Why Play Death Korps of Krieg: Siege Regiment[edit | edit source]
Death Korps of Krieg: Siege Regiment aren't a competitive army right now they have no flyers and their infantry is a bit overpriced (20 pts. more; 10 are for the included krak grenades the other 10 are for +1 WS and their morale boosts, and they can't Combine Squad), but they are fluffy as hell and their models are among the best if not THE best things Forge World ever made. Kriegers lack many things that make Imperial Guard awesome, like Veterans, Wyverns, Vendettas and Creed, but instead they hold the fucking line like none can, and drown the field in a shit-ton of cheap artillery, oh and did we mention you can take 80 heavy-weapons teams? If you wanted to, you could form one of the greatest human-wave armies in the game, due to a rule that gives them balls of steel on the advance. No longer do Krieg infantry give a fuck about casualties lost to shooting, making their advances almost unparalleled in not giving a shit.
Kriegers specialize in forming gun lines, destroying gun lines and mowing down swarms. Highly mobile, elite armies (such as a Chaos Daemons player using 1,000,000 Flesh Hounds of Khorne, or any good Dark Eldar army) are their absolute bane. They are an archaic, conventional army fighting in paranormal unconventional battles (which kind of adds to their flavour, giving them a unique playstyle and can lead to awesome results).
YOU DON'T KNOW HELL UNTIL YOU HAVE LIVED THROUGH VERDUN GALLIPOLI SOMME STALINGRAD GRENADA VRAKS
Rules were completely redone for 7th Edition the IA:Siege of Vraks update, please note that this army list is still separate from the Assault Brigade list from Fall of Orpheus, the two haven't been merged.
Death Korps Siege Regiment Rules & Wargear[edit | edit source]
Death Korps: All Death Korps have a slightly higher Weapon Skill than other Guardsmen (not that this will matter very often), plus they're immune to Fear and don't take Morale checks for suffering 25% casualities during the shooting or movement phase. This means, in general, that Leadership is not as big an issue for these guys, as it is for other Guardsmen.
Iron Discipline: Death Korps units within 6" of any Krieg Officer (who all have this special rule) get to regroup, even if they've been reduced below 25% of their starting size. Again, this means that Leadership isn't that big a deal for the Kriegers, but they also rely a bit more heavily on their officers.
Acid Gas Bombs: Acid gas grenades which are small blast, poison (4+) grenades that ignore cover though only one can be used per shooting phase.
Battle Scope: Provides the bearer and his unit "Night Vision" special rules. I can see this work well on Gun/Heavy Artillery Batteries with the 'Smoke Barrage' Warlord Trait. (When the FAQ/errata will give gun crews this equipment rule wise, which they already have model wise)
Hunting lance: Death Riders get Hunting Lances by default, which let them strike at S+2, Initiative 5 and AP 3 but are spent after the first charge into close combat.
Death Korps Platoon Standard: Counts as causing an additional wound in close combat for the purpose of calculating assault results. For some reasons also available to basic 10 man infantery squads. Combined with WS 4, could makes them a bit less prone for running away after most of them died for the glory of the emperor. I say pass.
Death Korps Regimental Standard: In addition to the Platoon Standard rules, the Regimental Standard also creates a 12" re-rollable Morale/Pinning test bubble
Mole Launcher: A 24" range S5 DS5 small blast with barrage and STRIKEDOWN, which will always hit targets with Armour Value at the lowest listed AV, regardles of the direction of fire.
Vox Caster: You know it, you love it. Reroll failed leadership test for orders, if the officers and the targeted unit have BOTH Vox Casters. Doesn't work on the Officers own Unit.
Demolition Charge: Aka "I got a present for ya!" It's a S8 AP2 large blast packed in a satchel. Use in case you need more 5" blasts. Think of it as a pocket battle cannon.
The only compulsory slots are two fast (which MUST be Death Riders) and one HQ (which MUST be a special Death Rider Company Command squad). You only get two Troops slots but Fast Attack got beefed up to six (not required to be Death Riders), and Elites & Heavy Support also got moved up to four each.
All units which are part of Death Rider platoons get Objective Secured, also, when two or more Cavalry units charge the same enemy in the same phase, they inflict Fear.
The Company command squad is a 50pt upgrade to the normal Death Rider (platoon) Command squad, and gives them a Colonel who gets Senior Officer and an improved stat-line but only gets the same upgrade options as the regular platoon commander. But one member of his squad may also replace their hunting lance with the regimental standard. Note that this is not restricted to the HQ slot, and you could feasibly have each of your Death Rider platoons commanded by a Colonel.
1-2 HQ, 1-10 Troops, 1-3 Elites and 0-2 Fast & Heavy. You also get 1-3 Lord of War slots and they must all be Gorgon Heavy Transporters. Your Death Korps infantry Platoons get Objective Secured and while someone remains embarked upon the Gorgons they receive It Will Not Die, but if you disembark a unit from the Gorgon they get to fix bayonets and get Furious Charge for that turn.
To issue an Order a model with the Senior/junior Officer special rule must select a single (non vehicle) unit of the Death Korps faction within 12". After a passed Leadership test of the receiving unit, the order immediately takes effect as noted in its description. Unless an order causes the target to shoot or run, receiving it does not prevent the unit from acting later in the same turn.
There are two special rules for rolling doubles of certain kinds:
If a double 1 is rolled for the target unit's Leadership test, once the current order has been resolves, any furter orders issued TO THE SAME UNIT IN THE SAME TURN are automatically successful and do not require a leadership test. Judging by this wording and lack of a confirmation otherwise, it's safe to say you can issue more than one order per unit, which is hilarious.
If a double 6 is rolled for the target unit's Leadership test, the order automatically fails and the target unit may not be issued any more orders in that turn.
The Death Korps (all new!) orders are as follows:
Bring it Down! - Senior Officers only. Choose one enemy vehicle(or squadron of), Monstrous Creature(or unit of) or Flying Monstrous Creature(or unit of) visible to the issuing Officer. The unit immediatly shoots at the target, counting as twin-linked.
Duty unto Death - Senior Officers only. The ordered unit may reroll ANY failed Leadership tests until the controlling Players NEXT Shooting Phase of the next turn. And the cherry on top? If you roll a double 1, the unit becomes Fearless.
Get Back in the Fight! - Senior Officers only. Let's you get a squad that's falling back or gone to ground to instantly regroup. If the unit was falling back, it does not make a 3" move like it normally would. The squad may shoot and move as normal this turn.
First Rank, FIRE! Second Rank, FIRE! - Your most frequently issued order, Rank Fire basically gives you Korpsmen an additional shot if they are using Lasguns. There are few things that match the expression of the opponent's face when you get to roll 30 dice at the same time, which means that even at BS3 and Strength 3, the enemy is in the sea of possible pain. Don't forget to ask your opponent if you can borrow his dice.
Dig in - The targeted squad now gains a bonus of +1 to any cover save provided by a terrain feature until the beginning of the controlling players next turn. Provides also a 6+ cover save in the open. Dug in units may not choose to run or make any kind of move or charge during the following assault phase.
Clear the Trenches - Now your lasguns are Assault 2 Range 12", rather than Rapid fire Range 24". Also you get Move Through Cover for the reminder of your turn. Countercharge anyone?
As of my current knowledge, there is no information about the Codex: Astra Militarum orders still usable with DKoK or not.
I therefore assume, you can only use their own orders. Using Astra Militarum orders is at your own risk. Enjoy your diskussions. (Considering they include some of the AM orders in the book, I'd put it as a firm no).
If someone finds any official statements, feel free to edit this part - but please add your sources!
Death Korps Company Command Squad: Almost the same as normal CCS, but with all the Kriegers' WS4 and Die Hard goodness. good set-up is to put an artillery piece behind an Aegis Defence Line with the CCS. For some freakish reasons the Death Korps Master of Ordnance will scatter only 2d6 (they aren't called siege masters for nothing). They can also take an Officer of the Fleet to modify your reserve rolls but no Astropath since the Kriegers hate their guts!
If you don't use it to give orders to you artillery units, you doing it wrong.
If your ADL isn't modelled to look like shoddy trenches and sandbag walls, you're doing it wrong.
Commissar-General: New change to the Krieger's special rule make Kriegers a bit less chunky in close combat, making Commissar-Generals a fair option to exploit that 4 WS and prevent them from getting pinned down. The best use for them is to use his bubble of Ld10 to make artillery units listen to orders.
Death Korps Quartermaster Cadre: This is the guy who wanders through the battlefield and gathers dead men's weapons, armor, blood and organs, and sometimes he patches lucky guardsmen with said organs and blood. In game terms he gives FNP (only 6+ though) to any infantry squad within 6" of him or his servitors, so he can greatly boost your infantry blobs and gun crews survivability. He also has regular FNP for himself an his unit thanks to his medpack.
Death Korps Grenadier Squad: Your Stormtroopers, except they don't deep strike and can take a demo charge (like you don't have enough pie plates in this army). They are also substantially cheaper, at 60 points in the 6th edition update for a five-man vanilla squad compared to 85 points for Stormtroopers, and 12 points for another Grenadier compared to 16 for another Stormtrooper. Can also take Heavy Flamer Teams and Heavy Stubbers for individual Grenadiers. They can fill the "IG-Veteran Squad" gap in your army if you use them wisely. Think less Special Operations, more Shock Troopers.
Hydra Flak Platform: Just like IG's Hydra Flak Tank, minus the tank part. It can't come in squads unlike any other Krieg artillery pieces. Good at what it's meant to, not much else. If you feel ballsy or have no more room in your Elites slot you can use a defence line with a quad gun emplacement instead.
Death Korps Rapier Laser Destroyer Battery: Big, mobile artillery piece. Can't shoot indirectly, but is generally to be used as an AT weapon. Pretty cheap, twin-linked rape-cannons (you can't spell Rapier without rape) that can take orders and come in squads of 1-3. The additional crewman for +8 pts is mandatory to make it last longer. 1 in 6 chance of exploding when they die. Now comes with Combat Engineers as crew instead of regular Korpsmen, meaning +1 to armour save and BS. Only take them if you're otherwise lacking anti-tank capacity. It's best kept in cover since it will go down rather easily should your opponent focus on it.
Death Korps Field Artillery Battery: In the new update, they consolidated the old Heavy Mortar Battery and Heavy Quad Launchers into a single unit. Here's what we said about them before:
Heavy Mortar Battery: Dirt cheap immobile Griffon guns. Unlike a Griffon, it lacks the "Accurate Bombardment" rule. It can bring hate on infantry (S6 AP4 is Instant Death for most infantry), but you have...
Heavy Quad Launcher (Forge World): Immobile artillery. Dirt cheap and spams enormous amount of anti-infantry blasts. It used to be that they could only fire once per two turns, but that changed with the latest Imperial Armour volume, and 16 S5 blasts would kill a ton of Tyranids, Orks, or other Guard and have a good chance to pin down heavier infantry (like, say, Terminators) with extra -1Ld for pinning test penalty (for total -2)(Should work that way, as soon as they get pinning, which is no longer included in Barrage). Generally considered better than Heavy Mortars, which perform a similar role. While Heavy mortars are good at pie-plating big blobs of enemies, Quad launchers are used for absolutely annihilating smaller blobs/heavily armored blobs. Take them to be nostalgic about the passed times of Thudd Guns.
Death Korps Combat Engineer Squad with Hades Breaching Drill: If you buy your Combat Engineers a Hades Breaching Drill it makes them Elites. Also, the Engineer Squad must be held in reserve and is deployed onto the table using the Deep Strike rules, gaining a whopping 4+ invulnerable save until the beginning of the CONTROLLING players next turn. Here is what we will say about them in the Troops section: Close combat oriented guardsman with shotguns, carapace armor and acid gas grenades. Yeah, this doesn't seems good, and they will die without taking their points back, but you can use them to tie up enemy shooting squads in close combat. Also, Siege Engineers can take Demolition charges, all kinds of special weapons and either a Heavy Flamer or the Mole Launcher as a heavy weapon.
Death Korps Infantry Platoon: No combined squads, special weapon squads or Conscripts, but otherwise the same Platoon. Unlike regular guards they are WS4, which boosts their survivability in close combat, but you pay extra 20 pts per squad for this along with your extra morale bits and some Krak grenades, which makes vehicle charges against you damn scary.
Death Korps Platoon Command Squad: No Combined squad rule. Use the junior officer to give orders to other units. Could add a commissar but since there is no combined squads and it is not an independent character its usefulness is limited.(Platoon commander and Commissar are both Character models and can both take a power weapon (sword/axe/maul/lance) or a power fist. If the squad is tailored for CC, I could see this work as kind of "relief" squad ("Could" with goodwill). The best use for them besides oders is as special weapons squad.
Death Korps Infantry Squad: Again: No Combined squad rule. Basic ten man squad. These guys love the meatgrinder: Korpsmen are tough as nails and don't give a crap about losing fellow soldiers to gunfire. Through their special rule, they will happily die to the last man, without ever taking a Morale check. They WILL hold the line. (Side effects include: Gory death and wipeout in CC). Use them as a screen to tie up CC units that get close to your main units, but avoid close combat charging against (not heavily decimated) tougher enemy CC units as they eat single 10-men T-shirt units for breakfast (so speedbumping is the best use for these units). If they are in CC you WANT THEM TO DIE, so everybody else can shoot the weakened enemy unit to bits.
Death Korps Heavy Weapons Squad: Can only be taken in 0-3 squads per platoon, rather than 0-5 as per the normal Astra Militarum codex. But DKoK can take Heavy Weapons squads in both Troops and Heavy Support. Auto-include a mortar and have a points discount on all other weapons, so they cost the same as vanilla Astra Militarum Heavy Weapons Squads, with the added juicy benefits of being slightly stiffer in assault and less likely to run away. If you want non-template heavy weapons, THIS is where you take them. Can also take twin linked heavy stubbers for some reason, but don't, heavy bolters should serve you just as well if not better.
Death Korps Combat Engineer Squad: Close combat oriented guardsman with shotguns, carapace armor and acid gas grenades. Yeah, this doesn't seem good, and they will die without taking their points back, but you can use them to tie up enemy shooting squads in close combat. Also, Siege Engineers can take Demolition charges, all kinds of special weapons and either a Heavy Flamer or the Mole Launcher as a heavy weapon team (so better AM shotgun vets if they had a transport?). These guys are pretty good in Zone Mortalis. For 500 points (about 17 legion marines or 5 custodes) you can get 40 of these guys with a vox and grenade launcher per squad and a General Commissar.
Hades Breaching Drill: So, the Hades got a huge change in the second edition of Siege of Vraks. Instead of being a Rhino-grade armor, 2HP vehicle with a melta-blast gun, it's an Infantry model with a Monstrous Creature grade statline (S8, T7, 3 Wounds, 3+ armor), that is bought as a sort of upgrade character slash transport for the Siege Engineers. Unlike other transports, it's actually attached to the squad and has to be in coherency with it at all times. It still has to arrive from Reserves, this time using the Deep Strike rules. But on the turn it does, it gets a 4+ invulnerable save. It also has the Move Through Cover and Hammer of Wrath rules by default- a charging Hades can dump a S8/I10 hit on whatever it gets into base contact with, and that's going to hurt a lot. But the Hades also got some nifty bonuses too. It gets a new rule called "Tunneling", usable in either the Movement or Assault phases. In Movement, you can move 12" in any direction, ignoring terrain and models, and gains a 4+ invulnerable save until your next Movement phase rolls around. The catch is that you can't run, charge, or be in impassable terrain or within 2" of an enemy model when you end the move. But 12" movement that ignores any terrain or models that are in the way? That's pretty bitchin'. Alternately, you can use Tunneling in the Assault phase. You have to use 3D6 and pick the two lowest results for your charge move, but the unit counts as having assault grenades, ignores terrain and battlefield debris effects, and Overwatch can't be fired against them. Oh, and the Hades? It gets to make D6+2 HoW attacks, using its Meltacutter drill, a S8/AP1 Armorbane Shred combat weapon. Plus, if you charge a building, anybody inside is going to take a S4/AP2 hit on a 4+. Alas, the Hades does have a fatal flaw. If all the Engineers in the unit are killed, then the Hades is removed regardless of it having any Wounds remaining. Flipside is, that you can kill off the majority of the Engineers and then end up with majority-Toughness 7. Being able to invalidate Overwatch is also badass, and a great "fuck you" to shitfaced Tau players and their Supporting Fire. Still Engineer-only, and still makes them Elites instead of Troops. Oh well.
Centaur Carrier: In most cases, the Centaur is not nearly as good as a Chimera: it only has front AV 11, Open Topped, and five-man transport capacity. On the other hand, it's cheap, fast, can transport otherwise-immobile field artillery, and one passenger can fire their weapons as part of the Centaur itself (which can be abused with 6th edition's vehicle movement rules to let you move 12" and fire both the Centaur's heavy stubber and a squad weapon, preferably a meltagun, at full BS). They work best with Grenadiers and Command Squads.
Cyclops Demolition Squad: RC toy tanks with a big Demo-charge. Sick joke. Although almost useless, unless your foe does not know what they do. In this case these little buggers work like mice work against elephants. Sure, it could deliver some pie plate of hate, but Cyclops are fragile and their operators are even more fragile. If you get lucky, enjoy a suicide-bombing cover-ignoring Basilisk shell into some Space marine squad, but otherwise stick with more conventional big guns. Most times, pass.
Hellhound Flame Tank 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.
The standard 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), and not in a transport, 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). Ran 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.
The Banewolf sacrifices the extra range of the Hellhound's template for it's own poisoned AP3 flamer template. Banewolves will kill anything without a 2+ save. 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 Daemons cry in 6th 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 armoured 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.
Death Korps Death Rider Platoon: The first thing you'll notice about the Death Korps' answer to the IG/AM rough riders is that the death riders come in platoons. You get 0-1 command squads and 1-6 squadrons per fast attack slot. This means you can take one unit if you like, or a potential 7 units per slot. That is a lot of horses (but why would you?). Unlike their unloved IG/AM cousins,they also have two attacks base, two wounds (!), 6+ FNP, reroll dangerous terrain tests, and wear carapace armour for a 4+ save (for a negligible points increase), so if you really want to take HORSES IN SPACE, take them from this list.
Death Rider Command Squadron: Unlike a normal command squad these guys lack the option for a platoon standard or a vox caster. However, what they do have is a junior officer on a horse, who is capable of issuing orders to the other riders or any squad he happens to be around. The squad can be joined by a mounted Commissar (whose model is awesome), who grants the squad stubborn (meh). On top of that, both the officer and the commissar can take power weapons, Bolt or Plasma pistols and melta bombs. You also get the option to take a demo charge; bit of an expensive delivery method for it, but man do they pack a punch.
Death Rider Squadron: Your basic squad; comes with 5 men, can be upgraded to 10, and also has the option for the Watchmaster to take a power weapon, Bolt or Plasma pistol and a melta bomb. The melta bomb is probably a bad call; if you charge a tank then you essentially waste your 'first charge only' MEQ-murdering lances on a vehicle, and you probably won't still be alive to use the MB after you charged a different squad.
Death Korps Heavy Weapon Platoon: In case you run out of HWT in Troops (how could you?), get yet another 1-3 per HS slot.
Thunderer Siege Squadron: It's a Leman Russ chassis with a hull-mounted demolisher cannon that come in squads of one to three. Unlike LR Demolisher it has no front/side sponsons, but for some reason 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 his SM analog, due to the combination of superior armor and sufficient speed.
Death Korps Leman Russ Squadron: Leman. Fucking. Russ. It's a big tank. Holds the proud title of best tank in the galaxy for its size and cost. Side effects include: Templates, lots of dice, lots of AV, lots of choices. In 6th edition, Leman Russ lost "Lumbering Behemoth" rule, and became a Heavy vehicle, instead. This means that you are limited to only 6 inches of movement. However, you can fire all your non-ordnance weapons at the same turn, as if you haven't moved, meaning that non-ordnance Russes (Exterminator, Punisher, Executioner, Eradicator, Vanquisher) are made even more rapetastic, at slight disadvantage of Ordnance ones (Battle Tank, Demolisher). Remember this, and kit out your tanks accordingly. Can form squads of upto three tanks. It's worth noting that despite the Assault Brigades being noted for their tanks, the Siege Regiment list actually offers much cheaper Leman Russes.
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 or Executioners. 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.
Leman Russ Annihilator: TL lascannon. One shot (2 if given a hull lascannon) is fine but why get that when a vanquisher has better range and armourbane at cost of -1S. If you really don't trust your tanks to hit or plan to aim at flyers take the Annihilator otherwise choose vanquisher.
Leman Russ Conquerer: The only non heavy leman russ. It is slightly worse in all ways than a standard leman russ. It is an autocannon that fires one small blast. Only good part is that it comes with a coaxial Storm bolter and doesn't cost more like the following tanks.
Alternate take: while it's main cannon may be pretty bad, it's listed as a fast vehicle. You heard that right, a fast Leman russ. Move 12 inches and fire 2 weapons at full ballistic skill. For its price it's not bad at all. For the exact same cost as a devil dog, you get a Leman Russ AV moving at fast speed with 2 multi-Meltas (instead of a melta blast) and a heavy bolter. At that point the autocannon blast could just be seen as a bonus extra option.
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. While twice the points and not as long-ranged as a Hydra, it's got better front and side armor 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 armour penetration) with a devastating range. Thus a bit costly for 1 shot at BS3. Not very useful really considering the amount of lascannons you should already have, if you use it primarily against vehicles. Give it a Lascannon as well as Plasma Sponson - and you get a unit perfectly fit to fight against Heavy Infantry. The Vanquisher has substantially improved reliability in a Death Korps list because the 6th ed update added co-axial weaponry; you can either grab a heavy stubber or storm bolter for 15 points which if it hits allows you to re-roll failed to-hits with the main weapon. Always pick the Heavy Stubber- the 12" greater range and 3 shots compared to 2 is simply better and remember that the Co-Ax is there to make the main gun more accurate, not be a weapon in its own right.
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.
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. Additional weapons also reduce the risk of your main weapon getting destroyed.
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?). 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: Kit one out a full triple Heavy Bolter set and a Heavy Stubber, at which point 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.
Leman Russ Executioner What devastation this brings. This thing lays waste to whole Terminator Squads and no matter what the enemy has - this one will hurt badly. The only problem might be that he is a bit costly and if the enemy has nothing with 2+, the Battle Tank is the better choice for points spent. Same might be true if the enemy has 2+ - the Demolisher (which can also, you know, demolish tanks) might be a more priceworthy alternative. However, if you have spare points - take one (and you should always have spare points for tanks). Even against those unexpected, plasma-syphoning allies take one and pray for the Emperor's blessing on your scatter dice. Give it Plasma Sponson, pray to Emperor that you won't overheat, and nothing will get in your way. As of IA:Siege of Vraks 2nd Edition the Executioner Plasma cannon has no more Get's Hot (Until they "fix" it again)
Death Korps Bombard Battery: Sadly changed from a fuckhueg artillery cannon to a Colossus Siege Mortar squadron. The Colossus cannon has the same range as the Basilisk Artillery Gun's Earthshaker (with a somewhat smaller minimum range and can only fire inderectly) and fires with strength 8 rather than 9. That said, its shells ignore cover saves, S8 will still subject all basic infantry to Instant Death (and wound T4 infantry on a 2+) and it's AP 3 is enough to ignore most armor saves. It is a potent anti-blob weapon -- unless it is shooting at units with an invulnerable save or a 2+ armor save, it will probably vaporize whatever it hits. To be clear: You read that right! Death Korp Bombard Battery are S8 unlike normal IG
Death Korps Heavy Artillery Battery: This is static artillery variants of Basilisk and Medusa and in 6th edition, artillery is awesome (until someone charges it). They are immobile and need crew, which could be killed (though they use gun's Toughness 7 against enemy shots), but they are also cheap. And because they aren't 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. Medusa only squads can be given bastion breacher shells and both versions of the Medusa are direct fire only.
There has been an update to the Lord of War choices on Forge World's website [1].
The Death Korps can now basically take all the Lords of War the regular guard has.
Look at their Tactica for more information!
Macharius Heavy Tank: Mini Baneblade of sorts. Standard Macharius has a Macharius Battle Cannon (7" Blast), two sponsons and two hull-mounted heavy Stubbers in the front. Unlike the Malcador, the Macharius has a full 360-degree traverse, so it can fire in any direction from its position.
Macharius Vanquisher: TWIN. LINKED. VANQUISHER. CANNONS. Also has two sponsons and two hull-mounted heavy Stubbers in the front. Hilarious anti-tank firepower. Also experiences Vanquisher Syndrome. Rejoice! Macharius vanquisher battle cannon can fire 7" blast shells or twin linked Vanquisher shells.
Macharius Vulcan: This tank makes Morkcry tears of joy. This Macharius has a Vulcan Mega Bolter on its turret, two sponsons and two hull-mounted heavy Stubbers in the front. If it remains stationary in its movement phase, it may fire its Vulcan Mega Bolter twice on the same target. Removes Tyranid players from the Apocalypse games in the radius of a few miles.
Also the DKoK has access to the following LoW choices listed in IA.1 Imperial Guard 2nd Edition:
Baneblade: The Baneblade is one of the most feared tanks the Imperium and Chaos posers have to offer. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, co-axial Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon, two Lascannons, three twin-linked heavy bolters, optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, its a rolling fortress of death. Comes standard with three structure points, AV14 front, AV13 side, and AV12 rear in the Apoc book. Can be commandeered by a Commissar to REALLY motivate your troops.
CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT: Picks up where the Gorgon slacked off. Has two Heavy Bolters (which you could should replace with better guns) on its nose, sponson weapons and it's completely closed. Carrying capacity of 35 (compare to Gorgon's 50). The main reason you should prefare CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT is speed. It's 12". For super-heavy vehicle. It's pretty much the IG's equivalent of a Land Raider (it costs exactly the same point-wise), and like the Predator vs Leman Russ, the CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT is more powerful, more durable, and generally better at it's job, which is also hilarious when you think about it.
Praetor Armored Assault Launcher: CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT with its transport capacity replaced with huge rocket launcher. Like the Minotaur is a super-Basilisk, the Praetor is a super-Whirlwind. Its backside houses a Multiple-Rocket Launcher, armed with either brutal S8 AP3 pie plates, less powerful horde-eating 7"-blasts, or anti-air krak missiles - in all modes its fire two twin-linked missiles per turn. And you can choose armament at the game starts, making Praetor very versatile. It also has two sponsons on the nose, just in case.
Gorgon Assault Carrier: The ultimate party bus. The Gorgon can transport entire platoons instead of just a single squad. Has two twin-linked Heavy Stubber turrets on the very back, and has the option of either sponson-mounted weapons or twin-linked Mortars. One thing to note is that the Gorgon is permanently open-topped. This can be good or bad, depending on how many Ogryns you packed inside. Also, you should notice AV10 rear armor, which means it would die like bitch to krak grenades or thinks like Deffkoptas. Sadly, according to IA1:2nd, passengers specifically cannot fire out of Gorgon despite being open topped, maybe because AV14 transport with 8 3-man heavy weapon teams would be totally broken. Fun fact: Since Gorgon Assault Carriers are open topped, your Korpsmen can assault after disembarking.
Malcador: Basically a bigger Leman Russ, half the size of a Baneblade. Like the Russ, it has a Battle Cannon, but has the option for Sponson Heavy Stubbers or Sponson Lascannons (Hint: This is the correct choice). Malcadors have a limited turret traverse, due to their weird design.
Malcador Defender: Instead of a Battle Cannon, has a bunker on the top with five Heavy Bolters and a Demolisher Cannon in the hull.
Malcador Annihilator: Has a twin-linked Lascannon turret weapon, and a hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon. May feel a bit schizophrenic despite seeming like a mainly anti-vehicle platform.
Malcador Infernus: Take a Malcador, throw out the turret, and give it a Titan-sized Inferno Cannon. It's a GIANT flamethrower tank, like a Hellhound on steroids. Also has Sponson weapon options, which is good to finish up the burned up squads.
Valdor Tank Hunter: Like a smaller Shadowsword, or specifically, like a bigger Destroyer Tank Hunter. It has a massive laser cannon. Has a single sponson mounted awkwardly on one side, firing arcs make it only useful for self-defense. Suffers slightly from the Vanquisher Syndrome of not being able to target enough things fast enough and having only has BS3. It does possess primary weapon D3 which vastly increases chances of successful penetration (Or Primary weapon 1 if you go by IAA rather than IAIG2nd), and AP1 highly increases chance of of the enemy vehicle being destroyed outright.
Aegis Defense Lines: Yes. This is mandatory. Whether you decide to use it to fortify your Quad Guns, Earthshakers, or form a gunline with your men, you're going to need this bugger. You can also take a quad gun for your dedicated AA and free an Elites slot.
Skyshield Landing Pad: Can offer a defensive strongpoint for a big gun of some kind, due to giving them a 4+ invuln, but for 75 points it isn't really worth it unless you manage to cram three Thudd Guns onto it. Perhaps even dropping a whole Heavy Weapon Platoon onto it could have its benefits (especially if they're all annoying, untouchable lascannons or mortars). However, ideally this should only be used for "fun".
Imperial Bastion: There's a sick kind of pleasure having a Company Commander standing ontop a bastion bellowing orders to the big guns, while the Master of Ordinance points at things below him and they explode. Good for cinematics, not really for practicality.
Fortress of Redemption: Kriegers are meant to destroy these kinds of structures, not defend them. Pass. (It helps that it's horrible as well.)
Kriegers aren't a very good army on their own. On the first few turns they could bring hell on the table - Land Raiders exploding from Medusa shells, Infantry cowers as an endless stream of mortar shells rains down on them, Hades Drills popping up from under ground, killing anything above them... But the Kriegers quickly run out of steam - Hades Drills and engineers die, and the bulk of enemy army comes too close. Despite their bravery and WS4, meat screens would eventually die and gun crews would follow them. It all would be so sad and grimdark, and you would ask the Emprah "What did I do wrong?", (except you wouldn't, because that is EXACTLY what Death Korps are meant to do,) when suddenly a golden light would beam through the skies and a mighty voice would yell "ALLIES, DUMBASS!"
Thats right. Kriegers need allies, due to dominating the rear and front of the table but lacking middle ground presence. Unfortunately as of IA:SoV, not only do they no longer ally as Guard do AND several Imperial factions are Allies of Convenience, worst Imperial faction Ally system due to their antisocial nature and creepy masks, but still Imperial Allies, so unless you want Blood Angels, Dark Angels, or Grey Knights to share transports/HQs with you, you're fine. Really ANY ally - a tough formation of meat-screened Krieg artillery is pretty damn scary and would draw all the firepower and all charges, to allow any other allies to come close to enemy, deploy and do their job. While the Kriegers die horribly in the name of Emperor. In 2v2 games this works even better, due to a lack of stupid force chart restrictions.
The Assault Brigade does not function the same way as Imperial Guard with respect to allies, in fact they work in a similar way to the Assault Brigade list, anything not on the list is "Come the Apocalypse" in terms of allies.
Imperial Agents This might actually make Death Korps much more competitive. Think: What is the Death Korps lacking? Air support. What does the Aeronautica have in abundane? Cheap, tax free air support. You can even make it a flyer wing to add two or more Valkyries to the mix, plus they get free reserve re-rolls for them. Hell, even an officer of the fleet would be a huge help to the army.
Similar to the Imperial Guard, but with emphasis on World War 1 like sieges, so no mech or other fancy and fast stuff.
Line Infantry
Line Infantry or (Blob guard) is a rather simple concept: Have more bodies than your opponent has bullets. The Deathkorps has access to Soldiers who laugh at the meatgrinder and will fight to the last man. You will overwhelm them in model count, in deaths a turn, in shots fired, you will have at least twice as many Heavy Weapons as they will. All of their Anti-Tank weaponry that was meant to take out the 150 point Leman Russ? It killed a few Korpsmen with lasguns, good job. The problems that come with such an awesome army composition is the lack of speed and how effective the enemy Anti-Infantry weaponry will be against you. A decent thousand point list might consist of 2 30 man Infantry Platoons, about 9 or so Heavy Weapon Teams, and your Command Squads (1x Company Command/2x Platoon Command) loaded out with Special Weapons. Throw in a Commissar General for Leadership, some cheap artillery pieces or an ADL and you're fine. Works best in a Cities of Death games: With all that cover and all those cover saves, your men will live a bunch longer, and confound the enemy to no end.
Flers 1916 or Tanks!
Leman Russes. Leman Russes of all kinds, everywhere. If it exists, there is a Leman Russ created specifically to murder the ever-living shit out of it. Punishers and Exterminators reap infantry blobs. Vanquisher removes tanks from the battle. Eradicators make cover useless. Executioners melt terminators into slag. Demolishers and Battle Tanks are omnivorous in their diet of destruction. Oh, and you can mix and match tanks within their respective squadrons. All squadron members must shoot the same target remember, so kit them accordingly! Remember to point your front armor towards the opponent, do not get flanked, don't get too close to melta, and enjoy removing parts of the enemy army every turn. You can keep at least one Elite slot for the sake of Hydras, or if you feeling ballsy, just rely on the Aegis Defense line. Keep them cheap and use your infantry as tank protection.
Battle of the Somme or Artillery Apocalypse
This is the way Deathkorps of Krieg is meant to be played: Take a few infantry squads with just standard guardsmen, say around 40-60 troopers, do not upgrade at all, these are meat shields. Fill up your remaining points with the Imperium's most destructive guns, which you luckily get in cheap bulk packs. Basilisks, Bombards, Medusae, Griffons and Thuddguns. While your enemy is dossing around trying to kill your infantry, your numerous guns pound them into dust. You name it, and there is a Cannon designed to vaporize it. You have 3 big guns with large blasts: Basilisks with S9 / AP3 will mow through standard infantry, whilst Medusae with S10 / AP 2 make sure even TEQ's shit their pants. Also you have the Colossus Bombard, which will bring the light of S8 / AP3 even to cover camping cowards. To those guns, most man-sized units suffer instant death. Then you get the small(er) Guns: Griffons throw pieplates of S6 / AP4 hate and Thuddguns will provide an endless rain of small S5 / DS5 blasts. This mind-blowingly massive amount of firepower is, however, completely useless if the crew is being hacked to pieces by deep striking terminators or some other such shenanigans. So this formation is best for large, pitched, foot-slogging battles, where your foes will be lucky to even reach your infantry lines if you've spent more than half your points on Artillery. So, enjoy crumpling every foodslogging poor bastard there is. With the exeption of superfast, highly mobile armys, you have a fair chance to shellshock every enemy into oblivion.
As usual, you should start with a HQ and 2 Standards and go from there. The Deathkorps Siege Regiment has a very unique playstyle, which restricts list buiding a bit. Find your prefered playstyle and concentrate in this direction. Deathkorps lists like it to be focused on one style, rather than be a jack of all trades. Like Sisters of Battle, you must make it count. Don't throw units away, but don't be afraid to sacrifice units, if needed. The Korpsman love synergy. Use Orders, buff units that need it most, prioritise targets. Don't be afrait of CC, but engage only heavily weakened units.
HQ units act as cheap buff for your army:
CCS will shout orders and is almost mandatory. Add a Master of Ordnance for even more Pie-Plates. Officer of the fleet is a nice addition, but situational at most.
The Commissar-General guarantees that your heavy weapons will listen to Orders and provides stubborn for CC. Place him in the center of your gunline.
The Quartermaster Cadre can greatly boost the survivability of Korpsmen and artillery guns.
Troops Act as meatshield for your big guns and to claim objectives.
Infantry Platoons: Think about their role, should they claim Objectives or bubblewrap your gunline? Equip them accordingly. Don't be afraid to sacrifice them, it's their sole GRIMDARK purpose. To say it in RPG slang: They are the meatshield of your party.
Combat Engineers: I'm not sure about them, if you do't want a second platoon take them. Could also work the same way as Ork 'Ard Boyz work, Providing a wall of armor for your T-Shirt wearing soldiers.
Elite is where the pain comes from. Near everything in this section delivers hurt in large quantities:
Grenadiers are frontline infantrie and MEQ-Killers. Use them to wipe the leftovers from objectives.
Hydra Flak Platform is another unit i'm not sure of. Flak will be better provided with an Quadgun ADL.
Rapier Laser Destroyers bring the pain for Monstous Creatures and all sorts of Armor. If you lack AT, take them.
Field Artillery Batteries will deliver and never disappoint. Take at least one Battery consisting of multiple guns. Griffons provides stronger and bigger blasts with AP4, but Thudd guns will provide more hits.
Hades Breaching drills will work great as distraction carnifex and to wipe enemy rearline units away. Use it that way. Prefered targets are tanks (whirlwind), heavy weapons teams(like devastors) and commanders(like Tau ethernals).
Fast Attack referres to mobile Units. Use them best to secure your flanks.
Cyclops require excelent positioning and luck. Use them to deny areas of the battlefield.
Hellhounds and their variations like to be in the fray. Don't hesitate to use them accordingly.
Death Riders: Ho boy, the Horsemen are riding! For most times ignored, most players learn the hard way about their errors, when their lines crumble under the hooves of these augmented mounts. Counter CC units and fast, mobile threads.
Heavy Support provides you with even more, bigger guns. Use them to batter your enemy into oblivion.
Heavy Weapon Platoons: Don't use them if you still have slots in your Platoons.
Thunderer Siege tanks provide cheap, massive firepower. Again, more of a fast flanking, or frontline unit, like Hellhounds.
Leman Russ Tanks provide a myriad of heavy weapons of all kinds. Use them as addition to your list and fill gaps, not the other way around. They can't carry the battle for you, but will support in every possible way.
Bombards bring hate to every cover camping fool on the table. Wipe the floor with those devastors.
Heavy Artillery Battery: If the Field Artillery is the sledgehammer, those guns are the Steamhammer. If shielded properly, those guns will raze every opponent.
Forgeworld don't sell the Gorgon Infantry packs any more, so the whole thing about cheap dudes has pretty much gone by the wayside, unless you can get them from eBay. Any you find on eBay will probably be crappy recasts, people have caught on to how valuable those sets are to Krieg players.
Everything else is as expensive as snorting diamonds. (Unless you are from Australia, in which case it's cheaper than normal plastic IG models. Go figure.) Not if you count shipping.
But what we didn't tell you is that Anvil industy sells some nicely detailed gas-mask troopers under the moniker of 'Imperial Borderer' that bear a striking resemblance to their more expensive FW counterparts. If you're dead keen on Gasmasks, Pig Iron Productions does a lot of different head options compatible with GW Cadians.
And of course, there are always your recaster buddies from China...
I would like to add if you plan on using Earth Shaker Cannons or Medusa Siege Guns you can easily substitute WW2 artillery cannons for them. Ultimate Soldier 1:32 M115 8 Inch Howitzer WWII-Vietnam Model Kit or a Trumpeter German 15cm s.FH 18 Field Howitzer can easily be either cannons. However that the first one already comes pre-painted but there are still many kits on ebay and amazon that don't come painted. Additionally, Victoria Miniatures (based in Australia) makes the Sledgehammer BFG which works quite well for an Earthshaker stand-in. It should be released mid-late 2017.
