The Imperium Had To NERF The IMPERIAL GUARD?! - How They Changed The Guard After The Horus Heresy!

[@darthkraven3257]

I believe Guilliman was the main architect of such reorganization.

[@austinrooks1787]

No he reorganized the astartes not the imperial guard or at least I think that’s all he did

[@darthkraven3257]

@@austinrooks1787 Oh it's very much possible remember that after the heresy Guilliman assumed for the first time the title of Lord Commander of the Imperium, the supreme commander of all the Imperium military might only below the Emperor himself, a title he would assume again after his resurrection in the current Era Indomitus, in other words the reorganization would have had to pass his scrutiny at that time.

[@RA10H56]

It would have most assuredly. Virtually all the imperial army troops and fleets joined their respective legion as traitor forces during the heresy. The primarch of the 13th removed them from direct command of the remaining loyal legions, then later chapters. So no one entity would control so much power.

[@bleepsy]

In the Horus Heresy rulebook there is an 'Ultramar Pattern' detachment for the Solar Auxilia that is based on Guilliman's restructuring and it limits the amount of armour you can take, instead just letting you take way more infantry than usual.

[@Eisenthorn4179]

Huh, I remember reading that the Imperial Army was divided into the Guard and the Navy to make sure that if there are any planetary revolts, they have to make sure that the Navy is on their side for it to work and I remember thinking that it was Girlyman's idea

[@bruh-ux1ns]

Some regiments are still allowed to have combined arms to my knowledge, specifically the Death Korps

[@bordergore7623]

Catachans are known for being good tank crewmen and they have even had their own dedicated Valkyrie air wings in some books, which few guard regiments get. But then again they are incredibly small in number compared to others. Outside of them and the Krieg no other regiments come to my mind when I think of combined arms.

[@ThePumpkinRot]

@@bordergore7623 Armageddon steel legion is another one.

[@bruh-ux1ns]

@@bordergore7623 didn't cadians also have them? Or am I just crazy

[@austinrooks1787]

Yes because they’re units whose loyalty is assured

[@tyrannosaurusimperator]

​@@ThePumpkinRotThey're just mechanized infantry.

[@YuriSupporter]

Chaos just combining different traitor regiments in the next heresy: 🗿

[@bruhbrat9038]

You talk like there will be a bigger A-hole than erebus to start said heresy

[@Ben-jl2rh]

True, but counter point. When has Chaos "worked together" competently?

[@bobthepervyuncle]

Chaos next time: *screaming* BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE (for the 5th direct failed assault that day)

[@mortarion9813]

​@@Ben-jl2rh The Heresy, the Badab War (sort of), the Siege of Vraks, the Blood Pact...

[@TheOuroboros84]

​@@mortarion9813bro the heresy was a shit fest...

[@Allstar-yl1ek]

In theory. In practice it creates just as many situations where you're not getting air support because your commander is beefing with the Aeronautica commander, your scouts are refusing to leave the base because the artillery keeps "accidentally" dropping shells on them and your tanks end up clearing urban centres without infantry support because the infantry regiment commander has decided they're stopping for the day (ran out of supplies).

[@tomasdawe9379]

But that is why you have staff officers to co-ordinate the higher levels and Commissars to ensure communications between different planetary forces are understood

[@xxklesx1]

But they dont care. For the last 10 000 years other humans were the biggest threat for humanity. Necrons and Tyranids only became a problem in the last 500 years.

[@catosicarius7946]

It actually works in practice too most the time, after all the imperial guard do beat the enemy back a lot, it just doesn’t get focused on

[@leonodonoghueburke4276]

​@@catosicarius7946 That's because 90% of the enemies they fight are rebellions just as mismanaged as they are

[@GeneGear]

@@tomasdawe9379 Its a mix between modern systems, and the Japanese during WW2. When the guard functions well, is properly organized at the grand strategy level, and the units are properly supplied, it is a machine that can hold back the tide of any horrors...for a time, at least. But when things turn WW2 Japan, the Guard rapidly become fodder, and Commisars/Inquisitors start having to mass execute leadership in order to get even some semblance of organization. And pretty much everyone is stuck praying that the Astartes will come bail their asses out.

[@TwoWaySai]

Just make sure to not piss off the commanding officer from the other branches or they not showing up 😭

[@austinrooks1787]

True but then again that ain’t nothing a little groveling and a good bottle of alcohol can fix

[@fanusobscurus]

Oh no, they show up... with a comical in tow who believes your a heretic, regardless of if the guy you pissed off is screaming about skull thrones or not.

[@harrisondejoux8520]

There have been times when thay behavior has occurred, and infighting is common.

[@CHRF-55457]

Lol

[@dolphinerofachero3159]

@@austinrooks1787or the Commissar’s gun

[@karlmorgan8580]

The fact the imperial army is literally nerfing itself by doing this and still kicking ass says something about the quality of the average guardsmen regiment.

[@edwardthormann1928]

Ok, so here's the thing, in the Australian Army, we kinda run this way. We have infantry battalions that have no tank or indirect fire past a mortar. We have armoured and artillery units with only those assets. We then form multiple battalion size elements into battlegroups that has the set of capabilities that they need to get the job done. It's more common throughout the world to run like this then how some forces such as the US army cav and the USMC run as there own fully equipped forces. Just saying my bit 😊

[@stephen19590]

The thing is.....they don't. They win by saying '8 billion to the cause' and then 'dont bury the 7 billion loses'

[@sargeantgamerful]

​@@stephen19590they do 😉

[@zamoriansreign]

They really don’t, can’t remember the last time I heard of a Guard regiment single handedly fending off any threat alone

[@apocalypse420x4]

@@zamoriansreignin lore it happens all the time but a faction getting steamrolled by the guard doesn’t make an interesting story so the books/stories tend to focus on the battles that need the gaint transhuman Demi gods where the average human life span is seconds but most of the time it’s not like that

[@Lacucarachadefuego]

I mean, real world military is broken up into different highly specialized divisions supporting each other. 40K is just taken to a ludicrous scale so instead of a single armored battalion its an entire planet that just drives tanks

[@Part.No.1xbil.Prod.Tp.MXMVIII]

The idea of a "tank culture" makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

[@MrODST57]

​@@Part.No.1xbil.Prod.Tp.MXMVIII Culture of fat bodies 😂

[@cstgraphpads2091]

Not really. Most real world militaries operate combined arms divisions.

[@kremlguard9544]

Specialized Divisions are limited to the Corps level (formations which are usually disbanded after a campaign) additionally Tank, Infantry, and Artillery divisions are not pure tanks, or pure infantry, or pure artillery. All of the mentioned formations possess some level of organic(permanently attached) support from the separate arms of service. So, an Infantry Division will usually have 3 Infantry regiments with organic mortar support, 1 Armored regiment, 1 artillery regiment, and 1 supply and support regiment. (Note that IRL Divisions are permanent formations) What the IG has is an eclectic mess of "regiments" that vary in sizes(some are Division sized and others are Battalion sized) and are institutionally handicapped and doctrinally unable to commit to the more advanced tactical maneuvers that characterizes a mechanized, combined arms force due to requests and situational necessities being taken higher on the command chain rather than being solved by orders from the Battalion/Brigade/Divisional HQ. tldr: The IG is a slow grinding force that is SOMETIMES capable of swift advances but most of the time just forces a conflict to devolve into a war of attrition.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Tank Planet makes me Smile. 😊

[@cameronnewton7053]

That's both incredibly stupid and incredibly smart at the same time, perfect for WH 40k.

[@dragon12234]

Similiar to the Commissars. Good to have to ensure the loyalty of potentially treasonous officers. But if the officers are loyal and competent the Comissars are an obstacle to effective warfare (Which is why in WW2 as it progressed the Soviets pulled their Comissars back more and more, whilst the Nazis added more and more)

[@gyozamoney5909]

Perfect for minis 😅

[@unclesam5230]

Don’t forget that the Imperial Navy was also part of the Imperial Army which was separated into Imperial Navy and Imperial Guard due to the Horus Heresy

[@5RndsFFE]

This is the sole point the video misses, the Heresy era Imperial Army was split into the guard and navy respectively to prevent any further bouts of heresy and sedition having access to both ships and manpower.

[@unclesam5230]

@@5RndsFFE indeed

[@ryneagheilim9782]

So the imperial guard is just the coast guard???

[@olorin3815]

@@ryneagheilim9782coast guard uses boats and has a navy, imperial guard doesnt have any spaceships im pretty sure, well they might have transports or might not i dont remember those might just be under command of the navy as well. Imperial guard is just land based troops and air force(guess maybe water as well) anyway they primarily do planet based fighting and imperial navy is responsible for any space battles and orbital bombardments and such

[@jeddpires]

We are never gonna call em Astra Militarum, arent we?

[@ummdustry5718]

You're in the guard son!

[@louissteyn6871]

Think of it as the high gothic version of the name but everyone only speaks low gothic

[@philiphockenbury6563]

Only fancy pants and lawyers call them that. Otherwise they’re the Imperial Guard! The hammer of the Emperor.

[@DeadliftsForTheDarkGods]

Nope :)

[@Red0543]

Let me put it like this: I will be dead and freaking buried in the cold hard ground before I ever call them that!

[@bigchungus5065]

Then there’s the few planets that are chill enough to not need to specialize in a specific field

[@icecoldpolitics8890]

Krieg.

[@viksreviews2891]

Catachan. Not even the Devils, the planet itself is so hostile to life of any kind that it has eaten a daemonic incursion without the locals even really noticing since it's already the hellhole where other hellholes go

[@TheSm0keyElf]

Cadia.

[@jaytrashwade1-1]

Of course Krieg and Cadia are the extreme utility regiments... Because they both are to a degree the posterboy regiments. Especially Cadia.

[@unlimitedpanda5433]

Armageddon

[@petersaunders5808]

That is unless you are in the Death Korps of Krieg. But then again, if you survive long enough to be a commander of some competency in the Death Korps, you might as well be considered for sainthood as well over that God Emperor damned miracle.

[@jesseberg3271]

The DM gives the Kriegers special dispensation because they are basically brainwashed from birth to be loyal.

[@someboi4505]

Many of the other regiments of renown do, another one off the top of my head is steel legion with organic regimental artillery

[@DonPatrono]

@@someboi4505 yes and no, the organic artillery Krieg infantry regiments have is reduced in number and calibre, effective only for support of actions limited in scope and time, which is kinda a big dealbreaker when your whole leitmotif is protracted siege and trench warfare As for Armageddon, it's less about the ARTILLERY being integrated as much as them being a complete mechanized unit, putting together APCs, IFVs, tanks, self-propelled artillery and transport/support elements, given the main focus of the Steel Legion is mechanized warfare. Again, the artillery included in the standard regiment is nothing extraordinary in number and power, but for them it's less of an issue since they rely on maneuverability and quickly repositioning on the battlefield

[@someboi4505]

@@DonPatrono Now I will admit most of what I’m remembering is from a half forgotten lore video I watched a while back, but the guy mentioned it was remarkable that the Steel Legion would have artillery and tanks in their mechanized units and the other way around. Even self propelled guns make me wonder if that’s iffy with the various regulators of the Guard. Again a pinch of salt with all that though

[@sathra4036]

@@someboi4505 Though they might be an exception as its been effectively a permanent warzone since the Third war. Possibly since the Second as well because Orks + old hiveworld with vast wasteland and produces large amounts of armoured vehicles isn't a great combination. So they could be allowed to do so purely because they need to for their patrols and battles. Reconstituting units from remnants of other regiments and finding it works.

[@ryanjakesagpang3094]

" a single guard alone can do nothing,but they are never alone"

[@DoomStroller]

Appreciate the solar auxilia images

[@coiler3927]

My thoughts on this: -As with everything guard, it varies. Cadians and Steel Legionnaires can get away without the slightest controversy to have combined arms formations or "a tank regiment and a chimera regiment deployed together that effortlessly shifts into several combined arms battlegroups" -One of my favorite obscure 40k vehicles is the Chimedon, a Chimera chassis with a conqueror cannon (light battlecannon). My headcanon is that it has carved out a niche as something that technically is still a Chimera so it can be organic to mech infantry regiments while being as close to a tank as they can get. -Having high formations make the combined arms assignments is not unheard of IRL. (In case you didn't know already, I looooove the Guard).

[@SusCalvin]

Everyone does the battlegroup. Your regiment will be shuffled around and into other battlegroups. If you are an engineering or AA regiment you will always be detached.

[@SusCalvin]

So you are not Krieg in Only War. You are the Krieg 45th engineers. You are combined into a corps with other regiments, and detached on company level to other regiments. So a tank moving in a battlegroup can be from a different regiment, even if their patch says Krieg 19th armoured.

[@coiler3927]

@@SusCalvin yep thats how it works in real life.

[@SusCalvin]

@@coiler3927 If you get a guard army you play one such battlegroup. You have no rule that states you can only use infantry platoons or chimera infantry or sentinels. In Only War, 3-5 regiments is seen as bare minimum.

[@gigaus0]

Same happened with the Space Marines and even the Admin. Everything was broken up into manageable bits to prevent any one from being a threat to the whole.

[@djashovel]

I can't wait Till we have a warhammer 40k told war game And the imperium has over five thousand worlds On the map That you have to govern ( you well get to Experience guilliman Depression ) And it takes ten battles to fully take a planet 😊

[@rahadityap2375]

By Guilliman standard : Imagine whole fucking star system turn into just giant Military installation

[@Hurricanelive]

Imperium: We gunna limit your chapters! Dark Angels and Fists: Yah... sure bro... (fingers crossed) Dark Angels and Fists: We need more bros! Chaptermasters: How many? Angels/Fists" All the Bros! Chaptermasters: You got it! We can live IN SPAAACE!

[@ronanchristiana.belleza9270]

Ultramarine and their successors:maybe we should follow the imperial fist example in case someone attacked Ultramar or terra

[@The_Knight_of_Helles]

The problem is if teamwork is required for inter-regimental success then often you’ll just have a massive uncoordinated assault with each regiment failing to communicate and commanders either unwilling or unaware to send reinforcements to their possible rivals. Just because something is required for success doesn’t mean people will always do it if it contradicts fundamentally your system.

[@randomelite4562]

Precisely.

[@SusCalvin]

You are part of a corps. It is not a flat organization where your regiment is an island. In Only War you determine at the very least 3-5 other regiments deployed alongside yours. It does not matter if you are Krieg 334th engineers. You are one cog of the warfront. You could be in a corps with a regiment of space bedouins and three hive worlders and one agriworld regiment.

[@MRVN-]

I am pretty sure Guilliman made this change but it was supposed to be temporary. Mostly because of the logistics of coordinating each of these regiment would become quite complex in a galaxy spanning Empire.

[@slasher3428]

*Translation for Tyranids AKA:Normal people* The main human forces are split into separate groups: snacks, Lotta snacks, big snacks, snacks with hard wrappers

[@catosicarius7946]

Didn’t you guys lose an entire splinter fleet to tau space aids

[@hugmynutus]

People here missing the point. Armies in the HH included Navy, Logistics, Air, Ground, Armor, even Space Marine assets within the chain of command. 1 regiment having tanks & big guns isn't the same.

[@generalsmite7167]

Another fun fact is that the army also had the Solar Auxiliaries who made up a quarter of their numbers. They were better trained and equipped than guardsmen and were seen as a an elite army only surpassed by the space marines. They were disbanded after the Hersey for the same reasons as the army but also because such a force was not believed to be needed when humanity would be mostly on the defensive

[@mathiaslaterreurdesbacasab2872]

Surpassed by space marine but only in size

[@djashovel]

Here's a fun question and a fun match up Galactic empire vs the tau empire

[@randomelite4562]

The Tau honestly would just be drowned in numbers, the ground fight where they truly have an advantage wouldn’t matter much when the Empire can just base delta zero any large formation. (Though taking planets would be an absolute pain, especially with the prevalence of stealth suits)

[@kyodairiker]

The galactic empires space fleet could just curb stomp the entire enemy into surrendering with orbital bombardment.

[@guypierson5754]

If the Galactic Empire is your hand, the Tau empire is a little hair on the back of your pinky.

[@OK-yy6qz]

Tau may win cause Star wars is really bad with Numbers (excluding maybe some Comics). Even the Galactic Empire fleet isn't that impressive. The battle of Endor (final Battle original trilogy) that basically crippled the Empire included like a couple Dozen star destroyers and some smaller ships plus fighters. I think Tau could easily crush that

[@randomelite4562]

@@OK-yy6qz We know that the Galactic Empire has 25,000 Star destroyers, possibly just the Imperial variant, alone. The reason why so few were at Endor was due to the fact that they’re needed elsewhere to keep order and prevent attacks from Rebel forces.

[@pzshi]

Just bring back the Solar Auxilia FFS......

[@ARMERZ]

I remember playing Planetside 2 as the Terran Republic, and we have outfits ( basically like clans or guilds of players) that has some specializations. Usually we'll see this tank outfit marauding across the map after we've already done some work, and they'll finish the job, and move to the next territory to capture. Great times

[@TuShan18]

I feel like so many things in the imperium was an overcorrection of something, to the point where it became (or could become) an even bigger problem.

[@TheMaulam12345]

yeah all of them are just retcon.

[@bushyboom1355]

If I remember correctly there are a few exceptions to this rule. The one that comes to mind is the Armageddon steel Legion they have fully mechanised battalions with both chimera Infantry companies, Lehman russ tank companies and bacillus artillery companies

[@SusCalvin]

Everyone does the battlegroup. The tank squadron in your army is probably from a different regiment, but their squadron is there to do a specific task. The more specialized a regiment is, the more likely it is to be detached.

[@GeneralVanceStubbsCousin]

The soundtrack makes this sound even more epic! Sounds like Stellaris stuff

[@NateCreed07]

Gimping themselves and getting the job done, the Imperial Guard way

[@thelonerdude9248]

what is the background music for this? I can't find it and its amazing

[@Sorain1]

Sounds like something from hotline Miami, some music by carpenter brut, or perhaps from Brigador or one of the artists that were involved in Furi's OST.

[@cicciopanzer8937]

Lord Of War Karl Casey

[@Insulino36]

If I understood this correctly, this is the same system used irl, most armies rely on specialized infantry battalion with combined arms capabilities at the brigade or even division level, some exempts are Russian BTGs that house almost everything at the battalion level, but their lack of manpower means that if a single element of the BTG like artillery is destroyed, the BTG is no longer operative, tho I imagine that while a Battalion here is 1000-1400 men, in the Imperium is more like 5000 men so that would not be such a big deal

[@conan2096]

one of the reasons the badab war was so brutal was that the tyrants guard were a modern military with combined arms, each regiment led by an astartes with a supercomputer for a brain. the loyalists had them all killed after the war, simply for the insult of giving them a tough fight in some cases, since they werent corrupted for the most part.

[@hearthatbird]

Doc joining Khorne makes so much sense

[@simplewrites]

Bring back the Solar Auxilia. They matched space marines in their effectiveness and were far more loyal.

[@einarr7301]

cope

[@TheSm0keyElf]

​@einarr7301 It's not. It wasn't a 1:1 on losses, but they were just as effective as the Legions, and we're more loyal. None of the Auxilla turned traitor as far as I remember. If they did, it was so minimal that it didn't matter. Look at what the Solar Auxilla did during the attack on the Sol system during the HH against Peter Turbo and the Death Guard.

[@einarr7301]

@@TheSm0keyElf chaos corruption is capable of tainting any human. You think the guard is immune to it? Theyre not. There are arguably far more traitor guardsmen than astartes, the lore just focuses so much more on CSM and the horus heresy that they seem far more prevalent when theyre actually not. Sadly, the result is that the many, many chaos guard regiments get over looked. I cant blame someone for thinking the guard just doesnt get tainted by chaos seeing how little its talked about. But theyre out there, and theres a lot of them Combine this with the bias, hate and aversion that many people have been mindlessly expressing towards loyalist astartes past few years and you get some pretty potent cope. If astartes and even primarchs can fall to chaos, you think regular humans will have some warp resistant super power? Normal humans fall to chaos probably by the 10s of thousands daily

[@einarr7301]

@@TheSm0keyElf wow my reply about a sci fi ip got deleted by YT? I guess the ministry thought i was talking about a real life narrative that theyre trying to regulate. Let me try this again: None-astartes are far more susceptible to chaos. There are plenty of chaos guard legions. The lore is just so focused on CSM and the horus heresy that you never hear anything about chaos imp guard thus creating an illusion that only astartes turned chaos and little to no imp guard did. Its unfortunate how over looked chaos imp guard regimemts are. Combine this with the general aversion and hatred people have been fereling against thr astartes past few years anf you get some pretty strong cope. I know this comment is worded strangely. I avoidedthe use of what i think are particular key words that will set off the YT bot police to come and delete my reply. This platform is so atrocious.

[@einarr7301]

@@TheSm0keyElf third try... lets see... going to have to use many abbreviations to go undetected. CIG (warp afflicted guard) are far more numerous than CSM yet the lore invests so much focus on CSM and the horus event (i know whats its called, but again... avoiding any terms that i think may trigger this reply being removed) that you would think no CIG exist and there are only CSM but there are infact many, many CIG. They just sadly get over looked and you rarely hear about them. IG are not immune to the warp. They are standard beings. If astartes and primarchs can be affected by the warp, than regular IG troops can too. Sorry... i know this comment is worded so absurdly. I have been forced to revise this comment so much that its almost lost all meaning. Imagine not even being able to discuss a fictional IP without this platform yoinking it for wrong speech.

[@doorcf]

no wonder their main tactic is just throwing bodies until the enemy dies

[@DogKacique]

Solar Auxilia were awesome. Them bayonet charging word bearers during the battle of Calth was really badass

[@CommanderBohn]

You forgot the Imperial Army also had their own fleets. Thus when Robby G split it, he split the Imperial Army into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy so that one man wouldn't have THAT much power in one hand.

[@TheMaulam12345]

oh, so u tellling me before he split. Imperial Army are not supposed to have Fleets? then who have them?

[@hyperion6820]

Still a shit decision since more lives end up being spent of attrition and less tactical and strategic ingenuity because "NOOOOO BUT WHABOUT HEREZY WHABOUT HAVING TOO MUCH POWER."

[@zanesy6250]

Same principle behind reducing the size of the space marine legions. Many small groups that could fall equally versus just a few massive armies with an equal chance of betraying.

[@maximusprime3767]

So in other words all a faction has to do to curb stomp the imperial guard is prevent them from getting support well that makes it so much easier for factions from Star Wars where such tactics are pretty common

[@randomelite4562]

That’s basic tactics and strategy for any army 101

[@SusCalvin]

Guard regiments are not alone. In Only War you decide which 3-5 other regiments, at the very least, are there alongside you. You spend downtime trading with them.

[@angryeliteultragree6329]

Definitely do more with gorliac, he’s goated from what I have seen.

[@blackcube69]

2nd image got that ncr veteran ranger mask ahh

[@yogapriambodo1383]

Certain people in Imperium: "It's futile, mate!"

[@silverwolf5643]

Nothing like the goold ol sound of basilisk firing earth shaker rounds

[@Sherudons]

Basically the imperial guard was once a unstoppable force of combined arms, and that is a problem when the boss goes, I didn't vote for this emperor.

[@thecommentguy9380]

Few exceptions to guard deployment is the Death Korp and the Cadians. Their loyalty is so strong they're allowed to field full armies with armored and fire supports at the same time Like on Vraks, the Kriegers weren't just deployed as a regiment, but the entire 88th siege army

[@mandoperthstacker]

Ghosts of Tanith conducted long term operations on a Chaos planet without turning. They are pure loyalty.

[@trailblazerlazerrazerd9027]

Okay so I basically got into the series through novels like Priests of Mars and Ciaphas Cain. And on the sectioning subject they did only have Cadian shock troops in Priests of Mars armed with mostly Laz-guns but they also have the Valhallan 597th in Ciaphas Cain which was a largely Urban combat unit and they had a little bit of everything in their regiment that I recall clearly - a few sentinels, some tanks, heavy weapons (like rocket launchers and flame throwers), intantry, and even a small squad of Stormtroopers (that were wiped out in an frozen underground tunnel system connecting to an awakening Necron tomb). The only thing I think they don't really have are any Ogryn heavies, Ratling snipers and scouts, and aerial combat units. I'm guessing that because of their mixed nature of men and women troopers that might be why they were more versatile as well as Cain being a celebrated hero so maybe he got some leeway. If anything they might've gotten something like a few dedicated fighter craft and drop ships if it was mostly because of Cain 😅. Lol

[@Baalur]

The Imperium of Man is so vast that any idea of a universal system of organisation flies right out the window. The Officio Munitorum might have certain ideas about how the Imperial Guard should function but there are so many exceptions to nearly every rule it's not even funny. That is great for authors and hobbyists who can create many different types of regiments without breaking the lore. But I guess it is a nightmare for the adepts of the Administratum who try to enforce rules and standardisation. Even cataloging a behemoth like the Imperial Guard must be a sisyphean task!

[@trailblazerlazerrazerd9027]

@@Baalur Indubitably. I wouldn't wish a Munitorum or Administratum job on anyone that wasn't geared up for it or had the talent. They're barely a step up from Servitors in their own way. And whole armies of units on campaigns or even crusades often depend on their ability to get them the resources they need. And I saw it just how dangerous that kind of thing can be when I heard about that story The watcher in the Rain. Where a woman who was an administratum functionary was slowly allocating or denying certain amounts of food, ammo and other resources to throw the Imperium into chaos because she decided it needs to die since it's somewhere between dysfunctional and highly efficient. Including how easy it is for people to end up dead. She was basically playing god and causing places to be worse defended, or for some people to starve to death, and others to be unable to get enough materials to process more things like weapons for the Imperial Guard. And she was doing it for months, maybe years, until she got caught and had to run. She was being chased by a cop or some level of enforcer for the Arbites and the 2 of them together ended up running through a city on a world trying to get to the last ship off of it. Running into all sorts of strange things, including the presence of “The Watcher in the Rain” always finding a way to ask them or influence them into turning around and looking at it to kill them or steal their souls, or both. By the time they finally got away after the Arbites man was shot but probably going to survive, he made it his business to wipe her record. But right after that she admitted to everything and shot him several times, both for the sadistic pleasure and so he might stay awake from the added pain. And she planned on traveling to some other worlds in order to do the same thing all over again. But before that her small ship, maybe an escape pod, was able to get communication with a nearby naval ship. Maybe one of the defense force vessels for that world helping with the evacuations. They were going to pull her in for a presumable rescue. But then once the line was cut, the Captain and other bridge crew lamented that they would have to eat her in order to survive. Barely any of their crewmen were left alive because they hadn't received any supplies in months and already cannibalized many of them beforehand. Their ship didn't really even have any fuel and couldn't travel the warp. They were marooned and she was the reason why. The story ended on a karmic fall on the Administratum woman who's actions affected the lives of probably thousands to millions of people or more. And that's all it takes for the domino affect to start in the Imperium. Like during the Horus Heresy where continents and planets worth of data and history were lost or wiped because of the Imperium's galactic level civil war and the Dark Mechanicum in particular destroying their records, plunging them further into disarray. Which is another reason why I understand why the Mechanicus is so desperate to find STC fragments and possibly whole STCs like those of the Leagues or Votann Ancestor Cores.

[@codiserville593]

As someone outside of the community, these videos are a neat way to explore this universe

[@Jstck1]

I think the reorganization was mainly to take the space ships away from the Imperial Army. So that they couldn't rove independently. Establish some co dependence between the navy and the new guard

[@Canada-_]

Death Korps of Krieg "We're the Death Korps of Krieg, son. Did you think that was just a pretty name? We never retreat. We fight and we die, that's the Krieg way."

[@SusCalvin]

In Only War you play battlegroups. You are deployed as a regiment but the regiment is only one part of the battlegroup and the greater warfront. Regiments are building blocks. The battlegroup can be built up and later dissembled for a campaign and warzone. In effect, parts of regiments are detached to others. Some highly specialist regiments are always split into companies or squadrons.

[@edwardclay7551]

I like your play through and thoughts. Using some of the different enemies as bosses could be interesting.

[@agentjohnson3973]

Are there any guard books that are set during the horus heresy?

[@fuzzy-02]

Could also foster the mindset "together we stand, alone we fall"

[@PresidentFunnyValentine]

In the end, you're infantry.

[@Mark-et5zl]

Piss off a commanding officer of a certain branch by snatching up even a muffin. And suddenly, you lost artillery support privilege.

[@TheMoFauxs]

The practicality of 40k lore always blows my mind. Details like this make the lore feel like history, not sci-fi fantasy.

[@joannova2493]

Looove Guards, so damn cool, just random boys agg fckn horrors 😎

[@5RndsFFE]

It was more a delineation of Army and Navy into seperate entities. During the heresy under the one banner, the Imperial army had the manpower and lift capability under the one command structure, thus allowing any heresy or sedition to be self sustaining. With the post heresy restructure, it made it that much harder for an entire battlegroup to fall under the sway of taint. The combined arms thing is still very much real under the imperial guard or Astra militarum structure, it’s just the some brigades, regiments or companies are still specialists in one particular facet.

[@primalreversion7034]

What would a Crusade force look like, then?

[@peixeserra9116]

Probably something akin to either a World Wars-Cold War era fighting force, maybe up to a 90s Fighting Force, like the US Military, just pumped up to the extreme, would be my guess.

[@primalreversion7034]

@@peixeserra9116 I mean organization-wise

[@randomelite4562]

@@primalreversion7034Multiple regiments that complement each other (tank regiments, artillery regiments, etc) very World War 2 or Inter-War in style. All grouped into various armies of varying levels (local, regional, continental, planetary, maybe system, and then crusade)

[@primalreversion7034]

@@randomelite4562 I’m sorry but I don’t understand what is meant by “very World War 2 or interwar in style”

[@randomelite4562]

@@primalreversion7034 Meaning organization is similar (at least on the surface) to how WW2/Inter-War militaries were organized.

[@jameselliott216]

Turned them from Jacks of All Trades into focused Specialists. Good luck, Xenos.

[@comediccomrade5716]

This is also why certain regiments with ZERO question about loyalty are so effective, Cadians and Kriegsman can use combined arms since they are never gonna rebel

[@drakemguard1407]

Most common exemption are the Armageddon Steel Legion, Cadia and the Death Korps of Krieg who specializes on Infantry attrition, Siege and Armor support while other regiments only specialize on one field scouting, urban warfare, Siege, armor or the specialize Drop troops

[@derptomistic]

"Sir, one of the regiments has turned heretic!" "Which one!?" "...The Artillery regiment..." Begins raining high explosive

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

dude those both illustrations of the Solar Auxilia and the Imperial Guard are sick

[@MorganSeveret]

And we have all, even own marines... - Blood Pact probably

[@1207rorupar]

With some exceptions, the Death Corps of Krieg do have access to combined arms as they're considered invulnerable to corruption😊

[@MercurialStatic]

This feels like chopping off your own arm so it won’t strangle you in your sleep.

[@wesleywlee]

Not to “ensure loyalty”. It was done for the same reason the Legions were split into chapters, to minimize the damage that they could do should they turn to Chaos. But limiting a worlds Guard regiments to a single unit type, the Imperium ensures they can not used mixed unit tactics. Though there are some exceptions, The Death Korps of Kreig being the most well know. The Death Korps loyalty is considered unquestionable by the Imperium and so they are allowed to train and field several types of regiments.

[@peterclarke7240]

I ran a guard army back in first edn, and they could seriously demolish anything. Yes, they took huge casualties, but you had to take a 40-man tactical platoon (two heavy weapons per ten-man squad), and had the option of taking a 40-man heavy weapons unit (4 heavy weapons per squad: I normally took Squats, because they were cool) and an assault regiment of 40 who you could equip with jetpacks and dual plasmas. Bear in mind, back in the day, this basically cost you around £40-50 quid, because GW used to have sane prices for their horde armies, and the sheer CHAOS you could cause was exceptional.

[@CrispyChristieMAC]

Under certain circumstances they still use combined arms (note Fall of Cadia, Cadian 24th repurposed into a combined arms regiment)

[@jameshallam3221]

The guard could be considered the glue that holds the imperium together, while most will never see a marine, or travel off world, most worlds either give soilders to the guard or have armies of guard arriving at some point to help, and mixing with the populace and other regiments in shared battles would stregthen bonds to the imperium as a whole,

[@johnathanblackwell759]

With one major exectpion, the Armageddon Steel Legion, because in their words they're a "mechanized" Regiment, so they have Tanks, SPGs, Air Forces, Armored Cav, Mechanized Infantry, etc.

[@randomelite4562]

With a bunch of exceptions, not just the Steel Legion

[@АртурСартания-и7о]

What is "Combat arm" unit? Lowest organisational unit is Regimen (two battalions) and we do not really aware of size fo those regiments, there were cases when 1 Krieg regiment was deployed on captured by Chaos planet and liberated it successfully

[@herrdoctor2895]

The day when they match the fighting prowess of the Solar Auxilia is when I will be making the Golden Armor of the Emperor of Mankind

[@paddy11B]

There are still combined arms units. The 101st Cadian under General Bendikt and the 88th seige army under Marshal Kagori are 2 good examples

[@olorin3815]

Not only is the guard split into pieces but imperial navy(used to be called armada) also was under command of the imperial army that split into navy and guard and then guard has fractured command as well

[@cesaremosu]

Damn, I had never thought about it that way!

[@lordofdarkdudes]

They really should expand on this in the lore of just how much of a absolute headach it must be for warmasters to get vastly diffrent imperial guard regiments to co-operate imagian the methodical pondering Death korps of krieg who are all about taking and holding ground to the last combined with the tallaharans extreamly mobil style of warfare who is all about exploiting gaps in the enemy line and manovering around the enemys strong points

[@MackGraphics]

this means that combined arms can't be commanded by a single man at the regimental level, but they can still fight together or be deployed together. for anyone confused

[@romandafro4800]

Id be down for a brothers in Arms 40k game about an imperial guard squad

[@GreyKnightsVenerable]

2nd image seems to include a special group of Imperial guard who may have come from Terra. Particularly from a very dry and hot desert; one, they may wish had a sudden drop in temperature…

[@edbangor9163]

The Imperium: no more combined arms tactics or joint forces Also the Imperium: why do we struggle to make a dent against the xenos and traitors?

[@matthewbrookeart]

The second or third piece of art has that cool quilted padding on some of their uniform orcs used to have it a lot and squats I miss that more 40k stuff should have it

[@josealmanza148]

Very well spoken Great video man

[@zeroknight5594]

I really want a deep rock and warhammer cross over in hell divers lmao

[@firstoffproductions1462]

They also separated the Imperial Army and Navy in the same move as beforehand, such entire armies also had fleets all for themselves too, making everything that much more deadly during the Horus Heresy.

[@00yiggdrasill00]

I think you missed mentioning an important bit. The army didn't just combine the ground troops into one combined arms fighting force, but the airforce and space navy as well. An imperial army group could literally go wherever it wanted on a galactic level and have every bit of kit and support on hand. Everything from new lasgun batteries to on call airstrikes and airlift or orbital scanning and bombardment. If not for chaos being so insidiously corruptive the imperium would have completely won long ago even if the Hersey still happened.

[@axios4702]

One of the biggest changes to the Imperial Army was the division between navy and guard. Once, an Imperial Army commander had their own fleet and army, if they so chose, and if they had enough support from their men, any commander could split off from the Imperium and go conquer and stablish their own secessionist nation, or, as in the heresy, do a full 180 turn against the Imperium. By separating the army into this 2 branches, Guilliman (yes, it was him) provoked a little rivalry between them, but most importantly, made it so no high ranking officer could just choose to elope one day with a full crusade's worth of men, ships and gear. A traitor navy officer won't have an army and therefore no way to settle, a traitor guard officer doesn't have a fleet and therefore nowhere to go. And if traitor guard and navy officers decide to betray the Imperium together, that's a problem, but guess which lovable, red, cog boys won't be supplying them weapons and ship repair parts anymore?

[@Not.Jason.from.the.southwest]

I think a big problem for writers when describing the Imperial Guard is that it is so big that there can be several thousands of armies that are specialized and expert in their form of warfare. It could lead to a situation that no matter the story there is going to be a Guard army that would mop up the problem. Adding in the administrative and logistics problems such a massive force would face gives the story that cool grimdark atmosphere. It also gives the space marines something to do 😊.

[@RedneckSith]

One exception: The Death Korps of Krieg are allowed to have combined regiments.

[@ryokkeno]

Nothing like making your individual forces less effective and more easily countered while also simultaneously making logistical matters insanely more complicated and wasteful just to prevent a potential future civil war from being as harmful. Lets also not ignore the part of a single small combined arms capable force is not a significant threat to the imperium as a whole and that by design for the uprising to be of grave concern you'd have to have multiple regiments rebel in tandem anyways. I suppose it does do something for the odd rogue regiment who decides to take over an area, but something tells me the other thousands of Astra Militarum regiments might be able to handle it. I can't wait for the next brilliant idea, like shipping weapons separate from the soldiers(as in a separate transport), or maybe only providing medical care at a single specialized cluster of the galaxy. Perhaps the development of a Lasgun pattern that only fires for 30 second intervals and requires a chant of devotion to the emperor to activate each time. Im sure the eclesiarchy would love that... Oh greetings, Commis...

[@SusCalvin]

Guards regiments have extremely standard kit. You can load a lasgun with a power cell from another part of the Galaxy.

[@catosicarius7946]

It allows greater specialization you traitor

[@jamesmortimer4016]

There are exceptions to this. Armaggedon and Cadia can muster full mixed regiments and Krieg has siege regiments of artillery and infantry

[@spimpsmacker6422]

I wouldn't say nerfed so much as organized based on quantity over quality. The Solar Auxilia was extremely powerful mind you, but they were more-so used as support whereas the Legiones Astartes was the main force during the Crusade and Heresy. In fact, you could argue some of their strengths were boosted by this restructure since they replaced the Astartes in many duties and were given much more manpower and command over the Imperium's war-effort.

[@randomobserver8168]

Well, how you integrate combined arms thinking at any level of the TO&E also depends on the size of your forces, types of those arms and units, capabilities of each [say, how capable is your infantry alone anyway; it might deploy significant power depending on personal and squad weapon types], and how many and what type of forces are deployed in a typical operation. I actually would think that if you expect to take whole planets with regiment size forces, then yes, they should have combined arms formats or attached all arms support units. But either would work. If you send in forces in the scores of thousands of more all the time, then organic heavy units at corps level might be enough. The expected and practical nature of the comms environment would be another factor.

[@aaronbyrd4945]

Absolutely love space marine 2 but I would love a game where you play as a normal guardsmen and fight against the horrors of chaos and xenos

[@RecklessFables]

It was one of the more interesting parts of the gaunts Ghosts books. All logistics were controlled by a group that the imperial guard has no control over. This of course, led to problems where they couldn't get the right ammunition for their Lay's guns and the quartermaster didn't give a shit. But it also ensured loyalty since a guard unit on its own couldn't feed itself and couldn't transport itself.

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

The ORIGINAL Helldivers

[@SecondhandSamurai]

The Death Korps of Krieg is the only exception to this rule. During the Siege of Vraks campaign they fielded infantry, artillery and armor.

[@tomasdawe9379]

During Vraks they fielded an army group made up of different regiments from Krieg each with their own regimental specialisations.

[@SusCalvin]

​@@tomasdawe9379That's how you play in Only War. You are one little squad, part of the platoon, company, regiment, corps, army, warzone, sector command. You do not play Krieg. You play Krieg 548th artillery. You have your artillery observers detached as needed, and take fire missions.