unit of the week No.1! Imperial guard Veterans

Ahhhh veterans, the Swiss army knife of the
Imperial guard and the back bone of any mechanized Imperial guard army.

Veterans are different than basic guardsmen in that they have BS4, and a sergeant with Ld 8. But what makes them the star of the show is the ability to take three special weapons, making them the anti-tank squad of choice along with the CCS, all mounted in either Chimeras or Valkyries. The sniper rifle is a complete waste on the veterans, and flamers and Grenade Launchers can be gotten for cheaper elsewhere (a PCS or SWS, perhaps), leaving the Plasma gun as the other top notch option for the Vets. The downside to the Plasma gun is their ready availability in platoons, Leman Russ Executioner, and even sentinels (well, the last two are plasma cannons, but they share a common target pool). One veteran can take a Heavy Flamer instead of another special, but like in command squads, the cost in both points and opportunity is too great for anything other than a fun choice. Veterans can take a heavy weapon, and the decision of whether or not to take advantage of that will no doubt be the source of much future debate, but my current rule of thumb is: never for Airmobile squads, always for foot squads, and sometimes for mechanized squads. If you’re packing melta guns in a chimera, you might expect to move full speed, but you also might stay put to shoot with the chimera. In those times, packing an autocannon for 10pts is simply a good buy. Further, vets with three plasmas and a lascannon run only 135pts, and can tuck into cover or a Chimera to provide great cover fire.

Veterans can take one of three doctrines: Carapace armor, camo cloaks and defensive grenades, or melta bombs and a demo charge, all for 30pts. Carapace armor is overpriced as always, but provides a good way to use Kasrkin models without having to swallow the awful Storm Trooper rules. The camo cloaks are also quite pricy, and defensive grenades are nice but not enough to save veterans from anything but the weakest charging unit. Demolitions add a nice mix to the squad, and while 30pts is a lot of points for a demo charge in an airmobile squad that charge can often reap huge benefits. Melta bombs are also generally good.

So all in all veterans are an AWESOME inexpensive troops choice but remember to not spend to much on them because remember they are a T3 unit with a 5+.

The Emperor Protects