Warhammer 40,000/3rd Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard
This is an old Edition's Imperial Guard tactics. The 5th Edition Tactics are here while the 2nd Edition Tactics are here.
Why Play Imperial Guard!
Because they get all the goodies. No, seriously, they're present in almost every campaign book, and thus've loads of different play styles. You want an army of rugged survivalists that make Space Marines look like sissies, you can do that. You want an army of nothing but tanks, you can do that. They also've a multitude of different product lines for your base infantry models, from Praetorian Guard and Catachan Jungle Fighters to Cadian Shock Troops and Armageddon Steel Legion, so there's plenty of ways to make your force your own.
Special Rules
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
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Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
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Codex: Eye of Terror
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Chapter Approved
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Wargear
Imperial Guard Wargear
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One, Codex: Catachans, Codex: Armageddon, Codex: Eye of Terror, & Chapter Approved
- Bionics: Your own version of I'll Be Back. If your dude or dudette with Bionics's killed, place their model on its side instead of just removing it, and roll 1D6 once the next turn comes around. on a 6 the model comes back to life with a single Wound, as the killing blow instead hits the Bionics and harmlessly ricochets off, but on any other result the model's removed as normal.
- Carapace Armour: 4+ Armour Save, makes you look like a Stormtrooper. The best Armour Save available to the 'Guard, you want Power Armoured Humans, go play Sisters of Battle.
- Combi-Weapons: A gun with two barrels, each capable of firing different ammunition, though one's only single shot, and you can't fire both at the same time. Comes in Flamer, Grenade Launcher, Meltagun, and Plasma Gun variants, all with a Bolter base.
- Comm-Link: If you issue your Command Section with a Comm-Link, then once per turn, one other Imperial Guard squad on the board that also has a Comm-Link may use the officer's Leadership value for a single test they need to take. The Command Section itself doesn't need to be on the board though, one of the few instances of a HQ's ability being able to affect units on the board whilst they're in Reserve.
- Hellguns & Hellpistols: Lasguns and Laspistols with AP5, makes you fight like a Stormtrooper. The pistol version's 1 point costlier than the Laspistol, and 1 point cheaper than the Bolt Pistol, which has +1S. You get what you pay for, but if you can afford the Hellpistol, you can usually afford the Bolt Pistol instead.
- Holy Relic: Doesn't specify what it is, so feel free to shamelessly steal some obscure but real one you found with a quick Google search. Can be dramatically revealed at any time during a battle, but the model carrying it must not move on the same turn it's revealed. Once the shroud's off though, all Guardsmen within 2D6" get +1A for the rest of the turn.
- Master-Crafted Weapons: An upgrade to a weapon you already have, gives one re-roll To Hit per turn. Can't be applied to grenades for some reason.
- Medi-Pack: In the hands of a Medic, this baby allows you to ignore the first saving throw their unit fails each turn. Doesn't work with Instant Death attacks or attacks that don't allow any saves, and can't be used if your Medic's in base contact with an enemy model, so you can't expect them to patch you up whilst they're busy punching someone, but then would you really want their attention distracted under the circumstances?
- Ogryn Close Combat Weapon: +1S for Ogryns.
- Power Weapons: Ignore any and all Armour Saves, watch your opponent cry as their Terminators're stabbed to death by Guardsmen and women.
- Refractor Field: 5++ Invulnerable Save. Whilst there's nothing in the book that officially says you HAVE to take it, you really do HAVE to take it.
- Regimental Standard: An upgraded Standard Bearer, can do everything the regular one can (see its unit entry), and in addition, for any Assault going on within 6" of the bearer, the owning side adds +1 to their Combat Resolution score. If the bearer's killed in close combat, the enemy model that killed them picks up the Regimental Standard and the ENEMY side gets the +1 bonus, and in order to get it back again you have to have one of YOUR models kill them in close combat, essentially creating a "capture the flag" minigame in the middle of your war.
- Scanner: An Infiltrator-detector with a range of 4D6", if a guilty party sets up within that distance, the bearer and any unit they're attached to either; A, all get a free shot each with whatever guns they're packing before the battle starts, or 2, sound the alarm in a Raid scenario.
- Targeter: This gadget allowes the model carrying it to pre-measure the distance between them and a single target unit, before they make their shooting attack. If you use a Targeter, then no weapons with Guess range in your army can be fired in the same turn.
- Trademark Item: Just like the Holy Relic above, this can be almost anything you can imagine and yet still model onto the miniature, though official suggestions include a Swagger Stick, a Smoking Cigar, a Billowing Cape, or Chestful of Medals. A character with a Trademark Item, and any squad they accompany, may re-roll all failed Morale and Pinning checks, but if the bearer's slain the unit've to pass a Morale test of fall back.
Imperial Guard Vehicle Upgrades
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- Armoured Crew Compartment: Gives your Sentinel, Basilisk, or Griffon a roof, models available to buy at reasonable prices. Can only be fitted to Open-Topped vehicles, making them no longer Open-Topped.
- Camo Netting: A Camo Cape for your vehicle, lets you deploy the vehicle anywhere in your deployment zone during missions using Hidden Set-Up Special Rules, instead of just behind suitable terrain pieces.
- Crew Escape Mechanism: A number of different modifications, such as Escape Hatches, which all help a vehicle when being evacuated, allowing a vehicle so-equipped to be replaced with 1D3 Crew Member models when it's destroyed, placed as a unit within 2" of the wreck. Each Crew Member has a basic Guardsman or woman statline, and's armed with either a Lasgun or Laspitol at no extra points. The squad's counted as below half strength for Morale checks and claiming table quarters, and's worth no Victory Points, but their previous vehicle's only considered Damaged for Victory Points purposes whilst at least one Crew Member lives.
- Extra Armour: A number of different modifications, such as Loose Caterpillar Tracks, which all help a vehicle when being attacked, allowing a vehicle so-equipped to automatically downgrade Crew Stunned results to Crew Shaken results instead.
- Hunter-Killer Missile: One-shot Krak Missiles with unlimited range for your vehicles to give them a bit of anti-tank support.
- Improved Comms: A number of different modifications, such as Whip Aerials, which all help a vehicle when co-ordinating with Reserves, allowing a player with a vehicle so-equipped to re-roll a single Reserve roll per turn, and re-roll to determine enemy units or obstacles hit by Preliminary Bombardments.
- Mine Sweeper: A number of different modifications, such as Heavy Dozer Blades, which all help a vehicle when crossing Minefields, allowing a vehicle so-equipped to drive through Minefields unharmed, and any Minefield driven through's removed from the battlefield.
- Pintle-Mounted Storm Bolter: Another gun for you vehicles to fire to give them a bit of anti-infantry support.
- Rough Terrain Modification: A number of different modifications, such as Dozer Blades, which all help a vehicle when crossing Difficult Terrain, allowing a vehicle so-equipped to re-roll failed Difficult Terrain tests as long at it moves no faster than 6" that turn.
- Searchlight: Can only be used in missions using Night Fighting Special Rules, and indeed're only useful in those sorties. The bearer can illuminate one enemy unit with their Searchlight, allowing other Imperial Guard units to fire at that enemy unit as normal, but other enemy units can fire at the bearer as normal as well.
- Smoke Launchers: One-shot Grenade Launchers loaded with Smoke Grenades, that can be fired off after moving instead of firing any other guns, downgrading any Penetrating Hits scored by the enemy in their Shooting Phase into just Glancing Hits. The Codex suggests the smoke should be represented by Cotton Wool.
- Track Guards: A roof for your caterpillar tracks, they need love too. If a vehicle fitted with them suffers an Immobilised result, roll 1D6 and on a 4+ treat it as a Crew Stunned instead.
Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
A.
Codex: Eye of Terror
A.
Chapter Approved
A.
Unit Analysis
Headquarters
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- 1 Command Platoon: A Force Organisation Chart within your Force Organisation Chart! A Command Platoon's a mandatory choice, made up of up to seven separate squads which all count as the same Headquarters Choice, including when rolling for Reserves and deploying; one Command HQ, up to one Sentinel Squadron, and up to five Heavy Weapons Squads.
- 1 Command HQ: A squad of five Guardsmen and women including an officer, who can be either a Captain or a Colonel, and one of the regular guardsmen or women can be upgraded to a Veteran Sergeant, all armed with a mixture of either Lasguns or Laspistols and CCWs, plus Frag Grenades for the whole squad if they want them.
- Up to four Guardsmen or women can also be equipped with special weapons, such as Flamers, Meltaguns, Plasma Guns, or Grenade Launchers, and if this much wasn't enough firepower for you, then two Guardsmen or women can also form a Heavy Weapons Team with either a Heavy Bolter, Missile Launcher, Lascannon, Autocannon, or Mortar.
- And it's not just a godly amount of dakka this unit brings to the field either, they also've access to a Medic and Standard Bearer, both powerful buffers, as well as a Chimera to cruise around in issuing orders and looking important. The Medic comes with a Medi-Pack (see Wargear), whilst the Standard Bearer lets any Imperial Guard squad re-roll failed Morale checks as long as they've got at least one model within 12" of the Standard, with the option to also purchase either a Regimental Standard or Holy Relic (again, see Wargear). Their Comm-Link's three times more expensive than the ones other squads can get, though in their case, it does unlock the ability to actually use them in the first place, (see Wargear, 'tis a lovely section).
- Leadership: Allows all Morale and Pinning tests taken by Imperial Guard units within 12" of the Command HQ to be made against the officer's Leadership.
- 0-1 Sentinel Squadron: Same as below. Taken as part of the same single Headquarters choice as the rest of the Command Platoon, but considered separate for deployment and Reserves.
- 0-2 Anti-Tank Heavy Weapons Squads: Six Guardsmen and women with Lasguns and either three Missile Launchers or Lascannons, with optional Comm-Link for one of them. Lascannons're the priciest of the weapons available to these squads. A cheap way to get a lot of anti-tank firepower on the battlefield.
- 0-2 Fire Support Heavy Weapons Squads: Six Guardsmen and women with Lasguns and either three Heavy Bolters or Autocannons, with optional Comm-Link for one of them. Heavy Bolters're the cheapest of the weapons available to these squads. A cheap way to get a lot of anti-light vehicle firepower on the battlefield.
- 0-2 Mortar Heavy Weapons Squads: Six Guardsmen and women with Lasguns and three Mortars, with optional Comm-Link for one of them. Given their own Heavy Weapon Squad entry, despite there being other anti-infantry weapons available like the Heavy Flamer and Multi-Laser, so go with Sentinels if you want those two. A cheap way to get a lot of anti-infantry firepower on the battlefield.
- 0-5 Commissars: Commissars don't take up Headquarters Slots, so you can take up to five of them, plus however many other Headquarters choices're allowed by the scenario. They start with a Laspistol and CCW by default, but can take almost anything from the armoury to replace them, and they can get a Horse for free if they're assigned to a Rough Rider Squad.
- Advisors: This Special Rule requires them to stick with your highest-ranking officers, so the first Commissar you take must join your Command Platoon Command HQ, to keep an eye on your Colonel or Captain. Each subsequent Commissar taken must join the next highest-ranking officer not already assigned one; first the Lieutenants of your Infantry Platoon Command Sections, and then the Sergeants of your other Imperial Guard squads as you see fit, excluding Hardened Veterans or vehicle squadrons. Commissars must always keep within 2" of their assigned officers or Sergeants, and remain with their units if their charges're killed.
- Summary Execution: And of course, who can forget their raison d'être? If a unit containing a Commissar's foolish enough to fail a Morale check in front of them, the Commissar automatically *BLAM!*s their assigned officer or Sergeant for his or her own good, which counts as them dead for Victory Points purposes. The squad then falls under the Commissar's control, and must immediately make a Regroup test using the Commissar's Leadership, carrying on as normal if passed without needing to fall back, but being completed eliminated if failed, the Commissar getting *BLAM!*ed by his own men before they scarper.
Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
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Codex: Eye of Terror
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Chapter Approved
A.
Special Characters
Transport
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- Chimera: A Tank which's also a Transport Vehicle, it has AV12 for Front Armour, making it quite tough for a bus, and any unit you put in it'll more often than not make it to wherever it's going in a miniml number of pieces. It can also give as good as it gets, with a turret-mounted Multi-Laser, Heavy Flamer, or Heavy Bolter, and the option to take another hull-mounted Heavy Bolter or Heavy Flamer, letting it play as a Hellhound-lite with twin Heavy Flamers.
- Transport Vehicle: With capacity to squish up to twelve Guardsmen and women inside, or six Ogryns or Terminators, not that anyone in your army can actually take Terminator Armour, mind, and it can only carry the unit it was bought for, so no hitchhiking allies.
Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
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Codex: Eye of Terror
A.
Chapter Approved
A.
Elites
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- 0-1 Hardened Veterans:
- Storm Troopers:
- Ogryns:
- 0-1 Ratling Snipers:
Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
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Codex: Eye of Terror
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Chapter Approved
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Special Characters
Troops
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- Infantry Platoon: Just as with the Command Platoon, each Infantry Platoon takes up a single Troops Choice, but can be comprised of up to six separate squads; one Command Section, and between two and five Infantry Squads.
- Command Section:
- Infantry Squad:
- Armoured Fist Squad: Before you get into the profile for the Armoured Fist Squad, a warning in bold informs you that you can only take ONE of said units for each separate Infantry Platoon you've also taken. This's a shame, as its a mobile squad with a lot of utility, coming with ten Guardsmen and a Chimera. They've got all the same stats and gear as regular Guardsmen.
Codex: Catachans
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Codex: Armageddon
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Codex: Eye of Terror
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Chapter Approved
A.
Fast Attack
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- Hellhound: A Chimera without the transport capacity, which swaps out the Multi-Laser for an Inferno Cannon. It also comes with a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter by default, but can't swap it for a Heavy Flamer like the Chimera can, evidently you can have too much of a good thing.
- Inferno Cannon: Has +1S compared to the Heavy Flamer you can fit on a regular Chimera, and automatically forces enemy squads wounded by it to fall back as if they had failed a Morale test, unless they ignored Morale checks entirely.
- Move 'n Shoot: Allows it to move more than 6" and still fire its Inferno Cannon, but only that, and if it moves more than 6", it must fire the Inferno Cannon either to one side or behind it to prevent it hitting itself.
- Fuel Tanks: Means it upgrades all Glancing Hits to Penetrating Hits, thanks to its large reserves of Promethium onboard.
- Overall, this's a good unit for area denial, capable of forcing most enemy units to retreat from fortified position and out into the open, though it's particularly vulnerable to anti-tank weapons, so keep it away from the likes of Tankbustas and Havocs.
- Sentinel Squadron: A squadron of between one and three Open-Topped chicken walkers, each armed with a single Multi-Laser or Heavy Flamer, and the Heavy Flamer's half-price compared to what other vehicles've to pay. Like most light vehicles, they're AV10 all around, and can punch as hard as Ogryns in melee with S5, though that's not really where you want them.
- Scouts: They can deploy on the battlefield at the start of a game, even if not normally permitted by the scenario, and after deployment but before the first turn, they get an extra free move.
- Essentially, these guys're your more mobile, assault-oriented Heavy Weapons Squads, and should be used as such, to provide other lighter units with fire support. Whilst they can hold their own in a fight if needs be, don't go charging them off on their own into combat without backup, as they'll die to a stiff breeze.
- Rough Rider Squad: Because what better way to deal with a Gargant than a bunch of madmen on Horses? Strangely, each model has an identical statline to a regular Guardsman or woman, even though there're twice as many lifeforms on each base, and one's quite a bit bigger than the other. This means they're just as survivable as Guardsmen or women, at a third more expensive, and if equipped with Hunting Lances, everything on the table'll be gunning for them if they're at all familiar with them.
- Said Hunting Lances're an upgrade to their base Laspistol and CCW, and they can also take Frag Grenades and Lasguns too, as well as the standard single Comm-Link and special weapon available to every squad, if you want to recreate the experience of a One Man Army, though fully kitting them out makes them even more pricey.
- Hunting Lance: One-shot melee weapons that can only, and must, be used in the first round of the first combat the squad engages in, giving each model a single Attack at double Initiative, with +2S and ignoring Armour Saves. And whilst you're only WS3, a squad of ten'll still statistically score a few good hits.
- Cavalry: They ride Horses, with all the benefits that entails, and in addition can Trot, letting them move 9" in the Movement Phase as long as its not through Difficult Terrain, but limiting them to charging 9" in the following Assault Phase, and they can only shoot Pistols whilst Trotting.
Codex: Catachans
A.
Codex: Armageddon
A.
Codex: Eye of Terror
A.
Chapter Approved
A.
Heavy Support
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
- Leman Russ Battle Tank: Funny, what's this doing outside of the Ork Codex? With the Primarch of the Space Wolves named after this thing, it's gotta be good, right? And it doesn't disappoint, as an AV14 Front Armour AV12 Side Armour Tank, it comes with a turret-mounted Battle Cannon and either a hull-mounted Lascannon or Heavy Bolter as standard.
- Sponsons: It can take a pair of these, packing either Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers, giving it a lot of anti-infantry firepower to protect it from those that might do it harm. You pay the same price in points for both options, so it doesn't make any difference which one you go with from an economics perspective.
- Battle Cannon: Has got a whopping 72" range, the second longest in the Codex, and gives everything caught it its Ordnance 1/Blast a S8 AP3 hit, turning MEQs into so much mulch you'll forget you're not fighting Hrud.
- 0-1 Leman Russ Vanquisher: A more advanced version of the basic 'Russ, by which we mean it has a bigger gun. Has all the same options as its smaller sibling, but comes with a Storm Bolter as well by default.
- Veterans: Vanquishers're only entrusted to crews with plenty of experience, letting you upgrade them with one random Battle Honour rolled up at the start of each battle.
- Vanquisher Battle Cannon: Loaded with more powerful shells, that lose Ordnance and Blast, but roll against BS as normal and use 2D6 for Armour Penetration, your dedicated anti-tank killer.
- You only get one of them though, because the Orks invaded the only Forgeworld with the blueprints. They use them to make Kill Krushas now.
- Leman Russ Exterminator: A 'Russ which swaps out the Battle Cannon for a Twin-Linked Autocannon, your dedicated anti-light vehicle killer. Its lighter armament compared to other 'Russes means it can cover more ground whilst laying down a constant rate of fire, so it can keep up with faster elements of your force, but it'll struggle against other Tanks, especially if it can't get around to their weaker rear armour.
- Sponsons: Only has access to Heavy Bolters, and can't be fitted with Heavy Flamers, firmly pigeonholing it in the anti-light vehicle category.
- Exterminator Autocannon: 48" S7 AP4 Heavy 2, re-rolls To-Hit.
- Leman Russ Demolisher: A 'Russ which swaps out the Battle Cannon for a Demolisher Cannon, your dedicated anti-bunker killer. As a siege 'Russ, it also benefits from +1 to its Side Armour and Rear Armour, making it slightly more resistant to being flanked, an increased risk given the short range of its main gun, which requires it to be right in the thick of the action.
- Sponsons: Adds Multi-Meltas and Plasma Cannons to the list of weapons available for its sponsons, the only way to access both these weapons in your army, though the newbies're significantly more expensive than the oldies but goldies.
- Demolisher Cannon: 24" S10 AP2 Ordnance 1/Blast. More powerful than the Battle Cannon, but with shorter range.
- Basilisk Artillery Gun: A Chimera without the transport capacity, which swaps out the Multi-Laser for an Earthshaker Artillery Gun. Like the Hellhound, comes with a non-exchangable hull-mounted Heavy Bolter too, but it'll rarely be in range at the scales you're working with. You don't really need to upgrade it with anything else, as with the distances this thing can translocate its munitions over, it shouldn't ever need to actually get involved in a close range firefight.
- Earthshaker Artillery Gun: 120" S9 AP3 Ordnance 1/Blast.
- Indirect Fire Still not happy with the range on your Earthshaker? We got you fam. Available as an upgrade, this changes it to Guess range 36"-240" Barrage, and allows it to target units it can't see, so you can shoot people on the next table over.
- Griffon: No Melta Shells for you. A Chimera without the transport capacity, which swaps out the Multi-Laser for a Heavy Mortar. Like the Hellhound, comes with a non-exchangable hull-mounted Heavy Bolter too, which's more likely to be useful on this platform.
- Heavy Mortar: Guess range 12"-48" S6 AP4 Ordnance 1/Blast.
- Siege Shells: A modification behind a points paywall. These fire like Blast instead of Ordnance Blast but're still treated like Ordnance Blast for all other purposes. They roll 2D6+5 instead of 2D6 and picking the highest for Armour Penetration against bunkers, and affect models inside said bunkers on a 4+ instead of 6+.
Codex: Catachans
A.
Codex: Armageddon
A.
Codex: Eye of Terror
A.
Chapter Approved
A.
Tactics
Codex: Imperial Guard Version One
A.
Codex: Catachans
A.
Codex: Armageddon
A.
Codex: Eye of Terror
A.
Chapter Approved
A.
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