Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard/Armoured Battlegroup (section)

===Fast Attack===
*'''[[Sentinel|Scout Sentinel Squadron:]]''' With such weak armor, most likely they are going to die on the second turn. Fun choice of weapons. Key part here is that they have Scout - so three Sentinels outflanking from the side or scouting into cover blasting away, causing havoc in the enemy ranks, is a good idea. But still - they are going to die. They are open topped. They are going to die. They have 10 armor. They are going to die. They have two Hull Points. They are going to die. But they may as well take a tank or two down with them. If you want to be insane, having Heavy Flamers all around can result in hilarious infantry murder. Otherwise, most of the time you'll take them as a 40 point autocannon on legs since they are cheap and effective against most things.

*'''[[Sentinel|Armored Sentinel Squadron:]]''' Armored Heavy Weapons Team, practically. Can move around and fire, unlike Heavy Weapon Teams, but you only get one for the price of the whole squad. Can do decent in close combat, stomping on or bogging down the enemy. Now this works only with fearless units without krak grenades or other S6+ weapons (like, say Thousand Sons, gaunts, or Ork boys without klawnob). Even better choice of awesome weapons when compared to Scout Sentinels, such as plasma cannons - though, you can overheat and lose one of the two Hull Points you have, making you even more dangerously paper-thin. Use Lascannon against vehicle, Rocket Launcher or Autocannon if you can't decide what you want to do with them. Never hurts to take Hunter-Killers in case you end up fighting vehicles. Take in threes so they can be generally more efficient in anything you want them to do. 6th ed preview pictures show little change, besides a significant price drop to the unit and weapon upgrades. Officially made amazing (150 points for three Armoured Sentinels with Plasma Cannons.)
** Remember rules for squadronned walkers : 90° firing arc ( <s>45° swivel in both directions</s> The rulebooks says 45°, not 45° in both directions ) and resolving hits like infantry. This means that with a 3 ( Or 2 in some conditions ) sentinel squadron you can organise them in a "fan" formation so that the closest to a firing unit is always showing its front ( With AV 12, it means only soft AT weapons and upward can hope damaging you ) and still allow the 3 sentinels to fire at a target.
** Amazing when going for an army with lots of vehicles as they are both a cheap way to bring devastating weapons on the field ( You may lack in number of weapons if using a lot of vehicles ) and will inevitably need AV to be taken down, AV that will be crucial to your opponent. They have the same AVs as Chimeras and will offer a tough choice to your opponent as to which they should take down.
** Forge World allow both scout and armored Sentinels to take Multiple Rocket Pods. Big frak blasts does horrible things to infantry blobs, but with 24" range it's too risky even on armored.
**'''[[Valkyrie|Vulture Gunship (Forge World):]]'''Essentially a 40k Apache Gunship, comes with strafing run USR, nose mounted heavy bolter, and 4 wing pylons that are divided into two sets of 2 pylons that give space for one twin-linked weapon (one pylon on each side) and one set of missiles. This machine is very modular, able to adapt to ANY situation; Green Tide getting you down? Well, instead of two twin-linked weapons, you can actually attach a twin-linked punisher cannon! The ammo boxes do take up the other missile pylons, but twin-linked and BS4 against ground targets means 18 shots hit instead of Leman Russes 10 (on average without Pask). I would personally recommend <s>buying</s> spending too much on all possible weapons and not gluing them in place - maybe use magnets or some other such method, just make sure you can change the Vulture's armament easily to ensure it is never left wanting in a battle. Because the main strength of the Vulture is its adaptability.
**'''[[Valkyrie|Vendetta Gunship Squadron:]]It's basically a flying Predator.  Will you still use it?  Depends on how you like your anti-air.
** It should be noted that both the Valkyrie and Vendetta can take a pair of Heavy Bolter side sponsons. In most cases, these Heavy Bolters will rarely be used. In both aircraft, the Heavy Bolters give the crafts some protection on the sides. With Valkyries, the sponsons add an extra bit of anti infantry firepower. On Vendetta's, the Heavy Bolters add weapons that can be disabled in place of the Lascannons. In either case, Heavy Bolter Sponsons are not auto include for either craft.

*'''Tauros Strike Squadron:''' <strike>Not</strike> a fluffy choice for Armoured Battlegroup (ever seen a scout humvee?), however Hellhounds/Infernus shell Battle Tanks tend to be better at burning the shit out of cover campers. Lascannon equipped Venators with HKMs can be good at vehicle sniping though, but you've got more then enough anti-tank in this list

*'''Salamander Recon Squadron:''' This thing combines the outflanking tricks of Tauroses/Scout Sentinels with Chimera-level armour and weapons. Overall a good choice, useful for glancing opponents' artillery and vindicators side/rear armor to death.
*'''[[Hellhound Tank|Hellhound]] Squadron:''' The Hellhound tank variants give you access to Fast Tanks. This has a lot of advantages, as you use them for movement-blocking, tank-shocking, or simply blasting enemies to oblivion. A low profile makes finding cover for it relatively easy, though cover-hugging isn't exactly the best use of this tank. There are three variants, each with a unique turret weapon, and the choice of hull-mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, or Multi-melta. Also, now with 7th Edition, Template weapons passing over fire points on buildings or touching an Open Topped vehicle inflict D6 randomly allocated wounds that are resolved at the strength and AP of the template weapon to units embarked in those transports. Now a must include if you want a cup of your Dark Eldar or Ork opponent's tears.
**The standard '''[[Hellhound Tank|Hellhound]]''' is a very handy infantry-killer. If they're not Marine-equivalents (and even they will be hurting once the wounds pile up and they start failing saves) they will die. What's that? You opponent has Rangers/Heavy Weapons Teams/snipers holed up in a building somewhere giving your commanders and high-value units a hard time? The Inferno Cannon laughs at cover. The range of the IC means that you can expect them to hit enemy infantry starting on turn 1 (move 12", fire 12", cover another 8" with flame template). Run in support of longer-ranged anti-tank weapons for popping enemy transports, Hellhounds can also serve to finish off units from disembarked vehicles. In 6th edition fast vehicles can now fire 2 weapons at full BS at cruising speed, so enjoy the possibilities of hull weaponry combinations. <strike>Using Creed to outflank a squadron of these is hilarious against horde armies. Do it - that's an order.</strike> Was a beautiful piece of trolling against Orks and Tyranids until the new Codex fucked it up. Now the ability to Outflank D3 units of your choice is dependant on a dice roll. At least if you make said roll any Company Commander can do it.
**The '''[[Banewolf]]''' sacrifices the extra range of the Hellhound's template for its own poisoned AP3 flamer template. Banewolves will kill any infantry short of Terminators or similarly well-armored units. Their armor and speed give them unparalleled ability to be used for flushing enemy infantry from cover. This said and done, this may be the one variant you can afford to specialize; having a hull mounted flamer gives you the chance to throw two really mean flame-templates. This tank is the epitome of offence over defense - on one hand it can destroy an entire SM tactical squad in one turn. If there is an independent character in the squad, force them to take all the hits for the squad by attacking from their side, melting them alongside anyone else who "Look Out Sir" into their own gooey death. On the other hand - it can easily be put down by a Lascannon head-on. They are well known for making Tyranid and Chaos daemon players cry as you gib their monstrous creatures with as much ease as their cannon fodder. But then again, what doesn't make Tyranids and <strike>Daemons</strike> ([[The Ultimate Chaos Daemons Cheese List|Not anymore since they can just respawn said MC and cannon fodder]]) cry in 7th edition?
**The '''[[Devil Dog]]''' is the last one out, eschewing a short-range flamer, for a Melta Cannon, a blast weapon with the Melta rule. These tanks are great for sending into the center of an enemy armored formation and intimidating your opponent into breaking up, lest he find himself losing multiple tanks! Alternatively, assuming one has reliable long-ranged anti-tank, the Devil Dog can be used for finishing off survivors of destroyed enemy transports. Add a hull-mounted Heavy Flamer, and the Devil Dog can flush troops out of cover (though not as efficiently as the Banewolf). While not a flashy vehicle, it gets the job done. Probably the best variant for most games that includes vehicles on both sides.