Guard training?

[TorvaldTheMild]

I know a lot of writers like to say that most guardsmen haven't had any training, that they've been given a flashlight and told to get to the front line, but this seems unrealistic to me.  To mobilise an army takes a long time, especially with hundreds of thousands to millions of troops, to get onto a ship and into orbit also takes a long time, traveling to a warp jump takes time, traveling through the warp takes weeks to years depending on where they are going.  There would be so much opportunity and time to train recruits, Christ they could even run on the ship and I'd imagine there are shooting ranges etc.  You can't train in the field but there would be a lot that they could learn in that time.  I think PDF troops planet being invaded may be told to pick up a flashlight and get to the front line.  What do you think?

[RandyB]

"Pick up a flashlight and hold the line" is conscripts, aka "whiteshields", if it exists at all. Maybe also PDFs, although those vary in quality, up to "Astra Militarum standards".

 

Also, read the regimental descriptions in the most current Codex. Definitely not "pick up a flashlight and go".

[Lord Marshal]

The Imperial Guard are, in theory, supposed to be drawn from that planet's best PDF soldiers.

 

The whole 'flashlight and t-shirt' meme is largely just that, a meme, that's been regurgitated so much a lot of people believe it's canon, much like the "the Inquisition will exterminatus a world if a cultist somewhere sneezes." That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it seems to be the exception than the rule. Nevermind that Conscripts are just one Troops choice option in a book otherwise full of professional soldiers.

 

Troops definitely find themselves in meat grinders of course, but the whole wave-tactics-of-untrained-troops thing isn't done as standard practise and those officers who do pull it are as like to end up with a bolter-sized hole in their heads.

 

Remember that tabletop battles are the absolute worst-case-engagements for the Guard. Most of the time, they're deployed against human separatists, mortal Chaos soldiers and Orks. The former two will usually be, at best, as well trained as them and worse equipped whilst the latter are typically pocket infestations or regular raids they'll quickly get used to. Obviously this depends on the front.

 

The Guard absolutely do train during warp-transit. This is referenced and shown in a fair bit of Guard media, including the RPGs, Black Library, etc.

[TorvaldTheMild]

Yeah that's what I thought as I haven't read that I've only heard people saying that they are handed a flashlight and told to get to the front, though the people that have said that have said its in the lore, so I guess they just heard it from someone else.

[HallofStovokor]

So in the lore most guard regiments are made up of the elite elements of a planetary PDF. Even the least professional of the major regiments are extremely battle hardened. Steel Legion is largely made up of hive gangers. Even these troops are battle hardened killers. They learned to fight in the underhives of Armageddon. They were then pressed into service to fight against the largest WAAAGH since the Beast. There are worlds that send their crap off to die, but the majority of worlds send their best to fight in the imperial guard.

[TorvaldTheMild]

So in the lore most guard regiments are made up of the elite elements of a planetary PDF. Even the least professional of the major regiments are extremely battle hardened. Steel Legion is largely made up of hive gangers. Even these troops are battle hardened killers. They learned to fight in the underhives of Armageddon. They were then pressed into service to fight against the largest WAAAGH since the Beast. There are worlds that send their crap off to die, but the majority of worlds send their best to fight in the imperial guard.

That's only in the Third war for Armageddon, most of the Steel Legion weren't hive gangers in the 2nd.  When Yarrick got banished to Hades Hive by von Strab he didn't have any reinforcements from Strab when it was attacked, so the sister of battle (can't remember her name) went to the gangers and said either fight or you'll be killed by the orks as they weren't going to fight when she first asked.  The gangers of Hades fought but they weren't officially in the Steel Legion.  Since then they have singed up tonnes more for service and lots of them are now hive gangers.

[sairence]

In the Titanicus novel the planet has multiple "layers" of militia, from the first draft being well-trained and almost front line material to 3rd and 4th drafts, who essentially sign up to train a weekend per month and aren't called up unless things are absolutely desperate. In 15 Hours the regiment has basically just completed basic training and is brought up to scratch during warp travel. Cadian Whiteshields will have received a level of training that veteran regiments from other planets won't have.

 

So it's as diverse as you can imagine. Generally Guard regiments should often be the elite of a planet, as a sub-standard tithe can cost the planetarey governor everything from his job to his head if the Munitorum decides that what he sent wasn't up to standard.