If you don't know much, then I suggest you to read lexicannum or 1d4chan wiki (if you are into childish humour). I think that leader of imperial guard doesn't need to know all that much.

The soldiers are recruited from wherever it's neccessary. If the planet lacks any other resources, they can decide to send men as tithes. Because of this, equipment vaaries greatly and can range from medieval peasants in chainmails with lasguns to something like Austrian WW1 soldiers... It depends on from where the soldiers are (dead world, hive city...) and how they recruited them.

If you want to go with "vanilla" guardsmen, google Cadians.

@Frengo Most new regiments come from a single planet, whereas the older ones will usually be made up of the remnants of lots of nearly destroyed regiments that are all rolled into 1. Conscripts are ALWAYS from the local area, because the Imperium will just go around the area and say "right, all men that can hold a gun, congratulations, you're now in the Military. Take this armour, this gun and try to kill those things over there. You'll know the enemy because most of them have more teeth than the entire Osmand family."

Quashing traitors of the Imperium? You've got my interest.

@Jbcool So how big is this invasion force? Thousands of ships and millions of soldiers? And what about the opposition? Do they have enough to go toe-to-toe with the Imperium? Or will they be hopelessly out numbered? And also, how will this RP start? With the regiments making planet fall, or with a big space battle?

I'm thinking of going with a typical Guard regiment from some Imperial backwater, maybe having them rely on autoguns rather than lasguns, to high light their homeworld's tech level. I dunno, early days atm, just fishing for ideas.

@Frengo You ask many questions, I like that.

At this point the Imperium does not see the Consortium as a huge threat, yet it has sent hundreds of vessels and, as you say, millions of warriors to deal out Imperial justice to the misguided.

Can they go toe-to-toe? At this point, yes, there are Astartes and others with the crusade, but not enough to swing the balance massively toward Imperial victory against a whole system of unified planets. As time goes by, depending how it all goes, more manpower may be poured in...should word of it even reach Terra...

The RP will likely start with a space battle and landing - think D-day with huge spacecraft - forces making planetfall as huge ships blow one another apart above.

All very dramatic.

As to your idea, I have no problem whatsoever with it, and would actually welcome such a basic - but completely fine - fighting force.

We can always blunt imperial strike force by some kind of... "accident". You know, unsuccesful jump from warp or unexpected bolter fire... Grim darkness of the future is a rather dangerous place to live in.

Certain lack of leadership could also put some weight on the central characters, as they would be all that's left of the command structure.

Also, it could make a nice entré if I choose to play a son of Alpharius (or Omegon)?

Also, it could make a nice entré if I choose to play the son of Alpharius (or Omegon?

Firstly, I hope you mean a son of Alpharius, rather than the son of Alpharius.

Secondly, although I am willing to allow substantial freedom with characters and so on, I would honestly prefer Imperial characters; they can be deranged or rather different Imperials, but servants of the Emperor nonetheless.

Anyone wanting to try something different can PM me about it.

Of course I meant a and not the. Sorry. We don't have articles in my first language so I mess them up sometimes.

Also, I can go with Priesthood of Mars if you prefer "purely" Imperial characters.

@Jbcool Dude, get it right, he is playing Alpharius.

@Rotmouse Priesthood is fine, if it be your will.

No need to apologise. :)

@mattmanganon No, that's something I'd expect you to do...

@Jbcool Dude, every Alpha Legions marine is Alpharius.

@mattmanganon While I do agree that the Alpha Legion are known for all looking the same, and so on...where the Hell did you find that they drink blood and grow as big as Primarchs? Sounds like steaming horse manure to me.

Any reference(s) to that particular tidbit of info?

@Jbcool From the Lexicanum:

"Alpahrius wore at least four sets of Armour before the Heresy he had discarded when they showed signs to identify him[3]. To disguise Alpharius Omegon further members of the Alpha Legion would drink a substance mixed with the Primarch's blood that seems to temporarily turn them into him. The disguise is so convincing that even the Legion's own Apothecaries are fooled by it, and those who undertake the process are even given some of their Primarch's memories.[5]"

There might be more to it than that, I dunno, just did a quick search because I had nothing better to do.

@Frengo "Even in Death, i'm still Alpharius" - Mantra of the Alpha Legion Dreadnoughts

They are a funny bunch, these guys. I'd really like to know if they are closet loyalist or just "reasonable" heretics.
Too bad that new book from Bequin triology, which would probably answer some questions about them, is still without release date...

But back to the roleplay! How many players are you looking for?

I'm interested in this though perhaps I could help this consortium, you know for the Great Good? If not then Death Korps sounds like a perfect regiment in this RP.

Most new regiments come from a single planet, whereas the older ones will usually be made up of the remnants of lots of nearly destroyed regiments that are all rolled into 1. Conscripts are ALWAYS from the local area, because the Imperium will just go around the area and say "right, all men that can hold a gun, congratulations, you're now in the Military. Take this armour, this gun and try to kill those things over there. You'll know the enemy because most of them have more teeth than the entire Osmand family.

More simply put, the 'vanilla' Guardsmen regiment is from Cadia. Obviously they only provide a tiny fraction of Imperial Guardsmen, but they're pretty staple and have the most Guardsmeny Guardsmen there ever was. That's important to note.

Every Guardsmen Regiment is unique in who is in it, how it operates, its history, and its equipment. The Imperial Tithe draws manpower from across the stars, creating Regiments to bring the Emperors word to heathens, rebels, xenos, and worse. In that way, while there's standard equipment and the like, most Regiments do not work like that.

A regiment may be composed completely of nobility, thus be equipped with items and artifacts that'd make anything but an Astartes or the Inquisition blush. They may ride great Xeno's beasts and be drawn from a world full of cave men; they may be simple Farmers; They may be an army of thieves or mercenaries. The list goes on. However, Regiments are always specialized at just one thing. For example, the Fifth (Insert planet they came from here) Mechanized Infantry Regiment would, well, be mechanized infantry. No regiment has the capacity to fully use combined arms en masse on their own. They need other regiments to work with them so they can do that; this is primarily so it'll be hard for regiments to defect and be a capable fighting force against the Imperium. This is because of the Horus Heresy.

That is why those commanding Guard Regiments must work together; that's just how the Guard works. Alone, you are nothing. Together and with proper leadership, the Guard become "The Hammer of the Emperor" in every sense of the word.

The Astartes operate differently; a meagre force of 100 can cut through 20k Guardsmen like butter, but they have serious issues regarding over extension, since they're so tiny. Defensive Turrets simply will not cut it here. They aren't fighting Orks who will be stalled by sentry guns while the Marines go on the offensive. Further, this is a well armed and organized military force, capable of matching your average Imperial Guard regiment or exceeding it. They can pull a lot of nasty tricks on the Marines, like bombarding their position and just not actually fighting them. Losing a couple thousand men for one Astartes is a fair trade.

The Marines cannot do this alone, either. A well organized, well equipped rebellion in the Imperium is very fearsome. It is essentially inevitable that they'll lose. At the end of the day, the Imperium can send trillions of troops if need be. The question is, will we be the ones to make them lose? Because unless we do a good job of this, it could turn into a decade upon decade siege of the entire Consortium, and most of us will die in that time span.

@Cleopatra Thanks for shedding light on the matter.

EDIT: So for me it's going to either be a drop regiment, or a standard infantry regiment, I guess. Depends on what fits the RP better- I mean, I'm thinking we'll need to take down planetary guns and establish footholds before the Imperium can start deploying its regulars enmasse?

EDIT: So for me it's going to either be a drop regiment, or a standard infantry regiment, I guess. Depends on what fits the RP better- I mean, I'm thinking we'll need to take down planetary guns and establish footholds before the Imperium can start deploying its regulars enmasse?

Both have genuine value here. Drop regiments are Light Infantry, and operate in a similar way to paratroopers. They can establish a foothold, or gain critical land before the ensuing invasion. As light troops, they're also useful as scouts and special forces. Regulars come in a lot of varieties, but I'll assume you just mean your typical lasrifle wielding foot soldier. If that's the case, there are three kinda you can go from there.

Line Infantry, which are just your vanilla generic guardsmen. They do guardsmen things.

Mechanized Infantry, which ride into battle, typically on Chimera. They also may have a few tanks.

Trench Infantry, which are equipped for trench warfare and sieges. So more or less static.

All of them have legitimate value here. The best way to end this is with maneuver, which favors Drop troops and Mechanized forces. Line Infantry draw a balance, and Tench Infantry are focused toward static fighting.

If we're not careful(This will probably happen at some point even if we are), it's exceedingly easy to fall into really long sieges of both planets and cities. It becomes hard for even Astartes backed by Imperial Guard to seize a city with dozens of millions of people living in it when who you're fighting is committing total war. Maneuver is critical, but being prepared for a slog is also important. Basically, there's no really wrong choice here. We need everything we can get at this point, and no answer is particularly better than another since not many roles have been solidly filled yet.

I am interested in this, as with most of JBcool's ideas, and would like to represent a navy fleet. I am open to size discussions; my initial spitball is fairly sizeable.