Help me with Tactics.

[Deleted]

Hello all.

I'm still having trouble winning games and think I need to rethink my tactics then my lists.

Most games we play on are open boards with no terrain. The game generally goes with me lining up at the back of my deployment and trying to shoot everyone as they come. Its completely open fire lines for me, thats a good thing right? Well it hardly ever works out for me. I generally lose. Or some drop troops come and hide directly behind their drop pods so I can't hit them because I'm in a line.

Or if there is terrain things generally go the same way. We play on 4 by 4 boards. Because of this once they hit my line, they just roll right through it.

So now I'm thinking what can I do? So I'm thinking I need to be more aggressive. I need to infiltrate more and use drop troops. I need to drive my tanks up on one flank s and be able to shoot anyone who hides behind a drop pod.

I'm thinking what about having half my army infiltrate. A platoon HQ, 2 infantry platoons and 3 5 man vet squads with 3 Plasma guns infiltrating all on one flank. Hoping to blow away one flank then stall them in CC a bit.

Or if there is just one unit alone on one flank for whatever reason infiltrating a ton there and annihilating that unit and now having 2 fire bases.

What do you all think about mass infiltrating? What are other tactics or general things that you could tell any IG player to improve their game? I've read a lot of stuff online but still can't figure things out.

What should I do about drop troops? Should I spread out?

How can I keep my Guardsmen lines from rolling up? I keep thinking if I take some drop troopers and infiltrators my lines won't be as packed so I can spread out more 6 apart to keep men from consolidating into me.

I think I'm not getting something about playing the Guard that everyone else does. I just know I'm missing something because I'm losing a ton. Yeah its just a game and it doesn't matter if you lose a lot but when you keep losing and you are not improving your gain with whatever it is "you learned" then it begins to get depressing.

I think the Imperial Guard is the coolest army, yet I want to stand a tactical chance in games I play too.

How do you go about winning games? What are some general principles you have. I try and choose something and shoot it until it dies. Yet after a game vs eldar and I wasted a ton of shots on a wraith ord that took forever to kill I'm thinking maybe I should just shoot weak things until they die. Because that wraithlord wasn't killing anything, yet some units with guns behind were ripping guardsmen like nothing.

last time I posted this about my list I won some games, yet after that it went down hill again!

[Deleted]

I think it may also boil down to whatever you're list is, if you would kindly post your army list, it would help us break down the problem some more. Although, so far, I've found split forces into one defensive covering line, and one assaulting. IE charge with a lot of conscripts under heavy bolter, lascannon, and basilisk cover. While Deepstriking Storm Troopers into the back of his deployment.

Though, I'm a little rusty, you can check out one of my battle reports below. (Okay, it's just the one)

www.40konline.com/mos/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=861&topic=138544.0

or some of Ailaro's

www.wizardhat.com/dove/folera/bat-reps.html

[Deleted]

Yeah, a list would be helpful. But also, if you are playing IG agianst MEQs (Marine Equivilents) on a terrainless battlefield then you have little hope of winning. Also, I found that using your tanks as integrated support for your infantry works well. Use them to paste any enemy unit that gets too close to your infantry line. Use drop troops w/ meltas or some lascannons to deal with enemy tanks.

[Rolling Thunder]

You want terrain. Fortifiactions are always useful in your own part of the board. If the enemy gets one, don't worry, he'll not get any use out of it *nudges and points to hellhound*.

For anti-deepstrike, I'll be starting a new post on this subject shortly, cause I only know one SM player who dosen't use it.

[sammy1979]

its a problem i think we all faced @ one time or another, 1 method is just pack everything in tight so there's no room for drop pods or deep strikes (not very effective i've tried it) being more aggresive wont always help the last thing any one wants to do is go toe to toe with a charging assault smurf, i'd use more tanks and afv's to give more chance of surviving a flanking manouver, and always keep a demolisher handy @ the back, as its just nuts about killing deepstriked smurfs, and drop pods. but really you need to get some decent cover and fortifications for those important 4 + cover saves and keeping the hulking brutes off your troops by making them charge into difficult terrain, and lastly mine fields work well at keeping the enemy in a decent shooting range

[sammy1979]

oh and make them play on 6x4 board playing the long table, it gives your bassies more time to smeg everything

[Deleted]

About the boards was something I noticed. I would always think how Basilisks are the most useless weapon until I found the standard board width.

There isn't much terrain to hunker down with. Also how does a demolisher kill deep strikers like crazy? Deep strike, and come out of the pod on the opposite side of the tank. If you force it to move its double scatter and is bound to not hit right. T

The more I think about it the table length would probably have won me a lot more games. My guardsmen wouldn't be standing next to each other. Its near impossible to keep massed guardsmen squads out of consolidation range. When you hit one squad your gonna hit them all in most situations. Half the time small units breach other parts of the line so I have no where to run.

I need to take less Guardsmen squads, maybe max veterans each game. Yet they still die like regular guardsmen. Which is why I need cover.

I'm at a big disadvantage at this place. :S I posted my lists just to know too.

[Deleted]

A little trick ive only tried a coouple times but has always worked is full prof. Okay first get a witch hunter HQ and a ton of Karskin.

Then when your oponent is ready to face a guard army you pull oout your newly bought which hunters and boom! you oponents weak weapons arn't prepared for power armour.

And then you just use Both armys so much that your opponent waist so many points not knowing if there will be power armour or not so that when he does half his army is only killing one guy a turn. But this can back fire as your common opponent may just get a second army too. By the way? who do you most commonly fight?

[Deleted]

how can you not lose with that army list!! i just read it and it is very impressive. 3 russes and a solid troop choice, as well as stormtroopers and veterans. hmmm, anyways......try this tactic. Deploy half your army on the far left and one on the far right. When he drop pods his guys, you will have cross fire lanes because if he dropped towards your left, he would deploy his guys behind the drop pod, but you would still see him because your lemun russ can just blast its battlecannon at their backs. it will take your opponent longer to kill yuor army because if he targets one side, it will take him longer to get to your other side and during this time, you would have time to re-adjust your army and still take large pop shots at his

[Deleted]

Thats a very good idea. I will try it. Also the past 4 games I played I used different lists and joint command with a new Guard player. Yet before that I was losing with that list.

I will try and play some regular lists like the one I posted again, with that amazing tactic. Is there anyway I can improve that list? Is it actually impressive or just an ok list?

[sammy1979]

nah yah demolisher sits smack bang in the midle its 24 gun can then hit every bit of your line pn a 4x4 its strength lots ap low so it kills power armour and its ordenance so even if they hide behind a drop pod you just smeg the pod and catch them in the blast. or with the demolisher as a line holder and a couple of hvy weapons teams on either side giving fire support, they wont dare drop in. and if you follow troopers plan of spliting your force in two wings then have your demolisher in the midle its like zulu's horns of the buffolo tactic, they drop into your pre prepaired kill zones then if they hide behind the pod there exposed to the flank attack alternativly they get smeged by the demolisher, most drop podding players never launch weighty frontal attacks, so if you make front lines that look tough they will rely on drop podding into your rear if you set up right they will only be able to drop pod into areas you've left clear just for this purpose.

[Rolling Thunder]

The demolisher's beauty is that you won't have to move, because the enemy deepstrike squad will most likely die under its template. Two demolishers are even better for this as well.

[sammy1979]

hear hear rolling thunder, its mighty weapon is deepstrike bane and its hard as hell to kill as well so the answer to your problems is become a tread head and bring on the ordenance. trust in the scatter dice!

[Deleted]

Half my army deepstrikes and I win consistently... some special weapon squads and demo charges wouldn't hurt...

[Deleted]

hmmm....now that u think of it, demolishers ARE sweet when up against deepstrikes. and yes you should trust in the sctter dice, cos landing a direct hit makes it bye-bye for that squad deepstriking, heck lots of points wasted

[The Refined Gentleman (M.I.A)]

good job comrade! the imperium is proud!

[Rolling Thunder]

*snort*

The deployment of powerful, short range weaponery is the key to dettering your enemies from attacks on your line. I once forced an assaulty Khornate player (like there's any other kind) to bunch all his units into a single narrow defile between the firing ranges of two demolishers..... and then I dropped in two demo-charge teams and wiped out most of his army.

[Deleted]

Rolling Thunder, now that opens up an idea that just might work. Occasionally Flander Fields (our terrainless boards), has huge hills, when those hills are present everyone has their armies hug it very closely. That could lead them into a killzone, a killzone created by deepstrikers and tanks moving forward for shots.

[Deleted]

Were slowly getting more terrain. Yet until then do you think a basilisk is worth it? A chaos player always takes 2 AV 12 Defilers. If other armies can survive with it, could the Guard? I'd have to use the Basilisk as direct fire but it would save up points for infantry. Overall I'm thinking no, but I love the basilisk model so much!

I havn't got in too many games lately and there will be no gaming in December. So all be using this time ti polish up my Guard tactics, list, models and all. I'm preparing for war in 08.