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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thoughts on hte sudden loss of allies for Imperial Guard

From a post of mine earlier this evening over on the 40k Wrecking Crew forums:

Very solid points Mike & I agree with what you said. Those are my exact sentiments.

Now sure I was going overboard when I repeatedly said it's a big blow to mech IG. In reality it's a blow, not major but not minor either. Most IG Mexh armies I see have the Inquisitor/Mystics unit. They keep it bare bones at something like 32 points. They would be deployed in the center of the IG line and I would deepstrike everything on one flank to overload that flank and keep a safe distance from the now defunct unit. Now I have a lot more choices how I drop my daemons and I don't have to come in with everything in one localized area.

IG Mexh is a meta list created on the Internet & became even more popular following the big win with leafblower at the Ard Boyz finals last year. A lot of the strength any army has going for it that makes it popular to play is how it's perceived by the general 40k online community. Nob bikers were once deemed impossible to beat then suddenly after their poor collective showing at Adepticon last year the army losts it's appeal. In reality nob bikers are still very strong as Marc was able to successfully demonstate at Bolter Beach. The collective voice of the internet said things like nob bikers were a lost cause due to the inclusion of PSB in the IG codex. Marc was able to circumvent PSB. What we here as members of the WC believe and what is the general perception are often two totally different things & that's worth noting. Loss of allies is the first major nerf for IG. Some will say it's not a big deal while others will say it's terribad for hte IG. Basically I think the end result is at least initially people will feel more positive about fielding drop pods again in SM armies & people will feel less hesitant to field daemon armies. If you play guard and don't use the Inq/Mystics then is there no adjustment necessary?No, because certain other armies' composition will change. If you play guard and regularly field Inq/Mystics then definitely there must be an adjustment. The bottom line is will guard be able to successfully make the right adjustments to stay at the top. Maybe I'm wrong and nothing will really change but I don't think that's the case here. IG will have to make some changes and then we will see if this particular army can stand the test of time. Other armies like 3ed BA & 4ed CSM had no problems with the eventual changes that came along over the course of their rules being available. So to me it's too early to say that guard will slip a notch or two but then again it's too early to say they won't either. I already feel I have gained an edge over guard with their sudden loss of allies. By the way this also means no more Vulkan armies with SoB allies as well. Things constantly continue to change as always.

G

5 comments:

Grizzled Gorilla said...

You raise some good points. I too feel like we will start to see more Drop Pod armies again. People were so terrified of Mystics that they all but disappeared from the table top.

One thing that you didn't mention is the use of a Psychic Hood, having lost a hood that covers the entire table makes them more susceptible to attacks like Blood Lance and the Space Wolf Lightning Attack.

Terminus Est said...

That's a really good point you raise Magilla & yes I did miss that. So that is another factor that will go against IG.

G

TheKing Elessar said...

I feel the loss of the Hood is FAR more important. Also, if IG players with Mystics deploy Pitched Battle style against Daemons, then they are crap. Obviously it's too late to correct it...but they really need to castle up a Refused Flank and wait to gun you down.

Or Reserve. If they can't/don't they better have a great reason - because they seem to be displaying a basic tactical failure.

Terminus Est said...

@ TKE

Loss of the unlimited ranged Ld10 hood is pretty big. More Blood Lance anyone?

In terms of daemons I think we will see more of these armies now with a possible resurgence of FateCrusher... Depends on how daemon players go about dealing with PSB. As far as castling or starting in reserves as an IG counter to daemons (1) Castling means you are opening yourself up to huge multi charges, (2) reserving means the daemon player can drop their 1st wave all along your table edge & pick off units as they come in. It's going to change things for sure.

G

TheKing Elessar said...

Yes and no. I know what you mean, but a lot of it depends on what the IG have. Certainly, if outside a Transport, we're agreed, Reserving just lets Daemons chew you for certain.