500pt IG army, Mortar Heavy

[Medievalriot]

Well after around six years of being unactive in the 40k universe, I've decided to pick it up again. While I sold a good bit of my army I am picking up the pieces and going forward once more. So I created a 500pt army that I hope will best suit my situation. Tell me what you think.

My situation: The people I will be playing against mostly are other IG armies which are very infantry based, the Tau, and Tyranids. On occassion Space Marines. Also, my friends and I favor relatively clustered battlefields with lots of cover although we've been known to play on larger more open fields as well.

So I've come up with this.

HQ:

Command Squad: 90 pts
-Vox-caster
-Mortar
-Master of Ordnance

Elites:

Ratling Squad: 50 pts
-Ratling x5

Troops:

Veteran Squad: 120 pts
-Vox-caster
-Flamer x3
-Grenadiers

Platoon Command : 40 pts
-Vox-caster
-Mortar

Infantry Squad: 70 pts
-Vox-caster
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

Infantry Squad: 70 pts
-Vox-caster
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

Heavy Weapons Squad: 60 pts
-Mortar x3

The idea behind this army is to sit back behind cover and shell the enemy. While I realize the Master of Ordinance and Mortars are not the most accurate in the world, i'm hoping by sheer numbers they can put in some real damage. I didn't give either command squad any special upgrades as I plan for them to just sit there behind the infantry line giving orders and firing their mortars. (Kinda rhymed eh?)

Which brings me to the infantry line. I'll have the two infantry squads in the main fire lanes, hopefully behind some cover. They will be my shooty oriented squads obviously armed with Auto cannons and grenade launchers. Generally I want them to hold the line, and i'm prepaired to use orders such as 'Incoming!' to make them last as long as possible.

To support the small infantry gun line i'll hopefully be able to infiltrate my ratlings into good positioning and hope to pin down closing enemies as much as possible.

Also, i'll be holding my Veteran Squad either in reserve or send them out to be aggressive wherever needed. They will hopefully be able to deal with any squad they come in contact with, negating cover bonuses with their three flamers. I honestly wanted to give the sergeant a plasma pistol and either a power weapon or fist as they are very likely to get into cc but I couldn't find the points.

What do you think, and how can I improve? And if your so inclined what would you suggest to notch it up to a 1000pt army?

[The Prince of Excess]

Everything is fine except the Veterans. They need a Chimera or they need to go. I;d drop them, the Ratlings and the Voxes, buy another Platoon the exact same as the one you're running.

The best 500 points for IG is really 2 Platoons and a CCS, mixing in whatever guns. It;ll give you more men, bigger squads and more hate on armor and toughish models.

Hope that helps.

[MTG Guru]

You will have trouble against power armour armies, although you may get lucky and pop their transports early should they bring any. The way you deploy your forces will essentially make or break you.

Same goes for mech builds. 500pts lets me bring three chimeras and troops which you really cant do much about short of pray the MoO lands a direct hit. Hopefully no one decides to field a hell hound against you! Rinse and repeat for Tau should they bring devilfish/hammerheads.

I think however you WILL own foot armies, especially other foot IG and foot Tau. Nids will trouble you if they are fast or bring an MC or two. But it is pretty hard to balance a list at such a low points level. Dont leave your vets in reserve as chances are you will find they wont be available when you want them. Note, you really dont have a unit to capture objectives with. Might make objective missions difficult to win.

[The Prince of Excess]

Adding that extra Autocannon Platoon would make Mech far from scary, especially in 500. Power Armor is a bit rough but that's what FRFSRF is for. :]

[Medievalriot]

That is actually really good advice. The army wouldn't be too hurt without the ratlings and Vox's, and the Veteran squad wasn't particurally a certerpiece. Although I did want them to help me take objectives as the rest of my army will likely be unable. Taking in a whole other platoon is a great idea. I'm wondering if it would be possible to switch some auto cannons to the platoon command squads for better BS and give the guardsmen mortars. Somelike like 2 PCS with Autocannon, 2 GI with Autocannon, 2 GI with Mortar. Although it might seem like a waste to have 10 guardsman sitting around sending off one mortar.

Anti armor or heavy infantry is definantly a problem for the army, as before any alteration all i've got is two auto cannons that can give any kind of punch. If I add in the other platoon i'll have four, which will be a little better. I think it gives me 20 extra points as well though, which I may be able to fit in some plasma with.

I'm also worried about fast cc armies. Any suggestions here? Especially if I knock off the Veteran squad, what do I do against cc opponents able to reach me? I havn't upgraded any command squad for cc. Do I just rely on my gun line at this point or is there another direction I can go?

[The Prince of Excess]

Platoon Commands are BS3, only Company Commands and Vets are BS4. I'd keep the Mortars on them as they're only 5 man and thus will want to hide.

Fats CC armies are few in 500 points but FRFSRF is your best friend. Put tons of Lasguns shots in right before the charge and it'll blunt it badly. Any damage done while closing the gap is a bonus.

[Medievalriot]

Ah, your right. I was thinking about the CCS. That makes it simpler anyways. Ok here is a revised list that should do well.

HQ:

Command Squad: 85 pts
-Mortar
-Master of Ordnance

Troops:

(1)Platoon Command : 35 pts
-Mortar

Infantry Squad: 65 pts
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

Infantry Squad: 65 pts
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

(2)Platoon Command : 35 pts
-Mortar

Infantry Squad: 65 pts
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

Infantry Squad: 65 pts
-Auto Cannon
-Grenade launcher

Heavy Weapons Squad: 60 pts
-Mortar x3

It only comes out to 450 if I did the math right however, so I have 50 points to use in the best way possible. Suggestions? Possible options are adding the Ratlings back in, upgrading sergeants, or maybe giving some vox casters back to a few squads just for some extra assurance on the FRFSRF. Heck, if I could knock off 10 points somewhere I could have another Heavy Weapons Squad of mortars.

[The Prince of Excess]

Hmmm. You could drop the MoO and add a variety of useful things, like a Griffon, really in theme for your army.

You could grab Marbo, a great character in any game and he'd help with your Marine problem, on demand Democharge.

Scout Sentinels aren't bad either, get them into the backcourt for Autocannons in the rear armor, or assaults against othther shooty armies like Tau or IG.

[Carkeh]

So far ive played 4 games (although against my own tyranids) and ive only failed 1 order roll so far, dont know whether it is luck, or just the fact that voxes aren't needed at all!

[The Prince of Excess]

Yeah testing on Ld8 with 2d6 nets many more passes than fails. I've only failed a handful and they didn't change the game much. I view them as extras that can help, not make or break parts of the army.