Warhammer 40K Tabletop XIII: "Ironclads, Furiosos and Soul Grinders, oh my!"

[Tarinaky]

I couldn't sleep and I felt like procrastinating my other projects... I've also been playing way too much Dawn of War 2... So I hashed out a 'Fun' minigame very quickly. I suspect there's probably already something very similar though in a WD somewhere.

Spoiler

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Warhammer 40k Variant rules, Xenos!

These rules are designed for use in a campaign emphasising fun and story over tournament values of fairness. Armies do not resupply automatically between battles so phyrric victories will very quickly kill your chances of overall victory.

-Assembling the team
Each player begins the campaign with a single Elite, Fast Attack, Heavy or Troop unit. They may take any combination of upgrades they wish, including Transports.

Imperial Guard may opt to take a Platoon of up to 3 units instead of a single unit.

Record the models taken, their equipment, profiles on a Team reference sheet, along with the total points value of your team.

-Super Elite
All models gain the benefit of the Independant Character special rule and may join or leave squads as they desire.

Squadrons of vehicles behave as seperate vehicles.

-All Down to You
The stakes of such a mission are so high that only the most tenacious and toughest see deployment. All infantry have twice as many wounds as normal but are still subject to Instant Death.

-Deployment and Objectives
Roll to determine who goes first. The player going second determines the mission objective randomly (see table) and deploys it.

The team with the smallest points value may take additional, temporary, units to equalise the two teams. Temporary models taken in this way receive only their normal allowance of wounds and do not count as Independant Characters. Only the maximums of the Force Organisation Chart apply, not the minimums.

The normal rules for deployment are then followed.

-Incapacitation
Models reduced to 0 wounds during play are said to be 'incapacitated' rather than killed. For each roll a d6:
On a 4+ their apothecaries, doks or equivalents are able to patch the model up to full health. The model may participate fully in coming battles.
On a 2 or 3 the figure is badly injured, losing 1 Wound from their profile. If a figure loses their last wound in this way they are instead killed.
On a 1 the figure is outright killed.

Even attacks by weapons that cause Instant Death only Incapacitate, such is the level of knowledge retained from the Dark Age of Technology.

The winning team may repair any vehicles that have suffered a Wrecked result or less. The losing team are forced to abandon any wrecked or immobilised vehicles.

-Experience
Models receive 2 XP for being part of a squad contesting an objective at the end of the game. They also receive 1 XP for each other model they incapacitate and any vehicle they damage (weapon destroyed, immobilised, wrecked or exploded).

Models are said to 'level up' when they receive 3, 6, 12 and 24 XP.

Each time a model levels up they may increase WS, BS, A or Ld by 1. Each attribute may only be increased once each. Alternatively they may increase the number of Wounds by 1 any number of times.

-Loot
Several mission objectives award Wargear. A single piece of wargear is chosen from the army book of either team. The winner of the mission may give that wargear to one of their models - even if they may not normally equip it. Taking a Weapon in this way requires giving up one of the creature's normal weapons.

-Requisition and Resupply
At the end of the mission both teams receive 16 points which they may either stockpile or spend on army list choices.

-Objectives
d6
1 - Vehicle Supply Depot - The victor adds a vehicle (or Monstrous Creature) to the team.
2 - Armory - Wargear.
3 - Reliquary - Wargear.
4 - Teleportarium - May Deep Strike one unit in their next battle.
5 - Rescue the fallen - The victor receives an additional 16 points at the end of the mission.
6 - Strategic Value - No additional benefit is awarded.

[Cheesegear]

I suspect there's probably already something very similar though in a WD somewhere.

Looks a whole lot like Necromunda, Mordheim or Gorkamorka. The first two I know are available for free from GW, but I'm pretty sure GM doesn't exist anymore.

[Tarinaky]

Necromunda doesn't let you deploy Space Marines or Orks though :p

[LeSwordfish]

Looks kinda like campaign rules for the Kill Team.

Watch out though: if all units are independent characters, and the teleportarium allows one unit to deep strike, i can band my entire army into one unit, deep strike it, and them split it up.

[DaedalusMkV]

Fabius Bile basically ripping a swath through his own troops, half of the 14 Noise marines dying to his "modifications" along with 4 of the 5 Chaos bikers and a load of berserkers.

Fabius' Enhanced Warriors special ability can only be used on generic Chaos Marine squads. You know, the Troops Choice with its choice of five different icons? You aren't allowed to use it on Noise Marines, Bikers or Berzerkers, and I can't see why you would possibly want to use it on any of those except possibly Bikers, except why would you want to take Chaos Bikers? I can see trying to use it with Plague Marines, I guess, since they get all the benefit at a relatively low cost, but... Yeah, regardless, it's very illegal to use Fabius Bile to Enhance non-generic-CSM units. You might want to point that out to your friend in the future.

[Ninja Chocobo]

Necromunda doesn't let you deploy Space Marines or Orks though :p

You can easily play Orks (Goliaths), Eldar (Spyrers), Tau (Van Saar), and possibly a handful of other Xenos with some creative adaptations.

[Tarinaky]

Looks kinda like campaign rules for the Kill Team.

Watch out though: if all units are independent characters, and the teleportarium allows one unit to deep strike, i can band my entire army into one unit, deep strike it, and them split it up.

Only the Super-Elites count as ICs. The reinforcements to make up the points value don't get anything like that so the worst case is you get to deep strike 2 units worth of models... which isn't really that bad.

[LeSwordfish]

-All Down to You
The stakes of such a mission are so high that only the most tenacious and toughest see deployment. All infantry have twice as many wounds as normal but are still subject to Instant Death.

Also, i might question this. Tracking wounds for all models is going to be an absolute pain. If you want to make stuff more survivable do it some other way- +1 to all saves, or Feel No Pain, or something you don't need to keep as much track of.

[Tarinaky]

Also, i might question this. Tracking wounds for all models is going to be an absolute pain. If you want to make stuff more survivable do it some other way- +1 to all saves, or Feel No Pain, or something you don't need to keep as much track of.

For most models you can keep track of it by placing 'wounded' models on their sides to mark off 1 wound. Problem solved.

Saving throws have the problem that they're random which in a normal game is fine. But when you have a handful of terminators facing off against a mob of Ork Boyz and no prospect of replacing your losses between fights you want some certainties you can use to mitigate casualties.

[Cheesegear]

Also, i might question this. Tracking wounds for all models is going to be an absolute pain.

Not really. No different than a unit of ten Nob Bikers, Thunderwolves or Paladins. Or what Necromunda/Mordheim/Gorkamorka players have been doing for years without complaint.

[Hootman]

Well, it would seem that the Scenarios for the 'Ard Boyz Semifinals have been posted. As an interested party (being in the tourney myself), I'd like to discuss what people think general good tactics and ideas for each Scenario are.

For reference, I will be playing Orks, with a whole lot of boyz, 2 Deff Rollin' Battlewagons, Thraka, a Big Mek with KFF, and Snikrot. I'm seriously considering a big batch of Nob Bikerz.

1. I Haz A Mezzige!
For this mission, you have to get one specified troop model into your foe's deployment zone. After that, the mission is just Victory Points. So...as far as I can see, the answer is Deff Rollin' Battlewagon. Load up your Mezzinger in there with a whole bunch of other boyz (and either the Mek or Thraka), charge across the field, and then just play normally. Waaagh!

2. THE ANSWER IS ALSO DEFF ROLLIN'. No time to be more specific, but it's a Kaptur Da Flag game (only one objective in the dead center of the map)

3. Play normally, pretend you care what the mission is. Guess what it will be wrong, try to recover clumsily. Then WAAAGH!

Does anyone have any real suggestions?

[Mattarias, King.]

Hum.. So, I tested out the new Sisters codex update rules against Hootman's Orks a few days ago. Since I dislike cookie cutter creepy, crazy old dudes in my army, I stuck with an updated version of my old list, which looks like this. (Tell me if I mess anything up in list posting):

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HQ-
Saint Celestine-115 pts

Troops-
Battle Sistersx10-205 pts
-Flamer, Heavy Flamer
-Superior: Power Weapon, Combi-Flamer
+Rhino

Battle Sistersx10-205 pts
-Flamer, Heavy Flamer
-Superior: Power Weapon, Combi-Flamer
+Rhino

Battle Sistersx10-205 pts
-Flamer, Heavy Flamer
-Superior: Power Weapon, Combi-Flamer
+Rhino

Fast Attack-

Seraphimx6-160 pts
-Hand flamer pairx2
-Superior: Eviscerator

Dominionsx5-165 pts
-Meltasx2
-Superior: combi-melta
-Immolator: Dozer Blades

Dominionsx5-165 pts
-Meltasx2
-Superior: combi-melta
-Immolator: Dozer Blades

Heavy Support-

Exorcist-135 pts

Exorcist-135pts

1500pts

My old list ran a wing 'ness, but.. Yeah.

Anyways, first thing I noticed? Hot dog, 5e ways of organization and points makes putting together a list so smooth. Having only used Codex:WH up to this point, I must say, I'm pleased with this bit, at least.

Now, for the actual units...

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HQ-
Saint Celestine-115 pts

First thing- Her price. AWESOME.

She can revive without a chance of permanently dying, or deep-strike-mishap-ing. Good stuff. The fact that her sword is no longer a blessed weapon is offset by the fact that she's WS 7, and that she wounds on a 4+. Heavy flamer power is also awesome.

Sadly, she loses the ability to give her squad fearlessness, Wings of Faith, which gave her hit and run, and basically a jet pack. But I suppose the trade is fair enough. ...Also, don't get me started on her useless BS7, or the fact that she doesn't have her own faith power..

Troops-
Battle Sistersx10-205 pts
-Flamer, Heavy Flamer
-Superior: Power Weapon, Combi-Flamer
+Rhino

Battle Sisters... Still play pretty much the same. I kinda miss AP1-on-6s bolters, but since I was playing Orks, it didn't really matter too much.

Here's the rub about their faith power, however- It says "If used IN the shooting or assault phase...", so does that mean I can roll my hits, look at all my ones, and THEN use their faith to reroll them?

Fast Attack-

Seraphimx6-160 pts
-Hand flamer pairx2
-Superior: Eviscerator

Dominionsx5-165 pts
-Meltasx2
-Superior: combi-melta
-Immolator: Dozer Blades

E-GAD! These ladies are pretty much the best thing since sliced xenos. Sure, you lose two melta ladies (compared to the C:WH) if you want to use an (still overcosted, no longer 'fast' ) Immolator, but when they scout in, they're gonna wreck something, hard.

Seraphim, with Celestine are just a sight of awe and terror on the battlefield. Sadly, they're no longer the melee unit they used to be. The initiative drop hurts. Especially with the new H&R. ...Also, still str 3.

Heavy Support-

Exorcist-135 pts

Still the same. Still pretty good. Still kinda expensive. Still has a huge "DESTROY ME!" sign painted on it.

Overall, the new WD stuff isn't UTTER TRASH, but it's definitely no Codex: Grey Knights, either. I give it a "Meh" out of five. More playtesting and opinions to come, I suppose. I'm really wanting to convert me up some Retributors, give their transport to my Repentia, and have fun delivering the Box o' Sharp to my opponents.

Edit: Oy! You! Up there! I didn't know you were online! Crazy kinda-ninja burrowing owl...

[Tychris1]

I couldn't sleep and I felt like procrastinating my other projects... I've also been playing way too much Dawn of War 2... So I hashed out a 'Fun' minigame very quickly. I suspect there's probably already something very similar though in a WD somewhere.

Spoiler

Show

Warhammer 40k Variant rules, Xenos!

These rules are designed for use in a campaign emphasising fun and story over tournament values of fairness. Armies do not resupply automatically between battles so phyrric victories will very quickly kill your chances of overall victory.

-Assembling the team
Each player begins the campaign with a single Elite, Fast Attack, Heavy or Troop unit. They may take any combination of upgrades they wish, including Transports.

Imperial Guard may opt to take a Platoon of up to 3 units instead of a single unit.

Record the models taken, their equipment, profiles on a Team reference sheet, along with the total points value of your team.

-Super Elite
All models gain the benefit of the Independant Character special rule and may join or leave squads as they desire.

Squadrons of vehicles behave as seperate vehicles.

-All Down to You
The stakes of such a mission are so high that only the most tenacious and toughest see deployment. All infantry have twice as many wounds as normal but are still subject to Instant Death.

-Deployment and Objectives
Roll to determine who goes first. The player going second determines the mission objective randomly (see table) and deploys it.

The team with the smallest points value may take additional, temporary, units to equalise the two teams. Temporary models taken in this way receive only their normal allowance of wounds and do not count as Independant Characters. Only the maximums of the Force Organisation Chart apply, not the minimums.

The normal rules for deployment are then followed.

-Incapacitation
Models reduced to 0 wounds during play are said to be 'incapacitated' rather than killed. For each roll a d6:
On a 4+ their apothecaries, doks or equivalents are able to patch the model up to full health. The model may participate fully in coming battles.
On a 2 or 3 the figure is badly injured, losing 1 Wound from their profile. If a figure loses their last wound in this way they are instead killed.
On a 1 the figure is outright killed.

Even attacks by weapons that cause Instant Death only Incapacitate, such is the level of knowledge retained from the Dark Age of Technology.

The winning team may repair any vehicles that have suffered a Wrecked result or less. The losing team are forced to abandon any wrecked or immobilised vehicles.

-Experience
Models receive 2 XP for being part of a squad contesting an objective at the end of the game. They also receive 1 XP for each other model they incapacitate and any vehicle they damage (weapon destroyed, immobilised, wrecked or exploded).

Models are said to 'level up' when they receive 3, 6, 12 and 24 XP.

Each time a model levels up they may increase WS, BS, A or Ld by 1. Each attribute may only be increased once each. Alternatively they may increase the number of Wounds by 1 any number of times.

-Loot
Several mission objectives award Wargear. A single piece of wargear is chosen from the army book of either team. The winner of the mission may give that wargear to one of their models - even if they may not normally equip it. Taking a Weapon in this way requires giving up one of the creature's normal weapons.

-Requisition and Resupply
At the end of the mission both teams receive 16 points which they may either stockpile or spend on army list choices.

-Objectives
d6
1 - Vehicle Supply Depot - The victor adds a vehicle (or Monstrous Creature) to the team.
2 - Armory - Wargear.
3 - Reliquary - Wargear.
4 - Teleportarium - May Deep Strike one unit in their next battle.
5 - Rescue the fallen - The victor receives an additional 16 points at the end of the mission.
6 - Strategic Value - No additional benefit is awarded.

Take a squad of 3 Carnifex upgraded to handle different things (One close combat, one infantry killer, one tank killer). Spend upgrade points on BS then Wounds then WS then Ld. But then there's the whole instinctive behavior thing. Are you only allowed to take a single choice (Troop, elite, fast, heavy) and not allowed to get another? Like could I get a squad of warriors and a squad of Carnifi?

[Ninja Chocobo]

For this mission, you have to get one specified troop model into your foe's deployment zone.

Deployment:
Use Dawn o War found on page 93 of the rulebook.

Not entirely sure they thought this through.

[Hootman]

Not entirely sure they thought this through.

Yeah, no. Deploy in a transport at the center line. Easy peasy. That's part of the reason why I think I've actually got a shot at winning--all orks want to do ANYWAYS is charge forward in a Battlewagon. I'm not hampered at all. And, as mentioned, the Deff Rolla is pretty much guaranteed to make things more interesting.

[Tarinaky]

Take a squad of 3 Carnifex upgraded to handle different things (One close combat, one infantry killer, one tank killer). Spend upgrade points on BS then Wounds then WS then Ld. But then there's the whole instinctive behavior thing. Are you only allowed to take a single choice (Troop, elite, fast, heavy) and not allowed to get another? Like could I get a squad of warriors and a squad of Carnifi?

Only one squad (unless you're outnumbered and get temporary reinforcements). 'Fexes instinctive behavior is Rage though so it's still pretty lulsy. :D

[FlyingScanian]

Take a squad of 3 Carnifex upgraded to handle different things (One close combat, one infantry killer, one tank killer). Spend upgrade points on BS then Wounds then WS then Ld. But then there's the whole instinctive behavior thing. Are you only allowed to take a single choice (Troop, elite, fast, heavy) and not allowed to get another? Like could I get a squad of warriors and a squad of Carnifi?

Shame that you can't do that, really.

[Tychris1]

Only one squad (unless you're outnumbered and get temporary reinforcements). 'Fexes instinctive behavior is Rage though so it's still pretty lulsy. :D

Good thing Carnifex come in squads. And yeah, since the whole rage thing I guess that means you should trick out your Carnifi to be close combat. Still that sucks that you HAVE to take Synapse creatures and only synapse creatures unless you want to have instinctive behavior everywhere.

Huh, maybe instead you could raise the Carnifi Ld so that they make there behavior test more often.

[Tarinaky]

It's tempting to let Tyranid Super-Elites have the same special rule Genestealers get that mean they don't use Instinctive Behavior... Except there's already a few units that have it that're more flavourful and need every reason they can muster to stand a chance at being taken :p

Some Lictors or Genestealers stalking a bug hunt patrol is pretty iconic.

[Arcanoi]

Take a squad of 3 Carnifex upgraded to handle different things (One close combat, one infantry killer, one tank killer)

All Carnifii in a brood have to have the same upgrades.

[Tychris1]

Yeah I know I pointed that out in my later post. So instead have the Carnifi go for Jack of all Trades master of none. Crushing Claws and Heavy venom cannons will do that.

[gabado]

how worth it is it to purchase an eldar battleforce? i'm trying to make an army that is built around several units of pathfinders (i like how they look and the idea of rending on a 5+ is intriguing). i have also made steps towards purchasing a farseer and a group of warlocks to go with him, as well as a full squad of fire dragons for anti tank exploits. i am going to get my self a few fire prisms in the near future. i want to shy away from a jetbike list, i already have white scars, and a mech list isn't really what i was going for either. i want something fun to paint, and fun to play. pathfinders seemed like a good choice in that respect, but i need something in my troop slot to add some beef, i thought the battleforce would be a good source of brawn to add to my existing army list plans.

[Erloas]

If you don't plan on using anything out of the battleforce I don't know why you would even consider it. I think its a great set for my army, but I also use everything out of it.
For rangers to work you need a lot of them, and to get a lot of them you can't field much for guardians or dire avengers, half of whats in the box.
I've never been all that impressed with rangers, they have their uses but with the upgrades they are too expensive to be the core of an army. They also suck at advancing on and taking objectives, they are great at holding ones they can get to, but not for any of the others.

If you aren't looking at mech then the wave serpent isn't doing much good either. Though you can always use at least one for the fire dragons.

Whether or not you use the war walker depends a lot on how you want to do it. I think they would probably do ok with the little we know of your list, at least if you get a few of them.

I think though that if you have your farseer and warlocks on foot they are going to need a wave serpent for them as well or they aren't going to get anywhere alive.

Without knowing more of what you have planned it would seem like you would need half-mech and half rangers.

[gabado]

okay, thanks. i have a lot of players in my meta game, which is why i went for the fire dragons. i was thinking that splitting my troop choices into rangers (infiltrating onto objectives) and dire avengers (in wave serpents pushing people off of objectives). i haven't really looked at the war walkers, i just started playing eldar (i'm a long time space marine player). i was considering getting some banshees, or maybe scorpions to function as elite hunters, and to provide support to the dire avengers. i liked the combined fire rule for the fire prism, and i wanted to give that a go, but the kits are rather expensive, so i went with the fire dragons instead. they seemed more versatile, and much more resilient to railguns and the like. i guess i might be better off just getting the dire avengers kit and a wave serpent, seeing as how i don't really have a use for the guardians. just a quick question, how good are dark reapers? it seems kinda odd to me to have a heavy support unit designed to kill infantry. in your experience, are they worth the 40 something dollars i'd spend on them?

[Cheesegear]

just a quick question, how good are dark reapers? it seems kinda odd to me to have a heavy support unit designed to kill infantry. in your experience, are they worth the 40 something dollars i'd spend on them?

It depends what you need. S5, AP3, Heavy 2, as well as the Exarch's Barrage weapon (with Fast or Crack Shot) may as well be "Sweep any non-Terminator unit not in a Transport off the board." True story.

However, it's the 'not in a Transport' that gets them. How full of Mech is your meta-game? Do you generally use 25-33% cover as recommended or less? And more importantly, is cover usually only in each other's DZ's rather than in the middle of the board where they're more useful?
(Newbie Tip; If you take turns placing cover, terrain and cover are usually more useful in the centre of the board than in your DZ. Usually. If you're a gunline, obviously this doesn't apply.)

If you play with a lot of terrain, or your meta-game is smart and puts LoS blockers and cover in the middle of the board, then Dark Reapers aren't going to be helpful.

D-Cannons can generally serve the same purpose as Reapers, but have access to Warlocks, can hurt vehicles and force Pinning Checks all day long. Me, personally, I'm terrified of D-Cannons. It also seriously messes with Assault-based armies that like to get close which most Eldar armies aren't usually good against.

War Walkers are the Bee's Knees. If you have double-Autarchs, and function around that play-style. If you're not Outflanking War Walkers, Wraithlords can generally serve better. Unless you're against lots of Dark Eldar or Sniper players.

Fire Prisms are First-Turn Tank-Kills. If you're taking one, you're taking three (or at least two. One isn't helpful). Due to it's 60" range, there isn't much in the game that can ping it back. Especially after being hit by an S10, AP1 Twin-Linked weapon. Leman Russ Battle Tanks (the best IG tank, if I haven't already said at least 4 times) are the only thing that worry Fire Prisms in the broader sense of things.

While I do hate Tailoring, it has to be said that a player's army is shaped by their meta-game. Do you need Dark Reapers? If yes, then get them. If not, don't.

[Winterwind]

how worth it is it to purchase an eldar battleforce? i'm trying to make an army that is built around several units of pathfinders (i like how they look and the idea of rending on a 5+ is intriguing). i have also made steps towards purchasing a farseer and a group of warlocks to go with him, as well as a full squad of fire dragons for anti tank exploits. i am going to get my self a few fire prisms in the near future. i want to shy away from a jetbike list, i already have white scars, and a mech list isn't really what i was going for either. i want something fun to paint, and fun to play. pathfinders seemed like a good choice in that respect, but i need something in my troop slot to add some beef, i thought the battleforce would be a good source of brawn to add to my existing army list plans.

Pathfinders, Fire Dragons and Fire Prisms are heavily represented in my own army, and so far, they are working just fine. The Fire Dragons have never disappointed me, and the Fire Prisms usually perform very well; as for the Pathfinders, they always perform well when I am cautious in deploying them, and perform poorly if I miss some way for the opponent to reach them more quickly than I anticipated. If something gets close to them, they fold immediately. Wonderfully deadly otherwise, though.

One note: Pathfinders are not rending on 5+. Rending happens on the To-Wound roll (respectively, Armour Penetration roll). The Pathfinders' rifles are only rending on a 6, as all other sniper weapons. What Pathfinders have is a special rule that their weapons get AP1 on a To-Hit roll of 5+. That means you have two chances to bypass armour - one on the To-Hit roll, if you roll 5+, and another one on the To-Wound roll, if you roll 6. (Unfortunately, it also means there is a chance for your AP1 shots to fail to wound...)

[lord_khaine]

If you play with a lot of terrain, or your meta-game is smart and puts LoS blockers and cover in the middle of the board, then Dark Reapers aren't going to be helpful.

Actualy, this is the point where Reapers are at their best, since its the exarch that does most of the work anyway.

The reaper launcher is a barrage weapon, so you fire over Los blockers, and the crack shot ability ignores cover (besides letting you reroll to wound, its by far the best ability).

You do of course kinda need a farseer nearby, if you want to hit stuff while firering indirect fire at hidden targets.

[LeSwordfish]

So i have a 1500 point Imperial Guard army, and i'd welcome any comments or criticisms. It isn't nearly optimised enough, though it isn't for tournaments, just casual play.

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HQ
Company Command Squad- Bolter, Vox, Sniper rifle.

Lord-Commisar- Carapace armour, Powersword, Plasma Pistol

ELITES
Stormtrooper squadron- Flamer, Melta

TROOPS
Platoon 1
Platoon Command squad- Vox, Plasma gun, Autocannon, Bolter
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Sniper Rifle, Lascannon
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Sniper Rifle, Missile Launcher

Platoon 2
Platoon Command squad- Plasma pistol, Powersword, Heavy flamer, 2x Melta, Vox
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Flamers.

FAST ATTACK
Vendetta Gunship

HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Laser Destroyer (Bog-standard Leman Russ, but has a str10 ap1 hull-mounted gun and no turret)

Leman Russ Vanquisher- Lascannon, Multi-meltas.

Griffon Heavy Mortar

Things I might change:

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• I have a spare autocannon. I could stick that in the company command squad.
• The powersword on the platoon commander could be dropped to afford that.
• I could swap the flamers and meltas in my second platoon around, so two squads with meltas and a command squad with two flamers and a heavy flamer.
• I bet that Vanquisher will be blown up turn one. I should probably drop the upgrades, right?

[Tren]

okay, thanks. i have a lot of players in my meta game, which is why i went for the fire dragons. i was thinking that splitting my troop choices into rangers (infiltrating onto objectives) and dire avengers (in wave serpents pushing people off of objectives).

Rangers/Pathfinders are a very solid unit, but I agree with Erloas that they're too expensive to use as the core of your army. A mixed setup with Dire Avengers though could work well.

i haven't really looked at the war walkers, i just started playing eldar (i'm a long time space marine player).

War Walkers equipped with shuricannons or scatter lasers are reasonably cheap and bring some serious outflanking fire power. Great volume of S6 shots for anti-infantry, or anti-transport when you outflank behind their lines and get rear armor.

i was considering getting some banshees, or maybe scorpions to function as elite hunters, and to provide support to the dire avengers

Both are solid options, but I think Eldar do well enough as is against hordes (Scorpions specialty) with Dire Avengers and other shooting options. Besides the Fire Prism and Star Cannons (blegh, horribly overpriced), Eldar don't have much recourse against 2+ armor though, where Banshees really shine. Also, with an I6 Grey Knight heavy meta, striking at I10 on the first turn is all the more attractive.

just a quick question, how good are dark reapers? it seems kinda odd to me to have a heavy support unit designed to kill infantry. in your experience, are they worth the 40 something dollars i'd spend on them?

Reapers-- against the right opponent and especially when supported by a Farseer-- are fantastic and easily capable of removing a full squad of power armor in one round, even in cover. The exarch does most of the heavy lifting with the tempest launcher and crack shot, allowing him to drop two S4 AP3 BS5 small blasts that ignore cover and re-roll to wound. My marine playing friends eventually told me they wouldn't play me anymore if I kept using Dark Reapers.

Even when facing Orks or Nids, the normal Reaper Launchers can be a threat to most MCs, and the Exarch can still do a fair bit of harm to horde units.

[Renegade Paladin]

So i have a 1500 point Imperial Guard army, and i'd welcome any comments or criticisms. It isn't nearly optimised enough, though it isn't for tournaments, just casual play.

Okay, I'll take a crack at it.

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HQ
Company Command Squad- Bolter, Vox, Sniper rifle.

Lord-Commisar- Carapace armour, Powersword, Plasma Pistol

Where's the Lord Commissar going? Because wherever it is, he's better off with a camo cloak; Stealth transfers to units he's with, while carapace armor does not. Also, sniper rifles are a waste of points unless you have lots of them; I only ever include them when I'm out of other special weapons, which it's possible for me to do since my infantry selection is still on the small side. The bolter is also unlikely to make a difference, though it at least gives the commander the same range as everyone else in the squad.

ELITES
Stormtrooper squadron- Flamer, Melta

What are you doing with these guys? Suicide deep strike?

TROOPS
Platoon 1
Platoon Command squad- Vox, Plasma gun, Autocannon, Bolter
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Sniper Rifle, Lascannon
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Sniper Rifle, Missile Launcher

We're up to three sniper rifles so far. Still not lots. See above about the bolter. Lascannons and missile launchers are good, though.

Platoon 2
Platoon Command squad- Plasma pistol, Powersword, Heavy flamer, 2x Melta, Vox
2x Infantry Squads- Vox, Flamers.

Plasma pistols aren't worth the points; you're spending ten points to kill your commander before the enemy does. The power weapon would be better on one of the infantry squad sergeants; he's more likely to last long enough to use it. A command squad in assault is a command squad that's dead before you get to I3.

FAST ATTACK
Vendetta Gunship

Yes. Can't go wrong here.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Laser Destroyer (Bog-standard Leman Russ, but has a str10 ap1 hull-mounted gun and no turret)

Will your opponents let you use stuff out of Imperial Armour?

Leman Russ Vanquisher- Lascannon, Multi-meltas.

Terrible setup. Leaving aside the fact that the standard battle tank is all-around better (the blast is likely to hit something; here you're taking a 50/50 shot at even getting close to doing anything), the Vanquisher is a long-range tank, and multimeltas want to get close. If you're ever close enough to your target to use multimeltas, to say nothing of actually being in melta range, you're doing it wrong.

Griffon Heavy Mortar

Well, it isn't another sniper rifle, but at least it's more pinning. If you're going to do pinning, do lots of it; most opponents will have Leadership high enough that you want to force multiple saves to ensure having an effect.

Things I might change:

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• I have a spare autocannon. I could stick that in the company command squad.
• The powersword on the platoon commander could be dropped to afford that.
• I could swap the flamers and meltas in my second platoon around, so two squads with meltas and a command squad with two flamers and a heavy flamer.
• I bet that Vanquisher will be blown up turn one. I should probably drop the upgrades, right?

If you're going to drop something to afford the other autocannon, start with the sniper rifles. The lascannon on the Vanquisher is fine if you must use a Vanquisher, but lose the multimeltas; in fact I wouldn't use any sponsons at all, since the longest range you can get out of them is 36".