# Elites over Basic Troops



## Acid Trip (May 2, 2011)

So would u rather have a 100 Guard or 15 temis...Do u think putting more models on the board is good? I think it has to be in my experience cause ur opponet can only counter act at so much...but lets say 50 fire warriors n 30 tac marines? do numbers matter? just a thought?


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

In heavy terrain, numbers matter. In large open fields, eliteness matters.


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## Pathfinder201 (Jun 26, 2010)

In fluff/the books 15 terms could take down 200 gaurd In the game however i would go for the 100 gaurd i can't recall about the tau codex but if there weapons are ap 3 then tau if not 30 tac marines


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## ItsPug (Apr 5, 2009)

MetalHandkerchief said:


> In heavy terrain, numbers matter. In large open fields, eliteness matters.


Er you mean the opposite right? Fighting in heavy terrain means you can limit the, for lack of a better word, hordes advantage by limiting how many can come at you at once. Its why the Spartans held Thermopylae.

I'd take the IG. Hell 10 IG versus 10 Marines I'd take the guard, if I lose... well what did you expect, if I win the obviously its not luck its just because I'm UBER! :laugh:


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Numbers. 5 heavy bolters could kill 15 Orks or 15 Terminators. 15 Orks isn't a dent in my army, but 15 Terminators most certainly is. Terrible dice don't matter so much when you have massive numbers, although they always help.

Midnight


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## Ghost792 (Jan 6, 2010)

I'd go elites, no matter what the scenario. I am no fan of the barely trained rabble.


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## Bhaal006 (Apr 11, 2010)

Terminators, because it's a cooler name than "Guardsman".


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## Barnster (Feb 11, 2010)

Thing is 100 guard tend to be able to carry quite alot of plasma and melta guns, lascannons, missile launcers and other upgrades, armour? what armour?

1 hormagaunt may not be a match for 1 marine but 2 are

Troops can capture objectives though....

But its all about synergy not pure numbers.


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## Radeb86 (Apr 2, 2011)

We have all probably seen the hordes of guardsman take on scary things from the beyond. But then elites like Marbo can turn up and obliterate something silly. 
I would chose the guardsmen probably, yes 15 termies are good, but you will fail the 2+ saves if you get shot enough, and after rolling 5 1s for 3 termies once i never trust the terminator armour again!!! The dice gods smiled on everyone but me that day...




Barnster said:


> But its all about synergy not pure numbers.


5 chosen can turn up and destroy the back rank of anything they find if they are armed the right way, but they need the troops adn the rest of the army to work with them for that to happen.


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## Trickstick (Mar 26, 2008)

ItsPug said:


> Its why the Spartans held Thermopylae.


Don't you mean how the Greeks held Themopylae? There was a mix of around 7000 men from other city states too.

Anyway, back to the point. I like to go with the numbers, within reason. Having massive units of fifty men is unwieldy and they can get tied up to easily. However, a few units of twenty men each can form a staggered defence that will take elite units an age to wade through, taking fire with every step they take.

I take a similar philosophy with my tanks. Three minimal tanks is better than two uber tanks.


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## msteward (Jan 5, 2011)

I've found that smaller games favor horde armies while larger games favor units with higher point cost. I've never beaten my IG opponent in a game of 1200 pts or less but Undefeated against him in games of 2K+


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

msteward said:


> I've found that smaller games favor horde armies while larger games favor units with higher point cost. I've never beaten my IG opponent in a game of 1200 pts or less but Undefeated against him in games of 2K+


At larger points brackets Guard can take moar Leman Russes, so it balances out their problem. They have the best of both worlds... Except they don't have a Mat Ward. Sad face. But then again, in larger points games you can have 12 (Al'Rahem and Creed) Outflanking AV12 transports, with Str 6 turrets and a bunch of firepoints apiece. Go Go gadget Steel Legion.

Midnight


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

Each has their own function, I would take a mix of both if at all possible. However, in this case, the 100 guardsmen are much more flexible, with weapon options and such. A Terminator squad could easily lose a lot of power very quickly, while the guardsmen have redundancy.


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## JelloSea (Apr 12, 2011)

IG get 2 shots they kill 5.5 terminators, if they rapid fire and get FRF they will kill 7.3 terminators.


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## JelloSea (Apr 12, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> At larger points brackets Guard can take moar Leman Russes, so it balances out their problem. They have the best of both worlds... Except they don't have a Mat Ward. Sad face. But then again, in larger points games you can have 12 (Al'Rahem and Creed) Outflanking AV12 transports, with Str 6 turrets and a bunch of firepoints apiece. Go Go gadget Steel Legion.
> 
> Midnight


Creed makes 1 out flank
Reem makes 6 out flank
9 vendettas can outflank


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## DivineArchitect (Mar 24, 2011)

its why iwent for a krieg army..1500 points i get 60+ guardsmen with meltas plus 2 batterys of 4 heavy mortars....attrition all the well if you can keep people bogged down enough so were ever they move they're pinned and out manned id say you win..but i am fairly new to the game im certainly to vet.


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