Imperial Guard vs. modern Earth

[Elheru Aran]

A few years in our future...

There's bad shit happenin' in central Asia. Falling stars and all that shit.

Then the reports start coming out...

Ahem.

Anyway! An Imperial Guard regiment, roughly 3 million in number with the appropriate number of tanks, artillery and armoured vehicles, has landed in said location (vaguely around... Tajikistan I guess, between Russia, China and the Middle East). They know they're on Holy Terra; their mission is to conquer the world that it may be ready for their Emperor when He appears.

Their transports were heavily damaged in the warp storm that flung them backwards through time, and the Navy escort craft were destroyed as well, so orbital bombardment is not an option; however, they have a goodly supply of weapons and ammo in the transports, which they brought down planetside. They also have a small supply of Lightnings and Marauder aircraft.

Against them are the Russian, Chinese, and an EU army, as well as whatever forces are available to the countries in the region; due to various reasons the US is not involved.

Who comes out ahead?

B.) Same as above, but this time, the American military is involved.

I'd have done it with Space Marines, but that'd have been a bit extreme...

Edited to add aircraft

[Cynical Cat]

Earth wins, by nuking the IG if necessary. Guard tactics are fairly basic, due to the usually low standards of Guard training (conscripts from a variety of planets ranging from stone age warriors to hive world gang vermin with the better ones coming from professional soldiers of civilized worlds). There gear is nice, but not so superior that its going to be a curb stomp. The Russians and Chinese will use nukes rather than loose and 3 million is just too small a number.

[SirNitram]

Earth wins with devastating losses to the Armoured Colemns.

Leman Russ tanks are scary. They have inferior fire control and stabalizatin to modern tanks, but may the Emperor protect you if they hit(Especially if it's an all-holy Executioner-class Plasma Tank).

But the Guard uses shitty tactics and relies on outlasting it's opponents. Once the initial losses hit the militaries of the world, nuclear strikes will plow the road. Their lack of organic air support will also kill them.

[Elheru Aran]

Interesting. Figured the Guard would be tougher, given their better weapons. Or are they better? I suppose lasguns aren't referred to as 'flashlights' by some for nothing...

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Interesting. Figured the Guard would be tougher, given their better weapons. Or are they better? I suppose lasguns aren't referred to as 'flashlights' by some for nothing...

Lasguns are on the same playing field as E-11s.

[Cynical Cat]

Interesting. Figured the Guard would be tougher, given their better weapons. Or are they better? I suppose lasguns aren't referred to as 'flashlights' by some for nothing...

Lasguns are called flashlights because they are inferior to most other 40K weapons and table top gamers tend to use Space Marines as a measuring stick. Compared to modern guns, they kick ass. They are roughly equivalent to Star Wars blasters in power. But they aren't enough to give the Guard victory, especially with only 3 million of them versus all of Eurasia.

Having only a small number of aircraft doesn't help them either. They'll do damage, but they'll succomb to bombing, massed artillery fire, and nukes if necessary.

[SirNitram]

Lasguns do low-MJ level damage. That'll fuck up infantry bad, and, well, soviet tanks won't enjoy it(Many European tanks are very, very good at heat dispersal these days, so they'll fair better).

But the thing is, the 40k universe has combat going on in such close quarters that unarmoured individuals can close to hand to hand range. Sorry, but while the weapons deliver immense amounts of pain, this points to a range issue. Not surprising, though; lots of technology was lost.

Then there's the issue of accuracy, which is not the Guard's strong point..

[Cynical Cat]

40K armour is pretty good and most of the hand to hand occurs in situations favoring close quarters combat like jungle or cities so the range issue isn't that bad.

Training varies tremendously. The average Guardsman's training could be best described as mediocre, but there are some very good units out there. And there are some units which are basically Neolithic tribesmen with steel weapons staffs that shoot "holy light".

[JEAP]

What sort of tatics do the Guard use for their tanks? They seem a bit tall to go hull down in defensive positions.

Most Soviet/Russian tanks can depress their gun down 5 degrees and T-72 and later models have integral dozer blades to improve defensive positions.[/url]

[Cynical Cat]

What sort of tatics do the Guard use for their tanks? They seem a bit tall to go hull down in defensive positions.

Most Soviet/Russian tanks can depress their gun down 5 degrees and T-72 and later models have integral dozer blades to improve defensive positions.[/url]

Tank units tactics tend to suck less than standard Guard tactics, if only because the lower end of Guard units can't manage machinery. Guard commanders still favor the full ahead rush with them, which when you have heavily armoured monstrosity with big guns works okay. The better Guard units can manage quite sophisticated combined armed tactics and have excellent coordination.

And as Nitram mentioned, the amount of firepower some of them carry is obscene.

[Rogue 9]

Do they have Baneblades/Stormblades/other superheavies, or does their tank equipment only go as high as the Leman Russ variants? Also, where's the Guard unit from? Cadian? Steel Legion? Or some backwater planet full of barbarians? That makes a hell of a difference.

[Cynical Cat]

Do they have Baneblades/Stormblades/other superheavies, or does their tank equipment only go as high as the Leman Russ variants? Also, where's the Guard unit from? Cadian? Steel Legion? Or some backwater planet full of barbarians? That makes a hell of a difference.

Doesn't really matter. With only 3 million of them before casualties, they can't hold a hostile Eurasia, even if they survive the nukings. It only affects the butcher's bill for those poor bastards who have to face them.

[Rogue 9]

Do they have Baneblades/Stormblades/other superheavies, or does their tank equipment only go as high as the Leman Russ variants? Also, where's the Guard unit from? Cadian? Steel Legion? Or some backwater planet full of barbarians? That makes a hell of a difference.

Doesn't really matter. With only 3 million of them before casualties, they can't hold a hostile Eurasia, even if they survive the nukings. It only affects the butcher's bill for those poor bastards who have to face them.

I know that; it's the butcher's bill I'm trying to get.

[Elheru Aran]

Okay, some modifications to the scenario.

For whatever reason nuclear weapons will not be used by the Earth forces; they don't have any that can be delivered accurately enough, Hydras and Lightnings shoot down most of the bombers that approach, whatever.

The regiment is one of the Cadians, mostly fresh recruits just out of training but with a goodly proportion of Kaskrin. They have a few Baneblades, a Stormblade, some Stormswords, and a few other Super-Heavy tanks. Not an excessive number, mind you; there's only about one to every hundred Leman Russes in the regiment, so trim these numbers I supply as necessary; some of these 'tanks' visible to Earth satellites are defunct, being stripped for parts to refurbish the others...

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Cadians are some of the finest human soldiers in the Imperium. Even green they'll blow US Army/Marine training standards out of the water. The Kasrkin will make SAS, SEALs, Deltas, et al. look like children.