The Astra Militarum has had a rough run of it for basically the entirety of 9th Edition. While they are one of the few Codexes that could field a double digit number of tanks AND a triple digit number of infantry, they just have never been very competitive all throughout this Edition. Their lack of tournament wins comes from a mix of their ObSec models being incredibly fragile, their army composition giving up a ton of Secondary points, and their absolute lack of any dedicated close combat unit. There is good news for the loyal Guard players out there though! The new Codex is on the horizon. Guard players have patiently waited for every other 40k army to receive cool new rules, and even saw an entirely new faction added to the game, before they got anything more than some changes in a dataslate. While I am very happy for all those dedicated Guard players out there; I am very worried about the implications of a new Guard Codex that may be keeping some of their rules from the dataslate.
Indirect Fire- The indirect fire benefits that the current Guard Codex receives are bonkers. If the rules of ignoring the penalties to indirect fire GW introduced were applied to any other Codex it would immediately make them one of, if not the best, army in the game. The only reason the current Guard Codex isn’t running away with tournament wins is due to how weak their overall Codex is. I fear bringing the army in line with the other 9th Edition books while letting them keep their current indirect fire rules has feels-bad Codex written all over it.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Guard should have some benefits that other factions don’t get to their indirect fire. Having some kind of spotter rules, like the current Tyranid Hive Guard rule, would be an excellent way to give this Guard Codex an advantage while still making it so player skill is involved.
Close Combat- Ogryn and Bullgryn need to be at least a decent close combat threat for Guard to be a fully functioning competitive army. Guard struggle with fast moving close combat armies who can absorb one turn of their shooting and then move in for the kill (and move in for the tagging of all those tanks). The absence of even a single close combat threat to make fast moving close combat threats think twice about charging directly into those hundred Guardsmen is the downfall of many Guard players, and if the new Codex doesn’t provide a solid close combat unit Guard are going to have a tough time in any meta.
Keep Orders- Orders is one of the coolest things Guard currently have access to. I would be extremely bummed to see them go away. Move, Move, Move wins games, and with a slightly better ruleset behind it a good Guard player could be awesome to watch.
ObSec- Only having ObSec for T3 5+ save Guardsmen is another reason the Guard Codex struggles to win games. As a GSC player I know opponents can EASILY clear your objectives when you aren’t super durable. The Cadian rules have a Stratagem to give a unit ObSec, and it is extremely powerful when given to a tough Guard vehicle (or even a stupid Sentinel to steal my home Objective….you know who you are). I would love to see this type of Stratagem, or even a Rites of War type Warlord Trait, included in the new Guard book.
New Regiments- Ok, this last one is more of a wish than what I want to see in the Codex, but GW needs to release more models for additional Guard regiments! I played back in the days of the old Mordian, Valhallan, and Steel Legion metal Guard armies. They were amazing to see on the table even back then. I can only imagine what GW could do with their current level of miniature design. Come on GW just a few more infantry kits. Maybe a character as well. Then the new Guard Codex would truly be complete.
Guard is one of the worst competitive Codexes in the current meta, but I don’t think they need too much to become a contender in the competitive scene. Every time a new Codex has been released (except GSC) since Dark Eldar the 40k world has been rocked by a new 60% win rate army. I really hope that doesn’t happen with the Guard Codex. They deserve to have a good ruleset, and to be competitive in the meta, but no one wants them to be another “shoot my opponent off the table and I win” army. With some of the rules leaks out there about the Deathstrike Missile I admit I am a little worried they will be going in that direction.
If you are looking to get more Astra Militarum models, so you can get that new army up and running before the Codex drops check out the FLG webstore for awesome discounts on GW products. Or, if you are a true loyal follower of the Four Armed Emperor, you will turn those Guard models into Brood Brothers.