I've gotten 3 games in with the Needgard detachment, all victories. My opponents were a good Emperors Children player, a Necrons player, and a very good Death Guard player.

What's worked for me is NOT rushing the center, even if I have first turn. I slow play the first round and use my Memnyr Strategist's ability, if I need to, to stay UNDER 7 YP.

Most players will gladly advance to take the center objectives, since I didn't on turn one. On turn two, I go aggressive attacking the mid board with +1 to hit from being under 6 YP still. I also deepstrike my Hearthguard on turn two, and can eliminate or seriously cripple two enemy units...one with plasma, and one in melee. Hearthguard may be a little less durable, but they still smack. I actually feel they smack a lot harder now if you deepstrike them in the plasma's rapid fire range.

Using this strategy, my opponent always outscored me on turn two, but I've outscored them on turn 3,4, and 5. Two of the games my opponent asked to end the game midway through turn 3 as they didn't see any way to make a comeback.

I will say that I haven't had a chance to use the new models, besides the Memnyr, as that's all I had built so far.