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Well, the title more or less give it away..

I know some of the changes SM had since the heresy (the Codex Astartes and.. well, different armor?), but what about IG?

If I want to play pre-heresy IG, would it be possible? Is there something like "Leman Russ tanks didn't exist" or something else?

Well, for starters, if I'm not wrong, it wasn't even Imperial Guard, but Imperial Army.

It was the imperial army. It had CRAZY STUFF UP THE KAZOO! If you can think of it, some form of it was in use by the imperial army.

Happygrunt wrote: CRAZY STUFF UP THE KAZOO!

define this

Brother Heinrich wrote:

Happygrunt wrote: CRAZY STUFF UP THE KAZOO!

define this

Baneblade legions fielded every Tuesday.

Genom Troopers.

Entire companis of nothing but leman russ executioners.

BTW, Archer is INCREDIBLY lulzy.

Happygrunt wrote:

Baneblade legions fielded every Tuesday.

Genom Troopers.

Entire companis of nothing but leman russ executioners.

BTW, Archer is INCREDIBLY lulzy.

I think Imperial Way is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". But like splitting of SM Legions and "homogenization" of Fleet (ie pre-Heresy Imperial Fleet was mix of AM-built Fleet and numerous pro-Imperial factions Fleets), iirc Army lost their own transport ships and possibly was reorganized so that different kinds of regiments from different worlds needed to built balanced force.

PS IIRC in some volume of Imperial Armour there were tanks that was phased out by Leman Russe - afair they're less reliable, have lighter armanent and were prone to engine overheating.

There was no Departmento Munitorum, basically, so the Imperial Forces were much less regimented. Basically, the first units of the Imperial Army were human mercenary or national armies drafted wholly into the Emperor's service. They fought with their traditional weapons and used their traditional organisation. So you end up with wildly different armies, like the Geno Chiliad or the Regnault Thorns.

To some extent, this still remains in the Imperial Guard, but the Departmento Munitorum's purpose was to homogenise things a bit for ease of supply. And to break up the regiments so they are no longer combined arms units. If an infantry regiment rebels in the 41stM then they'll have no armour or artillery support, and be easier to defeat. The Departmento Munitorum also introduced centrally-trained Commissars, though many of the old regiments already had some sort of 'discipline masters'.

Here are a few links
general background

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Imperial_Army

and

http://z15.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Crusade/index.php?showforum=11

Happygrunt wrote:

Brother Heinrich wrote:

Happygrunt wrote: CRAZY STUFF UP THE KAZOO!

define this

Baneblade legions fielded every Tuesday.

Genom Troopers.

Entire companis of nothing but leman russ executioners.

oh those crazy imperials, what will they think of next?

A notable example would be the Byzant Janizars under Horus in the 63rd Expedition Fleet.

Well, the Imperial Army combined land and naval units for a start.

The Fleet and the land army were combined into the Imperial Army. IIRC, each "regiment" (or whatever they were called at the time) was based on a warship. A bit like Post hersy SM, when you think about it.

It also seems that pre-heresy troopers had access to far better gear than modern guards. Hellguns for instance, seemed to be far more common among basic troopers at the time, whereas tthe IoM now keeps those shiny toys for elite troops. As stated before, several units were also made of genetically modified troopers (enhanced speed, better vision, etc). basic troopers seemed to also have access to improved helmets (with combat visors and the like) and were often equipped with improved suits of armour if the combat theatre was especially dangerous (sealed hazard-environment suits and rebreather masks for example).

Armoured units also had access to Land Raiders and Rhinos (although it was the Mk1 and Mk2 versions, in other words, rubbish compared to modern LR ).

Finally there was apparently no primitive regiments among the Imperial Army. No feral barbarians, no horse mounted troopers. In Prospero Burns, we are briefly introduced to the Tupelov Lancers. A Terra-based regiment of rough riders equipped with cybernetic steeds !