17

Introduction
world. Some officers, often young and idealistic ones, will
show initiative on the battlefield, taking matters into their
own hands to secure victory and acting on the intent of their
orders rather than slavishly following them to the letter.
Whether or not this is rewarded or punished by those above
these young, idealistic officers varies wildly throughout the
Imperium. In some areas, these kind of actions are quickly
shut down, the offending officers getting sent off on suicide
missions before they cause too much trouble for those
higher in the chain of command. However, in other areas
of the Imperium, such brave, unprompted behaviour can be
rewarded, the young officer rising in command and perhaps
eventually ascending high enough to lead a crusade across
the stars in the name of the Emperor.
In addition to the direct chain of command reaching down
from the Segmentum Lords, there are numerous individuals
and organisations which exert considerable influence on the
officers of the Imperial Guard. At every level, from companies
up to whole army groups, the Imperial Guard is teeming with
advisors of all kinds: from tacticians versed in the secrets of
the Tactica Imperialis and clerics of the Ministorum sent to
keep the faith in the God-Emperor strong, to Tech-Priests of
the Adeptus Mechanicus overseeing the use of ancient engines
of war and psykers of the Scholastica Psykana to aid them
in matters of the Warp. When a high ranking Imperial Guard
officer walks into a briefing room, it will usually be at the head
of such an entourage; dozens of advisors surrounding him and
whispering in his ear every time he must make a decision or
issue an order. In some cases, these advisors exist at the pleasure
of the Imperial Guard, and their counsel only offered when
asked and even then purely at the discretion of the officer. In
others, such as when dealing with such powerful institutions
as the Ministorum or Adeptus Mechanicus, such advice will
come whether it is wanted or not and an officer must consider
carefully whether or not to act upon it, lest he draw disapproval
from powerful places.
This advisory capacity also applies to the relationship
between the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy, and
Imperial Guard officers will often have naval liaisons
and fleet advisors as part of their staff. In theory, the
have the right to intervene personally in the actions of the
Imperial Guard, they seldom do, only making their will known
when events threaten significant portions of the Imperium or
are set to spiral beyond the control of a single world or system.
In these instances, where a sector-wide conflict draws the
attentions of the Imperial authorities, the outcome can become
unpredictable. Just as a System Lord might find himself sidelined
when the hand of the Sector Lord intervenes, so too can
whole sectors lose any pretence of independent control by their
lords and nobles should armies raised by the Segmentum Lord
arrive to “deal” with a problem.
All of this amounts to a command structure which is as much
about the politics of the Imperium as it is about the military
command of the Imperial Guard. On the ground, frontline
officers can bemoan the lack of support and orders which
demand they dig in when they know they should manoeuvre
or which call for a retreat when they know they should attack,
but for their superiors, and for the lords and governors above
them, waging a successful war means both actually fighting
the enemy and being seen to be fighting the enemy, which
can at once be the same and different things. It does not
simplify matters than many of the higher ranking officers of
the Imperial Guard are drawn from local nobility and are the
high born upper classes of the very men and women who will
report to them in the chain of command. To even reach a high
rank in the Imperial Guard, a commander must usually be a
savvy political animal, acutely aware of the favour of his Sector
Lord and the needs of system and planetary governors. Many
of these men and women may also be shrewd tacticians and
strategists, well-schooled in the arts of waging war, though to
hold onto their posts they must also consider their actions, the
orders they give and receive, and how they act upon them.
It is this political climate which is the bane of independence
and initiative among many officers of the Imperial Guard.
Far from the machinations of System, Sector, and Segmentum
Lords, regimental commanders must tread with care, keeping
one eye on the men under their command and the success
of their campaigns, and one eye on their superiors and the
favour their actions garner, lest they find themselves sent to
the frontlines or their regiment posted to a remote and dismal
IMPERIAL COMMISSARS
With so many worlds and cultures feeding the armies of the Imperial Guard, it can be a daunting task for
commanders
to unite and control the soldiers in their armies. Often feral world savages will be asked to fight alongside
refined
noble regiments from powerful hive worlds or penal soldiers expected to serve the very authority which
sentenced
them. Divided by language and customs, this can lead to disruption among regiments and more
importantly poor
morale within the regiments themselves, as Guardsmen forget why they have been torn from their home
worlds and
ferried across the void. The Imperial Commissariat exists to ensure control over the regiments of the
Imperial Guard
and remind every Guardsman of his duty both to the Imperium and to the God-Emperor. Practically every
company
in the Imperial Guard, regardless of the world from which they hail, will have at least one Commissar
attached as an
advisor to its company command group. It is the Commissars’ job to keep the commanders and their men
true to the
God-Emperor’s cause and make sure their duty to the Imperium is done. As Commissars exist outside the
command
structure at the regimental level, answering instead to the Departmento Munitorum, they have the power
to remove
commanders if they are not performing their duty (often violently through the use of a bolt pistol).
However, a good
Commissar knows when to use fear and when to use inspiration to motivate men, and alongside the many
cruel and
brutal Commissars there are those who lead by example, standing atop trenches in the face of enemy fire
to stir their
company to courage and show scorn to their enemies.