Guardsman

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Guardsman of the Armageddon Steel Legions
Part of a series on the:
Imperial Guard Hierarchy

Guardsman is the generic term for any member of the Imperial Guard, regardless of rank,[2] but is also synonymous with the lowest enlisted rank of Trooper.[4] There are untold billions upon billions of Guardsmen in service, such that even the Departmento Munitorum has no idea of the true number of Guardsmen in existence.[1a][3a] It has been remarked that if the entirety of the Astra Militarum would form up into a column, it would stretch from Terra to Armageddon.[18] Every year, trillions of new recruits are tithed into the Guard.[17] These are normal men and women of the Imperium, called upon to serve the God-Emperor of Mankind and protect His realm against all threats. That they do so against a galaxy full of eldritch horrors, foul xenos and other nameless terrors is a heroic testament to their courage.[5a]

Recruitment and Training

Main article: Imperial Tithe
Imperial Guardsman[1b]

As a broad generalization, guardsmen are typically supplied to the Departmento Munitorum as a 1/10th of a world or system's Planetary Defense Force (PDF). Governors are expected, on pain of death, to raise and maintain a large enough PDF at any given time such that they are able to meet both a set quota of recruits while also maintaining enough forces to defend their realm. It is also a capital offense if these recruits are not supplied with appropriate uniforms, equipment, training, or if they possess insufficient genetic purity. Thus typically, guard recruits are often supplied as the best among a PDF.[24]

More specific recruitment (or conscription) and training of each Guardsman is based entirely on the customs and traditions of their native homeworld, a result of the tithe imposed on each Planetary Governor. Just as there are a million worlds in the Imperium so too are there a million ways one can become a Guardsman; for many it is considered an honour to join the Guard, or at least a way to escape a wretched existence. The result are Guardsmen as wildly different from each other as possibly, from highly-trained professional soldiers to savage gang-fighters and medieval barbarians. If any additional training is required, especially among primitive recruits with little to no knowledge of how to work modern weapons of war, it will be given in transit to their initial deployment.[1a][3a][5a][6]

Main article: Whiteshields

One common method of recruitment and training is through the raising of probitors, more commonly known by the informal term as Whiteshields. These are the sons and daughters of Imperial Guardsmen and Guardswomen, born on militarized worlds and raised by the regiment as cadets until they are old enough to earn the rank of guardsman proper by fighting in a battle alongside regular guardsmen. Cadians in particular make especial use of this method via their Youth Armies.

Main article: Conscript

In times of desperation, the Imperium may undergo a period of conscription to field more troops. This can include fielding even more probitors, as is the case in Cadian Regiments, but also other candidates with little to no training and hastily deployed. Entire cities, even continents might be trained of citizens this way.[24]

Role and Organisation

Guardsman[22]

Guardsmen fulfil every conceivable role within the Imperial Guard, from tank crewmen to snipers, vox-operators to medics. As laid out in the Tactica Imperium, the basic organisational unit most Guardsmen will fight under is the squad, a number of which will form into a platoon. Several platoons will make up a company which in turn make up a regiment. While such standards do exist, they are not uniformly followed for any number of reasons, leading to formations of different names, sizes and compositions.[5c]

Variations

Medics

Medics and Field Chiurgeons are Guardsmen trained to give medical treatment to wounded in the field in the heat of combat. They typically operate from Company Command Squads.[5f] Medics go by many different names, but all are trained in providing first response and frontline medical care to injured Guardsmen. They are also equally combat capable and will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow troopers.[9]

Imperial Guard Field Chiurgeon

Standard Bearer

Standard Bearers are Guardsmen who due to battlefield gallantry have been rewarded with the honour of flying and protecting the Company or Regimental Standard. Typically operating from Company Command Squads, the Standard Bearer serves as a reminder for the rest of the Company to fight with duty and honour.[5f]

Imperial Guard Standard Bearer

Vox-Operator

Vox-Operators are Guardsmen who operate Vox communication systems in the field, allowing for improved communications and coordination between Company, Platoon, and Squad commands.[5f]

  • Imperial Guard Vox-Operator
  • Imperial Guard Vox-Operator

Transmachina Ocula

Transmachina Ocula are Guardsman who have been ordained as lay technicians in their Regiments by the Adeptus Mechanicus and have been inducted into the Mechanicus' lesser mysteries.[15]

Weapons Specialists

Some Guardsmen are given a variety of specialized weapons such as Plasma Guns, Heavy Bolters, Meltaguns, and Flamers. They typically operate from Heavy Weapons Squads or Special Weapons Squads.[5f]

Guardsmen with a Plasma Gun

Hardened Veterans

As regiments fight gruelling campaigns that last for years on end, eventually they will shrink in size as the number of casualties rises. In many cases an entire company will be reduced to a single squad of the most battle-tested, hardcore Guardsmen blessed with the strength and will to survive the nightmarish battlefields of the 41st Millennium. These Hardened Veterans are experts in all aspects of warfare, from marksmanship to demolition work, and carry a variety of non-standard weapons and equipment. Some regiments may have whole companies of battle-born killers, having survived the grim realities of warfare relatively unscathed. In many cases however these lone squads of hardened survivors will be attached to other regiments, often newly-formed ones, in the hope that their skills will be assimilated by their new parent unit. The Catachan Jungle Fighters do not contain Hardened Veterans as elite troops, instead their standard soldiers are considered to be the equivalent, having grown up and survived on the galaxy's deadliest planet.[5e][11]

Heavy Gunner

Heavy Gunners are Guardsmen trained to operate heavy weapons such as Lascannons, Missile Launchers, Mortars, and Heavy Flamers. They form Heavy Weapon Squads.[9]

Cadian Heavy Gunners with a Lascannon

Stormtroopers

Main article: Stormtrooper

Storm Troopers, also known as Tempestus Scions, are specially-trained Guardsmen used to perform various types of special operations.

A Stormtrooper

Rough Riders

Main article: Rough Rider

Rough Riders are Guardsmen deployed as cavalry troopers.

A Krieg Rough Rider

Sharpshooter

Main article: Sharpshooter

Sharpshooter are trained snipers of the Imperial Guard.

A Cadian Sharpshooter

Scouts

Main article: Imperial Guard Scout

Scouts are used for reconnaissance and to lead troops through difficult terrain.

A Imperial Guard Scout

Engineer

Combat Engineers are used by Imperial Guard Regiments such as the Death Korps of Krieg. They specialise in tunnelling, counter-mining, and engineering operations.[20]

A Death Korps Engineer[21]

Operator

Operators are Guardsmen who pilot and maintain the many vehicles in the Imperial Guard, giving them basic technical knowledge that makes them highly valued.

A Catachan Operator piloting a Sentinel

Breacher

Main article: Imperial Guard Breacher

Breachers are Imperial Guardsmen who specialise in demolition and explosives, as well as the breaching of enemy defences.[12]

An Imperial Guard Breacher

Regimental Bodyguard

Main article: Regimental Bodyguard

Guardsmen can be personally handpicked by the Imperial Governor or Astra Militarum General to act as their bodyguards and accompany them into battle.[23]

Regimental Bodyguards accompanying Vance Stubbs.[23]

Conscripts

Main article: Conscript

Conscripts are Guardsmen who are quickly conscripted and rushed into service. They typically have little training and only the most basic equipment.[5f] Different forms of conscripts exist, including:

Whiteshield

Main article: Whiteshield

Whiteshields, formally known as probitors, are the young descendants of Imperial Guardsmen on militant worlds, raised since childhood to one day join the Imperial Guard. They are not yet considered true guardsmen, but traditionally earn the rank of guardsman upon their first battle.

A Cadian Whiteshield (9th Edition)

Penal Conscripts

Main article: Penal Legion

For some service in the Imperial Guard is a way to absolve them of even the most horrible of crimes.

Penal Legion Conscripts

Equipment

Main article: Astra Militarum Armoury
Well-equipped soldier[22]

The only standard piece equipment each Guardsman is guaranteed to receive is the Lasgun, and even then some will go into battle without one. Not even a standard uniform exists within the Guard, each Guardsman equipped according to the traditions and resources available to their parent regiment.[5d] The basic equipment loadout issued by the Departmento Munitorum includes the lasgun with six power packs, enough for a minimum of 2000 shots, a close combat weapon, usually a bayonet, frag grenades, a laspistol and basic necessities like four days-ration packs, toiletry articles and other items used on the trip to the battlefield. All in all, the standard equipment loadout weighs 25 kg, not including special issue items unique to some regiments like the Vitrian reflective armour.[19]

Guardswomen

Catachan Guardswoman[22]

Several Guard regiments include female troopers, including the Tanith First, the Omicron Rangers, and the Calderon Rifles. However, in the estimation of Inquisitor Amberly Vail less than 10% of all Guard soldiers are female, and the vast majority of these serve in all-female regiments, such as the Valhallan 296th Ice Warriors. Mixed-sex regiments, such as the Tanith First and the Valhallan 597th, are a rarity.[8]

Death

Upon their deaths, the Guardsmen's next of kin are sent a Martyrdom Certificate, which is normally signed by their commanding officer.[16]

Retirement

Retirement from the Imperial Guard is unlikely, as is any hope of returning to one's world of origin. However, if a Regiment has been so badly mauled that it is considered a waste of time and resources to combine it with others, they may be assigned garrison duty of a nearby planet, usually the same one they had just been fighting over. With the population center often decimated and the planet in tatters, the Regiment may be awarded custodianship of the world as a reward. The officers of such forces inevitably become powerful, and wealthy figures whose descendants form the new noble class.[13]

Known Guardsmen Privates

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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