8. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Now that we've covered the basics of Imperial Guard strategy, let's go back and apply these steps to an illustrative example. Turn to the two-page spread (pp 28-29) in the Imperial Guard Codex. Keep in mind that much of this criticism is a bit unfair, since the picture is intended more as a means of showing off all the nicely painted toy soldiers, than it is to demonstrate how an Imperial Guard army should be set up. But it remains a useful and readily available example (as I'm assuming that everyone interested in reading about Imperial Guard strategy will have access to the Codex).
1. Concentration of Troops: At first glance, it looks like the infantry is clustered together fairly well. However, a closer examination indicates that the units in the army as a whole are scattered quite widely. The units in the very front lines are at least 24" away from the bunker in the back lines, and although there's a Lieutenant of some sort leading the charge (the fool with the powerfist), there are still a number of units that look rather strikingly remote from any sort of inspiring officer-type. True, the infantry squads in the middle might have Veteran Sergeants, but the heavy weapon squads on the right do not. That's not a good thing.
Solution: re-organize the infantry squads, packing them into Tight Formation and lining them up near the main banker, in the back. That will concentrate the bulk of the army, concentrate their firepower as well, and keep them all comfortably near the Senior Officer and the Company Standard. There appears to be only one visible weapon in the Chaos army (plasmacannon on the Dreadnought) that would pose a problem for Tight Formation, but there looks to be enough cover available to make this a non-issue.
2. Line of Sight: At first glance, this is not a problem. Virtually everything in the Imperial Guard army, it seems, has a good LOS. Or does it? Two things immediately spring to mind. First, there's the question of height (which was already addressed earlier). The Command Squad has an excellent LOS position, but is needlessly exposed as a result. Just as disturbing, however, are the four Leman-variant tanks (and three Sentinels) in the bottom right, which very neatly block LOS from all the heavy weapons in the back lines, to the nastiest Chaos assault units (Demon Prince, Raptors) in the enemy army! There is just no excuse for the vehicles to be in the way like this, certainly not the Russ tanks. The tanks have heavy weapons and range enough to be sitting well back from the enemy, not rushing forward to within Meltagun range...!
Solution: Keep the Russ tanks well back, preferably behind the infantry lines entirely in the back of the army. That would prevent the LOS problem that currently exists. Also, move the Command Squad in the tower, into the heart of the Bunker itself, where they will be well protected and completely out of the enemy LOS. Note that none of the weapons in the Command Squad particularly call for the unit to be so exposed -- it boasts a meltagun, a lasgun, and three laspistols.
3. Close Combat Screens: There are quite a few Infantry Squads on display here; I count eight full squads, two partial squads (that probably have the rest of their members off-camera), and a remnant squad in the bunker. That's a good number of units that can act as forward 'screens' for the rest of the army. But wait! The Infantry Squads without heavy weapons are hanging back, while the Infantry Squads with heavy weapons are closest to the enemy! And furthermore, they're doing so in multiple close layers...! What's wrong with this picture?
Solution: Ideally I'd suggest having heavy weapons in all your squads, but using this particular mix, I'd want the three infantry squads without heavy weapons, plus the remnant squad, to be in the very front lines. And *behind* them I'd put the squads with heavy weapons, which are less expendable to the 'shooty' Imperial Guard. And, of course, I'd make vitally certain that there is at least 3" between each of my squads, measuring front-to-back, and a little bit more between squads measuring side-to-side. The last thing I want or need is to have Chaos units Consolidating merrily from combat to combat in my lines. If I ever assaulted something, I'd make sure that the assaulting units were well forward of the ones that were not (or could not be) assaulting that turn -- as it is, the left flank is completely open to a series of Chaos combat victories, and consolidations into combat.
Happily, it appears that whatever clever Imperial engineer set up the fortifications was trained right, because it looks like the walls and sandbags on the left are all about three inches or so apart. This would make for a very nice defensive position, if for some reason I needed to slow up an assault along that flank for several turns.
4. Hiding Behind Others: Because the photo in the Codex was probably taken with aesthetic considerations in mind , rather than game-play ones, you don't have to look very far to see all the problems here. The most glaring problems are the completely exposed Heavy Weapons teams on the right, and the completely exposed Command Squad in the tower. Secondarily, you have an exposed Command Squad at the front of the Guard assault, which strikes me as silly on several levels, but at least they're doing what they (nominally) seem to be designed for -- assaulting.
Solution: We've already discussed pulling the army back, setting up around the bunker, moving the Command Squad(s) to safer locations, and keeping the Infantry Squads without heavy weapons (including the Remnant squad) in the front to act as the forward screens. The question then becomes, where does one put the Heavy Weapons squads?
My suggestion is to place the Heavy Bolter Fire Support team behind an Infantry Squad screen (with a heavy weapon -- for symmetry we can pick the Heavy Bolter) in the bunker's tower. Although the tower is a relatively exposed position, the combination of the screening units and the cover save, and the fact that they are 'just' Heavy Bolters, will keep them relatively safe over the course of the game. The Missile Launcher Anti-Tank team I would suggest on the roof of the bunker, behind one or two more Infantry Squads (perhaps the two with Missile launchers?) -- a bit more cover than the Heavy Bolters are getting, but still not the primary threat in the army. Finally, the Lascannon Anti-Tank teams I would split up. One inside the bunker with the senior Command Squad, screened by two more Infantry Squads, and the second outside the bunker, probably behind the forward-most wall on the left behind another infantry guard screen (or two).
The other Infantry Squads would probably be set up in the relatively exposed middle, in front of the Bunker approach. This would slow any enemy assault of the bunker -- which I've clearly made the lynchpin of my entire set-up -- and also give me more places to 'hide' other units behind screens. Perhaps the Stormtroopers could be set up behind an infantry screen in the middle.
5. Foes with Speed: It's hard to tell exactly what the Chaos army consists of, because there are only 27 or so models visible in the shot. However, it seems as if they are a foot-slogging Chaos Marine army, with at least one speedy assault unit (the Raptors), and a couple of Big Nasties (the Dreadnought and Demon Prince). The optimal Imperial Guard response in this instance is not to assault with Infantry Squads and Russ tanks...!
Solution: A quick survey of my opponent's forces shows me that it is going to be relatively slow. The fastest unit I see is the Raptors, which have a single-turn assault range of 18" (12" jump + 6" assault), or a 2-turn assault range of 30" (12" jump + 12" jump + 6" assault). If I stay more than 18" away from my opponent's deployment zone, I therefore will have at least one turn worth of shooting at his fastest unit before (and if) it assaults. If I stay more than 30" away from my opponent's deployment zone, I will have at least TWO turns worth of shooting at his fastest unit before (and if) it assaults.
This is yet another reason I suggest pulling back and setting up around the bunker, if possible -- it will give your army extra time to cripple his fastest units, then go after his more slow-moving big nasties in later turns.
6. Cover: There is plenty of it, even a line of walls AND trees in the very back, plus a rather solid-looking bunker. For some foolish reason, the Imperial Guard have decided not to take much advantage of it, and are instead assaulting the forces of Chaos. Clearly, this is an easy solution, right?
Solution: Mostly, yes. The bunker, and the concrete walls on the left, would make good defensive positions. The sandbagged positions further forward might even work in a pinch. However, higher ground on the right has very little cover, unless you decide to set up your infantry in the woods behind the far walls -- which is a bad idea. Set up back there, the units will have their LOS partially blocked by the bunker itself; they'd either have to set up far enough away from the bunker so that it's not going to be a problem for their deployment (a possibility), or outside of the woods, eschewing the cover in exchange for good LOS and concentration of fire.
One other thing to note: if using the 40K bunker rules, it's rarely a good idea to set up heavy weapons inside or on top of bunkers. AV13 bunkers are fairly vulnerable to being shaken or stunned, just like vehicles, both of which results will result in the units in or on top of the bunker being unable to fire their heavy weapons (!). Of course, it's easy enough to simply treat the "bunker" as cover in this situation, which is 99% of the time the optimal solution for a 'shooty' army like the Imperial Guard.
7. Vehicles: At the moment, the only vehicle that is in cover at all is the Basilisk, which is hull-down behind a wall by the bunker. The remainder of the visible Guard vehicles are completely exposed -- 6 Sentinels, 2 Chimeras (one might possibly be a Hellhounds), and 4 Russ tanks. Worse, virtually all these vehicles are exposing weak side armor to the Chaos foe. This clearly calls for a fix.
Solution: The most glaring issue, actually, is the Basilisk. As the sole Barrage weapon visible in this army, it doesn't need to set up in the open at all. It should be completely hidden, totally out of LOS, behind the Bunker (the only piece of terrain large enough to completely hide it). The Russ tanks can be pulled back as well; some good places to put them include:
(a) one where the Basilisk is currently, and one or two in the trees to the right of the bunker. I would suggest maybe placing the tanks some six to twelve inches away from the bunker, to keep the bunker from blocking too much of their LOS.
(b) if you aren't planning to put infantry there, the Demolisher would work nicely behind the forwardmost of the two walls on the left. The troops in and on top of the bunker are high enough above that position to fire over the Demolisher, and its hull-down position on that flank will definitely discourage a Chaos advance there. This is a good support position for infantry in the sand-bagged positions, by the way.
(c) on top of the rocky slope to the far right of the photo -- this is another place for the Demolisher. It would be at a lower level than any Russ tanks behind it (so they can shoot over just fine), and although exposed, the Demolisher is a tough tank that is really intended to absorb a lot of enemy attention and firepower.
(d) on top of the tower above the bunker. This is probably the most imposing (and to your opponent, distracting) hull-down position that one of the Leman Russ tanks could take. Justifying it to your opponent would be tricky, however, and it's definitely not something you'd want to do if you're trying to be sporting.
The Chimeras can simply be drawn around to one of the flanks (ideally starting behind cover or at least Hull-Down), and the same with the Sentinels, who can start the game either out of LOS (hiding behind the bunker or a Russ tank) -- if you're planning to use them primarily as mobile heavy weapons -- or hull-down behind one of the walls on the left, if you're planning on using them as counter-assault units and infantry support.