Salutations and welcome to another instalment of my list-building articles. This particular army list actually details a force I'm most likely going to build, partially because I love the fluff behind Space Marines reinforcing beleaguered Imperial Guardsmen and mainly because I already own 3/4s of the vehicles necessary to field it. When constructed this army will most likely represent an Imperial Guard army of my own devising using a combination of parts from Victoria Miniatures and other well known conversion parts produces like MaxMini and Puppetswar. The Space Wolf allies will be represented by Death Watch, using GW Death Watch shoulder pads as well as numerous shoulder pads from other chapters manufactured by Forgeworld/GW.
2000 pts Imperial Guard w/ Space Wolf Allies
1235 pts Imperial Guard:
HQ - Company Command Squad - 165 pts
Company Commander & 4 Veterans w/ 4 Plasma Guns in Chimera w/ Hull-Mounted Heavy Flamer
Troops - Veteran Squad - 170 pts
10 Veterans w/ 3 Plasma Guns in Chimera w/ Hull-Mounted Heavy Flamer
Troops - Veteran Squad - 155 pts
10 Veterans w/ 3 Melta Guns in Chimera w/ Hull-Mounted Heavy Flamer
Troops - Veteran Squad - 155 pts
10 Veterans w/ 3 Melta Guns in Chimera w/ Hull-Mounted Heavy Flamer
Fast Attack - Vendetta Gunship Squadron - 130 pts
Vendetta Gunship
Fast Attack - Vendetta Gunship Squadron - 130 pts
Vendetta Gunship
Heavy Support - Leman Russ Squadron - 165 pts
Leman Russ Demolisher
Heavy Support - Leman Russ Squadron - 165 pts
Leman Russ Demolisher
765 pts Space Wolf (Death Watch!) Detachment:
HQ - Rune Priest - 100 pts
Elites - Dreadnought - 135 pts
Dreadnought w/ Twin-Linked Lascannon
Troops - Grey Hunter Pack - 155 pts
5 Grey Hunters w/ Melta Gun in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma Guns
Troops - Grey Hunter Pack - 155 pts
5 Grey Hunters w/ Melta Gun in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma Guns
Fast Attack - Land Speeder Squadron - 80 pts
Land Speeder with 2 Multi-Melta
Heavy Support - Long Fang Pack - 140 pts
6 Long Fangs w/ 5 Missile Launchers
Thoughts & Summary:
HQ - 2
Elites - 1
Troops - 5
Fast Attack - 3
Heavy Support - 3
So guns, and a lot of them. This is a 90% optimized list and about as competitive as I'll get when it comes to a game of Warhammer 40,000. The 10% further optimization would be dropping the Dreadnought and Land Speeder for another Veteran squad in Chimera with some trimmings on the side, but I love the Ultramarines Forgeworld Dreadnought and I own a spare Land Speeder, so I thought: 'What the hell, might as well buy the Dread, and throw the Land Speeder in there.' This wasn't a mindless decision though, as it's important to understand that the base list had to be shored up substantially by the Space Wolf Allies.
What I mean by this is if you look at the Imperial Guard force, there is no long range shooting in the form of Auto-Cannons or Missile Launchers, and the Lascannons on the Vendetta come in on Turn 2/3. Typically speaking you would have these weapons in spades in 5th edition because allies didn't exist and the extra 400-700 points in allied fire-power was a platoon's worth of special/heavy weapons. Now that Imperial Guard make great primary armies, the units I have included currently are most popular for their enduring efficiency and close to mid-range fire-power. But without a close combat element, additional long range shooting was required in the form of Space Marines to buffer enemy assaults; and who better at long range fire power than Space Wolves.
Long Fangs are Long Fangs, and little more needs to be said other than they form the anvil alongside a Dreadnought. Normally I would advocate a Dakka Dread, but in this circumstance I wanted the extra strength a Lascannon could deliver to ensure penetrating hits. In addition, the fluffy part of me demanded the Dreadnought CCW since I've never been a fan of a mighty Dreadnought running around chicken legged with no close combat capability. With the Rune Priest joining the Grey Hunters, you have two mobile units to capture objectives as well as additional Lascannons to handle incoming transports and their contents. Jaws of the World Wolf also gives you a bit of added protection from funky Deathstars like Nob Bikers, Dragowing and other Terminator shenanigans. Finally, with 80 points remaining, I decided on a double Multi-Melta Land Speeder to make Land Raider owners second guess themselves. Preferably two identical Land Speeders would be more durable in their application, but being allies one is all I could field.
So, potential changes that could be made? As mentioned before, removing the Land Speeder and Dreadnought in favour of more scoring troops is never a bad thing, although trades long range anti-tank capability for more short-range Melta guns. Switching out the Land Speeder for Marbo is always a nice surprise for the opponent, although a bit of a gimmick after he's face-melted someone with his demo charges. Removal of the Land Speeder for another Razorback attached to the Long Fangs could work too, providing yet another hull to saturate the board with. All in all though, I am satisfied that this list contains the enormous amount of fire-power at short, mid and long range to crush most armies and hold its own against the most competitive ones.
Next List: Forge World Elysian Drop Troops & Allies!
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