Epic 40k

Imperial Guard Tactical Company

19 Comments

I have expanded my Imperial Guard for Epic 40k into a full blown Tactical Company under 2nd Edition rules, having decided to go back to this iteration. It was the game we played most back in the day as the rules were engaging, armies affordable, figures paintable in a reasonable amount of time and easy to transport.

While 3rd Edition was just awful and killed the system off, it did produce very nice (overpriced) models. Therefore my armies these days consist mostly of figures from that era. Taking closeup shots of 6mm figures is a horrifying experience but I have steeled myself well enough not to attempt to add any more detail or smoother highlighting.

View from above over ranks of soldiers and two tanks in-between high rise buildings
The Imperial Guard defending a city

There are also some abstractions to be made. For example, the missile launcher team comes as a single figure, but I didn’t like the look of having just four models on a base, so the squads effectively end up with eleven troops in them, counting heads. Secondly, there are two command stands for the company, where in 40k an HQ unit would only consist of five soldiers. I have given both a psyker and a commander figure to make them stand out and clearly designate them. Thirdly, instead of Rhino APCs I am using Chimeras. I much prefer the Imperial Guard having its own flavour here, though I am still going to use Rhino rules to keep the points balance of the formation.

An armoured personnel carrier next to a group of soldiers dressed in grey greatcoats
The Command HQ of the company with its transport and comms vehicle
Group of four soldiers and one leader wearing all black in front of an APC
Each company gets a free Commissar – the soldiers will rejoice!
Eye level view of ranks of soldiers advancing with laser rifles
An infantry platoon advances
Group of 50 soldiers advancing in lines
Quantity has a quality all its own

19 thoughts on “Imperial Guard Tactical Company”

  3. Apart from your breathtaking, 100% inaccurate assessment of third ed Epic, this post is 100% win. So about 85% win overall.

    I played against an Epic guard army with regularity in the early 90s, so I have a grudging respect for them… or maybe more for their artillery companies. Your guys look fantastic.

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    1. I don’t agree with what you say but I would order an orbital virus bombardment for your right to say it.

      I actually used to play Space Orks but faced off against Imperial Guard myself – talk about meat grinders.

      Glad you like the style I went with. The tanks could use some colourful insignia but they are so packed full of camo netting, tarps etc. that there isn’t much space to consistently apply them.

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    2. I was mildly concerned that I hadn’t included a number of ” ;) ” in that comment, but I figured that you were a level headed sort Subedai :)

      I played Eldar and Orks back then, and my buddy had Guard and Blood Angels.

      I’m playing Kill Team with the same gent next week, his Guard vs my Orks.

      So much for progress :D

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    3. I’ve read enough of your posts to know that you are not to be taken seriously.

      I might pick up the rules for Kill Team, would be nice to work on a wide range of small 40k forces. Rather than a wide range of large 40k forces which won’t get finished this decade.

      Will you be posting an after action report?

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    4. I will probably take a few photos. I might bash them into shape for a blog post.

      I get urges to engage in army sized projects from time to time, but it’s inevitably more than I can manage in a reasonable timeframe.
      Hopefully KT will scratch my hobby itch a bit better.

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  4. Lovely to see some old-school Epic (Space Marine) era stuff posted up amongst the newer AT stuff. A real shame they went with the new incomparable scale. It would have been very cool to see the original alongside the new – and models like your Guardsmen giving some OG cred to the newer figures.

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    1. Having some more options to build on existing forces would have been nice, but scale aside, the most I could ever see them release for non-Titans in the future would be some basic troops that serve to give the big guys a better sense of scale, similar to BattleTech.

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    2. I believe I read (during the long, pre-release phase) that they’re considering armour and infantry depending on how well the new games does. I’m personally not invested either way though – just happy to look at other people’s stuff.

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    1. They haven’t for the last 20 years, only just dipped their toes into it again with the new Adeptus Titanicus which seems to be about 8mm but only features the big walkers so far.

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  7. Man, this is a blast from the past; I was far too young and poor at the time, but it looks nice to field Guard in the numbers they would actually take to the field in!

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