1500p Vostroyans from potential IG player

[Deleted]

Hello everyone,

I am a long-time Empire player in Warhammer and have in the past dabbled with various 40K armies through different editions of the game, but have always found the game system wanting. I must confess I still do, but due to the popularity of the game around where I live and the excellent background and miniatures I have decided to pursue the path of collecting a 40K army once more.

My main gripe with the system is that it encourages army lists designed to win rather than to play for fun, and fluffy and balanced armies tend to come out last. Not least with my chosen army, the Imperial Guard, this seems to be a problem. If you don't field a wholly disgusting amount of plasma guns you stand little chance against anything in Power Armour etc. At least that has been my experience around here.

Now new codices are churning out from Games Workshop with ever-cheaper and ever better choices, while the Imperial Guard still pay twice the points for a Heavy Bolter compared to Space Marines, and when the new Ork codex hits the shelves an Ork Shoota Boy will cost the same as an Imperial Guardsman.

My question to your experienced generals is this: I want to field a Vostroyan army. I have picked my own doctrines (Army based in Cossacks and no Rough Riders? What was Games Workshop thinking?) and my main priority is the miniatures. Consequently, I endeavour to field at least one of every Vostroyan miniature available, sans the snipers. Will the following list, or lists similar in approach to it, be reasonably competitive in a semi-friendly, none-tournament gaming group?

Vostroyan Firstborn Imperial Guard

1500p

Doctrines: Storm Trooper squads, Rough Rider squadrons, Ogryns, Iron Discipline, Sharpshooters


HQ I: Command Platoon

Command Squad:
Heroic Senior Officer Anton Ivanovich Denikin with close combat weapon, laspistol and iron discipline.
Veteran Guardsman with company standard and lasgun. Guardman with vox-caster and lasgun. Two Guardsmen in weapon team with mortar and lasguns.
101p

Sentinel Support Squad:
Two Sentinels with multi-lasers and searchlights.
92p


Elite I:
Veteran Sergeant Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov with close combat weapon, hellpistol, frag grenades and surveyor. Two Storm Troopers with flamers, frag and krak grenades. 6 Storm Troopers with hellguns, frag and krak grenades. Storm Trooper with hellgun, vox-caster, frag and krak grenades. Squad has infiltrate and deep strike upgrades.
145p

Elite II:
Veteran Sergeant Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak with close combat weapon, plasma pistol, frag and krak grenades and surveyor. Two Storm Troopers with plasma guns, frag and krak grenades. 6 Storm Troopers with hellguns, frag and krak grenades. Storm Trooper with hellgun, vox-caster, frag and krak grenades. Squad has infiltrate and deep strike upgrades.
163p


Troops I: 1st Infantry Platoon

Command Squad:
Junior Officer Alexander Ilyich Dutov with close combat weapon, bolt pistol, surveyor and iron discipline.
Guardsman with lasgun. Guardsman with vox-caster and lasgun. Two Guardsmen in weapon team with lascannon and lasguns. Sharpshooter doctrine.
88p

1st Infantry Squad:
Veteran Sergeant Andrei Grigoriyevich Shkuro with close combat weapon, laspistol and surveyor. Guardsman with vox-caster and lasgun. Guardsman with plasma gun. Two Guardsmen in weapon team with heavy bolter and lasguns. 5 Guardsmen with lasguns. Sharpshooter doctrine.
103p

2nd Infantry Squad:
Veteran Sergeant Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin with close combat weapon, laspistol and surveyor. Guardsman with vox-caster and lasgun. Guardsman with plasma gun. Two Guardsmen in weapon team with heavy bolter and lasguns. 5 Guardsmen with lasguns. Sharpshooter doctrine.
103p

Troops II: Armoured Fist Squad:
Veteran Sergeant Viktor Leonidovich Pokrovsky with close combat weapon and laspistol. Guardsman with vox-caster and lasgun. Two Guardsmen in weapon team with heavy bolter and lasguns. Guardsman with grenade launcher. 5 Guardsmen with lasguns. Sharpshooter doctrine. Mounted in Chimera with hull-mounted heavy bolter, turret-mounted multi-laser, extra armour, rough terrain modifications and smoke launchers.
197p


Fast Attack I:
Veteran Sergeant Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin with lasgun and meltabombs. Two Rough Riders with meltaguns and meltabombs. Rough Rider with lasgun and meltabombs. Rough Rider with vox-caster, lasgun and meltabombs.
91p

Fast Attack II:
Two Sentinels with lascannons and searchlights.
112p


Heavy Support I:
Leman Russ Battle Tank Glasnost with battle cannon, hull-mounted heavy bolter, heavy bolter side sponsons and rough terrain modifications.
160p

Heavy Support II:
Basilisk Perestroika with earthshaker artillery gun, hull-mounted heavy bolter, indirect fire and improved comms.
145p

[Deleted]

Welcome to the Guard Fafnir :] I agree that 40k tends to favor 'nothing in moderation' and built-to-win armies far far more then wfb(god I miss it -_-), But the unexpected does happen xD and with the guard, it can happen a LOT because there's a ton of em. These little guys will surpise and dissapoint you in equal measure :]

The list looks very solid from an effectiveness point of view(and good on you for going 100% vostroyan, it's so rare. Brownie points for the names also) but I have a few cents to give if your interested:

First off, your command HQ. looking at the gear you've given him, you want him to be there mostly for moral support(I do this too). IMHO you should give his squad a master-vox(when your line is really getting hammered your going to be taking LOTS of morale checks), and give him a decent ranged weapon like a storm bolter. Also carapace armor, its so cheap and more often then not can mean he actually gets a save. A Commissar in the squad(although pricey) will give him +1 on ld tests he takes for squads down the chain of command, which is always nice.

Second, I would strongly suggest giving your Vet sergeants and Jnr. Officer power weapons. we've got the cheapest power weapons in the game(i think) and it's a huge help for very little cost.

And finally some niggling little points; don't give your stormtroopers infiltrate AND deepstrike, you can just say infiltrate OR deepstrike, and save 10pts, seeing as you can't do both in one game. Also the concept of roughriders without hunting lances boggles me, right now it looks like a heavy infantry/tank killing squad but I would strongly suggest you stick to hunting lances, they make RR's into truly devastating counter-assualt cavalry, they are also cheaper that way. If you want to give them some anti-armor capability, even just giving the vet sergeant meltabombs would suffice.

That may seem like A LOT of criticising but really I think this list is very good, especially for a (40k) neophyte. The Russ and basiliks are choices you will never regret, Heavy bolters make a very versatile choice when it comes to heavy weapons and sentinels are great because a lot of people largely ignore them in favor of the bigger stuff rolling around :}. Oh and nice with picking handy wargear like surveryors and searchlights, so handy yet you hardly ever see them used.

[Deleted]

Many thanks thefanciestofpants for your reply. It was exactly what I wanted.

To defend my choices a bit; the Rough Riders without Hunting Lances is intentional. They are nice and cheap yet fast and able to pack a serious punch in the anti-tank department, against Dreadnoughts, large lumbering tanks etc, yet it is my guess that they will be largely ignored by the enemy.

Now, the rest of your advise I wholly agree with. The problem is, as you can imagine, all the things you list cost points. The master-vox and Commissar in particular are both rather expensive. Master-vox and a power weapon for the Storm Trooper Sergeant with the flamer squad would be my priority, but I can't see where I'd take the points from.

Can you?

[Deleted]

Hm, getting lean on points is always a hard call, but as for the obvious picks(for me) I would leave your Infantry squad sergeants alone, and forget making them vets, unless you want to give them special wargear. there's 18 points.

After that it's hard choices.. maybe get rid of the rider's meltabombs(just give em to the sarg.), if your going to keep them with double melta guns it wouldnt be that big a deal imo, and thats 16 points right there. So if you can stomach those cuts you would have enough for a mastervox, and a few power weapons to boot.

The master vox is absolutely worth the points by the by. As long as your HSO is safe somewhere your army will be rock solid, especially with iron disc.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

Again, many thanks for your advise. I think I'm actually going to take them

Master-vox and Carapace Armour for my Heroic Senior Officer. Power Weapons for Storm Trooper Sergeants and the Junior Officer. Ditch the Veteran Sergeant upgrade (and this unfortunately the Surveyors) for the Infantry Squads and the Armoured Fist. Remove the meltabombs on the Rough Riders (at least for normal squad members). And save 20p on the Storm Troopers with either/or instead of both upgrades.

I actually have some spare points to play around with now. Thanks! ;D

[Deleted]

No probs man! Post some pics of the vostroyans once you get rolling

[Deleted]

If I can bother this here fine site once more, I have a further question:

I have 43 points to spare. I'm considering turning the Storm Troopers into Veterans, dropping Sharpshooters for the regular troops and giving everyone Carapace Armour instead. Is this a good idea?

PS: The Codex is a bit unclear - would I have to give the Rough Riders the same Carapace Armour as the rest, or does the Rough Rider exception work both ways?

[Deleted]

Never mind, it looks like that will be too expensive. I gave the Rough Riders their Meltabombs back instead.

Still have 23p left though. I could simply give misc. equipment to my officers and veteran sergeants, but that seems a bit dull. Any suggestions?

[Mabus]

Welcome Fafnir. I apologise for not saying anything before I hadn't noticed the post. i really would not bother with the rough riders. The tactic you plan on employing is easy to spot, your enemy is likely of spotting the tactic straight away and even if they don't the tactic will never work more than once against against an enemy.

I would recommend swapping the mortar for a Lascannon or auto cannon or even another heavy bolter. The mortar is best employed behind your main line. The HQ command squad would be best deployed near the frontline where they're leadership boost will appreciated by the guardsmen around them.

Hope that helps!

[Deleted]

mabus said:

Hope that helps!

Not even remotely, but many thanks for the input!

Ditching Rough Riders in an army visually based in Cossacks is a strict no-no, as is not including a mortar when there is a very nice miniature for it.

Anyway, I have figured out how to finish the army. Many thanks to this site for assistance.