Questions About Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials Guide With R2 And Server Standard

I'm probably going to install Windows Server 2012 Standard R2 and use the Essentials Role to get the functions I want.  I was going to go with Essentials but my University only has Standard as part of their software program.

Anyway, I wanted to see if the guide would still apply to R2 and if it does, would it still apply when using the Essentials Role on Standard?

Thanks