750 point IG Gun Line

[Silent_P]

Drafted this list today in anticipation of dealing with those pesky Blood Angels. The notion is to keep the generic guardsmen up front to serve as meat shields for the veterans. It is a basic gun line strategy and with proper unit deployment I should be able to deny deep strikers from showing up in the back field. The generic guardsmen are going to run as one large 30 man formation.

Headquarters Unit
Sniper Rifle x4

Veteran Squad #1
Plasma Gun x3
Autocannon

Veteran Squad #2
Plasma Gun x3
Autocannon

Veteran Squad #3
Plasma Gun x3
Autocannon

Infantry Platoon

Platoon Command Squad
Sniper Rifle x4

First Squad
Flamer
Commissar
Power Maul for Commissar
Heavy Bolter

Second Squad
Flamer
Power Maul
Heavy Bolter

Third Squad
Flamer
Power Maul
Vox


TOTAL 750

I've got a bit of range mixing going on with the inclusion of autocannons with plasma guns and again with the heavy bolters and the flamers. The reasoning again is that this force will be a static gun-line army. The enemy will be subjected to autocannon fire at 48" out then heavy bolter fire at 36" range and finally a fusillade of lasgun and plasma gun fire at 24". Deep strikers are going to be subjected to some serious punishment if they drop in close. At least, that is the general idea.

[coulsono]

You need SOME way of dealing with AV 14. If he brings a LR crusader or redeemer, you are completely done for.

You could make one of your vet squads have 3 meltas instead of plasmas, that way you can still take marines and then you have some just in case fire for high AV. With the leftover points, you can add a heavy bolter to that last infantry squad, and either add a melta bomb somewhere or make the plasma vets' autocannon a missile launcher.

Quick thing, why do you have a vox on your infantry squad when your command squads don't have one?

[Silent_P]

Quick thing, why do you have a vox on your infantry squad when your command squads don't have one?

LOL, I forgot to take it off when I was monkeying around with the list.

I see what you mean about the land raider. That was something I was considering while I was writing the list and if he's going to bring a 200+ point tank to a 750 battle that means I only have 500 points worth of marines to deal with. I was going to use the "Monolith Tactic" and just ignore the thing while I shot the rest of his army to pieces.

You are correct in your assessment that melta and lascannons are the only way to deal with AV14 short of a demolisher. Missile launchers need a 6 to glance it and I don't like to rely on 6's popping up when I need them. I'll do a bit of re-writing and we'll see what I can come up with.

[Silent_P]

Headquarters Unit
Sniper Rifle x4

Veteran Squad #1
Plasma Gun x3

Veteran Squad #2
Plasma Gun x3

Veteran Squad #3
Melta Gun x3

Infantry Platoon

Platoon Command Squad
Sniper Rifle x4

First Squad
Flamer
Commissar

Second Squad
Flamer

Third Squad
Flamer

Scout Sentinel
Lascannon

Scout Sentinel
Lascannon

TOTAL 750

I know, scout sentinels are fragile. I didn't want to drop lascannons in with the veterans because it seemed like a good way for them to be obliterated. I'll keep the sentinels in reserve and out-flank with them if I need to.

[coulsono]

IMHO, you don't even need the extra lascannons on the sentinels. Or the sentinels for that matter. They kind of take the synergy away from the list. I would give your guys back their heavy weapons, and just use the 3 melta guns if anything too nasty shows up.

The different ranges idea was really good, I think you should stick with it, with this list, you have next to nothing until they are with in 24 inches.

Or, consider dropping the sentinels and picking up an Aegis defense line with a quad gun, in case he brings a storm raven, or for any medium or light tank. This goes with the synergy of your list, as it also makes your gunline more protected and helps them sit back.

Since this is leaving you with less heavy weapons, I would suggest taking 3 grenade launchers in place of the 3 flamers. Three blasts hurt, and the krak can help with anything tough. With you sitting still, and a 6" move (12 w/ jump pack) plus 2d6 (w/ reroll on jump pack) the chances of you getting a short ranged template off aren't very good. The grenade launchers would be firing more turns and upping your overall scale of firepower, which is what a gunline is all about. You could do snipers if you wanted to, but I personally like the grenade launcher better in this situation because of the large blasts for crowd control and you are more likely to take out transports and the such. The downside is you don't get that rending or the extra range.

[Silent_P]

I have to disagree with your conclusion on the sentinels. By removing them that leaves the army with only one way of dealing with heavy armor and that is the veterans. Any commander worth his salt will target that squad first before rolling in with the landraiders. That will effectively eliminate any possibility of damaging his high value tanks. By bringing the sentinels to the table later in the game I am forcing the enemy to focus on multiple threats thus reducing his firepower that is brought to bear against any one particular unit.

I do agree that the first list is much more viable due to the large volume of fire brought at long range. That is one reason why the mechanized guard armies were so deadly, they brought a significant amount of 36" range firepower. As you mentioned, an Aegis Defense Line (Sorry Tallarn) is a viable option, though I do not believe it to be an answer to eliminating the heavy armor threat. The original list as it was written would handle AV12 without a problem. It is AV14 targets that are going to be the trouble makers.

I have to disagree with your assessment of taking the grenade launchers over the flamers for a variety of reasons. First, the thirty man unit with the commissar is designed as mobile cover for the veterans and to serve as a tar pit for the enemy's assaulting forces. The flamers serve as a deterrent for lightly armored assaulting enemies because they can hit D3 models using over-watch. With the BS3 of the generic guardsmen, I would not be using krak grenades due to the unreliable nature to hit and frag grenades are not something to be flinging at power-armored foes. If I were to swap out the flamers I would trade them in for generic lasguns so the force can further benefit from "First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire!".

The challenge of playing at the 750 point level is that you cannot bring all of the bells and whistles you are used to using in a 2000 point match. At higher level games you have the ability to field multiple units with specialized tasks. You can also build redundancy into your list without sacrificing performance. Playing at the 750 point level you have to build in a certain amount of versatility for your units while doing your best to maintain the optimal performance desired in specialized squads.