An Introduction to Foot Guard part 1: Bread and Butter Unit Selection

Welcome to the FootGuard, where life is cheap and Conscripts are cheaper!

For any foot list, there are a few units you'll want to make heavy use of, and others that are more for filling specific gaps.

The Regulars:

Platoon Infantry Squad, Lascannon, Meltagun: Clocking in at 80 points for just one infantry squad, this might seem expensive, but when you're taking multiples of them and buffing them with Orders and other command options like psykers, it's easy to see where the value is. Guard excel at bringing more of a given weapon than the enemy can deal with, and in this setup, 3+ squads combined will put out enough firepower to down tanks at range, and with the meltas, threaten anything that comes close. These are probably the staple of a FootGuard list.

Platoon Command Squad, 4 Flamers: this unit, as well as providing valuable orders to the Infantry units they come with, also makes a great counter attacking squad. It is a reality that the enemy, if they are trying to, will break your line at some point, and the best way to greet them is with 4 Flamer templates right behind the Infantry. This puts out enough damage to kill or cripple almost anything that gets through, from an Ork Horde to a Terminator Squad, and if they try to charge you, a potential 12 automatically hitting Overwatch shots. At 50 points, this unit is to good to dismiss, especially as you have to take them anyway to unlock Platoons.

20-30 Conscripts, Priest: possibly one of the best points-to-effectiveness objective holders in the game, 21+ Fearless wounds is nothing to be sniffed at for as little as 85 points, not to mention the fact that, should you need to fix bayonets and get stuck in, they will be rerolling hit and possibly wound or save rolls, which can be quite the shock. Their cheapness also offsets the relatively expensive Lascannon/Melta Infantry Squads.

These three will form the core of most Foot Lists, and you can use the units below to plug meta/army specific holes.


Special Weapon Squad, 3 Sniper Rifles: Clocking in at only 36 points, they are the cheapest Objective Secured scoring unit in the book, and, when mixed in with larger squads, can cause some interesting target priority issues for the opponent. Do they shoot the larger squads, leaving the SWS to score untouched, or do they target the SWS, probably overkilling them, and leave the blobs alone? Taken in multiples, they can also do a good job of removing Special Weapons or taking wounds from MCs.

Veteran Squad, 3 Melta/Plasma, Grenadiers: This unit offers several things over the Platoon at the cost of some durability and ablative wounds. They have a better point-to-damage/footprint ratio due to the extra Special Weapons they can bring, and shoot them at a higher BS, so will land more hits. They concentrate this firepower into a much smaller footprint, and so are easier to hide and you are more likely to have the weapons where you need them against a given threat.

Tempestus Scions squad, 2 Plasma/Melta, 5-10 Men: While not packing as many special weapons as a veteran squad, the Scions bring something arguably more valuable and certainly harder to come by in a foot list- mobility. Deep Striking a squad or two of these can not only threaten enemy assets with a hail of Special Weapons fire, but also allow you to put units right in the enemy territory, diverting attention and possibly scoring Malestrom objectives in the process. Often, an opponent will not expect this type of reach or aggression from Foot Guard, so Scions can be a very nice trick to have up your sleeve.

Ogryn squad: Much like Veterans, Ogryn largely offer what the Infanty Squad does in a more concentrated form, but instead of the upgrades, they reflect the anti-infanty firepower and sheer wound count of a combined infantry squad on a much smaller footprint. This makes them ideal units to counterattack or spearhead an advance, able to dish out and absorb damage without leaving a gaping hole in your battle line.

Aegis Defence Line: Quite simply by providing a 4+ Cover Save, this fortification doubles the survivability of the Guardsmen behind it against most guns. It does bring a drop in mobility as it can force you into a fairly static position, but if you were planning on remaining still it can invaluable.