Gunnery Sergeant Harker

Gunnery Sergeant Harker is the ultimate bad-boy of the Imperial Guard codex. Well, second to Marbo anyways. The chief difference between the two is that while Marbo is stuck out on his own, Harker is an upgrade for a Veteran Sergeant - thus he is substantially more survivable most of the time. (Marbo's demo charge doesn't particularly help with the whole survivability thing.)

Harker gives his unit a number of pretty substantial benefits. First and foremost, the unit gains the universal special rules infiltrate, stealth, and move through cover. The squad also gains a heavy weapon in the form of Harker's heavy bolter, and since he is relentless it does not slow the unit down. He also has feel no pain, something I have a hard time remembering when I use him, but that is unfortunately not passed on to the rest of his unit. :(

Harker costs 55 points, the same as a chimera, which sounds kind of steep for a veteran sergeant, but when all of his benefits are taken into account I think he's a steal.

What initially attracted me to Harker was my frequent use of the "Forward Sentries Doctrine" in my objective sitting vet squads. The doctrine is 30 points and the benefits are the "Stealth" USR and defensive grenades. For 55 points Harker nets you Stealth, (30 points) a BS 4 Relentless Heavy Bolter (10 Points*), Infiltrate, and Move Through Cover (both priceless.)

My first inclination for using Harker was in much the same way that I used my Camo-Cloaked Vet Squads, essentially a camping heavy weapon squad that is extremely difficult to dislodge thanks to their (potentially 2+ when gone to ground) cover save. My first couple builds for Harker's squad included three snipers and a missile launcher. With that build you've got a solid mixed-use unit able to take on light armor and infantry that's extremely difficult to dislodge from cover. Harker's ability to infiltrate also allows you to give them the best possible location to utilize their strengths.

Overall, it's not a bad use of the guy - but I admit it's not optimized.

I'm thinking that in order to take full advantage of all of Harker's benefits he needs to be mobile - not slowed down by any heavy weapon teams. I'm thinking that a veteran squad with Harker and three flamers would make perfect infantry hunters. Infiltrate makes them superb for taking out light infantry that likes to hang around the backfield and depends upon cover such as Ork Lootas, Eldar Rangers, Tau Pathfinders, and the like.

It is also worth considering dropping them in a Chimera with a hull heavy flamer for an additional 55 points (though this makes them pretty pricey at about 195 points.) Since the Chimera is a dedicated transport the "Infiltrate" USR is passed along to it - allowing for outflanking Chimera-flamer BBQ time! An astropath in the Company Command Squad can make this especially worthwhile, pretty much ensuring they come in where you want them. Also, since Harker is relentless he can fire his heavy bolter out the top hatch of the Chimera so long as it doesn't move more than 6" - AND since (according to the most recent 40k rules FAQ) the vet squad and the chimera are two different units they do not have to fire at the same target. So given the right circumstances the chimera could ruin someone's afternoon with it's hull heavy flamer and Harker and company could put the hurt on someone else entirely.

So, that's my take on Harker. I'd be interested to hear others' opinions of him as I haven't seen a whole lot of discussion on him yet. Probably as he's been overshadowed by Marbo, Al'rahem, Chenkov, Straken, Nork, and the like.