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I dunno, since space marines are all getting codex's, each guard regiment should get its own codex too.
codex cadian
codex mordian
codex tallarn
etc.

BanjoJohn wrote:
I dunno, since space marines are all getting codex's, each guard regiment should get its own codex too.
codex cadian
codex mordian
codex tallarn
etc.

I'd rather have Marines consolidated and have larger Codecs with plenty of options for all factions.

Not enough distinction between them.

For Marines? Possibly hypocritical given my comment immediately before, but giving them lots of different flavours, even if some aren’t all that different, helps prevent the dominant army in the game becoming entirely boring and predictable.

Black Templars for instance have a sufficiently different playstyle to Space Wolves, Ultramarines and Dark Angels.

I think they could push the distinction somewhat between some though.

But for Guard? It’s just not there. The whole Codex offers a variety of options, from massed armour to massed infantry to massed artillery and everything in between.

Though I wouldn’t say no to Regiment Specific Specialists. For instance, a Catachan Saboteur type unit.

To be fair, if guard had the decades of support and flanderization that marines have had, they would probably have the same level of distinct playstles/gear which would be used to justify not wrapping them up together in one big guard codex.

I’m honestly not sure on that one.

Guard have not hurt for expansion. They did really well in 2nd Ed receiving loads of tanks (Russ, Demolisher, Griffon, Basilisk, Chimera, Hellhound) and of course different regiments.

Since then, you’ve loads of Russ variants, a bunch of Superheavies, new field artillery, the Manticore, Wyvern, Deathstrike, Hydra, two more Hellhound variants, various plastic infantry (especially in the past few years), the Dorn, Valkyrie and Taurox.

Yes it’s mostly variations on a theme. But that’s the Imperial Guard for you. They’re not a highly specialist fighting force. They’re the generalists. Sure, a given regiment might have a background specialisation but even then they’re still largely issued with the same basics.

I would love it. Small codexs, can be an addition tot he main codex. Aimed at flavour. though of course, no model, no rules...

Compared to Space Marines, Guard should have more variation. The great 3.5 Guard book gave us a taste of that, with whole regiments being armed or armored differently (all CC weapons or all Carapace Armor), plus the capacity to bring abhuman troops like Ogryns and Ratlings, including, in earlier in RT days, beastmen troops.

But my ideal as always would be to keep it in one book and provide ways to customize your own armies, rather than splitting them out into separate books.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m honestly not sure on that one.

Guard have not hurt for expansion. They did really well in 2nd Ed receiving loads of tanks (Russ, Demolisher, Griffon, Basilisk, Chimera, Hellhound) and of course different regiments.

Since then, you’ve loads of Russ variants, a bunch of Superheavies, new field artillery, the Manticore, Wyvern, Deathstrike, Hydra, two more Hellhound variants, various plastic infantry (especially in the past few years), the Dorn, Valkyrie and Taurox.

Yes it’s mostly variations on a theme. But that’s the Imperial Guard for you. They’re not a highly specialist fighting force. They’re the generalists. Sure, a given regiment might have a background specialisation but even then they’re still largely issued with the same basics.

My point is that if the guard regiments had received bespoke codexes and more unique units over the years they would look a lot like marines today. And the idea of having specific codexes for each would not seem odd. Catachans would feel like Space Wolves vs. Cadians/Ultramarnies.

If the 3rd ed codex supplement had been followed by more, and updated over the editions instead of being abandoned.

Each guard regiment should be more varied than the space marine chapters, they should get their own codex, or at least an army list within the codex.

Each guard regiment can have: Unique or variant tanks (sentinels, leman russ, chimera variants, different kinds of artillery)

Different weapon options for infantry/heavy weapon units.

Different special types of units, see catachan snipers, rough riders, etc.

Different leader units with different kinds of orders/command things.

Different average equipment, mesh, flak, carapace armor. Maybe there's a guard regiment that uses bolters instead of lasguns, or has elite units that come with bolters as standard. Or whatever else you could come up with.

Different kinds of abhumans to join the regiment, maybe some don't have ogryn's, maybe some have differently equipped ogryns, some do or don't have ratlings, maybe some do or don't have imperial beastmen, or other abhumans taht you could think of as unique units.

You could use and apply different kinds of imperial agents or advisors based on the regiment's preferences. Maybe commissars work differently depending on the regiment, maybe the imperial psykers assigned to one regiment fit one role more often than another.
Maybe one regiment has access to advisors that provide different bonuses based on the regiment or give access to orbital bombardment, or long range artillery bombardment, or different kinds of support.

There's tons of ways to vary guard regiments, its just that they haven't spent the time to do it.

When you're saying regiment, do you mean "recruiting world" or "regiment type"?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Though I wouldn’t say no to Regiment Specific Specialists. For instance, a Catachan Saboteur type unit.

I'm of this mind as well.

Give each regiment a couple of bespoke units and add more detachments so that each has a unique one.

- Each gets a command squad, a basic infantry squad a support/heavy weapon squad.
- Each gets at least one specialist squad / unit, but preferably two, though their could be some thematic overlap (Catachans and Tanith could both use a specialist sniper team in their ranks.)
- Upgrade sprue for vehicles to make them fit in more thematically for the varied armies.

I think that's the easiest most bang for our buck way to get the varied expression from the different regiments, without GW making a million new kits, which we all know they'll only ever do for Space Marines.

BanjoJohn wrote:
I dunno, since space marines are all getting codex's, each guard regiment should get its own codex too.
codex cadian
codex mordian
codex tallarn
etc.

No.

 Dysartes wrote:
When you're saying regiment, do you mean "recruiting world" or "regiment type"?

I get what you are asking.

Do I mean "Armored company" vs "Infantry Company" vs "Mechanized Infantry Company"
Or do I mean "Talarn" vs "Mordia" vs "Cadia", etc.

To which I say, yes, both.
I feel like a Cadian Armored Company would be different than a Talarn Armored Company, and maybe some worlds might not prefer to form regiments of a certain type, like one world might not have a Mechanized Infantry Company, like Catachan.

Codex Catachan would show what units the Catachans have, and what kind of regimental armies they can form, infantry company, etc.
Codex Talarn would do the same, Codex Mordia, Codex Valhalla, Codex Armageddon, Codex Vostroya, Codex Tanith, etc.

To me it wouldn't matter if each codex had to be shorter, but each guard world deserves their own codex, and their old metal minis deserve to be brought back as plastics.

A single regiment is bigger than a whole Chapter, and will include companies with vastly different fighting styles.
A recruiting world will be that times ten.

For example Necromunda will raise, infantry, light infantry, mechanised, armoured, superheavy, penal, native cavalry, drop troop, etc. regiments before we even consider non-standard formations or unit types.

Guard don't get Bloat on the same level as Marines because Marines sell better. There is no other justification.

 Lord Damocles wrote:
A single regiment is bigger than a whole Chapter, and will include companies with vastly different fighting styles.
A recruiting world will be that times ten.

Guard don't get Bloat on the same level as Marines because Marines sell better. There is no other justification.

But do Marines sell better because they're inherently more likeable, or because they receive the most support?

I fully believe that, in the past when 40k was just starting, Marines ended up being the popular faction without receiving tons of extra support. But today, it's an ouroboros. Marines receive the most support, so they get the most players, which means they get the most support...

Ah, if only.

Forgeworld did it, they had something like 5 (loyal) Imperial Guard codex/army lists.

Armored Company
Death Korps Siege Regiment
Death Korps Assault Brigade
Elysians
Elysians D-99 Detachment

The two Elysians were fairly overlap-y, if memory serves, but all those armies otherwise played differently than the Codex IG of the time. New units were created, new rules, sort of like GW does with Space Marines, and that made for very distinct armies, both in look and play style, to say that Marines can distinct Codex and Guard can't is just ridiculous

 JNAProductions wrote:
But do Marines sell better because they're inherently more likeable, or because they receive the most support?

Ah... the age old question. I think the two biggest reasons for marine popularity are a) Inclusion in every launch box and b) easiest infantry to paint.

Ongoing support IS also a factor, as is rule of cool... But I think the two factors above are greater drivers of popularity. Marines are included in so many boxes that's it's almost impractical not to play them. They are my least favourite army, but I have SO many of them, I decided to play Deathwatch so that they weren't just collecting dust. And I can paint them in half the time with half the effort that it took to paint my Drukhari.