Well we all knew it was coming at some point. A long look at what many a person consider to be one of the best units in the Imperial Guard list point for point. Now I am not going to even attempt to say that Mr. Marbo is bad... but I will at least give the realistic view on his capabilities. So here it goes....
GUARDSMAN MARBO
Ok lets start with his universal special rules, starting with those i consider good. Fleet (awsome), Hit and Run (Sweet!), Stealth (perfect!) and last but not least move through cover. All these make Marbo a great little move about guy who loves his cover and will take it where-ever he can get it to take a 3+ cover save. He only has one Universal Special Rule that is a bit negative in my eyes. That would be fearless, now I know there are some psychic powers that force morale tests, but its hard enough to make his 5+ armor save in close combat once... let alone a second time if we happened to lose by 1 (somehow)
As for his unique special rules, one is very nice, while the other is kinda bad but not too upsetting. First lets go with the good: He's Behind You. This special rule Gives you the ability to place Marbo within an inch of any other model in the turn he arrives from reserves. You cant assault from this (disappointing I know) but it gives a great opportunity for his Demo Charge to hit exactly where you want it to. The slightly negative special rule would be Loner. This rule makes it so that he can not receive orders, it sounds bad, but most of the time you will be placing Marbo out of orders range anyhow. Over all he definitely has a bonus of good special rules however Eternal Warrior would be quite nice to have with his two wounds since he is only T 3.
Now for his Equipment. As already discussed he has a 5+ armor save, and a Demo charge (mmmmm Str 8 AP 2 large blast....), he also has a Envenomed Blade which is a poison CCW that wounds on a 2+ (a nasty bit of damage can be done when you get 6 attacks on the charge), a Ripper Pistol which is a AP 2 sniper rifle pistol with a 12 inch range (with his BS 5 this can be quite nice) and last but not least Melta Bombs. Need anymore to be said? This guy is a walking death dealer in terms of his weapons, but a paper cannon in terms of his armor save, 2 wounds without eternal warrior don't mean much.
Strategy:
As we look at Marbo and what he has and his stat line we realize he can be quite dangerous, if used properly. This is a hard thing how to tell to do besides: Find a group of models, put him near it and blow it up with a demo charge. However this isn't the only method of destroying people with him. You can also place him hidden away, and move him about to assault an unsuspecting group of models with his 6 attacks and hit and run him away to safety once its over.
The best is if you are able to combine the two if he lives through his first turn of being shot at.
For example the first time i really tried Marbo I was in a team game against Old School and his Chaos Plague Marine army and Captain Obvious and his Black Templar army. Marbo came in, tossed his Demo Charge on a group of Black Templar Assault Marines, and killed 7 of them in the blast, was assaulted by 3 plague marines, killed one, didnt get hurt, then killed another by its fearless check. Then hit and ran 16 inches away, next turn helped some stormtroopers assault a space marine squad with a heavy weapon and killed that off with 2 more kills, then ran away again to go after some more plague marines shooting down 2 and killing 2 more in close combat.... He had moved in total from one side of the board all 6 feet across to the other, creating havoc and mayhem the entire way and not dying.
Old School and Captain Obvious were stunned, and scared of the guy from them on... trust me... ask them. Marbo in that game has sort of become a legend at our FLGS after that performance.
Now, I am not saying that he will perform to these standards, as I also have experiences where he tosses his Demo charge on top of himself killing only himself. So he is a back and forth model, but it is TONS of fun to take him and at 65 points he fits into almost any list.
What do you think? What are your experiences?
Until next time, burn some heretics, kill some mutants, and do it always....
FOR THE EMPEROR!
