What kind of player, plays Astra Militarum?

[Julgolax]

Now me, I'm the kind of person who loves my miniatures, probably too much, and I like to try and play them conservatively, keeping them in cover until absolutely necessary to make an assault (unless I have assault-specialist units!). I'm just curious about what kind of mentality it takes to play the faction properly.

 

I always wanted to play this faction because, let's face it, space marines are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo overpopulated it's almost comical. I'm probably not a good candidate for the space military because they're tuned to shoot first and die next however I decided not to play Drukhari because their background doesn't suit me. Da Orks are still on the table, and so are my Dark Imperium Death Guard or Primaris Marines. I just wonder if I can play space military instead. :)

[Marshal Loss]

A true general of the Imperial Guard is probably somebody that has no emotional attachment to individual models. Whatever you do, don't name them

[Brother Captain Ed]

Life is the Emperor's currency. Spend it well.

[librisrouge]

Only the best people play Guard. I mean, the absolute best. We're a yuge group of players that own yuge collections of models. Really great collections, let me tell you.

 

And the best part, the really best part, is the many ways you can play this army. It's mind boggling. Don't listen to detractors, they're fake news. Airborne, mech, horde, and all the rest. This guy even runs artillery.

 

The best.

[major higgins]

As you I love too much my models, I named each one of them, but because I love Krieg I do not esitate in waste their little lifes in order to get the mission accomplished. Many and many of them were sacrified in the years... The best part of Imperial Guard for me is its humanity in an huniverse of monsters or superhuman! No I'm joking, the best part is artillery, LOOOOOOT of artillery!!

[Mitchverr]

What kind of player plays guard?

 

People who want to die for the emperor or die trying thats who!

 

But seriously, I picked my kriegers because I needed a meatshield for my admech at first, then I fell in love with them when lone guardsmen would reach space marine squads and somehow win fights against them last man plasma gunners ftw), also when I got my death riders and they just kept holding the line! Ever since I have been reducing my admech % for more krieg and possibly elysians if i ever get the courage to sell my other limbs.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Mitchverr

[WarriorFish]

Let's not beat around the bush; it takes a particular type of person to play Guard and not everyone is up to the task. This is fine, GW invented the weak xenos races to accommodate such people after all. From infantry companies marching in step to the rumbling of tanks or the thunder of artillery Guard has it all. If you want fancy pants Guard can do that too - strap on your carapace you're a Stormtrooper now.

 

Probably the best thing is being the perpetual underdog. If you want to be a Guard player you'll need to invest in large tear jars as you will be collecting many Actually we probably all need to stock up as with how good Guard is looking in 8th - combined arms works like never before so our jars will be overflowing with the salty misery of those who talked big but delivered small

 

 

Guard isn't an army; it's a way of life™

[Shamansky]

My first army are Black Templars. Because you know, they used to be pretty honest fighters. No super shooty weapons, no rediculous amount of super maries sue in command, no witchery. Only honour, faith and zeal (and re-rolls to-hit in melee of course). But times were changing. GW started pimping armies with many different game breaking rules and toys. At some point BT even became codex marines (damn those smurf lovers who wrote that heresy). But before that day i bought my first two guard battleforce boxes. I lkie guard because it makes you think while you play, not only while you create your roster. The Guard has instruments to really accept any challenge no matter the odds.

[NatBrannigan]

Guard do seem to appeal to a certain kind of player. They're similar to Orks in that you collect them because you love the models / backstory / style of play rather than collecting an army that will win battles. That makes Guard players on the whole more relaxed and fun to play with. There's a reason that Guard vs Orks is just about the most fun you can have with plastic!

 

Of course in 8th Guard are looking like a real powerhouse. I'll hazard a guess that this won't actually be welcome news to many Guard players, myself included! This might just be due to people still finding their feet and soon Eldar and Tau will be back ruling the roost but the underdog angle is always fun to play.

 

Some think Guard are boring. Why play standard Earth military when all the options of 40k are open to you they say? To these people I say firstly, Guard on their own have more sheer variety then any other race in terms of aesthetic and playstyle. As mentioned above you can do ANYTHING with Guard. Even an Elite close combat army is possible with Bullgryns and Rough Riders now. Secondly I'd say I don't think ranks of basic troops, facing off against the numerous horrors of the 40k universe with nothing more than a bayonet with some guts behind it, is boring. That's pure awesome!

 

So, what kind of people play Guard? The kind that love the idea of letting squad of over the top, genetically enhanced, blood worshiping, steroid taking, Dark God mutated maniacs in power armour get in nice and close before unleashing disciplined volleys of fire into them, that's who! Of course they are also the kind of people who don't mind grinning when those disciplined volleys kill a single Berzerker and are then butchered to a man, but that's life in the Guard.

 

My suggestion? Do it. Join the Guard and see the Galaxy. It's the start of a project where inspiration is easy to come by. Check out Nicos Praetorian WIP thread, or the How to Model Rough Riders thread here for a great example of how the community here gets behind any project. And they're some fine looking models as well!

[Jolemai]

A chap in my group switched from SM/DA to Guard on the basis on wanting something different and that he collected Empire in WFB. Considering how precious he gets over his models taking casualties, this may not have been the best choice...

 

Whilst this may change for 8th Edition, I believe that Guard players are hardened veterans (or in the case of newbies, have the mindset to be) and are attracted to an army that you can't play on easy mode. The Guard are a great force that requires you to blend an army that's at its heart blunt but with a myriad of surprises to give it the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or you simply adore tanks.

[Zectz]

To me I'm just drawn to the idea of basic human being standing firm on the battlefield no matter what when faced against all these super humans, giant monsters, daemons and future tech robots.

They win their battles through true grit, discipline, will and determination. They don't give a  who it is that's charging towards them. They have a job to do and they WILL do it. You don't see that kind of underdog scenario in other armies. If the roles were reversed I don't think other races could win in those situations.

Edited July 5, 2017 by WarriorFish
Emoticon added

[Galron]

I like them because they are the closest army in 40k to my old RL job. I had a full mech infantry company at one time all built as close to my actual unit as possible. I still have the figs but don't play it as such anymore. Now I field my growing elysian force. Guard players are generally non-waac players who stick with edition after edition of mediocre army lists and plod our tanks slowly towards the enemy anyway. Conversely I can play my Elysians and throw my dudes where the enemy least expects them for them to devastate their target in a blaze of glory because after all, fortune favors the bold.... usually.

[NatBrannigan]

I think they also tend to be guys who enjoy a war film. Zulu of course for Praetorians. Maybe a bridge to far if you like Armour or Paratroopers. Zulu inspires a lot of the orders especially First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire. It's easy to imagine your Guard, after defeating wave after wave of Tyranids

 

"It's a Miracle"

"If it's a Miracle, Colour Sergeant, It's a short chamber Boxer Henry .45 Calibre (Laser!) miracle"

"And a Bayonet sir, with some guts behind it"

 

If that doesn't send a shiver down your spine then you're better off collecting spineless Eldar!

 

You have said though, that you love your models and like to keep them safe. Well..... Yes.... If you enjoy Blackadder you may recall the scene with Field Marshall Hague cleaning his model men from his map with a dustpan and brush?

Edited July 5, 2017 by NatBrannigan

[Julgolax]

So it sounds like you play the space military because you 1. like tanks, 2. like the background, 3. like spending a lot of money, and 4. like rolling a lot of dice and picking up a lot of infantry and putting them, in clumps, back into your carrying case.

 

They certainly do look to be one of the most expensive armies, like Orks and Tyranids. Considering GW doesn't box or price horde armies any better than elite armies, it's kind of a major drawback.

 

I hear that Orks should not be taken in squads numbering any less than 30, so 3 boxes of 10 which is $90 American, OR Cadian Infantry Squads in lumps of 20 for the same price per box, so $60 American for a throw-away unit is kind of silly in the long run. And then getting into the units that MATTER, oh boy... Baneblades at $140 a piece, Leman Russ at a whopping $50 a piece and should be bought in 3's... oh boy! O.o

 

Then, my favorite IG regiments aren't supported by GW so I'd have to spend EVEN MORE on alternatives for the regiment I want. (My regiments would be custom of course.) So, I dunno. I always envisioned a very stylized guard regiment in white helmets, hats, or armor and brown clothing, the colors of the bald eagle, with a special unit of demigryph riders armored like the Winged Hussars. Their regimental symbol an eagle's head, representing Nobility with 2 skulls behind hit, representing Honor and Duty. 

 

Again, I'd get very attached to my units and when 20 of them standing in a line, get massacred by a squad of 5 ork nobz or 8 khorne berserkers... I'd get a bit peeved...

[H311fi5h]

It's actually not that bad. Leman Russes, Chimeras and Lasgun dudes are available in abundance on ebay. For your basic infantry you don't need to pay more than 1$ per model. Since they are effectively mono-pose models you don't lose anything by buying used and giving them a nice isopropanol bath. Vehicles I buy mostly new in order to magnetize the weapon options, but there are pretty good deals available. For Russes, get the starter set, for Chimeras you can get the Genestealer Cult Armoured Claw box (cheaper than Cadian Armoured Fist but exactly the same models).

Hellhounds, Basilisks, Manticores that's the really expensive stuff since they are only available for full price directly from GW. Weapon teams are pretty expensive, but you can save some money by getting more bases to build multiple heavy weapons from one sprue. Especially the mortar doesn't share any bits with the other weapons. Rocket launchers also work.

For special weapons you don't have to buy Command Squads. Rather get space marine meltaguns/plasmaguns from GW, or buy the cheapest ones you can find in bitz shops and make them fit with some green stuff.

There are a lot of ways to save money with the Guard. I'm not saying it's cheap, but you don't need to sell your kidneys either.

Edited July 5, 2017 by H311fi5h

[NatBrannigan]

Well... I guess that's one way of looking at it? I'm not sure any of that is true or has been said in anything other than jest in this thread though.

 

As has been said you can actually run Guard with very few models. Scions are great this edition and they're fairly elite. The start collecting box is a good bargain as well. Artillery is very effective and easy to hide out of LOS. Leman Russ tanks are just about the toughest thing out there as well.

 

You don't have to run conscripts, or Infantry squads and no, they're not the most survivable thing in the game, but in the last game I played three Infantry squads with a Commander and Yarrick buffing them gunned down a 10 man Assault Squad, Gabriel Seth and a Vanguard Veteran Squad losing 1 unit the progress. Also Infantry squads come in 10's, so whoever told you they need to be run in at least squads of 20 is just plain wrong.

 

My Praetorians are just headswaps, and 10 heads cost me £4. depending on how elaborate you want your troops to be you can either spend a lot or a little. Clearly your Demigryph Rough Riders are going to be just about the most expensive way to make Rough Riders, but they'll look great I'm sure.

 

Also, If you have Guard now you can add a couple of Genestealer Cult units and bam! Large Genestealer cults army as well. Now THAT's value!

Edited July 5, 2017 by NatBrannigan

[Praesul]

I've always loved the Guard, but until recently the price point was just too high and I wasn't that interested in the last few editions.  

 

I love the "every man" style to the army, how it's made up of normal people issued a lackluster the Emperor's Most Blessed™ lasgun and told to go fight inhuman monsters, aliens, and supermen. 

 

I'm currently putting together a force of Scions to form the relatively inexpensive core of a few lists. Along with the standard infantry squads, heavy weapon teams, veterans, and other meatshields brave warriors in service to our most august Emperor. Then all I need are the tanks, aircraft (3 Avengers for some close air support BRRRRRRT), artillery, and more men...always more men...

 

It's a beautiful day for the infantry.

[The Prince]

I must admit the reason I started collecting guard, all them years ago, was because everyone in my player group were of the opinion they were bad and always lost. Consequently I desperately wanted them, and reading the old 4th ed rulebook faction description of plucky humans standing up to monsters and nightmares it just felt right.

 

The fact you command an army made up of basic humans, with some of the worst statlines and equipment the world can throw at them, and then set them against towering alien menaces or superhumans in rediculous armour, just feels heroic. Thr feeling of "yeah we suffered a 98% casualty rate this game, but we also drew AND that one sergeant 1v5'd a unit of marines and won" is brilliant. The little moments of heroism are what make playing guard for me.

 

That and having a 6' long trenchline filled with massed artillery on turn 1, and just watching their face fall as you begin shooting.

 

 

Pricewise though, at the end of the day you can make the hobby as cheap or expensive as you like - ebaying job lots of basic cadians then doing separate headswaps/greenstuff conversion will take time but save the cash for the bigger pieces.

[Julgolax]

I just think 10 man guardsmen squads vs 10 marines or dire avengers, 12 necrons or fire warriors, or 30 Ork Boyz seems a bit foolish. I'd be surprised to see 10 guardsmen outshoot 10 marines. I'd be surprised to SEE 10 guardsmen for a squad, rather than 20. After all, they say for every space marine, it takes 10 guardsmen to equate.

 

I'm just trying to keep my options open, so far, I might be more of an Ork or Primaris player than a Guardsmen, though I DO absolutely LOVE tanks and, should they ever get updated models, the Steel Legion. Steel Legion is best legion! (Edit: Though the Valhallans and Tallarn also really intrigue me.)

Edited July 5, 2017 by Lord Nolkaar

[Gen.Steiner]

I've played Imperial Guard since 2nd Edition.

My main Guard army - Force Z - has figures in it from the mid 1990s to the most recent releases.

I once built a full-strength infantry company (in 3rd/4th Edition) and played with it for years, losing almost every game.

I once tried to build Guard armies for every range of figures they ever produced. A mad scheme that I happily abandoned three years ago in favour of Force Z.

 

I play Guard because the idea of an unaugmented human, wearing level IV body armour (that is functionally useless against all but shrapnel and basic weapons) and carrying a laser rifle that, compared to most foes, is barely adequate, standing against ancient warriors from a time before myth, arcane xenos witcheries, terrifying soulless metal skeletons, hideous dinosaurs from beyond the stars that seek only to consume, or - worst of all - fallen comrades-in-arms whose once proud standards now bear eye-searing sigils of the Dark Powers - that idea, that image, is one of heroism and duty.

Yes, my soldiers die - by the hundred, or the thousand - but the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Imperium, and what's more, for every time I was tabled without killing a single Space Marine, there's the times where my Guardsmen bayonetted a Hive Tyrant to death, or a plasma gunner clubbed a Chaos Lord to the ground with his weapon in vengeance for the death of the rest of his squad, or the times when I blew the perfidious Eldar off the board in a hail of las-fire.

 

Each victory is a cry of defiance in the dark, each death a sacrifice that gives the next generation time to stand up, step forwards, and die to keep the Imperium safe.

 

That is why I play Guard.

[Julgolax]

Oh, I play for fun, winning isn't everything really. I just want to see my army on the field and if they get wiped out, Tzeentch smiles, I shrug, if they win, I smile and Tzeentch molts some feathers ;-)

 

What I get a kick out of most is when my units are either tough enough to giggle at gunfire while they move up to fight, or they're good enough at shooting where I can roost in a building or sit behind a wall of sandbags and watch the bodies hit the floor. Death Guard, Orks, Space Military and Primaris Marines are all vying for my money on this one!

[The Prince]

 

What I get a kick out of most is when my units are either tough enough to giggle at gunfire while they move up to fight,

 

Here's the thing with that, the individual guardsman isn't tough enough to giggle at gunfire, however your army will have enough bodies that it giggles regardless. Even if you're not infantry heavy you'll still have double the number of an equivalent themed force of any other faction.

[oldmanlee]

I've played guard for over 15+ years becuse I love tanks and guard can have more tanks than most armys

A few players in my gameing group are now jumping on the guard bandwagon becuse there now good which

 

gets me angry as they now think there old tau army are naff.

[Gen.Steiner]

 

 

What I get a kick out of most is when my units are either tough enough to giggle at gunfire while they move up to fight,

 

Here's the thing with that, the individual guardsman isn't tough enough to giggle at gunfire, however your army will have enough bodies that it giggles regardless. Even if you're not infantry heavy you'll still have double the number of an equivalent themed force of any other faction.

 

 

And if you run Conscripts, you can feasibly have hundreds - hundreds! of models on the field. In a 2,000 point army you'd still have about 6-700 points left after the Conscripts, Commanders, Priests and Commissars to get several tanks.

 

Horde Guard. The army you play when you enjoy the idea of 200 lasgun shots at 12" from one squad.

[mertbl]

I like putting a bunch of stuff on the table. I also like taking a bunch of stuff off the table.