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

===Cons===
*Overall flimsy infantry. What you have in numbers you do not have in resilience; your most common model statline is toughness 3 with a 5+ save. Still some of the toughest models point-for-point, but it practically forces you to buy in bulk.
*None of your ground vehicles, (with the exception of super heavies,) can fall back and shoot. This makes tank heavy armies extremely vulnerable to assault. 
*Comparatively weak in assault. S3 (S4 for Catachans) with 1 attack each is not doing you any favors. Avoid close combat like the plague, unless you can mob a single enemy squad with models, buff your dudes to the point of competence, or you're using dedicated melee units like Ogryns/Bullgryns. Our Infantry squads are still better in assault than Battle Sisters, Guardians Defenders, Termagants or even Tactical Marines point for point. That's before Priests, Fix Bayonets (the single best rule in ALL of the 40K universe!), and {{W40Kkeyword|Catachan}} shenanigans. However, individual squads caught in melee alone will fail anyway because...
*Individual units are weak without support from characters and other squads. Synergy is key. 
*Anti-infantry weapons will destroy your hordes in short order.
*Anti-tank weapons will destroy your tanks in short order.
**Now stop and think about those above three points. Together, they constitute a major challenge when faced in tandem. Enemies can reap bounteous rewards through good target selection against the IG, and it can be tricky to find ways to deny their efforts. Take a typical mixed-unit army, some infantry and some tanks. There will be times when the enemy can pull off a highly effective attack, pointing their dakka at your infantry and their blasta at your tanks. Some units may have to be sacrificed to an effective enemy - let's say a unit of Sentinels against enemy melta fire - if it means guarding a more important yet similarly vulnerable target - your Leman Russes - until you can wheel a more effective counter unit into place - disposable infantry squads. You can only anticipate so much! The standard wisdom when designing an army is to aim for a uniform defensive approach between units, to prevent easy target practice for the enemy. But the IG are very dependent on synergy, so taking an all-infantry or all tank army is also quite risky! Whether it's a mixed army that demands carefully positioning and tough sacrifices, all-infantry that runs the risk of weak output or all-tank brigades that struggle to shoot fast enough, you've always got a catch when constructing your wall of shooty death.
*Playing Imperial Guard can be 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.]]
*Although your units are cheap in points, they're not that cheap in cash, ''particularly'' if you buy from Games Workshop, instead of a cheaper source; four maxed out conscript blobs will run you $160, not to mention the difficulty of painting and hauling around 120 3 point bodies, and that's far from the most expensive option.  You ''will'' want to find a cheaper, alternative source of models, unless you're interested in supporting your FLGS - store owners ''love'' new Guard players.
*You're not GW's [[Space Marines|favorite children]], so not only are new models for your army very rare, but your infantry models are mostly outdated as fuck and are rarely in stock. 
*There are many Guard units (mostly Forgeworld) that are out of production. If you want to take those you'll either have to buy used or kitbash. If you're into conversions this won't be a big problem.
*Your units are either a steal (most of your troops, most of your tanks) or completely overpriced compared to what other armies get (almost all named characters, Baneblades).
*If you're playing ITC, good luck. Guard are built to take and hold objectives regardless of heavy casualties, but ITC primary and secondary objectives will really screw you over in particular due to the squishiness of your army.
* As of mid 2020, if you're not Space Marines, then you're already well behind the competitive power curve. Sure, Guard have it easier than other armies like Tyranids, but our Psychic Awakening entry feels lackluster unless you invested in Scions. Here's to hoping 9th edition is more balanced as a whole.