Editing Codex - Drop Troops (section)

==Wargear==

===Melee Weapons===
As a rule of thumb, all of the following are available as options to Sergeants and Characters. The Guard do have a few other melee weapons (Ogryn and Rough Rider units mostly), but they'll be detailed in their unit entries later on. 

*'''Chainsword:''' SU, AP0, D1, bearer gains +1A. Some credit must be given to the old standby. In addition to being free, it gives an extra attack with it. This serves to make units like Rough Riders a lot nastier than they might look from their statline (Rough Riders effectively carry two of these, giving them 2 bonus attacks with this profile), and is why Infantry Squad Sergeants should give all of the other options here a complete miss, unless maybe they have a priest.

*'''Power Sword:''' S+1, AP-3, D1. Even at 5pts and with the new 9th edition S bonus, it's not enough for your S3 models - and the S4 models prefer the Fist. You should generally avoid this unless you're looking for a budget choice for Catachans or plan on taking one of the numerous relic swords the Guard get.
*'''Power Fist:''' Sx2, AP-3, D2, bearer suffers -1 to their hit rolls. Company/Platoon Commanders and Lord Commissars won't feel that too much, but Veteran Sergeants may. While expensive, almost everything that can take this will see the best results from it. 
**The {{W40Kkeyword|Vostroyan}} Warlord Trait makes this deadly and their Relic armour can keep him alive long enough to use it.
**{{W40Kkeyword|Catachan}} Company Commanders are the most obvious choice for a power fist, and they become S8 with their Regimental Doctrine. Have him order ''Fix Bayonets'' to himself and a nearby Infantry Squad (preferably a combined squad) and put them both in buff range of Straken and a Priest. That's nine S8 powerfist + fifty-four S4 attacks all hitting on 4+. 

*'''Las-cutter:''' S9, AP-3, D3, the bearer can make only one attack with its. Using a Lascannon as a melee weapon.

===Ranged Weapons===

====Basic====

*'''Shotgun:''' 12", assault 2, S3, AP0, D1, becomes S4 if the target is within 6". Available to your Commanders (Index) as well as to Veterans, with whom they go well alongside their plethora of flame weapons.

*'''Laspistol:''' 12", pistol 1, S3, AP0, D1. A lasgun that's a pistol. More of a placeholder than anything else, but it's free. Just about anything in your army that can take something better should, but some things are stuck with one, like the Master of Ordnance.

*'''Lasgun:''' 24", rapid fire 1, S3, AP0, D1. Your trusty flashlight hasn't changed. What changed is the way strength rolls against wounds, allowing it to wound T5 on a 5+, and T7+ is no longer immune to them. Paper stats aside, the sheer number of these you can field and combined with FRFSRF will make even Terminators shit their ceramite-plated pants. 

*'''Bolt Pistol:''' 12", pistol 1, S4, AP0, D1. 2pts for a real pistol for your sergeants and free for Commissars. The only advantage the bolt pistol has over the boltgun is that it can be fired in close combat, if you expect your squishy meatbag Guardsman to be fighting there for some reason. Worse than the boltgun, better than the laspistol. 

*'''Boltgun:''' 24", rapid fire 1, S4, AP0, D1. 2pts allows your Sergeant/Character to actually contribute to a firefight instead of merely looking cool. This is realistically the only option you should be taking. You can somewhat kitbash these by clipping off the lasgun magazine and barrel and replacing with a boltgun magazine and flash hider. 

*'''Hot-Shot Laspistol:''' 6", pistol 1, S3, AP-2, D1. What it says on the tin, but only 6" range means you may not even get to shoot it in overwatch before a charge. Creed has two, [[Awesome|just because]]. If you find yourself within the 6" range to fire it, you may as well just throw a krak grenade instead, which is better in every other way. 

*'''Hot-Shot Lasgun:''' 18", rapid fire 1, S3, AP-2, D1. Available to Scions and {{W40Kkeyword|Krieg}} Sergeants and Grenadiers. The short 18" range makes it unable to rapid-fire right after a Deep Strike natively, even though its most common carriers love Deep-Striking. Considering the number of mobility options available to Scions though, as well as new regimental rules, and this downside can quickly be mitigated. Having massed mid-AP weapons would usually be a reasonable counter to MEQ's, but you still wound on a 5+.
** This basic infantry weapon became widely feared after the Greater Good update; Iotan Dragoons gain +6" range with rapid fire weapons, allowing you to fire it out of Deep Strike. Lambdan Lions improve the AP of their weapons by 1. Kappic Eagles gain +1 to their hit rolls after they disembark, thus hitting on a 2+. 

*'''Plasma Pistol:''' 12", pistol 1, S7, AP-3, D1, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the bearer. An actual officer's weapon, it's a toss-up between this or the boltgun for most models, but your Scion Sergeants in PlasmaTrooper squads will love this.

====Grenades====
*'''Frag Grenade:''' 6", grenade d6, S3, AP0, D1, blast. Damn near every Infantry model in the Guard carries them. 
** Note on the maths: if you're able to issue FRFSRF in rapid fire range, you're statistically better off taking the flat four lasgun shots over the average 3.5 shots a frag gives you. However, your sergeant will never do worse with a frag when compared to his laspistol.
** Not bad on their own, but they really shine when you use the Grenadiers stratagem on a BS3+ Veteran Squad jumping out of a transport; most of the stats aren't great, but 10d6 attacks will still decimate most units. 

*'''Krak Grenade:''' 6", grenade 1, S6, AP-1, Dd3. A rarity in the Guard, available only to Scions, Kriegers, and a few characters. 
** Another one that can be combined with the Grenadiers stratagem. Most of your Stormtroopers will be minimum strength to get past their paltry Ld7, but this may see use in your 10-man Krieg units or a single ten-man SS Squad for a Krak-ikaze.

====Special====
*'''Flamer:''' 12", assault d6, S4, AP0, D1, automatically hits. Being an assault weapon that always hits, there's no penalty for advancing and firing, especially for Special Weapon Squads. Flamers are most effective when taken in {{W40Kkeyword|Catachan}} Special Weapon Teams or flamer Command Squads because they can reroll their D6 shots with the ''Burn Them Out!'' order.

*'''Grenade Launcher:''' 24", assault d6, S3, AP0, D1, blast or 24", assault 1, S6, AP-1, Dd3. The mini missile launcher isn't bad, but there are better things available. It's main problem is that meltaguns, plasma guns, and flamers cost 5pts too.

*'''Hot-Shot Volley Gun:''' 24", heavy 4, S4, AP-2, D1. A {{W40Kkeyword|Militarum Tempestus}}-exclusive, replacing their access to the sniper rifle (also mounted on Taurox Primes). This, and not the flamer, is the Scion's response to hordes.

*'''Meltagun:''' 12", assault 1, S8, AP-4, Dd6, gains +2D if the target is within half range. Good against ''anything'' with lots of wounds, not just Vehicles. As of Chapter Approved 2020, you're paying 5 points for regular guardsmen and 10 for anyone with BS of 3+ or better (Scions and Veterans).
** Note on the maths: On a model with BS3+, the meltagun within half range has a slight advantage in terms of average damage dealt per point over a supercharged plasma gun in rapid firing range against T8/3+ targets and TEQ-characters. Guys with a BS of 4+ are almost always better off with plasma as they get two shots and aren't as expensive if they melt themselves with it. 
** The choice between plasma and melta should be based on what you want your Infantry units to be doing. If your dudes are going to be sitting in a static gunline, plasma is the better choice due to the range. If you are getting your men close to murder bigger things, melta can be the better option.

*'''Plasma Gun:''' 24", rapid fire 1, S7, AP-3, D1, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the bearer. Now that Marines are W2, expect to be seeing a lot more of these and for the points cost to increase because GW base all points costs around their golden boys. Given that you have a ''huge'' variety of ways to re-roll 1's (Take Aim order, Cadians Regimental Doctrine, Harker's Hellraisers from Harker (obviously), Hero of Hades Hive from Yarrick, etc.), casualties from supercharging can be easily minimized.
** Given it has the same 24" range and rapid fire profile as boltguns and lasguns, plasma guns should be the default special weapon choice in most squads. Remember, it is 5pts on BS4+ models and 10pts on BS3+ models as of Chapter Approved 2020.

*'''Sniper Rifle:''' 36", heavy 1, S4, AP0, D1, may target Characters even if they aren't the closest model and wound rolls of unmodified 6 inflict a mortal wound in addition to any other damage caused. At 2pts no matter the BS of the bearer, this is your cheapest special weapon. The weak stats and low odds of even inflicting the additional mortal wound means these should be spammed as much as possible to do something of note or not taken at all.

====Heavy====
*'''Autocannon:''' 48", heavy 2, S7, AP-1, D2. A good all-rounder, but worse then the heavy bolter and frag missiles against Infantry and worse than the lascannon and krak missiles against Vehicles. However this weapon is amazing when spammed, which it should be. It's cheaper than the anti-tank weapons and the long range lets you have a lot of overlapping fire arcs among your army. You should be letting your anti-personnel weapons and anti-tank weapons fire first, and then you use your autocannons to pick off any priority targets that are left. With heavy bolters at D2, these are only better than them against T6 and 10-13, and even then, only by 33%, unless ACs get buffed as well.

*'''Heavy Bolter:''' 36", heavy 3, S5, AP-1, D2.  It's still standard on every vehicle in your motor pool and it's better than the autocannon against T4 and less, with the exception of T3. The heavy bolter is alright, but nothing to write home about.
** With the advent of 9th edition giving this weapon D2 and all Marines W2, you now want the heavy bolter against MEQ's instead of the autocannon; the one extra shot helps make up for your BS4+ and 36" is long enough for most boards. It's even also better than the autocannon against heavy vehicles T8/9, and just as good against T7. 

*'''Heavy Flamer:''' 12", heavy d6, S5, AP-1, D1. Can be taken on most Vehicles in place of the heavy bolter, as sponson weapons for the Leman Russ, and in Command and Veteran Squads. This almost strictly better than a flamer, with the only downside that it can't advance and fire (outside of {{W40Kkeyword|Tallarn Vehicle}}s). Not a bad choice on Leman Russes and Chimera, especially if they are expected to be close to the fight.

*'''Lascannon:''' 48", heavy 1, S9, AP-3, Dd6. The ever-reliable Imperial tank-buster, the improved strength over missile launcher is critical; krak missiles wound on 4's while the Lascannon wounds on 3's against T8 targets and the extra AP doesn't hurt, either. 

*'''Missile Launcher:''' 48", heavy d6, S4, AP0, D1, blast, or 48", heavy 1, S8, AP-2, Dd6. Still the Jack of all trades, still the master of none. At its current point cost, specializing with mortars and lascannons is generally a more efficient option.

*'''Mortar:''' 48", heavy d6, S4, AP0, D1, blast and does not need line-of-sight. The has been the go-to for heavy weapon teams on competitive tables. While not terribly powerful, being able to fire out of line-of-sight is an asset the Guard can always use.

===Other Wargear===
*'''Vox-Caster:''' Your only Infantry wargear in this section. This machine is the beating heart of the Orders system. If an Officer is within 3" of a model with a Vox, and the target squad also has a Vox (and is of the same {{W40Kkeyword|<Regiment>}}), the range of the order is ''tripled'' to 18". The important thing to note here is that it means your Officers can improvise their command structure a lot more - ''any'' Vox can send, and ''any'' Vox can receive, as long as the Officer and target squad share regiments. It is entirely legal - and fluffy - for your Platoon Commander, his assigned Vox operator having been killed, to run to a nearby squad of Tempestus Scions and commandeer their Vox Operator to continue sending orders! This also means you don't need to rely on flimsy four-man Command Squads for your Officers to send orders out; squads of Veterans with sniper rifles and heavy weapons, and even ''Militarum Tempestus Scions'' can be used as "command" squads.

*'''Hunter-Killer Missile:''' This is a slightly more powerful Krak missile launcher (S10 AP-2) that can only shoot once per game, at 5pts. Not bad on Pask or a Tank Commander for a little extra punch on turn 1. Sentinel squads can spam these like no-ones business, even better with the new stratagem to give a sentinel squad +2BS, load up 3 with lascannons and HK missles and DELETE a single piece of armor t1.