Rat-a-tat-tat

On Bell of Lost Souls we were discussing some of the merits of my Imperial Guard list recently, especially in regard to the Special Weapons / W snipers I took. Really it was more about the Ratlings vs Traditional Snipers and it had some valid points so here's a quick pro/con of both of them:

Ratlings



Pros:

Better BS means more accuracy
All models in the squad have Sniper weapons
Infiltrate allows better positioning at the start of the game
Stealth gives defensive bonuses

Cons:

Takes up an elite slot
Low Leadership makes giving orders more difficult
Low Leadership can send them running very quickly
Can't hold objectives

Guardsmen Snipers



Pros:
Scoring Unit
Higher Leadership so orders are more likely to be followed
Spotters with Lasguns provide some weapons diversity and allow additional orders options

Cons:
Higher cost for initial unit (Special Weapons Squad w/ sniper rifles is 20pts more expensive than ratlings for the base unit)
Lower BS, less accurate
No special abilities


In my last game my basic guardsmen snipers actually paid for themselves, held their objective and kept their targets at bay. I've never had much success with them as a unit but this particular game they were worth every penny. Based on the ideas above next game I'll probably split the differance and take one squad of Guardsmen with Sniper rifles to sit on an objective and provide cover fire and then a 5 man squad of ratlings to focus their more accurate fire on key enemy units. The same amount of points is spent and it does give me some extra options during the game.