Grimdark Future/Tactics/Feudal Guard

Why play Feudal Guard?

The Feudal Guard is a more elite variation of the HDF. While your army still persists of a large mass of bodies, your forces aren't as prone as folding to a stiff breeze.

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Pros

• Lots of Activations
• Some heroes can actually interact with your troops
• Your force is entirely Fearless
• Cheap AP 1 on your entire army's melee
• Tougher vehicles

Cons

• Your troops are not very sturdy. Not HDF flimsy, but still
• Your troops aren't all that good with their guns
• Poor psychic options
• Limited vehicle options

Special Rules

• Bird of Prey: You get a free shooting attack each turn. Upon activation, an enemy model within 36" must roll a d6, taking 2 AP 1 hits on a 4+. Really, this just gives you some light sniping, nothing more.

• Commander: When this model is activated, you can pick one of four boosts (+3" range on guns, +1 to shooting or punching, or +1 AP on guns). This gives you a lot of ways to improve your forces, though you'll need to make sure that you pick the right one each turn.

• Company Standard: Grants Fear and Fearless. This gives you quite a bit for a close-quarters squad with no drawbacks at range.

• Field Radio: If the unit contains a hero with the Commander rule, you can instead give its benefits to another unit with a Field Radio within 24". You NEED to get one of these if you intend to do more back-seat slave-driving.

• Purity Scroll: This unit can block psychic powers as if they were psychic.

• Tactical Console: Upon activation, you can select a friendly unit within 12", allowing the unit to immediately move 6". This is helpful for making your forces more mobile.

Psychic Spells

• Foresight(4+): Friendly unit within 12" takes +1 to hit with shooting. With how limited your shooting can get, you'll be needing every shot to count.
• Flame Breath (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
• Protective Dome (5+): An friendly unit within 12" gains regeneration when they next get hit.
• Expel (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes a single AP 4 Deadly 3 hit. Pretty much all you can ask for when sniping a hero or heavy weapon.
• Psychic Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button or possibly an easier charge.
• Tempest (6+): Enemy unit within 6" take a hit per model, making this hell for mobs of grunts.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Feudal General: The general is actually capable of combat with a 3+ quality. This guy has limited access to weapons, but standing out is access to both an energy lance and a feudal steed. The difference compared to the HDF commander is the lack of any unit synergy stock. You also get the option between a Purity Scroll, Bird of Prey, Psychic 1, a Tactical Console or Commander. It should be noted that those last two options are quite expensive which flies in the face of cheap heroes.

• Elite Champion: Take your feudal general and swap their quality and defense while also granting both the pistol and rifle have AP 1. Aside from this, they do have all the options available to the general with the exception of the steed and energy lance. This would make them slightly better at tanking blows, offsetting the lower quality with the AP.

Infantry

• Feudal Guardsmen: The humble frontliner. While not so cheap as the HDF, you get the 4+ defense save. Alongside the melee weapons given to the heroes, you also have access to a special weapon, giving you a measure of flexibility, as well as your choice of either a Standard, Field Radio, or Regeneration. Unique to this unit is the ability to actually FIX BAYONETS and add AP 1 to melee.
  • Weapon Teams: Alongside the standard guardsmen is a pack of heavy weapons. Available as a squad or as a lone attachment to an feudal guardsmen/elites squad, these are essentially Tough 3 soldiers toting a single heavy weapon (Heavy machine gun, missile launcher, mortar, autocannon, laser cannon or the army-exclusive burrowing torpedo). Each of these are quite impressive with range, so it's better to keep them as far away as possible. This is especially true of an attached weapon, as you'll be vulnerable to Deadly and Sniper.

• Feudal Specialists: Your soldiers can now grab whatever special weapons they want! At the cost of anything else. If you grab them, it's because you really need a certain weapon badly enough that one just won't cut it. Also helping matters is the fact that they have Relentless, making their dedication clearer.

• Feudal Engineers: Your guardsmen all have shotguns, assault rifles with halved range and two attacks. Combined with Scout, this means that they must reach close range as quickly as possible. Your only option for weapons is a heavy weapons model with a burrowing torpedo. This gives you a slightly longer range weapon that has a very large Blast 6 and AP 1, though Indirect makes moving a difficult idea.

• Feudal Elites: Your elite troops. Each of them comes with a 4+ quality and 3+ defense. Their base rifles and pistols also get AP 1, so they can take on infantry. Like the veterans, you can buy up to two special weapons, and while they can take the guns most soldiers can, they can also grab the heavy volley rifle - a 24" A3 AP 1 gun to give you some more attacks. Like the regulars, they can also grab a Standard, Field Radio or Regeneration.

• Feudal Cavalry: Your troops are now Fast and have Impact 1 in order to give some better charges. They are incredibly melee-centric, with their only options being either buying energy lances (for more Impact value) or energy swords (for Rending)

• Feudal Snipers: Whatever you do, DON'T LET THEM STOP SNIPING. These guys were actually even worse than conscripts outside of sniping. Make use of their Scout and Stealth rules and move to the best position possible.

• Feudal Ogres: Big beefy walls of meat with Fearless, Furious and Tough 3 to soak up blows. Their SMGs are short-ranged, though you can grab grenade launchers for free if you feel so inclined. If you're dedicating to melee, then grab heavy batons. You can also grabs shields, be it the free light shields, which add +1 to defense in melee, or the heavy shields for a full-on 3+ save.

Vehicles

• Heavy APC: Unlike most armies, your tanks come with at least Tough 9. This particular transport has no frills about being anything but an assault transport, as you can buy missiles on top of the heavy flamethrowers it comes with. Those flamethrowers can then be swapped out with heavy or laser machine guns or you could get one as an autocannon or twinned heavy machine gun.

• Heavy Support Vehicle: This tank has anti-air cannons. Their range is impressive and you have two AP 2 weapons tailor-made to sink planes. However, not all armies take planes. In those instances, you can instead buy one of a variety of different artillery options, each with some flavor of Blast and saddled with Indirect.

• Heavy Battle Tank: Finally, something with more meat. Toting Tough 15 and a nova cannon to flatten mobs, this is a tank worth the combat potential. This cannon can also be replaced with a broad variety of weapons. On top of that and the auxiliary heavy flamethrower, you can also buy a matching pair of guns for additional pain (heavy flamethrowers, heavy machine guns, plasma cannons or heavy fusion cannons).

• Heavy Walker: Unlike the HDF's light walker, this walker can actually hold its own in combat. By default it has two impressive heavy swords, each with AP 2, but you could instead buy a variety of heavy guns, a chainsaw, or a shield so you could bring something as tough as a battle tank.

Army Building

Tactics

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Pros

• Some heroes can actually interact with your troops
• Your force is entirely Fearless
• Cheap AP 1 on your entire army's melee

Cons

• Your troops are not very sturdy. Not HDF flimsy, but still
• Your troops aren't all that good with their guns
• Poor psychic options

Special Rules

• Bird of Prey: You get a free shooting attack each turn. Upon activation, an enemy model within 36" must roll a d6, taking 2 AP 1 hits on a 4+. Really, this just gives you some light sniping, nothing more.

• Commander: When this model is activated, you can pick one of four boosts (+3" range on guns, +1 to shooting or punching, or +1 AP on guns). This gives you a lot of ways to improve your forces, though you'll need to make sure that you pick the right one each turn.

• Company Standard: Grants Fear and Fearless. This gives you quite a bit for a close-quarters squad with no drawbacks at range.

• Field Radio: If the unit is near a hero with the Commander rule, you can instead give its benefits to another unit with a Field Radio within 24". You NEED to get one of these if you intend to do more back-seat slave-driving.

• Medical Training: Models within 12" of this unit get Regeneration when they get hit.

• Purity Scroll: This unit can block psychic powers as if they were psychic.

• Tactical Console: Upon activation, you can select a friendly unit within 12", allowing the unit to immediately move 6". This is helpful for making your forces more mobile.

Psychic Spells

• Foresight(4+): Friendly unit within 12" takes +1 to hit with shooting. With how limited your shooting can get, you'll be needing every shot to count.
• Flame Breath (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
• Protective Dome (5+): A friendly unit within 12" gains regeneration when they next get hit.
• Expel (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes a single AP 4 Deadly 3 hit. Pretty much all you can ask for when sniping a hero or heavy weapon.
• Psychic Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button or possibly an easier charge.
• Tempest (6+): Enemy unit within 6" take a hit per model, making this hell for mobs of grunts.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Feudal General: The general is actually capable of combat with a 3+ quality. This guy has limited access to weapons, but standing out is access to both an energy lance and a feudal steed. The difference compared to the HDF commander is the lack of any unit synergy stock. You also get the option between a Purity Scroll, Bird of Prey, Psychic 1, a Tactical Console or Commander. It should be noted that those last two options are quite expensive which flies in the face of cheap heroes.

• Elite Champion: Take your feudal general and swap their quality and defense while also granting both the pistol and rifle have AP 1. Aside from this, they do have all the options available to the general with the exception of the steed and energy lance. This would make them slightly better at tanking blows, offsetting the lower quality with the AP.

Infantry

• Feudal Guardsman: The humble frontliner. While not so cheap as the HDF (thus meaning you only get one guy), you get the 4+ defense save. Alongside the melee weapons given to the heroes, you also have access to a special weapon, giving you a measure of flexibility, as well as your choice of either a Standard, Field Radio, or Regeneration. Unique to this unit is the ability to actually FIX BAYONETS and add AP 1 to melee.

• Weapon Team: Essentially Tough 3 soldiers toting a single heavy weapon (Heavy machine gun, missile launcher, mortar, autocannon, laser cannon or the army-exclusive burrowing torpedo). Each of these are quite impressive with range, so it's better to keep them as far away as possible.

• Feudal Specialist: Your soldiers can now grab whatever special weapons they want! At the cost of anything else. Also helping matters is the fact that they have Relentless, making their dedication clearer.

• Feudal Engineer: Your guardsman has a shotgun, basically an assault rifle with halved range and two attacks. Combined with Scout, this means that they must reach close range as quickly as possible.

• Feudal Elite: Your elite troop. Each of them comes with a 4+ quality and 3+ defense. They can take the guns most soldiers can, but they can also grab the heavy volley rifle - a 24" A3 AP 1 gun to give you some more attacks. Like the regulars, they can also grab a Standard, Field Radio or Medical Training.

• Feudal Cavalry: Your troops are now Fast and have Impact 1 in order to give some better charges. They are incredibly melee-centric, with their only options being either buying energy lances (for more Impact value) or energy swords (for Rending)

• Feudal Sniper: Whatever you do, DON'T LET THEM STOP SNIPING. These guys were actually even worse than conscripts outside of sniping. Make use of their Scout and Stealth rules and move to the best position possible.

• Feudal Ogre: Big beefy wall of meat with Fearless, Furious and Tough 3 to soak up blows. The SMG is short-ranged, though you can grab grenade launchers for free if you feel so inclined. If you're dedicating to melee, then grab heavy batons. You can also grab shields, be it the free light shield - which adds +1 to defense in melee - or the heavy shields for a full-on 3+ save.

Army Building

Tactics

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Grimdark Future Tactics Articles
General:	General Tactics
Alien Hives:	Alien Hives - Soul-Snatcher Cults
Aliens:	Dwarf Guilds - Eternal Dynasty - Jackals - Orc Marauders Robot Legions - Saurian Starhost - TAO Coalition
Battle Brothers:	Battle Brothers - Custodian Brothers - Prime Brothers
Elves:	Dark Elf Raiders - Elven Jesters - High Elf Fleets
Havoc:	Havoc Brothers - Machine Cult Defilers - Wormhole Daemons
Humans:	Battle Sisters - Feudal Guard - Gangs of Hive City Human Defense Force - Human Inquisition - Infected Colonies Machine Cult - Titan Lords - Rebel Guerillas
Ratmen:	Ratmen Clans - Vile Rattus Cult