Imperial Guard Assault Squads

45 Points

Assault squads excel at close-quarter fighting. Equipped with jump packs and armed with bolt pistols and close combat weapons, they scream across the battlefield, charging into the foe with little heed for personal danger. An Imperial Guardsman is commonly assigned to an Assault squad after exemplary as a drop trooper. By this time he has garnered battle experience amidst the fires of war and can be counted on to hold his ground before the foe. Now he must temper himself in the most brutal arena of war, and prove his worth in the melee of close combat, eye to eye with the foe and close enough to smell his blood.

The Codex Exercitus dictates that Assault squads should be unleashed in the first wave of an attack, to strike hard and fast at weak points in the foe's formation. Opposing infantry are shredded with close combat weapons and bolt pistols, enemy tanks with krak grenades and melta-bombs. Such is the way of the Imperial Guard - to deliver an irresistible and overwhelming blow to a single point, to crush the enemy without mercy before moving on to the next target. Such tactics are far from subtle but effective nonetheless - a foe who perceives this to be the extent of an Assault squads' capability is woefully mistaken.

The jump pack is easily as dangerous as any weapon the Assault Guardsman carries. With a jump pack comes mobility, allowing the Assault squad to traverse all manner of terrain swiftly and without hindrance, or even perform controlled low-altitude descents from Valkyrie Gunships. So it is that the Assault squad can be a weapon of subtlety in the hands of a capable commander. It can dive without warning on an enemy warlord who believes himself secure amongst his own lines, operate as a highly mobile counterpunch unit or perform vital reconnaissance in warzones unsuitable for the deployment of other troops. In certain circumstances, Assault squads are even used as bait, luring an unwary enemy force onto a prepared defensive position, or redirecting them away to buy time for further preparation or evacuation.

Assault squads draw the bloodiest, and most dangerous of all battle assignments. Often operating far ahead of the rest of the army, Assault Guardsman are in constant danger of being outflanked, cut off, or simply overwhelmed by the enemy. To guard against this, the commanding sergeant of an Assault squad has a direct uplink to myriads of DataStream and tactical overlays - the command and control relays through which the Imperial Guard coordinate their deployments and battles. Even if he is knee deep in corpses and fighting for his life, an Assault squad sergeant must be aware not only of his current situation, but also any imminent or potential developments that will leave his squad stranded and beset in a sea of bloodthirsty foes. Should this occur, only fighting spirit and iron resolve will allow the Assault Guardsmen to hack their way clear of the foe and claim victory.

Unit Composition:

• 4 Imperial Guardsmen

• 1 Sergeant

Unit Type:

• Jump infantry

Wargear:

• Flak Armor

• Close Combat Weapon

• Bolt pistol

• Frag grenades

• Jump pack

Special Rules:

• Combined Squad

Options:

• May include up to five additional Assault Guardsmen: +8 pts per model

• Equip the entire squad with Krak grenades: +5 pts

• For every five models in the squad one Guardsman may replace his bolt pistol with one of the following:

  • a flamer +5 pts

  • a plasma pistol +10 pts

• The Assault Squad Sergeant may replace his bolt pistol and/or close combat weapon with:

  • a plasma pistol +10 pts

  • a power weapon + 10 pts

  • a power fist +15 pts

• The Assault Squad Sergeant may take:

  • melta bombs +5 pts

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