Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-203.134.114.240-20130721023526/@comment-211.26.90.118-20130801101539

Neithan02 wrote: it is n ot ludicrous, just go over the points that can be made for that argument, then think and then make your decision.

some of the points:

slavok regiment used as  tyranid bait by space wolves

purge of contqual sub sector by iron hands, whole regiments of imp guard used as distraction/collateral damage

and that are just 2 examples, i bet i can easily find more such campaigns ^^

existence of the comissariat actually, since you need something to motivate those troops, and if neccessary, keep their will to fight up by enfocing lethal punishments (aka: if your men fear something that much that this is accepted policy, this says a lot about your men)

regiment sizes, regiment attrition, number of times regiments are being reformed from the ground up

the argument of the tithe, aka an annual tax of men for the imperial guard

the argument of whole planets/planet systems solely devoted to turning out as many guardsmen/cycle as possible.

seen as inferior by other military units of the imperium (and actually only got that role once IoM had gone through the HH and did nto want a concentration of power like the Legions anymore)

just let me give an example, according to this wiki (and so according to canon) the Legiones Astartes, who were the main battle force of the crusade, had something between 100k and 250k astartes, now multipla that with 18 and you get what? 1,8 million to 4,5 million astartes for the whole imperium of mankind assorted imperial army regiments and titans aside, that was all, and now you have what, to quote the article " It is comprised of countless billions of men and women -- hundreds of thousands of different regiments,"

"The main tactic of the Imperial Guard is to overwhelm the enemy with their endless numbers," from the same article

" Although a single Imperial Guardsman can never be the equal of even the most raw and unblooded Astartes, there are thousands of men in each regiment and it is in the sheer size of its forces that the true strength of the Imperial Guard lies."

"As such, a high-ranking commander cannot depend on receiving the assets he requested to achieve victory in a given war zone and he will have to improvise a new battle plan based on the forces that actually wind up ultimately being at his disposal. That this usually proves more possible than not is a testament to the versatility of Imperial combat doctrine, but even more weight should be given to the sheer amounts of manpower and materiel that the Imperial Guard can bring to bear. With enough perseverance, even an improper tool can be used to reap results -- particularly if a commander is unconcerned with how many of his tools he is willing to lose in the process."

description of their equipment (flak armour does not even protect well vs small arms)

not given old tech but merely simple stuff that can be understood by almost anybody

"Though the Imperial Guard has enough men and firepower to throw up a withering wall of laser bolts, most opponents that close the distance with the Guard's lines find themselves at a major advantage in close combat, which more often than not results in a bloodbath as the Guardsmen find themselves outmatched in melee and slaughtered."

you see the difference between you and me, if I make a statement, I back it up with reasons, so where are yours? What is really bothering me is that you seem to think that the IG is used as nothing more then a distraction and nameless, even though being used as such is considered by some as a waste, you seem to be making it so that the standard Imperial Guard soldier is as pathetic as a gretchin. You may be right about the IG soldiers being nothing more then tools, but as Lord General Castor said it himself "I am not afraid to use them, but I will never waste them". Look at the end of the First War for Armaggeddon for example, Logan Grimnar was incredibly horrified when he saw what the Armagedon populace and IG would face towards the Inquisition. He saw that such actions were considered not only dishonorable, but also a invaluable waste of Gaurdsmen who had died for nothing. See the point, the IG may be near worthless, but most of the IoM has the decency to not waste them in what is considered "petty".

Also do remember that you are a Stormtrooper leader, sent on to sabotage the Tau attack with your other Stormtrooper buddies, while the rest of the IG and Salamanders are dieing left and right around you. This campaign is meant to  be so that you are on the losing side. So how is that problemetic for you about a simple IG campaign, where the only fluff change in here is just some added plot shields for your character?