Welcome aboard!This blog is dedicated to recording the growth of a unit of the Imperial Guard, from a tiny detachment to a massive regiment. I will be posting up Army Lists, as I develop and tweak them, as well as Battle Reports and keeping tabs on my army's progress.
Why Warhammer 40k?Warhammer in general has always intrigued me as a game, and lately the background fiction behind 40k has drawn me in from several collateral sources. I recently bought and played through Warhammer 40k: Dawn Of War II in co-op mode, and enjoyed it tremendously. Further, I got as a gift a copy of Space Hulk, which I can highly recommend as an asymmetrical action/tactical game. So when I noticed that my Friendly Local Game Store had a regular crowd forming for weekly warhammer games and one of my regular gaming buddies was taking up the hobby, the choice seemed natural.
Why Imperial Guard?It is a well-established fact that humans are the winningest race in all existence. As evidence, I note that in practically every published tale or account that features other species, the humans wind up winning or on the winning side. There are some exceptions (foul propaganda!) but they have a much higher 'winning percentage' than ANY OTHER SPECIES KNOWN TO MAN. Some may argue that this humanocentric view is a product of the fact that I've only been exposed to human literature and culture; to these people, I say that I will gladly consider all alien works on an equal footing, if one could supply them. However, it would be irresponsible of me to take them as 'evidence' without seeing them first.
So given that humans are superior, the question becomes 'which humans?'. Clearly Games Workshop realized the dominance of mankind in supplying several different army choices for them. However, the Space Marines have a very 'elitist' feel to them. While their principles are clearly correct ("For The Imperium (of Man)"), they are more super-human than they are human. The Imperial Guard, however, clearly embraces the very essence of humans and the human spirit. I'm deeply amused by the idea of some 'ancient being of pure warfare designed/bred for combat for millennia while wearing his ancient armor of doom' being taken down by a pair of conscripts firing a LasCannon that came off an assembly line last week.
Getting Started:Knowing nothing about the game from a mechanical perspective, I've gotten a copy of the rulebook, some modeling/painting supplies, the Imperial Guard Codex, and the
Imperial Guard Cadian Strike Force. Now to build and paint it!
