The HSO on the left's pretty - but the HO on the right makes a cheaper option and still looks the part.
This is an article specifically aimed at any people delving into the realms on buying cadians and thinking about how to get maximum bang for their buck!
Planning an Imperial Guard Army
The first rule of buying any army is to grab the codex and have a big long read. The Imperial Guard codex is somewhat old in the tooth, harking back to the good old days of 3rd Edition. This leads to a few discrepancies (like guardsmen costing the same as Ork Boys, despite not having 2A, T4, S4 weapons and a tendency to be fearless in big groups... grumble grumble.) There are high hopes that these imbalances will be sorted out in the new codex, and the new codex looks very exciting indeed.
However, working with what you've got, where do you start...
Troops
5th Editions all about troops, and here's the good news. Guard can field more troops than anyone else. Let's do the math, you can field up to 6 infantry platoon, each comprising up to 5 squads [10 each], a platoon command [5] and a remnant squad [9] ... so that's 384 models - try shifting that from an objective. The shocking bit is that that is just 2364 points, so add a cheap command HQ and you've still got enough left over for a Leman Russ. Not even Orks or 'Nids can compete with the troop saturation available.
Armoured Fists are largely a waste of time, although the new maximum move plus drop off rule makes Chimeras more helpful, the new vehicle 'taxi-ing' rules (ie: they can pick up anyone) makes AF rather redundant. As my friend Turtleboy once said:
'AF are like this. My house is on fire, I have a teacup full of water.'
However they are useful as a cheap-ish option if you're filling up the numbers.
Conscript squads - what's not to like. They're cheap, expendable and almost as rubbish as gretchin. Plus you can hide an independent Commissar with a power fist in their rank and use them as the ultimate tar pit. Thanks to the HtH rules, conscript still hit most things on a 4+, so get them in close and let them enemy work out how many turns it'll take them to kill all of them ... then hit him with the powerfist. I used to recommend taking Gaunt or Yarrick as an alternative to wasting a doctrine on independent commissars - but with the new rules being fearless and rubbish is a liability as it just leads to more deaths. At least with a normal commissar you're guaranteed a maximum unnecessary death of just 1 per turn.
Grenadiers - never forget that you can take these. Ideal if you want a double hard (but expensive) core and all your elite slots free for veterans and abhumans...
Other mini options: You basic models can be also used as veterans (I use catachans) or to fill out heavy weapons teams... so here's the crux - how to build the cheapest IG army ever (excluding e-bay handmedowns!):
G4G purchase
- Cadian Battleforce @ £36.50 x 2 = £73
- Cadian Shocktroops @ £13.50 = 13.50
- Chimera @ £15 = £15
Sub total: £101.50 excluding postage.
BzBx Purchase
- Marine Tactical PlasmaGun @ £1 x 3 = £3
- Marine Tactical Meltagun @ £1 x 3 = £3
- Marine Assault Plasma Pistol @ 40p x 2 = 80p
- Marine Devastator Power Fist @ 90p = 90p
- Marine Assault Power Fist @ 90p = 90p
- Marine Commander Power Sword @ 80p
Sub total: £9.40 excluding postage.
Grand Total = £110.90 excluding postage.
I would advise the following setup:
Cadian Battleforce 1
- 1 Tank Commander + Powerfist + Plasma Pistol = SHO/HO, 4 ST minis + 4 Grenade Launchers = HQ command
- 10 ST mini's (incl Sgt and Vox) + Melta = Squad 1
- 3 Cadian HW minis + 3 ST mini's = 3xHWT (AC/HB/LC) on large bases
- 3 HW minis + 3 ST mini's = 3xHWT Missile Launcher on small bases
- 3 Mortars on bases
- Leman Russ Battle Tank
Cadian BattleForce 2
- 1 Tank Commander + Powerfist = JO
- 4 ST minis + 4 Grenade Launchers = Platoon Command
- 10 ST mini's (incl Sgt and Vox) + Melta = Squad 2
- 3 Cadian HW minis + 3 ST mini's = 3xHWT (AC/HB/LC) on large bases
- 3 HW minis + 3 ST mini's = 3xHWT Missile Launcher on small bases
- 3 Mortars on bases
- Leman Russ Battle Tank
Cadian Shock Troops Box Set
- 10 ST mini's + 3 plasma + plasma pistol + power sword = veteran squad.
- 10 ST mini's (including sgt and Vox) + Melta = Squad 3
And a Chimera...
So thats...
Army List
HQ Command: [5] HSO (Plasma Pistol and PF + 4 Grenade Launchers)
HQ Options: [24] 6 HB and 6 Missile Launchers.
Elites: Veterans [10] 3 Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
Platoon HQ: [5] JO w. PF and 4 Grenade Launchers
- Squad 1: [10] Sgt and Meltagun
- Squad 2: [10] Sgt and Meltagun
Armoured Fist Squad: [10] Sgt and Meltagun. Chimera.
Leman Russ Battle Tank x 2
Not a bad starter for approximately £120. Plus you can swap out the HB or missile launcher into 3 squads and use the six spare men to man the 3 mortars. You could even add these mortars to the command squads and use the spare models to create Special Weapons Teams.
Thats the core of the army done - time to consider the fun bits...
