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I mean come on... Most Imperial Guard regiments are all to the points of extremism. Are there any out there that are just normal, hardy, brave men out to fight and defend the imperium, and their families? But are not fanatic and psychotic to the point of insanity?!

Probably. But they wouldn't make such interesting highlights for the fluff so they don't get written about. That would be my take on it.

htj wrote:Probably. But they wouldn't make such interesting highlights for the fluff so they don't get written about. That would be my take on it.

I would love to read about normal guys going through the insanty that is warhammer 40k.

Yeah, me too! I consider my Guard to be just regular guys, there to do a job to protect their home and loved ones.

Makes for some really tragic battles though.

Yes. There are plenty of Guard regiments that don't have some backstory concerning the destruction of their planet and aren't some kind of 'special forces'.

Any books about them?

Well effectively the Guard are mostly 'normal' regiments but each is moulded by the world & society they come from. With a million planets there's a lot of variations possible and no true 'normal' as all could be described as being normal.

As all the 'major' Guard regiments are inspired by historical armies they will always seem to be extremes because they reflect the period that inspired them - for example the Mordian Iron Guard closely resembles troops of the 1830-1900 period, tight formations & discipline, bright, colourful uniforms, close-order drill, firing in volleys, slightest infraction punished heavily - you get the idea. Tallarn, as another example, mirror 'Laurence of Arabia's' irregular troops from WW1 through to the 7th Armoured 'Desert Rats' of the early 1940s. Death Korp combine French, Belgian, German & British troops of 1900-1918 and reflect the horrors of WW1 - the trenches, attrition, artillery, biological warfare, horror & so on.

I get it. But why not model one out of normal day military. I mean... If i did something wrong when i first joined. i get my ass kicked, but now that i've been in for awhile if i do something wrong its not as big a deal. If I get in trouble with the law then I get demoted and pay taken. I mean come on!!!

I'm sure there are lots of them, you just dont hear about them because they are so far from the action and would rival the tau for not being very grim dark .
I say it would be intersting to make a way behind the lines slacker regiment fresh from beach patrol duty in a place as challenging as the south of france, of say 6000 pts and run them through 20 random 500, 750, 1000, 1500 and 2000pts games without reinforcements outside the 6000pt pool.(guessing you'd have to ignore the FOC for the 6000pts) and see how traumatised you'd think they be at the end....if they made it that far. If a guy lived he'd be the next Marbo lol.

Brother Thomas wrote:I get it. But why not model one out of normal day military. I mean... If i did something wrong when i first joined. i get my ass kicked, but now that i've been in for awhile if i do something wrong its not as big a deal. If I get in trouble with the law then I get demoted and pay taken. I mean come on!!!

I think the Cadians and the Vedolands are the closest major regiment pattern to the modern military in doctrine and aesthetic. Commissars are still needed to blow brains out because with things like Genestealers and Chaos sometimes there's just no saving somebody.

The Cadian's are the staple crop of the Imperial Guard. They are based off of American and British war fighters throughout history and are akin to Starship Troopers pitied against Chaos.

The Catachans are basically Vietnam Vets, so if you're looking for good ole camaraderie against a heart of darkness insanity that's a good place.

The Elysian's are basically the (US) 101st airborne, or the 1st (British), and now embody many aspects of the Marine Corps.


The Vostroyan's might be a stretch as they are basically Cossacks in space, but they are strongly family orientated and would definitely lay down their lives to protect Vostroya if needed to.

Based on real life regiments these true to style warriors of the future characterize what they fought for in antiquity.

Then there are those who aren't really based on a particular regiment, but I'd image the strongest, most real bonds of all exists here, while radicalism being largely absent.

Tanith's First and Only, have nothing but each other to fight for in the service of the Emperor as their homeworld was destroyed.

The Penal Legions - Criminals literally bonded to the service to the Emperor. Either they fight or die as sentence to their crimes. Though absent initially, I'd certainly imagine that the strongest alliances between people are those made in that kind of servitude - if that is they survive long enough to do it.

It's also good to note that the IG needs regular reminders to be as fanatical as it is. Commissars, Commanders, and Priests all shove indoctrination on what we could probably assume to be normal people. As a whole, like any good soldier would tell you, they fight the battles because other men of power told them to. They stayed for those who they fought alongside with. Anything else, is irrelevant and is recognized even by the most fanatical in the Imperium, the Adeptus Astartes. After all, it's a BIG deal when even one of these superhuman warriors die's in His service.

I guess the Cadians sort of are based on the modern military of Canada, and not all of them are people eating demons for breakfast.

Beaviz81 wrote:I guess the Cadians sort of are based on the modern military of Canada, and not all of them are people eating demons for breakfast.

I...what?

Why in the world would you say something like this? Because there's been a joke about "Canadia" for years?

Cadia is not "based on" any one particular country. They are "based on" modern military forces at large, primarily those of the NATO countries.
Their society is not "based on" any one particular country either. If one were to really need to compare them to anyone, it would be Israel or South Korea: countries which are constantly "on a war footing" with soldiers constantly mobilized.

I would assume the large majority of the guard is made up of 'normal' men and women...
At least 95% of it...
We hear about notable regiments. The ones who perform extraordinary deeds through luck or skill.

Beaviz81 wrote:I guess the Cadians sort of are based on the modern military of Canada, and not all of them are people eating demons for breakfast.

Why would you state that?

In the fluff do they say "Eh" often, or drink crappy lagers?

Likeness of uniform I guess, but then again you might be right. I was certain I had read it at a canon place, but I can't remember it.

The khaki/green uniform is so widespread it's silly.

There's a reason for that. It looks smart, it blends in well with most temperate environments, and it looks smart!

Also that isnt the only IG uniform, even for Guard forces, hell even for Cadian forces.

Plenty of non-Cadians use that camo and plenty of Cadian forces (even the famed 8th Cadian) use different camo schemes depending on the world they are on. Just like at the 3rd Editition IG Codex for some camo examples.

The book you're looking for, when it comes to normal Imperial Guard, is called Fifteen Hours.

99% of Guardsman fall under this category. They are normal people, probably faithful to the Emperor but not to the point of fanaticism. They are fighting because they're being forced to under penalty of death and were traded away from their home as a "tithe" by the Planetary Governor. They will face the greatest horrors in the galaxy and piss their pants throughout most of it. This is especially true for whiteshield conscripts, where large swaths of a planetary population may be raised due to an emergency on a nearby world. A world these guardsman likely never saw.

The regiments we see in the fluff, Cadians, Catachans, Vostroyans, Krieg, Armageddon, Valhallans, Tallarn, Mordian, Tanith. These are all the most famous and elite regiments of the Guard and not representative of the norm. Keep in mind that bar some exceptions (Forge Worlds, Astartes worlds, etc.) every planet of the Imperium has to donate to the Guard. Many of these regiments are just massed of infantry, making fully mechanized forces is too expensive. There are Regiments raised that are armed with muskets and spears.

Brother Thomas wrote:I get it. But why not model one out of normal day military. I mean... If i did something wrong when i first joined. i get my ass kicked, but now that i've been in for awhile if i do something wrong its not as big a deal. If I get in trouble with the law then I get demoted and pay taken. I mean come on!!!

That isn't how the IG functions. They don't dock your pay or give out Article 15s or the like. You get assigned extra details/duties if it's a minor infraction, the medium infractions get you sent to RIP, or flogged, and the bad stuff gets you shot by a Commissar or a firing squad of other Guardsmen. A liberal democracy the Imperium ain't.

Tun_Tau wrote:I'm sure there are lots of them, you just dont hear about them because they are so far from the action and would rival the tau for not being very grim dark .
I say it would be intersting to make a way behind the lines slacker regiment fresh from beach patrol duty in a place as challenging as the south of france, of say 6000 pts and run them through 20 random 500, 750, 1000, 1500 and 2000pts games without reinforcements outside the 6000pt pool.(guessing you'd have to ignore the FOC for the 6000pts) and see how traumatised you'd think they be at the end....if they made it that far. If a guy lived he'd be the next Marbo lol.

Give them bonuses for surviving traumatic events. eg.

A guard squad is charged by Khorne berserkers and manage to somehow survive: All surviving members get +1 WS
A guardsman hits a sniper with stealth at 20" away in 4+ cover (3+ save) and kills him: Guardsman gets +1 BS
A squad of guardsmen makes several leadership tests in a row, constantly holding thier ground: Survivors get +1 Ld
Captain successfully issues half a dozen orders in a game helping to ensure victory: Captain can issue 1 additional order per turn

At the end of the campaign you might end up with like 30 guardsmen and a captain with stats like BS 6 WS 5, Ld 10, and a captain that can issue 5 orders at 24" range

This actually sounds like a cool idea, as long as you combine squads and mark down every squad or guy's stats you could see a cool progression, maybe get some real attachment to some guys. Remember the sergeant who survived 20 battles before being killed by a sniper. Remember the captain who managed to command his company in a bloody siege suffering 50% losses only to be executed by a commissar.

Just want to point out that the Cadian's have British accents in both of the DoW series.. and is still official cannon. GW's posterboy for the IG are the Cadian's, so it'd make sense they took a bit of national pride modeling them after the British modern military (which of course is similar to the American and NATO forces).

"Canon".

"CANON".

Kanluwen wrote:

Beaviz81 wrote:I guess the Cadians sort of are based on the modern military of Canada, and not all of them are people eating demons for breakfast.

I...what?

Why in the world would you say something like this? Because there's been a joke about "Canadia" for years?

Cadia is not "based on" any one particular country. They are "based on" modern military forces at large, primarily those of the NATO countries.
Their society is not "based on" any one particular country either. If one were to really need to compare them to anyone, it would be Israel or South Korea: countries which are constantly "on a war footing" with soldiers constantly mobilized.

Kevlar wrote:

Beaviz81 wrote:I guess the Cadians sort of are based on the modern military of Canada, and not all of them are people eating demons for breakfast.

Why would you state that?

In the fluff do they say "Eh" often, or drink crappy lagers?

I think the bigger question is: Why do you two care so much? LOL. I literally chuckled out loud when I read your responses to his statement. Such surprise.

Depends on what you mean by "normal." The Tanith 1st is made up of pretty normal guys.

What a helpful post.

Truly.

As for the responses to his statement:
It's because it's a silly statement. For quite a few years, there was a running joke(sometimes still brought up) about "Plastic Canadia Shock Troopers"/"Plastic Canadians" because of rumors prior to the release of the plastic Cadian Shock Troops.

@Kanluwen
Uh, you're not talking to me right?

No, KC. You just posted between it.

They are out there, but you are gonna have to make em yourself as it doesn't sell as much as "Special snow flake" units. The closet thing you are gonna find in Canon are the Tanith 1st and they are more tragic then "normal" guys, with a healthy had of Special snow flake NPC's thrown in. Great, great read however.