Raise the Alarm! Guardsmen!

[TheOtherMC]

Wondering everyones opinion of a Guardsman force. (Guild Guard and the newly eratta'd Austingers) Ive tried two proxy games with them and I just cant seem to get their juices flowing. Strength in numbers and multiple activations through ausrtingers is a nice gimmick but when I finally get down to combat they just dont seem to have the raw stats to acomplish anything. (mind you both games were 30 SS matches against a McMourning sporting two flesh constructs from the getgo- my god does hard to wound2 bother me >.<) Anyone with experience with them that could throw me a few nifty gimmicks?

[nightgaunt98c]

The idea of a guard crew is interesting, but I don't think it can work well with current models. They need a little more punch to deal with masters, or tough monter types.

[SwordOfJustice]

I haven't played yet but.... I thought the same things when I read them. Not strong enough. Perhaps they work better in a mixed force with some hard character to take out big monsters and masters?

Cheers,

Sword

[mechaace]

They might work well for overwhelming the enemy through sheer weight of numbers against lesser guys.

However when faced with a master or something especially big and bad they're probably gonna need something big and bad of their own like a good character to take them down.

[ork56]

remember its not always 'caster kill'

[nightgaunt98c]

True, but you still have to be able to deal with these things to succeed consistently. I'm not saying they wouldn't do fine in some strategies and schemes (reconoitter and breaktrough come to mind), but they don't seem like they could do well in most of them.

[The Mortificator]

I really like the idea of the Guild Guard. I've been thinking about running about 3 of them with a Peacekeeper acting as their backup and, now, the Austringers as on-site intel and long-range support. Plus, they give me a good use for the IK city guard models I'm really fond of, but have never used.

Unfortunately, as people have said, they don't seem to really "bring it" to the table, especially when you compare them to the other models of the same cost in Guild. Witchling Stalkers, while fragile compared to Guard or Marshals, are great in close-range combat, especially against anone who uses spells and even when they do die, they make anyone nearby pay for it when they explode. The Death Marshals are, well, pretty insane at four points. Their guns can inflict obscene amounts of damage even on weak damage so they don't even need to get into melee unlike Guard and, even when you do manage to kill them despite being Hard to Wound, they're going to get a last shot inflicting upwards of 7 damage. They're like Punk Zombies, but sometimes better and cheaper.

Guild Guard really can't compete with either of those options. I think the Peacekeeper will help out a lot, though. Perhaps some future guardsman model could act as an on-field commander and allow the Peacekeeper to be a bit more reliable or even make it count as a guardsman itself.

[higherbrow]

I think you guys are looking at the Guard wrong. Their stats are all mediocre (except the +flip on pistol damage), but what a Guard force has going for it is the ability to make up for one of the Guild's major weakpoints: mobility. Their ability to simultaneously activate helps you avoid getting flanked and outmaneuvered, and their versatility (low accuracy ranged, but high damage, decent melee ability) allows you to keep pepper their melee units with ranged fire, then engage in close quarters to keep them locked down. Use your Austringers to drop long-range damage and keep your Master activating with the team.

I haven't tried them myself, but what you'd probably want to do is to keep your team fairly close together, with 3-4 Guards, an Austringer or two, your Master (probably LJ or Perdita, since their job is going to be crushing opposing elite tropps rather than smoking a bunch of little guys), and ideally one fairly heavy hitter. 4 Guards and an Austringer is 21 points, so your heavy hitter depends on your master, and what cache size you need. Samael is too weak in melee, but the Executioner would really shine with all the screening units. If you want a large cache, Fransisco Ortega might just be enough, with his high CB, crit strike, and Flurry.

Move your Guardsmen up in a block, with your heavy hitter a little ways behind them, ready to charge, and your Master at the appropriate distance (LJ in the thick, Sonnia and Perdita a ways back). When you're able, activate Patrol and execute proper charges, locking down opponents that you need to lock down, and killing off any weaker units you can (you can afford to leave stronger units alive, as the Guild Masters excel at killing single targets).

Of course, you're going to need to adjust a lot based on what you're fighting and what strategy/schemes you get. But that's what I would look at doing.