I figured I couldn't forget about my own personal army, probably the largest of my armies... the Imperial Guard. I seriously miss fielding large numbers of vehicles and men and I proudly recall trying to figure out just how many Chimera I can get into my 1500pt lists.
Here is a recap of the Astra Militarum in 8th edition revealed by Reece over on the Warhammer community.
via Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/05/09/warhammer-40000-faction-focus-astra-militarum/
Wouldn’t it be awesome if some of those units you so rarely see like Scout Sentinels were suddenly not only good, but great? What if Bullgryns and Rough Riders were actually scary in combat? How about Heavy Weapon Squads that actually provide covering fire to the rest of your men instead of just acting as distractions for enemy units? I am here to tell you that all of these things are true in the new edition!
Veterans now are truly seasoned warriors that–while no Adeptus Astartes–are soldiers to be respected. Your squads will no longer pop out of their Chimera, shoot one thing, and then die or run away immediately after the enemy returns fire. Nope, now, with the added “encouraging” presence of a nearby Commissar – which limits the losses of a bad Morale test – Astra Militarum are downright stalwart. Even Ratlings – with their sniper weapons allowing them to pick out and target Characters – will now be reaping a tally on your enemy’s leaders in the name of the Emperor!
The tanks are back and better than ever. Leman Russes, for example, have Toughness 8 and a 3+ save, so they won’t be slowing down until they’ve lost half of their 12 Wounds.
One of the Astra Militarum’s most well-known rules mechanics, Orders work automatically now and provide a variety of bonuses. You have 7 to choose from, but the one I want to discuss is ‘First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!’. This now makes a unit of Astra Militarum infantry treat their lasguns and hot-shot lasguns as Rapid Fire 2; that’s 4 shots per Guardsman at half range!
