Fresh faced recruit, I'd like a little help.

[Ferrum]

Hello commissar!
My name is Ferrum and I have never played with the imperial guard before, I am considering building up an Air Cav army that is themed after the legendary highlanders regiments, they shall all wear kilts (they are manly!!!!).

My first question is the composition of such a force, as I pondered the idea of an air cav army I came across an issue, I'm not sure if it's actually a problem but I thought it might be. Most armies in history are NOT centered around their air force, they rely upon the footsloggers and tanks to fight the battles while the flyboys take pot shots and support. So I am wondering if I make an air cav army, will I still need to take large numbers of ground troops and possibly even tanks? Mind you I do not yet possess the codex: Imperial Guard so I know nada about their rules, this is because I'm still in the planning stages of this army.

Thanks for looking

[Julian Sharps]

Not necessarily. I run a list composed almost entirely of carapace veteran squads and company command sections mounted in Valkyries (except for one command section, which is the one with the astropath), usually with only Marbo (the platoon sergeant) and a Manticore (the spotter Chimera for the Marauder Missile Carrier that's back using the horizon as cover) filling up the rest of my points. The highest armor value my vehicles have is 12, which is somewhat low for most other sides (seeing as any good Space Marine mechanized force will have at least one Predator, Vindicator and/or Land Raider; it would be rare indeed for a mechanized Tau player to go without at least one Hammerhead; I believe that the Exorcist has front AV 13, so mechanized Sisters also have some heavy armor; Orks have their Battlewagonz; the only Necron vehicle out there is the Monolith). You'll most likely only see numbers that low for Eldar (highest is AV 12, unless I'm mistaken), Dark Eldar (not counting Vect's personal Raider, highest is AV 11) and Tyranids (no vehicles at all).

The thing about air cavalry is that you have to think less like a more traditional Guard player and more like a mechanized Eldar or Dark Eldar player. Your armor isn't going to be all that great (despite that the Imperial Guard have one of the best-armored fast skimmers in the game), but that's okay. The best way to avoid getting shot down is to not be there when the shot hits; therefore, moving fast and taking advantage of that cover save is key.

The beauty of fast skimmers in general is that (usually) you can be halfway across the board in one movement phase, (usually) laugh haughtily as your opponent fails to hit your skimmers, fails to penetrate their armor or fails to do anything as you make your cover saves, and then (usually) dish out the pain in your next shooting phase. Air cavalry requires quite a bit of boldness, a lot of cunning and a small amount of luck to work properly, but when it does you can fly circles around almost anyone (except for Eldar, who are just as fast as your are or Dark Eldar, who are even faster).

I'm generally opposed to taking main battle tanks in an air cavalry list as they simply cannot keep up (and I'm very much against Hellhounds and their variants for the simple reason that they compete with Valkyries for Fast Attack slots). Artillery isn't quite as bad in that regard as they're not supposed to keep up, but especially since Leman Russes of every flavor are among the slowest tanks in the game you'll want them to have a long range (so basically the Leman Russ and the Vanquisher) or you'll find that your flyboys have to babysit them as they toddle up towards the enemy line.

While the number of troops available to you will be restricted, it's actually not that much of a problem as long as your birds are still flying (seeing as you can make a mad dash for objectives at the end of the game and you'll most likely make it if you do), although I seriously considered taking a basic platoon in my 2000-point list (I later settled on the Manticore). While you're thinking strategically when it comes to army composition, 40K is very much a tactical game; strategy really only comes into play during campaigns and spectacularly large Apocalypse games, and stranger armies have been played to great effectiveness.

[Ferrum]

Thanks for the reply!
That makes a lot of sense, especially the bit about the tanks being slow and 'toddling'. Its interesting that the army is still effective even with it's small number of men, is this because you mostly need large nbers of men just to get places with any left? And since air cav can get places fast they only need as many men as would kill the enemy?
I like the idea of having a single artillery piece, be it a bassie or a manticore, simply because they can save the day. My fondest 40k memories are of my Iron Warriors Basilisks killing enemy units with a single shot, even marines died like that.
I think a basilisk would add a lot of desirable firepower to a list that in general has sacrificed the big guns or lots of medium sized ones with jets.
It also seems like itd be just too fun to scream around the battlefield with almost impunity, laughing off AA fire.

Happy new year and thanks for reply!

[Julian Sharps]

Well, you won't be laughing off AA fire, I can assure you that! Just about anything else? Probably. It says something about the build when I'm more worried of Tau Smart Missile Systems than I am of their railguns.

An important thing to keep in mind with Air Cavalry is that we don't have the insane firepower that a gunline Guard build has access to (when I say insane, I mean that assuming no points constraints it is entirely possible to field 139 indirect fire weapons in a gunline list without breaking the standard FOC constraints [128 mortars, 9 artillery vehicles and two Masters of Ordnance]). Because of this, you need to choose your battles and attack critical elements of the enemy firebase such as tanks, HQ units and heavy weapons squads, taking them out as quickly as possible. The Air Cavalry attack style isn't so much about bludgeoning them to death as dissecting them.

[Ferrum]

Ah that's perfect! Dissection is well within the fluff of my army, they use the Valkyries to laugh pinser attacks from behind enemy lines. I'm fine with no mortars, let alone 130 haha! But I hope that by going air cav I won't be sacrificing infantry platoons of infantry. I was thinking about running 4 veteran squads with the grenadier stratagem with shotguns and a shotgun priest as well as 3 meltas. Each of the veteran squads (highlanders) will have a Valkyrie. I was also planning on having two additional infantry platoons, and this brings me to my next question, can I field a platoon in Valkyries? I was thinking having a small platoon consisting of heavy weapons teams and a PCS, the second part is how feasible is this idea? I was thinking it would be very helpful to have the veteran squads disembarking under heavy cover fire from the teams, and I would also have 5 Valkyries, and one vendetta. There would be a second platoon consisting of both infantry squads and heavyweapons teams on the ground, possibly with APCs if affordable. This would be a 2500 pts list and I dot have the codec yet so I'm not sure if any of that is legal, I'm very sorry if that's annoying but I'm on vacation right now

Cheers, Ferrum

[Julian Sharps]

Oh, sure it's possible to field platoons in Valks. Just run a minimum-sized platoon composed of a PCS and two Infantry squads (not a combined squad) and give that platoon a full Valkyrie squadron.

For example:

Troops: Infantry Platoon
- PCS w/ Vox, 3x Grenade Launchers - 50
- 2x Infantry Squads w/ Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Vox - 140
Fast Attack: 3x Valkyries w/ Rocket Pods - 390
Total: 580

Okay, that's a little pricey points-wise, but you have a platoon transported entirely by Valkyrie (or Vendetta. A Valkyrie with rocket pods and a Vendetta cost the same, anyway). If points are an issue, you can always drop the rocket pods; just be aware that the Hellstrike missiles it comes with don't have a blast template, and you have to be moving pretty slowly to be able to fire only one of them.

Once you have a substantial footslogging firebase, your list ceases to be an Air Cavalry build and becomes a gunline with an airborne assault element. Besides, you'll probably be spending half your points on Valkyries anyway, so it's not likely that you'll even have a substantial static firebase.

If you want a second opinion, talk to RT or ssgtdude. They also have a lot of experience with Air Cavalry lists.

[Ferrum]

Hmm that makes a lot of sense. I'll stop thinking about the large infantry platoon then, because it seems like it would detract from the overall usefulness of the air cav, since it seems that it'd better to deploy a bunch of squads with Valkyries rather than just a few, and then have a legion of men marching up slowly.
An idea I had was to give the footsloggers Al'rahiem to get them up more quickly, but since points are an issue I'd probably drop that idea an take a platoon or two within Valkyries, and then veteran squads as well.
Is it worth it to put the CCS in a Valkyrie? It seems a little risky since they could get shot down and I'd have lost my leader. A lot of lists i've seen whilst lurking have te CCS in a chimera, which is cheaper and safer in a way.
What's your opinion on this?

I like the platoon build you've posted a lot, since it would compliment shotgun/melta priests very well, giving some anti-infantry punch right up where it's needed. What about a platoon of 3 heavy weapons teams and the pcs. Shouldn't they fit in two Valkyries if the heavy weapon teams are 6 men and the pcs is 5?

[Julian Sharps]

I also run with a command Chimera (in Dawn of War it's practically the only thing I have on the table until turn 2), but I also run a second one armed to the teeth with meltaguns and krak grenades mounted in a Valk for the purpose of making tanks go away (they replaced my Storm Troopers and I haven't looked back).

As for your question about the heavy weapons squads, no. Only one squad may be mounted in a transport at any given time. Also, said platoon wouldn't exactly be legal unless you took a pair of infantry squads for it as well, as every platoon must have a PCS and 2-5 infantry squads.

[Ferrum]

Ah okay then. So I'd probably be better off not running the heavy weapons squads at all then, and het putting missile launchers into my infantry squads? It'd be more mo Ike like that anyhow and the heavy guns would be safe inside a lot of disposable lasguns.
Are vultures worth it at all? It just seems like a vendetta with a veteran squad would be better if you wanted a Shooty plane, but then again it would also be easier for me to commit a culture to harmsway because there isn't a unit within it.
What do you think about them?
And one last question regarding the heavy weapons teams, is it a good idea to mount each on inside of a valkyrie? It just seems like a bit of a waste to have such small squads in such an expensive transport.

[Julian Sharps]

Well, nothing says "get the hell off my objective" like 6 Valkyries collectively carrying an entire platoon (PCS, 2x infantry squads and 3x heavy weapons squads). Besides, it might be nice to have a firebase of sorts that at least can be mobile...

[Ferrum]

True true, that would be rather amusing haha!
This is a noob question but is there a limit to how many Valkyries I can take? Or are they dedicated transports?
I just wouldn't necessarily want to give up veteran squads inside Valkyries just to have a massive aerial platoon!

[StillANoob]

You can take a mximum of 9, in three squadrons of three. They are a fast attack choice not a dedicated transport.

[Ferrum]

Okay nine is plenty. I could do one full platoon with 1 pcs 2 infantry squads, and 2 heavy weapons teams as well as 4 veteran squads. Is it a good idea to put the CCS in a Valkyrie? Or just have it inside a chimera or something along those lines?

[Julian Sharps]

I personally would put them in a Chimera and give them an Astropath so your birds get on the table in a timely manner. This way, you have a spare Valkyrie to put something else in.

[Ferrum]

Yeah that is a great idea, that way I can also hide my CCS somewhere well out of harms way, since it's a lot harder to spot a chimera than a Valkyrie!
If I have an extra fast attack slot are Vultures a good investment at all? Or is a Valkyrie with a squad going to help me more in general?

[coldash]

Typically with my army as an example, I placed in the top 5 at a local tourney recently(2w,1d), I field 2 valks and 2 Vendies(Ill be upping that to 3 valks soon). I run MRP on all Valks, pie plates are great, 2 are even better. Thats the only upgrade, and I also run two non-upgraded Vendies.
My army was 3 storm trooper squads, 2 vet squads, a CCS with an OoF(only really was helpful against the BA player and even then, that was my draw). Think I had something else too.

I was in a tourney that allowed FW and ran Elysians the month prior and realized I could plow through infantry heavy lists(subtract a Vendy and add two Vultures) but was woefully under gunned for taking out tanks, even with large numbers of meltaguns. Vendies became a requirement and i dropped something to add a new one in.

general guidelines I go by.
-Do not leave home without at least two individually squaded Vendettas.
-When you play, reserve everything except maybe the command squad.
- I do not see the purpose of wasting points on voxes.
- The enemy needs to have a reason to come out of their deployment zone.
-I find a mortar in that squad is very valuable. They cant ignore it and its super cheap. During one game alone the CCS mortar killed 200 points of enemy models from safely out of LOS.