Editing Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

===Troops=== 
*'''Infantry Platoon:''' Cheap core of army. Consists of a multitude of parts and options. Think of it as a force organization chart in your force organization chart, so you can write yo list while you can write yo list. Can add on extra squads of heavy and special weapons. Though those count as kill points so its risky to take the special weapon squads when you could use your Platoon command squads to do the same work for you. You could also put your heavy weapons in Infantry squads.
**'''Platoon Command Squad:''' This unit can be tricked out much like the CCS (barring options for Camo-Cloaks or Carapace), yet do not have the accuracy of Veterans. Additionally, the Platoon Commander is less efficient at issuing orders. There are two unique Platoon Commanders, each which can be taken as replacements to the standard ones; they provide a degree of specialization.
***'''Captain Al'rahem:''' Al'rahem is the long-standing rival to Ursarkar Creed, laughing at the former's antics. Creed can Outflank a Leman Russ or Scout some Hellhounds forward. Al'rahem always Outflanks his entire <u>platoon</u>. Order-wise, he replaces the standard Platoon Command orders in favor of '''Bring it Down''' and his unique order '''Like the Wind.''' This ability allows a Guard unit to shoot, then move d6 inches, as though it were running with Fleet of Foot; uses for this would be allowing a unit to spread out after disembarking, peel back away from enemy units, hug cover with small Grenade Launcher teams, or to help your get into assault faster. Ultimately though, Al'rahem is for players who *really* love Outflanking. On a final note, while he *does* have a cute Power Weapon with the potential to get lucky and one-shot an enemy model, the squishy nature of his squad makes using his unit for assassin duty very risky; if you *really* wish to use him in such a manner, a Priest is a must.
***'''Commander Chenkov:''' Do you want to take that point? I mean, REALLY take that point? Seriously, how many dudes do you want to throw at that point? Chenkov can throw that many guys at the point, AND MORE. Including him is a fun way for your Conscripts to get some action, as well as make you just move your little boys 7-12 inches every turn, never shoot their guns, and charge, because boy, is that the only thing he does well. Chenkov lets your Conscripts come back from the dead, well, only if the whole platoon gets wiped out, but if you get sick of waiting you are allowed to just destroy them yourself. It's a lot of awesome for a lot of points. You can drown your enemy in so many bodies it isn't even funny (for them, at least). The only problem is getting them into the fight. Keep lots of Chimera on hand for this guy, if you want to use him at all.
**'''Infantry Squad:''' If you play blob guard, this is going to be your bread and butter, if you play a balance of blob and mech, you are still going to take these dudes. They are paper thin, only hit half the time, and they run away if it can't be helped. But its for fucking sure that they can be made a monster. They can become Stubborn and get a Ld of 9 with a Commissar, the squad can be combined with other squads of the same kind to make huge tar pits. With 30 men, first rank fire second rank fire can make them fire 84 shots in one turn. That's a whole lot of diddly. They can take a heavy weapon and a special weapon. This can be combined to make many different options. A basic set up would be a grenade launcher, to be able to move and shoot a very versatile weapon. On top of that, If the squad is going to be a gun line, add in an Autocannon. You could also take a Priest with an Eviscerator to give the squad a Power Fist, and rerolls on the charge, because a squad that big is going to be charged eventually. You can get plenty of Power Weapons in there as well, for the Sergeants and Commissars. But there is a common misconception that you can have Power Fists in the squad, the only one you could is an Eviscerator.
**'''Conscripts:''' A platoon may take one unit of Conscripts, or human Grots as they're affectionately called. If there is anything thinner than paper, it would be Conscripts. Good thing there are a lot of them...  They are one point cheaper than a regular guardsman, so only take them if you are full of the others (how did you do that) or if you are using Chenkov's "Send In the Next Wave".
**'''Heavy Weapon Squad:''' This is where the awesome firepower comes from. Some don't like them because they die rather quickly if they can be seen. But if you buy HWS instead of putting HW in your IS they can target big things and not waste the lasgun fire. Lascannons are nice here. In fact the only one that isn't that good to take here is the heavy bolter. They are a Kill Point and are slower than Sentinels, but they are cheap for what they do (per-model), can be modified to engage any threat, and don't take up an important Force Organization slot.
**'''Special Weapon Squads:''' <s>The only use of these I see are units that stop back the wave of Close combat, and demo charges. But Marbo does that so much better...</s> So much wrong. It's a 65 point team of meltaguns. Fuck everything else, find them chimeras and drive them forwards so they can be a super cheap but less accurate vet squad. There is only 6 of them, but they can bring specialized firepower when it's needed.
*'''Veteran Squad:''' Key to most mech lists. Slightly superior to regular guard and have an even better selection of gear. Stick in chimeras and try to see lady luck take them from you. Only downside to this squad is that you only have six troop choices. You could also do the smart thing and mix 2-3 vet squads with an infantry platoon, giving you unholy amounts of melta, chimeras and bodies everywhere. They're <s>weaker</s> generally less specialized than storm troopers, but they score. Always take at least two.
**'''Gunnery Sergeant Harker:''' <s>Not recommended. Removes Veteran Squad's ability to buy 4+ armor save, and only gives Feel No Pain and Relentless to himself. Grants no bonuses to close combat. His best use is to make a squad full of Assault-type weapons and to kite the enemy. Still, a waste of 55 points, since he is the opposite of flexible, and isn't really recommended. You don't need another Heavy Bolter on the field, and an additional chimera does a better job than Harker could ever achieve.</s> He gives the squad stealth, move through cover, and infiltrate. Together with an autocannon/heavy bolter team and 3 plasma guns this makes a very nice thorn in the enemy's backside. Use his squad to claim an objective and sit on it all the game and rain death on whatever comes in range.
**'''Sergeant Bastonne:''' Expensive at 60 points, but comes with Carapace and a Power Weapon. He can also give any order to his own squad, meaning that he can switch between shooting and running efficiently. The power weapon will let you do some damage in Assault, but that's not your primary goal with Bastonne's Squad. Remember that he is still affected by Incompetent Command, though and can only issue orders after everyone else already did.
*'''Penal Legion Squad:''' You have to roll a d6 to see what these prisoners are good at. You don't have that kind of extra change to throw at lady luck during a game. This squad of cons can go fuck themselves. And even if you roll what you want it's still shit. Melee with a1, s3, i3 and ws3 still sucks even with rending. Compare to a orkboy and burst in tears.
**If you still want to try them out though and have points to waste (what is wrong with you?!), you can have some fun with those guys. Gunslingers can hug cover and exploit the range of their 24 inch assault 2 lasguns. If they get shot at, they have stubborn. Still, their only use is to shoot up and then tie down choppy squads for a turn or two. And that's not really worth the 80 points.
**Knife Fighters are even more luck-based, but since they Scout (and therefore can Outflank), they can end up taking down some expensive target. With a charge, that's at least 3 auto wounds that can ruin some expensive, low number squad's day. Don't forget to evade your opponent's raging fists if you end up shanking his foot slogging Terminator unit in the first round. Still, the cons lack the staying power, and are likely to get killed to a man the moment enemy retaliates. Again, not really worth the points, especially since you are playing Guard and every point counts.
**Psychopaths are trash, and you might as well just remove the squad as casualties if that's how they roll.