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So here’s a thread in praise of The Little Guys And Girls. Not your highly trained or genhanced. Not your bionicallg gifted or flesh crafted. The regular spods. Those that would be you or I if we were unlucky enough to live our (drastically shortened) lives in the 41st Millenium.
I’m talking the Guardsman. The Guardian. The Cultist. The civilian turned soldier. Those with the equivalent training of ‘this end toward enemy’. They are the true heroes.
I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of training and a slightly shonky gun. It’s people standing together in the face of trouser ruining horrific horror. Those that get to stand next to demigods and ridiculous skilled killers, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their species war efforts.
Sure, your Aspect Warriors, Astartes (all flavours), Titans and Daemons get all the big headlines. But who is doing the real work? Who is most risking life, limb and, crucially, sanity, just to be that flickering candle in the dark? It’s The Little Guys And Girls.
Ain’t nothing special about them. Individually, they’re utterly toast. Hell, I reckon a lone Termagant is speedy enough to slaughter the majority of such squads. And that’s the ‘Nids little guy.
And this is purely background based. Just stop and consider for a couple of minutes the sheer variety of exceptionally unpleasant ways to die in the 41st Millenium. Every weapon is inimacle to the barely armoured spod. Shuriken and Splinter Weapons are nasty, but possibly the cleanest way to go (depending on the poison for Splinter). Lasguns won’t necessarily kill you, but will hurt like a Melon Farmer due to flash burns, disfiguring you for life, and leaving you in acute pain for at least the short term. Tyranid bioweapons? No. Thank. You? Imagine seeing your squadmate, whether or not you like the sod, being hit by a Bolter, Gauss Rifle or Mono Filament gun, or blasted by undisciplined but relentless and ridiculous bore Orky Shootas and Sluggas.
Even worse. You’ll find yourself in situations where not only the above is happening all around you, but the enemy you shook at just won’t die. Sure, you’ll take down a few of them. That’s inevitable. But their cries of pain will be drowned out by the death all around you. Blood, cordite (or equivalent), the stench of muck as people void their bowels. The sheer cacophony of death. And they just keep on coming.
Then they hit your lines, and their close combat specialists put the boot in. This is a universe where a high speed, monomolecularly sharp chainsaw that has been weaponised is considered a bit wussy. You don’t just die. You die messy, and in near abject futility.
Yet still you stand. You have to. Or all is lost. Yes, you have your own demigod equivalents on your side. But their literally one in a million, possibly one in a billion.
It’s all on you. And so you stand. Terrified. Yet proud and defiant.
So here’s to The Little Guys And Girls. They will carry the day, demigods be damned.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/10/09 19:51:27
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In reality (yeah I know) if genetically enhanced super soldiers existed, there would be no regular human soldiers. All suitable/volunteers for the SM would do just that, leaving those unsuitable yet able bodied to perform manual jobs and fulfil higher roles in society. No point spending money training and arming cannon fodder if those resources could be better used to support the supersoldiers.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: In reality (yeah I know) if genetically enhanced super soldiers existed, there would be no regular human soldiers. All suitable/volunteers for the SM would do just that, leaving those unsuitable yet able bodied to perform manual jobs and fulfil higher roles in society. No point spending money training and arming cannon fodder if those resources could be better used to support the supersoldiers.
In 40k though super soldiers are rare and the galaxy big. U need boots on the ground.
Tibs Ironblood wrote: Yes, yes guardsmen are the best and have the biggest balls. We know.
glad to see I'm not the only person who rolls my eyes at this, guardsmen aren't told what they're signing up to fight (imperial propagnada basicly says "ohh don't worry victory'll be easy") and by time they realize? they don't have a choice because they have the commisar's bolt pistol at the back of their heads. That ain't bravery
Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two
Tibs Ironblood wrote: Yes, yes guardsmen are the best and have the biggest balls. We know.
glad to see I'm not the only person who rolls my eyes at this, guardsmen aren't told what they're signing up to fight (imperial propagnada basicly says "ohh don't worry victory'll be easy") and by time they realize? they don't have a choice because they have the commisar's bolt pistol at the back of their heads. That ain't bravery
That might be true for raw recruits in some worlds, but for a lot of the renowned regiments like Cadia, Catachan, DKoK, Steel Legion, etc, where they are raised in some of the harshest conditions, they know exactly what they're going up against.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: In reality (yeah I know) if genetically enhanced super soldiers existed, there would be no regular human soldiers. All suitable/volunteers for the SM would do just that, leaving those unsuitable yet able bodied to perform manual jobs and fulfil higher roles in society. No point spending money training and arming cannon fodder if those resources could be better used to support the supersoldiers.
Then again marines aren't exactly fast to generate(in particular as lots of tech is lost). Not every human CAN become one. Suitable candinates are but tiny part of humans. Then some will reject the gene implants and die. Then factor in that there's literally limit on how fast you CAN grow marines and the more you suffer casualties the slower that is as you need _live_ marines to grow new marines.
Simply put: If Imperium tried to do with just space marines(who btw still die nicely to artirelly etc) they wouldn't have NEARLY enough of them. About million space marines out there. Who knows how many imperial guard. Replacing all those with enough space marines is practically impossible. Wonder if there's even suitable candinates enough. Nevermind practical trouble of getting enough geneseed harvested.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of training and a slightly shonky gun. It’s people standing together in the face of trouser ruining horrific horror. Those that get to stand next to demigods and ridiculous skilled killers, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their species war efforts.
I am a big fan of the little folk in 40k, but I want to point out this isn't accurate for the Astra Militarum at least. Guardsmen are generally decently well trained, especially from renowned worlds like Cadia, Catachan, Krieg etc., and they actually are equipped with a really good basic weapon. Lasguns are great and reliable... they are only weak when compared to some of the bonkers stuff available to the major races (who only still exist because they are too powerful for humanity to exterminate). There is a specific unit entry for Conscripts, the poorly trained troops, and if you look at the Imperial Militia list from 30k, that has lasguns as an upgrade. Those are true cannon fodder. Guardsmen generally get at least weeks of training, often on top of training as a PDF trooper or simply surviving the challenges of their home planet.
It is worth noting that the majority of Imperial wars are Imperial Guardsmen coming in as elite troops and annihilating some true rebel rabble on a renegade world, or driving off some minor local xenos species. The big ticket aliens and major Chaos incursions are much rarer.
tneva82 wrote:
queen_annes_revenge wrote: In reality (yeah I know) if genetically enhanced super soldiers existed, there would be no regular human soldiers. All suitable/volunteers for the SM would do just that, leaving those unsuitable yet able bodied to perform manual jobs and fulfil higher roles in society. No point spending money training and arming cannon fodder if those resources could be better used to support the supersoldiers.
Then again marines aren't exactly fast to generate(in particular as lots of tech is lost). Not every human CAN become one. Suitable candinates are but tiny part of humans. Then some will reject the gene implants and die. Then factor in that there's literally limit on how fast you CAN grow marines and the more you suffer casualties the slower that is as you need _live_ marines to grow new marines.
Simply put: If Imperium tried to do with just space marines(who btw still die nicely to artirelly etc) they wouldn't have NEARLY enough of them. About million space marines out there. Who knows how many imperial guard. Replacing all those with enough space marines is practically impossible. Wonder if there's even suitable candinates enough. Nevermind practical trouble of getting enough geneseed harvested.
Not to forget they have had a little bit of an issue with the odd Space Marine going rogue and trying to slaughter all their former allies, so they understandably want to put a lot of time and effort in to making sure the Space Marine stays Imperial as much as possible, especially before giving them all the best toys to play with
ChargerIIC wrote: If algae farm paste with a little bit of your grandfather in it isn't Grimdark I don't know what is.
Thing is, in the real world , it’s not practical to make an army of super soldiers - using a modern day equivalent of Tier 1 operators. So few have the experience and skill set needed. In the UK our equivalent probably numbers only in double figures. Not to mention in 40k history that once upon a time the super soldiers numbered far higher and had more power...... and no one lived happily ever after !
So here’s a thread in praise of The Little Guys And Girls. Not your highly trained or genhanced. Not your bionicallg gifted or flesh crafted. The regular spods. Those that would be you or I if we were unlucky enough to live our (drastically shortened) lives in the 41st Millenium.
I’m talking the Guardsman. The Guardian. The Cultist. The civilian turned soldier. Those with the equivalent training of ‘this end toward enemy’. They are the true heroes.
I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of training and a slightly shonky gun. It’s people standing together in the face of trouser ruining horrific horror. Those that get to stand next to demigods and ridiculous skilled killers, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their species war efforts.
Sure, your Aspect Warriors, Astartes (all flavours), Titans and Daemons get all the big headlines. But who is doing the real work? Who is most risking life, limb and, crucially, sanity, just to be that flickering candle in the dark? It’s The Little Guys And Girls.
Ain’t nothing special about them. Individually, they’re utterly toast. Hell, I reckon a lone Termagant is speedy enough to slaughter the majority of such squads. And that’s the ‘Nids little guy.
And this is purely background based. Just stop and consider for a couple of minutes the sheer variety of exceptionally unpleasant ways to die in the 41st Millenium. Every weapon is inimacle to the barely armoured spod. Shuriken and Splinter Weapons are nasty, but possibly the cleanest way to go (depending on the poison for Splinter). Lasguns won’t necessarily kill you, but will hurt like a Melon Farmer due to flash burns, disfiguring you for life, and leaving you in acute pain for at least the short term. Tyranid bioweapons? No. Thank. You? Imagine seeing your squadmate, whether or not you like the sod, being hit by a Bolter, Gauss Rifle or Mono Filament gun, or blasted by undisciplined but relentless and ridiculous bore Orky Shootas and Sluggas.
Even worse. You’ll find yourself in situations where not only the above is happening all around you, but the enemy you shook at just won’t die. Sure, you’ll take down a few of them. That’s inevitable. But their cries of pain will be drowned out by the death all around you. Blood, cordite (or equivalent), the stench of muck as people void their bowels. The sheer cacophony of death. And they just keep on coming.
Then they hit your lines, and their close combat specialists put the boot in. This is a universe where a high speed, monomolecularly sharp chainsaw that has been weaponised is considered a bit wussy. You don’t just die. You die messy, and in near abject futility.
Yet still you stand. You have to. Or all is lost. Yes, you have your own demigod equivalents on your side. But their literally one in a million, possibly one in a billion.
It’s all on you. And so you stand. Terrified. Yet proud and defiant.
So here’s to The Little Guys And Girls. They will carry the day, demigods be damned.
How Do?
So here’s a thread in praise of The Little Guys And Girls. Not your highly wealthy or propertied. Not your inheritance gifted or ivy league educated. The regular proletariat. Those that would be you or I if we were unlucky enough to live our (minimum wage) lives in the 3rd Millenium.
I’m talking the store clerk. The waitress. The factory worker. The civilian turned wage slave. Those with the equivalent training of ‘if you study hard and work like a drone, you too can be rich’. They are the true heroes.
I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of societal equality and a heavily disparate wage gap. It’s people standing together in the face of automaton creating capitalist horror. Those that get to stand next to industrialists and lying media conglomerates, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their society's economy.
Sure, your middle managers, investment bankers (all flavours), landlords and stock brokers get all the big tax cuts. But who is doing the real work? Who is most risking life, limb and, crucially, sanity, just to be that flickering candle in the dark? It’s The Little Guys And Girls.
Ain’t nothing special about them. Individually, they’re utterly toast. Hell, I reckon a lone revolutionary socialist is speedy enough to slaughter the majority of such bourgeios scum. And that’s the ‘workers little guy.
And this is purely background based. Just stop and consider for a couple of minutes the sheer variety of exceptionally unpleasant ways to be impoverished in the 3rd Millenium. Every job is inimacle to the barely paid prole. Factories and fast food chains are nasty, but possibly the cleanest way to go (depending on the working conditions). Payday loans won’t necessarily kill you, but will hurt like a bank forclosure letter due to late mortgage repayments, disfiguring you for life, and leaving you in acute debt for at least the short term. Tax breaks for the rich? No. Thank. You? Imagine seeing your comrade, whether or not you like the sod, being hit by a baton, gas grenade or rubber bullet gun, or blasted by undisciplined but relentless and authoritarian pig with a badge.
Even worse. You’ll find yourself in situations where not only the above is happening all around you, but the system you shook at just won’t collapse. Sure, you’ll take down a few of them. That’s inevitable. But their cries of "poor people are just lazy" will be drowned out by the revolution all around you. Capitalists, fascists (or equivalent), the stench of bourgeios terror as billionaires void their ill gotten wealth. The sheer cacophony of glorious revolution. And they just keep on coming.
Then they hit your lines, and their media manipulating specialists put the boot in. This is a economic system where a once every four years, token democracy that has been manipulated by the ruling elite is considered fair. You don’t just die. You die indebted, and in near abject poverty.
Yet still you stand. You have to. Or all is lost. Yes, you have your own revolutionary comrades on your side. But their literally one in a million, possibly one in a billion.
It’s all on you. And so you stand. Terrified. Yet proud and defiant.
So here’s to The Little Guys And Girls. They will carry the day, bourgeoisie be damned.
So here’s a thread in praise of The Little Guys And Girls. Not your highly trained or genhanced. Not your bionicallg gifted or flesh crafted. The regular spods. Those that would be you or I if we were unlucky enough to live our (drastically shortened) lives in the 41st Millenium.
I’m talking the Guardsman. The Guardian. The Cultist. The civilian turned soldier. Those with the equivalent training of ‘this end toward enemy’. They are the true heroes.
I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of training and a slightly shonky gun. It’s people standing together in the face of trouser ruining horrific horror. Those that get to stand next to demigods and ridiculous skilled killers, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their species war efforts.
Sure, your Aspect Warriors, Astartes (all flavours), Titans and Daemons get all the big headlines. But who is doing the real work? Who is most risking life, limb and, crucially, sanity, just to be that flickering candle in the dark? It’s The Little Guys And Girls.
Ain’t nothing special about them. Individually, they’re utterly toast. Hell, I reckon a lone Termagant is speedy enough to slaughter the majority of such squads. And that’s the ‘Nids little guy.
And this is purely background based. Just stop and consider for a couple of minutes the sheer variety of exceptionally unpleasant ways to die in the 41st Millenium. Every weapon is inimacle to the barely armoured spod. Shuriken and Splinter Weapons are nasty, but possibly the cleanest way to go (depending on the poison for Splinter). Lasguns won’t necessarily kill you, but will hurt like a Melon Farmer due to flash burns, disfiguring you for life, and leaving you in acute pain for at least the short term. Tyranid bioweapons? No. Thank. You? Imagine seeing your squadmate, whether or not you like the sod, being hit by a Bolter, Gauss Rifle or Mono Filament gun, or blasted by undisciplined but relentless and ridiculous bore Orky Shootas and Sluggas.
Even worse. You’ll find yourself in situations where not only the above is happening all around you, but the enemy you shook at just won’t die. Sure, you’ll take down a few of them. That’s inevitable. But their cries of pain will be drowned out by the death all around you. Blood, cordite (or equivalent), the stench of muck as people void their bowels. The sheer cacophony of death. And they just keep on coming.
Then they hit your lines, and their close combat specialists put the boot in. This is a universe where a high speed, monomolecularly sharp chainsaw that has been weaponised is considered a bit wussy. You don’t just die. You die messy, and in near abject futility.
Yet still you stand. You have to. Or all is lost. Yes, you have your own demigod equivalents on your side. But their literally one in a million, possibly one in a billion.
It’s all on you. And so you stand. Terrified. Yet proud and defiant.
So here’s to The Little Guys And Girls. They will carry the day, demigods be damned.
How Do?
So here’s a thread in praise of The Little Guys And Girls. Not your highly wealthy or propertied. Not your inheritance gifted or ivy league educated. The regular proletariat. Those that would be you or I if we were unlucky enough to live our (minimum wage) lives in the 3rd Millenium.
I’m talking the store clerk. The waitress. The factory worker. The civilian turned wage slave. Those with the equivalent training of ‘if you study hard and work like a drone, you too can be rich’. They are the true heroes.
I mean, just look at the ridiculous horror they face with little more than a modicum of societal equality and a heavily disparate wage gap. It’s people standing together in the face of automaton creating capitalist horror. Those that get to stand next to industrialists and lying media conglomerates, yet still form (the background) lynchpin and keystone of their society's economy.
Sure, your middle managers, investment bankers (all flavours), landlords and stock brokers get all the big tax cuts. But who is doing the real work? Who is most risking life, limb and, crucially, sanity, just to be that flickering candle in the dark? It’s The Little Guys And Girls.
Ain’t nothing special about them. Individually, they’re utterly toast. Hell, I reckon a lone revolutionary socialist is speedy enough to slaughter the majority of such bourgeios scum. And that’s the ‘workers little guy.
And this is purely background based. Just stop and consider for a couple of minutes the sheer variety of exceptionally unpleasant ways to be impoverished in the 3rd Millenium. Every job is inimacle to the barely paid prole. Factories and fast food chains are nasty, but possibly the cleanest way to go (depending on the working conditions). Payday loans won’t necessarily kill you, but will hurt like a bank forclosure letter due to late mortgage repayments, disfiguring you for life, and leaving you in acute debt for at least the short term. Tax breaks for the rich? No. Thank. You? Imagine seeing your comrade, whether or not you like the sod, being hit by a baton, gas grenade or rubber bullet gun, or blasted by undisciplined but relentless and authoritarian pig with a badge.
Even worse. You’ll find yourself in situations where not only the above is happening all around you, but the system you shook at just won’t collapse. Sure, you’ll take down a few of them. That’s inevitable. But their cries of "poor people are just lazy" will be drowned out by the revolution all around you. Capitalists, fascists (or equivalent), the stench of bourgeios terror as billionaires void their ill gotten wealth. The sheer cacophony of glorious revolution. And they just keep on coming.
Then they hit your lines, and their media manipulating specialists put the boot in. This is a economic system where a once every four years, token democracy that has been manipulated by the ruling elite is considered fair. You don’t just die. You die indebted, and in near abject poverty.
Yet still you stand. You have to. Or all is lost. Yes, you have your own revolutionary comrades on your side. But their literally one in a million, possibly one in a billion.
It’s all on you. And so you stand. Terrified. Yet proud and defiant.
So here’s to The Little Guys And Girls. They will carry the day, bourgeoisie be damned.
All praise the Star Father. The revolution is at hand!
TwilightSparkles wrote: Thing is, in the real world , it’s not practical to make an army of super soldiers - using a modern day equivalent of Tier 1 operators. So few have the experience and skill set needed. In the UK our equivalent probably numbers only in double figures. Not to mention in 40k history that once upon a time the super soldiers numbered far higher and had more power...... and no one lived happily ever after !
And by 40K the Imperium just doesn't have the resources to outfit those super guys. A Space Marine in his shiny Power Armor carrying a bolter and other assorted rare weapons is a demigod of battle, but he'd be a tad less impressive if all you could give him was Flak, a lasgun and a knife. He'd die almost as fast in hostile environments, and from artillery, and he'd kill much slower... Plus the new Chapter needs if not a Battlebarge then at least a few strike cruisers and some escorts. Space ships are expensive, and the Navy needs a lot of them to keep Imperial space at least somewhat safe.
Maybe the IoM could push it and double their marines, but can they triple them? More?
I would like a moment of silence for deceased gretchins. They are stupid, cowardly and violent, but they are still cool. Makari protect you all, thank you.
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