Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Guard/Elysian Drop Troops(8E)

Why Play Elysian Drop Troops

Back in the old days of Flyers being absolute OP, Elysian players would spam Valkyries, Vendettas, and Vultures before their opponents would flip the table, therefore conceding. For those who wanted an actual challenge, they'd rely on a few flyers and the drop troop ability.

Now flyers are no longer the OP monsters they were, instead being virtually as tough as ground vehicles but with their minimum move and pivot requirements still being a major liability. But they are harder to hit I guess, so not all too bad. They can now also be assaulted by anything with the FLY keyword, which is both terrifying and kind of awesome.

In some ways, mostly pertaining to flyers, Elysians got nerfed to shit. However, the Aerial Drop ability can make up for this. In fact, the flyer spam list has now become the less powerful approach, bringing justice to the world. Aerial Drop allows any unit with that rule to, at anytime, appear 9 inches away from enemies. And almost everything in the Elysian list has it. No more risky deepstrike, no more waiting for that reserve roll. Your plasma command squad can land an fuckton of hot fiery rape upon supple TEQ behinds (before getting mashed to bloody chunks, because guard).

However, like most races right now they have lost a lot of their interesting items, such as the long range scanner. Also, some moron thought it'd be clever to not list sniper rifles as a special weapon meaning that you have to use the sniper squad instead arming a command squad with sniper rifles. Lame.

Rules

• Iron Discipline: Iron Discipline allows anything with the appropriate keyword within 6" of the model with this rule to reroll failed morale checks. How handy.
• Aerial Drop: Got reserves? Of course you do, you're playing Elysians. Pick out the guys you want to drop down. Perhaps you want them to annihilate the enemy commander with glorious fire from behind. Perhaps a certain troublesome unit is entrenched and needs a good digging out. Or maybe you want to get down on to a vital objective. You can do all of that, and probably more. And you can do it whenever you want!

Unit Analysis

In addition to those below, you can take:

Officer of the Fleet

Valkyries Tauros Assault Vehicle

Tauros Venator

Vulture Gunship

Tarantula Battery

Cyclops Demolition Vehicle

Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter

Lightning Strike Fighter

Avenger Strike Fighter

Replace <REGIMENT> or <AERONAUTICA IMPERIALIS> with ELYSIAN DROP TROOPS. Anything with ELYSIAN DROP TROOPS also get to Aerial Drop.

HQ

• Elysian Company Commander: Basically a IG company commander but a bit better. Can give two orders and can drop. Iron discipline is pretty sweet. Keep him at your gun line (for the guys who don't drop) or drop him with a plasma command squad for MAXIMUM PAIN (he can order them to reroll 1s to hit). That said, he may be better off close to multiple squads to fully utilise his two orders (single unit can't take more than two orders a turn). Give him a power first for the lulz.

• Elysian Lord Commissar: Well how'd you like that, Elysians have commissars now. He can drop. Good for keep up morale. There you have it.

Elites

• Elysian Special Weapons Squad: 6 models. Drop rule. Breacher Charges. Not too bad, but it's a toss up between these guys and the command squad. As a note, breacher charges are not total garbage (though still not the same as demo charges). On a 4+ inflict D3 damage on a model. D6 against vehicles, building, or monsters. Not too bad.

These guys really shine when you load them up with plasma guns. 6 shots when you deepstrike, that's gunna hurt alot for 51 points. And put an officer nearby for Take Aim so they reroll hits of 1 then unleash the supercharge for Strength 8 Damage 2 pain.

• Drop Sentinels: Can be very very useful, but not really... They can take multi-meltas and deep strike which can be amazing. However they are only BS 4+, which with a one shot weapon is not so reliable. On the bright, aerial drop being far more reliable and 9 being less than 12 means that if they DO hist with mutli-melta, they're taking a vehicle to pound town. 60 points for a model (with multi-melta), same price as a base lord commissar, 10 more than a base drop troop squad. Make of that what you will.

• Elysian Veteran Squad: Like regular guard, now elites. Eh... Hits on 3+. Can take three special weapons. And a heavy flamer. And a heavy weapon. And a Breacher Charge. And shotguns. Basically standard vets but can drop. So better.

• Elysian Sniper Squad: Why they have to set up like heavy weapon teams, I don't know. I guess it's their models... Only option for snipers now, because why not? (Regular guard command squad can take four snipers, just sayin'). On the other hand, two wounds per sniper so not all bad. AND they hit on 3+ unlike the special weapons squad (afterall, why give billy mcdumbshit a sniper if they can't hit more than half the time?).

• Elysian Platoon Commander: Oh lawdy yes. So dropping these guys on their own is retarded, but paired with a squad rocking plasma guns is basically just the best thing ever forever. A bit costly, but they have iron discipline and voice of command. And can drop. Good shit.

• Elysian Command Squad: These guys are pretty great. You have OPTIONS. Support other troops with medi-pack and standard? Hell yeah. But hey, what if the squad that needs you the most is way over theeeere? Drop time. Pretty sweet. But wait there's more! Compare to the special weapons squad. Same slot (elites), greater points cost per model, two less models. Hm, I guess they aren't all that? WRONG, one more special weapon, hitting on 3+. Pair with a platoon commander, arm with plasmas, and watch the enemy hate on them. They'll die, by the Emperor they'll die standing!

Troops

• Elysian Drop Trooper Squad: A squad of guardsmen that can drop anywhere on the table and cost a little bit more. While a single squad of guardsmen isn't much, orders can make them effective. With first rank fire, second rank fire you can deepstrike in and drop 40 shots on someone. But the true use for these guys is field control. Long as you have a squad in reserve you can quickly snatch those objectives. And at 50 points you can take alot of bodies to flood the field.

Fast Attack

• Tauros: Both the assault vehicle and the Venator are solid, though the Venator stands out. For 86 points you have a twin lascannon that doesn't suffer from movement penalties when firing on a vehicle that can move 15 and gets a 5+ invulnerable when it has moved at least 10. Effective, cheap, and potentially devastating.

Dedicated transports

• Valkyrie Sky Talon: It's a shittier Valkyrie. It can transport two sentinels or a tauros. Both of which don't really need that kind of help, but w/e.

Heavy Support

• Elysian Heavy Weapons Team: These guys are your heavy hitters if uses right. Alot of playing Elysians is about calculated strikes. With their special order Move and Fire, you can drop in missile teams or heavy bolter teams with an officer. This makes their weapons count as assault so you can fire at full BS. Mortar teams aren't as useful for deep striking bit with volume of shots they can sit back and hammer fodder from 48 inches while holding a point. Plus they're only 30 points.