Only 5 years ago you could spend $200 bucks and have a ready-made 1500 point army. Sadly those days are long gone. Now it takes a magical mathematical feat just to get 1000 points for $200 bucks, especially if are buying retail. If you adjust for GW yearly price increases you will find that about $320 is the new $200 and even that is stretching it. Now of course most 40kers are savvy enough to avoid paying full price unless they intend on supporting their local shop.
The point of this exercise is to show exactly what you can get for $320 dollars, along with and sample army lists and the reasons why I selected those items on my lists. I will also look at what an average 20% discount can get ya.
This time around we look at the Imperial Guard.
If there is one army to drain the coffers of any player it would be the Imperial Guard. You get the double whammy of a horrible Battleforce comboed with a very mechanized army. To get a manageable force I suggest going with a three-pronged assault of: troops, transports, and bits. It will be hard, but to get the most bang for your buck you have to avoid the heavy support section. If you start with this base purchase plan you will be able to grow your army by adding Fast Attack and Heavy Support tanks. So what exactly can you get for $320?
$8.25 (10) Imperial Guard Cadians (5 models)
$35.00 (2) Imperial Guard Cadian Heavy Weapon Squad
$35.00 (3) Imperial Guard Chimera
$25.00 (2) Imperial Guard Cadian Command Squad
$6.60 (2) Meltaguns or Plasma Guns
Total = $320.70
Without the discount this purchase order is building for the future; it represents the basics. Avoid the pricey 22 buck cadian plastic kit, you only get 10 cadians with few options. That is why your cheapest bet is to go with the two piece plastic cadians. Sure they are nothing special, but you need to have lasguns and they give you that, $82 bucks for 50 guys is not a bad deal all things considered. The heavy weapon teams and the command sections are where the bits come in. Now you can argument your regiments and with the help of magnets have more choice. Chimeras are the bread and butter of any IG force, combine that with the melta/plasma gun bits you can easily make three vet squads the staple of most competitive forces.
So what can you get with a 20% discount?
$8.25 (11) Imperial Guard Cadians (5 models)
$35.00 (2) Imperial Guard Cadian Heavy Weapon Squad
$35.00 (3) Imperial Guard Chimera
$25.00 (3) Imperial Guard Cadian Command Squad
$6.60 (2) Meltaguns or Plasma Guns
$49.50 (1) Imperial Guard Hellhound
Total = $322.75
As you can see even with 20% off you are not doing better. What do you do get is the new Hellhound kit, which is important when you consider the three Chimera. Once again magnets to the rescue, you can easily have yourself all three types of Hellhounds from one little kit. Always remember to stretch the bits you have do not be afraid to make the special characters. GW likes to push the notion that IG are the most diverse army in the galaxy so go crazy! Horde bits and make your own unique force.
It is too bad that GW does not support IG with more value lines of items, because if you were to rate the IG battleforce box it would be the worse– all I have to say is Sentinel. Instead it seems that GW knows that most IG players are the 30+ crowd that have enough disposable cash to afford this most expensive of armies. If it was not for the over price Leman Russ, Basilisk, and Hellhound chassis than it might be possible to make a good army at a reasonable price.
Here are some sample lists from the purchase orders I created.
If you take a look at these lists you can tell I was stretching it to get to 1500. It goes to show just how expensive IG are. $320 bucks is only going to get you started. You will be looking down 500 bucks in no time with IG especially when you add in Valkyries.
Questions for Comment:
- How would you approach buying Imperial Guard?
- Are IG the most expensive army around?
- What would you like to see in a IG mega force if GW ever did one?