I’ve finally gotten around to returning to my long delayed series on Space Marines and their allies. Since it’s been so long, I thought I’d better mention what I want out of allies.
1) Skyfire
2) Efficient scoring units
3) Numerous infantry
Imperial Guard make an excellent addition to Space Marines, as they’re about as opposite to marines as they could be. Combining elite heavy infantry with mediocre but numerous light infantry is a recipe for a well-rounded army. From a fluff point of view, Space Marine armies very often fight alongside the Imperial Guard. Fortunately, they’re Battle Brothers so your marines and guardsmen can fully support each other on the table.
So how do the Imperial Guard meet my criteria? As far as dealing with enemy flyers, they do pretty well. They have access to Hydras, which are basically a quad gun on a Chimera chassis. They’re only BS 3 and don’t have Interceptor, but they ignore Jink saves, which is pretty handy. They are limited against armies without flyers or skimmers, but those are pretty rare. In particular, the newly resurgent Tau and Eldar will bring a lot of skimmers to the table. In addition, the IG can bring along a Vendetta or three, as long as they’re in one squadron. As an AV12 flyer armed with three twin-linked lascannons, the Vendetta is on of the best flyers in the game at dealing with enemy flyers and tanks.
As far as efficient scoring units and numerous infantry go, the IG win the prize. The standard infantry platoon allows you to bring a special weapon packing, order issuing command squad, five infantry squads, and a mix of heavy weapon and special weapon squads for a single Troops choice, very handy when using the limited Allies FOC. That’s a lot of scoring potential for very few points, compared to the cost of Space Marine units. In objective missions, the squads can deploy separately to take multiple objectives, while in Purge the Alien (or the Emperor’s Will), they can combine to produce a very tough mass of infantry. In this case, a marine character can join them and give the whole unit And they shall know no fear. Those unreliable guardsmen suddenly aren't going to runn away. The obligatory HQ choice can be a cheap Company Command Squad.
The last thing to consider is what else IG can bring to the table beyond my minimum criteria. Sadly, I think this is pretty limited. The strength of IG is in massed infantry and tanks. However, taking Hydras means that you can’t take Leman Russes since they both take a Heavy Support slot. If you think your army already has anti-flyer covered, then a squadron of Leman Russes is definitely and option. AV 14 is difficult to deal with at range, and they can put out enough firepower to demolish the infantry heavy armies that seem so common lately. As a bargain option, a squadron of Griffons can do maintain fire on infantry anywhere on the table and can snipe out important models due to the barrage rules. They won’t do as much to heavy infantry, but they can force enough armor saves to cause some damage.
Those are the IG units I think make a significant addition to a Space Marine army. Do you think I missed any?