Advancing Platoon

[Deleted]

I'm new to this forum but i have collected Guard for several years.

This has worked pretty well for me in the few games I've played. Tell me what you think.

I have platoons with 3 squads, 2 with meltas, one with a flamer. All squads advance within rapid fire range of each other, with the flamer squad at centre.

Behind the flamers follows the command squad with a priest and a junior officer with power sword. Their job is to counter charge anything that assaults the front units.

If enemy units fail to assault, thats a ton of las hits, 2 meltas, and a flamer punishing them for coming so close.

I also have one sentinel squadron move with each platoon to provide mobile heavy weapon support.

This platoon can advance on objectives or move into cover, depending on the game you are playing.

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

as a thought, it might be cool to add die hards to the 3 squads.

since you have 3 squads within rapid fire range, what if you shoot with 2 and charge the third into melee, getting butchered up pretty good but holding fast due to ignoring being outnumbered and ignoring -1 for under half strength from iron discipline perhaps, plus base LD9 from the HSO with master vox (or LD10 with a commissar in the command hq squad).

enemies turn: instead of moving 6, shooting, then assaulting your lines, he cleans up what's left of the infantry squad.

your turn: you blast him again with all your guns then throw another squad into the grinder as even more troops arrive to prepare to join the rapid fire turkeyshoot next turn.

rinse and repeat

just a thought to possibly build off what you've got started

[Deleted]

Very interesting. As a newbi in the rank of guard officers I liked this idea a lot

What about letting some of your infantry units infiltrate (light infantry). Use those to the first charge, hold the first round while the rest of your army advance. Then as allready said, repeat, repeat and repeat. Finally, use a unit or two of Rough riders to punch a hole in the enemy advance and exploit with senteniels and armored fists. Could this be an idea?

[Deleted]

trick with lasguns is as rapid fire weapons (If I recall correctly, you cannot fire them AND assault). Like the weapon itself makes us not want to assault.

[Mabus]

Your plan would fall to bloody mangled pieces if you were attacked by a sizeable horde force. A 'nid Gaunt army would simlpy swamp all your squads and platoons with bodies.

[acolyte]

Apr 16, 2008 12:16:30 GMT -5 Mabus said:

Your plan would fall to bloody mangled pieces if you were attacked by a sizeable horde force. A 'nid Gaunt army would simlpy swamp all your squads and platoons with bodies.

at which point the sents go in and bring out the raid cans.

[Mabus]

It's a good tactic. I'm just poiting out that it's not going to work against a horde formation.

Sentinels are great at keeping large broods of Gaunts tied up.

[acolyte]

yeah and then some! can tie up SMurfs in combat pretty well too. hardened fighters and armored crew comp means they gotta attack 72 times to garnetee one kill sents rock and only 90 pts with this and las cannon,

so to recap, 90 for..
-move and shoot lascannon
-support fire for platoons to leave them free to move
-tie hordes and nasties up untill you ready.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2008 11:08:31 GMT -5 Mabus said:

It's a good tactic. I'm just poiting out that it's not going to work against a horde formation.

Sentinels are great at keeping large broods of Gaunts tied up.

Turtleboy is my main opponent, and against Tyranids this actually works quite splendidly, even last game when he was was faced with a large brood of gargoyles, and several ripper groups, and later genestealers. I would definitely suggest the use of some other units when it comes to entire forces made from horde, but in a pinch this works even if you are not planning on it from the start (afterall, slow armies like the IG can not often start with a plan and finish it, their strategems are often made of things they can pull out for the right situation, such as this). If you have a infantry based IG army, you may indeed be able to do this mostly with standard platoons (though having a few ordnance weapons never hurt anyone...except for your opponents and quite often yourself).

Having some demo charges on hand might also be a handy option as long as you expect to be able to get it off before being assaulted. Having an actual CC squad on hand such as rough riders would also be useful at times for when you actually want to win the CC (or at least to have something more mobile to get something particularly threatening to you locked in CC or disposed of).

[Deleted]

sounds like an interesting tactic, but my problem is that it seems to be a huge manpower sink, that is only equipped to fight with lasguns and assault guns/weapons - meaning they only come into play in that dangerous 24'' range - and only really effective at 12'' - and which isn't going to survive more than a couple of rounds of combat. What will they do against Tau or Dire Avengers? Not much I think....unfortunately......

BUT: I think this would work well with a infantry horde, and I like it when guard players find ways to make the guard clamber up from the trenches and assault, and it would certainly surprise the enemy!

Seems like it would work well with something like conscripts: throw in a couple of extra bodies and you will make up for the reduces bs.

[Deleted]

in my games i have 6 units of kazrkin, 5 units of trooper heavy weapons and basilisks (2000pt).
I find that all those shots in rapid fire as well as my heavys and tanks previously allows mt commands to go to town with power weapons and fists on 1/2 strength units with ridiculous amounts of bodies to be launched at anything still moving, although i incorporate the feeding units to stronger enemies during this phase of the games plan.

Any ideas on how to use deepstriking storm troopers (3 possible units)?
I like the idea of having them dropin the rear on turn three, but i'm not sure if their absence would make my massed shooting too much weaker.

[Deleted]

Confirmation of Tactic: I recently got to try out my tactic on a marine force. In fifth edition, it works even better than before. If any assult troops destroy one of your squads, they are at the mercy of the rest of your platoon. This happened to a squad of assult marines, and there wasn't much left of them after they tried to attack one of my platoons.

[GuardsmanPatch]

The worst situation, however, is if the swine stay locked in combat, then they can't be shot, and the Smurfs wipe them out in our turn, and go hunting again in the next!

Which incidentally, means you should never assault a marine unit. Always shoot the swine, then form up with your 6" move into the Close order drill formation!

[ssgtdude (M.I.A)]

in keeping with the OP if you changed to a doctrine of Warrior weapons then you could add in the assault that Turtleboy was mentioning. It does cost extra, but then again if you have scripts shooting with las pistol and then assaulting in the same round you are bound to hit and kill something. Anything else is stuck in the mire of a script platoon with an independent Commissar.