Warhammer 40K: GW is Bringing Back Weird Imperial Guard

The new Astra Militarium book looks set to call back to some of the army’s old school designs!

The Imperial Guard, also known as the Astra Militarium are getting a new book pretty soon. We’ve seen a whole lot of new models and stuff coming out for them. Overall it’s made us pretty excited for what is to come. While some of the new stuff coming out is pretty standard stuff, other bits are more out there. These seem to imply that GW is reaching back into the distant past of the Guard and pulling ideas from there. Lets take a look at that, and why the newest announcement makes this seem more likely.

The Two Faces of The Guard

Pretty much since their inception the Imperial Guard have been a little torn between two ideals. On the one hand is the modern military force. This is the real world army – in space. It’s a professional force that is based off of the modern, or semi-modern military. This is particularly obvious when looking at the mechanized and armored parts of the force. They draw a lot from the world wars and cold war eras. Cadians in particular look like a modern military.

On the other hand you have the idea of the Guard as an almost Napoleonic force. They have big ass flags, and horse mounted cavalry and walk and fight in tight formations. Rather than being a uniform fighting force, they are a mix of units in colorful uniforms from all over. They are full of weird things, and they are cool as heck.

Triumph of The Real

The last several years, at least 10, have seen the Guard constantly focus on the more modern/real aspects of the Guard. The raise of the Cadians as the “default” Guard force pushed it this way. Out of all the original GW-featured Guard regiments the Cadians were the most modern and the closest to a real army. Over this time we’ve seen the weirder parts pushed out. Rough Riders, Mole Mortars, etc. left. Ratlings got sidelined, though Ogryns have more recently seen a come back. Models for non-Cadains have been sparse. I think one of the reason DKoK has been so popular is that it’s the most out there of the new-ish models.

Return of the Stranger Side

Now however with this new book we’ve been seeing some of the odder things start to come back. The new Lord Solar is riding a robo-house. Rough Riders are back baby! The book is clearly bringing back some older ideas. I think that’s also kind of the point of the new Doctrine idea. Rather than being a uniform modern force it allows for a mixed army. Something like a classic weird 2nd Edition Guard army might come back. Those armies that were a big patchwork of uniforms and units, just might be what we could see in the new book.

We’ll have to see if this trend continues. We don’t know if all the upcoming models have been announced. In addition I wouldn’t be shocked if we got a second wave of new Guard, along with a new book, in early 10th Ed,  possibly as soon as next year. It seems like GW really wants to do a big refresh. I’d love to see more strange things come back. More out there regiments and more Ratlings. This would all be really cool.

Let us know if you are happy to get more weird Guard stuff, down in the comments! 

Go get em mixed-regiment Imperial Guard!

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.