Conscript

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A Cadian conscript (6th edition). Notice the white stripe on the helmet, hence the nickname of Whiteshields.[32]

Conscription in the Imperium occurs during times of desperation, as barely trained masses of expendable bodies best employed manning fortifications or impeding the foe’s movements.[1a][Note]

Background

A Platoon of Conscripts.[32]

Typically all planetary governors are nominally obligated to provide ten percent of their world's military as recruits to the Imperial Guard. However, in times of great emergency, the Departmento Munitorum will demand local Governors raise vast quantities of troops for immediate action. Such measures can see entire cities or continents all but emptied and its citizens sent off to fight.[3a]

Conscripts represent such hastily gathered troops, whose training is limited.[1a] Some conscripts may be Whiteshield cadets, organized into several squads massed together as a single Imperial Guard Platoon[2] or in the example of Cadia even entire Batallions per Imperial Guard Regimental organization.[3a] The concentrated firepower of a large platoon tends to outweigh the relative lack of combat ability of the individual conscripts.[1a][2]. In the example of the Armageddon Steel Legion, some of the most notorious gangs of Armageddon's underhive are conscripted wholesale, their ruthless skills honed in gang warfare allowing them to require no additional training at all.[1d]

They are considered the "ultimate meat shield".[Needs Citation]

The practice of conscription predates the Imperial Guard itself, going all the way back to the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy where the levy troops of the Imperialis Militia could include various kinds of conscripts drawn from a variety of sources, such as Ogryn conscripts. Conscription would also be undertaken by the Mechanicum, where unaugmented forge world thralls would undergo rapid augmentation into the Tech Guard.[6]

Combat Use

A Conscript squad consists of a massive squad of anywhere from twenty to fifty conscripts, operating as one unit. Due to their lack of training and combat experience, they are denied access to the arsenal of special weapons the Imperial Guard has to offer. Instead, the squad is issued the basic load out of flak armour and lasguns.[1c]

Famous Regiments

Conscripts are common throughout the Imperium due to their ease of raising and low cost. Some regiments, such as the Cadian Shock Troops, Valhallan Ice Warriors and the Armageddon Steel Legions employ Conscripts.[1b]

Note

TriviaScrollTrans.png

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

Although the term Conscript and Whiteshield are often used interchangably, and many visual depictions of conscripts portray them with the famous white stripe or badge of Whiteshields, Whiteshield nominally refers specifically to young Probitors or Cadets, children raised in a military lifestyle either on highly militarized worlds (such as the Fortress World of Cadia), or as direct descendants of Imperial Guard men and women whose regiment has earned the Right of Settlement[1a][5][2]. Conscripts is a more general term for pressed troops, which can include other sources such as gangers of underhives as per Armageddon, rather than indoctrinated youths.[1d] More varied examples of conscription include the different types of levy troops of the Imperialis Militia.[6]

Images


See also

Sources


Imperial Guard Infantry
Command Company Command Squad • Platoon Command Squad • Scion Command Squad • Tank Commander • Regimental Advisors • Commissar • Primaris Psyker • Tech-priest Enginseer • Priest • Ogryn Bodyguard
Specialists Master of Ordnance • Breacher • Scout • Medic • Vox-Operator • Weapons Specialist • Sharpshooter • Operator
Troops Infantry Squad • Heavy Weapons Team • Special Weapons Squad • Armoured Fist Squad • Veteran Squad (Spectre Squad) • Engineer Squad • Scions Squad (Kasrkin) • Canids • Penal Legion Troopers • Ogryn Squad • Ratling Squad • Psyker Battle Squad • Rough Rider Squad • Field Ordnance Battery • Jump Trooper • H-Grade Combat Servitor • Cyber-Altered Task • Servo-Sentry
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