Imperial Guard Army - The Next 500 Points

In my post last week, I outlined what I was planning for the core of my imperial guard army. The idea of the army was that it is the guard for a prison housing the cannon fodder used by the Imperium (i.e. criminal/mutant scum). It is also meant to complement my friend Ernie’s army.

HQ – Company Command Squad w/ 2 sniper rifles, 1 heavy bolter and an astropath. [100 pts]
Elite – Ratling Snipers (5 models) [50 pts]
Troop – Veteran squad w/ Harker, 3 snipers, and heavy bolter team [150 pts]
Troop – Veteran squad w/ heavy flamer, 2 flamers, shotguns and hull/turret mounted flamer chimera [155 pts]
Troop – Platoon command squad w/ 4 meltaguns and chimera (hb/hb) 125 pts
2 x Infantry squad w/ lascannon 130 pts (65 pts each) [255 pts]
Fast Attack/Troop – Grey Knights (teleport attack) w/ incinerator [160 pts]
Fast Attack – Bane Wolf [130 pts]

Looking ahead, I struggled with how I want the next 500 points to look for the army. At this point I think I have found a solution that works for me without having to sacrifice the theme of the army.

Since the army is being depicted to be behind friendly lines and not on the frontline, it seemed like a solid idea that the prison would have anti-aircraft weaponry on the off chance that enemy aircraft make it past the front. Along these lines, I figured the addition of two hydra flak tanks would fit this idea.

Heavy Support – 2 Hydra (75 pts each) [150 pts]

Along these lines, another tank that I feel will fit well with this theme is a manticore. Again, the idea for this tank is that the prison breaks it out if enemy forces have reached the walls. The nice thing is that the 24” minimum range helps to support the idea that the weapon is there to protect the prison and is not something that would be particularly useful if the inmates decided to revolt.

Heavy Support – Manticore [160 pts]

The last unit to roundout the army at 1500 points is one that I have talked about before and felt really needed to be added to the final list. The Nutcrackers are just a fun unit for me to paint and imagine, so I needed to get them into my default list.

Elite – Ogryns w/ chimera (hb/hb) [185 pts]

At this point, I have a decent 1495 point list that should provide me with a nice balance of units while still maintaining a theme. I like that the army has a nice splash from each force selection (elite, FA, etc.) without being really loaded in any particular one.

So what do my readers think? What do you feel are going to be the struggles with this army? Do you see any units that really don’t fit into the theme? I am very eager to read comments/feedback on what I am planning.