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!

Four Dads Favourites - Tanks

This is the start of a new series where we Four Dads take time to reflect on our favourite models through the years.

This month, we'll share with you our favourite tanks which we've owned and painted through our hobby life. We hope you enjoy, and as always, your comments and thoughts are welcome!

Dave

I'm torn... I was never in love with tanks when I started out as a kid. I don't know why. It could be because tanks, at least the good ones, were made of a combination of plastic and metal. I'd seen too  many of my friends lovingly paint up a Predator only for the barrel to fall off mid-game (and of course, we instantly created the rule that if a weapon fell off it could no longer shoot! haha). For a 14 year old with nothing but paper-round money, they were also expensive! So I never brought any.

Then, during my resurgence in interest in the hobby in my mid- twenties I found I had more money. I also realised that painting tanks was very different to painting infantry. All of a sudden I had a bigger canvass. I must admit that I still don't like Rhinos in-game. The rules for disembarking really don't match real life. I've seen Marines disembark from an APC first hand and they don't hang about for a turn before shooting and assaulting an enemy, I can assure you!

In any case, I brought a pair of Vindicators for my Space Wolves. The Siege Shield is awesome and allowed me to have a go at painting something funky. After this I moved on to a Shadowsword. I always wanted a Fell Blade, ever since I first picked up Collected Visions of Heresy, but at the time that kit wasn't available, so I spent 8hrs sticking that bl**dy Shadowsword together and painting it up as a Space Wolf tank (we unearthed it on an ice world and re-claimed it for the Chapter, that was my backstory), and it was awesome on the battlefield! I've had a couple of great games using that beast.

I also love Landraiders, and now the new Spartan takes that concept and design one step further, so I had to get two of those to transport my 20-squads into the fray, with the re-branding of my 40k army in to a 30k army and the release of the Legion Fellblade, I have started again with my tanks which gives me a great opportunity...

So I bet you can guess my favourite tank? That's right, the Fell Blade. Now I have one and just need to start painting it up. I'm just awaiting the release of the FW Space Wolves Legion transfers (fingers crossed it's early this year sometime) before cracking on with it.

James

Being an Astra Militarum player with The Emperor's Feth this category is right up my particular area of expertise but also gave me serious problems in deciding what to go for.

My dilemma was whether to go with my competitive side, go with hobbying or something that I just enjoy playing with.

These are my nominations:

Nominee 1

The Manticore - Competitive choice

At 12-10-10 armour and 3 hull points for only 170 points this bad boy can hide somewhere well out of range in cover and hit hard anywhere on the board.

It is always a threat and can be devastating to vehicles and infantry with its ability to drop up to 3 large blasts per turn.

Of course there are some games where it hits absolutely nothing but there are also games where it completely destroys an entire army! Rich and I played in the battle brothers tournament at Warhammer World a few years ago and our 2 Manticore list ran into a double ork horde army. Unfortunately Rich kept rolling 3 hits on the d3 and hits on the scatter like they were going out of fashion wiping the orks off the board in 3 turns without firing any other units!! I've never heard us apologise so much. In the end we bought our opponents a couple of pints as a way to say sorry!

Nominee 2

The Punisher - The Fun choice

A Leman Russ battle tank that fires 29 shots in one go? Yes please!!

At 14-13-11 Armour and 3 hull points at 160 points with heavy bolter sponsons I love playing with this tank. Its hard to kill and puts wounds on infantry (Average 10 wounds against marines each turn) for fun.

This tank embodies the play style of the Astra Militarum in my opinion - drive up the centre, pick up a ton of dice and get rolling! It isn't the most efficient tank on the battlefield but there is just nothing like rolling that many dice in one go.

It is possible to boost it with psychic powers or Pask but I tend to run it vanilla style and put my points elsewhere to also use it as a fire magnet or shield.

As you may see I didn't like the original punisher cannon on the tank. I felt it was too short and didn't reflect the sheer volume of shots that it can dish out. Therefore, I cut up a battle cannon and glued it to the base of the punisher cannon making a longer barrel. In my opinion this fits the tank much better and balances the look out.

Nominee 3

The Executioner - The hobby choice

The Leman Russ Plasma tank - 5 plasma blasts in one go!!! Again great armour and 3 hull points my executioner weighs in at 185 points with plasma cannon sponsons and a heavy flamer on the front.

It's true that this is a marine killer. If there are any terminators or marines out in the open they will not survive the turn. It's also true that I have killed my own executioner with gets hot more often than my enemy has!!

Its always a must take in my army however I have chosen it here because I really enjoyed painting this tank. I really liked the design of the new plastic kit when this came out originally. It was much better than the old kits with metal and awkward to fit tracks. Also I loved painting the colours of the plasma cannons, using red to tie in with the infantry in my army and breaking up the grey of the tank. This was the first tank that I tried my mud technique on (more info on that in a future post) and I thought I'd put a guy on top losing it with two pistols for a bit of character. Originally I was going to add a genestealer behind him but I haven't had time so far so maybe sometime soon?

And the winner is....

The Punisher!

For sheer dice rolling fun - sometimes getting a million hits and sometimes none I love the punisher tank and would never leave home without him!

Steve

My favourite tank? As James and Dave have highlighted above there are just so many choices, especially considering how many armies (and tanks) I actually own. So, I decided to pick my favourite one from each of my armies and then pick a winner from them. So here goes...

Blood Angels - Well it has to be the Land Raider Redeemer. The land raider itself is just so iconic and the Prometheus is just deadly (when it gets close enough).

Astra Militarum - Leman Russ. Again it is so iconic and such a cool looking tank.

Tau - As I only own a Hammer Head it has to be that. Not that it's a poor tank or anything, what with a strength 10 main weapon.

Necron - Again I only own one true 'tank' (I don't count most troop transports as tanks) which is the doomsday arc. Luckily it's cool (and destructive) enough  to be a favourite anyway.

Chaos - For chaos it has to be my Land Raider, the standard variant of course as chaos obviously isn't good enough to get the extra variants.

Orks - I have a converted Looted Wagon (it's based on a Lemon Russ) which is cool enough to fit the bill.

Tyranids - Obviously no tanks here but perhaps I could argue that monstrous creatures should feature? If they did I would have to go for either the carnifex or the Mawloc.

The winner? It just has to be the Land Raider Redeemer. Not only is it armour 14 all round with 4 hull points and sponson mounted flamers that are Str 6 and AP3, it can also carry 6 models in terminator plate or 12 other models. If this thing gets close to the enemy not many will survive the shooting and the subsequent charge.

Dad Rich (Emperor's Champion)

Like the other Dads there is more than one category of tank for me, here we go:

Super killy tank: You cant beat the Shadowsword, the Volcano Cannon is built to bring Titans down and will make a mess of anyone's day. The template it lays down is death to any infantry or normal tank underneath it and it can one-shot other super heavies with a roll of 6's. I love its low-profile design, it look s like a killer. Here's a shot of mine...

Most fluffy: I've played Astra Militarum for many years now so the humble Chimera...

This is a Chimera variant I built up to represent my command tank in games. The open-top look gave me the chance to give it some character. The Chimera itself is a great tank, not only is it the main troop transport for the AM, but it is very competitive too. Its cheap, has two great weapons and you can shoot melta and stuff out of it easily - awesome!







Most competetive tank: Has to be the manticore for me. Its small enough to stay hidden most of the
game and on average puts two large pieplates down per turn. It has been MVP so many times that its got a permanent place on my lists!

Overall verdict: I have to say the Chimera gets my overall vote. They are cheap, come with two great weapons (heavy flamer and multilaser), transport troops and you can shoot out of them! They are a mobile pillbox and with AV12 on the front can shrug off a fair amount of incoming. I have always used them as a counterpunch, waiting for enemy units to get near and staying in cover. I cant tell you how many times the multilasers have taken out a terminator, or wrecked a rhino and given they come with the vehicle it always feels like I am getting a bonus kill! The Chimera can then rush forward and unload melta or plasma into oncoming units, shielding the rest of my gunline from the onslaught. They dont ever rack up the most kills but their role and price point is such a powerful combo!

Let us know which is your favourite tank.

The Four Dads