The Imperial Guard are a specific army or faction in the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic tabletop games and universe. The army itself is characterised by being capable of fielding a multitude of lightly-armoured, average infantry in combination with some of the toughest and most powerful tanks in the game. In the game universe, the Imperial Guard is a colossal military organisation consisting of countless billions of men and women from millions of different worlds and systems within the Imperium of Man.

Overview

The Imperial Guard (previously the Imperial Army) is a colossal military organisation, consisting of many individual armies throughout the Imperium, and forming the vast bulk of the Imperium's military machine. The Guard collectively numbers billions of men and women from thousands of different Imperial worlds.

Each Imperial Guard regiment is raised from a single world and numbers between five hundred and ten thousand fighting soldiers, supported by a huge array of light and heavy armoured vehicles. Each regiment also has its own entourage, consisting of support staff, camp followers, suppliers, tech-priests, doctors, religious leaders and the like.

Regiments are drawn from all types of planets of the Imperium from Holy Terra to Feral and Medieval worlds, and the contributions of some planets over the ten thousand years of the Imperium runs into the billions, if not more. The Imperial Guard are constantly at war, freeing worlds from Chaotic or alien influence, or defending them from the same. The Imperial Guard rely upon the Imperial Navy for transport to and from warzones.

Gameplay

History of the Imperial Guard as an Army

The first edition of Warhammer 40,000 included rules for a force known as the "Army". Later their name was changed to "Imperial Guard".

The Imperial Guard, first introduced in White Dwarf 109, was bound by a series of rules relating to its command structure. Squads of units formed platoons under a command squad. Units that were separated from the command squad were more limited in action. The initial Imperial Army could include, besides the basic squads, Rough Riders (a form of mounted trooper), penal troops, human bombs and Abhumans (see below). Vehicles were limited to Rhinos, and Land Speeders.

The first incarnation of the Imperial Guard as a fully-supported army was in 1995, with the release of the Codex: Imperial Guard sourcebook for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. This was the first time that the army itself had specific army rules collected in their own sourcebook. With the release of the third edition of the game, almost all the Warhammer 40,000 armies eventually had new codices compatible with the new edition. In line with this, Codex: Imperial Guard was released in 1999, followed by Codex: Catachans in 2001. This was a smaller sourcebook (or mini-dex/mini-codex) that was meant to be used in conjunction with the "parent" Codex: Imperial Guard. The mini-dex itself provided even more specific rules for fielding one of the more popular Imperial Guard sub-armies, the Catachan Jungle Fighters, for which plastic models were available. In 2003, Games Workshop conducted the Eye of Terror worldwide campaign and released a corresponding sourcebook, Codex: Eye of Terror. This campaign sourcebook contained various rules, including a specific army list for another one of the Imperial Guard's notable sub-armies, the Cadian Shock Troops. Soon after the campaign ended, the changes in the Cadian Shock Troops army list were integrated into the Imperial Guard rules, and Games Workshop released a second, revamped version of Codex: Imperial Guard. To date, there has not been an official fourth edition ruleset version of Codex: Imperial Guard, although Games Workshop has stated that the latest codex is completely compatible with the newest version of the Warhammer 40,000 rules.

It was mentioned in White Dwarf issue 342 that a new Imperial Guard codex is in development and will feature "more tanks. A lot more tanks."

Army Overview

Because of the low in-game points cost of each individual Imperial Guardsman, Imperial Guard armies are capable of fielding a much larger number of troops than most other armies. In addition, they have access to various vehicles, such as the Leman Russ main battle tank, Basilisk mobile artillery, Chimera armoured troop transport and the Sentinel scout walker.

In the latest Codex, many "doctrines" allow Imperial Guard regiments to become much more varied, allowing players to, for example, make their troops more effective in close-quarters combat, upgrade their armour, or utilise special troop types.

In addition to humans, the Imperial Guard also contains several types of abhumans—species evolved from humans that differ markedly from the norm. The two species most commonly found are the Ogryns (the counterpart of the Warhammer Fantasy setting ogres) and the Ratlings (the equivalent of the halfling/hobbit).

Commissars

One of the more distinctive aspects of the Imperial Guard army is its Commissars. They are represented as akin to stereotypical Soviet political commissars or officers of the SS, simultaneously exhorting the troops to greater efforts and summarily executing anyone showing signs of cowardice.

The Imperial Commissar, as described by many Warhammer novelists, is given complete jurisdiction to judge the actions of any trooper or officer and to act accordingly. An Imperial Commissar's word is immutable law and his visage is one of grim authority that is to be respected and rightly feared, reporting to The Commissariat personally.

Imperial Guardsmen

Infantry Guardsmen are the backbone of the Imperial Guard. They make up the bulk of the Imperium's armed forces and can be counted in the hundreds of billions. Imperial Guard regiments can number anywhere between tens of thousands of infantry up to almost half a million, with attached artillery and mechanized formations swelling this figure even further.They are typically armed with lasguns or a laspistol and close combat weapon... and although they tend to out-number the enemy, the Imperial Guardsmen also tend to fall quickly, due to their weaker armor. The Imperial Guard also make up their weakness through the vehicles and variety of weapons they can field.

Rough Riders

Many cultures in the Imperium retain the use of cavalry, whether they be normal horses, cybernetically altered steeds, motorbikes or alien creatures. They are typically armed with a laspistol and close combat weapon, but can also carry shotguns or lasguns. The signature weapon of Rough Rider units is the hunting lance, a lance-like weapon fitted with a shaped charge in addition to or in place of the usual spearhead. Rough riders are used to harass the enemy's flanks or to act as a light reconnaissance unit. There are different types of rough riders depending on which regiments you chose.

Stormtroopers

Stormtroops are a cadre of elite troops available to most Imperial Guard armies. They are equipped with better armour and equipment than ordinary Imperial Guardsmen. They wear carapace armour for protection and are armed with hellguns instead of the cheaper and less-powerful lasguns. Stormtroopers are often carried into battle in Chimera APCs or Valkyrie airborne assault carriers.

Using the above-mentioned doctrine rules, some regiments field Grenadiers which are specialized members of the same Imperial Guard regiment that have received specialist training and equipment. In-game, Grenadiers are represented by the same unit profile as Stormtroops and perform a similar function, although they are completely different in background terms.

In the background literature, Stormtroops do not belong to the Imperial Guard regiments that they are fielded with. Instead, they are trained in the Scholae Progenia of the Imperium, institutions that train orphaned children to perform specialised roles.

Outside of the tabletop games, Stormtroops make an appearance as third-tier troops for the Imperial Guard faction in the video game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault. Since the game's Imperial Guard faction is based on the Cadian regiment, the Stormtroopers are also referred to as Kasrkin.

Other Imperial Guard Units

Abhumans

Early editions of Warhammer 40,000 included the option to field Imperial Beastmen. These were half human and half animal, the parallel to the Chaos Beastmen of the Warhammer Fantasy world. Their motivation, as subhumans, is the chance to "redeem" themselves for their obvious physical corruption. In later editions they were removed from the Imperial Guard to appear in a more logical place alongside the ranks of Chaos.

In White Dwarf US issue #302/UK issue #303, an official article was published featuring Doctrines to allow Imperial Guard armies to take units of other types of Abhumans. The article featured Beastmen (Homo Sapiens Variatus, not quite as extreme as the original beastmen), Mutant Slave Levies (ordinary mutant slaves assumedly rounded up for cannon fodder), Feral Ogryns (more fearsome and more primitive than regular Ogryns), Nightsiders (originating from worlds of perpetual or near-perpetual darkness, little to no ability to see but perfect warriors for Night Fighting missions), Afriel Strain Soldiers (genetically engineered from DNA taken from great heroes of the Imperium, who were better soldiers but were very unlucky and unpopular), Subs (relatively genetically stable but still hideously deformed mutant sub-breeds) and Gland Warriors (Imperial Guardsmen implanted with special organs and glands that secrete combat-useful chemicals, such as stimulants and pain-killers).

Ogryns

Large, powerful abhumans valued for their strength, limitless enthusiasm and almost childlike devotion to the Emperor. They are typically armed with Ripper guns, simple and brutal weapons much like the Ogryns themselves. The ripper gun has a strong shot, but little accuracy. The bayonet of a ripper gun is big and dangerous. But if any Ogryn shows even the faintest bit of intelligence they may be eligible to have an operation to become an Ogryn sergeant or bone'ead. Ogryn intelligence is very low but their strength makes up for it.

Ratlings

A Ratling is everything the Ogryn is not: small, weak, but very intelligent. They are possessed of keen eyesight, and their small size makes it easier for them to hide. They're typically relegated to non-combat support duties, but often serve as marksmen on the field. Though it is said that they're excellent cooks, they are also known for their sticky fingers, which makes them unpopular with many Guardsmen. Yet The guardsmen do respect them as many owe their lives to the cover support of the Ratling.

Sanctioned Psykers

Sanctioned Psykers can predict near events and can be found in some Imperial Guard Command Squads. They supplement the army with psychic powers.

Techpriests

Known as Enginseers, these representatives of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)#The Adeptus Mechanicus repair and maintain the vehicles of the Imperial Guard. Often accompanied by Servitors, Enginseers may rush to repair vehicles while under heavy fire.

Vehicles

Some of the major strengths of the Imperial Guard army are their vehicles. From the fragile Sentinel to the devastatingly destructive Leman Russ Demolisher, the vehicles of the Imperial Guard can significantly add to their effectiveness as an army.The Imperial Guard are said to have the best tanks in the game; while individual tanks from other armies (such as the Necrons) may sport more firepower or armor than those of the Imperial Guard, but, overall, the Guard has the most powerful armored force.

Appeal to players

The primary appeal to Imperial Guard players of the Warhammer 40,000 game is that the Guard are "human". In a game filled with genetically modified super-soldiers, cunning alien mystics and all-consuming hive-minds, the Imperial Guard are simple, unaugmented humans. Carrying a lasgun and wearing flak armour, the Imperial Guard are forced to rely on sheer numbers, massed-fire tactics and courage to win their battles.

Secondly, the Imperial Guard have a large range of tanks and armoured vehicles compared to many other armies, and have been heavily supplemented by the Forge World Imperial Armour series of books and resin kits. This appeals to the "treadheads" (or "tank-lovers") among the player community, and was catered to in the third and fourth editions of the game by the release of rules for an Armoured Company composed entirely of tanks. This army list can also be used to field Siege Regiments comprising of forward Artillery vehicles. It was Chapter Approved for the 2006 Tournament circuit. This was further developed upon in the Apocalypse Supplement with the Emperor's Fist Tank Company.

Another draw for players is the variety of model styles for the miniatures. The various Imperial Guard regiments produced or described by Games Workshop draw on a variety of historical and fictional inspirations. In the earliest editions, the Imperial Guard were very homogeneous in appearance and there was no visual distinction between regiments other than colour and decoration of their uniforms. As of the 5th Edition, however, there are several different stylings of infantry soldiers, in plastic, metal, or resin, available from Games Workshop or Forge World.

5th Edition rules

The 5th Edition of the Warhammer 40,000 rules has given the Imperial Guard considerable advantages. Firstly cover saves (saves conferred by terrain that allow models with weak armour to take saves) have been considerably improved. This combined with the "go to ground" rule means even a lowly guardsman who has gone to ground behind a stone wall can receive the same armour save as a space marine.

Imperial Guard tanks have received a double-edged sword type of improvement however. The new rules regarding firing ordinance mean that when ordnance hits its twice as deadly however the odds of Imperial Guard tanks hitting is low due to low ballistic skill. However tanks have become a lot harder to destroy as now glancing hits from anything other than an AP 1 weapon will mean that it is impossible to destroy a tank on the first glancing hit.

Notable regiments

There are around a million worlds contributing Imperial Guard regiments to the Imperium's defence, each world having its own methods of training, its own unique equipment, and its own specialisations. Even so, the regiments of certain worlds stand out, and are renowned throughout the Imperium for their deeds, strengths and methods of combat. Some examples of exceptional regiments are the Cadian Shock-Troops, The 412th Cadian, the Tanith First-And-Only, the Mordian Iron Guard, the Valhallan Ice Warriors, the Tallarn Desert Raiders, the Armageddon Steel Legion, the Death Korps of Krieg, the 13th Penal Legion, the Catachan Jungle Fighters, the Vostroyan Firstborns and the Harakoni Warhawks.

Organization

Imperial Guard forces are organized under several levels, the most common being the regiment. A regiment consists of between ten and twenty companies, each of which contains around two hundred to four hundred soldiers. When a regiment becomes too small to become combat effective it is merged with other units into combined regiments. A "normal" company consists of a command platoon which contains the support units of a company as well as the commanding officer. The rest of the company consists of up to six platoons which are made up of a five man command section and two to six ten man squads.

A tank regiment consists of between three and ten companies. A company consists of an HQ tank or squadron and between three to five squadrons of three vehicles.

The diversity of Imperial Guard regiments mean that there are literally thousands of variations on officers' ranks throughout the Imperium. However, local variations are generally tied to a basic standard list of officer ranks, for determining comparative seniority between regiments, a tentative hierarchy of which might be as follows:

• Warmaster (commands great crusades around the galaxy)
• Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Guard (commands the entire Imperial Guard)
• Lord Commander Militant (High Commander Militant) (commands hundreds of millions)
• Lord Solar (extremely rare rank, commands a large amount of regiments not only same army)
• Lord General Militant (commands tens of millions)
• Lord Marshal (commands millions)
• Lord General (commands hundreds of thousands)
• General (commands tens of thousands)
• Commissar-General (only documented once)
• Lieutenant General
• Major General
• Brigadier General (function as senior colonels rather than as part of the General Staff)
• Colonel-Commissar (rare rank, only documented twice)
• Colonel/Brigadier (commands thousands)
• Lieutenant Colonel (commands hundreds)
• Major
• Captain
• Lieutenant (commands dozens)
• Sergeant (commands between four and nine men)
• Guardsman

Two other notable officer ranks exist amongst the Imperial Guard. Commissars (modelled on the Soviet political officers of the same name) are individuals attached to Imperial Guard regiments for the purposes of maintaining rigid Imperial discipline throughout the Guard. For command and control purposes, Commissars are not part of the regular command structure, and are usually subservient to the tactical decisions of line officers, though they possess wide powers to commandeer or assume command of other Imperial forces should the need arise. Exceptionally experienced commissars may be given field commands, such as Viktor Hark and Ibram Gaunt from Dan Abnett's series, Gaunt's Ghosts. The fact that any commissar can detain or execute any standard rank up to Lord General Militant (although summary executions are rare for ranks higher than Colonel) makes this distinction somewhat academic, as any commissar could remove an officer from command and assume control of the officer's unit.

The rank of Warmaster is a title issued by the High Lords of Terra to a military commander (usually a previous holder of the Lord General or Lord Marshal rank, or else an Admiral of the Imperial Navy) when one overarching leader is deemed necessary to command a crusade of historic magnitude (examples include the Warmasters Horus, Slaydo, Macaroth, Solon and Lord Commander Solar Macharius). A Warmaster’s military authority is absolute within his assigned area of operations, and it is for this reason that a Guard officer desiring this rank must be seconded by two Admirals of the Imperial Navy (similarly, a Naval officer holding the rank must be seconded by two Generals, or other senior staff officers, of the Imperial Guard). There is seldom more than one of these individuals in the entire Imperium at any one time. While it is said that a commander with the rank Lord Solar is higher than a Warmaster they are actually the same rank. On occasion the rank Warmaster, due to its association with Horus, simply falls out of favour and is replaced with Lord Solar.

Other ranks of import to the Imperial Guard are the Imperial Commanders, who have authority over the standing forces on an Imperial world (generally held by the Planetary Governor of the world in question) and the Lord Commanders of the Segmentae Majoris, a primarily administrative rank whose incumbents are responsible for overseeing and directing the Imperial military within one of the five Segmentae of the galaxy.

All remaining troopers are enlisted soldiers. Like the commissioned ranks, the enlisted rank structure can vary wildly from regiment to regiment. However, the Imperial Guard enlisted rank structure roughly equates as;

• Warrant Officer
• Colour Sergeant
• Sergeant
• Corporal/Bombardier
• Lance Corporal/Bombardier
• Trooper/Private

Others mentioned include Master Sniper (usually a Sergeant however due to his specialty, does not wear any insignia), Sergeant Major (confusingly, this is not an actual rank and instead is the name given to Warrant Officers) and Command Sergeant. Again, other variations exist based on planet of origin, Crusade or Army group etc. Some Sergeants in the Imperial Guard are known as 'Veteran Sergeants' but this is not generally an actual rank - Veteran Sergeants are either very experienced holders of the Sergeant rank or senior NCOs. The evolved Ogryns and Ratlings seem either to follow no ranking system at all or some internal ranking system, although they are obliged to obey Imperial Guard officers. Some Ogryns are given surgery to augment their intelligence, a process known as "Biochemical Ogryn Neural Enhancement" (BONE). Ogryns that receive these modifications are able to act as middlemen between humans and other Ogryns, and are often known as "Bone 'eads".

Notable characters

• Lord Commander Solar Macharius
• Commissar Yarrick
• Nork Deddog
• Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt
• Colonel Schaeffer (and his Last Chancers)
• Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed and his colour sergeant Jarran Kell
• Commissar Ciaphas Cain

From the PC game, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

• Colonel Carus Brom

From the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault expansion pack.

• General Sturnn

From the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade expansion pack.

• Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander

From the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm expansion pack.

• General Vance Stubbs

Portrayal

The portrayal of the Imperial Guard in novels has often been contradictory and varied. Some works portray them as competent modern soldiers capable of following combined arms tactics, while others show them as barely trained conscripts using ancient World War I-era tactics. This can be explained as a being the result of the incredible variety of the worlds which Guardsmen come from.

Novels

There are several novels featuring the Imperial Guard, published by the Black Library.

• The Gaunt's Ghosts series, by Dan Abnett.
• The Last Chancers Trilogy, by Gav Thorpe:
• 13th Legion
• Kill Team
• Annihilation Squad

• The Ciaphas Cain series, by Sandy Mitchell:
• For the Emperor
• Caves of Ice
• The Traitor's Hand
• Death or Glory
• Duty Calls

• Double Eagle, by Dan Abnett.
• Fifteen Hours, by Mitchell Scanlon.
• Death World, by Steve Lyons
• Rebel Winter, by Steve Parker
• Storm of Iron, Dead Sky -Black Sun, and The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill

Video games

The Imperial Guard make several appearances in many of the video games that occur in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

• The Imperial Guard make a guest appearance in the single player campaign of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War led by Colonel Carus Brom as NPCs and playable units in some missions . They have since been expanded into a playable faction in the expansion pack Winter Assault, with the Cadian 412th Regiment under the command of General Sturnn in the Order Campaign. Additionally, in Dark Crusade, the second expansion pack, the Imperial Guard makes an appearance as the 1st Kronus regiment, "The Liberators", led by Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander with their home territory based out of "Victory Bay."
• The Imperial Guard were part of the Imperium's force in Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000, the other two parts consisting of the Space Marines and the Adeptus Mechanicus Titan legions.
• The Imperial Guard also make appearances as opposition in the Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior first-person shooter. Among the possible opponents, there are lasgun and autogun-wielding guardsmen, officers with chainswords and a Vulture Gunship as a boss.
• The Imperial Guard has made appearance also in the computer game Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War. Usually used alongside Space Marine forces (much like in the Final Liberation.)

See also

• Equipment of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
• Vehicles of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)
• Vehicles of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)

Bibliography

References