Regimental Reporting: Prior Proper Preparation Prevents Pretty Poor Performance

Ahem.  I may have word smith'ed the age old 7Ps military adage for a more friendly version, but it's very true and applies to many situations, 40K included.

Unless you are hiding in the 40K equivalent of a shack in a swamp, you'll no doubt be aware that there has been a new Space Marine codex released.  It's a great book, and a lot of my gaming circle are furiously writing army lists and working out all the fantastic combinations.  I'll do this in due course for *my* Space Marine armies, but for the moment I'm focusing on playing the glorious Cadian 82nd Imperial Guard and killing the afore-mentioned power-armoured warriors.

Pro Tip Number 1: Plasma is still your friend.

This weekend I've played at First Founding, and hosted a gaming day chez Vault, and there's been a lot of Space Marines on the table tops. Primaris of all flavours, Whirl Winds, Predators, Drop Pods, you name it, it's been there.  A lot of the changes in the Codex are quite subtle, but the net effect is Space Marines are incredibly killy, but they haven't received a lot of buffs in terms of survivability (there are a few notable exceptions however).

Which brings me onto the main point of the post; it's worth the discerning Company Commander reading up on these changes, as it can affect your target prioritisation.  As a simple example, Gravis Armour Primaris models (like Aggressors) are now 3 Wounds each; these are prime candidates for the Hammer of Sunderance Battle Cannon which does a flat 3 Damage.  If you use over charged plasma you will need two damaging shots (2 Damage each) to kill an Aggressor, halving your effectiveness.

Troops! Shoot that with extreme Dillagance!

Space  Marines have received some universal buffs in the form of Combat Doctrines.  In simple terms these represent the ability of the Adeptus Astartes to focus on different aspects of warfare as the battle progresses, improving the Armour Penetration of various categories of weapons:

• Devestator Doctrine: Heavy Boom Boom Guns
• Tactical Doctrine: Typically Infantry Dakka
• Assault Doctrine: Stabby Stuff

(On a side note, a straw poll of exactly one weekends worth of games indicates that Space Marine players do love their heavy weapons, seemingly reluctant to switch mode to the other doctrines (i.e. every Beakie is actually a Guard player in denial)).

I think for Imperial Guard players, this makes use of the Prepared Positions Stratagem very useful; for 2 CP it allows you to negate the effects of the opponent's Doctrine on the first turn if you are going second, improving your survivability before delivering the Emperor's Counter Punch.

We have a few more tricks in our tool box for survivability.  I'm a big fan of the morale affecting stratagems to keep units on the table (keep units on objectives, forces an opponent to over kill on the next turn, avoids giving up KP). Take Cover is great for 1 CP (Scions going to 2+ in terrain is super annoying), and Jury Rigging and Enginseers are excellent for shifting Tanks out of damage brackets.

Thus endeth this post's lesson.  To recap, Guard Commanders should plan to:

• Know their enemy, their strengths and weaknesses so to understand how best to destroy them.
• Dig in to Prepared Positions if advancing under enemy fire.
• Know when and where to repair and take cover, or when a unit must be sacrificed to achieve mission objectives.
• Always Over Charge as failure to do so leads to Under Kill.

Thanks for reading: I'm glancing a beady eye over the Space Marine Codex and I'll post my thoughts on how it affects my Light Bringers and the Carchardons Astra forces soon.  Until then I hope my fellow Officers will to continue to earn the Tea and Medals you so richly deserve.