JediNeophyte wrote:*sigh* I guess some people just don't understand my cynicism...
As a long-time Imperial Guard commander, I can, actually. I felt the same way shortly after I started using Imperial Guard. I felt that there was only one way to victory: Tanks. Just lots and lots of tanks. Tanks loaded to the gills with special equipment. And Ogryns. Just sit and blast the other side into paste (and with 2nd Ed., use preliminary barrages to help to that effect).
However, especially with the release of 3rd Ed., Imperial Guard have a wealth of options available to them. Yes, any one army list might be best suited for a particular kind of overall strategy and set of tactics, but that's part of the game. In order to win your battles, you must always consider the following:
- Who is your enemy?
- What is your objective?
- What is their objective?
- How can I best achieve my objective while denying my enemy his objective?
- What forces can I take that would be the best towards helping me achieve my goals?
- How can I deploy my forces for maximum effect on the battlefield?
- What sort of backup plan do I have if things should hit the fan?
I guess I can't blame you, you are probably not forced to play against 11-year-old Marine players who barely know the rules on a regular basis. I've rarely fought anything besides Marines, so it gets depressing after awhile.
Generally speaking, fighting too long against any one enemy can get depressing after a while, especially if you only play one type of mission. However, you should be able to learn from your defeats. I'll admit to quite often getting my butt handed to me by Marine players when I do play them (since I'm so used to Eldar by now), but I make them earn their victories, and afterwards, I have a better idea of how to take them down. Several Marine players quickly learned that Terminators (this was before they got that stupid invulnerable save) died very quickly against my Rough Riders, and thus putting them in a place where I could easily charge them was perhaps not the right thing to have done.
I did manage to win my last match, thankfully, my opponent didn't have any terminators and was very foolish with his land raider. However, there was a simple plan to my victory: March forward in one long battleline and take the center trench system. In my experience, this is the only way an Imperial Guard Standard Company can win on a CONSISTENT BASIS. IMHO, this constitutes as being inflexible: if you have only one overall battle tactic, you are predictable. And if you are predictable, and the enemy commander is competent, you can be beat.
If your plan to victory is anything
but simple, it's not flexible. Simple plans are by definition the most flexible, because they don't rely on everything falling into place for them to work. You're confusing simplicity with predictability. There are other simple ways you might have won that battle using Guard. That one just happened to be the most no-nonsense way of going about it with your current force.
If you're limited by models and force selection, of course your tactics are going to be predicatable, because you're limited in what you can do. There are a wealth of available tactics for the Guard that are all quite effective against various forces. I personally use a hammer-and-anvil force strategy and battle tactics. It usually works quite well, and it's very flexible. Here's how it goes:
One part of my army is mobile. Stormtroopers (which can infiltrate or deep strike), Rough Riders, a Hellhound, and a Chimera with a Tactical Squad loaded inside (and maybe another Chimera with a close-range command squad inside as well). That's the hammer. It serves multiple purposes, as the situation demands it. It can support the anvil as holes are blown in my defenses, it can come around to pound the enemy into the anvil, it can be used as bait to draw the enemy within the range of my anvil's heavy firepower, or to keep the enemy occupied and away from the anvil as it mercilessly tears the enemy into shreds, or even to quickly take objectives and provide covering fire while the anvil advances into a better position.
The other part of my army is slow to move and most effective when completely stationary. It is made up of several tactical squads, heavy weapons teams, Leman Russ tanks of various types (depending on the enemy I have to fight), artillery, and command squads spaced in strategic locations to ensure control over the mens morale. This is critical, since if your men start taking fire, the last thing you need is them running away. The really important thing to remember is that Guardsmen are cheap, pointwise, as are their weapons. Other players can pay twice as much for their guns, plus the additional cost of their superhuman troopers. You also pay more for heavy weapons yourself when you take them in a heavy weapons team, and you're limited to the number of teams you can have. So buy heavy and special weapons for your tactical squads. Plasma Guns and Heavy Bolters are my personal favorites, but a mobile squad might be better off with a meltagun or a flamer. Even mobile squads should at least have a Heavy Bolter. It's only 10 points, and the additional firepower it brings to the squad is nothing to sneeze at. And believe me, nothing makes a Land Raider sweat like facing down three tactical squads, two anti-tank squads, and a Leman Russ Vanquisher, all decked out with Lascannons and other neat toys. Sure, a lot of the shots might miss, and chances are that few will actually glance or penetrate, but with all that firing at the Land Raider in one turn, you can bet that it's not long for this world.
Now, termies. Yes, I dislike them. Even moreso now that they have that stupid invulnerable save that was basically handed to the Cheese Marine players who whined loudly enough that they didn't have the uber machines of death they once hand in the beardiness of 2nd Ed., but I digress. Handled properly, even Terminators can go down with relative ease. Send a unit of Rough Riders up against Terminators, and chances are you'll wipe them out. Sure, you might lose your Rough Riders as well, but it's more than worth it. Barring that, take two tactical squads and some area effect/multiple shot heavy weapons and/or ordnance and make the buggers bleed. They only get one saving throw (2+ or 5+ inv), and they've only got one wound apiece. Sure, they're tougher to wound, but look at it this way: your average guardsman has a 50% chance to hit them. Of the 50% who hit, only ~33% will actually have a chance of wounding them (using lasguns). Of that, the terminators will be able to stop ~83% of the shots that wound them. So say you've got a tactical squad, all armed with just lasguns, and they fire once at the terminator squad. 5 will hit, 1, maybe two will wound, and chances are all of those shots will be stopped by the vaunted Terminator Power Armor. Uh-oh, this could be bad. But wait, next turn they fire again, but this time getting two shots apiece. Out of 20 shots, 10 will hit, 3 will wound, and chances are all the shots will be stopped by that damned Terminator Power Armor.
Now let's throw a Heavy Bolter into the mix. At 36 inches out, it can start raining boltery death on these damned termies. Out of 3 shots, let's assume that at this range, only one hits. It has a 66% chance of giving a wounding hit, so let's assume it wounds. Chances are, it will be stopped by the Terminator power armor. Now at 24 inches out, the tactical squad can join the heavy bolter in pounding the terminators. Out of 9 lasgun shots, let's assume only 4 hit, and out of three bolter shots, let's assume two hit (since last time it was only one, we'll average it out like this). Of the 4 lasgun shots, chances are only 1 will wound. Out of the two heavy bolter shots, let's assume one wounds and the other doesn't. Chances are both can be saved by the Terminator's power armor. Still doesn't look too good for the Guard, right? Granted, by now, the might have been able to kill one, maybe two Terminators from sheer luck, but that's not a good thing to rely on. But hey, we're pitting a ~250 point unit (the Terminators) against a 70 point unit (the Guardsmen)! Let's go with even points and watch what happens...
Three tactical squads, each with a heavy bolter and a plasma rifle (234 points) vs. a single Terminator Squad (250 points).
At 36 inches, 9 heavy bolter shots belt out at the Terminators. 4 hit, 3 wound, and all three save.
At 24 inches, the 9 heavy bolter shots hit again, this time 5 hit, 3 wound, and all but one poor soul save (1/6 of the shots get through on average). On top of this, the heavy bolters are joined by 24 lasgun shots and 3 plasma rifle shots. 12 lasguns connect, 4 wound, and all save. This time, 1 plasma rifle connects, wounds, and is (luckily) stopped by the Terminator's invulnerable 5+ save.
In response, the four remaining Terminators lay down 8 storm bolter shots, of which 5 hit. Of those, 3 wound, and bypass the Guardsmans armor, killing 3 guard.
At 12 inches, the 9 heavy bolters get 4 hits, 3 wounds, and two saves, killing another terminator. Two down, three to go. 42 lasguns open up, 21 hit, and 7 wound. Of this, all but one makes the saving throw. Now the plasma rifles open up. 6 shots, 3 hit, 2 wound, and only one saving throw is made successfully. And then there was one. Not bad for a bunch of puny guardsmen, is it?
The largest advantage of the Imperial Guard is numbers. Other armies often rely on small numbers, where the luck of an individual die roll can often determine victory or defeat. Imperial Guard don't need to rely on luck nearly as much as other armies do. Sure, they can suffer from bad luck like anyone else, or benefit from good luck, but a well-constructed Guard Army is never seriously affected by either. If one of your big guns misses, no worries, you've got seven more just like it. Chances are that at least one is going to hit, and when it does, you can kiss your butt goodbye. For 1500 points, Imperial Guard can field well over 150 infantrymen with heavy weapons and support. It might not be smart, but you probably want at least a good 50 or 60 men in a 1500 point force at the very least (my current 1500 point force has 92 models in it, a mix of infantry and vehicles).
I rambled for a bit, but I hope that it was at least a little helpful.
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. But in pre-making my army, I of course sacrifice flexibility. I have thought on this carefully and decided it was more in my favor to be less flexible but not have the club's sponsors yelling at me for not having my army ready to go 
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