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On the contrary, many of us have liked IG since long before fifth edition. I liked them back in third when they really sucked

Also... the IG gets the CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT.

Which is, simply, the greatest thing to be seen on a battlefield of the 41st millennium. Or ever.

The CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT knows no fear.

The CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT does not understand the meaning of the word "defeat".

The CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT is incapable of failing.

The CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT crushes its enemies, sees them driven before it, and hears the lamentations of their women.

It pales compared to the GORGON ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT.

Isn't the Gorgon open-topped? Have never seen it IRL or played against it, just seen it on FW's site.

If it is, seems absolutely disastrous for the Gorgon's intended role...

Grey hammer put it very well, but I reckon d4chan said it best:

"When recruits are inducted into the Imperial Guard, they are given four things. Their regulation flashlight (commonly referred to by the troops as "lasguns" for some reason), their regulation cardboard box (which certain regiments have taken to cutting up and wearing into battle, calling it "flak armor"), a large stack of toilet paper (which the recruiters refer to as the "Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer"), and the regulation extra large wheelbarrow that allows them to cart their massive brazen balls into battle."

In short: real men join the guard. If Marines don't actually feel fear, then how the hell can they be heroic? Courage is not the absence of fear, courage lies in overcoming fear. That's why, for me, as much as I love my Marines, they'll always play second fiddle to the guard in my heart.

If Marines don't actually feel fear, then how the hell can they be heroic?

Well your heroic if you win , if you lose your not heroic . Marines have a higher chance of surviving battles in w40k , at least in the fluff, so this makes them more heroic then IG , who die in milions every day.

 LeadLegion wrote:
Grey hammer put it very well, but I reckon d4chan said it best:

"When recruits are inducted into the Imperial Guard, they are given four things. Their regulation flashlight (commonly referred to by the troops as "lasguns" for some reason), their regulation cardboard box (which certain regiments have taken to cutting up and wearing into battle, calling it "flak armor"), a large stack of toilet paper (which the recruiters refer to as the "Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer"), and the regulation extra large wheelbarrow that allows them to cart their massive brazen balls into battle."

In short: real men join the guard. If Marines don't actually feel fear, then how the hell can they be heroic? Courage is not the absence of fear, courage lies in overcoming fear. That's why, for me, as much as I love my Marines, they'll always play second fiddle to the guard in my heart.

WHAT?!?!?!?! A 1d4chan snippet that doesn't have extremely vulgar language? What world is this???

The unsung heroes. The Imperiums first, and last, line of defense. They are the perfect soldier forged from childhood like Cadians, or an unprepared civilian given a lasgun at the last barricade in an overrun hive. They are humans and represent humanity. They fight for the one next to them, shielded by the soldier in front, and protecting the one behind. They are thousands of boots willingly marching to their death to give their planet another hour of respite. They do not fight for glory or conquest nor oppression or hatred, that is for generals and governors. They fight for survival, their own or someone else.

I fell for the "charm" of orks. My darker side liked the silent automatons and cold scheming of the Thousand sons. But the Imperial Guard spoke to my heart. In a world where everyone else is faster, stronger, bigger better equipped and superhuman in every way these guys are the unique ones. Everyone likes the underdog

Makumba wrote:

If Marines don't actually feel fear, then how the hell can they be heroic?

Well your heroic if you win , if you lose your not heroic . Marines have a higher chance of surviving battles in w40k , at least in the fluff, so this makes them more heroic then IG , who die in milions every day.

Really? Last Stands are heroic aren't they? Almost by definition. Also by definition: if it's your last stand, you lost. And died. Otherwise, you lived to stand again and it wasn't your "last".

There's a lot more to being a hero than winning.

Walking into the firestorm of battle knowing that millions, no billions, of men exactly like you (in terms of both training and equipment) have already died? Knowing you have almost no chance of survival? Doing it anyway because, dammit, people like you are all that stands between humanity and ravening Orks (or Necrons, or Demons or Nids)? How is that NOT more heroic than walking through the same firestorm in near-invulernable armour, knowing that even if you are wounded, chances are good that it won't do more than inconvenience you because your a near-immortal superman with two hearts, three lungs and blood that coagulates faster than tar in a freezer?

There's also more to being a hero to dying, too.

Also apart from the utterly badass Vostroyans, the IG have the Elysian drop troops and the DKoK. I just can't make my mind up which of those two to start...

I admit, visually speaking, I have a liking for Cadians. They just have such a classy sci-fi style.

 Melissia wrote:
There's also more to being a hero to dying, too.

Also true .

Also also... for a human army, they provide you with the opportunity to field female models that aren't Sisters of Battle.

Speaking of modeling for those who like history or more "real" looking models you can buy any 28mm human and put them into squads. Makes them far cheaper too. If GW allowed and encouraged variety with the guard we would see so many regiments and conversions (well more of them). there is a certain unique possibility you can go with an imperial army that goes beyond colour and stance and opens up the doors of endless possibilities.

 Psienesis wrote:
Also also... for a human army, they provide you with the opportunity to field female models that aren't Sisters of Battle.

Only by going outside of GW's model range (unless you have a lot of spare Necromunda models lying around) can you do that. Which is sad, frankly.

Really? Last Stands are heroic aren't they? Almost by definition. Also by definition: if it's your last stand, you lost. And died. Otherwise, you lived to stand again and it wasn't your "last".

Only if in the end your side wins . Otherwise it is just like the old latin saying goes woe to the defeated . Only time I can think of that is different is when politics come in to play . You guys get whooped , so the high command puts the blame on some lower ranking dude and makes the dead "Our heroic soldiers" to draw away the public from them being the suicide orders source . Or when you have an ally force and the war is clearly nearing its end and you don't want them to have a trained and equiped force when that happens , so you send them on some "heroic" mission to bleed them dry . That is how heroism looked in the last 100 years of our history at least.

@ Maktumba: You're clearly a man who thinks for himself rather than swallowing news reports hook line and sinker. That is indeed how things have been in many conflicts (particularly the various brush wars in Africa) in the last 100 years.

squidhills wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Also also... for a human army, they provide you with the opportunity to field female models that aren't Sisters of Battle.

Only by going outside of GW's model range (unless you have a lot of spare Necromunda models lying around) can you do that. Which is sad, frankly.

It is sad, and we had a huge thread on this months ago... but, eh, feth 'em. I'd like GW to produce female models for the IG, but since they don't, I'll give my money to other studios.

I can honestly say I don't get the appeal of the Imperial Guard. It's not to say I don't completely understand the appeal of armies that are like that; it's just I don't understand their appeal in the grand scheme of Warhammer 40k. I have a few WW2 airplane models and what not that are all cheaper and more highly detailed than any GW has ever produced and it actually anchors me to my departed grandfather in a way as I painted on some decals of his Navy unit onto the ones I painted going on WW2 naval warfare themes.

40k is full of all these crazy unknowable super things. That's kind of the appeal to the universe, to me. IG is one of the two armies I have no interest in ever collecting, the other being Tau because they just look really dumb to me. Would rather collect Gundamn models, where there's actual shape and nuance to the design rather than being boxes with more boxes holding a gun.

I don't understand why people talk about tanks. And I don't care about the masses of infantry. Heavy artillery is why I love the IG!

Because the IG brings more dakka to the table than any other army, with the possible exception of Orks... but the IG brings more pie-plates than Orks.

That is one of their big appeals. Their devastating artillery. TauDar can have their fancy skimmer-tanks and Wave Serpents and Riptides and Fire Warriors... I'm dropping 10" pie-plates with off-table artillery.

Or fielding a dozen tanks. Or a never-ending tide of conscripts... I will eventually drown you in bodies.

Mostly, though, it's because the IG have balls the size of church bells, made out of solid brass.

You can personalise your force to be entirely unique. It's the sheer unbridled variety. In terms of models, you can have literaly any theme a human army could be. Even just with the Cadians you can have a desert camo army, a bold colourful army, urban soldiers, anything. And that's just Cadians, you can have catachans painted to be anything from dusty desert fighters to beat up urban warriors. Then there's all the other armies gw and fw sell.


On the battlefield you can suit your play style, bombard from the table edge then send in the blob to wipe up, shoot them to pieces with inf then a couple tanks in to crunch up anything big, a wall of tanks and chimeras or a Valkyrie and vendetta bloodbath, it's up to you.




Also, space marines look like buzz lightyear.

Thanks people for your thoughts, it looks like there's some very dedicated IG players.

 Psienesis wrote:
Mostly, though, it's because the IG have balls the size of church bells, made out of solid brass.

Basically this. In a galaxy filled with super humans, demons, and space locusts, simple men and women hold the line.

 mr_bruno wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Mostly, though, it's because the IG have balls the size of church bells, made out of solid brass.

Basically this. In a galaxy filled with super humans, demons, and space locusts, simple men and women hold the line.

Or as happens more often than not, totally dies inexplicably one night as the entire platoon is cut to ribbons by stealthy shuriken-type things.

Or is consumed as bio-mass.

Or gets bludgeoned by giant hulking spore people.

Or discovers what it's like to be turned into paste from the inside out with daemonic Dubstep guns.

Or gets really tired of the fact all of these other things are true and turns to chaos himself only to discover the righteous bolter round exploding him into space giblets.

And they keep coming back for more.

You don't seem to grasp that all of those things you mentioned... Eldar, Orks, Tyranid, Daemons and Space Marines, are all super-human space monsters (even the Space Marines).

And yet, the IG goes out to fight them, every day, being just regular people.

*That* is what makes the IG a cool faction for a lot of players.

Even if you kill a guardsman, he wins; he gets to eat at the Emperor's table that night!

There are only a few other armies(including other game systems) that allow me to play as Zap Brannigan.

Also, as has been mentioned, the sci-fi look of cadians.

Another thing that makes the IG cool is that nobody has the same raw firepower as the IG do. Tau and Eldar have can manuever better and have some gimmicks to make their firepower count, but nobody turns a table into a cratered wasteland like the IG can.

You want 9 ordnance barrage blast weapons? Go for it.

You want 30 lascannons in a list? No problem.