What motivated you to play Astra Militarum?

[sunspear]

Or the Imperial Guard as I will always think of it.

I'm curious what made others to play AM.

I guess specifically, what one thing made the decision for you?

Mine, and I'm an older gamer, was an old issue of WD that featured a battle report or an idea for a battle report. That had a guard army that was dirty, and grimy. Muted colors. They were battling it out in a city, I am pretty sure his was before city fight was around. The name of the article was something like tsarangrad or something.

This would have been in the 90s sometime.

Wish I could remember more details. But I just loved the scratch built buildings and he dark, dirty look of the thing.

But anyway that's what made me want to play the IG, back in the day:)

Edited October 26, 2017 by sunspear

[Mitchverr]

I always loved WW1 stuff, Death Korps came along, a match made in heaven other than the high price and me being 16 at the time, a few years later I came back to the hobby (well, 9 years later) and suddenly, that price tag wasnt so much an issue :D

 

Also, Death Korps of Krieg fluff is just great in my view, perfect grimdark for me and their general WW1 conventional army route was completely fine with me as I could take advantage of their "not running when shot in the face" for fun, also horses, cavalry charge is the best charge.

[narcolepticltd]

I started in 4th with grey knights in the Daemonhunters Codex. When I first saw IG I thought what a lot of people probably think initially when they see green army guys in a sci-fi story line - a bit out of place and lack luster. My tune changed once I started to learn the game and my codex a bit better, and I started to look at allying in a bit of guard for a leman russ as a heavy support choice (the ally rules were part of the codex and you specifically had to pay a tax of an infantry platoon or maybe 2? complete with a platoon command squad in order to take any other units). 

 

Once I started failing/learning to paint tanks, and got into weathering - I found the part of the hobby I enjoy most... tanks :) 

 

Still like GK / Inq / Assassins / etc as well though... but IG is my main thing now. 

[Halfpint100]

I got them as a detachment for my demon hunters. To have some bodies + tanks. All the tanks!

 

Grew from there. I kind of like the appeal of the basic human vs superhuman, aliens and monsters from nightmares

[WarriorFish]

I can't remember why... feels like I've always been a Guard player ;) Probably something to do with ranks of infantry and big tanks fighting whatever the galaxy can throw against them. Just a guy, his laser gun and cardboard armour against the myriad monsters and horrors. Now that's heroism!

[Plasmablasts]

Gaunt’s Ghosts really. I think the metal GG models came out about the time I got into 40k, so they, with some plastic Catachans and a lot of greenstuff became my first army (well, platoon to be more accurate - I’m a slow collector and painter...).

 

The ordinary humans have always had a closer place to my heart than bioengineered transhumans...

[narcolepticltd]

I started in 4th with grey knights in the Daemonhunters Codex. When I first saw IG I thought what a lot of people probably think initially when they see green army guys in a sci-fi story line - a bit out of place and lack luster. My tune changed once I started to learn the game and my codex a bit better, and I started to look at allying in a bit of guard for a leman russ as a heavy support choice (the ally rules were part of the codex and you specifically had to pay a tax of an infantry platoon or maybe 2? complete with a platoon command squad in order to take any other units). 

 

Once I started failing/learning to paint tanks, and got into weathering - I found the part of the hobby I enjoy most... tanks

 

Still like GK / Inq / Assassins / etc as well though... but IG is my main thing now. 

 

 

I got them as a detachment for my demon hunters. To have some bodies + tanks. All the tanks!

 

Grew from there. I kind of like the appeal of the basic human vs superhuman, aliens and monsters from nightmares

 

JINX BLACKOUT!!!

[Major_Gilbear]

This:

 

http://pro.bols.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/imperial-guard-art-rogue-trader-horz.jpg

 

I had a complete Epic-scale regiment (that's 10+ full companies plus support detachments), all painted with command flags like the above and everything.

 

Not too long afterwards, (3-4 years?) the new 40k2E models were released for the first Imperial Guard Codex, and that cemented me as a Guard player. Mind you, it would still be many years later that I would own more than just a squad or so of the 40k  models - I didn't have a lot of money when I was young, and 40k horde armies were simply not in my budget (plus, the only plastic troops the IG got were... Stormtroopers, which were a restricted selection in the army list. Sigh.)

 

I always liked the IG's futile yet stoic heroism in the face of the horrors of 40k. For me, the IG was always about a sea of troops, heavy weapons, Commissars, and artillery. As much as I liked the tanks (and the superheavy tanks!), I always felt that they were more like the "elite" spearhead forces of the IG rather than than the mainstay - at least, when I consider the IG as a whole fighting force that is.

[Ranulf]

Watching the 2nd Ed. metal minis get released with backstories in White Dwarf every month. I loved them all, from the bad-ass Catachans to the Mordians in immaculate dress uniforms.

 

I was a Space Wolves player first and have had a bit of a love affair with the Saim-Hann over the years; but the Guard with it's infinite possibilities for concept and design, the imagery of officers and commissars and the sheer brass-balls factor of ordinary humans going toe-to-toe with worse of the galaxy concretes them as a favorite for me.  

[Feral_80]

Because AM is the coolest army around, simply put 

Anybody else is either a power-armoured , a xeno , or a warp-enhanced . When bio-engineering, superior techonology, hunger, endless numbers, effective immortality, and/or utter fanaticism drive you, it's quite easy to be warmongers. On the other hand, it takes guts to fight for the stars against endless horrors as a regular human with a torchlight. And, well, tons of tanks and artillery.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Feral_80

[sunspear]

These are great. Love hearing everyone's motivations.

I agree with the appeal of guardsmen being humans, trying to fight back whatever horror the universe can throw at them. The diversity of the regiments and all the character that can be built into them.

AM can be anything the player wants them to be, I think more than any other army in the game.

Edited October 26, 2017 by sunspear

[Frater Cornelius]

These are great. Love hearing everyone's motivations.

I agree with the appeal of guardsmen being humans, trying to fight back whatever horror the universe can throw at them. The diversity of the regiments and all the character that can be built into them.

AM can be anything the player wants them to be, I think more than any other army in the game.

 

I never got the view that that is somehow heroic. It would be if they had a choice. But in 40k, a simple Guardman has the option of getting shot on the field of battle or getting shot/turned into a servitor if he refuses. There is nothing heroic about Guardsmen who are forced to fight and there is nothing heroic about the commanders who send them all to die.

 

To me, the humanity aspect has a different feel to it. It is the part that they somehow need to deal with the situation they are in. How they all hold together in the hope some of them live to see another day. I can agree that they are indeed courageous to stick to your guns and hold on to the hope of survival. Courageous, but not heroic. It is a mirror of how we sometimes find outselves in an inescapable situation but have no choice but to go forward.

 

I think it is best described by the Kasrkin lines from Dawn of War 1: "Faith is all that matters."

[CoffeeGrunt]

I originally started with Tau, and decided to do Guard as a side army. I ended up going kinda overboard with them and now the Guard are an autonomous army larger than my Tau, (so that kinda got worked into my fluff for them.) I just love the same theme others here seem to: mere men standing firm against the horrors of a galaxy actively trying to shatter Mankind.

[duz_]

My friend introduced me to 40k at his with the 3rd ed starter which got me interested.

He said there was a store and more factions so we went there and I saw this

And the rest is history!

 

Loved the thought of humans in the M40 completely outclassed by super humans and ancient races (necrons and tau weren't a thing before I took a hiatus) and the only thing that gave them a fighting change was tanks and numbers! :D

[Die4Emprah]

Some background: I came in late to the hobby (5th edition), as I foolishly convinced my friend to join up with me. 
My first Army was a Space Marine army, RG homebrew. Lots of fun, but involved really maximizing strategic value. I loved that SM army, each model had a name on it. The reason I fell back from that army was because of dice. I'm not good at dice. I could make all the right decisions in the world, but a few bad rolls on an "elite" army list, you've pretty much wasted 3 hours of your life. 

 

Later when reading one of the "Ultramarine" novels, Cpt Ventris notes that "Space Marines are ill fitted for protracted warfare. They cannot weather such death.  This is the province of The Imperial Guard." (or something like that.)

This got my gears turning.

I decided to make an army that didn't need dice. I'm no longer concerned with defeating my enemy with firepower. I drown them in blood. My Guard army was designed to out-die any army that comes against it, and it excelled at it. Since IG was rubbish in 6/7 more or less, the models were easy to come by, from other frustrated guard players. They didn't know how to lose competitively.  (My 7th edition IG list had easily 250 infantry models)

When reading about "IG" fluff, I stumbled into DKoK.  When I read that their whole goal was literally "Die for the Emperor, or die trying." - I was sold.  Between the mantra, the look, the cavalry, and the big guns I was home. 

Guard vehicles taught me how to enjoy painting vehicles. Maybe it's because they're more iconic, valuable to the Guard. I felt like SM vehicles were nothing but SM delivery devices. My Guard Tanks had character, they were the heroes of this fight, not the 100+ lasgun wielding wound-soaks.

 

Do I miss my Space Panthers (SM Chapter)? Yeah, sometimes. I dusted them off last year, shyhammered a chaos army, packed them up.  My heart(s) just aren't in it anymore. I'm a Guard Player now. I actively lose to win, and I'm loving it.

[FallenSoldiers]

I got into the Guard because I just loved the ideas of:

 

1) Regular guys with flashlights and a cardboard box going up against whatever the Galaxy can throw at them.

 

2) I love the idea of different companies working together. Armored companies of tanks supporting hoards of infantry backed up by Grav-chuting Scions. The support structure and it’s ability to adjust tactics to take on any different opponent.

 

3) customization. I found it way easier to customie and come up with my own force, their backstory, and their tactics than it was with any other force.

 

I came to the Guard in 7th edition from being a CSM player. (Clearly I picked the OP WAAC armies...) and just loved how different the play style was. I’d weep for a unit of Chaos Marines who got wiped out because it hurt my strategy for the mission... now if I’m NOT losing guardsmen by the dozen I think I’m doing something wrong.

 

I’ll echo someone else’s statement further up... I love being able to die better than my opponent. If my lasguns, tanks, and artillery can’t kill you... well you’ll drown in my blood!

[lash144]

As you might know, I am quite a newcomer (startet about half a year ago).

 

And it actually started with playing Dawn of War 1 campaign again after several years (I loved the game as a kid). In the first campaign you play the Blood Ravens SM which is okay, but in some missions you get supported by the Guard and you can even control the units sometimes.

 

And I just fell in love with the Leman Russ. When you selected it, it often said something like 'Leman Russ here. Heavy support available."

 

So here I am working on my armored / mechanized company ;-)

[CoffeeGrunt]

Also the Combined Arms approach to warfare works perhaps best of all in Guard. Armour, Artillery, Aircraft and Troops, the best lists have a bit of everything.

[DrLoveMonkey]

[

 

I never got the view that that is somehow heroic. It would be if they had a choice. But in 40k, a simple Guardman has the option of getting shot on the field of battle or getting shot/turned into a servitor if he refuses. There is nothing heroic about Guardsmen who are forced to fight and there is nothing heroic about the commanders who send them all to die.

 

To me, the humanity aspect has a different feel to it. It is the part that they somehow need to deal with the situation they are in. How they all hold together in the hope some of them live to see another day. I can agree that they are indeed courageous to stick to your guns and hold on to the hope of survival. Courageous, but not heroic. It is a mirror of how we sometimes find outselves in an inescapable situation but have no choice but to go forward.

 

I think it is best described by the Kasrkin lines from Dawn of War 1: "Faith is all that matters."

Well, they can be for sure. On the other hand you have people like the Cadians and the Death Corps and the Catachans. If you told a Krieger that he could go free and live a peaceful life somewhere, many of them would tell you to frag off and point them at the nearest heretic that needs a las bolt. It also can’t account for things like Iron Hand Straken leaping from the third story of a ruined building to slam his robot arm into the face of a giant irk war boss and then dragging the half dead sergeant back three miles to a triage tent, when the safer option would be to retreat.

 

 

More on topic though I like guard for a lot of reasons. The classic normal humans angle is great. I can’t really put myself in the mindset of a space marine, at least not how they’re described. I mean they’re amazing and it’s great how the white scars can just field a million bikes and win because they’re basically superheroes on motorcycles, but I kind of prefer my heroes to be more like people. On their off time they grab some drinks and stuff. But at the same time they use tactics, equipment and diversity to rise up above their station and sock one to the big guys every now and then. Bloody heretic Astartes.

 

Also as mentioned the combined arms thing is great, I always love the image of a Leman Russ creeping down the road with a squad or two surrounding it as an infantry escort with heavy support. Just the idea that they shore up each others weaknesses and rely on one another is a great feeling. The infantry keep the tank from being swarmed, have a much wider field of vision, and can scour ruins, and the tank provides them cover to hide behind, particularly for the tired and wounded, and a big gun for when the enemy brings their armour. Also a reasonably fast ride in a pinch.

Edited October 26, 2017 by DrLoveMonkey

[OnboardG1]

I played steel legion back in the day because I thought the minis were really cool and I loved the 3rd Ed guard book with the doctrines. When 8th came out I thought, right I'll get back into guard once the codex comes out, that'll give me time to paint my Chaos right?

 

Lol.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Somewhat similar story to _duz for me at the beginning ... back circa 2000 I was a WFB player only and at a tournament met a guy who was big into 40K. We got together at his place one day and he showed me his armies, one of which was Praetorians who he said he wanted to sell. I was immediately hooked and bought the minis from him. After getting my butt kicked repeatedly for a while I eventually moved into Sisters of Battle who were my army for years. I foolishly sold the Praetorians :-(

 

By 2003 I'd been playing Sisters of Battle exclusively for three years (I had abandoned WFB when Ravening Hordes made Bretonnia unplayable against my friends' Empire and Chaos armies with army books) and wanted a change. I tried Black Templars and hated it despite loving their fluff -- I did not find it challenging enough. When the second 3rd edition IG codex with doctrines came out that same year, along with all the new Cadian plastics, I got back into Guard. I absolutely loved how Guard played that edition and combined my love of WW2 history this time making an SS-style dot-pattern camo army.

 

Got married in '05 and left the hobby in '06 when our first child was born. Returned to the hobby around 2010 or so and initially went Inquisition/GK and didn't like it. Wanted the challenging/tactical style of IG plus that mix of history and sci fi, plus the whole normal humans facing the horrors of the universe. Did DKoK and now I'm doing Praetorians (returning to my roots). If I had the time I would probably have 4 or 5 different regiments because Guard/AM just give such a rich fertile ground for variety and cool ideas unlike any other 40K faction.

[librisrouge]

The act of mass in play. I want the biggest army. I want Stalingrad at the Volga. WWI shocktroopers. The beaches of Normandy being stormed. The swarms of Vietcong approaching like a horde of ants. I want enough models on the table that the enemy struggles to comprehend how they're going to kill them all.

 

This can mean dropping 200+ infantry or more tanks than my opponent can. They might be mechanized or I could be dropping a Baneblade and, "...you still have a hundred guys! What the hell man!?" I love that feeling and the idea that, compared to other factions, I'm the only one fielding an actual army. The rest only have a raid, or strike force, and I have an army.

[Steel Company]

For me it was the Kasrkin models, I just loved them... But beyond that, I was getting a bit tired of my SM army and needed something that would let me be more creative with the look and feel of the army... It started with a combined arms regiment, that then expanded to include a Super Heavy detachment (2 Bane Blades, 1 Storm Blade), an AirCav force (6 Valkyries and 3 Vultures with Creed and 5 Carapace Vet squads..that all used either GL's or ML's to keep it more in line with what an air-moble force would use) and an infantry regiment that was mortar heavy (man that force murdered Orks good in 5th ed)...

[Halfpint100]

Came into the hobby right around release of 3rd edition. Dabbled into darn near every army out there but guard has always been my go to (along with chaos, sorry!)

 

Their combined arms approach appeals to me and is necessary to their play style. I was a long time subscriber to white dwarf and was a big fan of Pete Haines, the old writer of the cadian list in C:Eye of Terror. Some of my favorite battle reports to read featured guardsmen fighting in cities against Night Lords, Armored Fist columns against Necrons in the desert, and an absolutely fantastic battle against Typhus and plague zombies. The two part, 2 v 2 Eye if Terror reports featuring Dark Angels and a Baneblade tips the list.

 

Lol sorry for the rant, nostalgia. I like guard because they are relatable, customizable, flexible, and fun.

I remember that battle report of the guard vs night Lords. They lost, but it was such a good report. That report was what made me hunt down those old metal cadians! (I got the white dwarf second hand from my cousin)

[TheShredder]

There were a couple of things that got me into guard:

 

1) A chap on Warseer called ColShaw. He used to do these fantastically detailed and entertaining battle reports with his IG. Normally I don't bother with battle reports (especially ones for armies I don't play), but his really drew me in. He had a few different armies, including an Infantry army that drowned the opponent in bodies and a Star Wars army featuring some great conversions. I loved the playstyle of the infantry army and the conversion/theme opportunities demonstrated by the Star Wars army.

 

2) The Captain America film, weirdly enough. I've always enjoyed villains and I noticed that Hydra had a lot of aesthetic similarities to the IG, in that they have a WWII(ish) look, but mixed with sci-fi elements. Their uniforms aren't too dissimilar from Steel Legion, they have teserract-powered weapons aren't too far off plasmaguns, they have flamethrowers, they have a huge tank that looks very like a Leman Russ, and they even have a Commissar-like figure leading them. They also have the motto 'If they cut off one head, two more shall take its place', which seemed just perfect for IG. 

However, I bought into IG in late 6th edition. And, to be honest, I didn't really enjoy them. They seemed pretty weak and (once 7th rolled around) there was so much OP stuff floating around that it seemed almost pointless. 

 

To be clear, I don't mind losing. But there's something rather disheartening about being completely outgunned from the outset. I had a few fun games against Orks, but against a lot of other races I didn't stand a chance. I mean, when you've got stuff that can basically delete a 40man Infantry Squad each turn, it quickly got to the point where it wasn't even worth the bother of setting them up. So, quite frankly, I gave up on IG and my theme.

 

Then 8th rolled around and, wow, suddenly infantry armies are functional again. And with the codex doctrines there are quite a few different ways to play them. Awsome. 

 

So, not only have I rolled out my IG, I've also restarted my Hydra project. In addition to the Captain America film, I've also found and modelled several Hydra members from the comics, who can serve as Company Commanders, Tempestor Primes and Primaris Psykers.

 

Honestly though, I'm actually a bit torn. I'm wondering if I'd have more fun just making and using my own characters (perhaps with a slightly different theme), but at the same time I really like some of the HQ models I've made.  

 

Oh well, I'm sure I'll work something out and I expect I've rambled on long enough.