Imperial Guard
From Lexicanum
The Imperial Guard is the primary fighting force of the Imperium comprising tens of billions of men and women. Their power lies in their ability to deploy huge numbers of troops designed to overwhelm enemy positions by putting out enormous amounts of sustained firepower. They make use of a wide variety of weapons and vehicles and can cope with any type of battlefield situation from open field-combat to city fighting and sieges.
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History
Origins of the Imperial Guard
The Great Crusade
When the Emperor left Terra on the Great Crusade, it is said that he would often try to win over the support of the humans on the planets he encountered, and bring them into the Imperium to fight for him. At first they were used as defence forces, similar to the Planetary Defence Forces used now. They would be called to defend their home worlds against internal rebellion and external invasion. Gradually, when complete loyalty could be assured, these were added to the Imperial Army forces that the Emperor took with him from Terra
The size and design of an Imperial Guard regiment is speculated to be related to the transport capacity of the available navy ships, typically three to six thousand men. During the crusade, the army and navy were linked, with the army commanders having overall control of the fleets. Each regiment was linked to a single ship. This meant that remnants of forces were not created when a ship was destroyed in the warp or in combat. This was useful for keeping regiments together, as they could not easily be merged with those of another world due to differences in history, language and culture. This problem was gradually decreased as Imperial Gothic became the official language of all conquered worlds, and their citizens were inculcated into the Imperial culture, but it is still almost unheard of for regiments to contain troopers from different worlds; the Tanith First and Only is one well known example of a regiment that included troopers from several different worlds, which is only the case due to the need to replenish a regiment from a dead world, or in the case of its merge with the Belladon 81st Light Recon, to restore chain of command after its senior officers were sent on a suicide mission.
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The Horus Heresy
The first Commissars emerged during the Heresy to make sure regiments merged together properly, but by M31, their roles had expanded to encompass the discipline and morale of the Imperial armies.
During the Great Crusade, Imperial army forces were sometimes put under the direct control of a Space Marine legion. After the Horus Heresy it was decided that this had been a mistake, as many millions of guardsmen had fallen under the sway of Chaos when the space marine legions controlling them had turned traitor.
In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy many changes were made to the structure of the Imperial armed forces. Many of these changes were made to ensure to no single individual would be powerful enough to overthrow the Imperium if he turned traitor. the Imperial Army was reorganised in to the Imperial Guard and the link between Army and Navy was severed. Imperial Guard commanders now have no authority over the Navy personnel transporting them and modern Imperial Guard regiments can expect to travel with many different ships over the course of their existence.
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Recent History
Imperial Guard armies have fought countless wars throughout the past ten thousand years, against aliens, heretics, mutants and traitors. Most of the time the Imperial Guard have remained loyal but there have been some occasions where they have turned against the Imperium, for their own benefit or more often the benefit of others. Some of these battles and other periods in Imperial history are listed below.
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Imperial Guard Structure
The Imperial Guard is organised into largely autonomous regiments. Regiments are assigned to a certain war zone, and are placed under the authority of the high command cadre (consisting of high ranking officers and Imperial tacticians) in overall command of that theatre of operations. If there is no high command cadre present, and no Planetary Defence Force high command present, then the highest ranking regimental commander is placed in overall command. After finishing in a certain theatre, a regiment may be sent somewhere else completely, and placed under a different high command. The number of regiments sent to a certain war zone is entirely dependent on the size of the threat.
Command Structure
The Imperial Guard is ultimately run by the Departmento Munitorum, represented by three members of the High Lords of Terra. It provides all the supplies, equipment and training and also some of the representatives sent to worlds with an Imperial Guard presence. While they do not directly control individual worlds and battles, they have devolved power to different sections of the Imperium, at the planetary level, sub-sector level and sector level. Each section compares the threat posed to them against a previously defined threat-level and if it is deemed dangerous enough, the threat is passed to the sub-sector level and troops from surrounding worlds may be mobilised. If the threat increases further a full scale request to the sector level can see hundreds of worlds mobilising and converging on one system or group of systems. The command structure for the Imperial Guard is relatively complex when compared to other races, but the Imperial Guard is an infinitely bigger organisation than most others.
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Regimental Structure
The regiment is the primary unit of the Imperial Guard. A regiment is recruited from a single planet at a single raising. It is a complete entity. Its officers and troops are generally recruited from the best soldiers of the planet's existing PDF. This means, even before they receive standard training in the Guard, the regiment will already consist of experienced soldiers. A Commissar, already with long experience in the Guard, is assigned to the regiment, and always comes from another planet.
A regiment is divided into a number of companies, each with a command staff. Each company consists of between two and six infantry platoons, each platoon consisting of two to six squads numbering 10 men each. The total size of a regiment is usually between 3000 and 6000 men when first created.
After being raised, the regiment is shipped to its posting; they receive their training during the voyage to their posting. Regiments do not receive new recruits to replace casualties. Because the regiment is often shipped many light years from its homeworld, the costs and risks rarely justifies the transport of personnel. The only form of new recruits a regiment receives is through the children of the Guardsmen. They are raised within the regiment, eventually forming Whiteshield platoons.
Regiments are gradually reduced through casualties until they are destroyed. Sometimes, two or more heavily reduced regiments will be merged into one (for example, the Valhallan 597th Ice Warriors or the Tanith First and Only).
The Regiments of the Imperial Guard
There are countless thousands of regiments spread throughout the galaxy. Some are garrisoning worlds, others are part of campaigns or crusades and some have even been forgotten about by the Departmento Munitorum and Administratum. As such there has never been and never will be an absolutely complete list of regiments available for combat in any one sector but those which are known about are listed below.
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The Major Figures of the Imperial Guard
Certain members of regiments have become famous throughout a region, or sometimes the entire Imperium. They are often the officers or commanders rather than individual guardsmen and they are remembered as saviours of humanity, seen spreading the light of the Emperor far and wide, or protecting it from the ravages of aliens, mutants and heretics. Some of these figures are listed below.
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The Imperial Guard in-game
Units
The Imperial Guard use a variety of different units, including standard humans, abhuman Ogryns and Ratlings, elite Storm Troopers and mounted Rough Riders. All of these have a battlefield role to play and all work in synchronisation to force the enemy back on weight of numbers rather than relying on technology.
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Equipment
The armoury of the Imperial Guard is vast and covers many aspects of the equipment necessary for the survival of the Imperial Guard in many different environments. It ranges from portable vox-casters, communications units, to medals denoting promotion and excellence in battle.
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Imperial Guard Psychics
There is currently just one psyker in the Imperial Guard, the Sanctioned Psyker, although in the past there has been the Primaris Battle Psyker3-p20. The psychic powers they use are not the strongest but can be very useful if the commander is willing to risk the use of psykers on the battlefield.
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Model Range
Sources
- 1:Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex)
- 2:Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex)
- 3:Codex: Imperial Guard (2nd Edition)
- 4:Warhammer 40,000 Compendium
