Lets play with proxies!

With the sheer volume of bodies needed for a proper guard army (the basic platoon for 130 points is 25 guys) you're gonna need to build up those spares and those extra bodies that can be added in as your list changes.

For the thrifty player in most of us, during the interim this means proxies;

Being a Mreen player for almost a year, I found that you can make a sufficient army with a small number of troops and vehicles, and a small amount of magnetised weapons. Adding extra (and debatable-y unnecessary) bodies to squads means just rounding up to 10, so normally you can make do with generic Tactical Marines.

For Guard you quickly see that a lot of the optional extra's simply means bodies. Both on the field and when you want to convert models to others. Platoon and Command squad bodyguards, Whiteshields, Salamanders, Griffins, Manticores, Sabre platforms, all with additional crew.

Whilst the other horde armies may struggle putting proxies down (Orks may get some looted imperial vehicles and tyranids could maybe proxy some Chaos spawn), Imperial Guard can pull at least one model or models from at least four different Armies; Chaos, Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Space Marines.

For the moment, having a Traitor force means that I can pull in some old friends that I've never really got around to finishing. Dark Vengeance friends!

These lovely chaps (as said before) are just the prettiest mini's I've painted, the detail is crazy.

These Autogun cultists look ok too; (Second squad I've ever painted mind)

Both groups of Cultists have been used as Penal troops, as bodyguards, as fodder basically.

The theme that best fits with the rest of the army is probably as Penal Legionnaires, I could imagine the militaristic Son's of Sek pressing the local cult into their army, similar to how the Ghosts encountered forces on Ancreon Sextus that were a rather more eclectic mix of abhuman types, rather than the big boys in yellow. Push em forwards and get them shot apart.

The Penal Legion random pre-deployment rolls also mean that if I'm not fielding both I can pick which load out best suits, Knife Fighters is a doozy for tar-pitting the big guys I normally face, and while I'm yet to rend much, it'll be a nice day when I do.

Unfortunately, I don't own enough true Imperial Guard troops and vehicles to make a decent 2000 point army without the Baneblade or every upgrade under the sun, so I figured I'd trial a Guardsmen blob and see how it works with a Priest bedded inside it.

But more evil, probably

Not bad at all, a 10-man squad with a Priest with Eviscerator managed to suicide/delay a 6 man Necron Wraith squad for a good three phases, in large part aided by a Primaris Psyker with the Biomancy power; Endurance. Plenty of Feel No Pain luck saved having the Wraiths from rampaging through my lines.

One of my next challenges is getting some crew added to the Salamander tank and possibly adding some more Heavy Weapon squads, and for both I've found the resource that I need more than anything with the Guard;

We're gonna need more Legs!

For the moment,am working on getting the Heavy Weapon Teams right;