His Righteous Mod of the Imperial Guard

[Emperors Teeth]

Alright then. It's time this got pulled together. I want to get started organising this (immense) collection of ideas we've created.

What I'm looking to do is build up a team of people dedicated to the Imperial Guard so as to focus our ideas into one place without becoming confused amid the mess we have right now.

So far I have had 1 very kind gentlemen (Sparky) offer to help program this mod. I can model , animate and am dabbling in texturing too myself. However, we can't do this alone of course. So I want you guys to help out. In order to get a team, I would like people to post an example of their work (or tell us their level of programming knowledge) for everyone to see. From this, myself and whoever else is in the team will choose the rest of the group. New people could potentialy be brought in anytime, so don't think of this as a one chance. Think of it as an... opportunity to get involved from the earliest planning stages. Once we have enough members I'll get a clan forum opened to make it 'official'.

Right, let's see some work!

Double Post

Oh I forgot; Kruschev, I'd quite like you to help out, particularly with vehicles/weaponry modelling. I took a look at your gallery and if you can pull off those results in lo-poly then you'd make a great addition to the team.

The (Righteous ;)) Mod Team:

Emperors Teeth - Modeller/Animator (Team lead)
Kruschev - Modeller
Scarface - Modeller
Sparky - Programmer
Annatar - Concept Artist

[Richtofen]

I'd probably get a design doc rolling and wait till the game comes out to see what units relic has included. That would mean that you wouldn't have done any wasted work etc. You never know, they may have done most of the guard army!

Anyway, all the best to you guys!
Maybe we could combine sometime to make a Damocles Crusade mod?
Who knows!

[sparky]

yeah im sorting that out with him... the tech tree needs to be fine tuned. We will get the models sorted out asap. although they could be subject to change but we might as well have something sorted yeah? :smash:

[Khruschev]

Cool, I'm in then :). Does anybody know the vehicle poly limit?

[Emperors Teeth]

Worry not about the tech-tree for a few minutes, we've nearly created one that will allow a great variety of forces without a ridiculously complicated amount of coding.

From reading the other threads about the Imperial Guard, I noticed that there were 2 main points of view about what the IG should look like. As an artistic student, I have quite strong opinions about this.

The first viewpoint is that they should be just like those ingame. Generic Cadians (though obviously with a colour scheme chosen in the painter).

Second we have the alternative regiments such as Mordians and Steel Legion.

I want the Imperial Guard mod to be familiar to all (so Cadian Infantry), but have a different feel than using generic vehicles. I'd like to incorporate the Mars Patter Leman Russ hulls for example.

P.S. I heard ruminations on the boards of the vehicle poly count being a little over 2k. Rumours mind you.

[sparky]

yeah well just look at the models and you will see that for yuorself ;),

[DarthVaygr]

Shadione himself said that vehicles are a little over 2000, infantry about 2000.

[SvK]

http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=26964


Sub-2000 for most infantry (which means most are about 2000). Vehicles or big units are more, but I don't know the count off-hand.

[DarthVaygr]

I know I am a lazy ass and should have found that thread but I didn't because I am stupid, and didn't use the search function

...

Atleast I'm right.

What are the imperial guard like? Play-style? Who are they exactly?

[Emperors Teeth]

Ah, the age old question, the one everyone asks. Sit my child and listen well...

The Space Marines are not the only protectors of the Imperium. They are the avenging Angels of the Emperor, born in His name to fight the Alien, Daemon and Heretic. They do not stand alone however.

The Imperium concists of a million worlds, and on each of these ther exists a standing army. This is the Planetary Defense Force (PDF) and is expected to defend destroy attackers, or defend long enough for support to arrive. As part of the Imperial Tithe, most planets are expected to raise Regiments for the Imperial Guard. These will be the best troops from the planet, and will be transported around the Galaxy to fight in warzones where they are most needed.

An Imperial Guard regiment will most likely never return to their home, instead, after 10 years of war, be allowed to join a collonisation flet and settle a new world.
-------------------
Due to the size of the Imperium, Imperial Guard from one planet may differ wildy from the next in both discipline and technology level. In general though, a Regiment of Imperial Guard is comparable to our own armies here on Earth today.

In war , the IG (Imperial Guard) are most commonly seen in huge battles, trench warfare, meatgrinders. In any situation in fact. The of course also function in scout roles and small forces form garrisons for important locations.

A stereotypical Imperial Guard army will consist of a front line of infantry supported by tanks and heavy weapons. This of course is not their only style, but a commonly seen one. I myself fielded an army that almost entirely infiltrated close to the enemy a few weeks ago.
-------------------

In this mod, we will be developing a fairly standard mix of infantry and tanks. We will be making it possible to mechanise the army in Chimera Transports should the gamer so desire. OF course special units such as Storm Troopers will also avaliable. So expect the army in game to function well in particular on defense, but when played well, unstoppable on attack*.

*unless you get stopped of course ;).

[Dalveldrin]

As long as there are no Ogryns and Ratlings I shall be happy. Would actually prefer no Commisars but instead Cadians officers, but Ogryns and Ratlings should be slaughtered and stuff.

In my opinion of course.

Oh and Rough Riders.

[Emperors Teeth]

Nope, there are no ab-humans in the army. There are Commisars, but if you don't want them then don't use them.

Cadian officers??? I think you're confusing Officers and Commisars. Remember they are not the same.

[Ramrod]

i had completely missed the planning of this mod. O_O

it sounds awesome.

teeth, is there a finalised army list somewhere i can read?

[PBrain]

I've already made complete Imperial Guard army list (including vehicles and buildings) in another post. You guys are free to use mine. Same with everyone else. It's a plagiaism party.

http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=35125

[BitchX]

As long as you add Karskin's and the Comissars are done right, ill definately play it :beer:

[Annatar]

Emporers Teeth, are you by any chance searching for people to do concept art. My photoshop and 3DsMax skills are basicly non-existant...but Im quit good with ink and a scanner. A also understand the limitations imposed by modelling software and poly-counts, so I can do feasable stuff.

The only reason I ask is that I had some ideas floating in my head for IG buildings. Im seeing lots of sandbags, barbed wire and concrete as the defining elements.
The other things was, in keeping with the massive manpower and firepower of the IG, maybe most of their buildings should be equipped with light weapons like orc structures.

Im a bit confused by the number of mods that are in progres for the IG alone, but I am basicly happy to do concept stuff for any team.

[CommisarJagnsi]

I would like to help in any way I can. I can do concept art, basic C++, website moderation, bug testing, map making, and the like.

Question: Have you considered applying for a forum in the Relic Clans? They give out forums to mod teams as well. If you need someone to help sign off on the forums, I will.

EDIT: Also some models I have seen in DoW single player videos and screenies. So hold off if you wanted to model these.

Guardsmen (lasgun only so far)
Leman Russ MBT
Commisar or Colonel, probably a Colonel

[Lord Dante]

im just wondering why you are doing a cadian mod when the cadians are already in the game?

seems a bit pointless?

[Ramrod]

from screenshots, we've only seen infantry and leman russes.

and they aren't cadian, they're a PDF wearing cadian equipment.

it has been sad in a few interviews that the PDF will not be a fully developed race and will only have a small seletion of units, so it isn't pointless. not by a long shot.

also, jangsi, he's probably a planetary governor, since he isn't carrying any weapons. and if you know anything about the IG, you know that officers lead by example. an IG officer would never be caught dead without a weapon.

[Emperors Teeth]

To Annatar:
There is only 1 IG mod in progress, this one. The other threads are merely discussions on the subject and never developed into a full mod. I didn't see the situation so decided someoen should make a start.
With regard to concept art, some pen and ink stuff would be amazing. I'll send you a PM with more detail.

To CommisarJagnsi:
I'm sure Annatar wouldn't mind you doing concept art as well. the more the merrier. I'll talk to Sparky about your knowledge of C++, I'm no techy.
Website moderation, bug testing, map making are fairly low priority at the moment, as well, we haven't got anything to test...

Let me assure all we are well aware of what is in the game already. There is a lot more available to the Imperial Guard tha appears in the game (as far as we know). If we are able to use the infantry models then that'd be nice, and us some work. But what about buildings, other characters, weaponry, tanks... There is a lot of stuff to plan and make.

Double Post

I'll apply for a mod Forum when I've got enough of a team together to make it worth while. About 5 people ought to do. I'm just waiting to hear back from some people.

[sparky]

the tech tree files should be done now? i started it and did about 90% of it but im not sure.

[Annatar]

and they aren't cadian, they're a PDF wearing cadian equipment.


For all practical purposes then they are Cadian.

I would have to agree with CommisarJagnsi that the modellers should take advantage of any official content they can. Afterall the troops will be the most difficult component if their hundreds of animations are factored. Its only logical then to use the IG trooper included in the SP, even if he would require some minor modifications.
Likewise with the LemanRuss MBT.

[BaronVonSnakPak]

the guardsmen in the ign vids look incredible. i highly suggest using those models/animations for the mod.

[Emperors Teeth]

Maybe we could combine sometime to make a Damocles Crusade mod?
Who knows!

You know, somehow I missed that line alltogether! that'd be a great idea. The Necron lead (Sparky) and myself are mulling over something with the Necron mod, even if it's just a mod v mod game. Inter-mod cooperation is going to be vital at later stages to make sure they are all compatible. Which as I'm sure you are aware is a very important topic for us to consider.

I'm going to try and get the rest of the tech-tree done tonight. When it's done and the mod team have looked it over to check for glaring errors, we'll put it up here.

update: Ugh, nearly done. It's really exciting stuff is resource and power ratings....

[CommisarJagnsi]

Someone around here wanted to start the Dark Milliennium mod, which is all the mod races added together.
http://www.swcombine-asp.com/darkmillennium/

[Dalveldrin]

Yeah, I guess there is only so much you can do before the game is released but.... that site hasn't changed in like 3 months.

[Emperors Teeth]

Hey, I got some work done at last! Okay, it's not a pretty picture, but a majority of the tech-tree is complete. Building names are crude and provisional at best. The following will be included in the mod:

Command Centre
Techpriest Enginseer (builder)
Conscript Platoon (basic unit)
Squad cap increase
Vehicle cap increase
Tech upgrade 1
Tech upgrade 2

Barracks
Command Squad
Infantry Squad
Storm Troopers
Heavy Weapons Team
Special Weapons Team
Frag Grenades
Krak Grenades (or Melta Bombs)

Listening Post
Bigger guns upgrade 1
Bigger guns upgrade 2
Resource improvement 1
Resource improvement 1
Servo-skull

Generator
Upgrade 1
Upgrade 2

Plasma Generator
(*must check if it has an upgrade)

Turret Bunker
Upgrade 1 (bigger guns)
OR
Upgrade 2 (even bigger guns

Armory
Heavy Weapons
Sergeant upgrade 1 - bolt pistols
Sergeant upgrade 2 - Plasma pistols
Sergeant melee 1 - Power weapons
Accuracy upgrade 1
Accuracy upgrade 2
Health upgrade 1
Health upgrade 2

Tank Factory
Leman Russ Battle Tank
Leman Russ Exterminator
Hellhound
Griffon Mortar
Chimera
Sentinel
*another tank?
*another tank?

Chapel
Commissars
Priests?
Sanctioned Psykers?
Commander health upgrade 1 (refractor field)
Commander health upgrade 2 (conversion field)
Commander Melee upgrade 1(Master crafted weapon)
Commaner Ability 1 (Stand Fast! - morale increase)
Commander Ability 2 (Artillery Bombardment :evilnod:)

-----------------

Conscripts: Flamer, Grenade launcher, Melta
Infantry Squads: Heavy bolter, Missile launcher, flamer, grenade launcher, melta
Storm Troopers: Flamer, Grenade launcher, Melta, Plasma
Special Weapons Squads: Flamer, Melta, Plasma, Sniper
Heavy Weapon Squad: Heavy Bolter, Missile Launcher
Command Squad: Famer, Grenade launcher, Melta, Plasma

-----------------

(note, this is not the complete tech-tree, that's far to complicated to post on here)

I'm looking into including some sort of Super-unit akin to the Avatar or Squiggoth. I noticed the Stormblade lurking around here, and am becoming aweful tempted to include the Baneblade as it. I'm sure pathing could be figured out with a little work.

[Colonel]

and they aren't cadian, they're a PDF wearing cadian equipment
then they are cadian as imperial guard equipment varies from regiment to regiment

each planet is required to supply 10% of its PDF to the imperial guard at any time.
Even if they only have 100 PDF 10 of those are imperial guardsmen, and they use the same equipment that they would if they were PDF.

[opensketchbook]

I got a cool little way to represent the IG buildings. The IG get a builder unit called the pioneer (spelling?). This unit set up the buildings. When a building is first built it starts as a tent or tents with sandbags and barbed wire around it. The building then can be upgraded to a prefab plassteel version, then a bunker-like building. Why would a Guardsman upgrade his buildings? Because the tent version of the building builds units and upgrades REALLY SLOWLY. I mean really really slow. When the building is upgraded, build time decreases. When fully upgraded, the build time is faster than it should be. This is a great way to represent the sluggish nature of the IG. As the battle progresses, the IG become the ultimate attrition machine, putting out soldiers faster than the enemy can keep up with. This is important, because the IG can't hold up to their enemies in any other way.
Some other things:
1. When a Guardsmen unit is built, it is ten men strong. It can't go over ten men. So you can replace dead guys, but it's ten men, right away.
2. The normal Guard squads can't get heavy weapons. Instead, they get squads of 6 men in teams of 2, like the grots. You then pick a heavy weapon, and the whole squad gets it. So you have 3 weapons for 6 guys.
3. The barracks. The tent version is just a tent, a sandbag wall around it with a large clear area and a smoke grenade in the middle of this cleared area. The guard come down in Valcarries (spelling?), those IG helicopter things you get from forge world.
4. Commisars rally the troops like sargents for the Space Marines, no shooting required. This is because many players may not want there sargent dead in combat.
5. The guard do not require power. Instead, the vehicles can only move for a period of time before they must get their fuel replenished. This is done by a pioneer, in the same way a servitor repairs vehicles.
5. Building list. This is the list of building I think should be in the mod.

HQ: Builds pioneers. The IG start with a unit of guard on the ground.
Drop zone: barracks building.
Forward outpost: Listening post. However, rather than have a machine gun or something like that, the forward outpost builds a unit called engineers. Engineers dig trenches. Trenches can only be dug next to another trench, or a Forward outpost. Trenches count as cover for troopers in them. The engineers may also repair vehicles.
Field Chapel: Builds commissars. Heals squads.
Armoury: Upgrades for stuff. Note that a guard squad can only ever have 2 special weapons.
Training range: Builds Marksmen. The marksman is a single guardman with a sniper rifle. Also lets you add ablilties to guardman squads, like maybe Rolling Volley (double power lasgun shot from everyone in the squad).
Vox post: small building that gives you the ability to call airstrikes and drop units into combat via Valcyrise. (The helicopter things)
Vehicle drop point: Builds vehicles. The vehicles come down from big cargo shuttles.
Mines: Mines

Thats all I got. Maybe you can think of more buildings?

[Emperors Teeth]

See my previous post :stick:

I did toy with he idea of having the buildings develop from a tent to a fortification, but it just can't really be done smoothly without huge animations. Watch the building development in the game and you can see how each one almost seamlessly 'grows' to become it's improved version.

Now Imperial Guard aren't the fastest of armies to get moving, but to make them actually slower in-game would be a bad idea. Balance is everything, and if they go slower AND have poor troops, the gamne wouldn't last very long.

I was considering incorporating Valkyries in the mod somewhere. Perhaps when the Storm Troopers deep strike in.

Yeah, I agree on this one. I don't think I'll have Commissars execute the officer - that might just confuse the heck out of some players.

Fuel for the tanks though?!?!? Are you mad! There's enough micro-management in the game already. I wouldn't want to have to worry about my tanks running out of fuel in the middle of the battle. If you did this to IG tanks, you'd have to do it to others too... what makes Ork and Marine vehicles so fuel-efficient?

"Vehicle drop point: Builds vehicles. The vehicles come down from big cargo shuttles."

I really like this idea - I had wondered how to transport vehicle in. The only catch is it's a bit similar to the Marines. Annatar's going to chuck around a few ideas so we'll see how this one goes. The majority of the rest of the buildings though... There's some interesting ideas, but adding trench diggers and marksmen are just not what I'm looking to do. I do like the drop-zone name for the barracks - I was loathed to use the sterotypical sheds or tents.

[DraconianGuard]

Instead of regular turrets(don't know if you said this already), maybe instead you could have two IG units ducking behind a circular wall of sandbags with a mounted Heavy Bolter. Maybe even a laser instead of bolter.For the second turret setting you could have a mounted rocket system.

For a WhirlWind replacement you could have a Basilisk tank? Both are artillery and mobile.

[ninjin]

or you could even go for the obscure Bombard and Manticore heavy artillery.

[opensketchbook]

Yes, I agree with many of the points over the buildings, though I still like the trenches, it's means that the Ig have to use there own guys as defense all the time.

[CLR]

Instead of regular turrets(don't know if you said this already), maybe instead you could have two IG units ducking behind a circular wall of sandbags with a mounted Heavy Bolter. Maybe even a laser instead of bolter.For the second turret setting you could have a mounted rocket system.

Its a great idea but the amount of animation involved is just not feasible (consider atleast 4 animations if not 5, for something that can be easily replaced with a turret).

Have you thought of a bunker instead? It would imply man forces within (very IGish), and could even have two soldiers fly out when the bunker gets blown up...

[Chaos Lord]

so i assume for this the artilary unit will be the basilisk then?
and speaking of vehicles; with the orks there are alot more vehicles than the other 3 races dose this maen that you will be putting a large selection of vehicles in to complement the IG style of fighting?

[Emperors Teeth]

I want to add a large selection of vehicles (though not excesive). In the tech-tree on the previous page I showed the contents of the mod. There are roughly 2 spaces left open for more vehicles.
We will not be using any of the extremely long-range artillery such as Basilisks, Bombards or Manticore. These are too big for the up-close-and-personal style warfare in DoW. I did mention in the upgrades earlier that the comadner would have an 'Artillery Bombardment'. This is my tribute to such weapons.

Double Post

For listening posts I was thinking pillboxes, but turrets I'm not sure about. It confused me at first when I noticed that Relic had used the Imperial Guard Turret for the Marines.

[JediNeophyte]

Looks good so far - I'm a total Guard nut so I can't wait to see this mod in action. If you need a helping hand in about any way except 3d art/animation, I'd love to help.

EDIT: I can even provide some webspace/forums if necessary. :Pirate:
Throw me an email at jedineophyte at gmail.com if interested.

[bahmehbah]

if only I knew anything about modding then I would put all my time into helping you. Unfortunately, I am completely uneducated as to ANY modding stuff, so I'll just sit back and hope you do a good job. And then get the mod as soon as i can....
oh, and ideas:
I don't like the idea of psykers in the IG army. But that is cuz I don't like psychic stuff.
I don't think you should have Basilisks as an ingame unit... their range, if transalated correctly, would hit pretty much anywhere on the map. Instead you should either have them as a special ability (like orbital bombardment, but without the "orbital") or just use Griffons (I think that's the right one) as their artillery.
Anyway, good luck with the mod :)

[Random Person]

Have a baneblade.

[Dalveldrin]

It's fun playing with the Guard on the demo, they all look pretty cool.

[Emperors Teeth]

Alright, I bet you thought it'd never happen! We've made a proper start on the mod... take a look:

The Imperial Guard Forum (http://clanforums.relicnews.com/viewforum.php?f=83)

Please try and post in there rather than here if you want to suggest ideas on gameplay, design or anything as we'll check it more often.