Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Imperial Guard (section)

====Units====

=====HQ=====
*'''Death Korps Marshal:''' The equivalent of a Company Commander doesn't come stock with a chainsword (but can take one for free, so he might as well) or shotgun, but he does come with a Krak Grenade and a higher armor save. Additionally, the Momento Mori he can buy forces all weapons that normally roll for damage to treat the roll as a 1, giving him a bit more staying power than normal.
**'''Marshal Karis Venner:''' Your named Character for the Death Korps, he comes with a hot-shot laspistol, powersword, and Momento Mori. He can issue three Orders per turn and lets friendly units within 12" to use his Ld value unless their own Ld is higher. With that Ld aura, you can combine Venner with a platoon and regimental standard for an '''Ld 11''' bubble 12"+ in diameter (depending on what size base you put him on). Basically gives your guys fearless. A little something to remember: RAW states that '''all''' friendly units can use Venner's Ld,'''(within 12")''' which means that all units in your army use his. That's right. Terminators with Ld 11? Yes, please.
***If you really want to be cheesy, get him to sit on an Imperial Defence Line for another +1 to his Leadership. This will result in units that need to take at least 7 casualties (and, if they're Death Korps, those loses can't be in the Shooting Phase) to even have a chance of losing models to Morale and, even after taking 9 casualties, will still have a 50% chance of the remaining model holding the line. Finally, if you use the Fight to the Death stratagem, they '''become immune to Morale completely'''. And remember, this applies to all friendly units. Have fun with those Leadership 12 Space Marines.
*'''Death Korps Field Officer:''' The Platoon Commander equivalent, though he shares the improved armor save with the Marshal and comes with a Marshal's Ld score as well. At 23 points base, possibly the cheapest HQ choice in the game (other regiments have to spend a precious Elite slot on their version of this guy).
*'''Death Korps Death Rider Squadron Commander:''' A Field Officer on a horse, with a boost to Toughness and Wounds to go with it. Having the same Augmented Mount ability as other Death Riders helps to increase his durability, and for obvious reasons he's the best choice for getting Orders to your cavalry.

=====Troops=====
*'''Death Korps Infantry Squad:''' An odd change to basic Guardsmen, Kriegers lose the option to take Heavy Weapon Teams and their Watchmaster uses a lasgun like the regular troops (though he can exchange it for a chainsword and laspistol for free, so it's a non-issue). They also all have WS3+ and can buy a Platoon Standard which buffs all Kriegers within 6" LD by 1. They synergize particularly well with the Death Korps' unique orders - especially when dogpiling on an objective or bubblewrapping precious artillery pieces. Kriegers also come stock with Krak grenades; with the '''GRENADIERS''' stratagem you can throw 10 of them at once (though this tactic is more impressive when used on <s>Grenadiers</s> (no acid grenades for the grenadiers) or Combat Engineers' acid grenades). 
**Oddly enough the Watchmaster also has BS3+.(not so odd when you remember that all watchmasters serve in the grenadiers before returning to be promoted.) 
*'''Death Korps Grenadier Storm Squad:''' A Tempestus Scion squad with deep striking replaced by Cult of Sacrifice and no access to hot-shot volley guns. Unlike with Scions the number of Special weapons Grenadiers can take does not depend on the number of models in the unit so they can unfortunately only have two Specials max. Now with the FAQ update they can take Heavy Stubbers as special weapons, as well as the ability to form a Heavy Weapons team to tote around a Heavy Flamer.
**Not as good as Combat Engineers in terms of points per wound, but they can get Objective Secured which is probably worth their extra points cost and loss of acid gas grenades.  Fundamentally fantastic MSU style, with a heavy flamer, 2 special weapons (probably plasma, maybe melta), and a Watch Master taking up 4 spots in a transport and costing very little points.  Shove three squads in a Valkyrie and drop them onto an objective.
*** OR, if you don't want to spend the points on a Valkyrie, chuck these mean machines in a centaur. They are suprisingly mobile, thanks to the 9" scouting move you can do before the game starts. And a bare-bones centaur is only 50 points!
**Hot-shot laspistols are nice, but your other options are better and two of them cost the same, so ''always'' have the Watch Master swap out his weapon - your best bet is probably a hotshot lasgun or bolter (the las has shorter range, but will outperform the bolter unless your target has an invuln save that's equal to their armor, or only one point worse than armor in the case of T6/7), unless you want to fucking commit and get a plasma pistol.

=====Elites=====
*'''Death Korps Command Squad:''' No heavy flamer, medi-pack, or heavy weapons teams in this command squad, but what you do get is the ability to use the Regimental Standard. It only affects Cavalry and Infantry, but grants an additional attack on top of the Ld bonus, making your troops more effective in close combat.
**These guys are surprisingly underwhelming compared to Combat Engineers, since you pay the same cost per model and don't get a 4+ save or acid gas bombs; furthermore, they obey the same 2 special weapons per unit limit as the Engineers.  Even if you do spam them, you're not going to achieve anything you couldn't achieve only better with Combat Engineer spam, since their standard won't work on Conscripts, they're too slow to keep up with Death Riders, they can't be Medics.... really, there's just about never a good reason to field these guys over Combat Engineers.
*'''Death Korps Combat Engineer Squad:''' Shotgun infantry with decent armour. Overall not super inspiring until you see their shotguns have Carcass Shot, which wounds anything (except Vehicles) on a 2+. Carnifex? 2+ Wound. Ogryns? 2+ Wound. You lose the model if you roll a 1 on the hit roll. BUT buff them with a nearby <s>Guilliman (gross, or don't and have some class. You are a Guard player after all, not a WAAC Tau reject left over from 7th)</s> Yarrik and say hello to rerolls of 1 to hit. Carcass Shot vs GEQs, MEQs and TEQs is basically a Plasma Gun with AP 0.
**These guys are ''incredible'' - they cost a point ''less'' than Grenadiers for what amounts to the same model with the addition of an acid gas grenade, although they are Elites and hence cannot get Objective Secured.  You can keep their shotguns, which, unlike hot-shot lasguns, are worth spending a point on, or swap out for special weapons to demonstrate superiority over Grenadiers - 2 plasma gunners, a boltgun on the sergeant, and a heavy flamer team will get you the same output as a Grenadier squad with the same loadout, except your guys also have acid gas grenades and cost ''less''.  The plasma gunners can carry meltaguns instead, of course, and either way can be stuffed in a Valkyrie and dropped in sets of 3 squads directly into your enemy's lap.
**A bit of MathHammer shows the following averages: 864pts of Combat Engineers will put out 216 shots, hitting on 3s and wounding GEQs, MEQs and TEQs on 2+ with a 5+/3+/2+ save respectively and 2 wounds, killing 640pts/160 models of GEQs, 1040pts/80 models of MEQs and 960pts/20 models of TEQs; while losing 288pts/36 Engineers in return. Thus, ignoring other factors the kills to deaths ratio will always be in your favour by a factor of 585:1300, 360:1300 or 390:1300 respectively and Carcass Shot is most productive when used on MEQs.
*'''Death Korps Commissar:''' A basic Commissar. Given all the buffs to Ld you can get with the Death Korps along with their Cult of Sacrifice rule, you can skip him. The models are pretty nice though.
** As of April 2018, the cost of a Death Korps Commissar has gone down to 15 points, from 30. This makes their base cost the exact same as a normal Commissar as other regiments would take, but with krak grenades, cult of sacrifice, and of course the aura of discipline normally reserved for Lord Commissars. They’ve become a pretty handy Ld buffer for melee.
**Despite what would be common sense, taking 2 Pistols does not let him [[Blam]] twice as many units.
*'''Death Korps Death Rider Commissar:''' See above, but with a horse. Forge World doesn't seem to make these models anymore so you'll have to kitbash them.
**While the Death Korps Commissar and the other Forge World Commissars were FAQed to have the new Summary Execution Rule, the Death Rider Commissar was overlooked. While this is an obvious RAW interpretation, [[That_guy|the Death Rider Commissar therefore still only allows a maximum of 1 model to be lost to morale.]]
** Same as the foot-slogging Death Korps Commissar, this Commissar got a point reduction to 35 points. They’ve become useful, if not viable, as your Death Riders will be getting stuck into melee.
**Note: both Death Korps Commissars have the {{W40Kkeyword|Officio Prefectus}} and {{W40Kkeyword|Commissar}} keywords, and a Summary Execution rule that targets {{W40Kkeyword|Astra Militarum}} units, meaning they can be taken in non-Death Korps armies without denying those armies their regiment rules, and can still proc a Psyker's "it's for your own good" rule. However their aura of discipline is Krieg specific so they won't be giving other regiments or auxiliaries ld8. Due to the amount of equipment options Death Korps Commissars have over regular ones (hotshots, dual wielding pistols, carrying grenades that are worth using, and of course being able to mount up) there's a decent argument to be made for taking one of them over a standard Commissar in a non-Krieg army, and absolutely no argument to take a regular codex Commissar in a Krieg army.
*'''Death Korps Quartermaster Cadre:''' This is where the Command Squad's Medi-pack went. One creepy guy and up to 4 servitors wielding scalpels that wound non-vehicles on a 2+ and get buffed to WS/BS 4+ and Ld 9 as long as they stay close to him. They also grant nearby Infantry and Cavalry the ability to ignore an unsaved wound on a 6+, making it mutually beneficial for them to stay close to a big squad of infantry. 
*'''Death Korps Death Rider Command Squad:''' A must-have for any list focusing on Death Riders. Taking this squad along allows them and up to 5 other Death Rider units to deploy via outflanking at the end of any movement phase. Use in combination with the Death Rider officer, above, and a few squads of Death Riders, below, to outflank an entire detachment! Aside from this they're the same as an understrength Death Rider Squad, as they lost the ability to take a Standard.
**As of the current FAQ, you may only bring one Command Squad or a Rider Command Squad per Death Korps officer, but any type of officer will do.

=====Dedicated Transport=====
*'''Death Korps Storm Chimera:''' The Krieger approach to warfare is obvious in this armored vehicle's loadout. It gets an autocannon as its turret gun and the option to buy improved armor, which gives it a 2+ save vs weapons of S4 or less and lets it ignore the effects of land mines on a 4+. It's a price hike on the standard Chimera, but it's worth it.  Note that it doesn't necessarily have to be used with Death Korps; although it has the {{W40Kkeyword|Death Korps OF Krieg}} keyword instead of {{W40Kkeyword|<REGIMENT>}}, it specifically says it transports {{W40Kkeyword|Astra Militarum Infantry}}, and even mentions it can take Ogryn, so RAW, it's legal to use these to transport regular guardsmen, or even storm troopers.
*'''Death Korps Centaur Light Assault Carrier:''' Hoo-boy. This little bugger is magnificent. Sure, it's not as tough or as shooty as a Storm Chimera, but if you pop 5 grenadiers with some meltas or flamers, or 4 (how are you getting a squad of 4 grenadiers? Min is 5(ruled as written, a Grenadier Weapons Team doesn't take up two slots in the vehicles. Only Heavy Weapons Teams are mentioned.)) with heavy flamer/melta or flamer/melta or flamer/sergeant and, optionally, a fifth rider of your choice, such as an Astropath or Primaris Psyker for Smite, you can send this off towards the enemy up to 9" before the game even starts. Imagine your opponent's face when they see this little bundle of hurt rolling towards them. They can ignore it, and have some grenadiers kick them in the arse, or shoot it and ignore the vast majority of your army.
**Pretty cheap, at 54 points, and 6 wounds in it's still Movement 12, unlike a Chimera, which has dropped to 8 by then.  Plus, like the DKSC above, this transport carries any Imperial Guard infantry, not just {{W40Kkeyword|<REGIMENT>}} ones.

=====Fast Attack=====
*'''Death Korps Death Rider Squadron:''' A big step up from the basic Rough Riders.  +1 to WS, T, A, and Sv, although the +1A evens out in the wash when you don't charge, as you lack chainswords; regardless, you're ''much'' less likely to die before you reach your target, particularly since the Augmented Mount special rule gives you 5+ FNP against S4 weapons and below. Your steed gets 2 extra attacks instead of one and hits as hard as a bolter; this is particularly noticeable when not charging, giving you 4 attacks to a normal Rough Rider's 3, and 2 of those are at +1S. While you don't get a chainsword, you ''do'' get krak grenades, which will benefit one model in the unit. While you cannot outflank with this unit (unless you take the Death Rider Command Squad), it is not slowed when charging through terrain, making it easier to attack cover campers. With no access to special weapons, they're much better suited as frontline brawlers - with access to orders, they can be just mean with Fix Bayonets! and Duty Unto Death! (although Fix Bayonets is better in basically all circumstances).  Like with most DKoK, they have Cult of Sacrifice as a morale buff.
**The fact that Death Riders trade their Chainsword for +1 Attacks is a bonus, because they can hit twice with their lance on the charge, instead of the one lance and one chainsword hit that standard Riders get.
**Use Duty Until Death when you charge, because that's the only order you will get use out of by doing so. If your opponent decides he doesn't want to get slowly pounded down by hard to kill horsies, use Fix Bayonets! to make him understand that melee guardsmen just work.
**Rough Riders cost 10 points apiece, compared to the DKoK Death Rider cost of 16, which pays for itself in the improved attack volume alone, let alone their many other improvements, like ability to obey orders; their only substantive downside is their inability to take special weapons.  Even their sergeant is buffed, as he drops his lance to buy a melee weapon if you want to change his melee up, as opposed to stock, which is forced to carry both a lance and a power weapon if you want that. Consider said swap, as a power axe brings the sergeant pretty close to the lance, but usable in the event you get stuck in. Fix Bayonets!, and you're possibly hitting 6 times with that axe in one turn. Ouch.

=====Heavy Support=====
*'''Death Korps Heavy Weapons Squad:''' Other than the higher WS, Krak Grenades, and Cult of Sacrifice, they're identical to the vanilla HWS - with the additional option to take heavy flamers. You might need to bring a couple along anyway though since you can't take heavy weapons in your regular infantry squads.
**Heavy Flamer teams are drastically the most cost effective way to get heavy flamers into your army, so much so that they are actually competitive with flamers (which does not usually happen, due to a heavy flamer costing more than two flamers).  This gives them a radically dofferent role from what HWSs are used to, but they can be very effective when carried in a Valkyrie.
**Heavy Bolters and Twin Heavy Stubbers may compete with each other, as they both cost 8 points each, and are both direct-fire anti-infantry options. Against TEQs (T4 2+), Heavy Bolters win (0.9801 wounds on average vs 0.765 wounds on average). Against MEQs (T4 3+), either option is viable (1.485 wounds on average). Against GEQs (T3 5+), Twin Heavy Stubbers are better (3.9204 wounds on average vs 2.4948 wounds on average). Ultimately, Heavy Bolters are better against enemies with better saves, and Twin Heavy Stubbers are better against enemies with worse saves. The models for either weapon choice are very nice, so you can't lose there. 
**A full squad of mortars actually costs 3 pts ''less'' than it does in the AM Codex, although sadly they don't really benefit from Krieg's doctrines 
*'''Death Korps Leman Russ Mars Alpha Battle Tanks:''' Your favorite battle tank, customizable into any configuration of Russ as you see fit (though the Vanquisher Cannon comes with a heavy stubber instead of a storm bolter as its coaxial weapon), but now with the ability to trade the stock hull-mounted heavy bolter for a multi-melta or a plasma cannon. As an added bonus, its armour save becomes a 2+ against weapons of S4 or lower, so bolter shots won't even faze you. Aside from these things, they're exactly the same as the variants up top.