Field Ordnance Battery

It is more of a surprise that it took GeeDubs this long to give the Guard - an army of artillery - an actual field artillery for once.

"A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets."

– William Tecumseh Sherman

A new addition for the Imperial Guard of November 2022. The Field Ordnance Batteries are a series/family of towed artillery pieces used by the Guard as a 'step up' from the Heavy Weapons Squad. The folks over at Imperium Nihilus are given The Field Ordnance Battery & You handbook on how to operate these things in a simple and rudimentary format.

Overview

Basically the Imperial Guard's equivalent of the Eldar Support Weapon Battery and the Ork Gunz. Field Ordnance Batteries are large man-portable Astra Militarum wheeled artillery pieces, that is usually either towed by a logistics vehicles such as a Centaur Utility Vehicle, Cargo-8 Ridgehauler or a Trojan Support Vehicle. However, if no such vehicles are available or if the commanding officer is a lazy fuckwit, then the poor sods would have to tow it by hand.

As field artillery pieces, they are equipped with either large-bore cannons such as a Bombast Field Gun, multi-missile launcher such as the Malleus Rocket Launcher, or heavily overcharged Heavy Lascannon. By function, the Bombast act as sort of a mini-Earthshaker Cannon as it lobs shells at foes from behind cover; whilst this may interfere with the role that Light Mortars bring, the Bombast has a higher penetration and more suited for light vehicles and MEQs. Likewise in the direct opposite of the Bombast, we have the Heavy Lascannon which is a supped-up version of the regular Lascannon believe it or not; punching holes in big armour such as tanks or TEQs. When it comes to horde clearing, the Malleus Rocket Launcher basically acts as a mini-MLRS; shredding alien hordes in large swathes of fragmentary rockets.

All in all, the Field Ordnance Batteries offer a good middle line between the Heavy Weapons Squad and full-on tanks. If anything, it is the largest calibre weapon the Guard can use before jumping into tank gun category.

Crunch

The crunch basically follows quite close to the fluff. Each unit is composed of two (and only two) T4 6W Sv4+ models, and they lack the Core (which is a shame) and the Infantry keyword (which isnt). The former locks you out of some +1S from Creed or full re-rolls from the Lord Solar, but the latter lets you move and fire heavy weapons without penalty. You can still order them around and bounce said order to other Platoon units nearby. What holds them back is that though their statline isn't bad per se, most armies can reliably chew through their Save and Toughness; their staying power comes from the fact each model is 6W, but since you're capped at two, you're pushed to buy more take multiple units.

Let's start with the Bombast Field Gun, the middle child of the family. The Bombast is a 48" ranged Type Heavy D6, S7, AP-2, D2 weapon. It has the Blast ability and can target units not visible to the bearer. It is a decent light artillery weapon and its good strength and damage makes it a good Space Marine or MEQ popper. Being AP-2, you can fire it indirectly and still have enough AP to cancel out both cover and the indirect fire penalty, but why take Bombasts when you can just get an actual Basilisk instead?

For a more anti-tank punch, the Heavy Lascannon will fill your needs. Same range as the rest of its family, but it is a Heavy 2 weapon that is S10, AP-4, D3+3. Fielding two of these things can ruin the day of any main battle tank or TEQ, being essentially long-range Multi-Meltas with better S. Expect them to get focused down.

Last but not least, we have the horde cleanser. The Malleus Rocket Launcher is a Heavy D6+6 MLRS that is S6, AP-1, D1 with the Blast ability. Great against GEQs to no one's surprise and it also has the Blast ability.

All in all, a Field Ordnance Battery consists of a squad of two of these artillery pieces. GW being GW, you only get to have two in each squad. If you want to go all out in clearing tarpits, you can have three units armed with the Malleus Rocket Launcher. If you want to go tank hunting, the Heavy Lascannon would offer a bang for your buck. If you want something that can act as support artillery for your mainline SPGs or MLRS, than the Bombast Field Gun is a great choice for targeting any stragglers trying to flank your vulnerable mainline artillery assets.