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Good day everyone! Zak here from Cape Town and this is Warhammer 40,000 - the popular tabletop boardgame where you battle massive armies against one another in the 41st millenium!

I have signed up to play in a big 34 player tournament on the 2nd and 3rd of December and this means that I am both studying other armies and that I will be taking on strong opponents before the tournament and hopefully while I am at the tournament!

During this week I may have the opportunity to play against an Astra Militarum army - Devon Jordaan and possibly an Imperial Knight as well!

Let's focus on Devon first!

The Astra Militarum... or Imperial Guard as they were known in my days are the Hammer of the Imperium. They are the uncountable mass of humanity that have been organized into a military might in hundreds of Regiments. Some Regiments are made up of several hundred or even thousands of Infantry.

Some Regiments are made up of Tanks and number as dozens of squadrons of Battle Tanks and their supporting vehicles.

So let's break down some of the basic rules of the army first:

Army Rule - Voice of Command

In the Command Phase an Officer can issue a number of Orders as is stipulated in the Officer's Datasheet to other units. Generally Infantry commanders issue Orders to "Regiment" units and Tank Commanders issue Orders to "Squadron" units. Certain Epic Heros have the ability to give Orders to any unit.
Some of the minor leaders may have limits to what Orders they can give.

This is all things that the Astra Militarum player must know but I feel that if I know them too, that I can possibly ensure that this buff shuts down in useful ways.

So what can the orders do? A massive amount of movement, scoring and damage dealing abilities are possible:

• +3" Movement
• +1 WS
• +1 BS
• +1 Rapid Fire to Rapid Fire Weapons
• +1 to Save Characteristics
• +1 Ld and +1 OC

This means that the Astra Militarum can deal extra damage where it needs it or hold an objective where it needs it!

Additionally, like all the other Armies that do not yet have their own new 10th Edition Codex, they have a single Detachment that they can use.

They currently can use the Combined Regiment Detachment which simply gives any unit that remains Stationary Lethal Hits to their Ranged Weaponry.

Thus gunlines are dangerous as are Tanks that only need to stand and shoot at their target. The enemy of this ability is mobility and using the terrain to spoil the ability!

The Astra Militarum also has a huge selection of units that they may field. Best I just work with what I know!

Devon has sent me this photo so I can have an idea of what I am facing:

This looks like 2x Command Squads, 1x Castellan or something, 2x Commissars, Mortar Teams, Heavy Weapon Teams, around 80 Guardsmen, Regimental Ataches, 4 Leman Russ tanks (various Types) and 2 Sentinels.

The crazy thing is that this is all only 1750pts and in a tournament we play 2000pts. So I have arranged to loan him one of my Leman Russ tanks and he will try add another character to his army!

Thus I will be looking at 5 Leman Russ Tanks and around 100 Guardsmen on the field! This is crazy good!

So what do I have to worry about? Well any troops that stand still get Lethal Hits, this is a bad idea. I need to close the distance before they can rapid-fire and crush them. Otherwise, use mobility to force them to move to see/reach me.

The Leman Russ Tanks can cause a lot of damage too, even on the move so it would be a great idea to take care of them. Also if I can reduce his command structure for the Orders he gives, that would also be of great advantage to me.

The idea with Guard is that they do not mind losing some men, even a lot of men, that's normal. Then shock comes when he loses all his tanks and his troops get outnumbered.

I also need to check the synergies with the Sentinels... which only seem to apply to Scout Sentinels and Indirect Fire Weapons. So not too much of an issue.

A Leman Russ Battle Tank and all of its variants have the following Defensive Profile:

T11, Sv 2+, W13

This means that my best weapons to deal with them are:

• Lascannons - All variants
• Demolisher Cannons
• Hunter Killer Missiles

Middling power that starts to struggle:

• Multi-Melta
• Macro Plasma Incinerator
• Meltagun
• Ballistus Missile Launcher

In combat is is only the 3 Combat Dreadnoughts that can really hurt them.

Stratagems wise, Grenades, Tank Shock and my Ironstorm synergies may also help in taking them down.

Meanwhile... what can deal with that many Guardsmen?

• Frag Grenades
• Helfrost Cannons
• Flamers and Heavy Flamers
• Bolters, Pistols
• Demolisher Cannons? Blast rule helps!

Melee:

• Blood Claws
• Wulfen Dreadnought

And finally... Deadly Demise... I can perhaps get ready for some Vengeful Animus if I need to! lol

Well... at least I know what I am getting myself into here!

In the picture above those marines are pretty dead if those troops did not move and its the Militarum's turn. If the Demolisher Leman shoots everything at them it is also pretty bad.

If it is the Marine's turn then he would have a good chance to prevent the trouble!

Let's see... is there anything else to be wary of?...

The Drill Commander Enhancement... 5+ to Critical Hit (and thus Lethal Hits) on the squad's weapons. That is someone to assassinate.

There is one expensive stratagem that does extra damage but it costs 2CP and he's going to do the same thing using the Leman Russ Exterminator in his list and there is a defensive strat to keep his vehicles alive... nothing an Oath of moment cannot sort out.

So which Leman Russ variants do I not want to see?

The Demolisher for sure! It is my Vindicator with more wounds and additional guns... but less accurate...

Then there is the Exterminator to give other units extra AP.

The Battle Tank specializes in damaging units that are ON objective markers and that is also not great for me!

I am less worried about the Punisher or the Executioner and while the Vanquisher is very Anti-Armour (and thus hurts me a lot) it is just one shot...

I must say I am very keen on this upcoming battle!

Thanks for reading!

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Cheers!
@zakludick

Hive South Africa