Warhammer 40,000/10th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard

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This is the current 10th Edition's Imperial Guard tactics. 9th Edition Tactics are here.

Why Play Imperial Guard

Unlike the Mary Sues, Guardsmen go to war wielding nothing more than the standard-issue T-shirts, Flashlights, and Adamantine Balls.

Pros

  • Horde Units: While not as egregious or spammable as 30 man conscript blobs, you can now take 20 Guardsmen, a Command Squad with Attaches and Bodyguard, and a Named Officer, all in one unit.

Cons

  • Regiments have been removed entirely With 10th edition being a reboot that has removed most subfactions (except for all those snowflake chapters), the Index version of the Imperial Guard is strictly "mixed-Regiments" of Cadians, Kriegers, and Catachan, with certain Regimental abilities (like disembark after moving) locked to certain units like the Taurox.
  • Your average Guardsman is as durable as a stale potato chip.

Faction Rules

  • Voice of Command: Every Command phase, your Officer units can issue out a number of orders as noted on their datacards to units within 6" of them. Each unit can only be affected by one order every turn and the orders wear off if the unit is battle-shocked.
    • Move! Move! Move!: The ordered unit adds +3M.
    • Fix Bayonets!: The ordered unit improves the WS of its melee weapons by +1.
    • Take Aim!: The ordered unit improves the BS of its guns by +1.
    • First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire!: The ordered unit adds +1 additional attack to any Rapid Fire attacks it has.
      • Because Rapid Fire now adds attacks instead of multiplying, order doesn't matter: an A1 RF 1 weapon goes from 2/1 shots to 3/2, depending on range, while an A2 RF 2 weapon goes from 4/2 to 5/3. Note that going from 4 shots to 5 shots is usually worse than +1 to hit because most of your army is BS4+, but if you're BS3+ they break even and BS2+ or better going to 5 shots is better, and that's after special rules like Sustained Hits, which work like additive improvements to BS/WS for interactions like these.
      • More importantly, it's now ANY Rapid Fire weapon, not just Lasguns. This means it's almost always going to be better than Take Aim if the ordered squad has one or more Plasma Guns and is shooting MEQs, as they tend to be the majority of the squad's damage output in this instance.
    • Take Cover!: The ordered unit improves its armor save by +1 to a maximum of a 3+ save.
    • Duty and Honour!: The ordered unit improves its Leadership and OC by +1.

Detachments

Combined Regiment

Special Rules

  • Born Soldiers: Back from last edition, your units' guns gain Lethal Hits on any turn where they Remain Stationary.

Stratagems

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  • Fields of Fire (2 CP): Pick one Platoon or Squadron unit during the shooting phase. After they fire, mark one enemy they shoot. The rest of your units that fire on this enemy improve their AP by 1 unless they're battle-shocked.

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  • Inspired Command (1 CP): One Officer unit that isn't battle-shocked can immediately issue an order during the enemy's Command phase. Great for throwing Take Cover right before someone can blow your units out of their hiding spot or Fix Bayonets for a round of fighting.

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  • Expert Bombardiers (1 CP): Pick one enemy unit visible to someone with a Vox-Caster. Any units that aren't battle-shocked gain +1 to hit the marked unit with any [Indirect Fire] guns for the phase.
  • Reinforcements! (2 CP): Whenever a unit dies, you can immediately throw an identical unit back into reserves so you can throw them on the next turn (attached characters not included). Chenkov's wisdom has managed to reach every commander's handbook.
  • Suppression Fire (1 CP): When an Infantry unit fires on an enemy unit that isn't a Vehicle or Monster, that enemy takes a -1 to hit rolls until the end of their next turn.

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  • Armoured Might (2 CP): One Vehicle reduces the damage they take from any guns by 1.

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Enhancement

All enhancements are exclusive to Officer models.

  • Death Mask of Ollanius: When the bearer's unit is battle-shocked, their Objective Control is reduced by 1 rather than set to 0. Won't mean much to many troops, but it lets your Battleline troops and tanks still get to score objectives.
  • Drill Officer: When the bearer's unit Remains Stationary, they score critical hits on a 5+.
  • Grand Strategist: Bearer can issue an additional order.
  • Kurov's Aquila: Once per game, after the enemy uses a stratagem, you can force them to make any further uses of that strat cost an additional CP.

Karsk's Gunners (Combat Patrol)

A showcase of Cadia's Finest in action.

Composition: 1 Command Squad Karsk, 20 Cadian Shock Troops, 2 Field Ordnance Batteries, 1 Armoured Sentinel

  • Command Squad Karsk: Your Cadian Command Squad, with its leader carrying a power sword and plasma pistol. The rest of the squad has one power fist, a medikit for a 5+ FNP and a standard to improve OC by 1. While the fist is a bit of an odd option, the rest gives you all you need to support a squad of Cadians.
    • Your Voice of Command is halved in its uses. Your only commands are "Move! Move! Move!", "Take Aim!" and "Take Cover!", aligning more with melee than anything. This unfortunately means that your means of combating anything with high armor is low.
  • Cadian Shock Troops: Lost their ability to keep units capped, but remain just as good at capping. You've technically got two squads of 10 here with differing loadouts.
    • One squad's more at home with a flamer and melta while the sarge has a chainsword. Best suited for getting up close and personal.
    • One squad's got the autogun, a grenade launcher and a plasma gun, making them better suited for behind the lines. They also have a vox-caster, but...it has no rules. Gee thanks.
  • Field Ordnance Battery: One bombast field gun and one rocket launcher. Fortunately, you can have them split into separate squads so you're not wasting everything on one enemy.
  • Armoured Sentinel: The plasma cannon is one of the better options to pick up for an anti-tank unit, so you're pretty safe with the re-rolls to wound enemy monsters or vehicles.

Enhancements

  • Command Laurels: Command Squad Karsk gives 1 CP each turn it's alive. Any orders it issues is shared across the board. With perks like these, is it any wonder why it's the default option?
  • Gunnery Officer: Command Squad Karsk gives 1 CP each turn it's alive. When they're within 6" of a friendly Artillery unit, the artillery gains Lone Operative and can re-roll the number of attacks it makes. Excellent if you're relying hard on the ordnance.

Secondary Objectives

  • Hold the Line: Pretty basic for your default objective. 3 VP for each turn where the enemy is outside your DZ. 5 VP if you keep the enemy over 6" away from your DZ.
  • Methodical Destruction: Mark one enemy to die. You score 4 VP if you kill them on that turn.

Stratagems

  • Artillery Strike (1 CP): A single-use rain of fire that causes all sorts of shit for your foe - halve movement, halve advance rolls, deny charges and -1 to hit when shooting. Gives your squad a clear enough venue to GTFO if they need to flee or bumrush the enemy in suicidal bravery.
  • Bring It Down (1 CP): Mark one enemy to die. Everyone can re-roll to wound them. Great for guaranteeing the optional objective can be done reliably.
  • Send in the Next Wave (1 CP): When one squad of Cadians dies, another one can jump right back in with the same loadout. They can only show up within 9" of your edge of the table and can't be in combat.

Wargear

  • Vox-Caster: Lets a squad roll 1d6 whenever you use a stratagem on them, with any Officer units within 6" of them adding +1 to the roll. On a 6+, 1 CP is refunded.

Unit Analysis

Characters

  • Primaris Psyker: While the shared 4+++ against psychic weapons is constant, the shared 4++ against shooting is something that can backfire if you roll a 1 on a d6, somewhat emulating the old psychic tests down to that 1 dealing d3 MWs, which is kind of a slap in the face since non-[Hazardous] Psychic Tests were supposed to have been removed. The only other power they pack is Psychic Maelstrom, a pretty potent bombardment weapon with Blast and Devastating Wounds, though using the Focused profile adds [Hazardous] for a few extra attacks.
    • As a reminder, the invuln only triggers during the shooting phase. As such, do not let them stand near the front where they can get run through like the mere humans they are.
  • Regimental Enginseer:
  • Regimental Preacher:

Officers

  • Cadian Castellan: A lone Cadian Officer if you're for averse to taking a full command squad for some reason. Aside from the stuff given to the CS, they can also grab a bolter because you want them to actually contribute to the shooting. Not only can they stick onto a pack of Cadians or Kasrkin, but you can also get one to a basic basic squad of guardsmen and all of them get [Sustained Hits 1].
    • officer: 1 regiment
  • Commissar: Lets you BLAM a model in Battleshocked units within 12", and since it'd be a shameful display for the Lord Solar's bodyguards to show cowardice, if attached with another Officer, he lets the unit reroll their own Battleshock tests.
    • officer: 1 regiment, Duty and Honor/Fix Bayonets only.
  • Tank Commander: Rides a Leman Russ of any kind and the only way you can issue orders to any Squadron within 12". They can also shoot once again after dying on a 2+.
    • officer: 1 squadron
  • Death Korps Marshal:
  • Death Rider Squadron Commander:
Command Squads

These are essentially characters that come with pre-attached bodyguards, but because the entire unit simply has a datasheet, the entire unit acts as the Leader to a Bodyguard unit.

  • Cadian Command Squad: Command Squad for Cadian Shock Troops. The officer Lets Shock Troops ignore any and all modifiers to their stats except for their saves.
    • officer: 1 regiment
  • Platoon Command Squad: Shockingly able to attach to regular platoons (though Cadians seem too stubborn to let non-Cadian command squads join) so you can make a giant bubblewrap of warm bodies, especially when joined by another character. As expected, this squad can carry an alarming variety of guns, so many that you need a separate armoury card just to see all the stats - this is a necessity if you're planning on taking a heavy weapons team. They also have a 6" bubble that lets them issue orders to battle-shocked units so they can still be of use in sacrificing themselves to the enemy.
  • Militarum Tempestus Command Squad: Tempestus Scion Command Squad. The Prime Not only gives [Sustained Hits 1], but also their Command Rod lets the unit be affected by two orders (assuming you have another officer in range).
    • if he is your warlord, Tempestus Scions gain the battleline keyword. Currently the only way to run an Elysian Drop Troops themed army in 10th.
    • officer: 1 regiment
Command Squad Attachments

These units have no common keyword/rule name, but do have the same rule (under different names on each) forcing them to join command squads.

  • Ogryn Bodyguard: An ever-loyal slab of meat, granting the Officer models he joins (he can join any command squad) a 4+++ (to make up for his Toughness not protecting them), while he himself benefits from a 6+++. However, if that officer is ever hurt, the big guy gets +1 to hit and wound in melee. In terms of loadouts, several combos are just dumb: the Gauntlet is worse than the Ripper against nearly all possible targets because the Ripper is an 18" Heavy Bolter, and the Gauntlet plus a shield means you have no melee weapon at all. The slabshield is worse protection than the brute shield against nearly everything that could possibly come in, and pairing the maul with the knife means you'll never use the maul. That leaves the following short list of interesting loadouts:
    • Ripper + Knife: Maximum murder, the best gun with the best melee. The Bodyguard won't do as good a job taking fire for the unit, but will contribute the most offensively. Ideal with Krieg (since you want Kriegers to die) and Catachan (since their unit ability will buff the Knife and their melee is so bad you're better off having the Ogryn do the work) and if you took a Primaris Psyker for an alternative source of 4++.
    • Ripper + Brute Shield: Maximum ranged murder paired with maximum defense, this means he won't swing as hard in melee but will usually out-shoot other mooks in the unit and is ready to roll saves to keep others alive. Ideal with Infantry Squads and Cadians, who have piss-poor defenses and want to duke it out at range, and with Militarum Tempestus, where the command squad buffs the gun.
    • Maul + Brute Shield: Reasonable melee murder (about twice as good as the ripper gun in melee) paired with maximum defense, this means he won't shoot at all but is ready to roll saves to keep others alive and is ready to lay into whatever charges you in melee. If you're attaching this guy to Catachans and a Preacher, you probably want this.
    • Unlike last edition, they do not have to take the wounds for an Officer, which means an attached Lord Solar or Ursula Creed will still need to be wary about [Precision] weapons.
  • Regimental Attachés: Where your Astropath, Master of the Fleet, and Master of Ordnance ended up, a separate unit that must join a Command Squad unit. The Astropath comes with a more dangerous force weapon, but remains unfitting for any place in the front; instead, use him for his 12" bubble of reinforcements denial. The Master of the Fleet can mark any enemy within 30" and give all Aircraft a +1 to hit that unit. The Master of Ordnance can mark another enemy within 30" and give any Artillery unit that attacks the enemy [Sustained Hits 1].

Epic Heroes

  • Nork Deddog A massively upgraded Ogryn Bodyguard in exchange for no choice in his loadout: he has Sv4+ and FNP 5+++ (both improved 1 step from a normie) but no shield access; thankfully he paired his upgraded knife (his WS is improved 1 step to 2+ and his knife gained Devastating Wounds) with the best option for his other arm, a Ripper Gun, and he improved his BS 1 step to 3+. He swaps out the nearly useless normie ability to get +1 to Hit and Wound while an officer is injured but not dead in the unit for significantly better automatic mortal wounds in melee when he's chosen to fight: you roll 1d6, and on 2+ he inflicts 1d3 mortals, and on a 6 he inflicts another 3 on top (3+d3 total), for a net average (with a lot of variance) of 2.17 mortals.
  • Sly Marbo:
Officers
  • Ursula Creed:
    • officer: 2 regiment
  • Gaunt's Ghosts:
    • officer: 2 regiment/gaunt's ghosts
  • Sergeant Harker:
    • officer: 1 catachan jungle fighters
  • Lord Solar Leontus: As expected of the Lord Solar, this guy has plenty of tricks as your mandatory warlord. On top of being able to issue three orders, he can throw three units into reserves after everyone deploys (having learned some tricks of Tactical genius from an old legend) and gives an extra CP every turn where he's alive. While he join the Rough Riders as you'd expect, he can surprisingly join any squad of infantry despite going much faster than them.
    • officer: 3 astra militarum
  • "Iron Hand" Straken:
    • officer: 2 regiment

Regiment

Battleline

Note that all these units can take 2 attached units, provided that one and only one of them is a Command Squad unit.

  • Cadian Shock Troops: Cadia's finest remain a mobile variant to the basic guardsmen, unable to carry heavy weapons but capable of carrying two special weapons (plus the drum-fed autogun you'll always put on the sergeant), but you can't pick the same one twice without doubling up on the unit's size.
    • Shock Troops make the Cadians valuable, as they can cap any objective they touch and keep it capped until an enemy threatens it. With how much more emphasis there is on claiming objectives, you'll be needing that bit of security as you press on the offense.
  • Catachan Jungle Fighters: Sadly still absolute shit, they gain +1 S and +1 AP on the charge but are still S3 base and don't get anything other than a Laspistol on the Sergeant, not even a chainsword! Would it have killed GW to let them take a Power Fist or Power Sword? They're even in the fucking kit.
    • only theoretical use is using that 6" scout with a dedicated transport for an early objective grab.
    • only hope to cross your fingers that this is only a placeholder for a future kill-team box.
  • Death Korps of Krieg: Troopers that lack heavy weapons aside from the Sniper Rifle, but can triple-up on special weapons by replacing their Vox dude with a plasma gun dude (and their Sergeants can carry bolters, if you want to count those as special weapons). Uniquely, these guys are a bit masochistic, getting +1 to hit if they lose any models and +1 to wound if they're below half-strength.
  • Infantry Squad: Clasic choice with all the special and heavy weapons guards are known for. Come with the ability to gain cover while near an objective. RAW their current weapon loadout is strange since they are allowed to take one vox-caster and one special weapon per 10 models, but if you add heavy weapons to the squad, then its a 9/18 model unit, so you cant take one/two special weapons if you take 1/2 heavy weapons.

Infantry

  • Field Ordnance Battery: Bumped up to T5, a single FOB model has the same amount of wounds as a HWS unit, but with better T and Save (4+). The FOB can now also benefit from Orders, and if ordered (and remaining stationary), the unit gains Sustained Hits.
    • The FOB's best use is either as a dedicated AT platform (that's four S14 Lascannon shots with d6+1 versus the 3 S12 of the HWS) or as a better Mortar with the Field Gun.
  • Heavy Weapons Squad: Don't seem to have improved any durability-wise compared to 9th and their Lasguns got nerfed to Las Small Arms, being nothing more than 18" Pistols. While their BS remains questionable for the guns they have, that 5+ BS is the same they'll be firing for overwatch (4+ if they're within 6" of another PLATOON unit) and the Heavy keyword lets them fire on the move while sitting still lets them hit on a 4+.
    • They can take the following heavy weapons
      • Autocannon, now a 2A S9 AP-1 D3 weapon, finally differentiating itself from the HB with the additional point of damage and S thats on par with a Krak Missile, but only time will tell how useful it'll be.
      • Heavy Bolter - 3A S5 AP-1 D2
      • Lascannon - 1A S12 AP-3 Dd6+1
      • Missile Launcher (Krak) S9 AP-2 Dd6 or (Frag) at S4 APO D1, Blast
  • Kasrkin: Goodbye 32 MWs, we hardly knew thee.. Their special rule now lets them be under the effect of two orders, one chosen at the start of the phase, and the other issued from an officer.
    • Their high volley of rapid fire weaponry combined with increased AP from a stratagem can still make them a force on the field as they fire 22 Hotshots at 12 inches with -2 AP to slowly whittle down MEQs if ordered both FRSRF and Take Aim.
  • Tempestus Scions: Even though their only thing in 9th was Exploding 6s (literally SUSTAINED HITS, and given out by thier Command Squad), their rule has now changed to re-rolling 1s to hit or re-rolling all hits if the opponent is holding an objective. While this leans into their role as Objective takers, you're still only bringing 4-9 OC 1 (2 with an attached standard) bodies.

Mounted

  • Attilan Rough Riders:
  • Death Rider Squadron:

Infantry

  • Bullgryn Squad:
  • Ogryn Squad:
  • Munitorum Servitors:
  • Ratling Snipers: Nimble little pests with S4 AP-2 D2 Precision sniper rifles. Thanks to Infiltrators, they can set up wherever you need them to shoot and Stealth offers a bit of protection wherever they go. While Heavy only gives benefit if they don't move, they do have a special ability that lets them move after shooting, letting them scurry away from any potential retribution after popping the heads of any attached heroes.

Vehicles

  • Cyclops Demolition Vehicle IA:

Squadron

  • Hellhound: The more aggressive Chimera, toting a heavy flamer and heavier inferno cannon that marks anything it hits as being unable to hide behind cover - a really handy help for any artillery you pick. The chem-cannon is just plain inferior for taking on troops with its fewer attacks meaning that its only working on any MEQs. The melta cannon gives you something to pop small tanks, but you do have more affordable troops.
  • Hydra: Your dedicated anti-air tank. Its Autocannon is not only [Twin-Linked], but it also has [Anti-Fly 2+] and can re-roll to hit anything with the Fly keyword so you can guarantee that some plane's getting trashed.
  • Carnodon IA:
  • Leman Russ:

<tabs> <tab name="Leman Russ Battle Tank/Classic"> Good ol' reliable. While not the jack of all trades in terms of damage dealer it once was in previous editions, lacking the strength and AP to go after the tanks you really want to hit it against, its mediocre BS gets a bit a help with re-roll 1s, which spikes to full re-rolls if what you're attacking is on an objective you're not controlling. </tab> <tab name="Demolisher"> It can hit units within Engagement Range without penalty. </tab> <tab name="Eradicator"> It can shoot units within engagement range without penalty, exactly like the Demolisher bc GW ran out of ideas. </tab> <tab name="Executioner"> Add 1 to the hit roll when firing at units below half-strength, which does not synergize with its weapons at all. </tab> <tab name="Exterminator"> Gives other guard units AP-1 against units it has shot at. </tab> <tab name="Punisher"> </tab> <tab name="Vanquisher"> Can reroll wound rolls when firing at Monsters or Vehicles. This has been bad in every edition, index or codex, and 10e has only made it worse with the removal of Regimental Doctrines stripping away your needed reroll to hit. </tab> </tabs>

  • Rogal Dorn Battle Tank:
  • Malcador IA:

<tabs> <tab name="Malcador"> </tab> <tab name="Annihilator"> </tab> <tab name="Defender"> </tab> <tab name="Infernus"> </tab> </tabs>

Artillery
  • Basilisk: The classic artillery tank. Comes with an absurd range which pretty much blows up any MEQ and most TEQs and makes anyone it shoots take -2 to movement and -2 to advances and charges.
  • Deathstrike: Back to being garbage, the Deathstrike only has the Deathstrike Missile now, which is a A2D6 S16 AP-4 D1 flop of a tank-destroyer. Just like last edition, you need to lay down a marker and wait a turn before firing this weapon, which is applied to all enemy units within 6" of the marker.
    • Same problem as always: you need to wait an entire turn before firing it, but now they can apply their invuln.
  • Manticore: An amped-up artillery vehicle more dedicated for hitting TEQs and smaller monsters, the latter getting help from a re-roll to hit an enemy with 5+ models.
  • Wyvern: 2d6 [Twin-Linked] mortar that causes one enemy unit (excluding Monster and Vehicle units) to have -1 to hit for a round. Don't take it to actually hit someone, just so you can protect your troops as they advance.
Walkers
  • Armoured Sentinels: Mercifully, the Sentinels are still good units, with the Armoured version as T8 Sv2+, but what you're really after is the fact that it can re-roll wounds against Monster and Vehicle units. As such, you'd want to keep plasma cannon or grab a lascannon if you're taking one, with a missile launcher if you're looking for some switching to mob control.
  • Scout Sentinels: T7, Sv3+, and Scouts 9", the Scout Sentinel also acts as an Imperial Pathfinder, marking a visible enemy unit within 18" of it to give your other units re-rolls of 1s to Hit and letting your artillery ignore [Indirect Fire] penalties.

Dedicated Transports

  • Chimera: Any Officer units inside this unit are still able to issue orders. Useful if you're running an infantry-heavy force since you'll be able to keep them at their best.
  • Taurox: Upgraded, it can now carry 12 Infantry models with heavy weapons teams taking 2 models and Ogryns counting as 3. Lets its passengers disembark after having advanced, giving the squad an extra bit of mobility - while this makes the unit count as if they moved and unable to charge, this won't matter much since Guardsmen aren't usually keen on actually fighting up close.
    • Has only two weapons to consider: The Storm Bolter if you want more shots with Rapid Fire 2 or the high-powered Twin Autocannons with Twin-Linked.
  • Taurox Prime:

Titanic

  • Baneblade: The big boss clearly benefited from the edition change, as it's now at a monstrous T13 W24. Hell, now it's big enough that it can count as cover for any models hiding behind it.
  • Banehammer:
  • Banesword:
  • Doomhammer:
  • Hellhammer:
  • Shadowsword:
  • Stormlord:
  • Stormsword:

Aircraft

  • Valkyrie:

Fortification

  • Aegis Defence Line: The ever-iconic wall emplacement, though lacking anywhere to set up some guns. Pretty much provides cover and a 4++ save for anyone hiding behind it, which you'll need for an infantry-heavy force.


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