A Cadian Shock Troopers squad

In the tabletop strategy game, Warhammer 40,000, the Imperial Guard are the largest body of fighting men and women in the 41st Millennium Imperium. Image File history File links ImperialGuardCadians. ... Image File history File links ImperialGuardCadians. ... Strategy games are typically board games, video or computer games with the players decision-making skills having a high significance in determining the outcome. ... Cover of the Warhammer 40,000 4th edition rulebook Warhammer 40,000 (informally known as Warhammer 40K or just 40K) is a science fiction tabletop miniature wargame, produced by the British gaming company Games Workshop. ... The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire that contains the majority of humanity, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop. ...

The Imperial Guard

The Imperial Guard is a colossal organisation, consisting of billions of men from millions of different worlds and systems within the Imperium. Each regiment is a force of between three and six thousand fighting men, supported by a dazzling 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.

The Imperial Guard are far more numerous than the Space Marines, for while there are only a thousand Chapters of a thousand Marines, the contributions of some planets to Imperial Guard regiments over the ten thousand years of the Imperium runs into the billions. The Imperial Guard are constantly at war, freeing worlds from Chaotic or alien influence, or defending them from the same. Originally known as the Angels of Death, the Space Marines are one of the major forces available in the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... In Games Workshops Warhammer 40000 and Warhammer Fantasy fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often malevolent entities which live in The Warp, composed mostly of Daemons, but also includes those mortals who have thrown in their lot with the daemons, ranging from simple peasants and/or laborers, to wizards...

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 supermen, alien mystics, all-consuming hive-minds, the Imperial Guard are just soldiers. Carrying a lasgun and wearing flak armour (commonly believed by fans to be the most ineffective standard equipment in the game, and referred to as the "flashlight" and "T-shirt"), the Imperial Guard are forced to rely on numbers, massed-fire tactics, and bayonets to win their battles.

Secondly, the Imperial Guard has the largest range of tanks and armoured vehicles of any army, and have been heavily supplemented by the Forge World Imperial Armour series of books and resin kits. This appeals to the 'rev-heads' among the player community, and was catered for in the third edition of the game by the release of rules for an Armoured Company composed entirely of tanks. The term Forge World can relate to one of two concepts related to Games Workshops tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000; one within the games fictional universe, one in the real world. In Warhammer 40,000 A Forge World in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is a collective term...

The various Imperial Guard regiments produced by Games Workshop draw on a variety of historical and fictional inspirations; from the Rambo-styled Catachans, the Soviet-inspired Valhallans and the Zulu-war style Praetorians to the basis of the fourth-edition Cadians in the US Army and Russian Ground Forces. In addition, skilled modellers have been able to convert several of the released regiments to conform to numerous armies past and present, from the ANZACs of the Battle of Gallipoli to the British and French armies throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Rambo is a trilogy of popular action films based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces, traditionally referred to as the Army, are the protection of the state border, combat on dry land, the security of occupied territories, and the crushing defeat of the enemy and his troops. ... The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (popularly abbreviated as ANZAC) was originally an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in World War I at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and on the Western Front. ... Combatants United Kingdom France India Australia New Zealand Newfoundland Ottoman Empire Commanders Sir Ian Hamilton Otto Liman von Sanders Strength 5 divisions (initial) 14 divisions (final) 6 divisions (initial) 14 divisions (final) Casualties 252,000 (205,000 British, 47,000 French) dead 97,000 wounded 145,000+ sick 253,000... Combatants Allies: • United Kingdom, • Prussia, • Austria, • Russia France Commanders Strength Casualties Full list Full list The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule over France. ...

Notable Regiments

There are millions of 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.

A summary of these regiments can be found at History of the Imperial Guard The Imperial Guard is a fictional military organisation in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ...

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

From the PC game, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Lord Commander Solar Macharius is a fictional character from the tabletop minature wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... Commissar Yarrick is a fictional character from the tabletop miniature wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... Nork Deddog is a special character in the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40000. ... Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt is the commanding officer of the Tanith First-and-Only, and has been recreated as a special character in the table top wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... The Imperial Guard is a fictional military organisation in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed is a fictional character and the leader of the Imperial Guard Cadian Shock Troopers in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a Real Time Strategy game for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshops popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War was released in September 2004. ...

• General Sturnn

General Sturnn is a fictional character from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a tabletop miniature wargame. ...

Novels

There are several novels featuring the Imperial Guard, published by the Black Library The Black Library is a division of Games Workshop devoted to publishing novels, art books, background books and graphic novels set in the Warhammer Fantasy world and the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ...

• The Gaunt's Ghosts Series, by Dan Abnett:
  • First and Only
  • Ghostmaker
  • Necropolis
  • Honour Guard
  • Guns of Tanith
  • Straight Silver
  • Sabbart Martyr
  • Traitor General
  • His Last Command
  • The Armour of Contempt (projected title: not yet published)
  • Only in Death (projected title: not yet published. Also known as Even Unto Death)
• The Last Chancers Trilogy, by Gav Thorpe:
  • 13th Legion
  • Kill Team
  • Annihilation Squad
• The Ciaphas Cain Series, by Sandy Mitchel:
  • For the Emperor
  • Caves of Ice
  • The Traitor's Hand
  • Death or Glory
• Double Eagle, by Dan Abnett.
• Fifteen Hours, by Mitchel Scanlon.

Gaunts Ghosts is a book series written by Dan Abnett. ... Dan Abnett is a British writer, mainly of comic books and role-playing games. ...

PC Games

• The Imperial Guard make a guest appearance in the single player campaign of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War led by Colonel Brom as NPCs and playable units in some missions, and have been expanded into a playable faction in the expansion pack Winter Assault, with the Cadian 412th Infantry under the command of General Sturnn in the Order Campaign.
• The Imperial Guard were present in Warhammer 40,000 Epic: Final Liberation.
• The Imperial Guard also make appearances as opposition in the Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior first-person shooter.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a Real Time Strategy game for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshops popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War was released in September 2004. ... A non-player character or non-playable character is a fictional character in a role-playing game whose role is generally created and performed by the gamemaster. ... An expansion pack is an addition to an existing game. ... The Imperial Guard is a fictional military organisation in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior is the name of a Warhammer 40,000 computer game available for the PlayStation 2 and PC. The game is a first person shooter, where the player takes the role of a Tau Fire Warrior, Kais, defending his race against the aggressive Human Empire. ...

See also

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

The Imperial Guard is a fictional military organisation in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... The Imperium is a vast, galaxy-spanning empire in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ... The Imperium is a vast, galaxy-spanning empire in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ...

References

• Codex: Imperial Guard, 3rd Edition, published by by Games Workshop
• Johnson, Jervis (2001). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Catachans, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1841540161.
• Imperial Guard Homepage from the Games Workshop website. URL accessed on 9 January 2006.