BrotherCaptainAndromidius
How to beat Blood Angels with Imperial Guard Greetings my Brothers.
How to:
This tactica is devoted to beating a Blood Angels army (or any assaulty marine army for that matter) using Imperial Guard. Believe me this is a daunting prospect (especially if you've experienced your best assault troops- the Ogryns- being wiped out by the marine's worst troops- the Scouts- in one combat turn...), but it can be done! This is the advice I am offering... Don't try to beat them at their own game... Blood Angels are built to be good at close combat. Imperial Guard are not. It's as simple as that. Don't try to get into close combat with them! Even if you assault them they will still probably wipe the floor with you. Avoid close combat at all costs, even if it means volentary falling back to escape. The unit will probably rally (if you have an officer or a Veteran Sergeant nearby), and remember: fleeing units can still shoot! The squad that assault you is now probably siting in front of your army, looking rather pathetic. Battle Cannons are great for complete destroying SM squads with one shot, but restain yourself from firing these first. Scatter can seriously ruin your day if you fire this close to your own lines. Fire lasguns and shorter ranged heavy weapons first, and only fire the ordinance if you have no choice left! If the unit flees, don't bother shooting them in the back. Although they'll rally next turn they shouldn't now be in assault range this turn, so shoot at a more dangerous target that is getting a little to close. But there are times when assaulting is a good idea. A lone unit, cut off or a long way away from support is a good target. But only assault if you're sure you can't wipe them out with shooting (rapid fire is deadly) first. If you do assault, make sure you outnumber your opponants at least 3 to 1 (or 4 to 1 against Terminators or DC, etc). If you win the combat and break that unit, then don't sweeping advance unless you have at least three units remaining, then only sweep with one (units can't regroup with enemy models within 6"...) but watch out for enemy counter attacks and close range bolter fire. Try to consolidate into a firing line (away from the fleeing unit, just in case they can assault you next turn...) and shoot them to pieces next turn! Then again, if you have a unit of Rough Riders in the combat then sweep by all means (they aren't good at shooting are they?) because they are more likely to catch them. Forget about ever sweeping assault marines... Counter assault units might be useful to hold behind your firing line.
Good units include Rough Riders, Ogryns and Command HQ's (tooled up). If
a shooty unit gets stuck in combat with a Blood Angels unit in fight them
off so you can start firing again!
Blow 'em away... Good anti-marine weapons include Lascannons (great for blowing up tanks too), Meltaguns, Plasmaguns and Missile Launchers. Take both of those Anti-tank squads that you are allowed to take. Give one 3 Lascannnons and the other 3 Missile Launchers. This way the Lascannons can take care of any heavily armoured tanks that may be on the opponant's side and the Missile Launchers can take down any Land Speeders or Rhinos before they get too close (if you get first turn then you can destroy those pesky speeders more easily). When these threats are eliminated turn the lascannons onto Terminators and the Missile Lanchers onto Death Company and Assault Marines. Ignore foot trops until all other threats are destroyed. With Meltaguns and Plasmaguns, give these to your Command HQ (you can have 4 special weapons... which is nice) and Hardened Veteran Squad (these are best due to BS4!). When the enemy gets close enough, let it rip! Target Rhinos with the Meltaguns and Terminators with the Plasmaguns first, then shift aim once this is done. Don't mix weapons too much if possible (i.e. give all the plasmaguns to the HQ and the Meltaguns to the veterans) as this reduces your chances of effective killing. 4 Plasmaguns are great for gunning down advancing Terminators, and 3 Meltaguns are amazing at busting tanks that get just a little to close. Not worth the points... Units and weapons to avoid taking in your army: Stormtroopers (these are worse then the marine's best troops, and are terrible in close combat and shooting with them. The only good thing is their armour...), Mortars (don't make me laugh...), Hellhounds (too easily destroyed and not good against marines anyway), Flamers (close ranged without good AP? In a shooty army?) and Grenade Launchers (not to bad, but AP4 isn't good enough to take out most marines. Buy a Plasmagun instead). Dont bother with Exterminator either, as AP4, against, just isn't worth it (unless you KNOW your opponant has a think for Scouts). Armoured Gauntlet. The main strength of the Imperial Guard is numbers. The second is their tanks. Mess up on your tank selection and you are done for. Pity you can only have 3 Heavy Support choices... Here are a few tanks you should never be without against Blood Angels: Leman Russes- Battle Cannons are just amazing at wiping out whole squads at a time. Take at least two, and nail that Death Company on turn one! Vanquishers- I'm not so keen on this tank...it's too powerful for the points in my opion. But it is a very good tank against marines. It's Vanquisher Cannon can easily destroy a Land Raider, and it can also fire Battle Cannon shells. Not too bad huh? To top things off it gets a veteran ability for free (skilled gunnery is great because the V Cannon uses the crew's WS3 so it gets a reroll!). Demolishers- Excelent at repelling assault troops. The Demolisher Cannon can and probalby will wipe out whole squads in single shots (including Terminators Squads...they only get their 5+ inv. save so most of them should still die). Plasma Cannons on the sponsons are very useful to (for obvious reasons). Baslisks- I hate fighting against these. A player with a skilled eye can blow you to pieces even if you are hiding from them! Always give this tank indirect fire for extra fear. A pity it's only AP3... When using ordinance try to force the Blood Angels player to funnel his units through a small area (how you do it is up to you) as your chances of hitting marines are greatly increased! Never, ever take these tanks against Blood Angels... Hellhounds- as I've said before, these are too weak and poorly armed to pose any threat. Griffons- the Griffon Mortar isn't powerful enough to do much. Only take it if the mission has bunkers, and you are attacking. Conquerors- I love these tanks, but they are rubbish against marines! Chimeras- What's the point of transport when you need to stand still and shoot? It's weapons aren't powerful enough either (AP6 main gun???). Only take if you HAVE to (armoured company, steel legion, etc...) or you need to advance quickly (breakthrough). Rank and file. The basic infantryman isn't too impressive compared to a charged madman in power armour is it? But give him a special weapon, such as a Plasmagun, and he starts looking tougher. Put his mate around him and give them a Missile Launcher or a Lascannon. Then he's looking mean. Your infantry squads, dispite their humble image, are the backbone of your force. Without these you are in deep trouble. These should take up at less 25% of your points allowance (I'm starting to sound 2nd edition now aren't I?). So in a 2,000 pts game, take at least 500 pts of infantry platoons. That still isn't much infantry. You can get about 5 squads for that amount. Not enough for my tastes. I like to spend 50%+ on infantry. 10 squads? 100 men? Sounds good huh? With 100+ men behind you, those 30 or so Blood Angels aren't going to simpily tear through you. It's unlikely their be able to kill all your men in the time allowed (especailly if you deploy at the back of the table and destroy all their transports). But how to you equip your squads against marines? Low AP weapons with high ranges. Such as: Lascannons, Missile Launchers, Plasmaguns. Avoid High AP weapons with low ranges (such as Flamers). Unless you KNOW you have to assault Blood Angels in cover (never a very good idea...) don't bother with Frag Grenades. These are a waste of points. Don't bother with Veteran Sergeants unless you want Plasma pistols, etc. Taking Assaults. The best way to survive an assault from Blood Angels is to hide behind cover and keep your units together (safety in numbers). Try deploying axtra units behind your main firing line. If a firing unit gets assualted and the unit holds then assult the Blood Angels with your 2nd line units. If the unit brakes then the Blood Angels will have to sweep into the 2nd line and will then get shot to pieces (hopefully) by the other squads, and the fleeing unit has a chance of rallying. Good units for this are Ogryns. Strong, tough, multiple wounds and lots of attacks (even more when counter-assualting). So always remember... 1/ Avoid Assaults.
Follow these tips and your chances of winning should be improved (of course if you can't stop rolling 1's then I can't help you...)! Blood Angels don't seem so scary anymore do they? ~Brother-Captain Andromidius (Matthew Thornley).
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