Forward Sentries Imperial Guard Army

[ikew]

I'm thinking about attempting a low model count Imperial Guard army using with all stealth infantry (camo cloak Commissar Lord, Company Command Squad, and Veteran Squads; ratlings). While this may be a challenging line up to come to the table with, I was wondering: is such a force at all feasible? Does a low model count, stealth infantry IG army (with some vehicles, but no squadrons) have a chance?

Also, I'm thinking about just saying that the models have stealth rather than modeling camo cloaks on them (not from laziness - I'm spending too much time on each model as is - but for appearance's sake) - thoughts? I know the usual issue is distinquishing a squad with stealth from one without, but if every infantry model in the army has stealth, would it be an issue? It also crossed my mind that some people may have a strong interest in having models with stealth look "stealthy," but then I thought of Sgt. Harker...

Anyway, just thought I'd test the waters before going full swing into putting a force together. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

[Grailkeeper]

I tried it once in 4th ed. Got steam rollered in close combat. I suppose to represent stealthy you could paint camoflage on their skin a bit like [url]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_727Oy4w4Obo/S3GnCDNF79I/AAAAAAAAAgk/YoFHpxgnzb4/s1600-h/26419_sm-2nd%2520Edition,%2520Artwork,%2520Catachan,%2520Co pyright%2520Games%2520Workshop,%2520Imperial%2520G uard,%2520Officer,%2520Retro%2520Review.jpg[/url]

[Wolfshade]

Of course it has a chance, just need to avoid CC as Grailkeeper suggests, think similar to Tau. Also, fluffy wise you can go down a Tanith style force as they were stealthy foot sloggers

[ikew]

Thanks for the feedback. I like that source pic - I wasn't going to go down the face paint route originally, but I may now. Glad to hear you think it has a chance, too. I agree that staying out of combat needs to be a priority and to that end I'll try to make the list pretty mech/mobile w/ Chimeras and Valkyries plus Sentinels to tie up problem units. If I get a list worked up in the next day or two, I'll post it in the army lists section. Thanks again.

[AbusePuppy]

Actually limiting yourself to models with Stealth is going to be pretty tough, because there aren't that many of them and several compete for the same slots.

If you want to build a "forward scouts" army, though, there are a lot of good options. Look to units with the Scout special rule (which seems sort of obvious but is obvious to miss thinking about) such as Scout Sentinels, Vendettas/Valkyries, Stormtroopers, etc. Ideally your tanks are mostly Fast (like the Hellhound chassis) or troop transports for units; don't be afraid to use Chimeras, as modern recon forces tend to rely extensively on AFVs and such to keep themselves mobile. An Astropath would be a huge boon to such a force (and can easily be rationalized as some sort of forward communications officer) and having a block of Infantry Squads to represent your "main body" arriving where the recon units have led them is not a bad idea, either.

[Admiral Kenaris]

I really like to play an all Outflank IG army. It can be a lot of fun. Take Al Rahem and you have an entire platoon that must outflank. Then you can take a convict squad as your other troop choice. Put your HQ in a Vendetta and now it outflanks too. An Astropath is a necessity of course. I like to take Col. Straken as my HQ. Its a lot of fun seeing that confused look on opponents faces when the Guard wins an assualt combat.

Depending on how many points you have left over you can fill out the rest of your army with suicide Stormtrooper squads to kill vehicles, more convicts, additional Vendettas or maximising the Al Rahem's Outflank platoon.

Another variant of the all Outflank is take Creed and put him in a Vendetta, then use Creed's Tactical Genius rule to give Scout to a squadron of leman russes. So now you have outflanking tanks.