Next up we have the Battle line units. These are only a few of them and there are some winners and losers here. All these units have a couple of rules in common, such as being able to take two leader units, with one being a command squad and the Vox caster ability to gain CP’s if a stratagem is used on them. Both of these are good abilities and every unit will take a vox caster as there is no downside to taking one.
First up are the standard Infantry Squad. This has been the standard basic troop unit for the guard for as long as they have existed and they are still one of the go to units, however there is a little bit of an issue with them, that as far as i know, has not been solved at time of writing. The unit can take heavy weapons and a single special weapon, although currently not both at the same time, as it has been able to for, well, ever. You can take one special per 10 models, but if you take a heavy weapons team, you replace two guardsmen with a single team and thus the squad now has nine models and so you can’t take a special! Hopefully they will fix this soon and we can go back top our standard squads. In a squad of 20, you can take two heavy weapons and one special, which is alright. This squad also get the benefit of cover if its on an objective, so this is going to be you base unit for holding your home objective, probably with a couple of mortars for indirect fire support.
The Cadian Shock Troops are going to be seen a lot on the table, both due to the ability to take two special weapons per 10 models, or 4 per 20 and the shock troops ability, which means that any objective you control at the start of your turn will remain under your control even if you no longer have any troops on it. The means that you cadian squad can keep moving and advancing, not having to hang around on an objective all game, possibly out in the open getting shot to pieces.
The next squad is the Death Korps of Kreig and these guys are going to be very popular. It will be a toss up between these and cadians in most cases. The DKoK can take up to six special weapons or five and a vox caster, more than any other battle line units in the guard. With its grim demeanour ability giving +1 to hit and also +1 to wound means that you have some serious hitting power with these guys, although you might not get to use these abilities very much thanks to the medi-pack enabling you to bring back troopers every turn. Whether you take the DKoK or the Cadians will depend on whether you want to be able to hold objectives and move around the board or if you want to hold objectives and be hard to shift. I think that most lists will either go all in on one or the other of these units with only a squad of basic infantry to hold the back line.
Lastly and most definitely least we have the Catachans, my favourite in lore units and by far the worse battle line unit in the guard, if not the game. You get the standard guard profile and a special ability that improves strength and AP if you charge or were charged and 2 special weapons per ten men, which can only be flamers. I understand that they are trying to keep with the model kits for the weapon options and they are trying to make catachans more combat focused than the other battle line units but the SGT doesn’t even have a chain sword or equivalent. The kit comes with a big knife for the sgt, so why can’t it have a special rule for this? I think that if they want ed to make this unit more combat orientated they could have given them 2 attacks each, at a base strength 4 and given the sgt addition attacks, strength or ap with a catachan devils claw. These guys are supposed to be built like tanks with the strength to match. As it is, there is very little reason to play these guys at all, unless you want to run Harker or Straken for fluff reasons. I really hope that an updated catachan kit part of the guard release in 10th.
So, most armies will have cadian or DKoK with maybe one or two infantry squads and the catachans left sitting on the shelf at home.
Transports have taken on greater meaning in this edition with the changes to disembarkation rules.
The Chimera is the standard transport of the guard, heavily armed and reasonably tough, even in this new edition. Its role has not changed much from previous edition and with the Mobile Command ability enabling embarked officers to issue orders as normal means that keeping you guys inside and protected does not reduce their capabilities. This is going to be the go to transport for most people, although it would have been nice if it had gained a couple of extra spaces on board to take a full squad and command squad, but a capacity of 12 is still pretty good.
The alternative option is the Taurox. This is not as tough, nor does it have as many wounds but it is quicker and still packs a punch with its twin auto cannons. There is little reason to take the taurox over the chimera in general, the only advantage it gives you is speed, especially with the rapid deployment ability meaning you can disembark after advancing, giving you a large threat range.
I think in most cases people will take the chimera with just one or two taurox’s to help push certain units up the field early, such as Kasrkin.
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