IMPERIAL GUARDSMEN
Warhammer 40,000 Characters
Power Level 5-6 Minions ( 50 PP )
Tactica Imperialis wrote:A good general does not lead an army to destruction just because he knows it will follow.
General Sturnn, Cadian 412th wrote:To each of us falls a task, and all the Emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand the line, and we die fighting. It is what we do best: We die standing.
ABILITIES
Strength 1
Stamina 2
Agility 1
Dexterity 1
Fighting 5
Intellect 0
Awareness 0
Presence 0
SKILLS
Athletics 4 (+5), Expertise [Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer] 6 (+6), Intimidation 2 (+2), Perception 2 (+2), Vehicles 2 (+3)
ADVANTAGES
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Sergeant: Equipment (5), Improved Defense, Leadership, Ranged Attack (4), Teamwork
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Infantrymen and Weapon Specialists: Equipment (6), Improved Defense, Ranged Attack (4), Teamwork
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Heavy Weapon Operator and Vox Operator: Equipment (8), Ranged Attack (4)
EQUIPMENT ( 40 EP )
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The standard Imperial Guard Infantry Squad consists of ten men: One Sergeant, six Infantrymen, one Weapon Specialist, one Vox Operator, and one Heavy Weapon Operator.
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Sergeant ( 20 EP ) One member of the squad will be given the following as standard issue:
•
Flak Armor Protection 3 [ 3 EP ]
•
Frag Grenade Damage 5 (
E: Area [30' Burst], Ranged) [ 15 EP ]
•
AE: Chainsword Damage 4 (Strength-Based;
E: Improved Critical [2]) [ 1 EP ]
•
AE: Laspistol Damage 5 (
E: Ranged) [ 1 EP ]
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Infantrymen ( 20 EP ) All other members of the squad will be given the following as standard issue:
•
Flak Armor Protection 3 [ 3 EP ]
•
Lasrifle Damage 5 (
E: Ranged, Multiattack) [ 15 EP ]
•
AE: Bayonet Damage 1 (Strength-Based;
E: Improved Critical [1], Reach [1]) [ 1 EP ]
•
AE: Frag Grenade Damage 5 (
E: Area [30' Burst], Ranged) [ 1 EP ]
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Weapon Specialist ( 20 EP ) One member of the squad may replace his Lasrifle with one
of the following:
•
Flamer Damage 4 (
E: Area [60' Cone], Incurable [1], Secondary Effect);
Enhanced Advantage 2 (Precise Attack [Close; Cover and Concealment]) [ 15 EP ]
•
Plasmagun Damage 5 (
E: Incurable [1], Multiattack, Penetrating [4], Ranged;
F: Side Effect [attacks user on a miss]) [ 15 EP ]
•
Meltagun Damage 6 (
E: Penetrating [5], Ranged;
F: Diminished Ranged [1], Inaccurate [1]) [ 15 EP ]
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Heavy Weapon Operator ( 20 EP ) One member of the squad will also be given one
of the following; Heavy Weapon Operators are PL 6:
(Each Heavy Weapon Operator will be partnered with one of the Infantrymen, who will assist in transporting, set-up, and loading the weapon.)
•
Autocannon Damage 6 (
E: Extended Range [1], Improved Critical [1], Penetrating [4], Ranged, Split [1];
F: Activation [Move, -1]) [ 18 EP ]
•
Heavy Bolter Damage 6 (
E: Extended Range [1], Improved Critical [1], Ranged, Multiattack;
F: Activation [Move, -1], Distracting) [ 18 EP ]
•
Lascannon Damage 7 (
E: Penetrating [6], Ranged;
F: Activation [Move, -1], Inaccurate [1]) [ 18 EP ]
•
Missile Launcher (Krak) Damage 7 (
E: Penetrating [5], Ranged;
F: Activation [Move, -1], Inaccurate [1]) [ 17 EP ]
•
AE: Missile Launcher (Frag) Damage 5 (
E: Area [30' Burst], Extended Range [1], Ranged;
F: Activation [Move, -1]) [ 1 EP ]
•
Mortar Damage 5 (
E: Area [30' Burst], Extended Range [1], Indirect [3], Ranged;
F: Activation [Move, -1]) [ 18 EP ]
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Vox Operator ( 20 EP ) One member of the squad will also be given the following:
•
Vox Caster Communication 3 (
Radio: Long Range;
E: Area, Selective, Subtle [1];
F: Limited to units in same Regiment);
Enhanced Skill 2 (Expertise: Ciphers +2; Technology +2) [ 18 EP ]
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Squad Support Element ( 75 EP ) Surplus Equipment Points of the Sergeant, Infantrymen, and Weapon Specialist will be used purchase one
to the following:
•
Chimera Armored Transport Vehicle Equipment Rank 15 [ 75 EP ]
•
Valkyrie Assault Carrier Vehicle Equipment Rank 15 [ 75 EP ]
DEFENSE
Dodge (5)
Base 4
Parry: (5)
Base 0
Fortitude: (3)
Base 1
Toughness: (2/5)
——
Will: (5)
Base 5
WORKSHEET
Attack: 5 Effect: 1 Total: 6 (Unarmed)
Attack: 5 Effect: 6 Total: 11 (Autocannon)
Attack: 5 Effect: 8 Total: 7 (Bayonet)
Attack: 5 Effect: 5 Total: 10 (Chainsword)
Attack: 5 Effect: 5 Total: 10 (Lasrifle)
Attack: —— Effect: 4 Total: 4 (Flamer)
Attack: —— Effect: 5 Total: 5 (Grenade; Frag)
Attack: 5 Effect: 6 Total: 11 (Heavy Bolter)
Attack: 3 Effect: 7 Total: 10 (Lascannon)
Attack: 3 Effect: 6 Total: 9 (Meltagun)
Attack: 3 Effect: 7 Total: 10 (Missile Launcher; Krak)
Attack: —— Effect: 5 Total: 5 (Missile Launcher; Frag)
Attack: —— Effect: 5 Total: 5 (Mortar)
Attack: 5 Effect: 5 Total: 10 (Plasmagun)
Dodge: 5 Tough: 5 Total: 10
Parry: 5 Tough: 5 Total: 10
Fort: 3 Will: 5 Total: 8
ABILITIES [ 20 pp ] +
SKILLS [ 8 pp ] +
ADVANTAGES [ 12 pp ] +
POWERS [ 0 pp ] +
DEFENSES [ 10 pp ] =
50 PP TOTAL
Thought for the Day wrote:Fact: The graves of warriors who have given their lives for the Emperor now outnumber the stars!
Background:
The Imperial Guard is not a single army but many armies of countless millions of men and fighting machines. At any one time the Imperial Guard fight across a hundred war zone and upon ten thousand planets. Its forces may be fresh and hopeful of a quick victory, or they might be waging wars that have been going on for centuries and claimed billions of lives. Each army and each war is unique in at least some respects.
Regiments join the Imperial Guard uniformed and equipped as their planetary Lord's own forces. Inevitably this means that the appearance of regiments is quite varied. Jungle Fighters from the steaming death world of Catachan are hardly likely to wear the heavy insulating cloths and cloaks of the Valhallans whose world is covered in thick ice and where anyone caught on the surface would quickly freeze. Similarly the barbaric skins and furs of the nomadic Attilans are a far cry from the glittering formal uniforms of the Vostroyans.
Regardless of their appearance almost all newly recruited troops carry the universal lasgun. This weapon is easy and cheap to manufacture and maintain, and hence ideally suited to the needs of planetary forces. Other weapons are more-or-less standard across the Imperium although individual planetary forces may favor one kind over another. The Emperor's demand is simply that troops be equipped and trained ready to fight in his armies.
At the end of the day, though he's been ferried through Hell on a ship that's ten thousand years old to some god-forsaken rock. Though he deployed from high orbit with nothing but a grav chute. Though he is one of ten million men and women raised from his homeworld to fight a war he barely understands. Though he has been given a weapon that fires small suns and may annihilate him as he fires because the knowledge of how it functions has been lost for millennia. Though his company is supported by tractor-tanks that run on anything you can burn. Though he wages war against a devouring hive-mind, demons and a horde of space communists. No one will remember his sacrifice, there will be no records of his deeds, no glorious parades in his honor, and no remembrance of his name. All he earns is a shallow, unmarked grave on a forgotten world light years from home.
Yet for all this thankless sacrifice a Guardsman is a man, just like you. He has no millennia-old genetic engineering, no prophetic leader, no miracles of faith. He has his weapon, his orders, and those beside him. He is the Imperial Guard.
And he
will hold the line.
Imperial Guard Veteran Squads:
Imperial Guard Veteran Squads are represented in an M&M3e by using the above build. However up to half of the squad members to be Weapon Specialists. The biggest difference however is that Imperial Guard Veteran Squads are not considered Minions.
Build Notess:
Compared to modern, real-world infantry, the Imperial Guard are packing a lot more firepower but rather lacking in small unit tactics. Individual Imperial Guard squads just don't operate with the level of individual initiative and localized leadership as modern, real-world armies. Individual Guardsmen are, in fact, actively discouraged from doing so! From the perspective of their supreme commanders this overly centralized command structure is efficient, effective, and cuts down on any potentials for heresy, free-will, or individuality. So they pretty much treat every battle as a combination of the Somme, Stalingrad, and the Chosin Reservoir. There are always more infantry available in the reserves. The best generals in the Imperial Guard won't sacrifice the lives of their men without purpose, but they don't blink at sacrificing the lives of their men with purpose.
In the context of the typical super-heroic setting, the Imperial Guard are pretty much right in line with any other high-tech, fanatical mook army:
Star War's Storm Troopers,
G.I. Joe's Cobra, or Marvel Comic's HYDRA. Usually in super-heroic settings, the evil mook army tends to be a terrorist organization, criminal syndicate, or at most a paramilitary group. The Imperial Guard are a full fledged army, with the hardware and armored units to prove it. The biggest difference however, is that the Imperial Guard's fanatical faith in their God-Emperor which outdoes the zealotry of just about any religious cult anywhere else in fiction. The rank and file of the Imperial Guard might not be as well-trained as those other mooks, but they make up for it with firepower and zeal.
Min-Rant:
I've played around with just about every faction over the years, but in my heart of hearts I have always been a fan of the Imperial Guard. In fact, back when I started, they were still called the Imperial Army! Specifically the disciplined ranks of the stalwart and well-dressed Mordian Iron Guard. I dunno, something about guys waging grimdark trench warfare against alien gribblies and cosmic horrors in full dress uniform just appeals to me. As a kid, it was the closest I could come to Napoleonic war games, since my friends were way more into the idea of Chaos Daemons and Ork Hordes than Prussian Line Infantry. Then I discovered the Leman Russ tank... I believe the word is "giggity."
As we've mentioned in our earlier discussions, a lot of 40K fans grumble about how much attention the Space Marines get, I don't. I reserve my grumbling for how much attention the bloody Cadian Shock Troopers are given. Ever since GW shifted from pewter to plastic every Imperial Guard kit defaults to the gorram Cadians. The Catachan Jungle Fighters got some attention at first, but its been all Cadians ever since. I can ignore them for the most part when buying rank and file infantry (I've already got oodles of Mordians and can readily find more on eBay) but it is a big problem with vehicles. All the included crewmen are Cadian! Heck, even the dead bodies on their newest terrain pieces are in Cadian uniforms! I understand the production costs behind these things ain't nothing, but couldn't they at least include a few variant heads on the sprue for these big models? Or maybe just sell an accessory pack that would let me convert these Cadians into something more in keeping with the appearance of my regiment? (There are third-party companies doing just that, which makes me think GW is missing a golden opportunity here.)