Imperial Guard wip page

This is will be RTSC's Imperial Guard guide page. It will progressively grow and expand into a fully fledged army guide. Eventually.

Note: not at all familiar with IG. In 1.4 they were too easy to evaporate foes; in 1.5 and 1.51, they were very, very hard to play - lost every game competitively. Know bugger all about them, apart from some sandboxing AI skirmishes trying to work out what everything does. In DC - they feel awesome. Nice challenge. Heavy Weapon Teams (HWT) are worth the admission price alone. Guardsmen feel, for want of a better word: just right. Weak cannon fodder that progressively gets more powerful as you try and keep them alive and tech up. They huddle behind tanks and fortifications. Curious about the Guardsmen themselves: do a little data file study and mess with them.

My DC experience with IG is down to only four or five Auto matches at the barrel bottom scraping end of the Ladder. Three losses, one guy dropped out before the game started, and the last victory was one of those classic SM Landspeeder spams that caught me stupidly off-guard. (I was expecting WA style Marine Mass) Lose all my TechPriests, most of my Guardsmen, quite a few LP's. Half a dozen Landspeeders and the first of a line of Dreadnaughts eat their way towards my base. To my utter amazement, I was able to swat them all back like flies - It's Sentinels kiddies. True, my opponent was a bit of a newby and did nothing to stop my Take & Hold. But Sentinels rock!! The easiest comeback I've ever done under such conditions - and I still don't quite know the Guard. I think I like 'em!!

The Imperial Guard (IG) are the Human Imperium's regular army, and are the fifth force to be added to game in the Winter Assault expansion. What's notable about these guys is that they actually look human, with human proportions and scaling, making them stick out on the field when pitted against all of Warhammer's other oddballs.

In Dark Crusade 1.0, they seem about... "right". (At least to this Orky player, anyway!) Earlier versions of the Guard were so "busted" it almost left a sour taste scoring cheap wins with them, now they're a satisfying challenge - and you can have lots of fun with their artillery, turrets and heavy weapons, too! Early on, its easy to push the Guard around; but once their heavy ordinance appear, the tables can turn fast.

Unlike all other armies, the IG only have basic Guardsmen and a number of attachable Heroes to last them for the first two Tiers of the game. Their serious infantry doesn't appear until Tier 3. Guardsmen are normal, weak humans, conscripted cannon fodder, prone to breaking at the drop of a hat and being killed in waves. The IG huddles within bunkers and behind turrets, and rely on their armoured vehicles and artillery to swing the fight. Nearly all their buildings can be garrisoned, and garrisoned squads can shoot through the windows. Infantry can also tunnel between buildings, disappearing into one structure and reappearing in another.

	Imperial Guardsmen IG annon fodder
	Imperial Guardsmen pic goes here! Squad Details templaye Squad 5-9 Guardsmen + Sargeant + attachable mini-Boss 5-12 Guardsmen + Sargeant + attachable mini-Boss Tier 2 Can have up to 3 Heavy weapons Cost 160 base squad 20 to reinforce (max 450) 20/15 each Grenade Launcher (max 60/45) 35/15 each Plasma Rifle (max 105/45) Build times 20 seconds to build 7 seconds to reinforce Armour class 150hp inf_med (light infantry armour) 165hp (Death Before Dishonour Research +15hp) 206hp (Battle Amour Research +25%hp) 231hp (Will of the Emperor Research +25hp) +0.5hp/s regen Morale 100 +100 Death before Dishonour +150 Will of the Emporer +50 Sergeant +200 Commissar +3 morale/s regen +5 morale/s regen (Death Before Dishonour) Breaks at 30. broken for at least 12 sec Charge ? range Imperial Guardsmen are the mainstay of the Imperial Guard. They're also the weakest characters in the game, starting with the lowest health points and morale with the possible exception of Heretics and Grots. You'd better get used to that, because they're pretty much all you have as an IG force for most of the game. Guardsmen squads are very expensive for what you get early on, but their 20 Req reinforce cost makes up for it. Provided you can keep the squad alive through overwatch, then you sort of get your money's worth. However, with When the Imperial Guard were first introduced Winter Assault (version 1.4) they almost felt broken: the humble Imperial Guardsman seemed indestuctible. They had a curious armour bonus that gave them 120% armour (as distinct from regular armour of 100%, shared by every other unit and structure in the game) that effectively made them impervious to harm. They could take on giant Marines and wipe them out with few losses. With Commissar mini-bosses attached, they not only gained morale but healed up so fast that sometimes they gained heath in a fight. The infamous "Commie Rush" was basically unstoppable. In 1.41 they were reined in a little, but still overpowering. After a long (and frustrating) delay, the 1.5 patch finally arrived, restored their armour bonus to 100% and reining them in further; Guardsmen became so brittle that only the leading competitive players seemed able to succeed with them. Things were a little more normalised by the surprise arrival of 1.51 a few weeks(!) later. This patch marked a radical change in Relic's relationship with the fans, becoming a lot more open and responsive on the RelicNews fora. In particular, Relic's rep Buggo arrived on the scene... and the rest is history.

	Prerequisites		Perks		Pros		Cons
	Settlement or Infantry Command		Death Before Dishonour: +100 morale, +2 morale regen, +15hp Battle Amour: +25% hp Will of the Emperor: +150 morale, +25hp Satellite Targetting Resolution: +20% range Lazgun & Plasma Gun. Weapons Specialization: 200% attack bonus for Heavy Weapons		Cheap to reinforce. In large numbers, surprisingly effective - even early. Cost effective (of sorts) - provided you don't lose the whiole squad. Can be built up into a potent force by Tier 2 with upgrades, attachable bosses and heavy weapons. Upgraded Plasma Guns are an excellent anti-Bezerk/Kroot defence Even when broken, Guardsmen with Grenade Launchers never seem to miss and still do tremendous harm to their enemies.		At the start of the game, a disaster of a squad. Breaks at the drop of a hat. Dies at the drop of a hat. To just about everything. Psykers and Priests don't add Morale to a squad.

	Imperial Guardsmen Weaponry ***TEMPLATE***
	Guardsmen KNIFE Blunt potato peeler with bayonet mount Pretty damn useless most of the time. They get whipped in hand to hand against everything - except other Guardsmen (which might explain the lack of morale damage). But at least it never misses!		DAMAGE per smack 13-15/0? Min Damage 1 Range hand to hand Rate 1 jab every 1 second   Accuracy base DPS stationary 100% 14/0 Armour piercing (approx) against... 50% builders 55% inf_med 46% inf_high 30% marines 37% terminators 30% commanders 18% daemon 0% God monsters 5% light vehicles 9% vehicles 0% God vehicles 10% building_low 7% buildings 0% HQ's
	Guardsmen LAZGUN a.k.a. The Flashlight The best description is: mostly harmless. However, in numbers the tables start to turn. Run your troops into a wall of these things and you'll feel it. Their range is their best asset.		DAMAGE per shot 10-12/2.5 per shot Min Damage 1 Range 27 32 (Satellite Targetting) Rate 1 shot every 0.5 seconds   Accuracy base DPS stationary 50% 11/2.5 moving ?10% 2.2/0.5 Armour piercing (approx) against... 50% builders 50% inf_med 50% inf_high 50% marines 35% terminators 11% Commanders 27% daemons 0% God monsters 15% light vehicles 8% vehicles 0% God vehicles 20% building_low 15% buildings 0% HQ's
	Guardsmen GRENADE LAUNCHER Yipes! Duck! Bugger that! RUUUNN! Here's a classic example of how misleading DPS can be. Early Grenade Launchers eat most early forces for breakfast. Guardsmen Launchers have exceptional range, and a habit of dropping an entire salvo onto one spot at the same time with lethal effect. (Cultist grenade launchers tend to be more distributed). In Tier 2 and Weapons Specialization, these things get downright evil. Area effect... noiice.		DAMAGE per fiery blast 113-147/15 area effect 226-294/15 (Weapon Spec.) Min Damage 10.5 Range 45 Effect Radius 2.5 Rate 1 shot every 3 seconds Setup 3 second   Accuracy base DPS Weapon Specialization stationary 70% 30.3/3.5 60.7/3.5 moving - - - Armour piercing (approx) against... 44% builders 60% inf_med 55% inf_high 50% marines 24% terminators 3% commanders 23% daemons 0% God monsters 16% light vehicles 15% vehicles 5% God vehicles 20% building_low 10% buildings 0% HQ's
	Guardsmen PLASMA GUN ADD-ON LOL IG sux - hey! where'd me Zerks go?! Not a bad little zapper by any means, but unlike most heavy weapons this has shorter range than your average Guardsmen flashlight! Good against Tier 2 close combat troops.		DAMAGE per fiery blast 34-54/15 68-108/15 (Weapon Spec.) Min Damage 5.6 Range 22 26 (Satellite Targetting) Rate 1 shot every 0.5 seconds   Accuracy base DPS Weapon Specialization stationary 65% 57.2/19.5 114.4/19.5 moving ?10% 8.8/3 17.6/3 Armour piercing (approx) against... 55% builders 51% inf_med 45% inf_high 40% marines 36% terminators 8% commanders 35% daemons 10% God monsters 15% light vehicles 11% vehicles 0% God vehicles 25% building_low 15% buildings 0% HQ's

	Know your techs! Unlocked by the Tactica Control
	Sergants and Guardsmen Heavy Weapons unlock!
	Death Before Dishonour: (Keyboard shortcut: M) The first of the Guardsmen morale upgrades, and its a swag of small perks indeed. All early Guardsmen squads gain +100 Morale, and their morale regeneration is boosted from a pissy 0.5m/s to 2.5m/s. And, just for kicks, they score a very small +15hp bonus. Whoo. At 75/15 a modest early upgrade for relatively little.
	Battle Armour: (Keyboard shortcut: H) All Guardsmen squads score a 25% hp bonus, pushing their meagre health to 187, while Sergeants gain +150 hp. Somewhat expensive for a modest boost at 100/50.
	Will of the Emporer: (Keyboard shortcut: ?) The second of the two Guardsmen morale upgrades. Guardsmen squads gain +150 morale and +25hp, again, all for 75/15. Little by little they grow in power...