Effects of the 6th edition rules on IG strategies?

[bangarang]

So, how do you think the new 6th edition rules may (pre-23rd) or will effect Imperial Guard strategies? I think infantry will rise in this edition along with the heavy emphasis on psykers, they could be a seriously potent force. I am unsure of the hull point system and it's effects on leaf-blower lists though. I can imagine allies being very fun... Paladins in a guard army would be lovely.

What are your opinions?

Also, you guys have an awesome forum going on here. As a player of 6 years, I regret not finding this earlier!

[krasimirova]

It is still too early to give good answers.. But luckily IG is such a single aspect and quite frankly easy army to play, since it relies 100% on shooting to be competitive, therefore all decisions the player has to make is to make his shooting more efficient..

Movement is to get either line of sight, to slow down enemies so that you can shoot them, move away from enemy so you can shoot them and so forth.. The rest is basically a question about target priority.

So unless 6th edition changes the rules for for close combat in such a way that IG will be the new bully on the block, I don't see IG tactics change too much, sure individual unit tactics will/might change, but I can bet you that Meltaguns, flamers, Plasmaguns, Missile launchers and Lascannons are still going to be the way to go for us.

If it is correct the rumors regarding psykers, then it would create a actual choice for us in our HQ section, where now you only see the Primaris in fun non optimized lists, mainly because the CCS is better in every aspect and support our troops via orders, if we could have the Primaris support us in the same way it would be great and create more unique lists.. (Lord commissars will have to keep being a price you pay to get camo cloaks on large blob squads)

Leaf blower lists.. (Hate this "name") Competitive guard is, as mentioned, all about shooting, so all optimized lists can be classified as leaf blowers.. So unless shooting take a MAJOR nerf in 6th, which dosn't seem likely when you take the rumors about cover going from 4+ to 5+ into account..

Hull points.. So now our Lemans can take 4 hits before "real" damage is taken.. Love that, it makes sense that main line battle tanks can take more knocks then back line field pieces.. <- This might give an answer to you "leaf blower" question as well..

Personally i am looking forward to going to the store tomorrow and having a look through the book..

Kras..

[krasimirova]

Might have a look over at Imperius btw..

www.imperiusdominatus.com/2012/06/nothing-to-see-here.html

[RedCuffs]

The cynic in me rising to the surface here.

www.darksphere.co.uk/articles/?news=games-workshop-price-rises-announced

This link to Dark Sphere shows which GW products were subject to the recent price rise (obviously ignore the other two games).

Lot of terrain in there, lot of tanks in there.

So, and this is just a hunch, I wonder if these units will have more of an impact in 6th Ed?
Threrefore more demand for those models?
Therefore more sales?
Therefore more profit?

[krasimirova]

Jun 22, 2012 5:01:24 GMT -5 RedCuffs said:

Threrefore more demand for those models?
Therefore more sales?
Therefore more profit?

Correct..

EDIT: to some extent, had a look through the list.. Bastions and other GW terrain will indeed go up in price, but these are all things that are easily "replaced" with custom terrain like bunkers and such, just like any other models actually..

It is quite clever what they have done, creating "units" that all races can utilize = overall larger demand on them.. Aegis defense lines are gonna be bought for the 4+ cover that isn't easy to get els where..

Poor Tyranids, Rav's only seeing a 2% increase I guess means they will still suck..

[AshotNINJA]

It says the rulebook goes on sale on the 30th of June... but preorders of it are able now from the website or in store... so really, until we actually read the book fully, its only speculation how it will affect ig play style.

[krasimirova]

Jun 22, 2012 3:12:58 GMT -5 krasimirova said:

It is still too early to give good answers..

[3ff3ct]

Jun 22, 2012 3:12:58 GMT -5 krasimirova said:

It is still too early to give good answers..

As above. When I have a copy in one hand, the IG codex in the other and a bit of free time, I will happily throw in my 2p worth Untill then it is all speculation, no matter what rumours I beleive in and am hoping to be true!

[Shostak(AWOL)]

After reading this months White Dwarf and gleaming some information, I might add a few ideas.

Guard really seem to get a bit of a bonus in a way. The fact that we can now buy ourselves fortifications could go a long way to alleviating the fragility of our infantry.

Units can now 'stand and shoot' when charged, (admittedly incredibly inaccurately). This will help guard squads whittle down the enemy a little before and assault. It could also make Stracken a viable option in a gunline army; being able to deliver a hail of defensive fire, then countercharge could help us take on enemy chargers, (particularly Orks with their low initiative) rather effectively.

The new 'Hullpoints' system seems to benefit our tanks, especially our heavy armour, since it increases their survivability.

I think Primaris Pyskers get a wider range of powers to play with, in addition to the codex ones; they pick a 'lore' and roll for the powers at the start of the game.

Wounds from shooting at least are now allocated to the models nearest to the firing unit, so bubble wrap the important things with lots of ablative wounds.

The new flier rules are rather interesting, but we are thankfully pretty well set in that regard, with Valks and vendettas. Hopefully they've given a nod to the Hydra in anti-air fire as well. On top of this, it seems we can purchase interceptor guns as part of the fortifications slots.

All army commanders get a bit of a boost due to special traits that you roll for at the start of each battle. Because you pick the type of trait you want, we will be able to kind of tailor our commanding officers to supplement our force.

Finally, the allies system allows us to include units from other armies as part of our list, potentially helping to reduce our lack of close combat ability somewhat.

So all in all, the game seems to have taken a step towards containing some realism. I think that it will be more bloody than ever for the men on the ground, but we have some nice special abilities to help us balance this. Gunline Guard and armoured columns seem to be stronger than ever, although I'm not sure how mechanized infantry will fare.

Shostak.

[DadCRO]

I hope gunline is more viable now, because really, that's what the guard are about. Millions of soldiers backed up by lemans and bassies.

[Rolling Thunder]

Something so inflexible is always going to be at a disadvantage against a more mobile enemy. Lord Solar Macharius himself said so.

[cheminhaler]

But if cover saves are going down gunline won't be viable.. unless you incorporate bastions and aegis defence lines into the list.

[Peter Cooman]

But gunline must be viable!!!

I just obtained a maxed out platoon

[AshotNINJA]

i cant help thinking that the whole buying fortifications bit is a little odd..

'hey guys, lets not attack each other so i can errect a bastion 100 yeards from you' that seems really strange.. i hope you know what i mean...

[vegna]

I know what you mean Ashot. I used a version of siege of vraks senario before, defender can buy defences. attackers can buy doctrines and special items and both sides could buy off board support such as air strikes and artillery. worked well but was a bit too complicated and we never fully tested and balenced it.

[Rolling Thunder]

Well, if I were a progressive-minded Guard commander with aerospace superiority, and going on the offensive, I'd simply airdrop the bastions into position to provide my men with a fortified position.

_{Let's not get into how retarded a three-storey, flat-sided medieval tower as a defensive position is. It's Warhammer. Leave all common sense at the door.}

[Hookah, S.C.]

Jun 23, 2012 20:25:00 GMT -5 Rolling Thunder said:

Well, if I were a progressive-minded Guard commander with aerospace superiority, and going on the offensive, I'd simply airdrop the bastions into position to provide my men with a fortified position.

_{Let's not get into how retarded a three-storey, flat-sided medieval tower as a defensive position is. It's Warhammer. Leave all common sense at the door.}

Or air drop them on the enemy filled with Guard.

[ElegaicRequiem]

Air drop poisoned supplies labeled "Care Package" on the enemy.

[Hookah, S.C.]

/tg/ is pretty pissed at the allies chart. We've yet to see how it's going to be properly implemented, so game-wise I'm not to sure. But it's certainly a bit of a butchery of the fluff.

[RedsandRoyals]

Jun 23, 2012 21:58:24 GMT -5 Hookah, S.C. said:

/tg/ is pretty urineed at the allies chart. We've yet to see how it's going to be properly implemented, so game-wise I'm not to sure. But it's certainly a bit of a butchery of the fluff.

/tg/ will be a supremely unhappy place for the next month or so, I think.

Reds

[brimlock11th]

I sure hope that gunline type lists will be a viable choise, because the enemy fliers can't fly if you... CLOG THE ENGINES WITH TONS AND TONS OF GUARDSMEN! And that will be neat!

[iggy666]

I think terrain could easily make sense if its limited, which I'm pretty sure it is. It would make sense that certain armies would quickly deploy cover for their troops before initiating an attack.

All of the Imperium, some of Chaos Space Marines, Tau, Tyranids, Necron, and Orks would have some sort of terrain near their forces. Hopefully it will be interesting and fun.

[Empirespy]

Tau only have the Run'Al, and it's not defensive, only observational. One of the main principles of the Tau military is that territory should not be held, it is simply the place to make the kill, and move to another place to make the kill, should a place be suitable for maintaining position, they will stay, but only until a kill cannot be made, or there is sufficient danger in remaining.

I wouldn't have thought Necrons cared about battlefield defence, but I don't know what Ward did to them, nor do I want to.

Even with this in mind, I do like the idea of buying fortifications and such, I think it will strengthen the bond between army lists and battlefield roles, and allow for more advanced strategies to be employed, as the the terrain will not be quite so important.

[Peter Cooman]

I think it could work, if they would allow it in scenario's that have a defender ONLY. Having a forced march and bringing your defense lines is just silly.

BTW guys in the article Kras posted there is this line:

"Flyers have to engage hover mode to allow units to disembark. While hovering flyers are counted as a fast skimmer."

This could mean that the 'grav insertion' rule has just made our valks superior to other flyers

[treadiculous]

I'm with RT on the terrain issue.. since when did 2 forces of equal measure ever meet on a pre-determined area with approx 25% terrain and 2 random locations chosen as objectives?

The terrain rules make it feel a bit like an RTS game where your builder units setting up and unpacking the barracks while you're busy moving your infiltrators and scouts into position.

Gunline will always be viable.. I have never played to win, but because I want a tabletop to look freaking awesome for a few hours... and a table covered in hundreds of dudes with bugger all chance of suviaval facing of against evil daemons, monsterous tanks and mighty robots will never tire despite what they do to the rules. (I'll just write my own if I have to)... (or save the bother and use RT's).

If you can airdrop a bastion.. why not airdrop a freaking huge bomb 24" further forward?