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Offensive 2: Imperial Guard (General List)
3rd Phalynxian Battle Group, 88th Armored
Infantry Division, Adam Company:
Doctrines:
The HQ platoon is a mandatory choice and I always take the same Command Squad in every game, no matter the points. Nominally, the officer is the rank of Captain, as I have modeled this army after the United States Army and a captain is typically a company commander. Because his job is to command, I don’t trick him out for close combat. His squad will sit in the back and pick off targets with the lascannon and plasma and he will boost morale through his command radius and comlink. The reason for the Honorifica is to save 5 points. As will be shown in a moment, it is important to keep this unit in the back so it can provide anti-tank firepower, as that is lacking in this army, unlike a conventional IG army. I have added a Commissar whom I dub a major in the army, and he acts as a special advisor to the captain. I trick him out for close combat simply because he is a “hidden” power fist and he should be a hardened fighter with experience. Attached to this platoon is a Fire Support Squad with autocannons to provide some firepower against lighter vehicles and infantry. I have also thrown in an Anti-Tank Squad with lascannons to provide some punch against heavy tanks. Lastly, the Command Squad is thrown into a Chimera for some heavy-weapon support and mobility, if needed.
The Troops form the core of the army, and I generally take all three squads of Grenadiers in Chimeras in every game. Each squad has a different weapon load out, but both weapons in a squad are the same for redundancy and effectiveness. It would probably be more efficient to give all three squads pairs of plasma guns, but that could get boring, so I find it fun to get up close with the flamers and meltas or to find the most useful way to employ the grenade launchers, which is sometimes tricky.
The Elites, more or less, support the Troops with the core of the army. The Storm Troopers are equipped just like the Grenadiers. I gave these guys some plasma guns because they go nicely with the Infiltrate ability to get in range from Turn 1 and provide some harassment. The Hardened Vets are infiltrated if possible along with the Storm Troopers to provide some harassment and good positioning. To take advantage of their better Ballistic Skill, I gave them a lascannon to snipe at enemy tanks from cover. The Vet Sergeant has a power fist because it is “hidden,” and the rest of the squad has shotguns because it seemed like a cool idea and I had a whole load of extra grenade launchers that made good auto shotguns after the ammo drum was removed. The army is finished off with a couple of tanks in Heavy Support. These would be assigned to support the 88th from the 201st Armored Battalion. These are quite vital to the war effort, as they provide a real threat to the enemy, since my army doesn’t bristle with heavy weapons in the squads like a conventional IG army. The tanks are equipped with an eye towards being well-rounded. Obviously, the main cannons are their primary weapons, but with 4th Edition and smart opponents spreading out, these are much less effective against infantry anymore. I have given them each three heavy bolters and a stubber so they can still present a credible threat to infantry when moving and when the infantry are spread thin.
Like I mentioned, this army has several weak points to a conventional IG army such as a lack of squad-based heavy weapons and numbers of troops on the field. But there are a couple of points that make it a little better in my opinion, such as everybody having 4+ armor (which annoys opponents to no end) and a lot of BS 4 troops. The main tactic will either be a fighting withdrawal or a flank ‘n’ fire maneuver, depending on terrain. The flank ‘n’ fire will concentrate the vehicles up one flank, hitting the edges of the enemy. This is best in open terrain with an enemy spread across the table and slow moving. The infantry stay buttoned up and the whole army does laps around the table, leading the enemy along. The squads on foot will generally take up good firing positions and blaze away in sacrifice. The fighting withdrawal is pretty much the same but is used when I have a fast enemy and dense terrain. The army does not necessarily travel up a flank, but does keep moving while hitting the lead enemy elements. Infantry is dumped off as needed to interdict the enemy and slow them down. (How did this army do at Counter Offensive 2? Find out here) Countdown
to Counter Offensive 2
Related Pages
© Copyright Rob
Van Pelt-Cathcart, July 2005. Used with permission
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Codex <> Tactics <> Gallery <> Allies and Enemies <> Tales of the Tigers Other Pages:
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My
army is not designed to be very powerful or optimized, but more of balance
between being fluffy and playable. The 88th Armored Infantry Division could
be described as a Storm Trooper division or a division of well equipped,
elite soldiers. So the theme to my army is a Storm Trooper IG army. This
is a general list meant to be competitive and be able to fight any opponent
in any mission.
The
squads are all given Chimeras for mobility and to provide the army with
a solid amount of anti-infantry firepower. Each squad has a Vet Sergeant
with a storm bolter and power weapon. The storm bolters provide some nice
support fire while moving and the power weapons are more of a cheap “just-in-case.”
