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The '''Astra Militarum''', commonly known as '''Imperial Guard''', is the primary fighting force of the [[Imperium]], so numerous in size that even the [[Departmento Munitorum]] cannot place a figure on the number of [[Guardsmen]] under arms at any one time; the lists of new recruits and toll of casualties can run into the millions in a single day. It would be unfeasible trying to put any exact number on the strength of the Guard; however, it is believed that there must be many billions of Guardsmen, divided into millions of [[regiment]]s. This absolute numeracy provides the Guard with its main power; their ability to deploy in numbers that, eventually, result in victory. Attacking in seemingly endless influxes across battle-zones, charging forth under the cover of massive barrages and delivering massed [[lasgun]] volleys, in the Guard the individual [[Human]] soldier may appear a lost thing, almost forgotten. Yet the actions of these anonymous soldiers daily decide the fate of worlds. In times of crisis the Imperial Guard will call upon their deadliest of soldiers, whether they are the Imperium's famed [[Storm Troopers]] or the regimental elite [[Kasrkin]] and [[Grenadiers]].{{Fn|1}}

The Guard forms the very backbone of the Imperium; without it, Mankind would surely perish. Whilst regular Guardsmen are hardly the equals of [[Space Marines]], fighting neither with the advantages of genetic enhancement or the most powerful personal weaponry, the Guard possesses the courage and the manpower to face and annihilate the enemies of the [[Emperor]] across the galaxy.{{Fn|2a}}