Archilochus: Hero of the Imperium

I've already posted my intended 40k army list, last week. I recently got a look at the list a friend of mine is building. Some of you (Jeff) might be gratified to know that it's an Imperial Guard army. The Guard just recently got a new Codex (a short booklet containing a list of unit statistics and related fluff for a specific faction) for 5th Edition, and that combined with the changes made in overall 5th Edition rules mean that the Guard are quite good, nowadays. I'll post his list below, and follow it up with some commentary.
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HQ:
Company Command Squad (note 1)
1 Commander w/ Bolt Pistol
4 Veterans w/ Plasma Guns
Chimera
Total Points: 175

Troops:
Veteran Squad
3 Meltaguns
Grenadiers
Total Points: 130

Veteran Squad
3 Meltaguns
Grenadiers
Total Points: 130

Veteran Squad (note 2)
3 Grenade Launchers
1 Missile Launcher
Chimera
Total Points: 165

Veteran Squad
3 Grenade Launchers
1 Missile Launcher
Chimera
Total Points: 165

Fast Attack: (note 3)
Valkyrie Assault Carrier
Two multiple rocket pods
Total Points: 130

Valkyrie Assault Carrier
Two multiple rocket pods
Total Points: 130

Total Points: 997

(note 1) : The Command Squad is mounted in a Chimera APC, but because of the wording of the "Fire Points" special rule are able to fire their Plasma Rifles while being transported. This makes for an expensive but mobile and well-armed anti-Meq (Marine Equivalent - an infantry unit with Toughness of 4 and an Armour Save of 3+) force.

(note 2) : The rest of the force consists of four squads of Veterans, all mounted in either Chimeras or Valkyrie Assault Carriers (see next note). The Chimera squads are equipped with grenade launchers and missile launchers, which are both tactically-flexible weapons capable of firing both frag (HE anti-infantry) and krak (armor-piercing anti-vehicle) rounds. These squads will probably be used primarily to secure objectives.

(note 3) : The Valkyrie Assault Carrier is arguably the best transport in the game. It is a Fast Skimmer with the ability to disembark troops after moving flat-out, and can be equipped with numerous weaponry loadouts, though in this case they have been given multiple rocket pods, an anti-infantry weapon. Armoured targets will be dealt with mainly by the troops being transported, which are equipped with meltaguns (short-range anti-tank weapons) and upgraded Carapace Armour.
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Overall, I feel that this is a very solid list, built around the theme of 'Mechanized Infantry'. While investments in transports mean less heavy weapons are fielded than in a more static army list, I consider the added mobility to be a great advantage (and if you recall, my own list was built on similar lines).

The list also contains redundancy. There are two of each infantry unit, ensuring that a stroke of bad luck does not cripple this army's ability to meet any specific threat. Each transport can continue to be used against enemy infantry after dismounting its troops, postponing or preventing an effective counter-attack.

The strongest point of this list, though, is its reliance on Troops choices. While almost any Guard army at the 1000-point level will contain at least one Leman Russ battle-tank, this one does not, and with good reason. Thanks to the changes in 5th Edition, Troops are now the most important and versitile unit types. For one, they are the only scoring units (that is, units which can claim objectives), and having four of them means that every unit is a threat in terms of scoring. Infantry can also make the best use of the new 'true line-of-sight' rules for cover, and have the ability to 'go to ground', further increasing their cover save (and thus, their survivability). They can also forgo shooting to make an additional d6" move, making them somewhat less painfully-slow than in previous editions.

There are, however, a few weaknesses inherent in this list, which I will need to exploit in order to beat it (and if you see any others, hey, I'm not too proud...). For one, while there are a lot of vehicles here, they're all fairly thin-skinned, with nothing over an AV of 12. The majority of the list's anti-vehicle firepower is carried by infantry rather than the vehicles they ride in, meaning it is relatively short-ranged and slow to deploy. If the transports can be destroyed within the first few rounds, it will leave the transported infantry exposed and a long distance from their ideal locations. Destroying the transports is particularly important of the Valkyries, which will prevent their very dangerous meltaguns from being deployed behind my vulnerable tanks.

Once the transports have been dealt with, the footslogging infantry units should be easy enough to destroy. Either using a long-range railgun submunitions round (fired from one of my two 'Railhead' tanks) or deploying a full squad of Shas'la out of a Devilfish (the famed 'Fish of Fury' tactic) should be enough to significantly limit their ability to return fire.

In short, the battle will hinge on my ability to eliminate his transports before they can deploy their troops into cover. If I can do this, I feel my list can pull out a victory, though it will certainly be an uphill battle given the disparaty in number of Troops selections.

Also, I got so wrapped up in tactics I forgot entirely to mention Archilochus! He was a mercenary warrior-poet and one of the manliest men around, and as he's one of my favorites I'll probably talk about him and some other soldier/intellectuals later on. For now, have a poem by him:

"So what, if some barbaric Thracian
Glories in the perfect shield I threw in a bush?
I lost my shield, but saved my skin.
Does it matter? The hell with it;
I'll buy another, just as round."

Because only a real man writes about running away from battles.

Next Time: Pascal Makes a Wager & God Casts Dice