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The Guardsmen of course, a nicely thrown rock could go through their armor but they stay and fight the enemy none the less....

well the guard needs commisars to execute people to keep order [inspire fear]

marines dont really have that going on...

thekingofdinner wrote:Ollanius Pius decided to try and kill horus in a 1 on 1 fight. that takes ballz

Who is Ollanius Pius?
That bit of fluff went pass me.

You guys are forgetting some things about guardsmen.

They don't have a choice.

Do you honestly think that most of the guardsmen would fight if they didn't have to? When you hear they faced a ton of titans, they don't want to, and they sure as well would run away if they didn't know they we're going to be shot as soon as they turned around.

Space Marines are braver, simply because they're much more protected, and have more faith in the emperor, they we're bred to fight mankinds enemies, and they sure as hell got over being afraid of the dark long ago.

Guardsmen are about as brave as a snotling, except they have the brains to know that if they don't fight, they're dead anyways.

tigonesskay wrote:

thekingofdinner wrote:Ollanius Pius decided to try and kill horus in a 1 on 1 fight. that takes ballz

Who is Ollanius Pius?
That bit of fluff went pass me.

Its Pious, as in religious.

He was the guardsmen that stood up against Horus during the final moment when Horus was about to kill the Emperor. Horus essentially laughed at him and cut him down like a child, and then the Emperor (finally) realises Horus is completely beyond saving, and kills him.


I disagree Karon. You think the threat of execution is the only thing keeping a guardsmen in line? They can easily refuse to fight once in battle if they chose to. The commissar is only one man, and his authority is meaningless if the guardsmen under him were all as "brave as a snotling". Theres always going to be some bad apples in a basket, but you can't possibly say they're cowards because they don't have a choice. Heck, the entire Allied army in WW2 didn't have much of a choice either, and look how well they performed.

Besides, marines don't have any faith in the Emperor.

a guardsman shats himself from a big chaos marine? and space marines shal know no fear!

Its one of them, Redscare, I used the reference to a snotling as an example. Execution keeps the notion that if they run away, they're dead, and if they don't, then at least they have a chance to die fighting, or not die.

Commissars are to shoot those bad apples, mate.

Yeah, and the reason the god damn U.S. army in WW2 fought so well is because if they didn't, they we're dead anyway!

Have you seen saving private ryan? If so, do you remember the start part where a whole boarding-boat was shot to oblivion by a Heavy MG? If they all would have tried to run away, they would have died, but they knew that, so they figured that if they fight, atleast they have a chance.

The majority of the U.S. military is full of people who didn't have options in life besides to join the military.

This has probably been mentioned on one of the other pages, but....I'm one of those people believe that you can't have the good without the bad. Meaning you can't be brave without knowing fear.

Guardsmen get my vote :U

brave-adjective
1. possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance.
2. making a fine appearance.
3. Archaic. excellent; fine; admirable.

The regular Guardsmen does not have any of these when they are fighting any of the emperors enemies, only Space Marines, or other such person, would not be afraid. A regular guy with a gun, and some shooting training who just got out of bootcamp (a guardsman) will at the sight of a Carnfex or Monolith.

You are doin it rong lul

OK so if you read any of the books the marines show some kind of fear... but with time they soon oversome that fear as they focus more on thier faith in the All Father.. also Gaurd does hav it the rougher way but they also were not worthy enough to become one of the emperors chosen so i have to side with the Marines on this on


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Also Gaurdx fight bravely knowing that they can call on the help of the SM's anytime they feel in danger... There is a thin line between bravery and stupidity

I'm curious, how does being worthy enough to become a Marine make them braver? I was just under the assumption that it meant they were stronger and more aggressive in most cases. Also people keep mentioning that the Guard can get Marine support whenever, but I'm pretty sure that is not the reality of the situation.

Unless the Marines went with them in the first place I'm pretty sure the average guardsmen knows that the chances of them coming in time are no that high. What with the communication through the warp, rounding up a battle group, and actually arriving to the guard's position? I'm pretty sure most of them know they're shafted.

Oh, and on a final note, while they do show some kind of fear, you also mentioned they just end being extremists in their devotion to the emperor...or something along the lines...then again I haven't read any of the books.

I have lost... to guard... who are not guard... they are known as....(enter climatic sound here)SUPAZ GUARDZZZ they only roll one # 6

Guardsmen.

It takes a lot more balls to stand and shoot at that Immortal/Carnifex/Haemonculus when you're not an immortal, nigh invulnerable chunk of muscles wearing a metric tonne of armor and enough firepower to arm a fleet carrier.

thekingofdinner wrote:Ollanius Pius decided to try and kill horus in a 1 on 1 fight. that takes ballz

Not really, he had forgotten to buy his wife an aniversary pressent and wasn't brave enough to return home.


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I say marines are braver:

Aprox number of Guard - Millions - number of acts of bravery - about the same as marines
Aprox number of marines - 10,000 - number of acts of bravery - about the same as guard

So, with a lot less in number, marines have equalled the number of acts of bravory as millions of guard.

just my thought

Guardsmen, simply because they have no fancy toys, noone expects them to win all on their own and there are Space Marines. Everywhere, like spotlight whores... "Okay, so at the other side of the universe starts a minor conflict..." SM yelling: "I'm there already, `cuz I haz megaspeed and ten guys are enuff to beat the CRAP out of everything!!! We winz!!!!"

So in short: Spacies choose their fights depending on weather, air condition and their last meal. Guardsmen have to take whatever the heck comes their way.

You are all fools.
Space Marines die before surrendering.
They seldom retreat during battles.
IG can be routed like cattle.

Flak armor because protection is for cowards

I must say marines. Guardsmen need commisars to say, go over there & die or you'll die right here.

Anyone who has read the fluff knows that Space Marines have had the fear breed out of them. It is physically impossible for them to fell fear.

In my opinion the fact that Space Marines never feel fear, clearly indicates Guardsmen, who can, are the braver. Furthermore, in the few situations where Space Marines feel fear, they end up being just as flighty as Guard. Furthermore, there are plenty of Guard who don't flee. And they are the true chosen of the Emperor.

The Space Marines are the Emperor's children, by blood, His Angels. The Guard are only His children, by race. The Emperor, beloved by all, loves all of His children... However He took away the SM's ability to fear. Like His angels, they are not the ones He tests. Their worth is known to Him. A Guardsman, a man who has proven himself to the Emperor is the superior man. A "guardsman" who flees, is a coward and a traitor, and no Guardsman at all is not fit to live.

A real Guardsman is more brave than a Space Marine, who by design, cannot falter or fail.

Guardsmen are braver, simply because Space Marines don't feel fear, like everyone has been saying. There is something else that needs to be said however. Not a single guardsmen wouldn't become a Space Marine given the chance.

Guardsmen are braver just because you really cant say a space marine is "Brave" he's just trained and warped to do what the emperor demands of him(hell if i couldnt feel anything id be doing what the space marines do)....guardsmen on the other have a choice....now if they run they will most likely get killed by the commisar though.

space marine have to be braver than imperial guardsman. Any old spanker can become an imperial guardsman you have to pass a grueling test to become an initiate and then survive campaign after campagin to become a space marine. Battle hardened=bravery to me
As a whole marines are way braver than the IG. They would have to be, they're called in when the IG can't fight.
Individually i think certain IG might be braver than certain space marines.
Like Commisar Yarrick he must have balls of steel to fight and endure the torture of Thrakka. (any space marine probably could too, but Yarrick is just a man...)

We are the IMPERIUM OF MAN! WE STAND TOGETHER NOT APART! (If you try and stand apart we will deal with you)

I feel that both the Space Marines and Guard are brave, the question of who is braver will take us no where (much like the Male v. Female debate).
Being a member of humanity in the 40k universe is not an easy thing, there is an entire part of the galaxy out to kill you. While it is true that some members
of humanity are not brave or loyal (Traitor Guard/Marines and just plain cowards), that is not the point. Almost all of humanity is fighting in a desperate struggle
to survive. .

The Guard and Marines depend on each other. The Guard's defense and fight would fail if the Marines were not around to deal with particularly important attacks
in the overall theater of battle; on the other hand, the Marines would put up a good fight, but would not be able to repel the forces of: Chaos, Tau, Tyranids, Necrons,
Eldar, Dark Eldar, and Orks across the mass Imperium, they are just too few and need the guard.

This thread is obviously the work of Tzeentch, in an attempt to turn the Imperial forces against each other causing internal conflict

The Imperium stands together?lolz! That made my day. Then why do dozens of planets turn against it, imperial guardsmen turn to chaos, and the Inquisition destroys entire planets despite the pityful cries of the desperate citezens?

Even as a Space Marine player I must say that Guardsmen are braver.

A Guardsman stands and fights because he is brave; A Space Marine stands and fights because if he hasn't already beaten his enemy to a pulp, his advanced psycho-indoctrination kicks in and he cannot retreat.

Munch Munch! wrote:The Imperium stands together?lolz! That made my day. Then why do dozens of planets turn against it, imperial guardsmen turn to chaos, and the Inquisition destroys entire planets despite the pityful cries of the desperate citezens?

Obviously you missed the then we deal with you part. If the Imperium did not stand together would there not be an Imperium

There is no reason for anyone to pick SM.

IG fight and if going gets really tough they might get SM reinforcements.

SM fight without getting reinforcements but SM are genetically engineered beasts. To top it off they don't have to fight through pain (I won't spoil the details but in the Horus heresy one of them gets his ribs crushed and it says something like "he felt the sharp pain for a moment before his armor injected painkillers" ya real hero fighting while dopped.

The IG are normal everyday peeps thrown on a frontline and forced to fight. Yet they still hold the line.

Guard. because marines are unstoppable "no fear knowing" killing machines. Guard are just men.

Marine. Guardsmen exists on being a dumbass.

It apears gaurdsmen have an asounding lead