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mattyrm wrote:
I dont the West is contradictory, just the USA.

I mean, is there any other first world nation that barrs a fighting man from having a pint?! Certainly not here in Blighty..

Actually, I'm pretty sure that in England you can join the military at 16 and serve overseas at 17, while only being allowed to vote and purchase alcohol at 18. Not to mention you can pay taxes before you can vote.

Frankly i think its a disgrace!

True.


As to the actual topic, I agree with the opinion that adults would be the preferred soldiers, but children be used if necessary. Not that you can really argue against that - if they're going to be murdered by a horde of xenos or daemons anyway, there's nothing really wrong with allowing them to defend their families, surely?

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Having actually served alongside 18-21 year old conscripts, I have to say that 16 is way too young. Conscription is generally bad, and young adults just want to be young adults.

I suspect (although I don't know which countries armed forces you serve alongside) that the major difference is the vast amount of propaganda the Imperium uses on its populations (not that it's likely to take much actual propaganda - the simple facts would likely cause most people to cling to the Imperium for safety and to preserve their own if for no other reason). Most Guardsmen will likely truly believe in the cause they are fighting for, especially those serving of Cadia. It'd be hard not witness the horrors 40K Milky Way and not seek to exterminate the threats to you and yours.

Yeah, you'd think so...I mean, if we had a modern example of a country that recruits via conscription, surrounded by neighbors hell-bent on destroying it, you would assume that they want to be there right?

Israel? North Korea?

NuggzTheNinja wrote:
LOL North Korea bro? No...

It has a significant amount of propaganda (apparently) and there must a significant amount of loyalty otherwise the regime would exist.

Israel is surprisingly devoid of propaganda. You don't really need much propaganda when about 70% of men and over 50% of women are conscripted into the military at age 18. It's not like they struggled to meet recruiting quotas.

From what I've seen and heard they seem very anti-Palestinian. Or at least their government is.

Idealogically they were fine, but 18 year olds want to do 18 year old things. They do the minimum required of them. "Rosh katan" (small head) is the slang for it...basically means that whether or not you know what you SHOULD be doing, you do what you're TOLD to do. A military like that survives on the virtues of its officers. Which, I guess, is sort of reflected in the IG Codex. Heavy Weapon Teams suck without Bring It Down orders.

Consider the situations the Imperial Guard often finds itself in, I suspect its members, in a battlezone, will do whatever it can within its purview to survive, not just doing what's been ordered.

To play to the choir, I guess in the 41st Milliennium, "there is only war", so lacking Facebook and discos, I guess most 18 year olds would be interested in serving...

Most worlds are apparently not that bad. Despite that the mount of propaganda would likely inspire large numbers of people to serve.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:
17 year olds served in a combat role in the falklands?!

Yes. As an example; http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/featured-stories/2010/01/07/news-falklands-war-hero-from-blacon-angry-that-he-won-t-recieve-pension-for-fighting-for-his-country-aged-17-59067-25548579/

Yeah, in this country you can fight (and die) for your country and pay taxes at 17, but you can't vote or buy alcohol. At 16 you can join with parental permission, but I don't think you can serve abroad until you're 17.