Project Draftdodger: Part 3

See here for part 2.

 

In part 1, I described Krieg Combat Engineers as something adjacent to Kasrkin or Scions, and on reflection, that’s a touch misleading. Combat Engineers do have a similar statline to those elite units, and a similar position as a small specialist squad rather than the rank & file. Engineers however end up a bit more low tech by comparison, and regular Krieg have more direct and more diverse firepower per point, depending on how you count. What Combat Engineers have instead are a number of otherwise uncommon weapon types and an obscene amount of explosives. These are basically trench raiders, with a Scout move and are technically capable of being equipped as a mêlée unit, but are actually known for putting a significant amount of mortal wounds on something.

 

Having decided that Bulldogs would be a good basis for such a unit, I decided to experiment in kitbashing a minimum sized squad and its weapons. The combat shotguns were an initial problem, as the Bulldog rifles where the wrong shape, and I struggled to source an alternative I liked. The Stargrave Mercenaries sprue did present an option I would later return to, but in the meantime I opted to modify some cannon fodder guns with new barrels and drum mags. These looked pretty good, and this gave me confidence to try making a handflamer, but I really should have remembered how delicate such work is. This is why you start small, so you can catch bugs before you go all in. With the remote bomb and operator I got a bit silly. The bomb is a glorified token, so it doesn't matter too much what it looks like, while the operator just needs a remote. Thus I built a crude carriage with a skull on it, (sourced from old Imperial Strongpoint terrain IIRC,) and then plonked a resin bit that resembles artillery shell on top. Yes. This is oversized and dumb. But it's clear what it does. The operator meanwhile got a PDA to control it, and a cup of tea to enjoy.

 

 

Look engineers are builders, right? Same thing. Builder’s tea is a thing. They are already wearing high visibility orange. What more do you want? For me to take the setting seriously?

Anyways, As I noted last update, I wanted to batch paint my models, so I made another squad of five along largely the same lines. I used the aforementioned stargrave option for shotguns, something that eased the process. There aren't many of those per box though, so as and when I make more, I'll probably have to go for cannon fodder kitbash anyway. I'm not planning to make more immediately though, as I want to playtest them a bit first. One concern I have is diminishing returns on a third squad, as you can't use a stratagem twice in a phase, and if you're running three sets of engineers, that’s a limitation you will feel. There's also the somewhat unusual way these squads scale up to 10; you don't get more bombs or specialist weapons, but you do get 5 shotgun dudes for a piddling 25 points. Its not mandatory, but I can see a case for extra bodies for improved objective play. Some minor tweaking to both sets on the Wednesday was then followed by leisurely painting over the week. The plasma pistols proved a recurring problem though, not staying on or together, prompting modifications rather late in the process. While I did attempt to sculpt some additional armour in places, I don't think it came through very well. That said, they turned out OK. I don't think I’m really getting better as such, but I am getting more efficient. At the very least I was glad of some new brushes I got recently, tiny ones help with the goggles and such.

Speaking of rules and play testing, I am still impatient for my copy of the new codex. In the absence of a general release, I decided to source a loose special edition example from eBay. At time of writing, I have yet to receive it, but assuming nowt goes wrong, I'll be in the position to play test in time for the next update. The continued absence of a release date and base size for both the Krieg Command and Krieg Heavy Weapons is also an irritation. I have ideas with respects to these, and I may deviate from my original plan. I find myself leaning towards the "Castellan Command Blob" as a backfield option, but we'll see. I don't think I need two Krieg Commands if I properly modernise my existing two Platoon Commands. Of course, GW would post a preview for a pre-order a few days after I ordered the codex, mere minutes after I finalised this paragraph.

 

I thought something like that might happen. 

Still, I don't think I overpaid, and I should have the last of the information I need by Sunday.

Up next: Krieg battleline.

Transformers: Alternators Jaguar XK Ravage is Something that Exists

 

The 1984 Transformers Ravage toy

While largely forgotten these days, Alternators was a precursor to the now-endless neo-G1 lines, the modern (not-)masterpiece scene, and the endemic East versus West fandom disputes of the 00's and 10's. I was around at the time, but never actually had one before this article. The alternators were pitched as modern updates to G1 characters with then-modern car altmodes, but car modes of the highest possible fidelity and officially licenced. Hasbro provided them without fiction, but Takara did a Takara, adding diecast metal to the toys, as well as tie-in fiction. This of course made the Takara Binaltech versions more desirable to certain collectors, and I can see where they are coming from, but diecast is a mixed blessing. Alternators and Binaltech eventually faded away, replaced by smaller and more accessible toys, but not before Takara revamped the line. And I am still too angry to talk about that, so you can read up on that abomination on your own time. More generally though, Alternators was pulled in several different directions, the car manufacturers being difficult, Takara being Takara, Hasbro being Hasbro, and an often inexplicable character selection. One notable example of this was Ravage, one of Soundwave's chest tape minions, whom somehow ended up with two distinct toys. As opposed to literally anyone else who could turn into a car already.

The other Alternator Ravage, circa 2004

I have two somewhat contradictory opinions on Ravage. The first off is that he is a cat, and therefore I'm predisposed to love him as a precious murder-baby whom can do no wrong. The other is that Ravage was the focus of possibly the best example of geewunner pandering ever animated, the Beast Wars episode "The Agenda (Part 1)". Built up as a badass special agent, the lad turns up and basically ends the beast wars in ten minutes. Arguably the least physically capable of the original Decepticons, which the cartoon depicted purely as an animal, is so overwhelming as to reset the series. By comparison, when Starscream's Ghost made an appearance, they remembered what a walking failure he was. I mention this as that episode as Takara used it to justify the first Ravage toy in this line, a headswap/convertible retool of Tracks. Via time travel weirdness and deep cut lore too convoluted to quickly recount here. In fairness, that may very well have been the original design intent, but I should mention that Japanese fiction is absolutely riddled with continuity porn like that. My research did not turn up a similar explanation for the second Ravage toy, our subject, as it was a 2007 example that never had a Japanese release. What I believe however, is that this toy exists as fortuitous result of licencing, where somebody said something like "Jaguars are cool cars, and we have somebody who is also a Jaguar.". That's too good an idea not to use.

Ravage's first toy was a Micro Change Micro Cassette Robo Jaguar, geddit?

So, the car mode. It's a Jaguar XK in 1:24 scale, part of the famous British Jaguar brand. Its a fairly memetic brand, one associated with style, wealth, and being a bit of a cad. They are viewed as luxurious and capable with a price to match, especially in running costs. Top Gear had strong opinions about these, before Clarkson had his mardy. I can imagine them not liking the brand's recent turn towards electric. Anyways, I wasn’t previously familiar with the XK, but its something very much in that vein. A stylish thing in black, a car for Englishmen to covet and occasionally squee over. The toy comes packaged like this, in a fancy bubble box. I'd imagine your average gearhead would be quite onboard and its not immediately obvious that this is actually a transforming toy, something the Alternators was consistently good at. It achieves this by avoiding anything in the transformation that would break the lines of the car, and adding all the little details commonly omitted from Transformers toys, both then and now. We're talking rubber wheels with visible break disks, actual wing mirrors, numberplates, translucent lights and an actual interior with opening doors. As a collectable model its very on point, if you look at it properly outside of that display bubble you will find robot bits, like the back window for example, but Its otherwise nicely done. Getting the car right was clearly the focus of the enterprise. That said, actual play features aren't here, yes it rolls, but that's about it, and it is not in right-hand drive. Boo.

 

After a somewhat fiddly panel-forming transformation, the jaguar mode, sorry, robot mode is somewhat less impressive. On the one hand, its not trying to be humanoid, its a cat. Its the first and last Alternator to try that, while being one of only two unique Decepticons in the line, and thus needs to be graded differently. On the other, there's an awful lot of loose panels here. The head and paws are doing a lot of work to characterise the toy, and it looks decidedly skinny beneath the car bits. I do like how much more colourful the robot mode is versus the car, adding more accents along with the grey. Articulation is mixed; there's much in the head, and neck, although the limbs are limited at the shoulders and hips. The hips are especially worrying in that they use translucent plastic and were very tight. As there's no outward motion, Ravage looks a bit stiff, although he is quite stable. His distinctive missiles meanwhile have their own articulated arms, so you have options. Not the worst cat mode Ravage ever had, and he's had some awful ones since, but far from a triumph with all those car bits everywhere.

 

 
As my first foray into the Alternators line, Ravage is pleasant but flawed. I'm aware that this toy isn't that representative of the line as a whole, but that was part of the reason why I got it. Flawed as it is, I do like the exceptions. I suspect that the earlier Tracks-retool might possibly be better overall, going by the numbers as it were, Beast Wars etc, but this is clearly the fun one. I also suspect some of the negatives here are things I wouldn't like about the more conventional Alternators. The slavish devotion to the car mode is both a strength and a weakness, and this supposedly one of the simpler examples. That said, its far from bad. And its not often that you can say you have a jaguar that turns into a Jaguar.

 

Project Draftdodger – Part 2

See here for part one. Today’s subject: Ratling Snipers.

 

As is my custom, I would like to provide context towards these models in a somewhat informal manner. Ratlings share a similar origin to Ogryns, both in and out of universe. They are also transplants from the old Warhammer Fantasy setting, justified as a stable human subspecies rather than mutants, the product of technology or chaos bullshit. Whereas the use of Ogyrns by the famously xenophobic Imperium makes some sense, there is no other dumb muscle as beefy or as available, the hobbit-inspired Ratlings are a much harder sell. In fact, I keep visualising some Imperial recruiter weeping openly into their recaff at the sight of them. Ratlings tend to have the physical prowess of an obese child, and the mentality of a Midlands farmer whom grows unspecified "herbs" as a secondary income. Its harder to imagine a people less suited to the GRIMDARK of 40K, and I would not be surprised if a lot of them ended up as servitor components. However, the lore says these people actually end up in the guard as regimental cooks, or as snipers. They also have a reputation for petty theft, hence their inclusion in my Chem-Dogs force. Mechanically, this is a unit GW seems to be pushing of late, with a recent Killteam box which happens to include a delightful doggo. I was tempted, but I digress. This means that they have a few more gimmicks than it used too, but there still seems to be something of a cost/performance issue. They are the only Guard unit with the Infiltrators rule, are effective with sniper rifles, and get a shoot & scoot rule, all of which is good. They however die very easily, don't do that much raw damage, and are competing with heavy weapon teams. It remains to be seen if the new codex will see them overcome that perception. Which, incidentally, is why I'm only making 5 of them for now.

 

 

These Wargames Atlantic SneakFeet are obviously a good proxy for Ratlings, but due to the timing, it doesn't have all the same bits as the killteam box. Notably it has a selection of submachine guns instead, which, thinking about it, is probably a better choice for these titchy fellows if not GW legal, but there you go. There is also a not insignificant amount of character at play; these models look a bit "Santa's Elves" by way of NATO, with pointy ears, but also a frying pan and a pipe smoking head option. I love the frying pan. I did however find the hair tricky, especially on the feet, with the latter being concealed with some mud effect paint. Overall, these are fun models that lend themselves well to my style, although they do come in an unhelpful ratio of 24 to a box, 4 to a sprue. 

Towards the end of the week, I started working on some Combat Engineers. The other Krieg units have something of a question mark hanging over them just now, so I was holding off, and I wanted to take a swing at the more unusual weapon types. Assembly of the initial prototypes went well, and I hope to have more ready for batch painting soon. I will however save the discussion on that for next time.

See you soon.

3D Print: Heavy Field Mortars by Culverin Models

 
The story so far! Last year I built some 3D printed proxies for use as a Field Ordnance Battery. These worked well for a time, until they started leaking uncured resin and drama followed. That got a refund, but rather than going straight for a replacement, I opted for something from Culverin Models for use as a Basilisk. And this was good, at least until the news broke that Culverin was closing down. Liking their stuff, but not wanting to spend too much with a codex pending, I leapt to order some replacement Bombards. Which then ended up being delayed until December 30th, oh well, but I understand. A shame to loose you, Culverin Models.

These models, “Heavy Field Mortars", were not explicitly for 40k, and typical of the WWII-adjacent vibe the company specialised in. Its made of mixed materials too, the chassis being that filament style, with the gun being resin. I'm not a huge fan of the wheels if I'm honest, between their simple design and the need for sanding of the gun shield, it makes the thing look like a wooden carriage. It probably didn't help that I chose to give them black tires either, but it needed the visual interest. While there is an acceptable level of detail, I had to lean on the metallics and weathering techniques to make things pop. Objectively, these are less interesting models than what they replace, but, A) these were made by someone competent, and B) they look quite Krieg, and so fit in with the new codex and such.

 

The paintjob on these was mainly achieved via the spraycan method, with the crew being salvaged from the previous model. While the bases were contaminated with resin, and the guns deeply suspicious even after repeated repairs, the crew were ok. The end result is something tableworthy and usable. I did realise that the bases needed some touching up after taking these photos, but these are OK. Job's a good 'un.

 

 

Project Draftdodger – Part 1

Righty, lets get this going. The new Astra Militarum codex is imminent. Its had more leaks than the UK national water supply, more preview hype than the MCU on a good day, and more day 1 patches than a Bethesda game. I still don’t have it at time of writing. You can't even order it seperately yet; Eldar are instead the big thing for this weekend. And even if I did, it seems quality control might not have been great with this one. But fuck it, I'm done waiting. Thus begins Project Draftdodger, a diary series that hopefully I will post about weekly.

 

 

 A recent picture of my current force

Beyond making my Astra Militarum force codex compliant, the objective here is twofold. First off, I want to make my own versions of those new Krieg units while fitting my theme and budget. I've been making notes and acquiring bits in the run-up for the codex, so those leaks have been a big help. Secondly, I want to use this opportunity to finally take my force to a comfortable 2000 points with a 300ish sideboard for flexibility. Off the top if my head, I'm pretty much at 2000 already, but only flinging everything I've got on the board, which isn’t quite the same as having a balanced force I like. As to which detachment I'm using? Well Siege Regiment is the obvious one, but I'll be trying a few out before settling on something. In terms of plastic, I'm gonna be leaning on WGA's Death Fields line of scifi infantry, which I've been stockpiling in anticipation. With all that in mind, but with big gaps in my knowledge, I'm planning on the following modelling projects.

One Krieg battleline unit, plus oddments to round out existing units

I've found myself wanting more infantry, so this seems a logical direction to go. As the data sheet for these is unusually obtuse with respects to weapon slots, I'm gonna play it safe here, assuming the most conservative reading possible until some clarification is issued, and putting them on the back burner. These will be Cannon Fodder ladies again, to fit in with the rest.

 

One+ Krieg Command Squads

With the demise of the Platoon Command Squad, I need to rebuild my HQ choices. I plan to reshuffle the existing ones into the equivalent Catachan units where possible, the path of least resistance, but I still need something to lead the above, and that means banners and similar greeblies. These will most likely be a mix of sprues, with the <deep breath>, the Les Grognards Command and Heavy Support kit providing the fiddly bits. The base size for these is however unknown at time of writing, most likely 28.5mm but who bloody knows, so I’m holding off.

Two teams of Combat Engineers
The new hotness as it were, these are a rough Scion/Kasrkyn equivalent, so Ive opted to go for the Bulldogs again. I'm undecided at time of writing how big the squads will be, so the leftovers might go onto be other things. The main issue here will be producing the less conventional weapons, although the bomb drone should be fun.

One+ Krieg Heavy Weapons Squad

The other new hotness, this is the main reason why I got that Grognards kit with the long name. Their unique selling point, other than the spite attack, is probably their horrific flamers, which I feel should be an easy kitbash. The second team is something less certain. I probably don't need two burny units, I have plenty of lascannons, and while the twin stubber option isn't great, there's this wonderful quad gun ball turret on the sprue. The base size for these are also unknown, which is annoying.

One small squad of Ratlings

While initially I was fond of the new killteam set, I kinda went off it when I saw the 40k rules. As Ratlings fit my convict army theme, I have however opted for a minimal size to try them out. These will use WGA SneakFeet.

 

You may notice that the above features no new vehicles. Like six Rogal Dorn tanks, for example. This is because I feel infantry are the focus of the new codex, and such models would be a fun thing to do if/when/inevitably I get sick of doing infantry. If I get all this done, I’ll probably have all the army dudesmen and/or women I’ll ever need for the scale of game I tend to play. Because I got impatient, I’ve already made a start on some of this. Like those Sergeants, but also the Ratlings. Those aren’t quite finished yet, and I didn't want to rush them, so expect to see more of those in part 2.

Cheers for now.

Kitbash: Cannon Fodder Sergeants

 

I will admit to being rather impatient for that new codex to come out. I was a little bored over chrimbo, which is not good when I’m over-tired too. I’m not especially fond of GW’s approach to releases either; I like that Krieg boxset, but I don’t £130 like it, and I try to resist FOMO these days. Eventually, rather than wait for the codex, I decided to do some busy work on my force, namely replacing the sergeants in my battleline units. This was potentially risky at the time; the impending codex had a non-zero chance of making such a choice obsolete, but as my chosen load out was also found in the Death Korps of Krieg killteam box, I took the chance.

So, when I first built my squads last year, the options had been largely driven by what bits I had spare, and what I could recast. As far as the sarges were concerned, this meant a bolter and power sword. While these were just fine as a first attempt, but as I got more games in, I slowly went off that combination both in terms of gameplay and as modelling work. I felt I could do better, and that under the current rules regime, it made more sense to use plasma pistols instead. As 40k (currently) only provides a points cost for whole unit, not individual bits in it, you often get situations where one option drastically outclasses the other, and the plasma pistol is one. While opting for a bolter is technically a more rounded option, plasma weapons as a tool are better for general purpose marine killing. You may only get one shot out of this, but its a shot that matters when it connects. And is overcharged.

These were very much in the style of those Krieg and Catachan expansions I did last year, and represented a chance to practice my technique a bit. The base models are Cannon Fodder again so they fit, while the new weapons are loose bits from Anvil Industry. That company does a lot of 40K style resin bits, including the “Daughters of the Burning Rose” from which I sourced these weapons. Scale and proportions worked very well here, although joining the parts was trickier than I expected. Also in the mix was Stargrave bits again, and a sword from the <deep breath> Death Fields Les Grognards Command and Heavy Support kit. I’m planning to use/talk-about that last one once I get my hands on the Astra Militarum codex.

 

I painted these over a weekend in the hope of getting them game ready for a Monday evening. I ended up skipping skin tones, and somehow produced jumpsuits with a lighter tone of orange. I attempted to put a blue tint on the power swords, but it didn’t quite work. My mud paint mix ended up a bit off model too. Nothing bad though. Having the squad leaders stand out a bit doesn’t hurt.

 

Of course, theses were completed the day before GW started doing rules previews for the new codex. And subsequently, all the leaks in the world. I’d called it, basic Infantry Squads are over. Seems I held off just long enough.

Plamo: The Inner Sphere Battle Lance (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

So, I started this one in November, but it had been sitting on the old pile for a good long while. I'd picked it up when my interest in BattleTech had just peaked, but I went onto other things. I think the absence of a local players group is what did it. I may have to have a go at founding one again. Another reason is that painting Battlemechs got a bit samey, at least with the level of skill and patience I have. Still, I quite enjoyed those urbies, and maybe I could use this opportunity to revamp my painting techniques?

So, let's have some context to tie this together. The Inner Sphere Battle Lance is a set with a deeply unimaginative name, but features favourites from the very start of the game. All four are part of the Unseen, designs subject to legal issues, which is fucking hysterical/tragic as two of these are meant to be super common in universe, and the other two being legitimately famous. Although, in the case of the Rifleman "infamy" might be a better word. Notably, all four originally hail from the anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross, have been around long enough to get a load of variants, and the larger two have been subjects of Tex Talks BattleTech videos. My basic approach here was to attempt my preferred green colour scheme, but to change the order and some accents. I drybrushed green over a brown first, then coming in with a dark grey and a gunmetal for things like weapons and feet. Once those were done, I washed the lot with Agrax Earthshade, drybrushed green again, and then stuff like the cockpit glass. These were idly painted over several evenings, so while I wasn't pushing myself here, it was relaxing.

The Wasp is the smallest of the four, and functions as an inoffensive little scout guy of unusually low cost. Canonically, its the first mech equipped with jumpjets, making it excel as a scout, although this absolutely isn't something you want doing actual fighting. Its a fine model, although its pose obscures its SRM2.

The Phoenix Hawk is something that exists mainly to bully Wasps and the like. By my understanding, this is an agile medium weight mech, capable of keeping pace with scouts and overpowering them. Its less good at punching up though, and it's one of those designs than dedicates space towards machine guns, a weapon I don't like. As a model, its got a nice pose and presence, but also a somewhat involved cockpit.

 

The Rifleman suffers in universe from various design flaws and doctrine issues. Its principally an anti-aircraft platform, but in its typical configuration runs hot, doesn't have much ammo, nor a lot of armour. This is a bad combination should the mech be in direct combat, and people did try that in a shortage of better ideas, although it does have its defenders. Personaly, I find it to be a machine that argues against its own existance. As a model this is alright, although I was initially unsure of where the chest lasers were.

 

The Warhammer, no-not-that-one, is my favourite design, although that's mainly because of Tex. Like a lot of the OG Battlemechs, the Warhammer has its eccentricities, but a pair of PPCs at a reasonable price has aged well. As a model, the recessed head is tricky, and that searchlight broke off at one point, but otherwise is the nicest sculpt.

Job’s a good ‘un.

Plamo: New Continent Machines Adventure (Alphamax)

I will admit to not really knowing what this was at purchase, and indeed, now. And that this article got pushed back a lot. In so far as I have been able to gather, New Continent Machines is an artist led project, a designer going by the name of Moi, featuring distinctive mecha of about half the size of a gunpla. The novelty of this is what attracted me; the art has maybe a bit of the Syd Mead about it. Its something I wouldn't find out of place in Turn-A Gundam, or the more esoteric bits of The Witch from Mercury. The Adventure is a stocky machine with a large torso, and proportionally skinny limbs. I suppose you could call it bird-like, especially in the legs. It also features a shield and gun, which gives it grunt vibes, and there's a parts-swap feature advertised in the box. I do like things that are that little bit different, while staying within genre.

 

The actual build was a similarly odd mix of fresh and old fashioned. You get several nicely laid out sprues, with minimalist but concise instructions. There are no polycaps or mixed materials in general, but what was there worked effectively, with maybe a bit of the old Revoltech about it. A definite highlight is the included stand. There are however downsides. Its entirely cast in yellow, for example. While snapfit, the parts-fit isn't great, the outward shoulder joints are fixed/decorative, and there are reasons why this style of friction joint went out of fashion. Then it hit me. No, not the kit. A realisation. While this kit definitely has its charms, the deeply-disappointing Duel Gundam does the several things better than the Adventure here, while being bigger and in a comparable price bracket. And that one's outdated by at least fifteen years. This may be a function of a price point, economies of scale, or simply the company making it. As it turns out, Alphamax has done a few mecha things on occasion, including Optimus Prime at one point, but more normally does 18-rated waifu figures. Robots and finely engineered kits does not seem to be their bread and butter, but in fairness there’s merit here. It goes together quickly and easily. But its not great for posing, liking to separate when doing so, and then you need to paint it.

Realising that I was possibly too harsh in that comparison above, I decided to treat this more like a 28mm project and paint it like a tank. You can't really expect a more boutique example to match the market leader. I took a moment to fill the gaps, before breaking out the spraypaints and weathering techniques. These are simple tools, but they worked on this kit, and I think I’m pretty good with them now. Of course, the joints did not like this. Truthfully though, I didn't feel like doing anything fancy here

I want to like this model more than I do. I respect the look, and the whole artist-led aspect. Unfortunately, it sits in an awkward place where its too ambitious for its own good. I feel it would have been better off as a fixed pose kit that cost maybe 15% less, or maybe keep the price same but scrap the stand in favour of better fundamentals. Either way, I’ve built worse, but this Moi individual may have to rethink a few things.

New Year’s Special: The Chem-Dog Unit Review

So, I’ve been playing 40K again for a while now. Not something I ever really expected to do again, if I’m honest. And, inevitably this leads me to want to write about game tactics. That’s self-indulgent, I know, but I have a blog, and its added variety. Of course, I'm not a tournament player, but I suspect you aren't either. This is more of a summary of my experiences so far than The Art of War. All things considered, its been a bit of an up and down year too. Maybe I’m just getting old, but GW’s quarterly attempts to balance the game was an adjustment for me. Its much better than their historical habit of leaving a rulebook untouched for several editions, but I did start writing this way back in July, before eventually making it a new years thing. And then a huge update happened on December the 11^th, far too late for me to fully appreciate. And most likely my comments here will be invalidated by the forthcoming codex. That’s a bummer. Anyway, I’m gonna talk a bit about each unit I’ve fielded, before summing things up with some general advice at the end. I’ve even organised it into sections alphabetically. Enjoy.

HQ and Bigwigs

Commissars: An inexpensive but otherwise unimpressive character model I’ve proxied a couple of times. Whom is 30 points and thus can do mission stuff. I call him Commissar Action-Monkey. There, that’s the tone set.

Platoon Command Squads: Two topics here, the unit itself, and the whole matter of Capital O Orders. The unit itself is an adaptable support unit, providing a selection of modest but non-trivial buffs. You can certainly do worse than use one of these to add a Medpack and some guns to a battleline unit. Orders are a big picture thing, and Platoon Command Squads are competent and inexpensive and this regard. I am however trying to find the sweet spot with respects to how many orders I need and which are worth doing when. While Orders can benefit a lot of units, you can’t just spam them, Its more of a precision tool. The best one is probably Move! Move! Move! for objectives, closely followed by Take Aim! and maybe Duty & Honour! for more objective stuff. A Master Vox and Grand Strategist combo is largely mandatory here as a key link in your chain of command, although if you have several Officers you can vary things up. Yes, I am aware of Lord Solar Horse Lord, but I’m not that into special characters. I would not be surprised if this unit was retired with the new book, but honestly its not gonna be hard to make them the Cadian equivalent or whatever.

 

Tank Commander: This one was a bit of a white elephant when I started playing, and a little beyond the resources I had or the size of battle I played. It does the Order thing, and has access to all the weapons of the other variants, and thus is most commonly seen as a Leman Russ Demolisher. This struggled with some keyword oddities which meant it couldn’t order itself, or benefit from the Born Soldier rule, until the October Dataslate revamped it. If you’re going heavy on tanks, you’re gonna need at least one of these as a force multiplier, but its a quite capable fighter by itself. Its expensive though, possibly too expensive for the 1000 point games I usually play.

 

Battleline

Cadian Shock Troops: I recently fielded this unit for the purposes of this article. Yep. Nowt wrong with them, but they lack a compelling reason to take them versus the other battleline units. Hopefully the new codex will give them some spit and polish...

Catachan Jungle Fighters: OK, a theme of several units here will be how easily a change of 10 points shift dramatically the usefulness of a unit. For the vast majority of 10th edition, these guys seem to have been popular mainly for their Scout move and resulting board control shenanigans. I concur. Their melee rule doesn't seem to do much, and otherwise these found use as the most inexpensive of the battleline options. TBH, if any Guard unit is gonna get a complete rewrite, its these guys, although GW seems to have forgotten them. Guard battleline generally doesn’t do impressive things, they are disposable light infantry by and large, whose main talent is standing on objectives. Catachans stand as well as any, and their Scout move gets them to their objective faster than the other options. There’s also decent synergies with Scout Sentinels and Chimeras. These aren’t my first choice for holding the home objective, but their mobility and low cost kept them in my lists. BUT THEN: their price went up ten points, which isn’t unreasonable, but it makes them less of gimme. Sargent Harker isn’t bad either, but I’ve not used him enough to have an opinion.

Death Korps of Krieg: I’m gonna have to build more of these, aren’t I? Anyways, I came to these loonies relatively late, and I’m inclined to call these the best overall battleline unit, something that the December dataslate largely enforced. They do suffer from that “I’m a kill team with lots of awkward options” problem, but if you want to be aggressive with your armydudes, this is the way to go as they carry the most dakka. Their ability to regenerate versus their increasing lethality as the squad looses models is a very fun dynamic, and works well with big units. Downsides? Well, they still die like guardsmen, they invite the addition of characters that put their costs up, and they are rather fiddly.
 
Infantry Squads: This is probably the unit I was most wrong about, and had to do a major rethink on. I found myself struggling to reconcile my old school view of Guard with how the rules actually work. I kinda want multiple squads of 10 arranged for defence in depth. The functions of Orders and Stratagems however reward big blobs of about 23 models, and actual play has discouraged taking too many of them. Infantry Squads also tend to be more defensive in use than the other battleline choices, as they are the only one with heavy weapons, if at the cost of reduced access to special weapons versus the Cadians or Krieg. So, yes, an Infantry Squad with a lascannon in it is going to do work and demand a (likely terminal) response from your opponent, but everything else in the squad is gonna be incidental unless you are facing comparable T3 models. I find myself most often using these squads as deployment zone objective holders, using mortars to trigger stratagems like Fields of Fire. So, not something you necessarily want to spam, but you do need a few of these in your inventory, because, well, objectives. Have one with a mortar, add a Platoon Command with a mortar & Master Vox, consider making it a double size squad in larger games. At time of writing, these currently are cheapest battleline, which makes sense, but I strongly suspect this unit will be retired in the new codex, so... we’ll see.

“Infantry” Specialists

Field Ordnance Batteries: I’ve only used the Bombast Field Gun, but it does reliable dakka. The nearby presence of an Officer is however largely mandatory, in order to trigger its Sustained Hits ability. As mentioned, there’s been substantial changes to the functions of Indirect Fire this year, which makes artillery units like this more a harassment thing than a kill button, although Guard still do artillery better than most. Telling this unit to Take Aim! maxes out the possible accuracy, adds in Sustained Hits, and presents a threat to anything likely to be hiding from your guns or parked on an objective. It won’t do much to vehicles, mind you, the heavy lascannon might be good for that, but damage 2 will help cull targets with the Feel No Pain rule. Unfortunately, my models started leaking resin, and pending new models I’ve retired the unit.
 
Heavy Weapon Squads: Definitely a bumpy ride with this one. For the most part these have suffered from being a fragile, high priority target. This is the reason why mortars are a popular choice for them, as this keeps them out of sight, but those aren’t spectacular weapons if I’m honest, especially after the changes to Indirect Fire. Their recent October price-drop made me experiment with them again, as it’s largely impossible to get more dakka for less. You either pair these with something scary to force dilemmas on your foe, or you use them as disposable blocking troops. They aren’t bad for overwatch, and its an easy way to spam lascannons, but don’t rely on these for ranged firepower. It will be interesting to see how those new Krieg versions compare.

Ogryns: These are a unit I want to like more than I do. There is an obvious appeal in a trio of beef mountains armed with automatic shotguns. But these chaps attract more attention than they can sustain. They may work better mechanised, or I just need more than 3.

Rough Riders: OK, these were the same basic experience as the Ogryns, i.e. a target. There is potential though, definitely. They are quick, have decent melee chops with lances, and actually end up as somewhat durable by guard standards. On the other hand, I’m not playing Guard to do melee. Melee is something I work around. I may come back to these, but I’m not prioritising them just now.

Tempestus Scions: A surprisingly necessary part of my forces, Scions are very useful for their deep strike rule. They are better equipped and more skilled than battleline options, but they are a precision tool. These have done solid and reliable work parachuting on to the mission objective, and are great value for 50 points. Now its 60, but that’s not bad value.

 

Vehicle Pool

Basilisk: I only started fielding one of these in November, and the initial comparison to Bombards was mixed. Basilisks do less damage overall at a higher price, but with a functionally unlimited range, the Earthshaker ability, atop a vehicle platform. Its much more of a technical/precision piece than the Bombards,as you use it slow down dangerous infantry as much as blow shit up. Its definitely worth having one along, especially in a vehicle-centric list, but I’d point to Bombards and/or Leman Russes as things you buy first. Artillery in general has a been a bit up & down with the changes to Indirect Fire, but the Basilisk is and was a classic for good reason.

Chimera: While I probably needed at least one more to get the benefit, my Chimera has proved to be reliable workhorse. Much like the Hellhound, its useful brick and HK missile caddy, with a grabbag of dakka. Its not especially durable, but its a lot more durable than the average dismount. Using one of these as a mobile bunker for a Platoon Command Squad also makes a lot of sense. Its not hard to see why the price went up. If I ever get more of these, I’d probably leave the multilasers at home in favour of two heavy bolters. This simplifies its attacks, and ties in well with the (current) Born Soldiers rule.

Hellhound: A fun modelling project that had initially struggled to find good targets in my local meta. The chassis is however sound, and there's a certain appeal to running several of these, possibly with melta weapons. Its a 2+ save brick, and you can use it to deny targets the benefits of cover. Time that right, lay a few Stratagems/Orders on, and even big nasties will suffer. Otherwise, it will happily burn things all day, acting as a de facto melee unit. It doesn’t gain much from the Born Soldiers rule if you’re gone for full arson, but that’s OK.

Leman Russ: Tanks are pretty important. Who knew? You need tanks to do the heavy killing, and take the damage. The Leman Russ is good at that sort of thing, and while obviously having the weaknesses common to tanks, the myriad variants are solid and well-priced. The vanilla russ, equipped with multimeltas, heavy stubber and HK missile, is my go-to. It benefits from Orders, but doesn’t need them. Its fairly flexible, and excels at killing foes on objective markers. There are other variants that do stuff better or cheaper, at least for now, but its hard to go wrong with this. Its self-contained in a way that a lot of guard units aren’t.

Leman Russ Demolisher: While I initially favoured the Demolisher, I find myself mainly using the basic Russ so far. The reroll-1s-sometimes-full-reroll rule the standard Russ has simply more varied applications at a lower price than the Demolisher, even if the latter is a pretty conclusive answer to most things that wander into range. And is largely unconcerned if something tries to engage it in melee. But, also counting against the Demolisher is the existence of the Tank Commander, which can have the same weapon fit.

Leman Russ Vanquisher: I gave these a go in December, and while I used them quite badly against a vehicle-lite force, I do see the use. At present, it does most things less well than the stock Russ, but its notably cheaper, and can on occasion one-shot an opposing tank. If you just need the tank to A) be there, and B) be cheap firepower, the Vanquisher is great at that. I do however still prefer the stock Russ over this, as with the Demolisher. I may very well field these in future 2000 points lists alongside their kin, but I’m holding off to see how the codex treats them. I would not be shocked if these were overhauled so they are better at their stated job, and thus cost more...

Scout Sentinel: These do an awful lot, and were a regular feature of my lists, at least until I started experimenting with the Basilisk and Heavy Weapon Squads. Its good for buffing artillery, has a lot of keyword synergies, has a Scout move, and offers good infantry support. Its not necessarily brilliant by itself, but there’s usually something for it to do if you have the points spare. Give it a lascannon and HK missile it becomes a decent tank-hunter too. Put on the chainsaw just because.

Big Picture Stuff
If you find yourself putting together a 1000 point Astra Militarum force, possibly because you have a similar selection of brain worms to myself, I’d like to suggest a few basic tips so you don’t necessarily make the same kind of mistakes I did. New mistakes, ideally.

You need something that take objectives in the midfield: Look, the mission is gonna require you moving out from your deployment zone, and inevitably, there’s gonna be a bit of a brawl in the middle of the board. You are probably not going to be as good in that brawl as your foe, unless you are playing seriously against type with Bullgryns or Rough Riders or similar. You need to have a means to claim that objective, even if its just something like “blast them off, then run some guardsmen in.”.

You need something to take objectives in the backfield: OK, you may be sensing a theme here. A significant number of missions are gonna be about taking objectives, I.e. nearly all, and the vast majority of those aren’t gonna be on your side of the table. You need something that can cross that distance with some reliability. Deep strike units are your friend here, although anything with a scout move or a good movement characteristic can help. Remember you can put things in reserve and have then come on from other board edges...

You need something to anchor your deployment zone: While there are different styles of guard army, the overall theme is one of ranged firepower. Often, this will mean a solid wedge of something to hold your deployment zone while raining death on your opposition. Just lining up guns isn’t enough though, you aren’t a T’au player with no imagination. You need redundancy and the capability to move if you need to.

You need a lot of tanks, but not exclusively tanks, because infantry do the objective things: Given that the Guard tends towards fragile light infantry, the presence of various tanks is highly desirable. These focus the attention of the enemy, physically protecting the troops on foot, and that’s something worth having a few of. Tanks however can’t really hold objectives, tend to die in close combat, and feature diminishing returns against non-vehicles. That’s why you need infantry still.

Yes, you do still need some artillery: Yes, I keep mentioning that Indirect Fire got changed. The thing is though, the Astra Militatum is about ranged combat, and an efficient way for a foe to counter that is to simply stay out of sight. Artillery is a good answer to that problem, although this may be substituted with paradropping Scions and such if you like that better.

Wow, this was a long one. Bye for now.