charge (AND they go first!) and they're still T5 - which in this edition is a serious boon, as all but the most lethal of weaponry will still only wound them on 3s. You need a ''Demolisher Cannon'' to hurt these big boys on 2s! The Ripper gun is the same as it was, an Assault 3 S5 AP0 shotgun, although thanks to the Codex, the bayonet on it now grants AP-1, which is nice. "Assault" is the key word here, as it now makes foot slogging them decently fast. With them moving an average of 9.5 inches a turn and still being able to shoot, they become the shock troops they were always meant to be. More importantly, the Assault Vehicle rule is gone; you can charge the turn you disembark from a Chimera/Taurox/Valkyrie, but they take up 3 transport slots, so be careful.
**Priests ''love'' to preach to these guys. A double-size squad of six will put out ''30'' attacks on the charge with the priest following them. For about 200 points it's a great pile of meat to throw across the board. Just be careful about matching your advances. The priest is a separate unit, so he doesn't advance in lockstep with the squad - you have to roll his advances separately, and he won't be able to charge, since you have to finish a charge within 1" of an enemy unit and ogryn models have big enough bases to make this impossible - this can result in your over-enthusiastic meatheads charging out of his buff radius! This applies to Bullgryns too, except of course they're more expensive.
***'''Alternate Take''' - Priests can be expensive if they have any kit worth taking, especially in comparison to another Ogryn. If footslogging, take the priest, but if you're transporting them in a Chimera then leave him at home or stick him with conscripts. In a standard squad of three you're only getting three extra attacks, and if you fit in a priest you'll either have to put in two other characters and deathstar it up or forfeit two spots in the transport. Just take the fourth Ogryn and get the same number of attacks extra anyway. Ogryn No. 4 also adds survivability, which the priest does not.
**Ogryns got their price reduced in Chapter Approved 2018 by 6 points. Only for Chapter Approved 2019 to up them back to their Codex cost for no reason at all. They're only 5 less points than Bullgryns who have access to a 4++ and better melee weapons at the "price" of losing Ripper guns.
*'''Ogryn Bodyguard''': Not a new 8th edition model, unfortunately, but a generic Nork Deddog (and so can be taken in multiple), he has a slightly weaker version of the bodyguard ability (operates on a 3+ rather than a 2+) and lacks Nork's headbutt as well as his heroic sacrifice rule; he can, however, choose from Ogryn/Bullgryn equipment. The baseline model costs nearly as much as two Ogryn Sergeants (55 to their 60) and has the same number of wounds as both of them put together, in addition to both the very serious upgrade that is {{W40Kkeyword|character}} (although they are explicitly banned from being your Warlord, unfortunately), and carrying, for free, a Huge Knife to accompany his Ripper Gun, in addition to his aforementioned ability to, on a 3+, suffer a mortal wound to block a wound on a nearby {{W40Kkeyword|infantry}} {{W40Kkeyword|character}} (As of the first codex FAQ this does not work on other Ogryns or Tank Commanders/Pask, so no wound musical chairs bullshit anymore).  
**Do ''not'' underestimate the Bodyguard ability. It's rolled on a per-wound basis, meaning it's effectively a 3+ FnP for every infantry character within 3" you can roll (successfully) up to 6 times (with the possibility for more, see below). This is an ''enormous'' survivability boost for your commanders and commissars; even Skitarii Rangers with transuranic arquebuses will have to dedicate multiple turns and squads of sniping to the task. And all the while, you're chewing them up with artillery...
**The Gun hand can carry a Ripper Gun for free, or you can pay points for a Bullgryn Maul or Grenadier Gauntlet.  The Gauntlet is garbage; since the model is a single-model unit, it can just throw Frag Bombs for free for the same effect out to 6", and out to 12", it's not worth the points cost against any target in the entire game vs. the Ripper Gun.  The Maul is worth discussing, as it is ''far'' better than a Force Staff and ''far'' cheaper, but since we're comparing it to the Ripper Gun, remember, it won't improve your AP at all - instead, you're contemplating paying 7 points for +2S and doubling your Damage to 2.  The big reason to take this seriously is that the Bodyguard can legally employ Heroic Interventions, and is ''far'' better when doing so with the Maul in hand; even against 1-wound models, he's more efficient this way against Toughnesses 3 and 5-7, and obviously, once he's hitting multi-wound models, he's better with the Maul against everything.  You can always stick with the Ripper Gun if you prefer to keep your Bodyguard cheap and contributing to the ongoing gunbattle, but he'll do real work with a Maul in hand.
***'''Alternate Take''' As the bodyguard ability causes a mortal wound which can't be saved no matter how armoured up he is and (with the exception of special characters like Yarrick or Creed) he costs more than most of the characters he will be guarding (for instance two Company Commanders or Commissars is cheaper), you have a choice of two different ways to play the bodyguard. If he's acting as a dedicated bodyguard keep him as cheap as possible with no additional armour and retain the Ripper Gun to put out some shots while stationary. The other path is to deck him out with the best gear and play him as an Ogryn Commando, your own personal over-sized Sly Marbo with his bodyguard ability as just a secondary function.
*** Given the Deathmask of Ollanius Pius, a Slabshield, and a Maul the Ogryn Bodyguard can reliably beat down most characters in challenges. Think of him as the Guards answer to Smashfucker... only instead of a jetpack he's got Downs Syndrome.
*'''Ratlings''': The same pint-size sniper unit as before with much improved abilities. They retain an infiltrate and a stealth/cover skillset, but their ''Shoot Sharp and Scarper'' ability is now a normal move, rather than a random D6" run. With a bit of planning and positioning around LOS-blocking cover, these little gits can snipe away enemy characters with impunity. Hilariously, because Heavy Weapons only impose a -1 shooting penalty for firing after a move, and Ratlings are BS3+, this lets the Ratlings still move-shoot-move, in an era where Tau Battlesuits, the originators of the tactic, have lost this ability. On top of this, sniper rifles in general have been buffed by the edition - on a 6+ to wound each rifle inflicts a mortal wound ''in addition to'' any other normal damage. So Ratlings are a good unit overall. As of the new FAQ, their movement has been reduced to 5", but that still means a 10" scarper thanks to their ability. Just beware their terrible defenses. Toughness 2 and Leadership 5 are underwhelming, while their +2 to saves in cover is small consolation when their base save is a mere 6+, so anything stronger than a stiff breeze will fold them like a deck of cards.
**With characters generally untargetable by non-sniper shooting in 8th Edition, all types of sniper unit have become much more valuable, and Ratlings are a prime example. Both cheap and good at what they do, the space halfings have gone from a quirky side-choice to an almost must-have. Two full squads of these guys are relatively cheap and will statistically down an Ork Warboss on your first shooting phase.
**'''Vs Vindicares''' 10 of our little Ratling boys require four turns on average to kill a four wound character, where a Vindicare requires only two. Taking into account the mortal wounds on 6s halves this to two turns, but a lucky 6 gives the Vindicare a 50/50 chance of killing a four wound character in one turn. Vindicares have double the range, are characters and thus are harder to target, and don't have to deal with morale. Ratlings however will do more damage against infantry unless they're shooting multi wound models or 2+ saves. With all of this in mind, the Vindicare seems to be the clearer choice for character hunting but can't be squeezed into your existing detatchments.
**'''Vs Cadian Snipers''' Ratlings can't benefit from orders, receive Cadian rerolls or Overlapping Fields of Fire. Cadian snipers will be hitting on a 2+ whilst re-rolling ones, and with Bring It Down they're increasing their chance of wounding too which is great news when you're fishing for mortal wounds. Furthermore, Cadians are T3 (vs T2) but they don't benefit from stealth/cover/infiltrate, so the strategy will vary too.
***Comparing the unit cost: Ratlings are 35pts for 5 (up to 70pts/10), Special Weapon Squads are 30pts for 3 (with three reduntant guardsmen), and Command Squads are 32pts for 4 (requiring a Commander). 
*'''Rein and Raus:''' A pair of Ratling twins from the Blackstone Fortress kit. Rein is armed with a sniper rifle, Raus has a demolition charge and Grappling Hook, and both have a stub pistol. They have a lot of the drawbacks of Ratlings, including a 6+ save that only gets to 4+ in cover (like a normal goddamn Guardsman), but they also have improved BS+ and have a full 6" move (plus they can move after shooting). Their relative fragility (T2 and W2) is compensated for by their {{W40Kkeyword|CHARACTER}} keyword - unlike your other snipers, Rein generally won't be targetable by enemy artillery. and Raus can ignore vertical distance when he moves. He also is better at using demolition charges than Special Weapons Squads, but he only gets 1. In a high points game, they're not really worth it unless you need to fill out an Elites slot for 35 points, but in a small game, they can wreak some havoc.