Devolution - going back to the old codex's.

[vulpine]

So recently a friend of mine has asked if we would like to do a 40k campaign.

We had a bit of a head scratch and discussed older editions of 40k, pros and cons. 7th and 6th... Are okay and this ain't the thread for that argument... 2nd to sluggish and complicated. 3rd to plain. 5th was the start of codex creep. So we went for 4th...

This appears to have been a trap for me. 4th guard codex... I mean really! 70pts per squad! doctrine, nice idea but bad execution, your losing options and it's costing, as if it didn't cost enough for a guardsman.

But when it really hit me it was this... Basically the guard are the same, stats wise. But I get less bang for my buck.

Translation of my 7th ed 2k army list is basically the same but with 40% less guard....

I'm thinking, okay, smaller games, no big deal. But that's wrong... Space/chaos marines, in essence also the same and around the same Points. Orks boys, Eldar Guardians and Aspects, Nids, Necrons and Tau all around the same stats/rules and all round about the same points, give or take.

Everyone's army list is basically the same amount of troops but the guard. Perhaps some might lose two models from a squad or have to drop a item that didn't exist back then. But in Outline the same looking army.

Not the guard!

And if winning in 7th wasn't hard enough, how on throne did we do it back in 4th!?? And no orders!!! Or am I missing some bonus guard got in 4th?

[cheminhaler]

I first started playing just before 5th, after a lifetime of collecting.

Special equipment: chem-inhalers worked fine for me in an infantry heavy list and it ended up being 80 points per squad base, but my entire army were Stubborn.

Just go very, very minimalist on the upgrades. Any of the official regiments are unusable unless you 'remake' them as a different regiment that costs less points, with less expensive doctrines.

The free doctrine 'close order drill' = essential.

[cheminhaler]

The codex to watch out for is the Chaos 3.5 codex. Here is a link explaining why (Iron Warriors getting basilisks and 4 hs slots was a big thing)

bolter and chainsword

[ElegaicRequiem]

If you're playing 4th ed, you want moar snipers. Make use of stacking your dudes into cover and exploit the snot out of target priority.

[highlander74]

In 4th edition i Run an all drop guard list with 24 meltagun and some plasma. Shaffer and lot of demo charge in one man squad. Never lost a game!!!