ASTRA MILITARUM / IMPERIAL GUARD Lore Primer! Warhammer 40k Faction Lore & Origins

[@Retrosicotte]

I love how these videos lately on factions arent just "wiki reading" but have a ton of subtly infused information about the themes and analogies of what these factions represent, and the lessons and representations they hold to us from a writing level. That's why these videos are head and shoulders above someone just audiobooking a wiki page.

[@ArbitorIan]

Thanks! I try!

[@michaelhowell2326]

OMS is basically the only ones who simply read from the WIKI or codices. That said, not too many put as much work as Ian.

[@MySammykins]

Way better then templin for that reason

[@jeanvonestling7408]

What are you talking about? Noone would make their whole channel based on reading wiki. Right?

[@ethandavidson1087]

​@@jeanvonestling7408archwarhammer does, also while pretending he's not a massive white supremacist

[@ImrahilToChaos]

Interesting that these guys are just so common in the universe as a fighting force - you tend to forget how rare marines are with how disproportionately omnipresent they are in the media presentation of the universe!

[@ArbitorIan]

Yeah, it's one of the things I quite like about series like Gaunts Ghosts - Marines, Daemons, Chaos Marines and Xenos are all present in the crusade but all of them are SO rare compared to just millions of humans fighting other humans

[@KiwiTheIguana]

Exactly! 40k makes it very easy to forget that space marines aren't the norm in-universe, to see them is a rarity, whether it be just the sight of them, fighting alongside them, or being attacked by them. It's a bit like how Halo focuses on the Spartans and makes them seem like the main fighting force rather than the actual main military forces who aren't superhuman, but that just makes it easier to root for the person who is just like you or me that manages to do something heroic.

[@pianospawn1]

Like we've all seen soldiers in our lives before. Whether in service or just having a friend in the army. But how many people have met or seen SAS /Navy Seals . Same sort of deal.

[@jimmysmith2249]

@@pianospawn1 A lot fewer than many of the braggarts would make you think. I spent 22 years in and met one special forces guy on course, and he was a logistics computer guy. Even when deployed over seas the most "elite" I ever ran into were paratroopers and "rangers" types, at least that I know of; good special forces guys don't tell you they are special forces, they keep that shit quiet.

[@julianhesse8450]

thats on thing i like in the Space Marine game, the Guardsmen bowing down, and a so happy to see a single marine before they die

[@Bluecho4]

What makes the Guard so useful from a narrative standpoint is how they can come from all walks of life. Space Marines, while varied in chapter culture, are still all child soldiers, indoctrinated into a monastic lifestyle. Factions like the Sisters of Battle, AdMech, and Imperial Knights are even more specific in their culture and backgrounds. Imperial Guardsmen can be anyone, and their regiments taken from anywhere: -Tribes of barbarians who see conscription into the Sky Father's armies as dying. They are loaded into barges manned by hooded, steel-plated skeleton men, and cross into the many underworlds. Hells of all stripes, populated by miserable damned humans, to fight the countless demons and monsters that oppose the Sky Father's holy crusade. If a tribesman somehow returns to "the land of the living", as has happened once or twice, they tell of the horrors of the afterlife, while preaching of the nobility of the warriors lost there. So the tribes send their best warriors draped in bone tokens and done in black warpaint, and given a preemptive funeral. -The pink-clad Rose Guard of a pleasure world, conscripted when a conflict broke out nearby that needed every soldier that could be spared. A mixture of noble scions, artists, musicians, gardeners, prostitutes, and the PDF soldiers who always hated guarding them. It doesn't matter what you station or who your parents were. ALL will be fed into the imperial war machine. They are soft, but they will learn. Or they'll die. -Peasants of a relatively idyllic feudal world, the serfs of an Imperial Knight house. Their lord and his colossal metal suit has been called, and he needs them to follow. The Knight's retinue, they know mostly hunting, fishing, and farming. Now, they will know war.

[@ercapcaap6059]

Love this 😊😮

[@evanfish4505]

As a Guard player, I always feel great satisfaction seeing my MANY infantry squads fully deployed with tanks, chimera, and gunship Then I still get krumped

[@dekai7992]

The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Imperium. You are a true Imperial hero!

[@dolphinerofachero3159]

You just need more infantry

[@dave4deputyZX]

Another glorious day in the Guard. Every meal's a banquet, every pay cheque's a fortune. Man I love the Guard!

[@jamesloder8652]

Chill out, Mordian

[@kemarisite]

*Irritated gas mask noises.*

[@EN_Z0]

Aliens reference, nice 👌

[@AURELIAN-restitutororbis]

You make the BEST 40K lore videos on the internet. No meandering repetition or annoying tautology, no pretentious language, no over-moralizing, and no weird ass voice. Just perfect

[@celestiallions4050]

Thanks to the nuances of the English language, you're actually right. A LOT of soldiers in the novel fifteen hours had a life expectancy as low as 15 minutes. 15 hours was merely the average, not the minimum.

[@ArbitorIan]

I knew it! I was right all along!

[@celestiallions4050]

​​@@ArbitorIan you may actually have over estimated the min point, I remember a lot of people dying as soon as they left the ramp. I love your videos, thank you so much for putting these into the world!

[@Lukinator343]

It is amazing that Ian is one of the few who really emphasizes on the fact that the imperium is not the hero of the setting. Not even a “necessary evil”. Also, every video truly has great writing and hopefully makes many fans question their question-less love for the imperium.

[@FiLtheThriL]

Heresy

[@ryanfletcher4054]

Please report to your local Arbites precinct for chastisement and re-education.

[@Lukinator343]

I c-can explain….. 😭😭😭

[@dabuess]

Starts during the unification....... wait what..... scouring?!?!

[@invictarussuzerain]

One of the many times I'm glad to have early access through Patreon. Pew pew pew.

[@ArbitorIan]

Only a few hours early this time, but it still counts!!

[@jimmysmith2249]

15 minutes is not unheard of for the Guard, though. 15 hours can be considered a veteran in some war zones, too.

[@nutyyyy]

Classic grimderp

[@joebarton4947]

It makes me curious what happens to guardsmen who survive in those conditions for weeks or even months statistically a few should even when the average is hours or minutes because of the sheer number of guardsmen who are deployed, presumably a large number of them only surviving for seconds. I would think that that experience would make them at least a little more valuable than a fresh on the battlefield guardsman

[@thetraitorguardsmen.5321]

No mention of the beastmen squad's with the abhuman's. Unhappy goat noise's.

[@ArbitorIan]

🐐

[@gingerone11]

Beastmen? Old skool Rogue Trader ftw.

[@joepaineok]

"...but it's key resource is human lives". The smile that accompanies this line is why I watch Arbitor Ian.

[@jcpouzols]

Art by Karl Kopinski: 11:25 (Catachan Codex Cover) 13:25 (Cadian) 14:08 (Cadian infantry) 17:11 (City Fight) 18:43 (Cadian) 18:48 (Catachan heavy weapons) -- as far as I can tell :)

[@EngHag]

Arbitor Ian is either a mechnaicum agent, or he has great lighting and perfect sized pupils because there is always a perfect ring of light in his pupils and I can't help but to think it's very fitting for the subject matter.

[@tappajavittu]

He uses a ring light, personally I don't like how creepy it makes peoples eyes look but to each their own. edit: It's a cheap and easy way to achieve a flat vlog-type lightning for your videos, put the light right infront of you and position the camera to film thru the hole in the ring and tah-dah, you get somewhat good looking lightning super easily but the downside is the weird reflections in eyes.

[@EngHag]

@@tappajavittu yeah I've used ring lights before, just goofing around. But it's just such a perfect black-white-black ratio. It's like a bullseye. It's hard not to think of it like a signifier of synths, replicants, or other cyborg or android-esque stuff though.

[@Jonestein13]

ring light. can’t fake that

[@tappajavittu]

@@EngHag Yeah, I get creepy uncanny valley vibes from that kind of eye lights, but it's easy for creators so I don't complain about it, not everyone can be a gaffer and produce some amazing lighting for a youtube video lol.

[@ArbitorIan]

Confirmed mechanicum agent. Ignore all ring light rumours!

[@deepstothepeeps]

Another impressive video, as always. I'm curious as to how much research is done for these and how much Ian just knows. I would have no trouble believing Ian has encyclopedic knowledge of the 40k universe and only needs to look up the most obscure pieces of lore.

[@ArbitorIan]

It is actually quite worrying how much of these I type out from memory. I do try and then go back and actually verify everything just to check!

[@merci_ann]

It's my army!!! For years I couldn't decide on a faction and one day i woke up with the thought that everything was just "too special" and I want the everyday guys. I got so into it I even bought Uplifting Primer. And giant tanks too. Giant tanks are cooooool. Thank you Ian for the video c:

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Awesome video. Concise, entertaining, and no vitriol or circle head nodding to the death corps of Kreig.

[@robertmccann9631]

A summary of Commissars "The executions will continue until morale improves".

[@kemarisite]

Caiaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!) might want a word about that.

[@robertmccann9631]

@@kemarisite Sounds of me being executed in the distance.

[@cacarey01]

Would be keen on a High Lords of Terra video. They are often mentioned but I have never seen any good lore about them.

[@Yurt_enthusiast7]

Morvenn Vahl, (probably) Arcadian Leontus and Guilliman are all high lords with some lore behind them. But otherwise I prefer the High lords to be unknown, a shadowy group of leaders who desperately tries to grab as much power and wealth as possible before the Emperium collapses

[@sangomasmith]

One of the advantages for IG players is that the fluff supports a number of approaches, all of which are valid. Want to field a horde of low-cost grey knights? You're out of luck. On the other hand: want to have an army built around squads of elite soldiers? Wacky specialists? Hordes of line infantry? Quasi-modern combined arms? A space blitzkrieg of armoured vehicles? A gunline of artillery pieces, or even a tactical nuke launcher? Then Imperial Guard has your back. And from a modelling perspective, your troops can look like anything. From a nearly-medieval army inexplicably given laser guns, to techno-barbarians with mohawks and spikey armour, 19th century line infantry, WW1 cosplay infantry or modern-looking soldiers, there's a regiment for you (so long as you can find a way to model it). All of which is, again, validly supported by fluff. So your guys (and gals) can really be yours rather than a different colour model of a generic space marine.

[@lilsnabes]

Seriously ... You , majorkill , and adeptus ridiculous are my favorite wh40k channels . You do good work sir . Please keep it up

[@JR-dd4ec]

Your videos are A++ I love how well you explain in depth but easy to understand

[@Otacon2099]

woah i stumbled onto this in real time lmao... also keep up the great lore

[@gingerone11]

Good to see a photo of a Praetorian made it.

[@SusCalvin]

19:59 My favourite here is the lad with the knife out. I'm not sure if he's mounting his bayonet or looking to have a go with something out of picture.

[@euansmith3699]

3:50 That's a great illustration. Very grim and dark

[@Kaninjadog]

Excellent video Arbitor. The Guard is one of my favorite factions in 40K just love the aesthetic and idea of them. Mainly a lore fan but when I delve into the tabletop one day I plan on making a Guard army,

[@edwhatshisname3562]

Opening music is Black Rainbows, by White Bat. For anyone who's curious.

[@bcliff9110]

Thanks for always setting the mood with a candle!

[@SupCom78]

This was very infarmative thx for making and uploading it there were some information i have not known.

[@flaviomonteiro1414]

I have heard about you but never watched any of your content until now. Well done sir! Well done!

[@liberatetutemeexinferis5902]

In WH40K you either die horribly or you join the Guard and then die horribly.

[@vinceleone841]

This is a great video. Engaging as it is informative. Thanks!

[@pendantblade6361]

Good to see a pretty general video on the Guard that doesn't immediately devolve to bayonet memes (as much as I love em).

[@okedokeerolchoke9929]

Yes!! Been waiting for this one 🍿

[@michaelhowell2326]

I can't put my finger on exactly what AI does so well for his videos. I think part of it is the fact it doesn't sound like he's reading a script. He SOUNDS knowledgeable.

[@ArbitorIan]

It's all a trick - I am reading a script! But also I wrote the script so....

[@michaelhowell2326]

@@ArbitorIan but it doesn't sound like reading a script. A lot of folks sound like they're reading bullet points when they do it. Yours sounds natural, like you're recalling information rather than just seeing it.

[@walkwithme6103]

"Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." - Lord Farquaad

[@thegametroll6264]

The astra militarum are my favorite human faction in the imperium. Yes i do have several favorite space marine chapters but the astra millitarum are my favorite because even though they are indeed human they get the job done plus their tank models and world war esque style give me a nostalgic feeling i know and love for the setting.

[@paddymick4627]

You should write a book on 40K. Seriously, your videos are very well written and you have the knowledge. Imagine there was a university degree called Warhammer Studies, then write the key textbook.

[@jayinthedark]

Love your lore videos Ian, thanks!

[@TheKlabim]

My main man Ian back with a killer video!

[@SirZeu]

REEEEE it's robouté guilliman Great video btw your videos are always super interesting and your way of speaking really make them easy to follow

[@AubLambe]

Any guard fans should check out "Alls quiet on the Western Front " its a German WW1 film. and its brutal and beautiful

[@Kelann08]

Okay, okay, okay. Fine. I’ll read the entire Gaunt’s Ghosts series again.

[@lamicrobio...engros5427]

Lore is like humans soldier : You cannot have too much of it!

[@luisalcon07]

There is a silent pleasure in being here with 40K views at the moment.

[@jcpouzols]

Great video! I especially appreciate your crediting the artists. I wish it were possible to do the same for GW illustrations; some I can tell, like Karl Kopinski's work for example, but not always. Anyway, I wish more youtubers followed your example! Cheers!

[@ArbitorIan]

No worries. Yes, I generally try to use as much GW Art as possible as it's easier to credit to GW (and often anything more specific is a guess), and then fill in the gaps with credited fan art. Things like Pinterest and commissions sometimes make that a nightmare though, since it might be uploaded to the account of the commissioner or just on someone's random board.

[@BentJacket]

and once again a great video. Keep up the good work Ian!

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Another excellent video

[@jimmysmith2249]

Astra miliwhat? You're in the Guard, son.

[@jamesloder8652]

Krieg doesn't raise specialized regiments, they raise armies-- they do, in fact, have fully combined arms formations. They're the only regiment to do so.

[@earnestwanderer2471]

I often wonder what warfare would actually look like in the 41st century.

[@KINGMANJARO_343]

With the amount of bodies mowed down in Warhammer universe i bet the Galaxy itself smells of blood, rust & rot.

[@scottywan82]

Love this one!

[@daft990]

Leman Russ sounds like an investment bank tbh.

[@rossbrook5919]

Love this channel such good content

[@Marauder99991]

Just found your channel and these are great videos. But where's da boyz?! ;)

[@VaftrudnerKGA]

Great video (and i hate to do this but...) it´s Cata-Chan not CaTachan. 😅

[@robsimonis485]

And Leeman Russ not Le-man Russ, or I always thought it was anyway

[@SirZeu]

And roboutÉ guilliman

[@daveeol1987]

Where did you see phonic spelling of catachan? I'm pretty sure Ian knows to standardised pronunciation of the name at this stage an prefers to pronounce it the way he read it once

[@QuankoMalanko]

He said millions of infantry is what we think of when we imagine the imperial guard and I just think: Big tank

[@davidmilne6259]

Great video thanks. Men of Tanith, do you want to live forever!

[@Dracobyte]

Another amazing video!

[@stevendildy3447]

this cadian box is releasing same month as US Veterans day which is kind of neat

[@BigMikeMcBastard]

Many, many, many countries celebrate either Remembrance Day or Armistice Day on 11 November.

[@OK-hl6qd]

another great video

[@akselolsson7576]

The perfect Imperial Guard summery 👌

[@Xick]

Good ad for Darktide.

[@rumiak1660]

Astra Militarum look best ......as bone and flesh splattered across the battlefield. CHAOS UNDIVIDED!!!!!!

[@geoffbushill5587]

Whoop a new video to devour!

[@MaxOVADrive]

Sounds like the Imperium needs a Veteran Affairs Departmento.

[@mattwyro7339]

Awesome video

[@versebuchanan512]

Shout out to the Elysians, hell yeah

[@refoliation]

Kinda like how the Romans were able to lose a huge battle against you three or four times in a row before finally winning once, years later, after spamming legions at you and writing vvv on your seat of government.

[@matthewclaridge8063]

I thought it important to mention that there is a big divide between the imperial guard and the imperial Navy. This divide has more to do with social class then the fact that they are different services. Imperial guard officers are often former students of the schola progenium. Or low/middle class imperial citizens that have had to rely on merit and luck. To work there way up the chain of command. Imperial Navy officers on the other hand. Come from the nobility/upper class of imperial society. In the imperial navy a rich young nobel doesn't have to rely on anything as base as skill or merit to advance in rank. Family influence and a brought commission is often enough. Although the imperial Navy does indeed require thousands of grunts to work the lower decks. They forgo recruitment by simply Shanghaiing any imperial citizen unlucky enough to be walking the streets when their ship docks.

[@omnissiahsphinx6274]

will there be a list of what Guard novels are good and what are bad??

[@rameybutler-hm7nx]

This is making me want to reread all the cain books

[@ohamatchhams]

Still a bit disappointed that regiments akin to Tallarn and Maccabian Jannisaries still hasn't got both of their respective lore and models updated, their settings could be expanded even beyond the "only war" settings too to showcase of other Imperium planets' human societies, cultures and planetary histories in depth (considering they have thousands of years of history, I'm sure it's never mostly about wars, as wars are always costly, like really, really, costly IRL, let alone on the scale of Milky Way galaxy with supposedly "a million worlds")

[@Dustbinlid1]

The armies, or fleets of the great crusade seemed to operate very similarly to the Corp. System, first introduced by Napoleon. By which each core could operate independently, with each have infantry, cavalry and artillery. These individual corps acting like fingers could travel separately and move much faster than a full army, and then group together into a final fist at the onset of a great battle. The expeditionary fleets likewise travel separately before coagulating together when they come across a significant threat. In the 40th millennium, it feels like the armies and fleets have almost regressed, back into the unwieldly behemoth. With a greater level of paranoia and fear of different regiments, the idea of different groups quickly forming into a unified fist has been destroyed by the constant fear of Chaos and betrayal.

[@nutyyyy]

Corps*

[@Dustbinlid1]

@@nutyyyy ty for the correction

[@DragoEclipse]

Hope u do the imperial navy next

[@DanielEShrdlu]

Can you make a 101 video on the 4 chaos gods (or whatever they're called)?

[@nofuxgivens2797]

Subbed because you pronounced Catachans in a way I have yet to hear over the span of 3 decades. 😆 kuh-tatch-en

[@ArbitorIan]

I just think it sounds more like a real place name would be pronounced than CAta-CHAAAAAAAN

[@nofuxgivens2797]

@@ArbitorIan it's similar to native American spelling of locations and tribal names

[@musafawundu6718]

Billions? The Astra Militarum number in the hundreds of trillions at least...

[@CocoHutzpah]

Luv me Guard

[@carnage2k4]

11:23 I've NEVER heard anyone pronounce Catachan like that before...

[@MrGabilonia]

Ok hear me out: All quiet in the western front-like story... but from the perspective of an imperial guardsman and his/her buddies

[@ckennedy1973]

Basic humanity vs the grim dark

[@santiagovisci2899]

If It is for the emperor, It is worth it

[@jonbaxter2254]

Ironic the most powerful warriors sit around Earth doing nothing.

[@bartolin2653]

Can you pass the document that comissars use to apply law?

[@GojiraMaggot666]

Only in death, does duty ends

[@jamesgaultier2949]

Shout out to the Chilead!!!

[@brianpj5860]

Please do a video on some of these elite human units. Such as the Lucifer Blacks, who i have only just recently heard about. Would also be nice in general if GW could give us more Officio Assassinorum Lore and entertainment. A game where i could play as an Eversore would be a must buy!

[@ArbitorIan]

To be honest, there's not that much info on the Lucifer Blacks out there - probably not enough for more than a minute-long video!

[@КонстантинИванов-д1д]

autolike, gonna watch it later, thanks :)

[@Theembodimentchannel]

If you listen to some other 40k KZbinrs you can learn to pronounce some of the half dozen words you’re saying in your own unique head-cannon way. Hey, maybe all the others are wrong, but a fair few words sound odd (and not just your dropped Ts, I get that’s an accent even if you sound like a posh kid pretending to be common). High quality editing and research besides that - you clearly know the lore.

[@jcpouzols]

14:40 Does anyone know what book that page is from?

[@ArbitorIan]

I think it's the 3.5Ed Guard codex

[@jcpouzols]

@@ArbitorIan Thanks! I'll try to hunt down a copy! I'm a sucker for those simple line art character designs :)

[@SFJPMoonGames]

Nothing new but we'll presented.

[@Roadrun98]

Astra Militarum in 40k: CaDiA sTaNdS, cAdIa StAnDs, CaDiA sTaNdS, cAdIa StAnDs, CaDiA sTaNdS, cAdIa StAnDs, CaDiA sTaNdS, cAdIa StAnDs,

[@ArbitorIan]

Shh that's next week!

[@Roadrun98]

@@ArbitorIan good, I always welcome the telling of the fall of Cadia if nothing else to hear Cadians dying. #CadiasGone

[@MagralhoPT]

_"Astra miliwhat?! You are in the Guard son!"_

[@exactinmidget92]

haha Krieg on garrison duty is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to them.

[@iapetusmccool]

Would give them the opportunity to build the best trench network ever.

[@stackhat8624]

So its a bit like working at Amazon?

[@BFG-Based]

I like the Guard, but Space Marines are better. :)