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What’s the most popular enemy for an average guardsman?
Orks
Heretics/Legion of the Damned
Chaos Space Marines
Demons
Chaos in general (Heretics/LOD, CSM, and Demons)
Tau
Tyranids
Eldar
Dark Eldar
Necrons
Other (explain below)

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Made in us
Thunderhawk Pilot Dropping From Orbit




AZ

What does the average regular joe guardsman fight the most?



 
   
Made in ca
Junior Officer with Laspistol





London, Ontario

Most of the time, Guardsmen would be fighting humans. Some may be Chaos tainted, but regular rebellion is probably job one.

After that, Orks. Sheer number and mindless aggression.

I think fewer Tyranids, in the fluff, as Nids overwhelm and consume so you never get Vets.

Tau might be more common than Nids, maybe.

All the others are relatively rare, in-universe.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/22 22:38:38


 
   
Made in es
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain




Vigo. Spain.

Orks without a doubt.

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Dakka does have White Knights and is also rather infamous for it's Black Knights. A new edition brings out the passionate and not all of them are good at expressing themselves in written form. There have been plenty of hysterical responses from both sides so far. So we descend into pointless bickering with neither side listening to each other. So posting here becomes more masturbation than conversation.

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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Whoever said "normal human rebels" is right. Most of the time it is the IG's job to put down rebellions. Most of the other times they will be fighting orks, as they are the most common enemy across the galaxy. The other enemies are somewhat rarer, with the possible exception of the tyranids in the parts of the galaxy that have been targeted by hive fleets.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/06/22 23:27:38


 
   
Made in gb
Potent Possessed Daemonvessel





Why Aye Ya Canny Dakkanaughts!

In order (starting from most common), I'd say:
Rebels (could be heretics, could be GSC, could just be some people unhappy with the Government)
Orks (there's a lot of them)
Tau (simple denial of expansion campaigns)
Nids (they're more abundant than they used to be but they're kept quite secret by the Imperium and are generally only ever fought by the unlucky PDF forces that were garrisoned on the planet at the time of the invasion)
Eldar/DE (less likely now due to the alliance)
Chaos (kept very secret by the Imperium, even to go as far as having regiments executed for their knowledge of certain Daemons)
Necrons (very rare that such a battle would happen and even then, again, it would only be the planet's PDF force that would fight them before SMs were sent in)

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Longtime Dakkanaut




 mrhappyface wrote:

Chaos (kept very secret by the Imperium, even to go as far as having regiments executed for their knowledge of certain Daemons)

Daemons? Sure. But every imperial citizen has heard of Horus and his traitors. Hell, cadia was outside of the eye of terror. Kind of hard to keep knowledge of chaos secret like that. I'd put chaos higher than tyranids or tau, especially now that the eye of terror has split open and chaos forces are everywhere.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/22 23:57:03


 
   
Made in gb
Potent Possessed Daemonvessel





Why Aye Ya Canny Dakkanaughts!

w1zard wrote:
 mrhappyface wrote:

Chaos (kept very secret by the Imperium, even to go as far as having regiments executed for their knowledge of certain Daemons)

Daemons? Sure. But every imperial citizen has heard of Horus and his traitors. Hell, cadia was outside of the eye of terror. Kind of hard to keep knowledge of chaos secret like that.

Hardly any Imperial citizens are aware of the Traitor legions, Traitor Primarchs, Chaos Gods or Daemons. They know that some humans practise in cults that don't follow the light of the Emperor but that's about it. The regiments that fought on Cadia knew they would be fighting 'Heretics' but they knew very little more.

The Imperium doesn't want to make it's citizens aware of real Gods that appose the Emperor, nor do they wish them to know that half the Imperium once joined the forces of Chaos against the Emperor; they want Imperial citizens to believe the Emperor is the only God and that the demi-Gods known as Space Marines are absolute in their love for the Emperor.

Ghorros wrote:
The moral of the story: Don't park your Imperial Knight in a field of Gretchin carrying power tools.
 Marmatag wrote:
All the while, my opponent is furious, throwing his codex on the floor, trying to slash his wrists with safety scissors.
 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




 mrhappyface wrote:

Hardly any Imperial citizens are aware of the Traitor legions, Traitor Primarchs

I agree that almost nobody knows about the chaos gods and daemons and such... but in every novel I have ever read, "Horus" is a pretty common Imperial swear word, and the title of "warmaster" has a stigma within the guard due to Horus' betrayal (which is why macharius was called "Lord Solar"). Horus and the traitor marines are absolutely common knowledge amongst the Imperium.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/06/23 00:07:27


 
   
Made in us
Oozing Plague Marine Terminator





Heretics (non Astartes/Chaos per se) and Orkz mostly.

In the book 15 hours, a new recruit is expected to be fighting some renegade militia, but ends up on an ork controlled death world instead.
   
Made in gb
Aspirant Tech-Adept




UK

I'd guess heretics and renegades. Not necessarily all chaos aligned, it seems like plenty of secessionists come and go in the Imperium.

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Made in ru
Implacable Skitarii




IMHO as of just before Rift/early D.I.

Orks - most common xenos in the galaxy.


Then tyranids ('cos any tyranid invasion should be met with massive muster of Imperial Forces - i.e. there's WAY less warzones than Ork or rebellions but each one will be meatgrinder with great concentration of Astra Militarum units).

Followed by heretics-rebels (homebrew type) - unlike Ork incursions those as often as not can be dealt with by even less than competent PDFs.

Then Traitor /Chaos forces proper - Long War or not, Traitors are few compared to xenos and pre-Rift they were mostly contained in EoT and warp storms zones.

Necron will be growing problem in Dark Imperium times due both to more Tomb Worlds awakening and assimilation of fragmented dynasties by more agressive 'imperialistic' ones.

Then Drukari/Aeldari, Tau and lesser races - first ones due to their hit'n'grab modus operandi which won't gives enough time for IG to respond properly while others are really minuscle and localized.

Without passion we'd be truly dead. 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka




Orks and general rebels definitely take the top two spots. The rest I imagine depend where you live. If you live near the Tau then you'll fight them a bunch but if you're on the other side of the galaxy then you'll probably see more chaos and eldar than tau.

tremere47-fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate, leads to triple riptide spam  
   
Made in au
Stalwart Veteran Guard Sergeant





As others have said, human separatists and Orks are by far going to be the most common foe that a Guardsman will face. This is due to their omnipresent nature. Orks infest the entire galaxy, it is mentioned in the fluff that by pure numbers they may be more populous than even the Imperium. And rebels/heretics are going to exist wherever there are humans sooner or later.

I would guess that Orks may edge out in front for foes the IG face most frequently, because not every rebellion (chaos cult or otherwise) will reach the point where the local PDF cannot suppress it.

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Made in us
Yellin' Yoof





I would say pre great rift it would be (from most likely enemy to least)

1. Rebels (non chaos)

2. Orks

3. Chaos Rebels

4. Nids

5. Eldar (all types)

6. Chaos Marine Warband

7.Tau

8. Necrons

9. GSC

10. Chaos Demons

11. Opposed Loyalist Forces








Automatically Appended Next Post:
Current fluff would probably be

1. Chaos (all kinds)

2. Orks

3. Rebels (non-chaos)

4. Nids

5. Necrons

6. Non Ynnari Eldar (all types)

7. GSC

8. Tau

9. Ynnari

10. Opposed Loyalist Forces

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2018/06/26 13:35:29


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




 BigbyWolf wrote:
I would say pre great rift it would be (from most likely enemy to least)

1. Rebels (non chaos)

2. Orks

3. Chaos Rebels

4. Nids

5. Eldar (all types)

6. Chaos Marine Warband

7.Tau

8. Necrons

9. GSC

10. Chaos Demons

11. Opposed Loyalist Forces

Switch number 5 and number 9 and that would be an excellent list. DE raids on Imperial worlds are extremely rare in relation to the other ones on the list, and craftworld eldar tend to avoid humanity becuase they gain nothing by fighting us.
   
Made in us
Stubborn Prosecutor





Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?

Bender wrote:* Realise that despite the way people talk, this is not a professional sport played by demi gods, but rather a game of toy soldiers played by tired, inebriated human beings.


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Made in gb
Aspirant Tech-Adept




UK

 ChargerIIC wrote:
Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?


I think it's meant to be Lost and the Damned

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Made in us
Stubborn Prosecutor





phillv85 wrote:
 ChargerIIC wrote:
Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?


I think it's meant to be Lost and the Damned


That would make more sense. I was getting an image of an Imperial Officer shaking his fist at the sky "Foiled Again! Damn Ghost Marines!"

Bender wrote:* Realise that despite the way people talk, this is not a professional sport played by demi gods, but rather a game of toy soldiers played by tired, inebriated human beings.


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Made in us
Thunderhawk Pilot Dropping From Orbit




AZ


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 ChargerIIC wrote:
Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?


I meant Lost and the Damned... my bad.

And Tau are rarer than Eldar?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/06/27 02:01:08




 
   
Made in se
Glorious Lord of Chaos






The burning pits of Hades, also known as Sweden in summer

Orks make for the most common opponent. If the guardsmen could choose, they would choose Orks. In the books, there is a reason Orks are the familiar, default opponent before Eldar/Chaos/Tyranids etc. unveil themselves and the real fight starts.

I should think of a new signature... In the meantime, have a  
   
Made in us
Stubborn Prosecutor





usmcmidn wrote:



And Tau are rarer than Eldar?


That's an interesting thought - There are more eldar out there, but you can always find the Tau. I don't think the Eldar muck about with humans that often unless you count Dark Eldar. Tau on the other hand are always pushing their spheres of expansion

Bender wrote:* Realise that despite the way people talk, this is not a professional sport played by demi gods, but rather a game of toy soldiers played by tired, inebriated human beings.


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Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan






usmcmidn wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
 ChargerIIC wrote:
Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?


I meant Lost and the Damned... my bad.

And Tau are rarer than Eldar?


The rarity of Tau is going to be much more location specific than other races due to the Tau being concentrated in the eastern fringe and (for the most part) lacking long range/fast warp travel. Tau incursions are also usually colonization efforts so they tend to expand to nearby systems and not launch an attack deep in enemy controlled space. If your a guardsman in the eastern fringe then Tau might be more likely to be encountered but if your stationed somewhere in the galactic north, west, or south then your almost guaranteed to never see a Tau or probably don't even know what a Tau is (unless they decide for whatever reason to ship your unit all the way over to Tau space).

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Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan





Denver, Colorado

By 'popular', do you mean 'most common', or 'army most preferred to face if I were a guardsmen'?

Because Orks would probably be most common, but I would think that Tau would probably be the least intimidating, and they actually take prisoners who can be useful in Tau society.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/27 15:52:41


"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment." Words to live by. 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut





If its popular with the guardsmen themselves you want, its probably the Commissars

at least for some regiments
   
Made in vn
Dakka Veteran




The Orks, of course. There are more Orks than humans in the universe, and the Tyranids were just beginning to show up in the 41st millenium.

Remember, humans have fought the Orks longer than any other races (mostly because during the Age of Strife, many human worlds and alien races were wiped out by Men of Iron).

After that:

2. Chaos in all forms.

3. Tyranids.

4. Tau.

5. Necron.

6. Dark Eldar.

7. Rivals.

8. Others. These factions are rare enough that a Guardsman can earn dozens of medals on the battlefield without ever knowing they exist. That includes Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Eldar, Inquisition and Grey Knights. Another is Daemons which require special incorruptible forces to deal with. Do note that Chaos Space Marines and Daemons are part of the Chaos in all forms, since it is a very wide faction.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Vankraken wrote:
usmcmidn wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
 ChargerIIC wrote:
Why the heck is Cultist and the Legion of the Damned in the same choice?


I meant Lost and the Damned... my bad.

And Tau are rarer than Eldar?


The rarity of Tau is going to be much more location specific than other races due to the Tau being concentrated in the eastern fringe and (for the most part) lacking long range/fast warp travel. Tau incursions are also usually colonization efforts so they tend to expand to nearby systems and not launch an attack deep in enemy controlled space. If your a guardsman in the eastern fringe then Tau might be more likely to be encountered but if your stationed somewhere in the galactic north, west, or south then your almost guaranteed to never see a Tau or probably don't even know what a Tau is (unless they decide for whatever reason to ship your unit all the way over to Tau space).


The thing is that the Eldar don't like fighting non-Chaos humans. They avoid it when possible. The Tau have a very good reason to fight humans: they want the Imperium's planet, resources and its population converted. This is a valid reason for both factions to go against one another.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2018/07/05 07:45:55


 
   
Made in us
Storm Trooper with Maglight






 BigbyWolf wrote:
I would say pre great rift it would be (from most likely enemy to least)

1. Rebels (non chaos)

2. Orks

3. Chaos Rebels

4. Nids

5. Eldar (all types)

6. Chaos Marine Warband

7.Tau

8. Necrons

9. GSC

10. Chaos Demons

11. Opposed Loyalist Forces








Automatically Appended Next Post:
Current fluff would probably be

1. Chaos (all kinds)

2. Orks

3. Rebels (non-chaos)

4. Nids

5. Necrons

6. Non Ynnari Eldar (all types)

7. GSC

8. Tau

9. Ynnari

10. Opposed Loyalist Forces


I dunno, I think I'd put GSC above Nids - if for nothing else than the simple fact that if there is a cult on the planet, the defenders will also be fighting them as well as the Tyranids when the Hive Fleet arrives. After all, one of the main ways Tyranid's target worlds is the Genestealer Cult reaching a certain tipping point - and there are several instances in the fluff of sending the Guard in the nip the cult in the bud before the Hive Fleet tracks its location. Off the top of my head, the Cain stories had two instances of Genestealer Cults being destroyed before they reached the tipping point (and hints of more being hunted down, admittedly mostly by the Inquisition rather than the Guard), and one story involving a Cult that had already sent its beacon for the Hive Fleets.

Long story short - most wars against Tyranids will involve Genestealer Cults, but not all wars with a Genestealer Cult will involve Tyranids.

Other than that point, I mostly agree with your part 1 list, and think your second list is about right, though 1-3 would probably be a toss up more than a static field on that one.
   
Made in ca
Storm Trooper with Maglight




 mrhappyface wrote:
w1zard wrote:
 mrhappyface wrote:

Chaos (kept very secret by the Imperium, even to go as far as having regiments executed for their knowledge of certain Daemons)

Daemons? Sure. But every imperial citizen has heard of Horus and his traitors. Hell, cadia was outside of the eye of terror. Kind of hard to keep knowledge of chaos secret like that.

Hardly any Imperial citizens are aware of the Traitor legions, Traitor Primarchs, Chaos Gods or Daemons. They know that some humans practise in cults that don't follow the light of the Emperor but that's about it. The regiments that fought on Cadia knew they would be fighting 'Heretics' but they knew very little more.

The Imperium doesn't want to make it's citizens aware of real Gods that appose the Emperor, nor do they wish them to know that half the Imperium once joined the forces of Chaos against the Emperor; they want Imperial citizens to believe the Emperor is the only God and that the demi-Gods known as Space Marines are absolute in their love for the Emperor.


Thats very outdated fluff. Like, years outdated. Horus is commonly known as the traitor primarch, and chaos marines are known to exist.

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Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





I voted others.
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Regular Dakkanaut



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Other.
Each other to be exact, since Imperium is a feudal empire made from countless nations, empires and kingdoms, which mostly battle among themselves. Those quarrels are just too meaningless to be noted. Imperiums ability to get them to do something together tends to lie in them being a god fearing lot, same way the church got kings to obey in the middle ages.

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Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut





 greatbigtree wrote:
I think fewer Tyranids, in the fluff, as Nids overwhelm and consume so you never get Vets.

Um, both regiments Cain was attached to, 12th Valhallan Artillery and 597th Valhallan were in fact tyranid war veterans, so it can't be uncommon.

usmcmidn wrote:
And Tau are rarer than Eldar?

Tau are tiny speck in one segmentum with no means to travel far.

It's like asking if a armed gang found in only one city in Mexico would be significant enemy to military and police across North American continent...

I have no idea why people keep putting Eldar below Tau, one Craftworld has bigger population than a dozen Septs, and Commorragh has bigger population than all the Tau worlds combined and unlike them easy access to fastest and most reliable means of travel across the Galaxy.
   
 
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