‘Warhammer 40,000’ Imperial Guard, explained

The Imperial Guard is the largest fighting force in the Warhammer 40K universe. Everywhere the dominance of the Imperium of Man is threatened, the Guard is present, ready to flood the battlefield. Every human being in the Imperium is enlisted into the Guard, and even the Departmento Munitorum can never truly know the full number of Guardsmen under arms at any one time — only that it must run into multiple billions.

But with so many numbers, most human generals tend to use the Guard as badly-armed cannon fodder. If a million die on one day, two million will be conscripted the next. This means much of the Guard is lacking in military skills, giving them a tragically short life expectancy on the battlefield.

While most of the Guard are unwilling conscripts, some regiments are still classed as elite. The Kasrkin are special forces soldiers recruited from childhood to serve as shock troops. They are granted access to high-tech weaponry like Hellguns. Where most Guardsmen seek simply to keep their heads down and stay alive, the Kasrkin pride themselves on taking the fight to the enemy.

The Death Korps of Krieg is another famous Guard regiment. They are exclusively recruited from the grim world of Krieg, a planet that was previously in rebellion against the emperor. The Death Korps comprises soldiers who seek to atone for Krieg’s treachery. They do this by volunteering for every dirty job the Imperium offers, grinding their enemies down through protracted trench warfare.

The 13^th Penal Legion, also known as the “Last Chancers,” are the “Dirty Dozen” of 40K. Made up of convicted criminals awaiting punishment, these do-or-die soldiers are given a final chance for redemption. This makes them extremely ferocious on the battlefield. If they do not impress their superiors, most will end up on death row.