“If the Mechanicus stopped fighting the imperium would fall in a year.” “If the space marines stopped fighting it’d fall in a month.” “If the guard stopped fighting it’d fall in a hour”
The Imperium would have fallen thousands of years ago if weren’t for the sacrifices of his mortal armies who face the innumerable enemies of mankind, and without the Imperial Guard humanity would have been extinct or worse.
As the old saying goes: If the Adeptus Astartes were lost, the Imperium would fall in a year. If the Adeptus Mechanicus were lost, the Imperium would fall in a month. But if the Astra Militarum were lost? The Imperium would fall in a day.
@@LollipopKnight2 Without the Astartes the Imperium would still have the vast amount of troops to pull from. It would accelerate the fall but not to a single year imo, perhaps to a couple centuries
"He holds the line He has held the line for TEN THOUSAND YEARS! So, what's your excuse, Monster?" (Weird, that this is the second time that I've posted this, today.)
The Guard are what makes the Imperium feel like a protagonist faction. They're the average men and women, no super special augmentations or armor, just sent into battle with mass produced gear. They fight things any lesser human would run away from in terror, yet the Guard stand as an immovable wall of indomitable spirit. They fight for the survival of their race, families, redemption, the Emperor. It's heroic in every sense of the word. Also, Ciaphas Cain.
WE ARE THE EMPERORS BLAZING SWORD AND CRUSHING FIST. WE ARE THE DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY. HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF HANDS READY TO DIE FOR OUR MISSION IN THE COLD UNCARING SPACE. WE ARE... THE IMPERIAL NAVY!
And then the Imperium murders the entire regiment where all the wonderful cast of characters you've come to care for in the last couple pages of the book as part of standard operating procedure to remind you how evil the Imperium is.
"Soooo, what do you think of this ad campaign to get more gaurdsman?" "Uhh, it's great. But I don't think they mentioned pay" "You're literally fighting for our survival" "..." " *sigh* 100k gold if you survive" "Thank you :)"
@@countryboy1635that's unlikely since alot of planets are using feudal age system hence will pass the power into blood lines. But I can see a high military commander being assigned to replace a royal planetary family if they didn't pay taxes or were heritics. Either way surviving 20 years is very unlikely. But I guess if you do survive it's kinda impossible to retire since by that time you're a high value person and being in assigned to a planet would be an insult to your achievements just look at Ciaphas Cain. Dude can't catch a break. But atleast he died from old age
I believe there is a pension if you survive long enough- or whatever campaign your regiment was created for, it depends. But the imperial currency is called the Throne.
@@countryboy1635 it varies book to book, but the standard and certainly the one I follow, is it each regiment pays out a set wage given by the munitorium and then depending on which planet the regiment is from, there may be an increased wage or bonus above that. With exceptions for ofc Krieg and penal legions or legions from prison worlds. It is often stated though that guardsmen who survive their tenure, tend to be given a patch of land from the last planet they make landfall on. In an extreme of example of this, the Tanith first and only is currently fighting for the right to claim an entire planet during the crusade so they can re-found Tanith. But this has been multiple times from short stories to even a Caiphus Cain story I believe. If you wish to have some fun with it, you could play this off as a psyop by imperial scholars to incentivise others to join the guard since a lot of the books are written from the standpoint of basically being imperial lore in some great archive. Even if they seem to know some things they really shouldnt, I think the cain novels do a really good job of covering this up with how their written as well.
@ionfreak83 remember, you can kill a million kriegsman. But, there a million more coming to take its place in the battlefield. Not even the most devout followers of khorne have the stamina to handle that much. Soon, they will give in their fatigue and die amongst the million dead corpes follower
The line was held for ten thousand years. The line will hold for ten thousand more. Blood will flow no matter what. But where it comes from matters. It will come from us, instead of the countless that work tirelessly behind us. It will come from them, whom we will crush under the weight of our bodies. And when we die, we may not be remembered. But the Guard is remembered. And the Guard will remember. And it is remembered because humanity still stands. It stands because of us, and that is enough.
And all the Emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand in line, and we die fighting. It is what we do best: WE DIE STANDING.- Lord General Sturnn
Chaos heretic: WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! Chaos heretic: NOOO! Guardsman: We're all going to die Guardsman: I know Krieg: Hey, we're all going to die soon, so yay, get ready Krieg: sounds good lad
Elders be like: These Mon'keighs are no match to us, we have the warp and advanced wraith bone with us! Mon'keighs: Haha Lasguns goes pewpew x999999999 times.
I can hear your ancestors weeping for what you've been reduced to, what we've all been reduced to. If death is the only escape from this wretched ruin of a galaxy, then let it be done by the hand of one who I once would have called brother.
@@TheWarmachine375 Precisely why the ancestors do not smile upon us. Our ancestors burn -- loyalist and heretic, one and all -- sold false visions of paradise or power.
@@secutorprimus Pretty much. Warp used to be Realm of Souls before War In Heaven between Old Ones and their biological weapons, Eldar and Orks, and the Necrons and C'tan tainted it into the Warp.
"He is a factory worker, a farmer, a craftsmen, a mere man. And yet against you, ravenous millenia old daemons fueled by thirsting gods, he holds the line. And he has held that line for ten thousand years. So, what's your excuse monster?"
We are born from many worlds, trained in the thousands. We are the first and last line of defense. We fight with our las guns and knifes. WE ARE THE IMPERIAL GUARD!
i imagine this being a dialogue between a space marine capitan and a governor who keeps wining "i only have some guardsman , what they can do?" also in thinking who will win in a fight between all the space marines in 40k and all the guardsman in the 40k
A single guard is good enough to stand between the emperor and his treacherous son, a million of them are good enough to be a his throne, and a billion ? They are good enough assurance against the darkness. Remember that seeing a SM is very VERY rare now you can just imagine how many worlds the Guardsmen often fend off attacks by themselves.
We're told that, from some sources, but... we're shown something else, more often than not. When deciding what is canon, always take the lower ranges -- and disregard the higher ranges, when they conflict. Guardsmen have special forces, approximate in skill to real special forces, but the vast majority of them are not to such levels. Simply put.
@@secutorprimus Where have we been shown such things? Every iteration of Guardsman I've read about acts exactly how I'd expect people like through Seals to act when faced with Orks or Tyranids (that is still panic cause that's not something you can deal with regardless of skill)
@@crystallxix1493 special forces use certain tactics, they are good but not an army. Depending on situation regiments are chosen for talent in a specific style of warfare and battle ground. So special forces, no. Well organised and well equipped, yes.
@@crystallxix1493 "Exactly how you'd expect people like seals to act". What, you mean "shoot the bug"? "Follow orders"? If what you're looking for is "special forces", you're going to be best served by reading about Kasrkin, about Scions, and -- to a lesser extent -- about certain varieties of more elite guardsmen (Cadians often operate with a higher degree of coherency, in the books). However, "special forces" aren't just a blanket term that you can apply for "army do good". They are, as the name implies, *specialists* who work to achieve a specific role. If you'd like a good example of how guardsmen operate, try reading Fire Caste. Very good book, exemplifies your average guardsman perfectly. Miserable, scared, and doing the best with what little they have; trapped between their oppressive military command, and a superior alien threat. Replaceable. Guardsmen are people; shoved into military service, given basic gear and training, and made to work. Just like Marines, some overzealous authors might overhype them, sometimes. No matter, we just write those pieces off as outliers.
@@crystallxix1493the thing is, for every good willing regiment trained their whole life coming from renowned planet like Cadia, Krieg, Catachan, Elysia etc., there are five conscripted regiments that were trained for a few weeks coming from a no-name planet paying their tithes reluctantly, and a few dozens very generic and very average regiments... We almost never see stories centered around the rabble, because it's usually irrelevant. They are relegated as cannon fodder used as background noises for a story as we follow Space Marines, the Inquisition, Sororitas, or the actually good regiments. And the average regiments fight and die on countless minor or irrelevant battlefields all the time throughout the galaxy, and only when they fuck up royally or something unexpected happens may we see the good regiments or another elite force needing to get involved.
Guardsmen: Heretics on the left, xenos on the right, daemons coming at us from all sides, and not enough ammo to go around... Just another day at the office.
When the guard come to sell their untold billions of lives dearly, to earn themselves a single foot of ground. You honor their sacrifice by continuing to live your peaceful life and honor the emperor.
"Sir?" A Guardsman had entered the Commissar's personal tent, the owner herself enjoying a nice hot mug of recaf at the table after a long and arduous victory. "What is it Guardsman?" The soldier, who looked no more than 20, the small scars on the face and bags under the eyes making him look older, but the Commissar could tell after leading so many in a worse looking state. He hesitated, the words just on the tip of his tongue, "I... I have a confession to make." Where the Commissar was curious, she was now focused and gave the soldier her undivided attention, freezing the lad more that he already did. "I'm scared," and just like that, as if a dam had broken, the lads words just came spilling out, "I've fought for so long, against beasts and heretics that wouldn't hesitate to rip me in two. I feel like I'll soil myself every time one of 'em looks right at me. Already happened to me a few times, I must admit, and I don't think it will be the last." he chuckled at what was obviously an attempt to keep him from breaking down. "I've seen many of my fellow Guardsman die, some lucky enough to get killed in one shot, the others screaming in pain first, then dying afterwards." An inhale, then an exhale. "What I'm trying to say, is that I don't want to die, Commissar Sir." The Commissar pondered the words spoken, sat in place with the recaf forgotten. "Take a seat, Guardsman." she words were calm and measured, her arm gesturing the chair opposite, which the Guardsman now sat in. "That is not all you're afraid of, is it?" "Sorry?" A look of confusion "You heard me, that is not all you're afraid of. There's no use hiding it. I'm not mad, just miffed that you came all this way just to hide the whole truth. Recaf?" She held out an extra mug poured from a flask. "Yes please." Taking a sip, the soldier seemed to relax into the chair, becoming one with the wooden structure. "Now tell me what else is on your mind." Now the other half of the truth would come out. Inhale, then Exhale, and rest came after it, the Guardsman looking more glum than jittery. "I'm afraid of not being remembered. I'm afraid that after I die, my existence will be gone, just like that, that after fighting for so long, my grave will just be the ground the battle took place in, with no one to remember me by." He look up into her eyes, his entire being remiss of the fear now that everything came out. "What does that say about me, Commissar?" It was now her turn to inhale, then exhale, grabbing her cup of recaf that had now gone cold, meaning she would have no regrets of what she would do next. She tossed the cold liquid into the Guardsman's face, his half closed eyes now wide open and body shooting back into the chair in shock. "What?" "You bloody idiot." "Commissar." "Now that I woke you up from you depressing mood, you can now listen to what I have to say." "I don't quite follow." "Just shut up and listen." She rubbed her eyes to get herself ready for what came next. "It's true that you won't be remembered, and you will most likely die and your body left with the rest or dumped in a mass grave or cremated. But to hell with that. Do you know why we fight?" "To purge the enemies of the Imperium." He was still in slight shock. "And who is the largest fighting force the Imperium has at it's disposal?" "The Guard, Sir." "Is that not recognition enough for you?" "What?" "The Guard is responsible for protecting Mankind from extinction. Sure, we aren't powerhouses like the Astartes, and we're all sent in like droves with 'flashlights', but to hell with that. We've driven the enemy back countless times, men and women like yourself for millennia, and I can assure you, it will be for millennia more. If you ask me, that is recognition enough." "So I should just be content, is that what you're saying?" he was angry now, the mug in his hand being squeezed. "I'm saying you have no choice, that you have to throw those ideals out the window." she took the mug of of his hand, her gentle touch having him let go and the red hot anger dissipate and have him look down. "You're scared and mad, and I can't blame you," where she was passionate the moment before, she was calm and easy-going with the lad sitting before her. "having to face off against monsters, it is indeed harrowing knowing that when you die, you won't be remembered in the years to come." The Guardsman looked back up, the question burning in his mind. "What do I do then? What point is there for me to continue on?" he asked desperately. "Talk to your fellow Guardsman. Spend your time with them. Do anything you feel like doing outside the battle." That didn't seem to be the answer he was looking for, just the spark for him to realise the talk they had, his reason for coming here in the first place, and now knowing what to do moving forward. "Thank you for your time, Commissar. I must get going before the others realise I've been gone for too long." He rose from his seat, exiting the tent, but not before the Commissar spotted the small smile that adorned his face, knowing that she helped someone in need. Protocol dictated she shoot him for his cowardice, but she was not blind to the fear that came from everyone, knowing that they were just mortal men and woman sent to fight unspeakable horrors by themselves more often than not. Why shoot them when their fear made sense, when instead she could lend and ear and what advice she could give for them to stop taking their life for granted. To her, that was worth more than a waste of ammo on a soldier she knew was worthy as a Guardsman. "I need some recaf." She knew that she had high chances of dying, which is why she cherished every moment she made and would make sure she died with little regret.
This is why I played Fortress Character in Rouge Trader and started beamming all my enermies with Hotshot Lasgun, Long Las and Las Cannon. Because if one beam is not enough, 10+ more will do.
Guardsmen are the hammer and shield of mankind, and they will hold the line. For 10,000 years they've held the line, and they'll do so for 10,000 more. For the Imperial Guard!!!
Be you HellDiver or Guardsmen, just remember, when times are at their darkest, when everything feels like it’s going wrong and there’s just no way out… I believe in you. You can do this. You can win. You can survive. And I will remember you.
They are the backbone of the imperium. Though their sacrifice may go unnoticed And hardships unrewared, they do ehat they do because they must, because if no one else does, everyone they ever knew, all of humanity, would cease to exist within the blink of an eye. The citizens of the imperium may never learn of their sacrifice, but it is remembered in every breath drawn by humanity
FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR TERRA! FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES! WE STAND FOR THE IMPERIUM, AND WE DIE STANDING FOR IT! WE ARE GUARDSMEN! WE WILL HOLD THE LINE!
"Our legacy is one of failure. Others call us insane, obsessed, blinded by the past and striving for that which doomed us in the first place. I say no. *We* say no. Our home was taken from us. Our people were slaughtered in front of us. Our flags burned above us. What man with a shred of dignity would not fight to see his garden bloom again? What man would abandon his home? We don't fight for the past. We fight for the future. And it begins now." -Colonel Edward Carson, 12th New Avalon Rifles, New Earth Republic Armed Forces *** "Surrounded on all sides? That just means we get to fight wherever we go. Overpowered? That just means we have to fight harder. Outnumbered ten to one? That just means each of us has to kill ten of them! They want this land? They want this world? They want our heads? They can have them when every heart stops beating, when every gun stops firing, when every battlecry goes quiet!" -Captain Jakub Werner, 139th Armoured Regiment, Dominion Guard *** "Why? Because my brothers and sisters are there. That is all that matters. They are all I have now. Unity was always our strength and I won't let it be our weakness. The Lord will grant me strength. Together we will live. Together we will break. Together... we will win." -Major Alexey Zajcev, 78th GROMA Thunder Legion
Among the Custodes there are those who feel and think that they have no right to look humans in the eye, because while the Custodes remained in the imperial palace performing their duties, above even the Astartes it was the simple humans of the Astra Militarum who held the line... For 10,000 years they held the line, even without any type of genetic blessing from the Emperor, they fought, if the Emperor resists on the golden throne it must be because he sees this every day, in that psychic fire that characterizes the master of humanity is hatred and revenge for those martyrs.
Random imperial drill sarge: SAY OUR CREED!!! Recruits: This is my lazgun. Their are many like it but this one is mine. I will guard my lazgun as it guards my life.
Well, thats it, this video gave me the urge to join an endless war so I can dia fighting for something greater than me while myself will be forgotten by the people. Who wanna join me?
What command hears as I, the last guard alive in my position while firing upon an incoming hive tyrant, with a plasma pistol, missing an arm and blooding out: "SUCKA DA CACA!!!!"
I like to imagine a Khorne daemon of high esteem, finally getting killed by a Guardsman, and on his final moments before going back to the warp, he asks "who... are you?" and the Guardsman aims his lasgun and replies "No one worth remembering" and finishes him off. As the guardsman looks around, all his comrades are dead, no one alive for miles, and he just starts walking back to base, singing "Cia-Cia-ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium" waiting for his now gone friends to sing it back.
This channel goes from haha meme warhammer.
To.
Why did you hate us? Why are you trying to make feel sad.
To.
Well im motivated now.
This person has me down to a tee!
@@xzenitramx666 Vergil: "You need Motivation!"
Pretty much sums up 40k too
You Should Love Yourself Now! *Thunder*
Mood swings, brother.
The Imperial Guard - drawn from many worlds under the Imperium and they fight in a galaxy where aliens, daemons and heretics are everywhere.
Ordinary men and women just like you and me to be the first and the last line of defense for humanity.
And at first most of them are ignorant of what they are or do until they knock on their door
Guardsman: "We're surrounded!"
Commissar: "Good, we can fire in all directions!"
“If the Mechanicus stopped fighting the imperium would fall in a year.”
“If the space marines stopped fighting it’d fall in a month.”
“If the guard stopped fighting it’d fall in a hour”
And remember: the emperor has a higher respect for a guardsman who died an anonimous death than a millennia old veteran astartes who fell to chaos.
In Vraks, they just kept throwing men at them till they broke and retreated.
TTS Ecclessiarch Decius: *"ALL HAIL THE MAN-EMPEROR OF MANKIND!"*
THANKS BE TO THE MAN-EMPEROR OF MANKIND!
"banana!"
I’m so happy people still remember tts
“Yey.”
-Him on Terra
@@arleneboodram8704We still live, brother. And as long as a single one of us remains to remember, TTS shall not die.
The Imperium would have fallen thousands of years ago if weren’t for the sacrifices of his mortal armies who face the innumerable enemies of mankind, and without the Imperial Guard humanity would have been extinct or worse.
As the old saying goes: If the Adeptus Astartes were lost, the Imperium would fall in a year. If the Adeptus Mechanicus were lost, the Imperium would fall in a month.
But if the Astra Militarum were lost? The Imperium would fall in a day.
@@LollipopKnight2 Without the Astartes the Imperium would still have the vast amount of troops to pull from. It would accelerate the fall but not to a single year imo, perhaps to a couple centuries
@@LollipopKnight2 in great crusade and horus heresy Artates are main fighters guards are support units protect their back 😂
“The planet broke before the Guard.” The words that Abadon will be haunted by the rest of his days
OUR NUMBERS - INFINITE
OUR NAMES - LEGION
Space Marine: Didn't Lord Guilliman ban legions?
Other Space Marine: You want to tell them that?
"They will hold the line. They have held the line for 10000 years."
"So... what is YOUR excuse, monster?"
"He holds the line
He has held the line for TEN THOUSAND YEARS!
So, what's your excuse, Monster?"
(Weird, that this is the second time that I've posted this, today.)
Huh, if I had a penny...
@@ingridmace2530 ... I would have ended up with three cents, that day. Which isn't much, but...
@@chainsawsubtlety9828Bet it’s more than a guardsman makes!
@@Southern_Crusader "Wait... You're gettin' paid?"
The Guard are what makes the Imperium feel like a protagonist faction. They're the average men and women, no super special augmentations or armor, just sent into battle with mass produced gear. They fight things any lesser human would run away from in terror, yet the Guard stand as an immovable wall of indomitable spirit. They fight for the survival of their race, families, redemption, the Emperor. It's heroic in every sense of the word.
Also, Ciaphas Cain.
WE ARE THE EMPERORS BLAZING SWORD AND CRUSHING FIST. WE ARE THE DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY. HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF HANDS READY TO DIE FOR OUR MISSION IN THE COLD UNCARING SPACE.
WE ARE...
THE IMPERIAL NAVY!
"GUARDMAN! FOR GOD AND SPECIES! CHARGE!"
And then the Imperium murders the entire regiment where all the wonderful cast of characters you've come to care for in the last couple pages of the book as part of standard operating procedure to remind you how evil the Imperium is.
@@alannatherson7721 Only when they see Chaos. Other xenos? They got off Scott free.
@@TheWarmachine375 Depends on the xenos
...This scene becomes even more powerful, when you realize that the one narrating this, is likely a Space Marine.
Exactly. 😉
@@ChaoticVoicesofAndreas sounds like a salamander
"Soooo, what do you think of this ad campaign to get more gaurdsman?"
"Uhh, it's great. But I don't think they mentioned pay"
"You're literally fighting for our survival"
"..."
" *sigh* 100k gold if you survive"
"Thank you :)"
I think I read somewhere that if you survive 20 years in the guard you can become a planetary governor, don’t remember where though
I Mean Let's be Honest, because of that Sneaky "IF you survive" he's 90% or more sure to Not need paying him.
@@countryboy1635that's unlikely since alot of planets are using feudal age system hence will pass the power into blood lines. But I can see a high military commander being assigned to replace a royal planetary family if they didn't pay taxes or were heritics. Either way surviving 20 years is very unlikely. But I guess if you do survive it's kinda impossible to retire since by that time you're a high value person and being in assigned to a planet would be an insult to your achievements just look at Ciaphas Cain. Dude can't catch a break. But atleast he died from old age
I believe there is a pension if you survive long enough- or whatever campaign your regiment was created for, it depends. But the imperial currency is called the Throne.
@@countryboy1635 it varies book to book, but the standard and certainly the one I follow, is it each regiment pays out a set wage given by the munitorium and then depending on which planet the regiment is from, there may be an increased wage or bonus above that. With exceptions for ofc Krieg and penal legions or legions from prison worlds.
It is often stated though that guardsmen who survive their tenure, tend to be given a patch of land from the last planet they make landfall on. In an extreme of example of this, the Tanith first and only is currently fighting for the right to claim an entire planet during the crusade so they can re-found Tanith. But this has been multiple times from short stories to even a Caiphus Cain story I believe. If you wish to have some fun with it, you could play this off as a psyop by imperial scholars to incentivise others to join the guard since a lot of the books are written from the standpoint of basically being imperial lore in some great archive. Even if they seem to know some things they really shouldnt, I think the cain novels do a really good job of covering this up with how their written as well.
0:13 of course, Kriegsman are the only regiment who can take a khornate berserker in close quarter shoot out and melee
With a shovel...................so my bets on the Kreigsman.
@ionfreak83 remember, you can kill a million kriegsman. But, there a million more coming to take its place in the battlefield. Not even the most devout followers of khorne have the stamina to handle that much. Soon, they will give in their fatigue and die amongst the million dead corpes follower
The line was held for ten thousand years. The line will hold for ten thousand more.
Blood will flow no matter what. But where it comes from matters.
It will come from us, instead of the countless that work tirelessly behind us.
It will come from them, whom we will crush under the weight of our bodies.
And when we die, we may not be remembered.
But the Guard is remembered. And the Guard will remember.
And it is remembered because humanity still stands.
It stands because of us, and that is enough.
Goddamn that actually made me tear up
FOR THE EMPEROR!
TWO ARMS!!!
El Emperador protege.
FOR THE EMPEROR
For the Greater Good! Tau’va be with and guide you Gaurdsman.
@@elitetrooper119 Suffer not the xenos to live!
And all the Emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand in line, and we die fighting. It is what we do best: WE DIE STANDING.- Lord General Sturnn
Me saluting with a tear running down my cheek along with my commissar who is also saluting but is also pointing his gun at my skull just in case 🫡
"no miracles of faith"
Then explain how tf my commissar keeps making his invul saves even when he really should die
Plot armor
He's a perpetual, next question
Uhh, chest refractor shield?
Your name unknown, your deeds immortal.
FOR THE GUARD!!!
The Imperial Guard hold the line.
Then, now, forever and always.
Chaos heretic: WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!
Chaos heretic: NOOO!
Guardsman: We're all going to die
Guardsman: I know
Krieg: Hey, we're all going to die soon, so yay, get ready
Krieg: sounds good lad
Considering Kriegers are likely germanic, the last one would likely be "Jawohl, Ist Gut"
@@Victor-056More like “Ja, ist gut!”
This is unbelievably epic and representative of the Guard. Good on the comic artist and on you, for narrating it with so much depth and intensity.
Cheers!
They **DO** Hold the Line, and they have been for the past 10000years.
Love the inclusion of the Vostroyans and Kriegers
Elders be like: These Mon'keighs are no match to us, we have the warp and advanced wraith bone with us!
Mon'keighs: Haha Lasguns goes pewpew x999999999 times.
99.99999% of the forces of the emperium of man
FOR THE EMPEROR!
Their ancestors smile at them, can yours say the same. Heretic?
I can hear your ancestors weeping for what you've been reduced to, what we've all been reduced to. If death is the only escape from this wretched ruin of a galaxy, then let it be done by the hand of one who I once would have called brother.
@@alannatherson7721 Death is not even an escape either. Souls go to the Warp and Daemons are waiting there.
@@TheWarmachine375 Precisely why the ancestors do not smile upon us. Our ancestors burn -- loyalist and heretic, one and all -- sold false visions of paradise or power.
@@secutorprimus Pretty much. Warp used to be Realm of Souls before War In Heaven between Old Ones and their biological weapons, Eldar and Orks, and the Necrons and C'tan tainted it into the Warp.
Don't forget the venerable PDF holding the line until the imperial guard arrives! They too deserve some recognition.
"He is a factory worker, a farmer, a craftsmen, a mere man. And yet against you, ravenous millenia old daemons fueled by thirsting gods, he holds the line. And he has held that line for ten thousand years. So, what's your excuse monster?"
We are born from many worlds, trained in the thousands.
We are the first and last line of defense.
We fight with our las guns and knifes.
WE ARE THE IMPERIAL GUARD!
THE GUARD NEVER SURRENDERS!!
FOR GOD AND SPECIES!
i imagine this being a dialogue between a space marine capitan and a governor who keeps wining "i only have some guardsman , what they can do?"
also in thinking who will win in a fight between all the space marines in 40k and all the guardsman in the 40k
That was my reasoning, too!!!
"GLORY TO THE FIRST MAN WHO DIES"- Some random Commissar after ordering a bayonet charge
And this is why no other faction will ever be as badass as the imperial guard
Rando Guardsman: We would like some cookies or brownies though. Might as well get a treat while fighting enemies of the imperium.
Both
"How about this, make it through a full campaign and you'll get one Groxburger as a bonus."
@@thebighurt2495 Now that is a fair deal.
The sheer grit and desperate determination from this speech. These pictures. The music...
🫡😐🪖
A single guard is good enough to stand between the emperor and his treacherous son, a million of them are good enough to be a his throne, and a billion ? They are good enough assurance against the darkness. Remember that seeing a SM is very VERY rare now you can just imagine how many worlds the Guardsmen often fend off attacks by themselves.
Friendly reminder that every single themselves Guardsman is Special Forces level elite. Without them the Imperium falls in a week
We're told that, from some sources, but... we're shown something else, more often than not. When deciding what is canon, always take the lower ranges -- and disregard the higher ranges, when they conflict. Guardsmen have special forces, approximate in skill to real special forces, but the vast majority of them are not to such levels. Simply put.
@@secutorprimus Where have we been shown such things? Every iteration of Guardsman I've read about acts exactly how I'd expect people like through Seals to act when faced with Orks or Tyranids (that is still panic cause that's not something you can deal with regardless of skill)
@@crystallxix1493 special forces use certain tactics, they are good but not an army. Depending on situation regiments are chosen for talent in a specific style of warfare and battle ground. So special forces, no. Well organised and well equipped, yes.
@@crystallxix1493 "Exactly how you'd expect people like seals to act". What, you mean "shoot the bug"? "Follow orders"?
If what you're looking for is "special forces", you're going to be best served by reading about Kasrkin, about Scions, and -- to a lesser extent -- about certain varieties of more elite guardsmen (Cadians often operate with a higher degree of coherency, in the books). However, "special forces" aren't just a blanket term that you can apply for "army do good". They are, as the name implies, *specialists* who work to achieve a specific role.
If you'd like a good example of how guardsmen operate, try reading Fire Caste. Very good book, exemplifies your average guardsman perfectly. Miserable, scared, and doing the best with what little they have; trapped between their oppressive military command, and a superior alien threat. Replaceable.
Guardsmen are people; shoved into military service, given basic gear and training, and made to work.
Just like Marines, some overzealous authors might overhype them, sometimes. No matter, we just write those pieces off as outliers.
@@crystallxix1493the thing is, for every good willing regiment trained their whole life coming from renowned planet like Cadia, Krieg, Catachan, Elysia etc., there are five conscripted regiments that were trained for a few weeks coming from a no-name planet paying their tithes reluctantly, and a few dozens very generic and very average regiments...
We almost never see stories centered around the rabble, because it's usually irrelevant. They are relegated as cannon fodder used as background noises for a story as we follow Space Marines, the Inquisition, Sororitas, or the actually good regiments.
And the average regiments fight and die on countless minor or irrelevant battlefields all the time throughout the galaxy, and only when they fuck up royally or something unexpected happens may we see the good regiments or another elite force needing to get involved.
From those halcyon days of the crusade to the fall of cadia and beyond, the guard stands ready.
Everyone respects the Imperial Guard.
Guardsmen: Heretics on the left, xenos on the right, daemons coming at us from all sides, and not enough ammo to go around... Just another day at the office.
"Gaurdsmen! Fix bayonets! Equip bayonets! Be ready for blood!"
The planet broke before the Guard did! Cadia stands!
When the guard come to sell their untold billions of lives dearly, to earn themselves a single foot of ground. You honor their sacrifice by continuing to live your peaceful life and honor the emperor.
"Sir?" A Guardsman had entered the Commissar's personal tent, the owner herself enjoying a nice hot mug of recaf at the table after a long and arduous victory.
"What is it Guardsman?"
The soldier, who looked no more than 20, the small scars on the face and bags under the eyes making him look older, but the Commissar could tell after leading so many in a worse looking state.
He hesitated, the words just on the tip of his tongue, "I... I have a confession to make."
Where the Commissar was curious, she was now focused and gave the soldier her undivided attention, freezing the lad more that he already did.
"I'm scared," and just like that, as if a dam had broken, the lads words just came spilling out, "I've fought for so long, against beasts and heretics that wouldn't hesitate to rip me in two. I feel like I'll soil myself every time one of 'em looks right at me. Already happened to me a few times, I must admit, and I don't think it will be the last." he chuckled at what was obviously an attempt to keep him from breaking down.
"I've seen many of my fellow Guardsman die, some lucky enough to get killed in one shot, the others screaming in pain first, then dying afterwards." An inhale, then an exhale. "What I'm trying to say, is that I don't want to die, Commissar Sir."
The Commissar pondered the words spoken, sat in place with the recaf forgotten.
"Take a seat, Guardsman." she words were calm and measured, her arm gesturing the chair opposite, which the Guardsman now sat in.
"That is not all you're afraid of, is it?"
"Sorry?" A look of confusion
"You heard me, that is not all you're afraid of. There's no use hiding it. I'm not mad, just miffed that you came all this way just to hide the whole truth. Recaf?" She held out an extra mug poured from a flask.
"Yes please." Taking a sip, the soldier seemed to relax into the chair, becoming one with the wooden structure.
"Now tell me what else is on your mind." Now the other half of the truth would come out.
Inhale, then Exhale, and rest came after it, the Guardsman looking more glum than jittery. "I'm afraid of not being remembered. I'm afraid that after I die, my existence will be gone, just like that, that after fighting for so long, my grave will just be the ground the battle took place in, with no one to remember me by." He look up into her eyes, his entire being remiss of the fear now that everything came out. "What does that say about me, Commissar?"
It was now her turn to inhale, then exhale, grabbing her cup of recaf that had now gone cold, meaning she would have no regrets of what she would do next.
She tossed the cold liquid into the Guardsman's face, his half closed eyes now wide open and body shooting back into the chair in shock.
"What?"
"You bloody idiot."
"Commissar."
"Now that I woke you up from you depressing mood, you can now listen to what I have to say."
"I don't quite follow."
"Just shut up and listen." She rubbed her eyes to get herself ready for what came next. "It's true that you won't be remembered, and you will most likely die and your body left with the rest or dumped in a mass grave or cremated. But to hell with that. Do you know why we fight?"
"To purge the enemies of the Imperium." He was still in slight shock.
"And who is the largest fighting force the Imperium has at it's disposal?"
"The Guard, Sir."
"Is that not recognition enough for you?"
"What?"
"The Guard is responsible for protecting Mankind from extinction. Sure, we aren't powerhouses like the Astartes, and we're all sent in like droves with 'flashlights', but to hell with that. We've driven the enemy back countless times, men and women like yourself for millennia, and I can assure you, it will be for millennia more. If you ask me, that is recognition enough."
"So I should just be content, is that what you're saying?" he was angry now, the mug in his hand being squeezed.
"I'm saying you have no choice, that you have to throw those ideals out the window." she took the mug of of his hand, her gentle touch having him let go and the red hot anger dissipate and have him look down. "You're scared and mad, and I can't blame you," where she was passionate the moment before, she was calm and easy-going with the lad sitting before her. "having to face off against monsters, it is indeed harrowing knowing that when you die, you won't be remembered in the years to come."
The Guardsman looked back up, the question burning in his mind. "What do I do then? What point is there for me to continue on?" he asked desperately.
"Talk to your fellow Guardsman. Spend your time with them. Do anything you feel like doing outside the battle."
That didn't seem to be the answer he was looking for, just the spark for him to realise the talk they had, his reason for coming here in the first place, and now knowing what to do moving forward.
"Thank you for your time, Commissar. I must get going before the others realise I've been gone for too long." He rose from his seat, exiting the tent, but not before the Commissar spotted the small smile that adorned his face, knowing that she helped someone in need.
Protocol dictated she shoot him for his cowardice, but she was not blind to the fear that came from everyone, knowing that they were just mortal men and woman sent to fight unspeakable horrors by themselves more often than not. Why shoot them when their fear made sense, when instead she could lend and ear and what advice she could give for them to stop taking their life for granted. To her, that was worth more than a waste of ammo on a soldier she knew was worthy as a Guardsman.
"I need some recaf." She knew that she had high chances of dying, which is why she cherished every moment she made and would make sure she died with little regret.
Finding the bits of hope in the darkest of grimdarks is what I love
To all the nameless heroes we will prevail
This is why I played Fortress Character in Rouge Trader and started beamming all my enermies with Hotshot Lasgun, Long Las and Las Cannon. Because if one beam is not enough, 10+ more will do.
“Glory to the first man to die.”
First line of the Imperium ! Hammer of the Emperor !
Remember lads, the astartes are only called in if the guard starts losing 🫡
Chaos Marine : *exists*
Krieger : LEEEROOOOYYYYYY JENKINNNNNNNNN
Guardsmen are the hammer and shield of mankind, and they will hold the line. For 10,000 years they've held the line, and they'll do so for 10,000 more.
For the Imperial Guard!!!
Saving this motivation for my my Astra militarum army, and hopefully for a custom mini I'm working on
Woooh!
Be you HellDiver or Guardsmen, just remember, when times are at their darkest, when everything feels like it’s going wrong and there’s just no way out…
I believe in you. You can do this. You can win. You can survive.
And I will remember you.
Beautiful! Downright poetic, even! 😁👍
They are the backbone of the imperium.
Though their sacrifice may go unnoticed
And hardships unrewared, they do ehat they do because they must, because if no one else does, everyone they ever knew, all of humanity, would cease to exist within the blink of an eye.
The citizens of the imperium may never learn of their sacrifice, but it is remembered in every breath drawn by humanity
We need games about the Imperial Guard but it's always Space marines.
Reportin' for duty, sir!
07
Crying rn. Cadia stands. The foundation of humanity is built on the blood of untold numbers of martyr's. The Emperor protects.
BLOOD FOR THE EMPORER , SKULLS FOR THE GOLDEN THRONE
Being an imperial guard sucks
You have to survive the enemy
Survive your reinforcements
Survive your own leadership
I call apon the Commander of the Imperial Army...
"Imperial Guard"
"Astra Militarum"
"THE WALL OF GUNS!!"
And they have held it for Ten thousand years...
1:17 those two are more than just "comrades"
Comrades 'in arms'
@@ChaoticVoicesofAndreas Or "in sheets"
I swear we need more guardsmen books and stories, enough infatuation of space marines
Held the line for 10k while the space marines were picking up their pieces after Horus’s rebellion.
The planets fall before the imperial guards does
The backbone of the Imperium.
FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR TERRA! FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES! WE STAND FOR THE IMPERIUM, AND WE DIE STANDING FOR IT! WE ARE GUARDSMEN! WE WILL HOLD THE LINE!
Ammo? Depleted.
Bayonets? Fixed.
Line? Held.
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant.
"Our legacy is one of failure. Others call us insane, obsessed, blinded by the past and striving for that which doomed us in the first place. I say no. *We* say no. Our home was taken from us. Our people were slaughtered in front of us. Our flags burned above us. What man with a shred of dignity would not fight to see his garden bloom again? What man would abandon his home? We don't fight for the past. We fight for the future. And it begins now."
-Colonel Edward Carson, 12th New Avalon Rifles, New Earth Republic Armed Forces
***
"Surrounded on all sides? That just means we get to fight wherever we go. Overpowered? That just means we have to fight harder. Outnumbered ten to one? That just means each of us has to kill ten of them! They want this land? They want this world? They want our heads? They can have them when every heart stops beating, when every gun stops firing, when every battlecry goes quiet!"
-Captain Jakub Werner, 139th Armoured Regiment, Dominion Guard
***
"Why? Because my brothers and sisters are there. That is all that matters. They are all I have now. Unity was always our strength and I won't let it be our weakness. The Lord will grant me strength. Together we will live. Together we will break. Together... we will win."
-Major Alexey Zajcev, 78th GROMA Thunder Legion
CADIA STANDS!
FOR WE ARE WITHOUT NUMBER!
Aaah the Skavens, heartwarming really, now get mowed down by big bug 😂😂
THey are the Emperor's finests
“Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world’s ending!”
Among the Custodes there are those who feel and think that they have no right to look humans in the eye, because while the Custodes remained in the imperial palace performing their duties, above even the Astartes it was the simple humans of the Astra Militarum who held the line... For 10,000 years they held the line, even without any type of genetic blessing from the Emperor, they fought, if the Emperor resists on the golden throne it must be because he sees this every day, in that psychic fire that characterizes the master of humanity is hatred and revenge for those martyrs.
Forget holding the line, THEY ARE THE LINE 07
FOR THE GUARD
Random imperial drill sarge: SAY OUR CREED!!!
Recruits: This is my lazgun. Their are many like it but this one is mine. I will guard my lazgun as it guards my life.
For every one of us who falls, ten more will take his place!
For the Emperor, For the Guard !
The living embodiment of the indomitable human spirit✊😤
Glory to the first man to die!
That is amazing.
THE PLANET BROKE BEFORE THE GUARD DID!!!
Well, thats it, this video gave me the urge to join an endless war so I can dia fighting for something greater than me while myself will be forgotten by the people.
Who wanna join me?
✋️
when people ask why we main the guard because they are weak, show them this
They WILL hold the line.
Oh my GUARD!
👀 ❤️
The Legend himself!
What command hears as I, the last guard alive in my position while firing upon an incoming hive tyrant, with a plasma pistol, missing an arm and blooding out: "SUCKA DA CACA!!!!"
I am having little epicness tears
AVE IMPERIA! In his name we hold the line!
My favorite faction and nothing else is even close.
Though they also have giant tanks.
THE BANEBLADE
Emperor Bless The Guard
why does this bring tear to my eyes ?
Because it is the most human of all things.
HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THE LINE LADS! GLORY TO THE FIRST MAN TO DIE!
I like to imagine a Khorne daemon of high esteem, finally getting killed by a Guardsman, and on his final moments before going back to the warp, he asks "who... are you?" and the Guardsman aims his lasgun and replies "No one worth remembering" and finishes him off. As the guardsman looks around, all his comrades are dead, no one alive for miles, and he just starts walking back to base, singing "Cia-Cia-ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium" waiting for his now gone friends to sing it back.