First off, the first question is....
Can in a dawn of war limited deployment, and Imperial Guard player deploy his entire platoon including that chimeras taken as dedicated transports?
There are a few people still arguing that they cannot, however, this is mostly from FAQ shock, and the standard OMG this is overpowered. Here is the ruling......
Page 96 – Infantry Platoon, second sentence
Change to “Each Infantry Platoon is deployed in place of a single unit in missions that limit the number units that can be deployed. In addition when making a reserve or outflanking roll, roll once for the whole Infantry Platoon. Any units in reserve that are embarked upon a non-dedicated transport are instead rolled for separately.”
So to be honest, yes, the chimeras are deployed. Get this straight though, this is only for limited deployment games like Dawn of War.
Is this overpowered? Well, lets really take a look at it. First impression is wow, that could be strong in a list. However, a player really has to build his list with this option in mind (not solely for it as it only comes up 1 out of 3 games).
I have been building lists for to take advantage of this all week, and I have to say its not overpowered. It has its advantages, but also in the balanced tournament style play, it has some serious disadvantages.
It does help get your large platoon style lists on the board right away. In general it also puts you closer to the enemy. So all the advantages that you are thinking it might do, bring a drawback. How close to you really want to be to the opponents board edge. I like the idea when playing my dark eldar and my Grey Knights if an IG player deploys his army at that 24" midfield position.
Do I think this new ruling for the FAQ is overpowering?... No. Do I think it will change some lists and tactics on the tabletop?.... yes. This is not the end of days, and players will adjust to new tactics and lists. As I am reworking old platoon style lists, I will share some of these lists later.