Tips for astra militarum

[DarkTerren]

So been playing a little bit here with friends against ai what starting build orders do you guys do. I usally end up with a lot of inf and by the time i get my first russ the game is usally over.

[Deadtil27]

The way I play the guard is similar in the beginning. My build order in the beginning is basically:
Barracks, vehicle bay, farm, ore, hero shrine, research.

From there I build to what I want though I mainly focus on ore as I mainly use russes later on and I almost always have at least 2 vehicle factories in my vehicle producing cities. In the beginning I use mainly infantry and typically avoid hydras.(it isn’t a bad unit just not always necessary. They are good aa and decent anti infantry). My early game battle group are typically about:

4 guardsmen
2 heavy weapons teams
1 scout walker

Though this won’t always be enough it is usually how my lines end up. As a whole I don’t use any of the psyches that the AM has. I never found them to be bad just always prefer guardsmen or scions to them. Bullgryns are okay but I typically don’t use them either as for me they die a little too quickly and usually end up more of a burden (taking up space) in the front lines. Also it seems to me like many don’t exactly care for scions but I like them. I find them slightly harder hitting and much more maneuverable compared to gaurdsmen. A tank line for me ends up something like this:

4 leman Russ
2 tech priests (they can repair vehicles and so are great at keeping the tanks on the move. Also useful to set up bastions to help out where or whenever you may want one. Shield generators too if you like them).
2-3 guardsmen or scions (I usually like scions for mobility but gaurdsmen are more tanky)
1 tank commander (or just a normal Russ if I can’t get an extra one yet)
1 commissar (just great buffs that can’t be passed.)

The Russ tank line is my go to that will punch into the late game. I will usually support it with aircraft I prefer thunderbolts though the bomber is okay as well. Partly for fun but also for versatility I like to keep a mobile force of infantry in valkyries a group may be like:

1-3 valkyries
2-4 scions in each
Maybe 2 or 3 heavy weapon teams
1 commissar (again because he is just great)

I won’t always have that big a group. Sometimes it will just be a Valkyrie with spare infantry that I don’t need elsewhere. At any rate having the valkyries around to keep your infantry up with your tanks is a good idea. Plus the Valkyries provide respectable damage and can take a few punches so they are just good response units on their own. Also I build around 2 basilisk artillery to support my groups once I can start making them in the end I like to consolidate about 5 of them potentially with a commissar for the armor piercing and accuracy buffs. They are not the hardest hitting units but you can use them to provide extra damage far from the front lines with their 7 tile range and the commissar can make it so they can do fairly well against armor and infantry too.

If you are only getting to the Russ once your game is over I would say you should either build more research buildings to unlock them faster or turn up the difficulty some more (either with neutral enemies ai teams ai loyalty bonuses or something of the sort.) I find the AI to be pretty good in this game compared to others like it, but it still is no comparison to an actual human opponent so some difficultIy tweaks may be helpful.

I usually won’t get to Baneblades when I play with friends but the leman Russ is the bread and butter for the guard and one of the best units in the game (especially tanks if you keep a couple tech priest nearby for repairs.) so you guys are sticking it pretty hard to the ai if you are able to beat them before tier 6 units are being pushed out.

I have found that the loyalty bonuses are really good at helping the ai produce armies so I would recommend giving them good handicaps.

Otherwise I will say to make sure you build a few cities fairly quickly as they will help production immensely. I like my cities to have at least one research building and usually I will have one city with multiple.

This has become a bit long but anyway I hope this helps give you some ideas.

[Noodlesocks]

For me it usually depends on start location. If it's in grassland I'd usually go infantry and a few sentinel's and hydras and have a wide mix of units by the time I get to tanks

If I start anywhere else then I usually go full on ore production and a bunch of manufactorums to pump out vehicles. Try to get Tank Commander out since it's basically an early game Leman Russ.

[Stardustfire]

i totaly ignore the infantery part of imps in this game (like TT players do with there army lists) vehicle bay, 2-3 sentinels backed up by the start infantery, followed up by a few hydras and basilisks on the way to the leman russ. after that its mainly only russ swarming until baneblades.

[KDubya]

If my starting city is food heavy I'll go big on heavy weapons teams. Once my next cities are in Ore plentiful areas I'll add in Hydras, Basilisks and Leman Russ Tanks. I find the three range and better armor piercing of the Heavy Weapons Teams works well in the early game against wildlife.