Well, I bought my ticket yesterday for
BOLS-CON and I've been thinking about what to do for 2000 points of Imperial Guard. For those unaware, the BOLSCON folks are very particular about 40k rules, so they have their own FAQ/errata that over-writes the GW equivalents in order to make certain rules/units clearer to use. They also make a few changes just for a few certain things that the organizers consider "unfair" (aka Ork Deffrollas), but that's an entirely different story.
But here's what I have to keep in mind when putting my army together:
- 100% WYSIWYG : Counts-As is allowed but still has to use mainly GW products (no PVC drop-pods or RC-car Battlewagons). This means I need to have explicit models for everything I want to use. This shouldn't be a issue for me, but things could crop up.
- Models MUST be based properly : Skimmers MUST be based on flying bases at all times and non-vehicle models MUST be on the appropriate size of base. For models that have been put on different-sized bases as time has progressed must be put on the most recently available base. For me, this means that I have to re-base any IG heavy weapon teams that I bring to be on the huge 60mm base.
- Painting counts for a decent chunk of the overall score : I'm going to be in trouble here, as there's no way I'm going to be 100% painted by late August. I think I'm just going to have to eat the 10-15% loss in overall score because of this. That means I can't win the tournament overall, but I can still win Best General if I win most/all of my games.
- Sportsmanship/theme also counts for a decent chunk of the overall score : This isn't as big an issue as I usually try to act as much like a gentleman as I can during tournaments. The theme score is only slightly limiting, and like sportsmanship is incredibly subjective. Some people may knock me down on theme JUST for playing IG since it's "the new thing" unless I bring clearly bad choices (like Ogryns, Stormtroopers, and Rough Riders). Hopefully if I avoid using Valkyries this won't be as big of an issue.
So onto my idea for a list:
I'm trying to keep this as competitive as I can without sacrificing theme. I don't have enough infantry modeled to ever hope for the "Guardsman Horde" style of IG army, so I'm going fully mechanized. That means I need a TON of transports, but since I don't want to play the "Valkyrie" card I'll have to stick with Chimeras. That's okay as I have 2 already and more are on their way in the mail, but I'll still likely have to borrow some. Tory, I'm looking at you.
Mechanized also means TANKS, but I don't want to go overboard. In 2000 points I'm expecting to see some IG players try to bring 6-7 Leman Russ chassis, but I think that's putting way too many points into Heavy Support. 4 is a good number, I think, and I also don't want to go with the more expensive ones, so basic Russes and a couple of Demolishers will have to do.
I'll still need more anti-horde, specifically something to combat mass infantry entrenched in cover (or Orks with a force field). That means Hellhounds or Banewolevs. Since I already have a pair modeled, I'll be going with Banewolves most likely. They have much less range than the Hellhound, but they can wound MEQ more easily. Plus I plan I getting in my enemy's grill anyhow, so at the worst the fast little tanks should act as a nice diversion to keep anti-vehicle fire off of my big tanks and APCs.
List so far:
-= HQ =-
105 Company Command Squad (50) w/ Company Standard (15)
+ Grenade Launcher x2 (10) + Master of the Fleet (30)
65 Chimera Transport (55) w/ Multilaser + Hull Heavy Bolter
+ Pintle Heavy Stubber (10)
-= Troops =-
145 Veterans (70) w/ Shotguns + Power Fist (15) + Meltagun x3 (30)
+ Demolitions (30)
55 Chimera Transport (55) w/ Multilaser + Hull Heavy Flamer
145 Veterans (70) w/ Shotguns + Power Fist (15) + Meltagun x3 (30)
+ Demolitions (30)
55 Chimera Transport (55) w/ Multilaser + Hull Heavy Flamer
150 Veterans (70) w/ Plasma Pistol (15) + Power Sword (10)
+ Plasma Gun x3 (45) + Autocannon (10)
65 Chimera Transport (55) w/ Multilaser + Hull Heavy Bolter
+ Pintle Heavy Stubber (10)
150 Veterans (70) w/ Plasma Pistol (15) + Power Sword (10)
+ Plasma Gun x3 (45) + Autocannon (10)
65 Chimera Transport (55) w/ Multilaser + Hull Heavy Bolter
+ Pintle Heavy Stubber (10)
-= Fast Attack =-
150 Banewolf (130) w/ Hull Multimelta (15) + Smoke Launchers (5)
150 Banewolf (130) w/ Hull Multimelta (15) + Smoke Launchers (5)
-= Heavy Support =-
340 Battle Tank x2 (300) w/ Hull Heavy Bolter x2
+ Sponson Heavy Bolters x2 (40)
180 Demolisher Tank (165) w/ Hull Lascannon (15)
180 Demolisher Tank (165) w/ Hull Lascannon (15)
Total: 2000
To sum up that's:
- 5 Chimera APCs (12/10/10)
- 2 Banewolves (12/12/10)
- 2 basic Russes (14/13/10)
- 2 Demolishers (14/13/11)
- 1 generic HQ w/ anti-outflank advisor
- 2 anti-horde/anti-vehicle troops
- 2 anti-MEQ/anti-light-vehicle troops
Thoughts and suggestions?
