# Does the imperium hate it's soldiers?



## Nightside (Jan 8, 2012)

My facebook profile got updated with an update from the black library showing me the "Uplifting Primer - Damocles Gulf Edition" which i have not read before.Read a small extract from it.

"Most of the aliens
cowed by the Imperial Guard are obvious and predictable in
their methods and we have learnt how to take advantage of
their weaknesses: orks are stupid, brittle boned and feeble;
eldar are cowardly, cynical and sport archaic and ineffective
weaponry; tyranids are mindless, half blind and confused by
sudden movements."

I understand the importance of moral but it feels like they are deliberately trying to misinform the Imperial Guard soldiers to get them killed.

Couldn't they just say "These are smart and cunning opponents but the emperor protects".I'd feel alot better.:biggrin:


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nah. Soldiers are more confident when they're positive they'll win. The primer is mainly for new recruits anyways, most novels attest to the fact that veteran soldiers are far more realistic in their work.


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## LazyG (Sep 15, 2008)

Better for new recruits than the "Brutally Realistic Primer"

"You are a meat shield, accept it. In almost every case you will be used as a cheap, minimally mobile crunchy barrier between the endless hords of xenos and renegades and your own stuffed shirt command staff. Nobody but your fellow guardsmen cares about you, and he only cares as you may stand between him and the next shoota round or splinter, preserving his miserable illiterate life for a few more minutes. Orks are as numerous as you and massively stronger, eldar have miles better tech and are smarter than you, chaos will eat your soul, tau have cool suits you don't get and serve some real moral purpose, nids are an endless scourge that will strip your planets dry, and your own protectors, the vaunted Astartes, would rather rip your head off to use as an impromptu rhino ornament than look at you. Congratulations on joining the Imperial Guard, you're F***ed! "


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## Davidicus 40k (Jun 4, 2010)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/propaganda


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## cegorach (Nov 29, 2010)

Davidicus 40k said:


> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/propaganda


:goodpost:


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## Brother Emund (Apr 17, 2009)

Though I am a Loyalist by nature... I fear that the Imperium has so much on its plate, that the death or fates of a few million Guard here and there, matters very little to them. It is their duty to serve... and die for the Emperor.. regardless.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

Imperial Gaurd Logic:

Holy shit there is a chaos infested titan coming, throw as many people at it and maybe it will go away.

Holy shit there is a hoarde of orks coming, throw as many people at it and maybe it will go away.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

'We're the Imperial fething Guard, it's our lot in life to be fethed' - Major Rawne, Tanith 1st.

Midnight


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## stephen.w.langdon (Jan 1, 2012)

*Training Manual, Penal Legion, Suicide Bomb Squads*
Statistically, you will almost certainly die when assaulting a well-maintained fortress with a competent commander. You must strive to make your death useful.


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## Davidicus 40k (Jun 4, 2010)

TheSpore said:


> Imperial Gaurd Logic:
> 
> Holy shit there is a chaos infested titan coming, throw as many people at it and maybe it will go away.
> 
> Holy shit there is a hoarde of orks coming, throw as many people at it and maybe it will go away.


What else are they supposed to do? Sit on their hands and wait for SPESS MAHREEN reinforcement that may or may not show up? Guardsmen die in droves for sure, but they can do some pretty amazing feats by throwing themselves at things.


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## Nightside (Jan 8, 2012)

They could form a chaos ritual,summon draigo from the warp(couldn't that be done?)and then have commissars kill them for consorting with chaos.They would win every battle xD
(Provided that the warp pulls him back again..)


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## Babu Dhakal (Jan 10, 2012)

The Imperium doesn't hate the Guard, they just don't have enough Commisars spare to tell them all the truth and deal with the result.

At the end of the day, moral will will an evenly matched fight and as the Guard are rarely evenly matched with anyone, propaganda is the only option.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Take into account some IG like the catachans arnt outmatch by Orks or Xenos. Marbo alone kills entire Ork Warbands and Stompas. Lictors kill IG, Catachans skin them for Boots. Most IG commanders can kill a Ork boy, Straken can kill a Dread. 

Im just sayin some IG gurad guys hurl themselves at problems.... others Rambo their problems. The propaganda is only for weak Guard.


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## Archlich (Apr 14, 2011)

With all honesty:

Big wars aren't won by the side who has best soldiers, or best tanks...
They are won by the side which has MORE soldiers and tanks.

Tactics will help, but to put those massive armies of IG you have to keep their morale as high as possible.

To be honest I always thought that wars in Warhammer are just minor skirmishes


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

to poorly and innaccurately quote the jist of warsmith honsou from the ultramarines omnibus

"to breach a fortress you need to break the men inside, not the walls"

They rely upon belief and unity more than skill, for if a man believes he can do something he is far more likely to stand and try then shit himself and run away. You can't kill shit if your running away, i think is the essence of the guard.


With the fervour of the commissar in their hearts and the barrell of his gun at their backs they win wars, at a price, but they still fucking win and thats what matters


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

MidnightSun said:


> 'We're the Imperial fething Guard, it's our lot in life to be fethed' - Major Rawne, Tanith 1st.
> 
> Midnight


This


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## Shattertheirsky (May 26, 2012)

To quote General Castor (Owner of the finest moustache in the whole imperium) 
'Im not afraid to spend men, But I never waste them'

Its a very meat grinder heavy tactic employed by most Imperial Guard generals. 
Chenkhov (*Ahem* Stalin) is the master of this tactic.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

Never underestimate the power of a large number of really stupid people, especially not when they have lazzars.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> Never underestimate the power of a large number of really stupid people, especially not when they have lazzars.


:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

A new slogan for the Imperial Guard: Lemmings with Lasguns


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## LTKage (May 2, 2012)

Hate is an overstatement. Apathetic and neglectful would probably be a better descriptor. I would also suspect that field manuals would also vary somewhat. The entry you cited could be from a particularly bad field manual. It could also be that the full article is a bit more informative and the first few lines are designed not to overwhelm Guardsmen with the horror of their new job.


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## dtq (Feb 19, 2009)

Its not so different from our real world and time, where recruitment and propaganda are famously not too accurate...

Reminds me of the Status Quo song (showing my age much) In the Army now. 

Starts off with all the army recruitment marketing, then quite dramatically shifts into the reality of the field.

My own experience with the forces recruitment really wasnt like that, no flag waving, no grand promises of heroics, or an easy life although there was a bit of advertising free ski-ing.

In fact they worked hard to discourage people going for the sneaky beaky roles.

There was also Wilfred Owens "Dulce et Decorum est" contrasting the reality of a horrible chemical weapons death to the recruitment messages of Jessie Pope.

The Imperium doesnt "hate" the imperial guard anymore than our countries "hate" their soldiers. Its simple necesity you have a need for body's and you're more likelly to get them by talking up the role rather than showing them just how bad it can get.

As much as my own recruitment experience wasnt full of bull they also didnt roll in the vets with their horror stories to give you a "balanced view"...


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