Help! What Warhammer 40k Army should I get? Tau or Imperial Guard?
i want to start a warhammer army, but i dont know what army i should start out with. Tau appeals to me, but then so does the Imperial Guard. Please can your answers provide stuff like how they operate, how easy they are to play with, easy to paint or not, etc.
Thanks!
It depends on your own personal preference and how you’d like to play. The Tau Empire and Imperial Guard are actually very similar in terms of game play, both are very shootie and rely on pounding the enemy from a distance.
The average Tau infantry unit has the highest strength infantry weapon available and with good armour, their weapons also out range many other infantry weapons as well. Battlesuits play a key role in an army, they are tough and tactically flexible being able to be outfitted with a large number of weapons and abilities. The tanks are skimmers and their main battle tank, the hammerhead, has the most powerful gun in all of 40k. The Tau also have an item called a markerlight which allows them to add additional benefits to their shooting like making their shots more accurate or launch a seeker missile from a Skyray which never misses. However the are rubbish in close combat because of their low intuitive and poor weapon skill so that is a real weakness but they offset this with alien auxiliaries such as the kroot. You can’t really afford to take to many casualties with the Tau but have slightly more survivability than the Guard.
There is no army in 40k that can match the Imperial Guard for the sheer amount of firepower that they can unleash. The Standard guardsmen has a better stat line than their Tau opposite number but are given average armour and the weakest gun in the game, this is offset by the fact that they are fielded in large numbers. The average guardsmen may seem weak but they are very flexible, able to be equipped with a wide variety of weapons that give them a real edge, flamers for hordes, plasma guns for space marines and weapon teams which can use some very powerful weapons.
If you like tanks then the guard is for you! They have a huge selection of armoured vehicles and no one can field more tanks than them, the Chimera is probably the best APC in the game and the Leman Russ is tough and very well armed. Many weapons in their arsenal are template weapons allowing you to kill lots of enemies at once but can prove inaccurate if aiming at single targets. The Imperial Guard have their own markerlight system that are called “orders”, they range from allowing rerolls when cover saves are taken against their target, weapons fired at vehicles or monsters to count as twin-linked, to get additional bonuses when ordered to go to ground and, my favourite, the order which increases lasgun armed soldiers number of shots by one, So 30 guardsmen firing with this order from 12 inches away get 90 shots! Their weakness though is low toughness and armour across the board and nearly every enemy is either stronger, tougher or better equipped so if guardsmen get caught up in something they can’t handle comfortably expect to be taking them off by the hand full but you have numbers of both men and vehicles on your side.
When painting it is entirely up to you, in my experience the guard are easier as camouflage is fairly easy to do and look good when they look dirty, not neat. The Tau are quite colourful and in some cases do use camouflage aswell but you do need to be tidy.
The backround of both races will also help you decide. The Tau would appeal because they are technologically advanced race that believe in unity of all, their mentality is also very similar to western values.
The guard is basically the USMC of the Imperium and fight like a cold war/modern force, not in massed meat grinders that some people believe. They are well trained and equipped but what would appeal to you the most is that they are just humans fighting the worst horrors in the galaxy, from mystical aliens, vicious hordes and super human killing machines. They battle them with their rifle, body armour and a bayonet with some guts behind it!
It’s long and I hope that helps but if you want more specific info feel free to e-mail me with the address on my tag. Good luck mate!
Imperial Guard Army List/ Tactics
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Lot – Painted Catachan Force – 5000+ Points $3,500.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army Painted 1200 Points $999.99 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army with Forge world $800.00 |
|
|
Imperial Guard Army Warhammer 40k $600.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Lot!!! OVER 2200 PTS!!! OVER $800 VALUE!!! $449.99 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army partially Painted with Codex over $1,000 $434.44 |
|
|
Warhammer DPS painted Imperial Guard Cadian Battleforce Army IG105 $385.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army $375.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army I *NEW & Unnassembled* $272.74 |
|
|
Imperial Guard Army, Warhammer 40K. OOP, 1500 points $250.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Complete Cadian Army w/ OOP Metal $200.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Painted Catachan Army 1200 Points $199.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army 30x Cadian Shock Troops *NEW & Unnassembled* $75.60 |
|
|
Imperial Guard Catachan Jungle Fighters Army GWS Games Workshop Warhammer 40k $71.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army 20x Cadian Shock Troops *NEW & Unnassembled* $50.40 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army 20x Cadian Shock Troops *NEW & Unnassembled* $50.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army 20x Cadian Shock Troops *NEW & Unnassembled* $50.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Army 20x Cadian Shock Troops *NEW & Unnassembled* $50.00 |
|
|
Magnatize Baneblade Imperial Guard Army Warhammer 40K Bane Blade gw Space Marine $49.13 |
|
|
Painted Baneblade Imperial Guard Army Warhammer 40K Bane Blade gw Space Marine $44.13 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army lot of 25 OOP figures! Catachan Many dif weps! $30.00 |
|
|
Rogue Trader Heavy Weapons x10 METAL Imperial Army Guard – Warhammer 40k 40,000 $29.99 |
|
|
Imperial Guard Codex Warhammer 40k Army Book NEW $25.74 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard army codex $17.66 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Marker Set $14.00 |
|
|
Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard army codex oop $7.43 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Rare 1992 OOP Metal Catachan Jungle Fighter! $5.99 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Rare 1992 OOP Metal Catachan Jungle Fighter! $5.99 |
|
|
Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Army Rare 1992 OOP Metal Catachan Jungle Fighter! $5.99 |
|
|
Games Workshop Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Catachans Army Codex Book $5.99 |
|
|
GW White Dwarf #284 ’40k Imperial Guard, Army Counters, Warhammer – The Gerne VG $4.00 |
|
|
Space Pirate METAL Imperial Army Guard – Warhammer 40k 40,000 $3.99 |
|
|
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Winter Assault Expansion PAck $4.64 Unleash the Hammer of the EmperorProduct Information[Requires the original Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War game to play]Winter Assault is the expansion pack to the 2004′s RTS Game of the Year Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War Winter Expansion Pack RTS game lets you take mand. Lost amongst the ruins of a leveled city lies an Emperor Class Titan a war vessel of untold power forged in the pla-wide furnaces… |
|
|
Dawn of War The Complete Collection $11.85 Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War The Complete Collection includes the following: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Game of The Year Edition, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Winter Assault Expansion Pack, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Dark Crusade Expansion Pack, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Soulstorm Expansion Pack… |
|
|
Warhammer Dawn Of War Platinum $9.84 Warhammer 40K: Dawn of WarFrom a darkness beyond imagination dawns a new era in strategic warfare. Ten thousand years have passed since the treasonous acts of Chaos toppled the Golden Age of mankind. Fires burn brightly throughout the galaxies illuminating carnage and slaughter as mankind defends itself from ancient enemies. Hardened forces collide with one goal in mind the complete extermination … |
|
|
Warhammer 40K: Imperial Guard Cadian Shock Troops Boxed Set $20.79 This box set contains 10 multi-part plastic Cadian Shock Troops, and includes: five leg variants, seven head variants, 10 lasguns, two chainswords, two laspistols, two grenade launchers, two flamers and two Vox-casters. Also included are a host of additional components allowing you to assemble a Sergeant and personalise your squad. Models supplied with 25mm round bases…. |
|
|
Imperial Guard Cadian Battleforce Warhammer 40k $94.50 Contents: one new plastic Cadian Command Squad, 20 Cadian Shock Troops, three Cadian Heavy Weapon Teams and one new multi-pose Sentinel. Miniatures come unpainted and unassembled in their original packaging. Books are in brand new condition…. |
|
|
Games Workshop Imperial Guard Codex $26.40 The Warriors of the Imperial Guard form the staunch backbone of the desperate war to hold back the relentless tides of the Imperium’s enemies. Inside this codex you will find: The complete Imperial Guard army list including special troops and pieces of wargear with all their rules. But also background details of the galaxy spanning war machine that is the Imperial Guard. Sixteen pages of full-colo… |
|
|
Imperial Guard Omnibus: Volume 1 (Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus) $13.99 Omnibus edition collecting the novels, Fifteen Hours, Death World and Rebel Winter from the popular Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard series…. |
|
|
Cadian Blood (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Imperial Guard) $7.99 When the Imperial shrine world of Kathur is blighted by Chaos, the brave Guardsmen of Cadia are sent to reclaim it. The plague of Nurgle has set in deeply on the planet, forcing the Cadians into battle with an innumerable legion of the infected. In the midst of battle, Captain Parmenion Thade is thrust into an unlikely commanding role. Yet, he cannot imagine what lies ahead on Kathur, and just how… |