Winter Guard Infantry

The Winter Guard make up the majority of the Khadoran military and are found at the core of every garrison and combat force. Their weaponry is practical and places little strain on the Khadoran treasury when produced in bulk. Their short‑ranged blunderbusses fire a heavy slug that packs a powerful punch, particularly when these infantry concentrate their fire.

Any soldier brave enough to place the colors of the Motherland before his own life is a true patriot.

Druzhina cadets drill day and night, undergoing intense exercises designed to prepare young officers to push their units beyond their known limits.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Leader, Grunts, Officer, & Standard
  • Template:CRA

• Rocketeer
  • No special abilities. Notably, he can't CRA

• Officer only
  • The Officer has a better statline
  • Template:Officer
  • Template:Granted (Template:Reposition 3-alt)
  • Template:Grapeshot

• Standard only
  • Template:Standard Bearer
  • Template:Take Up

Weapons

Leader, Grunts, Standard, & Officer	Blunderbuss File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  8 1 Template:- 12 Axe File:Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S  0.5 3 8
Rocketeer	Rocket File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  14 1 3 12 Template:Brutal Damage Axe File:Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S  0.5 3 8

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Winter Guard Kommand

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army.

Thoughts on Winter Guard Infantry

File:WGI CA.jpg

Command Attachment

File:WGI WA.jpg

Weapon Attachment

Winter Guard Infantry in a nutshell

WGI are your cheapest infantry out there, with an overall poor quality on individual models. But sometimes, "quantity IS quality" and certainly you can bring them onto the board in quite large numbers. They also take buffs well and can get real work done with a few dedicated support models. They can even threaten even hard targets with Combined Ranged Attacks and Brutal Damage rockets. Just don't expect them to live very long.

You can field a max unit of them with 15 bodies for the price of a 5-model cavalry unit. Or, you may decide to bring as many small units as you can to maximize the number of Rocketeer attachments you can take. They sometimes don't compare favorably to our other Winter Guard options, the longer-range Winter Guard Rifle Corps and the slightly more expensive but much more flexible Assault Kommandos. Consider carefully which unit is right for the job.

In a pinch, their axes can handle other light-medium infantry in a fight, but they'll bounce off anything heavier. CRA is always a good trick to have to pose a threat to heavy armor and models who rely on a high DEF.

Thoughts on adding the CA

The Grapeshot is very useful in certain situations - especially when their RAT is buffed, or when fighting knocked-down or stationary units. Reposition is good for moving out of cover, shooting your Blunderbusses, then moving back out of LOS. They can also open up firing lanes for your Rockets (since they lack Arcing Fire) and move back in position to cover them. Alternatively this ability is great for just marching your Winter Guard up the battlefield. Combines nicely with Sorscha2's Desperate Pace to get some incredibly mobile guard.

The Standard is mostly useful in letting the unit spread out as they die in droves to AOEs when grouped. Unlike most flag models, it still has the weapons/rules of the base unit, so it's never a bad idea to use Take Up.

Thoughts on adding the WA

Rocketeers add crucial damage potential to the unit, especially when run with a warcaster that can improve their ability to directly hit. They are also ideal to threat the enemy's squishy stealthy units with blast damage, until the lines will clash. Keep in mind that they lack Take Up; position them so that stray electro-leaps, blasts, lightnings, or secondary damages (Ashes to Ashes, Spine Burst, Trick Shot, etc) can't get them easily.

Combos & Synergies

• They've got a theme force dedicated just to them: Winter Guard Kommand. In theme, your warcaster gains Sac Pawn [Winter Guard], meaning you can play them fairly aggressively and be safe from ranged retaliation while you still have Infantry nearby. This is really helpful for any casters that want to go for melee assassination, like Sorscha1 or any of the Butchers.
• Kovnik Joe is their OG support model, handing out a variety of powerful Battle Plans. Give your infantry Tough as they move up, +2 to attack rolls on a big offensive turn, or +4 STR when it's time to charge in against easy to hit hard targets! If/when your opponent tries to snipe him out, Joe also has Sac Pawn, so your troopers will gladly give their lives to keep him safe.
• Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan gives them a much needed +1 to attack rolls from Veteran Leader, bringing them up to a more reasonable MAT/RAT 6. It also stacks with Kovnik Joe's Battle Plan! Additionally, while it's more often used on Mortar Crews, the Artillerist ability can also be used to help a Rocketeer hit.
• Irusk2 the ultimate infantry support caster handing out tough, no knockdown and cover really helps deliver a swarm of winter guard.
• Vlad1 loves massed Rocketeers all benefiting from his Signs & Portents spell.

Drawbacks and Downsides

• Big things will ignore pretty much anything except their rockets (and occasional CRA from their Blunderbusses).
• They die like flies, as given for being the cheapest 10 men unit in Khador (yes even cheaper than Kossite Woodsmen!)
• Many things they can do, Assault Kommandos can do better, for not that many more points.

Tricks and Tips

• Since they're dirt cheap, they can be good for a filler unit.
• Keep in mind that Rocketeers lacks combined attack
• Remember that the flag model has a gun and axe!

Other

Trivia

• The unit (not including UA or WA) was released in Warmachine: Prime mk1 (2003)
• The UA and WA were released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)