I know the guardsmen starts with the imperial flak armour, something like that? and it covers all parts of the body with an ap of 4. These seems overpowering because there are only a couple of weapons that can go through 4 ap. I either have this wrong or my first rank gaurdsmen is overpowered

Im confused. please help

Sure, guard flack's got a bit more stopping power then some of the other armours, but it isn't that much better. And, granted it is far and above the best armour a character gets right out the gate, it's never long before those without armour or quilted vests will get something better, usually a flack jacket or coat. Besides, if someone's playing a Guardsmen, they are not only saying that they're looking for some combat, but that they hope to be marginally competent and survive fire fight with a gang scum firing a zip gun.

AP 4 is quite nice, but hardly invincible. Most weapons will still leak some damage through and getting caught in full auto fire is a sure fire way to die real quick or, at best lost an arm or two. The Guard Flack will just insure that the Guardsmen lasts a round longer then anyone else caught in full auto fire. Likewise, wandering around in full on military armour and helmet is a sure fire way to announce that you looking for trouble or it's not far off. That offsets it's stopping power a bit especially if the acolytes aren't looking to draw much attention. It is one of the heaviest modern armours outside carapace and screams "I'm Hard! You might want to take me down first before I really mess you up!" to the enemies that the characters get into combat with.

AP 4 will simply keep a character from dying a horrible death for a round or two longer then those without it. At least these have been my findings.

I generally downgrade helmets of package deals by one AP (compare every other helmet to the other available pieces of armour - they're generally one point lower) to make headshots worthwhile. Other than that, what's so terrifying about 4 AP? Most other characters will get up to at least 3 pretty soon since the flak coat is only 80 thrones. And compared to 3, 4 is only a damage reduction of one point.

I think its fair that a guardsman gets standard Imperial Guard flak armour when they start as they're meant to be drafted straight from the army. Also the Guardsman is in one of the lowest income brackets. Its pretty good for a starting character, but like the others have said, other careers will soon catch up, especially since they earn alot more cash.