Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

===Heavy Support=== 
*'''[[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ Squadron]]:''' The Leman Russ is your big tank. Each tank is a Heavy Vehicle, with Front Armor 14 and Side Armor 13; as a result they are remarkably resilient against conventional anti-tank, though they're still vulnerable to melee, D, Haywire and Grav so keep them protected! Fundamentally, the main difference between each tank is its turret, and whether it has rear armor 11 or 10. 
**'''Leman Russ Battle Tank:''' Though it comes in many flavors, the basic tank is the most useful. With its S8 AP3 72" gun and thick armor, it is good against anything for decent points. This is your runner-and-gunner, your go-to tank, and the majority of your Leman Russ pool at any time should be these. Kit 'em out with heavy bolters all around, since you are going to be forced to snap fire non-cannon weapons, so up the volume of fire. Or save the points and leave it bare-bones. With only AP3 and relatively weak strength as far as Guard ordnance goes, its main job nowadays is to smoke MEQ and Necrons from across the field, which puts it in competition with the Basilisk. Your choice if the loss of Barrage and the extra armor is worth the 25 point difference.
**'''Leman Russ Exterminator:''' Armed with a 4 shot twin-linked Autocannon means this thing is death incarnate for 4+ armour and light vehicles. Kit it with 3 extra Heavy Bolters for beautiful infantry shredding, or turn it into a true jack-of-all-trades with a set of multi-meltas and a lascannon. If you feel like it, add Pask - and watch it destroy Predators and Falcon grav tanks with ease, while standing a chance to <s>glance</s> rendingly penetrate Land Raiders ('''!'''). It's also the only Russ that can semi-competently do AA duty; while nearly twice the points and not as long-ranged as a Hydra, it's got ''much'' better armor, isn't open-topped, and isn't hindered by the lack of the Interceptor special rule (so it can shoot at things on the ground, where majority of enemy forces usually are). It doesn't have Skyfire or a Targeting Computer, so it may be lacking in roles usually occupied by Hydra, but you will still put a big dent on anything you do end up hitting.
**'''Leman Russ Vanquisher:''' A Melta (which always provides +1d6 armor penetration) with a devastating range. Thus a bit costly for 1 shot at BS3. Not very useful really considering the amount of melta you should already have, if you use it primarily against vehicles. However, it can be made a beast! If you want to get the most out of this tank, some way of giving it BS 4 is a must, if only to remove the unreliability of the main gun. This can be done through either giving this tank to a tank commander or putting it in the Emperor's Fist formation from Mont'ka. Give it a Lascannon as well as Plasma Sponson - and you get a unit perfectly fit to fight against heavy infantry AND tanks, turning the Vanquisher into a reliable source of AP 2 and long-range tank-killing goodness.  Combine with Pask for further murder. Suddenly you have guaranteed preferred enemy, ensuring he and his buddy don't cook themselves with plasma and giving the hull gun a further accuracy boost. More importantly, he essentially gives the V-cannon twinlinked and tank hunter. Nightmarish for vehicles and sure to put a hell of a dent in most monstrous creatures. Don't forget to take a Heavy Stubber to remove that last wound off the enemy Trygon. (why the regular russ doesn't carry different types of rounds is anyone's guess)
**'''Leman Russ Eradicator:''' Kind of a Hellhound that hits worse, is slower but better armored. And you can add a Lascannon for versatility. Strange tank that has a weaker version of Battle Cannon that eats your enemies' cover saves. Consider for Cities of Death games or when fighting cover-camping Tau/Eldar. Can be useful for gunline enemies hiding behind fortifications as well. Now at 120 points making it cheapest Russ off them all. (If you're thinking of taking this for shooting horde units behind cover, scroll down and take a look at the Wyvern. In exchange for 2 less S and AP and a smaller blast, you get 4 shots that reroll to hit ''and'' to wound). However, the Eldar Fast Vehicled and Bikes will suffer dearly if they get hit - Eradicators make Dark Eldar cry (as they at best get a 5++ to protect themselves).
**'''Leman Russ Demolisher:''' For +20 pts. to the basic Russ you get a cannon that lays waste of everything on the battlefield and immunity vs S4 melee units - though sometimes 24" is too close to the enemy. The Demolisher is tried and true, and should ALWAYS lead the armored charge into the enemy. Works great alone, works even better in threes. You don't really need to upgrade it, since fucking '''DEMOLISHER CANNON''' doesn't get much assistance from other weapons, but being able to finish off the scattered survivors by hail of ill-aimed gunfire can also be useful.
**'''Leman Russ Punisher:''' Shares the cons but only few of the pros with the Demolisher (it does keep the additional back armor, which helps). Heavy 20 may sound cool, but on average, you end up with 10 S5 hits with no AP (making it difficult to even glance vehicles to death, but why would you target vehicles anyway?), and only 24" range so while you do demolish what ever you shoot at, you're now within Melta/assault range. Everything except Grots is butchered better with the cheaper and better ranged Battle Tank. However, unlike most Russes, it gets better if you sink the points in it: Add a tank commander, and now 13 and 1/3 of those shots hit.  Have a psyker and divination nearby, and that goes up to 17 and 7/9ths hits with a commander, 15 without. Add Pask and now you have rending and the ability to reroll penetration, meaning it is easy to glance AV 12 to death. Add on a full triple Heavy Bolter set and a Heavy Stubber, and the machine will reduce to dust anything, from Terminator Squads to full-size Ork Mobs every turn, and will stop 'Nidzilla in it's tracks through sheer dice output. Well, that or you'll be killed by the enemies anti-tank and waste 250 points on something the rest of your army should be doing anyway. Also, by far the coolest looking Russ.
***Can also be a fun choice against fliers, if much less cost-effective than the Hydra or Fortifications' Emplacements. When driven by Pask the Punisher becomes an extremely versatile machine, able to successfully engage just about anything, and on average, glance most things AV14 to death.
***Mathhammer- Target: 5 man Terminator Squad. Battle Cannon, 3 hits on a good roll? 2.5 wounds. ~40% of a kill. Punisher cannon. 10 hits. 6.66 Wounds, 1.11 kills. Demolisher would likely score 1.6 kills, .8 vs Storm Shield Termies. T6, 3+ Monsterous Creature: Battle cannon, 1 hit, .83 unsaved wounds. Punisher, 10 hits, 3.333 wounds, 1.11 unsaved wounds. Blob of GEQ in cover. Battle Cannon, 5 hits? 7 if it's dense? 4.1-5.8 wounds. ~3.2 unsaved. Punisher 8.33 wounds, 5.55 unsaved. Battle Cannons and Demolishers will out perform it vs Vehicles perhaps (At least without Pask), against marines in the open (And if that was a common target, everyone would love Rubric Marines, and yes, in the open. 5 marines with a 5+ cover save will suffer more casualties from a Punisher than a Battle Cannon), and non-jinking MEQ Bikers, but against most everything else the Punisher lives up to it's name BEFORE boosts. The Punisher benefits far more from BS boosts than a battle cannon. Just keep that in mind.
**'''Leman Russ Executioner:''' Not quite as god tier as it once was because the main cannon now has Gets Hot (since the Techpriests on Ryza got drunk and forgot how to make good Plasma weapons that don't overheat one day during the hangover), but still capable of chucking down sizeable amounts of Anti-TEQ hate. However it's now only 155 points, a significant reduction from the last book. Pair with Pask for a blinding plasma blast (see Pask above) for even more hate (though this is ill advised, given your HQ will easily bloat itself up to (and possibly past) 500 points since Tank Commanders must take a Squadron of Russes with them)  All that said, while no longer the auto-include Russ anymore that it was in the last book, it is still capable of making TEQ heavy armies weep. To be taken with caution as part of a healthy balanced diet of Russes.
***'''Important Note:''' You'll get that re-roll from Pask and vehicles get a 4+ 'save' to resist the lost hull point from a 'Gets Hot' result which should make this Russ more survivable. Keep this in mind, because your Executioner is statistically likely to Get Hot by the end of turn 2; with the extra roll the tank can go 4 turns without glancing itself (this drops to just over 2 if you took sponsons). Twin-Linking is still helpful, of course.
***Alternative take: Use Executioner as Tank Commander's co-tank. If you take Pask as the main tank, you get to reroll "Gets Hot" results due to having preferred enemy (Final GW FAQ confirms this), so it rerolls 1's for to hit and to wound rolls. Also due to S7 you wound basically everything with 2+, making it rerollable if you fail any wound rolls.
***Alternative 2: Add Trojan with Techpriest to the mix, giving everyone within 12" bubble Preferred enemy. See above, except for your whole heavy ordnance. Ouch!

*'''Leman Russ Conqueror Squadron (Forge World):''' It's kinda light version of Leman Russ Battle Tank - Conqueror turret cannon comes with less range and less blast radius, but it is heavy and has in-built co-axial storm bolter to boost accuracy in the short range firefights. And unlike regular Lemans it's not heavy, meaning it is not slow as hell. Overall not a good choice, unless you have a lot of BLoS terrain pieces in the table. Though, due to its speed and non-ordnance nature of main gun it totally rock in Cities of Death missions, where regular Ruses tend to stuck in deployment zones doing nothing. 
**'''Second Opinion''': Siege of Vraks updated this to 7th making it 35 points cheaper and fast. Cheap surprise carniflex that can charge forward to eat troops or act as mobile cover. Very fun to use. Infuriatingly only available to Kriegers by RAW. Ally them in or convince your opponent to let you use them in a mainline Guard army.

*'''Leman Russ Annihilator Squadron (Forge World):''' Another "non-heavy" Leman - this time with twin-lascannon turret. Just like his Predator namesake tend to be overpriced for what it do. Only superior to the LR Vanquisher against MC's, and in that case it actually loses out to the Exterminator, which is much better against everything else. Leave the lascannons on your hull, they don't belong in the turret.

*'''Destroyer Tank Hunter Squadron (Forge World):''' IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZOR! Ordnance 60" twin-linked lascannon seems tempting, but like LR Annihilator it's just too expensive. Just take Basilisk instead - its tank busting is almost the same, backed with indirect fire and ability to rape infantry blobs. Has a slight advantage over the Vanquisher against all armor values except 14, and is more durable (though significantly less flexible) than a Medusa with breacher shells. 

**'''Alternate Take:''' It's  25 points more expensive than the Vanquisher and 35 more than the basilisk, but it's small (for a tank), and it's probably the most reliable long-range anti-tank the Guard has. Against AV14 it has a 41% chance of doing damage without any support; most other long-range Guard ordnance has MUCH worse than this due to BS3 (The Vanquisher, for example, has a 36% chance if you include BS), and you'll need to pay 50 points for a Primaris Psyker to compensate for that. The only way to get more effective AT (equal or greater damage at equal or greater accuracy) for LESS is to either take a Medusa Siege Gun artillery carriage and attach a Primaris Psyker rolling on divination (150 for one gun with no extra crew), or take Rapier batteries (132 for three guns with extra crew), and in either case you lose range and mobility (the Medusa will cap out at 48" with Bastion Breacher shells, and the Rapier caps out at 36"). Something to consider if you're fighting enemy armor at long range.
***'''Counterpoint:''' It's only a good idea if you want to run PURE guard. Otherwise it loses out to an allied Vindicare Assassin; he's 10 points cheaper, can snap up 3+ cover saves in terrain (while the Destroyer can only get them by the 25% rule and must buy camo netting to get a save that good), more effective against armor (he has a 46% chance to damage AV14 and a better chance than the Destroyer to hurt anything else), MUCH more effective against things that aren't armor, and ignores cover saves. 7th edition is ally edition; USE them!

* '''Thunderer Siege Tank Squadron (Forge World):''' It's a Leman Russ chassis with a hull-mounted demolisher cannon. Unlike LR Demolisher it has no front/side sponsons (which, thanks to Ordnance, you probably weren't using anyway), and the lack of that turret weighing it down means it's also NOT heavy - meaning you can move it 12" and even flat out another 6" to get round two shot. Obviously this is your Vindicator, and like all IG vehicles its all around better then the SM analog: it's slightly smaller (important for vehicles, since you want that cover save), has access to camo netting, and has better armor on every facing (including the rear, since it's a siege tank chassis; enjoy plowing through piles of S4 models laughing like the treadhead you are).
**'''Tactical Note:''' Any player who knows what a pain in the ass a Vindicator is will put an enormous amount of firepower towards bringing this tank down, since it's more dangerous in literally every way that matters. As with all Russes, don't let it get flanked (AV11 is nice but won't save you from a squad of Sternguard with combi-meltas), and get it in close early so it can do its job and make back its points. Also note that since its front armor is 14, it can ram at S8, while the Vindicator only rams at S7, making Thunderer rams dangerous to anything AV13 and worse. Any penetrating hit that doesn't also immobilize you will cost you that demolisher shot, so be prepared to do so.
*'''[[Imperial_Ordnance_Pieces|Ordnance Battery]]:''' "Infantry win firefights. Tanks win battles. Artillery wins wars," or so the old saying goes. The Imperial Guard is noted for being able to bring really big guns to the battlefield, their firepower able to remove small sections of the opponent from the playing field. This said and done, the Imperial Guard artillery units are slow (sometimes outright static) and fragile for their cost due to being Open-Topped, a drawback which becomes increasingly noted should one wish to take artillery in a Squadron (and with the exception of the Griffon, Ordnance has the same cost issues with squadron up vehicles); this said, one can remove the Open-Topped Status. Artillery in itself will not make a Guard army due to its fragile nature, but they provide excellent firepower should the rest of the army be able to protect them. On a side note, almost all artillery tanks can replace their hull-mounted heavy bolter with a heavy flamer for free. While this is more of a choice with tanks like the Russ and Chimera, on Artillery tanks you should almost always go with the flamer. If enemies are close enough that you have to resort to the secondary weapons, a heavy bolter with guardsmen BS isn't going to save you against much of anything, but a heavy flamer shot to the face will ruin just about anybody's day. There are numerous artillery-pieces available, including the following:
**'''[[Basilisk]]:''' Jokingly called the penis-enlargement gun by veteran Guard Players, the Basilisk is noted for having a really big gun. This gun is also known for being long-ranged, having the option for direct or indirect fire, and having AP 3 (meaning it can kill Marines in the open, or pummel Crisis Suits). However, having the worst minimum-range requirements has the potential to often relegate the Basilisk as a direct-fire weapon, a task the Medusa tends to do better in most cases for a marginal upgrade in cost; this said, the Basilisk's direct-fire does have a longer range than the Medusa. Unless it's apocalypse, you don't need more than 36" though, so get a Medusa, or a Leman Russ Battle Tank, which can do the same or even better job, considering that either way, you are dropping S8 AP3 Big Blast at the enemy within '72 at most. Now in new codex earthshaker cannon has a range of 36-240" enabling you to hit kids at the next table.
***'''Tactical Note:''' Like many Guard heavy support units, the Basilisk needs support to really shine. Give it twin-linking with a Primaris Psyker (or the Emperor's Wrath formation, see below) and Ignore Cover from the same and suddenly it's the most dangerous unit on the field, able to delete entire squads of ''anything'' that's not TEQ/MC. 3 of these with an ML2 psyker is the same price as the Leman Russ squadron you'd get otherwise, and you get better strength and two powers from the Divination table.
***The choice between the Earthshaker cannon versus the Medusa cannon, both as Artillery units and self-propelled guns, became a bit more complicated in 7th Edition; as the Earthshaker is a Barrage weapon and Medusa is not. Barrage weapons determine cover saves and wound allocation from the blast marker's hole, even when firing directly, and Multiple Barrages scatter tighter than separate Large Blasts. This means the Earthshaker cannon has more chances to snipe a particular model, deny cover saves to enemy vehicles and monsters (tip: use the Tank/Monster Hunters order on a full Earthshaker artillery battery and watch parking lots and Nidzillas explode), and more chances to hit other enemy units even when one of its blast markers scatters than the Medusa cannon, and it can also fire indirectly, so it has more utility.
*** praise the Emperor, with formations now available in regular games the issues normally faced by the Basilisk are removed by the direct fire support battery, and even better, it can be fielded as a good old squadron of three (or you can take five but really [[Death_Korps_of_Krieg|who would do that]]) 
**'''[[Imperial_Ordnance_Pieces|Colossus]]: (Forgeworld IA:1)''' Games Workshop has a checkered history when it comes to Marine-Killer weapons. Their emphasis on certain units being designed for killing Marines in the open, has lead to horridly inflexible units like Vespids, Flash Gitz, Thousand Sons, and now the Colossus. At first glance, the Colossus looks like a fun gun. With the ability to ignore cover, and Marine Power Armor saves, it will utterly devastate Marines should it land properly. On the other hand, having a wide minimum range and the inability to fire directly means the Colossus falters against a lot of Marine Armies. With the exception of some foot-slogging Space Wolf armies, many Marine armies are very fast, and noted either for operating as a mechanized army, fighting by Drop Pods, speeding forth towards your lines on Bikes, deepstriking in by Jump Packs, or otherwise excelling at fighting at short range. While the Colossus can be used for indirect-combat if kept isolated from the rest of the battleline with an infantry unit or two to watch over it, it isn't too popular in tournament armies for this reason.
***'''Tactical Note:''' Much of the above gets ''completely'' turned on its head if you take the Colossus as part of a Death Korps Siege regiment. Kriegers use supercharged shells in their Colossi, giving them more explosive-no, probably not, it's more likely an errata error of some kind, but Death Korps Colossi have S8 instead of S6. So it's effectively a slightly weaker Basilisk with better minimum range and Ignores Cover, though it still can't fire directly.
**'''[[Imperial_Ordnance_Pieces|Griffon]]: (Forgeworld IA:1)''' The cheapest artillery-piece the Guard get, the Griffon is also the most accurate on most accounts; the ability to reroll Scatter Dice is a handy ability in most cases. Like the Colossus, the Griffon is unable to fire directly, yet its shorter minimum range makes it more usable against rapidly advancing armies. Should a player wish to take a Griffon (or a pair of them, which isn't as point-intensive as squadding other artillery), they work as part of a handy one-two combo for finishing off infantry from a destroyed transport, or in support of Hellhound-equivalents being used to Tank-shock enemy infantry into clustered formations.
***'''Tactical Note:''' Due to the way Barrage weapons are resolved in 7th edition, using a Griffon in a squadron of heavier artillery pieces, such as Basilisks or Colossi allows you to fire 'tracer shots', improving the accuracy of your other artillery pieces . Open a shooting attack with the Griffon, and twin-link the shot if it doesn't go where you want it. Then fire the ''big'' guns, and scatter them off your precision-guided mortar shell.
**'''[[Medusa_Siege_Gun|Medusa]]: (Forgeworld IA:1)''' A pure direct-fire weapon, noted for having Strength 10 and AP 2, the Medusa is arguably the most popular form of Ordnance on account of its raw firepower. While having the same issues with accuracy most blast weapons have, whatever it hits will suffer on account of it. For those who wish to trade accuracy and flexibility for raw tank-busting firepower, the regular firing mode can be replaced with Siege Shells, turning the Medusa into a heavy tank hunter. With an AP 1 blast template, and the normal Ordnance bonus replaced by rolling 2d6 for armor penetration, the potential to kill enemy vehicles is incredible, and the threat of losing multiple vehicles to a well-placed shot does a lot to intimidating opponents into spreading their vehicles out. This said, like with the Devildog's Melta Cannon, the accuracy issues inherent with the Medusa mean it tends to work best in support of, rather than being the primary source, of ranged anti-tank.
***'''Tactical Note:''' The Medusa also has the ''shortest'' range of the Imperial artillery pieces: a piddling 36", leaving it out-ranged by man-portable ''lascannons.'' Keep this in mind when throwing out those S10AP2 blasts of doom; you'll be a lot more likely to suffer counter-battery fire with such poor range ''and'' the need to direct-fire.

* '''Heavy Artillery Carriage Battery (Forge World):''' This is artillery variants of the Basilisk and Medusa and in 7th edition, artillery is awesome (until someone charges it). They are immobile and need crew, which can be killed (though, they use gun's Toughness 7 against enemy shots, so unless they get charged they're liable to stick around), but they are also cheap. And for being non-vehicles, they ''can'' take orders. Earthshakers and Medusas with "Bring it down!" and "Fire on my target!" could make for miracles on the battlefield if used properly. Or die pointlessly, if used incorrectly. Oh, and don't forget that they only have ld7 with no Sergeant or Commissar options, so you NEED a Lord-Commissar, Primaris Psyker (which is maybe the best option, since he can try to twin-link the battery with Divination; also the only way to move the battery without towing due to Levitation) or Creed/Kell to make them listen to your orders most of the time. You can also buy Camo Netting, but beware of [[Rules Lawyer]]: by RAW, camo netting only works on vehicles. Then plop the whole battery behind an Aegis line and get that sweet 3+ save.
**'''Tactical Note:''' These guys can be ''beastly'' if you kit them out properly and support them. A trio of these, with their combined crew of 12, is 225 points, and is a ''24-wound unit.'' With max crew the unit has ''36'' wounds and is under 300 points-and they're still T7 in shooting. A skeleton-crew battery with a Primaris psyker to buff leadership and roll on Divination is 275, and a nearby CCS in a chimera makes a combined total of 400 points even, for a unit that can drop 3 twin-linked, cover-ignoring S9AP3 Ordnance Barrage pieplates anywhere on all but the largest of Apoc boards. Anything short of Terminators will be pasted in short order by these guys, and as long as you keep them out of melee they'll stick around to deliver pain for the whole game, and if you toss in some meltavets in a Chimera the whole FoC can be a 550-point Allied Detachment to support any Imperial Army. Hammer of the Emperor indeed.

*'''[[Hydra Flak Tank]]:''' The tank offers 2 Twin Linked Hydra Auto Cannons [72" range S7 AP4 Heavy 2 Skyfire] and a hull mounted Heavy Bolter (or HV Flamer) on an Open Topped Chimera frame. For 5 bolt pistols more than a Chimera. There is contention as to whether Skyfire is a benefit or not within the community to a degree that boils down to differences in local meta. It is good at hitting Flyers and FMCs, Average at hitting Skimmers, and bad at hitting everything else [4 TL BS 1 = 1.22 hits]. No longer ignores Jink. Extended [72"] Range is nice for 2 out of 3 deployments.
**'''Tactical Thought:''' Combined with an Techpriest a single hydra [total points 110] can have a nearly guaranteed chance [avg 1.5 hits] of forcing grounding tests on two enemy FMCs. Seeing that each said test should fail roughly 1/3 of the time and the fact that a 72" turret weapon can aim nearly anywhere on the board gives this unit some use.
***'''Counterpoint:''' You need an unsaved wound to force a grounding test, and most FMC's that you actually need to bring down, such as Flyrants, have a 3+ armor save, which takes your 1.5 hits...to 0.5 wounds. This doesn't make the hydra useless; you simply can't afford to split fire with it.

*'''[[Wyvern Suppression Tank]]:''' BLOB ARMIES BEWARE! The new tank for 6th edition. Shoots two twin-linked Stormshard Mortars: 48" Str 4 AP6, Heavy 2 with Blast, Barrage, Ignores Cover, and Shred. That's right, rerolls to hit AND wound.  And for even more fun, they can come in squadrons of 1-3! The cherry on top? They're dirt cheap. Gaunts/Boyz Beware!
**'''Tactical Thought:''' Before thinking the Wyvern is only useful against blobs, remember what this tank brings to the field. A single tank fires 4 blast templates that are twin-linked and shred. Even with their saves, MEQs will have to roll real well to not lose a large number of troops. A well spread out MEQ Squad will probably lose 2-3 wounds per tank, making the Wyvern redeem its point cost by turn two. Also barrage, what it does is focus all blasts from a single unit (that is 12(!) blasts with reroll to wound and to hit from 3 wyverns) in a small area. Go ahead and force some unlucky squad to take a fuckton of potential wounds (remember, it's a blast weapon so  more like 60 potential wounds if Small Blasts cover 5 models per blast) with Look out sir! for their leader, with some luck you can snipe enemy commander on turn 1. Many say broken. I say fantastic. Even TEQ will shudder at having to roll potentially 40 saves.
***'''Counterpoint:'''No, I'm not about to argue this isn't good. In fact, the Wyvern is the meanest, most cost-effective unit in the IG codex right now. But it can be a pain to use; large numbers of blast attacks, with rerolls for everything, mean it's easy to lose track of what attack you're making, how many wounds your opponent has to roll for what unit, et cetera. Bring a notepad if you have an entire battery of these things; you'll need it.

*'''[[Manticore Rocket Launcher|Manticore Launcher Tank]]:''' Mixed-bag. Good for the points, bigger blast range than hell, but can't deal with marines, and has an infuriatingly long minimum range. Drop it back by your Basilisks or Heavy Weapons, since it's not gonna do any good at the front lines. Good points are simple: They're not open-topped, compared to artillery. They have HUGE blast ranges and they can virtually ensure that you're going to be making people spread out their firepower - great for you to focus on one group at a time. Downsides are just as bad as the upsides, though. Limited ammo CAN be a problem (rarely, either because either the Manticore or the enemy ends up demolished; if your manticore has fired all four rockets, have it tank shock everything in sight, because ''it has already won''). If enemy is spreading their units out, it causes you to lose a lot of rocket's effectiveness. Seriously, it can only shoot 4 out of 5-6 turns (if your opponent is stupid enough to let it do its thing, but at an event you can't always guarantee playing against Orks). Overlooked a lot, but can be powerful on those first few crucial turns. On a high note, Manticores DEMOLISH Necron Warrior elements or Ork/Nid/Guard blobs; with the new Necron codex, hitting Necrons with Instant Death-level attacks is invaluable for suppressing their Reanimation Protocols.
**'''Alternate Take:''' Consider throwing your Storm Eagle rockets at enemy Super-Heavy vehicles. The D3 shots and large pie plates (combined with a large target) means you're going to hit on average 2 or so times; 3 if you're lucky. S10 Ordnance will reliably glance and even penetrate AV14; with AP4 the vehicle damage roll won't do anything, but that doesn't matter, because you've brought that Necron monolith to half HP in one shooting attack. What other armies hope to do with precision shooting, melta-style weapons and other high-BS low-AP trickery, the Guard accomplish with simple overwhelming firepower!
** Forgeworld finally allow to squadron Manticores up to 3. Not like it's always a wise decision, as squadron must fire at one target, which can lead to overkill. 
** Standard Storm Eagle rockets now can be swapped for Manticore Missiles and Sky Eagle Rockets - both come with 15 pts discount. First are the massive S9 AP2 7" blasts of pure rape, which is almost as devastating as Medusa, have Basilisk range, and one of the few 7"-blasts outside of Apocalypse. Second are crunch wise long range twin-linked ordnance lascannons - great for busting [[Caestus Assault Ram|heavily armored flyers]], otherwise almost invulnerable to Hydra fire.

*'''[[Deathstrike Missile Launcher|Deathstrike]]: ''' The Deathstrike Missile Launcher tends not to be taken in a lot of tournament builds, being viewed as too unreliable a weapon. Its main selling point is that it (eventually) fires a Strength 10 AP 1 APOCALYPTIC BLAST (y'know, the type of thing you would expect from a Titan), ignoring cover, and operating at full Strength against any and all vehicles caught in the explosion; should it go off, it has a high chance of devastating the opponent. On the other hand, it's chances of properly firing are random at best, it won't be firing on turn 1, and the Deathstrike is a one-shot weapon. It mostly gets used either for casual games on account of this unreliability, as a gamble, or for psyching the opponent out into spreading his forces out. But if you're a favored champion of the dice gods, received the blessing of Admiral Awesome, the benediction of Lady Luck and have balls of ceramite, you might just hilariously wipe half of your opponent's forces early in the game. In 2k+ games, combine 3 Deathstrikes with 4 units of Demo Charge-packing Special Weapon Squads in Vendettas, and watch your enemy's face drop as he realizes the the might of pie plates - as he has to deal with either 3 nukes or 12 S9 AP2 large blasts + 12 twin linked Lascannons on turn 2 at the earliest. Unless you get first turn of course, in which case he has to deal with 3 nukes having already been hit by 12 large blasts. And from then on, it only gets better...

*'''Gun Platforms:''' Short was our rejoicing with unstunnable and durable automated artillery - now they are back to AV10-round 2HP immobile vehicles, and suddenly all stops buying Hydra Platforms. Though there is still saving grace - platforms got cheaper camo-netting, so they can be nearly as tough as they was before if parked in thick cover or behind fortifications.
**'''Earthshaker Artillery Platform (Forge World):''' Cheaper Basilisks. Good as long as they are away from enemy, but if you don't feel enough tactical foresight to keep enemy in distance, stick with old mobile Basilisks.
**'''Hydra Flak Platform (Forge World):''' No more interceptor, so this is just more fragile immobile discounted Hydra. Low model height now become a big problem, as it would cause LoS problems, and when now you need to keep platforms in cover, you can not solve LoS problem just by putting platforms on top of the hill.
**'''Manticore Rocket Platform (Forge World):''' Unlike Regular Manticores, this comes stock with Manticore Missiles, and can only swap them for Sky-Eagles. Unlike the Hydra platform, it's still viable, since it comes with the biggest discount, at 75 points; less than ''half'' the price of the tank-mounted version. Use them to spam 7" blasts of hell; it's even worth it to hide them behind Bastion/Aegis lines for camo net improved cover saves.

*'''Tarantula Sentry Gun Battery (Forge World):''' - You get a battery of three immobile twin linked Heavy Bolters, with the option to add three more and swap them for a Multi-melta for free, or pay for TL assault cannons or TL Lascannons. Being automated, you have very little control over what they actually do in the battle, they select their own targets based on pre-set criteria, you basically just get to choose at deployment what their arcs are: 360 degrees but at 18" range, or 90 degrees at 36" range, so you're rarely going to be blasting things across the table with these things. Unlike gun platforms they remain to be automated artillery, but got their toughness lowered to 6. Overall a terrible choice, as while cheap it packs very little firepower yo don't even control, and competes with much more potent choices for HS slot.

*'''Rapier Carrier Battery (Forge World):'''- The Heavy Support version of the lascannon, which means four of them strapped together. This IS the shit. Cheap in both points and money, it is treated as artillery with the extremely bulky rule now, making them Toughness 7 in shooting. Between extra crew and some good cover, they ''will'' stick around. No sticking them in Chimeras, though; only Infantry units can embark inside transports (even superheavies) and the Rapier is an artillery unit. But that doesn't matter, since as non-vehicles they can accept orders, like 'Bring It Down!' (Ordnance isn't a reroll; enjoy your 4 chances at armor pen ''per shot'') and 'Fire on My Target!' (which, combined with AP2, sends your hapless opponent straight to invuln/FNP saves). And the best part? The Rapier is ''twin-linked'' making it a decent ad-hoc anti-air weapon (3 of these will average 1.167 hits, which at S9 AP2 Ordnance ''will'' hurt anythig that flies) Remember: Ordnance may fire snapshots, as long its not a template/blast weapon. Downsides include (relatively) short range and a chance of exploding when one of the guns is destroyed, but at 40 points and £30, why in the name of Slaanesh's self-removing pants are you not taking at least one? You want to reliably kill tanks?! Knock yourself out.
**'''Alternate Take:''' With 7th edition in full swing, many armies have codices dripping with high-toughness Monstrous Creatures, and though on the face of it the Rapier appears to be designed for anti-tank work, it does not underperform against MC's, either. A battery of them will reliably inflict at least one wound on everything short of T10 (though this drops to T8 if the target has a 5+ FNP), and with orders you can ignore cover, denying that [[Wraithknight|manbarbie]] his toe-on-ruins bullshit (or, if he's in the open, give them Shred and average 1.28 wounds a turn instead of 0.96). And if he swings the D at you? Congrats, you killed two guardsmen (''less'', if you put them behind cover). The squad can have ''six'', and can lose ''half'' of those before they actually start losing firing capability. Just keep them out of melee.

*'''[[Sentinel|Sentinel Power Lifter Squadron]] (Forge World):''' Assault sentinels... wooo! They are the cheapest of all sentinels and come with basically close-combat autocannons. Funny and fluffy, but it's not really worth spending HS slot on them.
**'''Alternate Take:''' There's many, ''many'' ways to get around FOC limitations these days due to formations, so let's look at these boys on their merits alone. They're S7AP4 models with 2 attacks (as stated above, essentially an autocannon in melee) and AV 10/10/10, with I3. Not a dreadnought. Not even close. But you shouldn't expect them to be, because they're 30 points a model. 3 of these can put the pain on GEQ hordes for a bargain. Or course, you have to get them into melee first.

*'''Cyclops demolition squad (Forge World):''' Small kamikaze remote controlled tanks. They count as infantry (but extremely bulky), so you can put yo tanks in yo tanks, to play mech while yo play mech. For extra lulz find some homerules for Capitol Imperialis and put Chimera with Cyclops in it into Capitol. Not like it's a valid strategy - Cyclops are fragile and their operators are even more fragile (thank [[Emperor|god]], you can hide them inside Chimera). If you get lucky, enjoy suicide-bombing a cover-ignoring Basilisk shell into some Space marine squad, but otherwise stick with more conventional big guns.

*'''[[Avenger Strike Fighter]] (Forge World):''' Your dedicated AtG Jet Plane with a tasty Strafing Run rule. It comes stock with an absolutely useless defensive rear-mounted Heavy Stubber (can help knock a flying monster out of the sky tho...), two Lascannons, and the AVENGER BOLT CANNON, which is basically half of a VULCAN MEGABOLTER. This means it packs SEVEN Megabolter and two Lascannon shots at BS4 for only 150 pts, to ruin the day of anything with less than AV14 or a 2+ armour save. And if it's not enough, you could fit additional guns, missiles or bombs under it's wings. Do you really need any other reason to buy it? (It's also a sexy model on the table.)
**'''Tactical Thought:''' Like all Imperial AtG attack aircraft that haven't been updated in two editions, it still has Deep Strike, so plop it behind that enemy tank you're so worried about and chew him a new asshole with 7 S6 shots, 2 S9 shots, and whatever else you felt like strapping on, all at BS4. Then jink your way through a turn of enemy shooting, and supersonic your way off the board to do it all again in a turn. Guard rule the skies, and this is why.