Guard vs. Daemons

Have you ever fought Chaos Daemons? I have. Twice. One game I won, and the other I lost. Tremendously! But even in just two games, there are some things that I learned. Follow these and they'll help you beat the All-Deep-Striking army of Chaos!

Tip 1.) Do NOT use Combined Squads:
In the second game, I combined 30 guardsmen into one squad, thinking that it would help me kill the Greater Daemon, the Bloodthirster, in hand to hand. It didn't. All it did was allow him to sweeping advance over 200 points of guardsmen in 3 rounds of Assault (which is more than I expected, but it could have been sooner).

Tip 2.) Use Allied Grey Knight Terminators, NOT normal GK:
I used a squad of normal Grey Knights, and, needless to say, they were overwhelmed pretty quickly. A -1 to Daemon's leadership value does little to help you, and even if the GK deep strike, their incinerator won't be enough to kill enough daemons. I hit 6. Killed 1. then I was overwhelmed by 20 Hellblade attacks before I could retaliate. Grey Knights are NOT skilled in close combat against such units as Daemon Princes, because the Daemon Prince ignores their power armour, and GK get no invulnerable save.

I have used both termies and GK, and I will vouch for the termies every time. They get more attacks, they get a better save, AND an invulnerable save to fend off those hellblade attacks, and they can also deep strike just like fast attack GK.

Drop the termies next to something nasty like a horde of Bloodletters, or a Greater Daemon, then light them up with storm bolters and psycannons. You will be charged, unless of course you face Pink Horrors. When you are charged, you will often still overwhelm your enemy with superior skill and S6 attacks.

Tip 3.) There are Certain vehicles that you DO NOT use:
First off, do not use chimera's. There's no need for them, and they will just get destroyed. I do recommend, however, the Leman Russ Exterminator, as nothing can penetrate Deamon invulnerable saves anyway, so why not pump them full of lead? Give it as many heavy bolters and stubbers as you can. Hydra flak tanks will also work. Take cheap things over expensive things - you want to outnumber the daemons.

Sentinels are also mostly useless. They get destroyed very quickly. A Valkyrie, however, or a hellhound held in reserve until you need it, will work wonders! Put as many wounds on them as possible!

Tip 4.) Wounds! Buckets and Buckets of Wounds!:
As I said above, your goal here is to wound the damn beasts as many times as possible, not to try to beat their armour (because...you can't!). But to inflict wounds more easily, there are some special tools, and at the top of the list for infantry, is:

The Plasma gun

Believe it or not, this is the best gun available as a special weapon against Daemons, and here's why:
- S7 will wound most of your targets on a 2 or 3 up on a d6, invaluable against such tough targets
- Ap2 will punch through any regualar saves, AND deny any Nurgle daemons their Feel No Pain roll. Tasty!
- Rapid fire. Get close, and just rapid fire the hell out of them! I took down a daemon prince with 2 regular squads of plasma gun armed guardsmen. 4 shots took 2 wounds off in one round.

Orders:

What are the best orders to use? There are really only four, but three if you're playing Annihilation.

First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire:
Or as I call it - Fire in ranks! - is invaluable as a "bucket of wounds" dealer. This order, as you know, turns 10 lasguns into 20 shots, or at close range, 30 shots. Now I know you have to take into consideration the sergeant's pistol and the special weapon, but that's still a lot of shots. This order is perfect for combating an all invulnerable save army.

Take it Down:
the Daemons army list has several monstrous creatures, and even one very nasty vehicle. Twin linking your weapons, especially heavy weapons like heavy bolters and autocannons, can win you a shooting phase. I'd use it on veteran squads armed with all plasma guns to wipe out Daemon Princes.

Fire on my Target:
Daemons have poor saves, and a Daemon player knows this. This is why a Daemon player will often DS his daemons behind cover, and then move into it in order to close the gap with your guardsmen. Deny him this advantage. Utterly snatch it from him. Issue this order on a line of heavy bolters and laugh as your opponent fails his cover saves, too!

Run! Run! Run!:
This is only useful if you're trying to get to an objective before the enemy has Deep Struck. If you're attempting to take objectives rather than kill your foe, this order can help you get there faster.

Take the first turn!

If you get the first turn, and the Daemon player fails his "Seize the Initiative" test, then take it! Do not let the Daemon player go first! Why? Because if you go first, you get a chance to move your units forward before he is even on the table! Get those objectives, reposition your men into locations you couldn't reach during deployment.

Well, that's all. My friend's daemon army is expanding, and as I fight him more and more, I'll give you tips on what weapons and units to use against certain types of daemons.