'Pacific' by HBO. No challenge to rights intended.
Now here's a thought?...
How about leaving the metal boxes at home for once ... back in the hinterland of 3rd (and even 4th) edition, Guardsmen could do very well without lots and lots of flying and driving metal boxes. Nowadays, reaching for the codex involved a natural twitch towards my favourite metal cans.
But how does this play for those Guard players who'd really rather play a foot list (like the admiral Admiral Drax), or have picked up the mantle of the Catachan jungle fighters (like my favourite new blogger - Ras @ thedeathworlders) ... so how would I build a 'foot only' 40k Imperial Guard Catachan list?
This list must bounce around two main characters from the Catachan planet, Harker and Straken... after that it's about bouncing in Marbo and a whole other list without boxes...
Catachan Light Intantry (1755pts)
- HQ: Company Command Squad: Straken with a band of 2 CCW'd heavies, a medic and a regimental standard, 2 bodyguards and an officer of the fleet, all painted in camo (what else?!?) @ 270pts
- HQ: Primaris Psyker: I call him my pocket battleship, and he can be placed tactically in any position that will shore up Ld (with his mighty Ld9), offer serious firepower and stab things with his power weapons. All for 70pts. Tactically a commissar lord would be more helpful, but have you read what the catachan's do to commissars?
- Elites: Marbo: KaBOOM, nuff said @65pts.
- Elites: Ratlings, 9 of the little buggers @ 90pts.
- Elites: Ratlings, 9 more of the little buggers @ 90pts.
- Troops: Infantry Platoon (get ready for the mortar spam) @685 pts. HQ CCW and laspistols and a powerfist. Squad 1-4 with a lascannon and a powerweapon. 5 Mortar teams fielding 15 mortars.
- Troops: 2 x Penal Legion Squads @ 160pts.
- Troops: Harker's vets squad with 3 sniper rifles and an Autocannon @ 180pts.
- Fast Attack: 3 units of five Rough Riders @ 165pts.
Tactics and Cunning Plans
I'm not manueuverable, but the use of mortars firing from hidden positions will force my opponent to come to me or suffer continual attrition (which I can whether better than him by going to ground). My 'blobs' aren't Commissar backed either - so blobbing or not blobbing is purely down to the adversary. The key to this army is kicking out a heck of a lot of firepower, followed up by some serious counter attack punch.
I would base the 18 ratlings and Harkers bunch together, probably out to the flank. Harker concentrates on the APC's while the lascannon's down anything really nasty. The ratlings will do average one rending wound a turn, but the Sniper rifles really fill the gap for killing any high toughness monsters out there.
2 two penal legion squads are the ablative wounds, with the roughriders punching in with a counter attack. With Straken within 12", these horse boys with get S6, I6 on the charge, which is a dirty amount of pain. Against the right opponent, they are awesome. A penal squad with the two close combat weapons and rending would get 31 S4, I4 rending attacks on the charge ... which is enough to make a space wolf blush.
The main HQ is the final close combat weapon. With Camo and without decent weaponry to tempt me into taking a pop at the enemy (backed my a medic), they should be left alone. The regimental standard should keep everyone on board, and Straken can even use the 'get back in the fight' if neccessary (it would sound good coming from him!) If push comes to shove, I have 7 FNP 5+ ablative wounds attached to Straken, with most swinging 3 S4 I4 attacks on the charge. Fingers crossed people.
Oh and there's Marbo innit.
Thoughts and Contemplations
Well they're unlikely to pose much threat to flanking, flaming Blood Angels tanks are they? That's why the master of the fleets essential. I want to both dominate the deployment through infiltration and then slow down the flankers to make my firepower stick.
That said, fighting an all infantry army is about going back to basics, placing your models in layers and optimising cover. Against an infantry only army 50% of your shots will hit cover. So already, you are missing a trick. Sacrifice and attrition is what it's all about, and hopefully - sometimes - winning!
Importantly, this is an army that can effectively hide out of LoS or go to ground and not lack for firepower from the mortars, when they are in a good position - heaven help you.
So what are your thoughts ... have at it!
