Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello everyone,

I recently sold off a large portion of my models recently as I had lost interest in them and have been unable to reignite my passion for them ( Space marines particularly). I am now wanting to start a new project, and that project is the Imperial guard.

My question is, what is it you find so appealing about the imperial guard? It can be any faction, style of play, models or fluff, anything really. I would like to know what it is that has drawn you to the emperors hammer.
For me it is to do with the fluff. Just recently I have been reading more guard fluff and it has inspired me somewhat, Particularly reading Eisenhorn and the part where they are on Cadia. It has given me a new look on the cadians and now I view them as much cooler then before, what with their lifestyle and just generally be cool well trained badasses. I also recently read the infantrymans uplifting primer for the guard, another very characterful and clever book.

So what are your thoughs on the subject? please inspire me with your words, so I can go on to build a proud regiment of humanitys finest.

Something appealing?

These are regular joes, armed with equipment low enough to compete with orks.

And they freaking go and get the job done, fully aware that most of them will die, just for one to have his moment to shine where he takes down some important enemy unit and become a hero.

You can't get any more badass then to fight against enemies that you KNOW are much, much MUCH stronger then you.

While I personally don't play Guard, there is a lot about Guard that I like, and if I didn't currently have so many ongoing projects straining my budget (Necrons, Tau, SM/DA, and potentially Warmahordes) I would like to pick them up. There is a lot to say about the appeal of playing with average humans when the setting is full of supermen on steriods, eldrich abominations that eat your soul, ancient elves of the pious and party-ous varieties, and ancient space skeleton zombie robots who have technology which can blow up stars and have turned gods into pokemon (although truth be told I am rather fond of the new Necron fluff). Also, Guard have one of the widest ranges of play-styles available to any one codex. They can do mass hordes, mechanized lists, tank heavy lists (they also have the best tanks), Air Cav lists (they also have the best flyers), and any mixture of those. They have access to a wide range of units and weapons, gun-line extremely well, and can also play highly dynamic lists based around synergy.

EDIT: Guard also zerg rush better than the settings zerg (yes I know Tyranids came first). Its stated in fluff that when the Imperium actually gets its gak together and properly supplies and coordinates their guardsmen, through sheer numbers alone nothing can actually stop them. There is kinda a cool factor when you think about an army being able to go against a foe far superior to it in terms of skill and weaponry, take triple the casualties of the opponents after wiping them out to a man, and still have those casualties be so statistically insignificant that they don't even show up on the spreadsheet.

Take a look in the mirror. See that regular Joe staring back at you? That's what the Imperial Guard is made of. Average joe's like you and me, who have been handed a lasgun, a flakvest (if they're lucky) and a prayer, and are told "hey, see those lumbering monsters guarding that hill up there? Go take it from them. They might be a little tough to kill, so we gave you guys a few bayonets this time, don't waste them. There's not enough to go around, so make sure you share."

Despite what people think of the codex itself (vendetta spam and the chimera wall of doom) the Imperial Guard are one of the "underdog" factions in 40k to an extent. They're rarely properly equipped, and for every Tanith 1st, Catachan 12th, and Cadian 8th regiment out there, there's a thousand lesser equipped and trained ones. The thought of the average man fighting against some of the most powerful beings in the universe, AND WINNING, is why you play IG from a fluff stand point. I've seen a single squad of guardsmen hold an eldar avatar in combat for 4 turns, even though they knew they couldn't hurt it, refusing to run. A squad of conscripts fighting a Warboss, WOUNDING it, running away and escaping, to turn around and shoot him again (rallied on double ones) and even had a guardsmen survive half an eldar army's worth of shooting by hitting the deck and rolling more 6's than should've been possible. When things like that happen, it kind of makes it seem even cooler, as certain models start to get stories added to them, and makes them feel more "human", unlike a space marine who just always suceeds in the fluff.

Seeing those guardsmen win, despite being the punching bags of the universe, even through overwhelming odds, is what makes them inspire me. It's why I play foot guard even though it's a harder style to play. The thought of a woefully underequipped regiment with no armor support whatsoever trying to hold out against vastly better equipped/trained armies makes every fight memorable, even if I lose.

a little story about a lowly gaurdsman named Ollanius Pius

He's spent months fighting a grueling war in which his enemies are demigods allied with daemons, and now he's found himself in the closest thing to Hell he's ever known. He probably wasn't even supposed to get teleported up to the arch-traitor's battle barge in the first place, and just ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time.

Somehow he's survived horrors beyond comprehension to make his way to the very bridge of Horus' flagship. He saw a veritable angel call upon Horus to answer for his crimes, and he saw that angel die as messily as any guardsman. His Emperor - who he fervently believes is a god incarnate, even if he's not supposed to - lies mortally wounded, and Horus, perhaps, has taken a moment to gloat before he strikes the killing blow.

His armor is slightly more effective than tissue paper, his weapon is slightly more powerful than a flashlight, and Horus' power claw is bigger than his entire body. He stands before a being infused by the dark gods' with incalculable power, that can and will obliterate his soul with no more effort than it would take him to swat a gnat. Nothing he can do could possibly make a difference.

He could run. He could turn his weapon on himself. He could give in to the insidious whispers that echo from the ship's corridors into his mind.

Ollanius Pius does the duty his Emperor requires of him. He dies standing and holds the line.

Too bad they changed Ollanius (AGAIN) he's now some immortal guy who had been alive for thousands of years or something like that (although he did apparently learn how to fight with a bayonet in WWI, which admittedly, is kind of awesome) so he's no longer the average Joe he used to be in the stories.

All the same, I prefer to remember it that way, as that was one of the first stories I ever heard about IG, and probably the first one that really made me say "yep, I'm making an IG army."

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Too bad they changed Ollanius (AGAIN) he's now some immortal guy who had been alive for thousands of years or something like that (although he did apparently learn how to fight with a bayonet in WWI, which admittedly, is kind of awesome) so he's no longer the average Joe he used to be in the stories.

All the same, I prefer to remember it that way, as that was one of the first stories I ever heard about IG, and probably the first one that really made me say "yep, I'm making an IG army."

I too prefer him as he used to be, a mere human who stood before the arch traitor and flipped him off.

Ollanius (before retcon) was the one who convinced me to collect Imperial Guard. It takes World Engine class balls to stand up to the god who just struck down your god. While not every guardsmen is Ollanius, any group whose patron saint is a badass has to be worth something.

Pick a path and go all out. Like tanks? You can cram 9+ into a 1850 point list.
like artillery? You got it in spades.
Like hoards of guys? Got that too.
want an elite tactical army? Gotcha covered.


You get the idea. Personally I went airborne. Leman Russ spam was almost a reality but I decided to start daemons.

Making a list of pure Guardsmen using HW's for AT, you are looking at about 400 models, thats hot.

I could care less about Guardsmen. They are just fodder, and that's how they're regarded by both players and commanders in the fluff.

The REAL draw to IG? Vehicles! Lots and lots of awesome vehicles! You are playing an army of Lemmings that drive Baneblades and fly F-22 Raptors.

Korpsman Marbo.

DKoK grenadiers with plasma/melta and Hades breaching drills.

Superheavy tanks.

More superheavy tanks.

Squadrons of superheavy tanks.

Marauder Destroyers, and everything else the Imperial Navy offers.


(Yes, my display shelf is pretty much a Forge World catalog.)

 Lord Harrab wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Too bad they changed Ollanius (AGAIN) he's now some immortal guy who had been alive for thousands of years or something like that (although he did apparently learn how to fight with a bayonet in WWI, which admittedly, is kind of awesome) so he's no longer the average Joe he used to be in the stories.

All the same, I prefer to remember it that way, as that was one of the first stories I ever heard about IG, and probably the first one that really made me say "yep, I'm making an IG army."

I too prefer him as he used to be, a mere human who stood before the arch traitor and flipped him off.

ya /tg/ seems to have an obsession with the dude

Oh yeah, and if you want more inspiration? We embody the principle of "the best defense is a good offense". Squad of terminators? Dead by plasma spam. Nasty looking tank? Dead by melta spam. Pesky Long Fangs won't stop shooting your vehicles? Dead by Leman Russ. Opponent brought a flyer? The most interesting question is which of your flyers will get to shoot it down. Name any unit you like, and IG have a unit that will remove it from the table in a single shooting phase. And that's just FUN.

If you like reading dime novels, the BL stuff on the IG is really some if the best in the genre. I recommend The Founding Omnibus by Dan Abnett. If that doesn't turn you on to the IG, not much will.

WHen your defending a outpost from Nids.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jPE00A6b9TY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Then your attacking Nidz
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fydd1GTSInI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You get tanks that pulverize virtually everything in the game with ease.

If you don't like tanks, your fliers are incredibly overpowered.

If you don't like fliers, your infantry aren't much as individuals, but can outnumber any army and overwhelm other forces with sheer numbers either at ranged or trampling anything they can hurt underfoot.

If you don't like any 3 of these options, an army of storm troopers and grenadiers mounted in some type of transport is surprisingly powerful and very mobile, especially with sentinels. Don't leave home without Marbo.

If you don't want to move, we go full circle and have a static gunline with generic guardsmen with very immobile ordinance that can take down titans. Also, don't forget snipers to slow the enemy's advance.

Most importantly, the IG is an extremely diverse army, you get to do pretty much any tactic you want with it.

I like how you can theme them however you want. Give them a world and a story then model them to fit out of all sorts of bits - modelling generic cadians or catachans is pretty boring imo (despite really liking everything to do with Cadia... I also hate their heads). Beastmen+catachans+third party? Wood elves+cadians+third party? Much more interesting ; )

Gameplay wise, I like how you can play them so differently - in a way that's fitting with how you've themed your army. My renegade guard (beastmen) are high body count, high volume of fire and indirect fire (mortars, bassies) which often ally with Iron Warriors. My Tanith First (when they're made) are a sniper, flamer, and ML camo'd veteran list with allied tanks or air (pardus or phantine).

I chose Guard because it is the underdog. They have guns that can easily blow limbs off of an unarmed human, and armor that can stop a heavy machine-gun round with only broken ribs to worry about. However in 40k that is low tier equipment.

In table top terms you cant almost field anything you want. In 5th, my army of guardsmen was the nastiest Assault army in my area. Ork players would dread to face it. Marines would run screaming as they where trampled under the countless boots of my Imperial Guard. Now my army is a fully mechanized army, a completely different army from 5th.

But the IG really aren't the underdogs.... I'd give that title to both the Eldars

 ENOZONE wrote:
But the IG really aren't the underdogs.... I'd give that title to both the Eldars

The IG as a whole, no. But the individual men and women that make it up? Absolutely.

You can't tell me that if you were sent into war against the legions of chaos with nothing but a flashlight and a stack of toilet paper with some prayers written in it that you would think you've got the upper hand would you?

Obviously, if you were riding around in a tank or something this would be different, but for the average grunt on foot, he's definitely going to feel like an under dog

I chose IG because i loved the idea of men and women like me holding the line against xenos, heretics, and worse for years at a time. (that plus all the creed troll stories made me laugh)

Really, you should need no more inspiration than this

\

I mean, how cool are they?


But seriously, as others have said, it's the Imperial Guard, mere humans with rifles and flak armor, that fight 99.99% of the horrors of the universe, and ultimately win. It is not the Space Marines that ensure the survival of the Imperium, it is the innumerable guns, boots, shells, bombs, bayonets, fists and treads of the Imperial Guard that do so.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 ENOZONE wrote:
But the IG really aren't the underdogs.... I'd give that title to both the Eldars

The IG as a whole, no. But the individual men and women that make it up? Absolutely.

You can't tell me that if you were sent into war against the legions of chaos with nothing but a flashlight and a stack of toilet paper with some prayers written in it that you would think you've got the upper hand would you?

Obviously, if you were riding around in a tank or something this would be different, but for the average grunt on foot, he's definitely going to feel like an under dog

Fairly certain he was referring to the entire army. Nobody is contesting humanity is beset on all sides by unspeakable evil.

Read, the first Gaunt's Ghosts.
They are the last of their planet, alone in the universe, making sure they last as long as they fething can, while still leaving a heroic mark on everything. They are the regular men and women who, through the fires of war, became one of the most famous units in a whole sector. They ain't gonna stop until they fall, and when they do, they'll make sure they are remembered for the rest of the Millenium, and maybe even more.

Ollanius Pious. /thread.

You also get to put together boxloads of plastic catachans. There's something to be said about those I tell you.

Because you can have all your other tanks and untis popped only to have your sole surviving veteran squad decide that enough is enough and the Emperor's justice will be done and proceed to blast a squad of plague marines, a nurlge lord and 3 obliterators into dust before driving their chimera up to the objective
Then opening fire and splattering the cultists trying to run off with it and then driving off the board whilst the Venator runs around in the background irritating the Land Raider enough to distract your oponent from seeing what the Vets have done until its too late for him to get the Raider into a position to counter you.

And that one squad and one cheapy fast attack unit do you proud and show that you dont need to have Spesh Maahreeens to win.

Why should you play IG:

-Totally diverse codex

-Totally diverse fluff

-Cool fluff

-Great models

-Wealth of FW options

-They consistently win games



Why shouldn't you play IG:

-What?

Also, asides from having good models and genuinely decent fluff, you can always convert your models to whatever standard you want. I've got a Cadian, feral and traitor IG companies. Also, its pretty fun to paint.