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Polonius wrote:

papathrax wrote:I'm pretty sure the commissars that get attached to the 1st Liberal Arts College Regiment would care.

Lol. I'd imagine they'd be pretty bummed out. But they're not going to send 'em back and hope for better soldiers, either.

Nice.

MikeV37 wrote:The guard are the cream of the pdf crop, so those 10 year olds better be the strongest warriors on the planet or the next time the guard comes around it won't be as nice.

In the cases we saw in the Caipas Cain novels? Yes, that was the standard procedure. The selection of the guard is by no means universal though, and remember we aren't just talking about whole regiments of children, we're talking about children being part of those regiments (which is entirely possible, and in fact more than likely).

Think Necromunda,.....Ultra Marines wandering the underhive collecting childeren ages 1-5 for recruiting. Those that survive the trials gain the honor of becoming Space Marine Scouts.

Thats what I remember from an old White Dwarf mag, its true the Empire are slavers and do horriable things. And yet Chaos gets the bad rap.

LordWynne wrote:Think Necromunda,.....Ultra Marines wandering the underhive collecting childeren ages 1-5 for recruiting. Those that survive the trials gain the honor of becoming Space Marine Scouts.

Thats what I remember from an old White Dwarf mag, its true the Empire are slavers and do horriable things. And yet Chaos gets the bad rap.

Except Chaos would be rounding them up for daemonfood...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Emperors Faithful wrote:

MikeV37 wrote:The guard are the cream of the pdf crop, so those 10 year olds better be the strongest warriors on the planet or the next time the guard comes around it won't be as nice.

In the cases we saw in the Caipas Cain novels? Yes, that was the standard procedure. The selection of the guard is by no means universal though, and remember we aren't just talking about whole regiments of children, we're talking about children being part of those regiments (which is entirely possible, and in fact more than likely).

The Guard codex states that a planets tithe consists of the top 10% of its PDF. Of course, it also says the tithes are annual, but later says they're only occasional, and mentions tribes warring over who gets to join the Guard on feral worlds, so make of it what you will. Necropolis has Vervunhive conspiring to send only the dregs and criminals for the tithe, while keeping the best for its private army, and Scourge the Heretic has the old "sweeping the jails" recruitment method...

Heh heh. Now I have an image of my head of a 10 year old in an oversized Commissar's uniform, wielding a bolt pistol.

"For da Empo-wah, you misawaba dowgs!"

KamikazeCanuck wrote:I believe Canada has the same rules but I don't know if a 17 year old has served in combat in modern times or not.

The age of enlistment in the US is 17 (You have to be done with High School and have your parents permission at that age though). We probably have 17 year olds in Iraq, Afghanistan, and our Overseas Bases in other countries.
In WWII and (albeit rarely) in Vietnam kids were able to sneak in at 16. Obviously though at 17 you're probably pretty close to 18. Even in you were to enlist just as you turned 17 because of Basic Training(about 8-13 weeks depending on the service) and then AIT or a C-School or whatever which can vary in length depending what MOS/Rate/AFSC you're going for. Although you can do Basic training during the summer between your junior year and senior year of HS, and go active duty when you graduate.

Juves in Necromunda, although not soldiers are still very young combatants and if Hive primus was invaded they would probably form part of a meat shield for the defence forces. When you look at some of the models they look like very young teens somewhere between 13-14.

LordWynne wrote:Think Necromunda,.....Ultra Marines wandering the underhive collecting childeren ages 1-5 for recruiting. Those that survive the trials gain the honor of becoming Space Marine Scouts.

Thats what I remember from an old White Dwarf mag, its true the Empire are slavers and do horriable things. And yet Chaos gets the bad rap.

Ironically this would probably extend their life span considerably compaired to staying in the Hive.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:

MikeV37 wrote:The guard are the cream of the pdf crop, so those 10 year olds better be the strongest warriors on the planet or the next time the guard comes around it won't be as nice.

In the cases we saw in the Caipas Cain novels? Yes, that was the standard procedure. The selection of the guard is by no means universal though, and remember we aren't just talking about whole regiments of children, we're talking about children being part of those regiments (which is entirely possible, and in fact more than likely).

The Guard codex states that a planets tithe consists of the top 10% of its PDF. Of course, it also says the tithes are annual, but later says they're only occasional, and mentions tribes warring over who gets to join the Guard on feral worlds, so make of it what you will. Necropolis has Vervunhive conspiring to send only the dregs and criminals for the tithe, while keeping the best for its private army, and Scourge the Heretic has the old "sweeping the jails" recruitment method...

All of which shows that there is no real standard IG recruitment method, thus making the inclusion of child-soldiers (somewhere) even more likely.