History Literature / ImperialGuard

Besides the popular ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'', ''Literature/CiaphasCain'', and ''Literature/TheLastChancers'' series, they feature in ''Fifteen Hours'', ''Death World'' and ''Rebel Winter'' (collected in the ''Imperial Guard'' omnibus), Steven Lyon's ''Ice Guard'', Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''Cadian Blood'', Steve Parker's ''Gunheads'', ''Desert Raiders'', and Henry Zhou's ''Flesh and Iron'', just to name a few. They also commonly appear in other ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' works, such as Henry Zhou's ''The Emperor's Mercy'', and Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Storm of Iron''. The Guard also got their own game in the 40K roleplaying series, ''TabletopGame/OnlyWar''.

-> [[FamedInStory For every hero commemorated]], [[LittleHeroBigWar a thousand martyrs die]] [[DueToTheDead unmourned]] and [[AMillionIsAStatistic unremembered]].

* TheMedic: In ''Gunheads'', Wulfe's BackStory includes an incident where a medic jumped to save him from a wound that would have killed him. A few days later, the medic was captured by orks and [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] to death. Wulfe thinks that he's still trying to avenge him.

* SlaveMooks: Penal legions
* SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology: The Guard has some pretty impressive tech, but are all levied from planets with different technology levels, including some which are at a medieval or even stone age level. Given that Guardsmen from planets with futuristic technology regard their weapons and vehicles as powered by magical spirits, we can only imagine how the barbarian regiments view them.

Besides the popular ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'', ''Literature/CiaphasCain'', and ''Literature/TheLastChancers'' series, they feature in ''Fifteen Hours'', ''Death World'' and ''Rebel Winter'' (collected in the ''Imperial Guard'' omnibus), Steven Lyon's ''Ice Guard'', Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''Cadian Blood'', Steve Parker's ''Gunheads'', ''Desert Raiders'', and Henry Zhou's ''Flesh and Iron'', just to name a few. They also commonly appear in other ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' works, such as Henry Zhou's ''The Emperor's Mercy'', and GrahamMcNeill's ''Storm of Iron''. The Guard also got their own game in the 40K roleplaying series, ''TabletopGame/OnlyWar''.

Besides the popular ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' and ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series, they feature in ''Fifteen Hours'', ''Death World'' and ''Rebel Winter'' (collected in the ''Imperial Guard'' omnibus), Steven Lyon's ''Ice Guard'', Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''Cadian Blood'', Steve Parker's ''Gunheads'', ''Desert Raiders'', and Henry Zhou's ''Flesh and Iron'', just to name a few. They also commonly appear in other ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' works, such as Henry Zhou's ''The Emperor's Mercy'', GrahamMcNeill's ''Storm of Iron'', and ''Literature/TheLastChancers'' series. And in third quarter 2012, the guard will get their own game in the 40K roleplaying series: ''OnlyWar''.

* EmpathicWeapon:
* In ''Gunheads'', Wulfe is disgruntled with his new tank, ''Last Rites II'', because it was not its predecessor. When it breaks down near the end, he grumbles that she could not have picked a worse time, and the rest of the crew point out that she could have easily have picked a far worse time -- she had carried them farther than any of the other tanks and broken down near safety. Wulfe realizes that he owes her more respect and when his commander makes the same comment he had, Wulfe repeats his men's objections.

* [[BaseOnWheels Base On Tracks]]: Leviathan Command Vehicles and Capitol Imperialis.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Mental battles with psykers/daemons or the simple mind scrubbing that war manages to do, usually to characters that have been in field longer than their psyches can handle.
** A Tanith trooper, in the first few pages of First and Only, flips out and begins to shoot at vermin in his own trench. He is dealt with accordingly.
*** To elaborate: he is slated to be shot, but a Chaos attack interrupts the procedure, sparing him. He later display's cowardice during an action on Caligula, but ends up shot anyway.
* BeamSpam: What Imperial Guard infantry generally seek to achieve.
* BoxedCrook: Penal legions, but [[GasMaskMooks Savlar Chem Dogs]] especially. Criminals imprisoned in a [[DeathWorld toxic world]], sent to fight in the poisonous undersides of hive cities.
* BrassBalls: One common saying (in fanon) about the Imperial Guard (the RedshirtArmy) is that on the first day, each recruit is handed a T-shirt (flak jacket[[note]]Which is better, lighter, and more durable than anything we can dare hope to produce in the near future, fully capable of blocking (minus broken ribs) the damage from a direct hit from the equivalent of a modern heavy machinegun![[/note]]), flashlight (a lasgun, one of the weakest possible weapons[[note]]in 40k, that means can "only" dismember an unarmored target on hit[[/note]]), and [[BadassNormal a wheelbarrow for their pair of giant steel balls]].

* CannonFodder: Quite obviously Penal Legionnaires and Conscripts.
* CloningBlues: The Death Korps of Krieg are all clones of ''the exact same guy''.
* {{Conscription}}: Patently Conscripts [[note]] The unit in the tabletop game, not the concept.[[/note]]. What else?
** Well, there is mandatory service on worlds like Cadia.
* CrewOfOne: Sentinels, every last one.
* DeathFromAbove: They do love their artillery.
* DemiHuman: The Ratlings, Ogryns and, in older editions, Beastmen. Technically these examples are 'stable' mutations, much like the Navis Nobilite.
* DrillTank: The Hades Breach Drill, used by the Death Korps of Krieg.
* DropShip: Mentioned in the fluff (often in GauntsGhosts) but yet to recieve a dedicated model representation. Until then the Arvus Lighter and Valkyries are many players substitutes.
* DueToTheDead: The Black Bell of Terra is said to ring whenever a true hero of the Imperium is martyred. It is, of course, tolling constantly.
* EliteMooks: Stormtroopers (Inquisitorial or otherwise), veteran squads and pretty much any carapace armoured guardsman.

* FieldPromotion: Happens in Literature/GauntsGhosts a fair bit, due to attrition.
* GeneralFailure: The inexperienced/impatient/incompetent generals often are, although Cadian Generals are suprisingly skilled General Rippers.
* GeneralRipper: Case in point Captain Kubrick Chenkov. Has expended the lives of millions of Valhallans in the name of victory.
** Then again, so did the successive commanders of the Vraks campaign. Only this time with German inspired troops (rather than Russian) - Kriegers.
** However they only killed 16 million over seventeen years, Chenkov killed ten million in one battle
** Stalin would be proud.

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Mordians, Praetorians... pretty much anyone who has a uniform that doesn't blend in.

* HumongousMecha: Titans, although strictly they are not part of the Imperial Guard, they are allies.
* InterserviceRivalry: Most regiments hate the regiments from other planets. Particularly those from opposing class spectrums. Some veteran units invert this though and instead respect each other as competent warriors.
* ItsRainingMen: Elysians. Enough said.
** [[EliteMooks Storm Troopers]] typically are deployed this way; in the latest codex Valkyries can deploy their passengers this way if they've moved flat out.
** Harakonis, too.
* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Bolt weapons (reserved for officers, usually), Ogryn Ripper Guns and most vehicle mounted weaponry.
* [[BaseOnWheels Land Battleship]]: Super heavy tanks and other vehicles such as the massive Capitol Imperialis, the huge Leviathan Command Vehicle and the staggering Ordinatus.
* TheMenFirst: Most good commanders have this attitude. Commissars - not so much.
** It is noted as unusual, in universe, that Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and Commissar Cain are (relatively) humane commissars. In some cases the attitude is looked down upon by peers and superiors alike.
** Commissar Viktor Hark, who joins up with Colonel-Commissar Gaunt's regiment, has an interesting moment when chastising another Guard unit that retreated in battle at a critical moment. He executes their ''commander'' rather than any of the men who followed him in retreat, saying that if their commander had held the line, his men would have done so as well.

* MildlyMilitary: Depends on what planet you're from. Soldiers from Cadia or Mordia outright avert this, with strict adherence to rules and regulations. Catachans embody American GI's from the Vietnam War and have looser rules. Other regiments use this trop out of necessity, such as the Tanith First and Only, or come from their leader's tendencies, like Ciaphas Cain's regiment.
* MiniMecha: Sentinels.
* MountedCombat: Attilans and some Kriegers.
* {{Mutants}}: Plenty of these in the Imperium of Man, plenty enough to be used as cannon-fodder or low grade troops. For more stable mutants look further up to DemiHuman.
* RankUp: Tona Criid, Ceglan Varl or Flyn Meryn in Literature/GauntsGhosts for example.
* RareVehicles: Super-heavy class vehicles and Titans, but not quite so much a heavy emphasis on rarity in later editions.
* RedshirtArmy: A highly capable one, usually (at least in 5th edition).

* ShootTheFuelTank: A distinct problem that Hellhounds used to have, what with the rear compartment housing some or all the fuel for its weapon and the sheer variety of weapons that can ignite fuel on contact.
* SpaceRomans: Many unique Guard units are [[RecycledInSpace modelled after]] various [[RealLife real]] armies from different countries and time periods: Valhallans are RedsWithRockets, Steel Legionnaires are NazisWithGnarlyWeapons, Tallarn Desert Raiders are WarriorsOfDesertWinds, and so on.
* SuperpoweredMooks: The Death Guard in Cadian Blood.
* TanksButNoTanks: The Leman Russ battle tank and its derivatives are the only true tanks available to the Guard, superheavies notwithstanding. The rest, primarily based on the Chimera chassis, are a mixture of [=APCs=], [=IFVs=], self-propelled guns and other assorted support vehicles.
* TankGoodness: The Imperial Guard takes this trope UpToEleven, starting with the humble [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Chimera IFV]], the [[KillItWithFire Hellhound Flame Tank]], and the ever-reliable Leman Russ Main Battle Tank, all the way up to the massive superheavy Baneblade. Just check out what [[http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ Forgeworld]] cranks out. They had tanks coming out of every orifice for a year or two before slowing down again.

* TookALevelInBadass: The Imperial Guard has been {{Flanderized}} as full of GeneralRipper type leaders who do nothing but human wave attacks against enemies, but recently, a number of novel series, particularly the Literature/CiaphasCain series and Literature/GauntsGhosts series, have portrayed the Guard has a highly trained and sophisticated modern fighting force combining mechanized warfare, air support, and artillery strikes. Nevertheless, considering all the horrible stuff out there in the 40k universe, it's not always enough.
* UrbanWarfare: A common setting for the Imperial Guard, especially on (ex)Imperial worlds.
* WalkieTalkieStatic: Happens on and off in the literature and now happens in the 5th edition if you botch an Order roll.
* WeHaveReserves: An attitude held by many Guard generals. Usually ([[CrapsackWorld but not necessarily]]) the incompetent ones.
* ZergRush: "Space Marines are the sword of the Emperor, making precision cuts and and stabs in the holes of the enemy's armor. The Imperial Guard are the sledgehammer." Like the above analogy, this explains probably the most common Imperial Guard tactic, in which you try to break the enemy by rushing them with overwhelming men, tanks, and artillery strikes in an attempt to flatten the entire area.
** A good example of this, from ''The Armour of Contempt'', is a mass charge, as in dozens of thousands of men, by Imperial Guard forces is seen from the ground, inside the rush, including supporting Titan firepower and Titans themselves.
** There's also the Penal Legions. As punishment for sins against the Emperor, they are deployed with even less armor and weaker weaponry than the standard Guardsman to swamp the enemy with bodies, to clear minefields, and as a screen for tanks.

The ''Imperial Guard'' is the [[RedShirtArmy collective military of normal humans]] and the military backbone of the Imperium in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. It has been said that if the SpaceMarines are the tip of the Imperium's spear, the Guard are the rest of the spearhead, the shaft and ''the man holding it''. While often the designated victim in works featuring other forces, the Guard appears to have [[BadAssArmy considerable success]] in the 41st millennium, as well as having a considerable favor with the fans.

!!Tropes connected with the Guard and the novels
* ArmchairMilitary: Many commanders, especially those part of a 'high command', are armchair generals. The 'garden variety' commonly resides within command vehicles such as a Leviathan. Alternatively they will command an HQ far behind the front.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: DependingOnTheWriter, the Guard may behave more or less realistically. A common problem is that the [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale scale of the Guard's undertakings]] doesn't fit with the amount of people used. In a fluff blurb, a warmaster boasts that his crusade has half a million men and women under arms. Crusades usually encompass entire sectors of space, with at least a dozen earth-like worlds to be conquered. For reference, the axis powers in WW2 had about ''35 million'' soldiers to conquer ''one'' planet and we all know how that one turned out.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The Chimera or the larger Gorgon.
* BadassArmy: Most regiments that last more than one theatre. And some that don't, too.
* BadAssNormal: Guardsmen as depicted especially in the 5th edition.

* TarotMotifs: The Emperors Tarot?

** * In ''Cadian Blood'', the Cadian forces are unimpressed by the Last Stand of some NewMeat: they can tell by where the bodies fell. [[spoiler:Later, Seth makes a more impressive Last Stand in the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, and though the daemon kills him, he dies laughing and saying the look at the daemon's face made the fight worth it.]]

* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Side-effect of Psyker powers, anyone?
* FieldPromotion: Happens in GauntsGhosts a fair bit, due to attrition.

* RankUp: Tona Criid, Ceglan Varl or Flyn Meryn in GauntsGhosts for example.

* TookALevelInBadass: The Imperial Guard has been {{Flanderized}} as full of GeneralRipper type leaders who do nothing but human wave attacks against enemies, but recently, a number of novel series, particularly the CiaphasCain series and GauntsGhosts series, have portrayed the Guard has a highly trained and sophisticated modern fighting force combining mechanized warfare, air support, and artillery strikes. Nevertheless, considering all the horrible stuff out there in the 40k universe, it's not always enough.

* EmpathicWeapon: Weapon's used by psykers.

* GloryHound: General Hechtor Dravere. Totally. Infamously wore ALL his medals most of the time. Many of which it was felt he did not fully deserve.
** Referred to as the 'Old Gong' by Warmaster Slaydo.

Not to be confused with PraetorianGuard,[[note]] (which is coincidentally also the name of Imperial Guard regiments from the planet Praetoria)[[/note]] which is the trope of imperial/elite guards as a whole (though there is an Imperial Guard regiment with the same name).

Not to be confused with PraetorianGuard,[[note]] (which is coincidentally also the name of Imperial Guard regiments from the planet Praetoria)[[/note]] which is the trope of imperial/elite guards as a whole.

* TanksButNoTanks: The Leman Russ battle tank and its derivatives are the only true tanks available to the Guard, superheavies notwithstanding. The rest, primarily based on the Chimera chassis, are a mixture of APCs, IFVs, self-propelled guns and other assorted support vehicles.

* TanksButNoTanks: The Leman Russ battle tank and its derivatives are the only true tanks available to the Guard, superheavies notwithstanding. The rest, primarily based on the Chimera chassis, are a mixture of APCs, self-propelled guns and other assorted support vehicles.

* TanksButNoTanks: In actuality most Imperial Guard vehicles aren't tanks. But who cares? It's only a game.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: DependingOnTheWriter, the Guard may behave more or less realistically. A common problem is that the [[SciFiWriterHaveNoSenseOfScale scale of the Guard's undertakings]] doesn't fit with the amount of people used. In a fluff blurb, a warmaster boasts that his crusade has half a million men and women under arms. Crusades usually encompass entire sectors of space, with at least a dozen earth-like worlds to be conquered. For reference, the axis powers in WW2 had about ''35 million'' soldiers to conquer ''one'' planet and we all know how that one turned out.

Not to be confused with PraetorianGuard,[[hottip:*: (which is coincidentally also the name of Imperial Guard regiments from the planet Praetoria)]] which is the trope of imperial/elite guards as a whole.

* BrassBalls: One common saying (in fanon) about the Imperial Guard (the RedshirtArmy) is that on the first day, each recruit is handed a T-shirt (flak jacket[[hottip:*:Which is better, lighter, and more durable than anything we can dare hope to produce in the near future, fully capable of blocking (minus broken ribs) the damage from a direct hit from the equivalent of a modern heavy machinegun!]]), flashlight (a lasgun, one of the weakest possible weapons[[hottip:*:in 40k, that means can "only" dismember an unarmored target on hit]]), and [[BadassNormal a wheelbarrow for their pair of giant steel balls]].

* {{Conscription}}: Patently Conscripts [[hottip:*: The unit in the tabletop game, not the concept.]]. What else?

** Death Korps Grenadiers as well, more so than other Veterans, as they usually match the Kasrkins stated above (and are still viewed as canon fodder, being the first ones charging the enemy).

** The newest codex definitely made them a more powerful force able to compete with the {{Badass Abnormal}}s' beefed up codexes following 5th edition's release.

Besides the popular GauntsGhosts and CiaphasCain series, they feature in ''Fifteen Hours'', ''Death World'' and ''Rebel Winter'' (collected in the ''Imperial Guard'' omnibus), Steven Lyon's ''Ice Guard'', Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''Cadian Blood'', Steve Parker's ''Gunheads'', ''Desert Raiders'', and Henry Zhou's ''Flesh and Iron'', just to name a few. They also commonly appear in other ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' works, such as Henry Zhou's ''The Emperor's Mercy'', GrahamMcNeill's ''Storm of Iron'', and ''TheLastChancers'' series. And in third quarter 2012, the guard will get their own game in the 40K roleplaying series: ''OnlyWar''.

--> '''ImperialGuard Proverb'''

* BrassBalls: One common saying (in fanon) about the ImperialGuard (the RedshirtArmy) is that on the first day, each recruit is handed a T-shirt (flak jacket[[hottip:*:Which is better, lighter, and more durable than anything we can dare hope to produce in the near future, fully capable of blocking (minus broken ribs) the damage from a direct hit from the equivalent of a modern heavy machinegun!]]), flashlight (a lasgun, one of the weakest possible weapons[[hottip:*:in 40k, that means can "only" dismember an unarmored target on hit]]), and [[BadassNormal a wheelbarrow for their pair of giant steel balls]].

* HumongousMecha: Titans, although strictly they are not part of the ImperialGuard, they are allies.

* TanksButNoTanks: In actuality most ImperialGuard vehicles aren't tanks. But who cares? It's only a game.
* TankGoodness: The ImperialGuard takes this trope UpToEleven, starting with the humble [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Chimera IFV]], the [[KillItWithFire Hellhound Flame Tank]], and the ever-reliable Leman Russ Main Battle Tank, all the way up to the massive superheavy Baneblade. Just check out what [[http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ Forgeworld]] cranks out. They had tanks coming out of every orifice for a year or two before slowing down again.

* TookALevelInBadass: The ImperialGuard has been {{Flanderized}} as full of GeneralRipper type leaders who do nothing but human wave attacks against enemies, but recently, a number of novel series, particularly the CiaphasCain series and GauntsGhosts series, have portrayed the Guard has a highly trained and sophisticated modern fighting force combining mechanized warfare, air support, and artillery strikes. Nevertheless, considering all the horrible stuff out there in the 40k universe, it's not always enough.