Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

==Why Play Imperial Guard==
When recruits are inducted into the Imperial Guard, they are given four things: their regulation flashlight (commonly referred to by the troops as "lasguns" for some reason), their regulation cardboard box (which certain regiments have taken to cutting up and wearing into battle, calling it "flak armor"), a large stack of toilet paper (which the recruiters refer to as the "Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer") and a regulation extra large wheelbarrow that allows them to cart their ''massive brazen balls'' into battle.

If you play Imperial Guard then you play as the [[Ollanius Pius|true hero of Warhammer 40,000]]. You do not lead [[Tyranid|lethal]] [[Ork|aliens]] or [[Space Marines|unstoppable]] [[Chaos Space Marines|super-warriors]]. You lead the conscripted farmer, the gangbanger or the factory stiff with their [[Flak Armour|bulletproof vest]] and [[Lasgun|clunky laser rifle]] and what is implied to be an [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|armoured tractor with a turret bolted to the top]]; you lead ordinary men and women up against a galaxy that is literally Hell ''(and in fact it has one; and you'll be spending a lot of time flying through it)''. Your victories are spectacular, and your greatest defeats are still moral victories. Imperial Guard-focused stories like [[Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt|Gaunt's Ghosts]] and the [[Tanith First (And Only)|Tanith First and Only]] are testaments to [https://youtu.be/qyGDo1ARpjI the very human yet also superhuman bravery and acts of incredible sacrifice Guardsmen perform in the line of duty every day across the galaxy]. And if you play Guard then you can play out your own stories too[[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Wargames_Atlantic#External_Links|Wargames_Atlantic]].

From a gameplay perspective, the Imperial Guard is a flexible force known for having either hordes of cheap infantry to blast the heretic swine, waves of tanks to flatten the bastards, or both. The army is easy to learn while having a lot of options and tactics being discovered frequently, (Conscript spam is no more, [[Skub|they're no longer an option in 9th edition]]). That's why you play the Imperial Guard. 

===Pros===
*'''Buffing potential:''' Hordes of infantry that can be buffed with force multipliers such as Commissars, Astropaths, Priests and Commanders.
*'''Cheap Units:''' Dirt cheap troops means you can laugh off the loss of cheap guardsmen squads whereas an elite army cannot. On that note, HQs are also cheaper than their counterparts in other armies making them less of a tax in your lists.
*'''Quality and quantity of weapons:''' Guard is iconic for filling lists with special and heavy weapons. Leman Russes were gunboats before [[Repulsor Executioner|It]] [[Hekaton Land Fortress|was]] [[Boomdakka Snazzwagon|cool]]. Unfortunately our infantry shooting game isn't as cool as other editions.
*'''Strong Shooting:''' Cost-efficient high-strength firepower from Leman Russ Battle Tanks, the new Rogal Dorn Battletank, free Heavy Weapons in basic Infantry Squads, and more. Many armies pay through the nose for their equivalent firepower.
*'''Excellent from a modelling standpoint:''' You have way more opportunities to make your army look distinctive than most other armies. Space Marines might get to make themselves feel special by slapping different colors of paint on their armor or putting different emblems on their pauldrons, but you've got entirely different model options for your guardsmen. This is pointed out in the Codex, with [[Indigan Praefects|Guard/Admech/Genestealer Cult kitbashes]] now being canon (as well as Chris Peach’s Empire chaps from White Dwarf). 
*'''Versatility:''' Unlike other armies, Guard are often not reliant on a single gimmick.
*'''ObSec on Demand:''' With orders, you can give so many units ObSec and even have a specific regimental trait to make Vehicles better at it. 
*'''Fun''': Guard Armies are very thematic, so they're always fun for you and your opponent, because even if they lose they'll always cause a lot of casualties.
*'''[[Sly Marbo]].'''
*'''Regimental Tactics:''' Some of the Orders can now jump to ALL infantry in 6 inches, allowing for astonishing Rapid Fire on Infantry and devastating mortar fire from Mortar Heavy Weapon Squads.
*To help offset the fact that Games Workshop models are pricier than crack, Imperial Guard is an ''extremely'' proxy-friendly army. World War II tank models as Russes, Napoleonic French cavalry as Krieg, infantry models from Bolt Action, etc. If it looks human and holds a gun, it's in the Guard now son. Saves you a bit of cash.
*New Models!
** So far, the Cadians are making a grand return and are bringing with them new Kasrkin Squads, Shock Troop Squads, and some new field artillery along with a whole slew of new models. It would seem that the Guard model line is slowly being reduced and streamlined, however, the new hardware is certainly looking great thus far!
**Also, the new Krieg infantry look great, and in all honesty, those are the only units required to make a thematic and accurate army from there (or Armageddon if you’re good with a knife and yellow paint). With the reintroduction of Rough Riders, you don’t even need to visit Forgeworld for 40k’s most charismatic cavalry.

===Cons===
*'''Cadia Centric:''' Changes to Regiments aside, '''BORN SOLDIERS''' is so powerful that taking anything else almost seems like a mistake. If you're a Cadian player, this isn't a Con, but if you shelled out for Krieg or still have the metal Armageddon or Tallarn models, your either playing them as counts-as Cadians or going all in on certain builds.
*'''Flimsy Obsec infantry:''' T3 and a 5+ save is nothing in an edition so full of AP that they had to give the posterboys a rule to stay competitive. If something aims at a Guardsman squad, [[Fist of the North Star|they are already dead]]. 
*'''Too many options, too few slots''': Building on the above point, Guard lists are always about quantity and redundancy. If something does something important, you need ''at least'' ''THREE'' of them, and in an edition where detachments cost a third or more of their CP allotment, Guard players will struggle to fit their armies into a detachments, and taking a Brigade means a mandatory tax. 
**It's not like [[Dark Eldar|detachment refunds]] is [[Primarch|broken or anything]].
** Less of a problem with the Arks, as you get to choose where your mandatory slots are without having to spend CP.
*'''Horde Nerf:''' Grognards were hyped when they learned PLATOONS and SQUADRONS (letting you fit multiple units in a single slot) would be coming back, only to be disappointed when it turned out to just [[Fail|be a fucking keyword]]. Even worse, they significantly reduced the number of units that could squad up and removed [[Whiteshield Conscript|Conscripts]]. If you want ObSec units to survive to the late-game, transports or deepstriking is necessary.
*'''Gun Control:''' GW came for our infantry's special weapons, just like they did with the Chosen and Chaos Terminators. Special Weapon Squads are [[Squatted|gone]], and you can only take at most 2 of a gun. Partly this is because GW is getting a hardon for keeping options limited to "what's in the box"...except Guard players should have a fuckton of bits on principle. 
**This is particularly egregious because they sell [[Horus Heresy Tactics|upgrade sprues]] ''and'' [[Eradicator|weapon spam units]]. Textbook Astartes Posterboy Syndrome.
*'''Weak Melee:''' Comparatively weak in assault. S3/T3 with 1A and 1W each is not doing you any favors. Avoid close combat like the plague, unless you're using dedicated melee units like Bullgryns and Rough Riders. 
*'''Playing Imperial Guard is tedious:''' Whether its literally counting out ''hundreds'' of dice for shooting (bring bags, and expect to lose some) or spending more than half an hour just deploying your army (movement trays, learn to love them). Fortunately [[Grimdark|your turns will go by faster once you start piling up casualties.]]
*'''Massive Footprint:''' The board sizes are significantly smaller in 9th, and that affects you on a fundamental level, because Guard is all about ''lots of vehicles''. Certain deployments (Abandoned Sanctuaries/Tide of Conviction in Nephilim) are only 10" deep which can fuck you over if you bring Tank Squadrons or [[Rogal Dorn Battle Tank|massive]] fucking [[Baneblade|tanks]]. It also makes your artillery more vulnerable than before.
*'''Expensive Collection:''' Although your units are cheap in points, they're not cheap in cash, ''particularly'' if you buy from Games Workshop, instead of a cheaper source.  You ''will'' want to find a [[Proxy|cheaper]], [[3DPrinting|alternative source of models]], unless you're interested in supporting your FLGS - store owners ''love'' new Guard players.
**If you want to proxy, currently wargames Atlantic offer some of the cheapest guard building options with models that could be a convincing stand-in for Krieg, Vostroyan and Steel Legion, £25 for 24 men, yes please[[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Wargames_Atlantic#External_Links|Wargames_Atlantic]]
*To tie in all these reasons why there's a lot of caveats to playing Guard? You're not GW's [[Space Marines| favourite children.]] Even [[Sisters of Battle]] and [[Squats|the Dwarfs]] get attention before you.
*Jury is still in on whether or not the Guard Codex fixes a lot of the big issues Guard players struggled with from mid-8th to well into 9th (flimsy ObSec units, unhelpful faction abilities, mediocre secondaries, lack of extreme AP). The Ingrained Precision + Overcharged LasCell combo is pretty broken, being a weird mix of Votann Grudges and AdMech Wrath of Mars. Considering the changes to Grudges, a nerf seems likely, [[Games Workshop|but most nerfs are being rolled back anyway.]]
*Congrats, the Imperial Guard Codex is coming in....[[Derp|Winter 2023]]. You can get the codex now if you want to drop a few hundred bucks on an army box, but you also won't be able to play it in Official games until the New Year. 
*[[FAIL|10th edition is coming, and it means your 60 dollar codex has a lifetime of ''months'']]. Seriously, the fucking SQUATS came back before you got your 9th edition codex.

===Changes from 8th Edition===
On paper, the coming Guard Codex is a litany of bizarre design choices that veteran Guard players have waited five years to see. Infantry-focused builds have been shafted quite a bit, and the new rules are clearly designed to push new models over the old ones which is a common trend throughout Games Workshop's history but doesn't make it any less annoying. Once there's been games under belts and results, then we will know whether the Codex was worth the wait. 
*Regiment rules were shaken up in that they're no longer subfactions with their own unique WLT, Relics, and Strat, but more like the custom doctrines of other armies. While it's easier from a list building perspective because, theoretically, you can use everything in the book, it can be argued that a bunch of soul and fluff has been removed from the army, and [[Cadia|some]] [[Armageddon|fared]] [[Krieg|better]] [[Tempestus Scions|than]] [[Tallarn Desert Raiders|others]]. It's also really unfair when you have [[Space Marines|factions]] whose [[Blood Angels|subfactions]] are so [[Harlequins|powerful]] at their [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Eldar_Harlequins_(9E)#Light|specialty]], [[Tyranids|they]] preclude the need to [[Hive Fleet Leviathan|use anything else]]. See the Regiment Traits content further down.
*Crusade Rules for Guard are released, giving Narrative play and Tempest of War game modes some meaning for Guard players.
*Stratagems organized into the four main categories (Battle Tactics, Heroic Deeds, Requisition, Wargear) and consolidated. This is good considering the rules bloat that has plagued 9th Edition. 
*Orders received a shake-up, it takes place in the Command Phase and is tied to the Officer's keyword and the ordered unit's keyword. To honest, when 9th Edition added the Command phase it was only natural that this would happen in the first place so this is a welcome decision.
*Odd choices for the Core keyword. Looking at you nu-Sentinels, [[Games Workshop|new model syndrome is doing you well]].
*Leman Russes and Rogal Dorns can fire turret weapons at range even if they're locked in engagement range, like how Baneblade variants could in 8th edition (and still can in 9th their main weapons count also). This at least solves the problem that plagued guard since 8th began by tanks getting shut down by throwaway units high-fiving the hulls. Sponson and hull weapons still have to target units in engagement range ala '''BiGNuT''', though.
*Every vehicle that isn't a Russ or a Sentinel has lost the ability to take a squadron of up to 3 in a single slot. No more Basilisk, Hellhound, Hydra, or Wyvern Squadrons. This has just cluttered the Heavy Support and Fast Attack slots even more.
*New models and units! See below for details.
**Lord Solar Leontus ON A HORSE, Lord Castellan Ursula Creed, new Cadian Castellan model, the Rogal Dorn Battle Tank, new Cadian Shock Troopers, Kasrkin triumphantly return, Attilan Rough Riders make a surprise return, updated Sentinel models, updated Commissar model, and new Field Ordnance Batteries. Catachan Jungle Fighters and Death Korps of Krieg have their own exclusive datasheets and keyword to match.
*On the flip side, multiple units were [[Squatted|removed]] from the Codex. It's like the 6th Edition mass-deletion all over again. See below for details.
**Commissar Yarrick, Lord Commissars, Lord Castellan Usarkar Creed, Colour Sergeant Kell, Knight Commander Pask, Commissar Raine, all named Guard models from Blackstone Fortress and expansions, Conscripts, Veterans, Wyrdvane Psykers, Special Weapons Squads, and Crusaders. While this does unclutter some unit slots a bit, this was a really tough one for older guard players.
*Tempestus Scions, a niche sub-faction, received multiple bizarre nerfs. 
**Are now Elites unless they're in a detachment comprised entirely of Militarum Tempestus and Infantry Prefectus units.
**Don't benefit from Born Soldiers or Regimental Traits AT ALL.
**Still 2/4 special weapons for every 5/10 guys, but you can only pick an option once for 5, or twice for 10. So no more deep-striking 4 meltaguns or 4 volley guns. 
**Add all this up, and Kasrkin are better in every way except for a lack of inherent deep strike. Hugely ironic considering Tempestus Scions originally replaced Kasrkin in 6/7th, and now THEY'RE being shafted when Kasrkin return. Pushing new kits at the expense of old ones, much?