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Thats what happened to Lysander.

Yeah, it would be cool to see an Junior Officer being forced from platoon command into company command.

Each Imperial guard army has it's pros and cons. While Steel Legion excell at mobile and open field combat, they are in small numbers and vulnerable in city fighting scenarios where vehicles are extra vulnerable.

But, if I have to choose one as the best, I'd say that the Death Korps of Krieg rank high enough! Die-hards that just don't know when to quit or give up. During the 3rd war for Armageddon they single handedly defended a hive without other support. They surged from their trenches and advanced in such a brutal assault that, if they pressed on even further, would be cut of from the forces in the hive.

There was a topic on Imperial guard in close combat, but it was locked down, but here's my two cents on the issue.

1. The basic Guardsman does not suck.

2. When facing a close combat army, either shoot them or swamp them with superior numbers. One of the better tactics is to send in the normal squads or conscript platoons first to act as a buffer, then sending in HQ and platoon command squads tooled up for close combat as a coup de grace.

Some handy Doctrines to use:
- Close order drill: +1 to Ld and I
- hardened fighters: While expensive, the WS 4 is a saver
- Die-hards: An excellent option for suicide squads whom are bound to be outnumbered
- Special weapon squads: load them up with ccw's and lp's along with a demo charge, that way you have small expendable suicide squads that when timed right, can do alot of damage
- carapace armour: While expensive, in some cases it can keep your men standing a bit longer

These are by no means winning combinations for an army, just my thoughts on the matter. (oppinions differ and are widely versitily. Lt. Brookman is not responsible for any future losses or victories)

Thanks, I don't want to be held responsible for any future events that could have occured if people were to follow that advice.

Yeah, I was the one who put up the IG close combat question. I got a lot of helpful replies from people; the best so far being "step one: don't get into close combat." I got a lot of advice explaining that I should "shoot at the enemy." To those who said that, I pray you are trying to be funny with a comment that blatantly obvious.

As for the basic guardsman not sucking... yeah, that's a lie. A horde of guardsmen backed up with nice weapons, good doctrines, and a few tanks is certainly nice, but compared to pretty much any other base unit in a one-on-one comparison, the basic guardsmen really isn't so good.

As for outnumbering, its important not to assume you have cheaper troops than they do. I mean, you usually will, but you can still be outnumbered.

COD--There is a reason its free, as even nids will drop pie plates on your guys.
Carapace armor--IMO it just makes it harder to outnumber your opponent enough to win.

The only guys who should be assaulting in the IG army are rough riders and orgryns. Everyone else, much like kroot, should only be counterassaulting enemies who have reached you.