Four Dad's Favourites: Troop choice Infantry Units

Time for another article looking at our favourite miniatures. These can be miniatures that we have owned or simply admired throughout our hobby life, with a justification for our absolute favourite at the end.

This month we'll look at infantry. Now, there are a lot of infantry miniatures and the unit type spans all force org slots in one form or another, so that's a lot to choose from! So, what we agreed between us is that we would just look at infantry units in the Troops force org slot . Other force org slots deserve a separate discussion of their own.

So, without further ado, we'll start in reverse alphabetical order!

Steve

Infantry squads... as soon as we decided to do this post a few came straight to mind. As a big Blood Angel player Assault squads have always been high on my list, not for gaming reasons but for fluff reasons. They are the epitome of a Blood Angel, charging head (or should that be feet?) first into the

opponent and cutting them to bits. I know that in the most recent codex they have been moved from Troops to Fast Attack but to me they will always be infantry.

I have also always been a big fan of tactical squads. Even though they are much maligned in recent editions I almost always have at least 2 in my army as I just can't imagine a Space Marine force without them. They are the back bone of every Space Marine chapter.

For my non imperial armies I'm a big fan of Ork boyz. I usually run mine in big squads - 20 to 30 boyz with shootas or choppas backed up with a number of trukks full of more boyz. They are cheap enough to easily fit 80 in a 1500pt game (and still leave space for lots of other killy things) and when they finally smash into an opponent they can do some damage.

My Favourite? It just has to be the Ork boyz.

 

Rich

Hmmmm... favourite infantry units. Well I am gonna have to pick between those that I own and have painted. James has made a great case for the Imperial Fist Breachers squads above and since reading

Battle for Phall (see HH Book III for an amazing void war/ boarding story) I have loved these guys from a fluff perspective, but as James says, they also kick ass in a game so they are a great choice.

However, I think if I was pushed for my favourite I would go with the humble guardsman. They can come in units of 50 and are cheap as chips. They can negate even the toughest of death-star units and tarpit them for multiple turns (if you can buff them with orders, IC's, or psykers). With the correct buffs they can even take down death-stars multiple times their own points value.

And lets not forget their firepower, well ok the flashlight....sorry lasrifle isn't that great, but you fire 50 of them a squad of terminators at double tap range and watch 'em drop. There is absolutely nothing more satisfying than killing terminators with guardsmen - it feels like cheating!

So my vote goes to the guardsman. Here are some of my favourites in my AM army. These guys are Forgeworld specials and armed with shotguns (even more useless than a flashlight really but they look cool). I always think of Hicks in the movie Aliens when I get them on the table "I like to keep this (indicating his shotgun) for close encounters." The officer (used as a Sgt or Commander depending on the game) is a Limited edition 'Imperial Enforcer/Arbite' conversion (he came with a cyber-mastiff who often joins my units in the frontline).

James

Well this a pretty broad area to pick from - infantry and troops. I have managed to narrow it down to 5 choices that on any given day each would be my no.1. My choices have been made mainly on effectiveness in the game in relation to their points value. So pure efficiency has won me over here. Why? This is because the troops in the game are the spine of any army, they are not specialists but need to be effective at what they do and plentiful, therefore value is important. So in no particular order here are my top 5:

1. Ork Boyz

6pts per boy, 30 in a squad, toughness 4 and furious charge? Yes please! You can get 4 attacks on the charge and are seriously hard to get rid of before they crash into your lines. These are the core of the army and actually provide a threat in the game, I love them!

2. Necron Warriors

For basic infantry these are extremely powerful. Their weapon the gauss flayer is probably the best basic infantry weapon in the game. It is strength 4, rapid fire and can kill a land raider!! Combine these points with the fact that they keep getting back up after being killed and you can't not like these guys. Plus they look like terminator's, what's not to like?

3. Astra Militarum Guardsmen

The infantry platoon is the backbone (and meat grinder) of the imperium. It is cheap, has multiple uses, can include a multitude of different weapons and as many small (or big) squads as you can shake a lasgun at. You really can use a platoon for anything:

- 4 special weapons in a platoon command squad.

- Infantry squads up to 50 men strong with an assortment of heavy or special weapons to choose from.

- Conscript squads for the ultimate meat shield.

- Up to 5 heavy weapon squads - that could be 15 heavy weapons spread out across the front line!

- Up to 3 jspecial weapon squads - super cheap 6 man units with 3 special weapons to throw away or hold objectives.

As well as this incredible choice of squads and weapons you can buff them with orders from your commander or attach characters to the squads such as commissars or priests for different bonuses.

For sheer options these are the troops to go for.

4. Space Wolf Grey Hunters

Similar to standard tactical marines but much nastier in close combat. These are in my top 5 for the reason that you can upgrade 1 marine to be a wolf guard pack leader which upgrades his stat line and gives him access to better wargear. Who wouldn't want a terminator in a standard tactical marine squad?

If you want an elite troop choice these are the guys to go for.

5. Legion breacher squad with boarding shields

My experience of these is against dad Rich's Imperial Fists. These are the most expensive troops in my top 5 but man these guys are tough to kill! I run my death company into these guys which clean house against any other troop unit except these. They negate the charge bonus in assault, are toughness 5 and have invulnerable saves against shooting on a 6+ or assault on a 5+.

The other factor to consider here is their shooting ability. Rich only runs two squads of 15 and 10 marines (thankfully) rather than 20 which is a slight reprieve on their special rule bolter drill. This allows the squad to double their number of shots instead of shooting in their next turn. 80 shots at rapid fire range ruins your day!!

If you are looking for invincible marines these are they...

The final verdict:

It could really be any of the above to be honest but I think I may have to side with the frontline Astra Militarum guardsman. Their sheer options and little points cost do it for me, I never cry when I lose a squad as they only live for 15 hours anyway...

 

Dave

So what's my favourite infantry model? I'm a Space Wolves player and a 30k player (or rather a 30k Space Wolves player) so there's a number of lists to choose from.

Space Wolves-wise, I've always liked Sky Claws (these are Troops in 30k!), especially back in 3rd edition for some reason. They get the wolves in up close and personal much quicker than foot sloggers. They look cool with their jump packs too (especially now I'm using 30k jump packs).

Grey Hunter squads are ok but the embarkation / debarkation rules of the rhino really let them down transport-wise and they can't move very quick otherwise. They are good for holding objectives though.

A step up from the tactical squad, at least in my eyes, are Blood Claws. 15 men to a squad (20 using Age of Darkness rules) and 3 or 4 attacks on the charge can have you rolling two fists full of dicey death in no time. It does leave your transport options even slimmer though, but at least with a Land Raider or Spartan you can jump out and charge straight away.

A strong defensive squad is the Legion Breacher squad. Man, these are hard to kill in squads of ten so hell knows what they will be like in squads of 20. I like the look of these guys too, Space Vikings should have shields (I hope there are some Space Wolves specific shields on the horizon). Where Blood Claws are ferocious in the attack these guys are steadfast in the defence.

Outside of Space Wolves I've always liked the look of Eldar Harlequins, Legion of the Damned, Dark Angels, Alpha Legion and Grey Knights. I tend to paint what I think looks cool so have painted some of these over the years, despite all being horribly expensive in games terms.

It's easier to list the infantry miniatures I don't like: scouts. Yeah, they have sniper rifles but I've never really liked them. Even with the Space Wolves upgrade bits.. nope, keep these guys off my list of Greatest Infantry Miniatures.

I think I'm torn between Assault Marines and Breachers for my favourite. I'll stick with Assault marines for now :-)

 

 

Let us know what your favourite Troop Choices are!