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

=Tactics=
*'''Vehicles and Guard:''' Big Tank go BRRRRR. Massed vehicles are in again now that horde options are mostly gone for the Guard. Changes to Regimental Doctrines mean you can either stick with '''Born Soldiers''' (which applies to everything), or go all-in on Vehicle tactics like '''ARMOURED SUPERIORITY''' to contest objectives 
**'''Battle Tanks''': You now have two options, the Leman Russ and the T9 Rogal Dorn. 
***The new Rogal Dorn Battle Tank warrants a mention. Upgrade it into a Vaunted Praetorian so it can issue Tank Orders to itself, and use its turret Oppressor Cannon with the Tank Order ''Shock and Awe!'' to grant it Objective Secured. If you have the Armoured Superiority Regiment Trait it counts as 5 models, so it can contest/take the objective off of MSU squads. Give it Armoured Tracks for -1 damage against D1 weaponry. Keep 3cp around for the Ablative Plating stratagem to reduce damage by 1 for anything stronger than D1. Watch as the enemy struggles to deal with a T9 W17 2+ -1D ObSec-at-5 models monstrosity that can bum rush into an enemy objective, charge the enemy units if they lack the capacity to deal with close combat, and can fire out of combat with its Turret gun. 
***Only time will tell if the new Rogal Dorn is actually ''worth'' the points though. Stock, 2 LRBT with the BC are much better than 1 RDBT with Twin BC, and at 300ish points with all other upgrades, the Rogal Dorn becomes a tempting target to focus down.
**Sentinels, both Scout and Armoured, are benefiting from [[Games Workshop|New Model Syndrome]]. They have all the important keywords, {{W40Kkeyword|Squadron}}, {{W40Kkeyword|Platoon}}, and {{W40Kkeyword|Core}}, so they have fantastic Orders synergy. Take them with Hunter Killers and Lascannons, order them to ''Take Aim!'' or ''Gunners Kill on Sight!'' depending on which officer's within order range, and go crazy.
*'''Kasrkin Bomb:''' Considering how many of your stratagems are linked to Doctrinal keywords, being able to take an extra one makes Kasrkin the most flexible unit in the codex. Consider these combinations:
**Born Soldiers (UMHR6s autowound and count as 6s) + Experienced Sharpshooters (reroll a hit) + Overcharged Las Cells (UMWRs of 6 = MW) and Ingrained Precision ([[Leagues of Votann|Born Soldiers trigger on 5s which still count as UMWR of 6]]), then order them to FRFSRF for 3 shots each.  Did somebody say "Mortal Wounds are fair and balanced"? You could also use the Experienced Soldiers-linked stratagem and Take Aim! instead of FRFSRF for +2 AP and a +1 to hit...combine with Lord-Solar choosing them for re-rolls, the relic that allows them to teleport, even Creed for the +1 S...and you can melt not one, but multiple units at a time.
**Recon Operators (Pre-game scout move of up to 6") + Brutal Strength (+1S when charging and move and shoot Heavy Weapons without penalty) + Veteran Guerillas (ignore cover), and footslog them through terrain armed with a Flamer, HS Volley Gun, and a Melta-Mine+Hotshot Laspistol trooper. If the enemy successfully charges them, activate Vicious Traps and deal 2d3 Mortal Wounds on a 4+. If you happen to have Sly Marbo in your army, they do it on a 3+. Oh, d3 mortal wounds guaranteed by the way. If you want the insurance, declare Overwatch beforehand. Makes a fantastic screening unit.

=====The Imperium=====

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*'''Space Marines:''' GW's favoured children. They have special rules out the ass, like better rapid-fire, better melee, Doctrines that give them additional AP depending on the battle round. Since 2W are now standard on all marines, you're going to need to rely on number of shots to take them down, which is what you're good at anyway. Any of their Marines, be they tacticals or vanguards, will tie you up in melee, so bubble wrap with chaff and take Bull/Ogryns and Crusaders for counter-charging; you never want them at the forefront, where they can be shot at and charged before they can fight back, but riding in a transport or behind disposable bodies. 
**'''Q1 2023 UPDATE:''' Armour of Contempt got removed. Congratulations, your Heavy Bolters and Autocannons are relevant again.
**Ultramarines vehicles can now fall back and shoot, so a Land Raider Redeemer or even basic Rhino that was forgotten about can ram and tarpit you. Their biggest ace is Guilliman who will take you for a rough ride with his rerolls-r-us schtick, even though he's been slightly nerfed he's dropped in points. Not the most commonly seen Chapter in later 9th Edition since they aren't specialized enough.
**Raven Guard now always benefit of cover from 18" away, and only gain -1 to hit if they are 12" away.(vehicles cannot benefit from this part, at least). In addition, Raven Guard units gain +1 to hit and +1 to wound when targeting characters during the Tactical Doctrine, yes that includes Tank Commanders. Beware RG Scout Snipers and Eliminators, and grab an Ogryn bodyguard just to be sure. keep Character units 37+" away from Eliminator and Phobos Captains with Korvaid bolts and Master Marksman as they will kill most Characters. 
**Iron Hands vehicles now have Valhallan-style resilience (double wounds when accounting for brackets), in addition to their famed 6+ shrug. Their supplement's combat doctrine gives them relentless and re-rolling 1s to hit on all heavy weapons in the Devastator Doctrine. Thankfully, it only lasts 1 turn. Something to watch out for is their special relic The Ironstone, which reduces the damage of all attacks against a single vehicle of their choice by 1 to a minimum of one. [[Skub|Oh, and they can turn any Dreadnought into a Character, giving them WTs, Relics, and Character Protection]].  Iron Hands are '''still''' the best of the Space Marines, because of all the jank described above. When fighting Iron Hands, play the mission, and bring as many Artillery and Heavy Weapons as you can. Slightly more common than Crimson/Imperial Fists and Raven Guard.
**Crimson Fists and Imperial Fists are extra-competent with their Bolters. Not commonly seen since basic Bolters aren't enough this edition.
**Overall, Marines count a lot on synergy, even more so than you. Sniper teams and the Gaunt's Ghosts squad will do well to dump mortal wounds on them. Primaris Marines will still struggle against Bullgryns with slabshields, though, even with all of their fancy shit. Plus, you can always just flood the board with more bodies than they can realistically shoot.  However, that concedes Purge The Enemy secondary points to our enemy.
*'''Blood Angels:''' An army designed to hard-counter Imperial Guard with their Blitzkrieg playstyle. Their Chapter Tactic gives them +1 to wound whenever they charge, get charged, or Heroically Intervened (so basically always in the first round of combat), meaning they wound your infantry on a 2+, and without any special melee weapons your tanks on 4+ (Leman Russes and Baneblades on 5+). Don't let them get that charge off whenever possible, and just in case throw a screen directly in front of your tanks to ensure that they cannot charge your big guns. Investing in some Bullgryns with their mauls and 4++ shields is recommended for a good counter-charge unit. That, or use Rough Riders and keep them hidden from charges/shooting until you need them.
*'''Dark Angels:''' The shooty emo Catholic Marines. Their Chapter Tactic makes them almost immune to morale, and grants them +1 to hit if they remain stationary in the shooting phase. Also, their two famous wings get their own secondary chapter tactic. Ravenwing units get a 5+ Invuln against ranged attacks if they moved, or a 4++ if they advanced. Deathwing units automatically pass morale tests, and if any Dark Angels Infantry unit has the Inner Circle keyword (which all Deathwing units, named characters, and Librarians have base) unmodified wound rolls of 1-3 fail irrespective of the strength or any special abilities the attack has. The basic Born Soldiers Regiment Trait just so happens to skirt around the infuriating hardiness of the Dark Angels. Can't roll to wound if a natural hit roll of 6 automatically wounds anyway.
*'''Space Wolves:''' Death to furries. Now that that's out of the way, these guys have a similar tactic to the Blood Angels, but they get +1 to hit instead of +1 to wound. It's not as bad on paper, but my lord do Blood Claws, Thunderwolf Cavalry, and the motherfucking Wulfen love it. The rule of thumb for the Space Wolves is if it can take a storm shield, it will take a storm shield. Their Venerable Dreadnoughts can take a Blizzard Shield that gives them a 4++, making them tougher nuts to crack than the usual dreadnought at the expense of their ranged options. 
*'''Deathwatch:''' They're just better Marines with the old Special Issue Ammo. They have the same rule of thumb as Space Wolves, storm shields out the wazoo. Frag cannons are a bitch, like they were when Deathwatch first dropped. Keep them outside of 12" if you  can, and FRFSRF away. They benefit the most from Primaris units, and have hidden Hellblasters and Aggressors in a Deathwatch Intercessor squad. If you know you're facing them, it might be a half-decent idea to bring along a Hydra or two and Intercept their Corvus Blackstar Aircraft. 16 shots a piece backed up by a Tank Commander issuing them ''G,KoS!'' to re-roll 1s to hit should honestly force enough saves to kill it. 
*'''Grey Knights:''' They're no longer the terror they were in 5th Edition, but they're still a fantastic beatstick army. You'll outnumber them fairly easily, and they're just as vulnerable to Plasma as they always were. With their "Tides of Battle", the analogue to Combat Doctrines, they have some much needed versatility. They will most likely start the game in the Tide of Concealment which grants them the Raven Guard Chapter tactic (see above). They can also change the tide with a psychic power, meaning they can bump up their gimped smites to a slightly more respectable flat 2 mortal wounds, up the strength and damage of certain weapons, or re-roll 1s to wound in close combat in case they wanted to more than guarantee that wipe. Commonly seen with several Dreadknights and Grandmaster Dreadknights even with successive nerfs to them. 
*'''Adeptus Custodes:''' At first glance these big boys seem very intimidating with a universal 2+/4++ or 3++ and T5/T6. Remember the saying, "Death by a 1000 cuts"? Take that and apply it to them. A single unupgraded Custodian Guard model costs as much as an infantry squad with some toys in points. You'll very easily outnumber them, and due to their lack of 24"+ range weapons without dipping into Forgeworld units, they cannot play the keepaway game. Take advantage of your numbers and force as many saves in any way possible. Also, ''beware the flag!'' The Vexilia Magnifica provides a ''very'' strong defensive buff (rendering a ''third'' of your hits ineffective) and effectively cannot be sniped due to the sheer toughness of its bearer. If you know you're facing Custodes, bring the Relic Banner of Nemrodesh. Ignores all hit roll modifiers and any way that prevents damage. Otherwise, there isn't a lot here that can really surprise you once the game is going. But good lord, watch out for those Shield Captains on Dawneagle Jetbikes!
**Due to the 9th Edition shakeup, Custodes will now have a CP pool to play with that is more or less equal to your own (assuming neither of you blow pregame stratagems). They were so strong that they received multiple rounds of nerfs to stratagems and the loss of ob-sec on non-troop units. Yes, you can outscore those Vertus Praetor jetbikes on that objective. That is assuming the bikes don't demolish everything in their sight.
*'''Astra Militarum:''' Oh boy, a mirror-match. You know what's good and what's bad from the rest of this article, but we'll point out the lynchpin anyway - ''Officers!'' Snipe out those low-wound characters to neuter the enemy chain of command and his infantry will suddenly be a LOT less impressive. The same is true of ''you,'' of course, so protect your own. Enemy tanks will be tonka-tough for dirt cheap, because so are yours - prioritize the ones that threaten you most. Most importantly, ''get fast!'' Taking the first turn versus guard is extremely valuable with the amount of shooting you have. Hit hard, hit first, hit often!
**'''Militarum Tempestus:''' Technically this is still Guard, but the play style is radically different, so it warrants a note. You may occasionally see a purist running an army like this. And if they are after the Scions nerf, hats off to them. They don't get Born Soldiers at all, so more balls are in your court from the top of the game. In addition, they lack stratagem synergy and can no longer spam special weapons like they used to (to be fair neither can we). Use your numbers to your advantage (oh, really?) and don't overextend - Scions are very adept at punishing careless plays.
*'''Sisters of Battle:''' As they have been since the edition dropped, Sisters are currently most frequently played mechanized with their fantastic transport game. Immolators and Repressors filled with meltas, storm bolters and Death Cultists are the flavor of the day and you don't need to be reminded to not let them get close enough to use them. A footslogging sister is a dead sister. With the release of their Codex, however, they have acquired significantly more flexibility and thusly have shot up on the threat scale. Repentia, while still fragile, will reduce just about any unit you can field to a pile of body parts and scrap metal if they get the drop on you and every unit that was dangerous before is now even more so. All of this combines with the Sister's deadly new toy: Miracle Dice. Having a pool of numbers to pick from instead of relying on RNGesus means that at any point a critical dice roll is required, they can pull it off. Really needed that Melta shot to wreck that Repressor? They can just take a 6 for the Invuln save. Desperately hoping Morale will finish off that Seraphim squad? Nope, just going make that roll a 1 and pass. Fortunately, you are one of the best armies to press this system's weakness: mass of fire. Do what Guard does best and throw more dice and bodies at the problem than your enemy has resources to deal with it. Make it a game of seeing who bleeds dry faster, because most of time it won't be you.
*'''Imperial Knights:''' A mechanized army, taken to it's logical extreme. These big boys can put out a lot of firepower that can fairly easily scythe through hordes of models (Gatling Cannons and the gigantic flamer the Dominus knight can carry), and have terrific close combat potential. Against infantry spam they'll do well to stay out of 24" range to avoid a "death by a thousand cuts" from massed lasgun fire. Against a tank-heavy army they'll try and get up close and assault the tanks to either outright destroy them or force them to keep falling back and stop them from shooting. If they're not from Knight House Hawkshroud or a Questor Mechanicus knight, you can hope to damage these boys so that they are left limping. If they're either of the other two, you HAVE to commit to destroying a knight once the wounds start piling up lest they easily circumvent the penalties of degrading statlines. Units of choice should be the Shadowsword superheavy tank, or as many infantry squads filled with lascannons as possible so that the Knight player cannot destroy all of them in 1 turn. The addition of Armigers makes things even more challenging - the Armiger Warglaive is a Devil Dog that's competent in melee, and the Armiger Helverin is what your Leman Russ Exterminator dreams of being before scarfing another tub of Rocky Road and crying. Treat them seriously, but remember that they're only Lords of War in name.
*'''Adeptus Mechanicus:''' ''KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!!'' The Transuranic Arquebus is an Officer's nightmare, capable of slaying any Officer short of a Company Commander ''instantly.'' Hug cover, stay out of sight, and failing that, get an Ogryn to take the hit for you - you are not going to outrange it. Other units to beware include the Kastelans with triple phosphor blasters - one of the few units that can realistically outshoot guard infantry. The Onager has some sweet guns, but it's not as cost-effective as yours; play smart and you can deal with it. Admech has only one character, but Cawl is an absolute powerhouse - in melee he will eat your dudes like popcorn and at ranged he's a terrific source of buffs, and most annoying of all he's an untargetable Character. Be wary of any army with him in it, and be aware of his place on the board at all times. Besides that you will feel like you're fighting Scions - lots of T3 Sv4+ dudes with good shooting and good guns.
*'''Officio Assassinorum:''' Technically their own army thanks to their White Dwarf index, but they are often seen as an ally to other Imperial armies. The Vindicare is 100% the most terrifying assassin the Guard can face. He can target sub-10 wound characters, wounds Infantry models on 2+, ignores both cover and invulnerable saves, and his weapons are AP-3. But that's not the rough part. If he rolls 6s to wound, his rifle does d6 damage instead of its usual d3. If a guard character has somehow survived the initial shot, his Headshots rule allows him to keep dishing out mortal wounds until the target is dead. You will not outrange him, so hide behind LoS-blocking terrain and/or get an Ogryn bodyguard to tank the hit and buy your officer a turn. A visible officer to him is a dead officer. Oh, did I mention he can spend cps to shoot and kill another visible character or deal a straight d3 mortal wounds to a Tank Commander? Other than that, Eversors will also give your units trouble since he can potentially kill 16 models in combat, plus 4 shots from his sentinel pistol. More than enough to wipe out any Troop choice you have since you only get a maximum of 10 models per squad. The Callidus with her Neural Shredder and Invuln-ignoring sword isn't at her best against cheap guard fodder. Her CP fuckery can be annoying if you rely on using stratagems. The culexus, however, is an anti-psyker specialist who is nevertheless versatile in that he forces all attacks against him to hit on 6s, regardless of ballistic skill, weapon skill, or modifiers. That's why you have Hellhounds and flamers!
*'''The Inquisition:''' Recently brought up to speed by their White Dwarf Index, you ''really'' shouldn't discount the threat the Rosette offers. Though you'll likely never face them in any high point games (unless your opponent is a madman with 3 Land Raider Prometheia), their presence in other armies can make life very annoying for you. Primarily, their Psychic powers are exceptionally nasty and good at picking your Officers out of a crowd. Worse, they can use one of those powers, Psychic Pursuit, to turn one of their aforementioned Land Raiders into a fucking sniper. Most of your {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTERS}} can't take Heavy Bolter fire or Mortal Wounds very well, so beat them at their own game and bring your own snipers to deal with them quickly before they deal with you.

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=====Chaos=====
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One hilarious strategy against Chaos in general is to run the Relic of Lost Cadia, and once per game drop the hammer on these bastards for what they did to Cadia.
*'''Chaos Daemons:''' On paper, Chaos Daemons are an army that primarily relies on their psychic phase and Close Combat phase to do damage. The 40k setting has often favoured armies that rely primarily on their shooting capabilities. In practice, Daemons have been faring very well in 9th Edition. With Psychic Awakening and a comparatively lenient entry in the Munitorum Field Manual 2020 (hint, Guard got slapped hard in that book), Daemons now have multiple ways to fuck your shit up. Their new Daemon Saves are unique in that they always get their base save, no AP and no invuln-ignoring bs will stop this. The best way to press it? Massed fire. Units to watch out for include Flamers and Exalted Greater Daemons.
*'''Chaos Space Marines:''' Abaddon's still bad news, armless jokes aside. With the addition of Legion Traits, several builds can do a number on the guard's forces. The Alpha Legion has the same -1 to hit against ranged attacks outside of 12" that Raven Guard have, Night Lords make horrible leadership bombs that can scare off half your units even if they lose only one model in a turn, Iron Warriors ignore cover with their weapons. Deal with them as you would their Loyalist equivalents. Get inside 12" of Alpha Legion units, and use Hell Hounds or Valkyries filled with flamers to do so. Against Night Lords? Commissars solve Combat Attrition problems nicely.
*'''Death Guard:''' Disgustingly Resilient is now -1 Dam, and the T5 2W Plague Marines now project a variety of auras that get larger as the game goes on, the most annoying one being the one that shuts off ObSec. Thankfully for you, DG's horde-melting melee has been pared down and you're no longer going to see 5/10 man squads with everyone kitted out with plague-spewing melee. While you will never want to be closed in by the DG, at least now they're not overkilling your hordes. 
**The -1 Dam is most noticeable on your 2D and anti-vehicle weapons, especially when you're pouring them on their vehicles. Since most of your weapons are D3/D6, the D3 weapons will be doing 1 D 2/3s of the time, so you'll be relying on swingy D6s. Ironically, the lasgun is the ''least'' affected weapon from all of these changes. They've always wounded Plague Marines on 5s, saved on 3s, and were 1 Damage anyway, so you have that going for you, I guess.  
**DG is one of the few other armies that have auto-take artillery. Plagueburst Crawlers are mini-Daemon Engines that come stock with with 5++s, long-range meltas, RF guns that wound you on 2, and of course, a mortar that hits as hard as a Russ, but more consistent with flat 2D (3 with a strat that they will always use). Unlike you, they suffer penalties to shoot without LOS, so bracket them with your own artillery to weaken them a bit. 
*'''Renegades and Heretics:''' Squatted. If you're playing against them, it is probably because they're more masochistic than you are. Blast them to high-hell, spam FRSRF to cut them down, and just stay out of melee. 
*'''Chaos Knights:''' Hang on, this is gonna be a rough one. They're like the Imperial Knights, but you can play upon the degrading statlines of these buggers much more effectively by taking out bits and chunks of each tank and reduce their WS and BS. However, Chaos Knights are much more aggressive and tanky in their playstyle than Imperium-loyal Knights. Chaos Iconoclast Knights can pay 1cp before the game begins to take a Vow of Carnage which grants them an extra melee attack for every 10 models they destroy. If you're playing a guard horde, that spells bad news. Like, really bad news. On top of that, they can spend 2cps to give a different Knight of their choice the Vow of Dominance which gives them immunity to being wounded on unmodified rolls of 1, 2, and 3. That's a huge blow to your near-mandatory lascannons, and choice weapons such as the Demolisher cannon or the Shadowsword's weapons.  Outside of that, they share some stratagems such as Full Tilt, the infamous Rotate Ion Shields, Chainsweep, and Devastating Reach.
*'''Thousand Sons:''' Mind Bullets as far as the (Magnus' one) eye can see. Each squad is now led by a fully-fledged sorceror, so when they're not buffing each other for better shooting or invulns, they'll be delivering D3 MW. Since you only have so many Denies, save these for spells like Doombolt, which does flat 3 Mortals, or for Sorcerous Facade, which lets them redeploy to get out of combat/take an objective.
**Rubric Marines and Scarab Occult terminators have 5+ Invuln, get +1 to all saving throws against damage 1 weapons, ''and'' the new Armor of Contempt rule which makes your AP one worse, all the time, meaning they'll have Cataphractii-level resilience against your basic troops, and worsen your already mediocre AP when you've got anything good. But, you took Autocannons and supercharged your plasma guns like a good boy, right? 
**Born Soldiers helps, but it's not the Wounding that's the issue, it's your absolute lack of AP. Your go-tos, like Autocannons and HBs, are only AP-1, and your Battle Cannons are only Ap -2, both of which will only worsen against AoC. Spam Plasma and Demolisher Cannons when you can take it, and don't be afraid to use anti-tank weapons against Rubrics: you have a lot of potentially tank busting guns, and Thousand Sons players will almost always pick 10-men Scarab Terminator blobs over vehicles any day of the week. 
**Outside of that, the Cultists and Tzaangors often show up in big blobs and get either put in deepstrike reserve through Webway infiltration or warptimed in to get close to a screen. Don't bother using heavy weapons on them and stick to FRFSRF. Only Tzaangors are ObSec, so if you're competing for objectives, take them out first. 
*'''World Eaters:''' Guard and World Eater are like oil and water, with Guard being squishy and shooty, and Eaters are dangerous in melee with lackluster shooting. Still, they're more dangerous than ever now that they're getting a new codex, getting stuff like getting to move closer to you after being shot, preventing you from falling back, and even getting Angron back from the dead. Rather than relying on overwatch, Guard players should focus on proper spacing and battlelines. 
**Acceptable losses becomes an important stratagem in case they prevent you from falling back, which is also why the composition of your first and second line is important: anything that the World Eaters gets a clean charge on is going to die irregardless of what it is, letting the WE consolidate into the second line (they cant attack, but you can fight back) and possibly locking in that second line. Ideally, anything you want in melee, like Ogryns or Rough Riders, shouldn't be getting consolidated into since they get bonuses for charging, so keep them safe in the back. Instead, guardsmen should always make up your first and second line, because as Platoon units, you can shoot into them like the chaff they are. 
**tl;dr: your first and second lines should be well spaced whenever possible, and should always be chaff, because anything WE charges gets blended. Melee units should be kept in the back so they can counter charge, because getting consolidated into robs you of options.

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=====Xenos=====
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*'''Craftworld Eldar:''' With to-hit modifiers being hard capped at +1/-1 these days, Craftworlders are nowhere '''near''' as hard to deal with these days. While the occasional -1 to hit does suck, the sheer volume of fire your infantry squads and vehicles are capable of outputting will borderline guarantee hits upon anything they can field. With a standard GEQ T3 and 4+ save on their infantry, even your humble lasguns have a solid 50/50 shot of killing the average Aspect Warrior (and remember, Aspect Warriors are anywhere from two to five times as pricey per model as your guardsmen. You'll have a ''lot'' more lasguns than they will Aspect Warriors). This by no means should be a cause for complacency. Melee is a notable weakness your infantry tends to suffer from (with a few exceptions), and Craftworlders do have specialized Aspect units that'll seek to exploit that. There is good news though; as mentioned earlier, everything the Eldar can field comes at a relatively steep price, especially compared to you. Not only can you easily outnumber the average Craftworlder, you'll invariably be able to easily outrange them as well. Spread out to ensure no uninvited guests can pop into your backline and to help contain potential melee charges. For your bigger guns and tanks, focus down their longer ranged heavy hitters first; Dark Reapers, Fire Prisms and Crimson Hunters can pose a serious threat to your armor and are among the few longer ranged options Craftworlders will typically bring in this matchup. Without those, they'll be forced to close the gap to engage you. Lastly, keep tabs on their Psykers. It's a blue moon when a Craftworld player ''doesn't'' bring a supporting psyker (in fact, the only non-named non-psyker HQ they can bring is an Autarch) and if they're left to their devices, they can cause quite a bit of [[HERESY|chaos]] through the mortal wounds and the library of buffs/debuffs they can throw around. Bringing one or two psykers of your own if only for Deny the Witch rolls wouldn't be a bad call. Also, a few Sniper Teams or an allied Vindicare Assassin will do you wonders against their actually fragile characters.
*'''Dark Eldar:''' Covens no longer fuck us over 100% thanks to the "everything can wound anything" rule now. Notice "100%", since the bastards now get an invulnerable save making them tough on your lascannons, plasma guns, and anti-vehicle/monster weapons. Kabalites in Boats and Wyches with their insane close combat attacks are top notch against us. Flamers are, and always will be, your friend against these slippery fuckers, and be sure to bring some Hydras along to punish the fact that all their vehicles {{WH40kKeyword|FLY}}. Be warned, like the Imperium's Scions Dark Eldar are ''very'' adept at punishing careless plays since Dark Eldar like Nids were trash for so long that any long-term players tend to be tactical geniuses.
*'''Harlequins:''' Well, these guys are just bad news. With flip belts that can launch these bastards over screening units and terrain in the movement phase, Genestealer-level close combat attacks, -1 to hit modifiers, 4+ Invulnerable saves, and access to a multitude of leadership debuffs, you're in for a tough fight. Again, bring flamers, auto-hitting weapons and lots of screening units spread out so they have no space to finish their moves over them. The new Saedath rules can give Harlequins increased resilience by making wound rolls of 1-3 always fail, but your mass S3 fire against their T3 functionally does not give a shit about that which is quite hilarious. A unit to watch out for is the Death Jester. He can snipe characters with his Shrieker Cannon, so either block LoS whenever you can or get an Ogryn Bodyguard/Nork Deddog to tank the hits for you and try to buy you a turn.
*'''Ynnari:''' This eldar army will behave very largely the same as any one of the other elf armies mentioned previously, only with a particular predilection towards melee-focused lists. The good news is that their out-of-phase actions are a thing of the past, so you won't need to worry about double tapping Fire Dragons or Dark Reapers anymore. The bad news is that the melee potential of units like Wraithblades or Troupes is effectively maximized if they soulburst, meaning they will ''absolutely'' slaughter units whole-sale if they make it into combat. Bringing a decent degree of heavy armor is advised since outside the larger Wraith units, most of their piddly S3/4 melee attacks will just ping off without dealing much damage. Flamers are also a strong charge deterrent, but beware of units like Howling Banshees or Autarchs who can disable your overwatch. Focus on whittling them down at range wherever possible as well; outside allied detachments, Ynnari detachments don't have much incentive to natively invest heavily in dedicated gunline units due to the inherent lack of support available to them anymore. Just like when dealing with Craftworlders, key targets include any psykers or the Ynnari characters, as they provide a significant amount of support to their units (like healing/rezzing wounded/dead models, providing re-roll support, etc).
*'''Necrons:''' In a sentence, play for KEEPS. Reanimation Protocols trigger after every attack made, so there's no real getting around it anymore, '''but''', you're also better able to keep multi-wound models like Destroyers down; Necrons only get back up if they roll a 5+ for each wound the model has. Don't fight in half-measures and use your biggest, shootiest guns first. 99% of Necron lists will be running the custom "every model has ObSec and gets a free 6" pregame move" along with the Silent King, Wraith blobs, and Skorpehk destroyers because the Necron internal balance is atrocious. On the flip side, their faction Secondary objectives as of Nephilim are the easiest to max out in the game and [[Derp|they have a good chance to win because they outscored you, even if you table them.]] Try and do whatever you can to deny them their secondary objectives, and you may just squeak out a draw or a rarer victory.
**Versus vehicles, your meltas and lascannons are going to lose a lot of effectiveness when Quantum Shielding triggers - every model with this rule has a 5+ invuln, and wound rolls of 1-3 always fail. The solution to all of this? If you're into list tailoring (which makes you a [[That Guy]] by definition), the relic Banner of Nemrodhesh. Ignores hit modifiers and any ability that lets enemy units ignore wounds (phase cap, feel no pain). Great for taking down any C'tan unit the Necrons are banking on and denying feel no pain against shots from {{W40Kkeyword|CORE}} units. 
*'''Orks:''' First, shake hands with your opponent and thank him for keeping this hobby fun. Then, crack open a beer. Finally, STAY OUT OF MELEE! Even your dedicated melee troops are going to struggle against the green tide - while none of their models are game-breaking, they do have a LOT of them. You may actually lose out on model count and board control, depending on what he brought. 
**Beast Snaggaz are purposefully built to fuck Vehicles, and have enough buffs from New Model Syndrome to really rub it in your face: 6+ invuln, bonuses to hit and wound, and Mortal Wounds out the Ass that you have no protection against mean that anything that gets to touch you will end up either destroying your tank, or crippling it. 
**Orks depend on movement tricks in order to get close and bypass their shit movement of 5". The "Ere We Go USR allows them to re-roll either one or both dice for a charge roll allowing them to pull of charges from a surprisingly long distance. You have a Tank Order that slaps -2 to movement on an Ork unit. You should always use that Order against Orks if possible
**Ork Shooting is ''worse'' than last edition, since they no longer get stackable exploding shots, but weapons like Rokkits and KMBs will make anything that does hit hurt like hell. 
**Watch out for Speed Freakz, whose units can do a little bit of both shooting and melee, while still being speedy as fuck. Units like Deff Koptas have Rokkits, which can really hurt with 3D, but also have really effective multi-hit attacks in melee that can make mincemeat out of your Bullgryns.  
**Most Ork players will be taking MSU or 10 or less due to the changes to Mob Rule and BLAST weapons; they are no longer immune to morale, but the changes to the Morale Phase still means that unless he only has 1 Boyz left, ''most'' of the mob will stick around. Pick your objectives and play hard for them - don't spread yourself too thin. And then crack open another beer with the boyz. 
*'''Tau:''' Like Craftworld Eldar, these guys used to be a thorn in our side with markerlight spam that took away cover, Pulse Rifles that shredded our infantry from 30" away, and Riptide spam that made a mockery of our tanks. 
**The Bork'an sept will be able to out-dakka you beyond your 24" lasgun range,  since their tenet adds 4" to their weapons,  on top of reducing the Strength of your S7 and less guns by 1 when you target Battlesuits and Vehicles. Get past this by just using your Meltas and Tank Cannons, and leave the Autocannons at home. 
**Their infantry are superior to yours, with 4+ armor and S5 guns with AP on pretty much everything; they aren't hurting for ways to bring it, either, as most of their suits come with high ROF. Your only defense right now is to bring more bodies and hope for the best. Even then, taking 100+ models might not hold up against the amount of high AP shots coming their way.
**Railguns will fuck your day up, so if you can, smoke launchers will do you wonders since the T'au tend to have a mediocre ballistic skill value of 4+ without markerlights or Commander units. Also, remember to issue the order "Strike and Shroud" to any Leman Russ you can for that exact same reason. Finally, if you have Artillery you can one-up the T'au since most of their ranged weapons require LoS, so hiding your vehicles becomes EXTREMELY important.
*'''Tyranids:''' Xenos armies were buffed quite a bit, and the Tyranids were buffed the most. At a 59% winrate competitively, gone are the days of 5th-7th when they were trash-tier. 
**[[Imperial Munitorum Manual|Most Guard players know what they need to do]]: "[[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|Shoot the Big Ones]]." But just like most things found in the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer, the truth is a bit more complicated than that: Ignore all the non-Synapse monsters to focus down on the Synapse ones, and worry about the big killy melee ones first: Tyranid shooting has been buffed to be pretty potent, but they don't come with a scary amount of guns like you do; an Exocrine ''might'' be able to pop a Leman Russ in one go, but he only has the one gun to fire each turn. On the other hand, if a Tyrant or Carnifex touches you, you can be damn well sure that you won't be able to kill it on the rebound, and it can wreak more havoc when it consolidates. 
**Tyranid monsters have been buffed quite a bit, and you're looking at 15 Wounds '''minimum''', and that's not counting LEVIATHAN's transnid physiology ignoring the S8/9/10 of your Battle/Las/Demolisher Cannons. Indirect fire is amazing for dumping fire on them without line-of-sight, so invest in Basilisk/Manticores.
*'''Genestealer Cults:'''  Positioning, positioning, positioning. These guys are always unpredictable. For one thing, these guys can bring a Guard detachment (and even without doing that, borrow a few Guard units), so don't be surprised to see Leman Russes and Chimeras. Even without that, these guys will obliterate any opening you leave in your backline, so screening units are a must. 
**'''They also gain +1 to hit and +1 to wound when they focus down on you''', which makes it more important for you to establish board presence. 
**Kelermorphs are better snipers than anything you can bring, especially against Guard characters in particular because you don't have that many wounds, so you'll probably want to include an Ogryn Bodyguard or Nork Deddog if you expect to see one. Keep your officers safe by using Vox-Casters, they're free now on regular squads. You usually don't want to be in melee with these guys, but if you bring Bullgryns or Rough Riders, you can make your opponent generally regret taking an ambush-themed army once you get those countercharges in. 
**Expect to see more Achilles Ridgerunners now that they've been rebalanced, too. But if you really want to screw with your GSC-playing opponent, bring Scions in Valkyries backed up by Vulture and Vendetta Gunships and fly around the board with them, where you'll be relatively safe from just about everything your opponent is going to deep strike and generally immune to charges. Then, once they come in at the end of the third turn, disembark and shoot them down.
*'''Leagues of Votann:''' That's right. [[Rage|The Squats got reintroduced to 40k before the Guard got their 9th Edition codex]]. To keep it short, the Votann shoot better than you, do melee better than you, get better buffs compared to you thanks to Judgement tokens, and are MUCH harder to wound than you (and the average Space Marine, even) because of Void Armour. The only thing is their basic infantry are slow unless they have the Pioneer Jetbikes. Hug cover and obscuring terrain like a bitch, only expose yourself when ABSOLUTELY necessary. 
**Whatever the Leagues can see is a goner thanks to their legitimately broken Judgement Token mechanic. Three tokens stacked gives the Leagues auto-wounding shots on unmodified 4+ to hit against any unit with 3+ JT, and they're EXTREMELY easy to stack. A near-immediate FAQ and errata took away JT counting auto-hits as 6s to wound, so the Magma weapons aren't nearly as obnoxious as they were on release. There's still absolutely nothing you can do to counter the JT mechanic except play a tediously slow and unfun match, though the same can be said of many armies that will go against the squats. 
**Remember, you fully have the right to deny any proxying on the squat player's part until their model line is fully released. 


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[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000 9E]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40000 Tactics (9E)]]

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