[CaptainJones]

Been putting together a guard army for a few months now and Ive got a nice core of 1000 points.

My problem is this: most of the time I find myself playing against marines, and i seem to get my ass handed to me most of the time, they always seem to have some special rule or other which stops them dying (and if i hear the words 'ill deploy the drop pod with the dreadnought... here!' i think im gonna scream!)

I really want to start winning so all advice is welcome

 

[realitycheque]

To deal with deep strike, just take an allied Inquisitor + 2 mystics. Sit them next to a tank and watch the pretty fireworks

Also, taking veterans with carapace armour will make you survive 50% of their bolt and flamer wounds, rather than 0% of them. Cover saves will only get you so far.

 

[Blood_Blade]

If your problem is deep striking/ drop pod marine armies, its all a matter of set-up. Don't deploy your forces spread out across your deployment zone, castle up in the center or a corner as terrain dictates. If your enemy has a few Drop Pod Dreds with Multi-Melta's to pop your tanks, have your infantry spaced out 12" around your tanks so that they cannot deep strike within half range. This will negate their ability to pop your precious armour before you can react. Meltaguns of your own will make short work of these Dreadnoughts as they will likely be placed within 6" of your infantry.

Against normal MEQ's I would suggest Ordenance. Leman Russ Battle Tanks, Executioners and Demolishers all do a great job at erasing MEQ's from the board. Colossus are an interesting alternative, although I've never run one.

 

[==Me==]

MEQs will die to sustained fire. Force enough saves and they will fail. AP3/2/1 is good too if you can bypass cover, but generally massed fire works against everything.

To deal with Pods, it's all about deployment. Castle up, don't expose yourself, and once they come in you have mobility and the ability to focus your entire army on a portion of his.

 

[ernie55]

In a word, Executioners. I have 2 of these bad boys at 1500 and they pretty much eat a space marine squad each per turn, even in cover. 5 Plasma shots per turn will chew through them.

Also I agree with what has been said above about Castling up against Pods, just remember that they don't move your units, they have to keep going till they land safely.

 

[343rd Mordian]

one word: Marbo.

The guy is a friggin animal. Dreadnought? More like Deadnought when Marbo gets through with it. Let him drop that droppod wherever...then you bring in Marbo on YOUR turn and kill it. I wasn't totally sold on the guy at first, but now my complusory choices are HQ, 2 Troops, and Marbo.

No kidding. Try him out, and you too will be a believer.

 

[Jdog232]

chimeltas, chimeltas, and more chimeltas, all i played for my first maybe 3 months of guard gaming was space marines, and for the first two i could not beat them, the damn dreadnought drop pods seemed unbeatable, however i began running around 4-5 chimelta squads combined with outher infantry and armor and i started winning, i cant say exactly why but the chimeltas are what i truly believe made the difference

 

[Korona]

Isn't deep-striking into an enemy unit a deep-strike mishap?

 

[343rd Mordian]

yeah and Chimeltas with Veterans with Meltas inside is a nice touch. There isn't a whole lot that withstand that. Especially since against a swarm of Guard, Marines are already at a disadvantage. I know there is someone out there reading this saying "whut?" but its true. When i got into 40K, everyone told me to play Marines. Because everyone else was playing Marines. I think they are vastly overrated. 100 lasguns shots at a squad of marines will make them know fear. As far as special characters, I have already covered that. Marbo.

 

[realitycheque]

Isn't deep-striking into an enemy unit a deep-strike mishap?

SM pods have Inertial Guidance which means if you scatter you're safe (but not if you hit, so make sure it's a legal landing spot!)

 

[Ravendove]

With Imperial Guard, you should never lose a vulnerable unit to deep strikers. Use the bubblewrap technique to shield your important tanks (Leman Russes, Artillery, etc.).
That is, deploy infantry very spaced out around the tank in a circle (or semi-circle if it's rear is against board edge), leaving close to 2" between each model. One or two infantry squads should be enough to stop anything deep striking to within 12" of that tank. You can mingle two different units to give both a cover save:

Squad 1, Squad 2

. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .

Inquisitor with 2 x Mystics runs at 32 points and is a huge advantage to have. I run one in every single Imperial army I have.

Otherwise, for dealing with regular old marines, mass fire works every time.

 

[realitycheque]

Inquisitor with 2 x Mystics runs at 32 points and is a huge advantage to have. I run one in every single Imperial army I have

It is obscenly cheap, and a great way to use up a small number of spare points. Hell it only needs to work properly once in 5 games for it to be worth the purchase.

 

[CaptainJones]

hmm you know its funny. After losing a shed-load of battles against marines i played against them yesterday and i totally owned them. My opponent used that old gamers excuse 'i was really bad with the dice rolls!' and to be fair he did have some bad ones, but i tried a pincer movement and his defence really crumbled. Judging from that result it seems like applying concentrated fire in the right places does the trick

 

[Marnepup]

You can mingle two different units to give both a cover save

First, that's likely to earn you a few straight punches to the face if you tried it anywhere I've played. Talk about rules-lawyering to an unsavory degree!

Second, hasn't that been FAQed out of existence? If not, I do know that the major tournaments have ruled that when you do that, the unit with the model closest to the firer provides a cover save to the other unit, but not vice versa. That pretty much eliminates the tactic from tournament play, and if GW itself hasn't FAQed it, it still has no place in a friendly game.

As for how to defeat MEQs...If they have a 67% save, make them roll 300% as many dice. Since it takes 10 wounds to produce 3 casualties, plan to inflict 30 wounds to kill a squad. "more shots" is far cheaper, points-wise, than "better shots," especially when you only have BS3. Add in some pie plate madness, and watch the MEQs scatter like wheat chaff on the threshing floor.

For drop pods, bunker up behind a shell of expendable units, or at least units that represent the least attractive target to the drop pods' contents. Then rejoice that you're facing only part of the enemy army at a time.

 

[==Me==]

First, that's likely to earn you a few straight punches to the face if you tried it anywhere I've played. Talk about rules-lawyering to an unsavory degree!

Go go Internet Tough Guy! Enjoy being ejected from the tourney/store and possibly charged with assault. That'll show him for following the rules

Second, hasn't that been FAQed out of existence? If not, I do know that the major tournaments have ruled that when you do that, the unit with the model closest to the firer provides a cover save to the other unit, but not vice versa. That pretty much eliminates the tactic from tournament play, and if GW itself hasn't FAQed it, it still has no place in a friendly game.

Nah, it's legit, and a pain to set up. It requires perfect formation and lots of close contact between models, so it's very susceptible to well done charged as well as AoE weapons (particularly ones that ignore cover).

 

[SandWyrm]

Inquisitor with 2 x Mystics runs at 32 points and is a huge advantage to have. I run one in every single Imperial army I have.

These seem to be all the rage. But I've never needed one. Mech IG has the mobility and firepower to simply move away from Deep Strikers and then kill them.

 

[SandWyrm]

hmm you know its funny. After losing a shed-load of battles against marines i played against them yesterday and i totally owned them. My opponent used that old gamers excuse 'i was really bad with the dice rolls!' and to be fair he did have some bad ones, but i tried a pincer movement and his defence really crumbled. Judging from that result it seems like applying concentrated fire in the right places does the trick

You've got it.

As Guard, you always want to be focusing all of your firepower on a small portion of the MEQ force. If they hit you all at once, you're dead. But if you can pop some of his transports and spread out his advance, then you'll be able to take him down piecemeal.

 

[cKerensky]

A great many of my foe have had their eyesight reduced to nothing due to the intense brightness that is my trusty Flashlight.

Grandmasters to Crisis Suits. Fear the Flashlight!

 

[Diggums Hammer]

Lots of good advice so far.I would only add Mech Vet Plasma squads. Use Vedettas, Sentinals or HW squads to pop transports and vehicles at range and have close an equal number of Chimera mounted Vet squads with Meltas and others with Plasma. You will get twice as many AP2 shots with Plasma over Meltas, making them ideal for getting rid MEQ troops. Always have at least one AV14 Russ to take fire away from your Chimeras as well. Cheers, DH

 

[==Me==]

Plasma with "Fire on My Target" is very unpleasant for just about anybody.