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I posted this here, since it's mainly about fluff.
I always wondered why all the models, or nearly all of them, are male?
For the SM, that's clear: the zygotes, IIRC, need a Y-chromosom to react to.
But for IG: I really can't imagine that the Imperium would hesitate to conscript women. They can hold and fire a lasgun as well as a man. I remember there was a WD drawing of a female NCO in the IG, so the fluff seems to support this. However, very few (if not none) "short stories" (the little gray boxes in the books) mention female Guardsmen(women?). As well, I can only think of one female IG model, and that was one of the Last Chancers. Why isn't there a percentage of the models female? Since the face and sometimes whole head of Guardsmen models are visible, it's hard to imagine there are women in them. Not to mention that the torso armour would be rather uncomfortable for women.
With the Eldar, the fluff is quite clear: women fight as much as men. Its easier to think of your Guardians as 50% female than with IG.
With the Tau, I'm not so sure. There's evidence that female Shas fight as well. (Shadowsun). Firewarrior armour seems bulky enough to "hide" the need to sculpt it for extra breastroom. I can't really say how a female Tau looks, so maybe some of the bareheaded Shas are actually female. Not to mention that we can't tell the gender of the Battlesuit pilots. On the other hand, maybe the Tau keep a large portion of their female Shas at home to breed? It seems like something they could think of.
I know that Orcs are genderless.

Personally i have always imagined that this is because the 40k imperium of man is highly chauvanistic. Sure, they'll conscript women, but they are amongst the huge baggage train that follows every regiment to war, i.e the herpes riddled convoy of "camp girls", the cooks, the secretaries that do paperwork when Commissar Bob again kills a bit to many guardsmen for cowardice etc etc. I mean, compared to the Eldar who i am close to be willing to say are matriarchal. But of course, they actually do have a lot of female warriors. The SoBs are Imperial, and therefore, they do actually have some warrior women. And on the genderless thing, i could imagine that Tau are like frogs. They grow what they need

I don't really buy that, Two Daemons. Surely centuries of the SoBs being the deadliest human troops after Space marines (who aren't even fully human) would have dispelled any such myths. The Imperium may be a nasty place, but I don't see much evidence for chauvinism in the fluff. Got any quotes?

Uhu, the Imperium simply can't afford it to be chauvinistic. I also find it hard to believe that an army that shoots officiers because they fall back, goes through the effort of checking the gender if they're enlisting billions on a world.

Ah.. I see your point Tegeus. Maybe GWs modellers are chauvanists then (Ha ha! The old blame it on GW ploy.) I find it regrettable too that GW makes so few female models. Three weeks painting an army of burly, hairy, double-livered men only gives you a heightened appreciation for the qualities of the opposite sex

This is going to sound harsh but I think that a female Cadian would look much more like a male Cadian than like the narrow hipped, big chested barbie dolls of certain persons imaginations. Life "on campaign" (and it is important to remember that IG conscription is a life time term) probably has that effect.

I second that, DO. It's rough on the trail.

The only female IG models I'm aware of are 2 Last Chancers (Rocket Girl and Warrior Woman), 1 Catachan ("Pvt. Vasquez"), 1 Tanith, and 1 Commissar.

They're all special minis, never widely available, and certainly not regular army models. I for one would like to see more girl models: armor, rifle companies, the usual stuff. But definitely not the goofy oddly-proportioned and impractiaclly-armored figures that one tends to see. Just plain' ol' army chicks.

I certainly wouldn't want barbie-girls. I'm one of the first people to get ticked off by that stuff. (Like the highheels on SoB Power Armour. )
The WD picture I was referring to showed a woman with close-cropped hair and a scar, but you could clearly see that she was a woman.
My whole point is: it doesn't make sense for them *not* to represented.
Like I said above: SM, for example, have a distinct reason for being only male. Eldar field both genders, as do Tau, presumably.

I agree, Barbie dollish miniatures would be an abomination of nature! I think the fact that most of the models are male makes it easier for GW to sell them. Try imagining this conversation with your loveable and always attentive mothers:
"Hey, mom, i'm going down to the GW store today. Gonna buy myself some new miniatures."
"Okay. What kind are you buying?"
"Uuuuh... Miniatures..."
"What kind, Billy/Bob/Bubba/Insert Your Name Here?"
"Well, the new Cadians..."
"And what is new about them if i may ask?"
"They're plastic (by now your cheeks should be reddening slightly, tomgirls or not.)..."
"And?"
"Okay, okay, okay! They're women! Tomgirls! Girls with Lasguns!"
"You naughty, naughty boy. I will flog you with the nine-tailed cat and wash your mouth with brown soap until your teeth disappear and your tongue is a nub!"
Of course, the severity of this encounter can be downgraded if your mother isn't sadistic and delights in beating you...

This deserved to be replied to based solely on its funniednes. :d

No seriously, having them all be male makes sure they appeal to nearly everyone. People like us are exasperated that they refuse to be realistic, but GW makes it seem all the more innocent when your army is just made up of burly, hairy, beer-swilling, gun-toting religious fanatics. Totally not a push in the asexual direction. Shouldn't be seen as a homo-erotic allegory either. No way. Wrestling guys in "interesting poses"... Totally normal! Who doesn't recognize it?

This forum seems to have a thing with homo-erotic allegories.:p And I thought studying Ancient History was full of them... :p

You see?.. The lack of female models has already done it's damage! We are too absorbed with painting to have a social life, our girlfriends have left us, we are malnourished! GW, i beg you... Tomgirls with lasguns! Or pulse rifles. Heck, even a hermafrodite ork will do it for me at this time... Aiieeee!

Hehehe. Maybe there's a female Necron Flayed One? She would even have the fleshy bits...

Lol. Now we just need a female C'tan and we're set!

While the real world female in the standard military kit of today may not stand out like a Barbie wearing GI Joe clothes, this is a tabletop game we're talking about here. A substantial amount of the exaggerated attributes on models are not because the sculptors have a breast fetish but are to make the model stand out amongst the other models on the table at a distance. I recognize that an average female Cadian would not actually be a DD and her armor (such as it is) would tone down the protrusions substantially in "real life". Like her SoB compatriots the "femaleness" is mostly artistic license and I for one have no problem with that. People that do can paint just guys. This is really a marketing ploy that GW has screwed up (neglected) for way too many years.

Still, I think you could tell the difference between a male & female Cadian Guardsmen in battledress. Especially less dressed up models like Catachans. Not every woman in the military has Heman muscles like those guys. I'm not even speaking about things like female tank commanders, commissars, priests, etc.
On the other hand, some blondhaired Tyranids would be nice...

Well, there is Dr. Thunder's project:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/141737.page

I think he's doing another round of castings, too.

This is why all my soldiers fight with full headgear and respirators. Nobody will be able to tell the difference, and I don't really care enough to make "OMG FEMALE" models cuz I see enough of 'em around campus.

But, I'm also a big proponent of homoerotic subtext. So...yeah I like my big, burly manly men.

I actually see it as many good mod and customizing opportunities. I have made female seer council (farseer and warlocks) on bikes. Female Arch Lector both mounted and on war alter. Female Empire Knights. You can have the models you want and fun customizing them as well. Although it is time consuming and it just got a whole lot harder with Games Workshop shutting down the bits order :(.

There were several female Guardsman back in the Rouge Trader days, though not that many, 2-3. As I have an image already hosted, here's a burly women with an Autocannon.:

In the most recent fluff, you do not hear of female guardsmen. Is the Imperium chauvanistic? You bet your arse it is.

Russia was chauvanistic while they were shooting cowards and defectors. The one thing the Imperium does not lack are warm bodies to throw at the enemies of the Imperium.

Also, modelling busty women on purpose unsettles other players.

We're misusing the word "Chauvinism" here. It means to be fond of things of yourself. In the context of states and nations, it's nearly a synonim of patriotism. The word we should be using is "Mysoginist", which losely translates to "female-hating/discriminating".
I really can't believe the Imperium can afford such an attitude. They are, above all, cold and calculating.

Agreed. Sooner or later with the way the use the IGs, they're gonna run out of em! Sectorwise anyway. And the fact that they use SoB just proves they are neither chauvanistic or mysoginistic. In fact, the SoB may explain the lack of female guardsmen, as the Adeptas Sororitas is quite a large organisation. Also, if you are even half aware of what women actually look like, i.e you get let out of your basement without leash, more than once a month, you will know that not all women are a double D. And stressing the point stated so vehemently above, campaigning is rough, so they wouldn't exactly look like a barbie doll.

Like I said above: This is not a preech for double D cupped women. a) I'd prefer smaller breasts, since more than a handful is a waste and b) like you said, it's not realistic.
I think they're generally already overdoing it for most of the SoB. Come on, Power Armour on high heels?

Defininetely. SoB look like a cross between a baroque french play and Whitney Houston (i.e they look rather odd and play music that sounds like utter crap...) Just who at GW got that idea? I know the Imperium is baroque in style, but seriously. Spiky bra-like things and high heels. Voltaire is writhing in agony from his grave right now (while on the other hand, Freidrich Nietzche is downright exstatic. All hail the father of Nihilism and first male feminist!)

Fluff wise there is little reason for the lack of female models, Eldar should have females in every unit they have, a female farseer is a must tbh (and If I've read current fluff now a male fig for Banshees. ) Dark Eldar, more so, Imperial Guard does depend on regiment, but in general there seems to be no restriction, yes some worlds are probably hyper chauvenist, however other worlds including Cadia do not have a choice and if you can hold a rifle you fight. (Tbh I imagine Cadia probably uses children to fight, but thats a whole other issue, I wouldn't want the figs anyway and it would hurt GW if they even thought about it.. just raising it as this is a fluff forum.)
Obviously some armies are exempt, Necrons, Orks and Marines although I could understand female Chaos marines, are you telling Tzeentch he can't break the Y cromosone dependancy for those following him?? or Slaanesh for that matter.
Oh and with Tau if I've read right you can't really tell a difference unless you are Tau so no matter, however saying all this, and I've also called for more female models for a long time on different forums, something occured to me a year of two back, and I still feel it is the true reason for a lack of female models.

Simply put GW sculptors in general, are not confident, or plainly not good enough to do female models on mass, thus the don't do them if they can help it.

If you think of most of the female models, they range from poor, to is that really a female in most cases. Only a couple of units really look decent, and one of those is in Fantasy.

I'd love to see a change, I really would, but I think with out fresh blood female models will be overlooked in most armies and you'll have to convert them yourselves if you want them.

the_trooper wrote:Also, modelling busty women on purpose unsettles other players.

I'm not sure I'd be so concerned about female guardsmen. Especially considering the daemonettes out there.

I figure GW doesn't want to rub it into all the gamers faces about what they (in general) AREN'T getting (females).

Best just swept under the rug.

Most people I know that play WH either have a girl/boyfriend, are married or have kids.