Training for the Imperial Guard

[Farseer Amathar]

I've read the Lexicanum article on the Cadian-style training for the Imperial Guard.  I was wondering do we have any other information?  Anything from books or codexes?  I know we've got a couple of Imperial Guard Fans here, do you guys know anything?

Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't just some regular guy with a Lasgun and cardboard armor thrown on, being asked to fight for the Imperium - that's the PDF. Imperial Guard are actually well-trained humans who go through varying lengths of training, with most regiments (that is the general bulk of Guard who just look like Cadians) use a condensed form of what is practiced on Cadia, if I'm not mistaken.

[Ristiald]

I know we've got a couple of Imperial Guard Fans here, do you guys know anything?

Unfortunately that's no Vox Relay, neither Falco or Meros are here.
It would be nice if they joined, I said couple of times that everyone's invited, but they never showed up anyway. That's a shame really.

Anyway, to the question at hand.
You are correct that flashlight+cardboard is a PDF thing. There's little on Guardsmen training, but we know few things.
1. Munitorum have standards. Everything that's crafted for the Guard must adhere to them. That goes for tanks, armours, weapons, ammunitions, clothes, booze, smokes... Everything.
2. Guards train all the time. Or are at some deployment. Or rotated out of the frontlines for R&R. But other than that, they train all the time. So given that common guardsman service time is his life, the longer he serves (read: survives), the more badass he is. Although the recruit training might be something like here on earth (plus the futuristic stuff), the service time trainings eventually makes a guardsman superior to anything we have around. Add to that enemies no man ever fought up to this day, and we have an army that's rightfully called the Hammer of the Emperor and the Defenders of Mankind.
IMO, it is astonishing waste and dishonor that people only see them as meatshields with flashlights.

[Farseer Amathar]

Oh, I was under the impression you and Slig played Guard. I apologize.

That's good news. I couldn't find anything on a rotation schedule for Guardsmen in battles.

Finally, though it's too late for me to bother finding it or posting it, there's a hilarious meme that show a really old picture of the Guard fighting the Tyranid and just says at the bottom: "Imperial Guard - If you give it your all, you may just buy enough time for the Astartes to take all the credit." I love that meme because it's so often forgotten that before the Astartes won - The Guard Held the Line.

[Ristiald]

Don't know about Slig, but I play Tau.

Unfortunately there's no rotation information that I could find either. Ultimately I guess it's down to commander deciding the soldiers are tired and need their rest, and posting for rotation.

[Farseer Amathar]

Psssh! Space Utilitarian. (No, the Tau aren't Commies, Communists tend to have real problems with the inequity inherent in a Caste System. Learn your political systems, people!)

After you said nobody played Guard, I figured you either played the Skitarii or the Harlequins.

[Moonreaper666]

I've heard that a million Guardsmen are recruited from Armmaggedon alone. Is this true?

[Ristiald]

A million a year? A million per regiment creation? A million total?
A million per regiment creation sound about right for them really. Armageddon is pretty much in the state of constant war (with a brief periods of rebuilding so there's anything to destroy in the next war that comes). It's a planet kind of like Cadia, where pretty much everyone is a soldier.

[Farseer Amathar]

That answer seems about right. If that's the case, I'm surprised that the most standard pattern of Guardsman equipment is Cadian-based. But that might also be simply because GW doesn't want to caste a whole army of alternate-looking Impeial Guard. Though their website does now have all of the classic different Guard Armies (though still sold in pewter).

[Ristiald]

I can't say, brother.

Cookie for refference.

[Moonreaper666]

I don't have any books or Codexes. Most of what I know is from other people or Warhammer wikis

Cadian children start training at age 6

The vast majority of Guardsmen are Hive Gangers (Gangsters) or Cavemen

Average life-expectancy for a new Guardsman is SIX hours. In fact, there is a short story in which the protagonist survives ONE minute past said hours only to die. (Damnit, mouse keeps on double-clicking!)

In real life WW2, Japanese use their soldiers to prop up makeshift bridges in Singapore...

...In WH40k said soldiers are used by the Imperium as dead meat to make BIG BRIDGES!!!

The Valhallan regiments literally are at their commander's mercy. You can have a great leader (Ciaphas Cain) or a horrific one (Kubrik Chenkov)

No wonder Millions of Guardsmen defect to Chaos regularly.

People die training in the Imperial Guard

Veteran Guardsmen disdain the newbies and send them first as bullet sponges I think

[Farseer Amathar]

In real life WW2, Japanese use their soldiers to prop up makeshift bridges in Singapore...

...In WH40k said soldiers are used by the Imperium as dead meat to make BIG BRIDGES!!!

Most everything else fits in with stuff I've already heard, so I won't dispute. But this one is kind of awesome and if I'm going to believe it, I want a source for it.

[Moonreaper666]

In real life WW2, Japanese use their soldiers to prop up makeshift bridges in Singapore...

...In WH40k said soldiers are used by the Imperium as dead meat to make BIG BRIDGES!!!

Most everything else fits in with stuff I've already heard, so I won't dispute.  But this one is kind of awesome and if I'm going to believe it, I want a source for it.

Look up Chenkov from the Valhallan Ice Warriors

Guy gets medals for killing his men faster than the enemy, despite the enemy killing millions of his own soldiers!

Guy isn't dumb, just very, VERY Cruel! He kills Commissars like they are Guardsmen!

He would have no problem killing Cain, Gaunt or Yarrick on the spot!

[Farseer Amathar]

Hey! You're the one providing an answer on a lore-forum, it's your responsibility to provide the link or quote the webpage of what you are referencing. Lucky for you, I'm familiar enough with various 40k online sources to find his on my own... but not everybody who will visit this website will have those skills. It's a good habit to get into, if you want to help others.

[Moonreaper666]

Lexicanum

For some of his 'feats' its in his page on Tv Tropes

[Farseer Amathar]

I love TV Tropes, but it isn't a very good source for 40k Canon.  It is a great source to use when discussing fan-fiction or what was done well or wrong with certain Canon stories, but is not a good place to find the lore out.  Lexicanum (which you already mentioned) and Warhammer 40k Wiki are your best choices for researching lore.  Though I tend to find Warhammer 40k Wiki to be a bit more biased while Lexicanum is really good about taking an unbiased approach to lore.  1d4Chan is probably the worst, yet can still be a useful resource when looking for what the crowd consensus is, on various 40k topics.  While I have mentioned it, I didn't link to 1d4Chan BECAUSE: is Not Safe for Work and I only use it sparingly - because it is so biased.

[Ristiald]

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