Often depicted as the Hammer of the Emperor, Imperial Guardsmen are the polar opposite of their brethren, the Space Marines. The Imperial Guard were released as a fully playable race in the Winter Assault expansion pack but had a minor role in the original Dawn of War campaign.

As such it is easy to identify with these brave souls and to see in them the qualities of true heroes. Clad in a flak jacket and carrying a lasgun, they have to contend with the most terrifying threats, relying on numbers, massed firepower and a bayonet with some guts behind it. In the midst of genetically engineered super-beings, alien killing machines, warrior mystics, and technology that approaches sorcery in its sophistication, the Imperial Guard are mere soldiers.

Against these diverse and often incomprehensible threats, the Imperial Guard pits human resolve and ingenuity in an unending battle with an inimical universe. The mighty Tyranid hive fleets batter at the Eastern Fringe, Ork Waaaghs erupt without warning or pause, the damned Traitor Legions pour from the Eye of Terror hungry for Mankind’s souls, mysterious Eldar raiders strike without mercy, the ancient Necrons sally from their tomb worlds and numerous emergent empires, such as the Tau, rise up to challenge Humanity’s mastery. The entire diversity of the massive Imperium is encapsulated in its ranks.ĭespite its awesome power, however, the Imperial Guard constantly struggles to protect the Imperium from its many enemies. Men whose home was blistering desert, tropical jungle, icy steppe or desolate moorland are united under the banner of the Imperium of Man. Half-feral savages march alongside former hive plant workers.

It contains billions of men from a million different worlds. The Imperial Guard is the largest and most diverse organization the galaxy has ever seen.

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