The Imperial Guard are not exactly renowned for their ferocity at close quarters in general. However I was rather pleased, after I'd had a root around my Epic bitz box the other week, to find that somehow I had acquired enough troopers to form an Assault Company and an Ogryn support detachment!
In a war torn galaxy, full of such terrors as Daemons, Ork Nobz and all manner of Tyranid beasties, it seems there are still men out there who are willing to strap a jet pack on, holster a pair of Laspistols and get up close and personal with whatever Xeno threat they are facing - with not a scrap of power armour to be seen!
Ogryns have always been a favourite of mine and I still covet those excellent Rogue Trader Ogryns sculpted by Bob Olley. In 2nd ed. Space Marine they are pretty nasty in close combat with a big CAF of 6 and they even get a saving throw of +6. Their Ripper Guns may only have a range of 10cm but they do have a -1 save modifier. Led by their Bonehead - a relative genius by Ogryn standards thanks to the brain surgery performed on them, Ogryns make great shock troops as long as they survive long enough to get stuck in. I do like their childlike faith in the Emperor, believing that each of their orders, no matter how trivial, has been personally issued to them by the Emperor himself!
I'm looking forward to trying the Assault Company out in the next game I take the Guard to. Not sure how effective they'll be with their terrifying CAF of 1 and it's quite a small Company by Guard standards at 15 stands of troops with the usual 2 command stands and Rhino. It'll certainly make a nice change to have my infantry bounding forward at 30cm a turn on charge orders and ignoring terrain thanks to their jet packs!
Oh and the thought of 75 lunatics, plucked from the depths of some god forsaken Hive or Barbarian Feral world and given uniforms, training and rocket packs, coming screaming out of the air at the enemy is pretty cool too!
