Over the history of Forge World, the model line has been used for many things. Its original purpose, of course, was selling titanic figures that couldn't be cast in plastic or pewter. But as GW finally abandoned pewter, discovering it could use fine cast resin as an "adequate" replacement, they expanded the Forge World line.
Guard are one of the factions that have historically "benefited" from the existence of Forge World. Not only are they the original faction to receive rules for using Titans, but their super heavy tanks were originally Forge World kits too. As GW focused more and more on Cadians as the pattern for most Guard regiments, other classic regiments ended up going to Forge World. This tentatively allowed GW fans that didn't want to go with the now standardized regiments to still get some official models.
Now there are far more options available for customizing the look and feel of a guard army, and GW has decided they don't want Forge World to be a supplement for their basic games anymore. The Baneblade has been out in plastic for some time now, our first heavy plastic tank came out in 9th with the Rogal Dorn, and we've finally gotten plastic Krieg as well as the return of Rough Riders.
Still, Forge World models aren't a thing of the past yet.
DATASHEETS
Death Korps Marshal - 60 pts
For 10 points more than their Cadian counterpart, the Marshal loses the ability to take a bolter, gets a 5+ FNP which they share with their unit, and a free Insane Bravery. For some reason, the Insane Bravery is capped by this rule to twice per phase, but it's still nice to see the unshakeable nature of the Death Korps represented in some way. I just don't think it's worth more than a Castellan. It's not much of a tax, but its till feels like a little bit of one for taking a proper Leader for you Death Korps.
Death Rider Squadron - 70 pts for 5 models (14 pts per model)
By contrast, their Riders are 10 pts cheaper. Their melee isn't bad either, and their Ridemaster can take a plasma pistol. They can also reposition if an enemy gets too close, though this is not going to keep them from being shot off the table and the Attilan ability to Fall Back and Shoot and Charge is superior. Still, 14 pts for fast moving, hard hitting, 2 wound models is pretty good.
Death Rider Squadron Commander - 60 pts
And if you take a unit of Death Riders, you should definitely take one of their officers. For the same price as the Marshal, you get a faster and hard hitting model that grants Infiltrators to their unit. In addition, you get DEV WOUNDS on the charge, for some extremely good melee threat. I think Death Riders are actually really good.
Carnodon - 160 pts
For 35 pts less, the Carnodon isn't quite as tough as a Russ but is a little faster. Unfortunately its weaponry is pretty underwhelming. Autocannons just aren't what they once were, and none of its other weapons really have much output either. You could potentially consider loading it up with some volkite and hoping to spike out some mortals, but I just don't think its worth it. Guard vehicles, other than indirect, are proving to be over-costed, and this is not exception.
Cyclops Demolition Vehicle - 25 pts
This thing actually might be worth taking now. With an 8" move and 4 wounds, you can use this as a mobile screening unit and there's nothing stopping it from running secondaries either. You can only take three of them, but that's 75 points for 3 units deterring movement, scoring missions, and eventually turning into a one time smite. They're honestly not bad. At worst they're decent point fillers.
Malcador - 250 pts
The Leman Russ's big brother is bigger and tougher, but certainly isn't meaner. They have similar loadouts but the Malcador trades a pair of Autocannons for an inferior main gun. If the Leman Russ were properly priced, and it's not, I'd say this needs to be at least 15 pts cheaper. As things stand it's probably at least 25-40 pts more than it should be. Even then, the Russ is a smaller target that punches just as hard.
Malcador Annihilator - 270 pts
The Demolisher cannon has certainly proved itself to be worth at least 20 pts more than a standard battle cannon, and the Malcador didn't even have that. Additionally, this tank gets IGNORES COVER if you get close, which is fantastic in 10th Edition right now. Though with the loss of Armour of Contempt from the basic Malcador, it'll be harder to get in range. This is unfortunately still overpriced.
Malcador Defender - 310 pts
For 40 pts more than the Annihilator you lose some heavy firepower but pack a whopping 21 heavy bolter shots. You also get improved Overwatch, but Guard already have good Overwatch units that are far cheaper. While this will make an impressive road block, you don't spend 310 points for a screening unit.
Malcador Infernus - 235 pts
Our least expensive Malcador variant actually comes it at only 15 pts more than a Demolisher. However, what you're actually comparing this to is a Hellhound. The inferno gun is a bit of sidegrade from the inferno cannon. It does pack more guns though, including the ability to still bring two autocannons or lascannons. However, its only special rule is to get a final shot with its inferno gun with a 3+ on death. Take the Hellhound.
Earthshaker Carriage Battery - 80 pts
At first I thought this was just a mini Basilisk that couldn't move very well. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, you don't need to move these. Then I noticed that they only hit on 5s. That part's not as good. Now they're Regiment, so you can target them more easily with orders. But do you really want one of your regimental officers kept babysitting these? Unfortunately I think the full sized Basilisk is probably better.
Medusa Carriage Battery - 80 pts
An alternative to the Earthshaker, the Medusa is a bit of a side grade. The weapon is all around more powerful, but doesn't have anywhere near as much board presence. And at Move 4, you're not exactly rolling it out onto the board. Additionally, Battle-shocked is usually not as useful a debuff as shaken is.
Stormblade - 415 pts
Now this is a big tank! Basically a Baneblade that's been modified to carry a Titan's plasma blastgun, it has similar firepower to the other Baneblade variants. The Shadowsword currently seems to be the most popular variant, so that's the one I'm going to compare this to. Now the plasma blastgun is certainly no volcanno cannon, but it's still a good general purpose weapon that can threaten both Infantry and Vehicles. My only problem is I'm struggling to find a place for it. It's just not really bringing anything your army really needs. Still, it's the most affordable of the super heavies, so if you really want to field one and don't want to spring 25 points more for a Shadowsword, it's not a bad option.
Macharius - 310 pts
The classic heavy tank option has a chassis closer to a Baneblade than a Rogal Dorn, but firepower similar to it's smaller cousin. So basically you're trading toughness for fire power at a cost of 25 pts. Again, now that we've gotten a chance to see how Guard vehicles are performing, I'm feeling like this is just too expensive.
Macharius Vanquisher - 285 pts
Okay, now we might be getting somewhere. While the vanquisher cannon is a single shot weapon, you get re-roll hits and wounds with it to drastically improve its reliability. And if you've got someone that can give out orders to tanks, you can further improve that reliability. Honestly I'd take this over a Rogal Dorn.
Macharius Vulcan - 310 pts
A tank with a vulcan mega-bolter! This thing can absolutely shred infantry, but so can tons of other guard options. Again, it's a lot of points for something Guard doesn't really need. I like that it doesn't suffer any penalties for Big Guns though.
Praetor - 275 pts
The power of indirect is you don't need to be in the line of fire, so the tougher chassis doesn't really help this thing. So we're left looking at just its gun to justify taking it over any of the other indirect options. The first nice thing is that if you've got a source of tank orders, it's hitting on 2s with Take Aim. The foehammers are also pretty interesting, wounding big targets on 4s even with its low strength. But again, you'll want your indirect to be sitting back and firing without needing orders, and you have other ways to get that bonus.
Crassus - 180 pts
You're actually getting a bit of a discount on transport capacity with this. In exchange for the mobility and flexibility of multiple Taurox, you get a tougher model that can transport a ton of guard in bulk. And while not as fast, it does have Fire Support, which I'm very fond of. However, I'm struggling to figure out how all those guard are going to disembark from this thing. 35 models is a lot! Still, if you need to transport a full Infantry Squad with command, attachments, and bodyguard, this will do it!
Colossus - 160 pts
Huh? A direct fire mortar? What?
So unfortunately that means we're comparing it to the Leman Russ, which is tougher and has more guns. However, as weird as the gun is, it's not to be sneezed at. Any big target you get a decent hit on is probably going to be taking mortals. This means this thing can pretty easily punch above its weight. It's pretty swingy for 160 pts though.
Valdor - 285 pts
Again, we're trading toughness for guns with the Rogal Dorn again. Only this time, we've actually got a pretty good main cannon to justify it. Hitting with 2 shots on 3s with HEAVY, the Valdor punches at S16, AP-4, and DmgD6+1. And as a kicker, if you're targeting a Monster or Vehicle, you get to re-roll the damage. It's probably a little overpriced, but I feel like this is a little closer to fine than the other options are.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are many guard players out there that long for the day when they can field a wide variety of different vehicles and regiments for their army. We're getting there again with the infantry, and we've started getting better access to vehicles too. But unfortunately guard is in a position where their vehicles are struggling to make up their cost. It doesn't help it's far more difficult to get buffs on tanks now, and they even took away Ursula's ability to give strats to them. I feel nearly the entire Forge World line needs to come down in price. Yes, both prices.
However, Death Riders look like a lot of fun, and there were a few vehicles that might make cool alternatives for roughly the same value as their plastic counterparts. Hopefully we'll see a bit of an overhaul soon.
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