So, as the name implies, I'm curious about these sorts of characters. For those of you who don't know, Lukas Alexander and Vance Stubbs are mechanically the same guy, with some different history; the lead IG in two of the Dawn of War games (Dark Crusade and Soulstorm, respectively), while everyone knows who Straken is, and I didn't mention Creed because A. you wouldn't know he's around till he wanted you to, and B. he's a totally different kind of leader.

Well, these guys are leaders, obviously. I did a variant of Alexander (G.Mil. Markus Krueger) once, mostly because I really liked Alexander in DC, and made a custom mini of him for tabletop (he turned out a bit broken/complicated there, because I made it), but I could see having a bit of fun statting up some of these. Then, I get to the precipice; is there any point? A video game will use these, because they want you to feel in charge of your faction. Heck, Krueger, Stubbs, and Alexander are dedicated ASSAULT characters, something IG doesn't even really field, unless you consider disposable troops who CAN assault, or actually use Ogryns/Bullgryns, and they DON'T actually get shot up, and die. In this game, however, you are supposed to feel a bit less in control, at least at first, and once you reach the echelon of where these lofty leaders stand, you're hanging out in the rear, sending other people off to their deaths, like others did to you. Would there ever even be a good reason to see these people? Whatever battlefield they are on, with the number of battlefields, you probably aren't, and no one likes the NPC who outshines the players, unless you get to shoot them for it (read: the bad guy). Top it all off with many factions (Space Marines, Orks, Nids) can justify bringing out their biggest leaders, at least a little, or they fight that way, and CAN fight, but the best IG leaders are in a bunker, miles away, maybe a planet away, never seeing the field, unless their last bastion is actually under fire. Creed is my favorite IG character, and I can almost never justify seeing him on table, cost-wise, or story-wise.

As much as I like the big guys in the IG, character-wise, AND can enjoy statting up stuff for no better reason, is there ever a good reason to use them? I'm finding them almost as hard to justify here as in table-top, where you can look at your typical Company Command Squad, and say "that's a good squad", but then you say "cyber-shotgun man? Dedicated melee leader? way-overpriced, and just as squishy CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!? Nope, they CAN'T justify their expense." If I were ever to write up, and post, an OW stat block for Straken, say, I expect the only responses would be those who said I did it wrong, or those who say "neat. Now, WHY did you do this?" Is there ANY good reason to build up the higher echelon IG in your games, beyond "you are the PCs, you answer to this officer. Their name is _____________________", and a brief description, since you might only rarely ever even see him/her, again. How much have you put into the people above your PCs, but who they aren't expected to capture/immobilize/kill/neutralize, thus the need for some stats?

Sort of makes me sad, if no, because as fun as making characters is for me, sometimes I like to use existing ones as inspiration, as something to shoot for, if I expect the character to possibly live that long, but while the Imperium is filled with Calgars, Dantes, Draigos, and Thrakas, I'm just not sure the IG "heroes" fall into that category. They retire from the field, and that's one reason why Farsight and Shadowsun compensate with mini-gundam mecha suits; to add to their survivability.

Alright, I'm done with today's pointless question/book typing. Thanks for reading, for any thoughts you might have, and please have a good one.

Well, the players could certainly see these characters. On a platform as they march past them and raise their hands to a salute. Or maybe even during an award ceremony or a briefing if they've been really good. Otherwise you'd have to forcefully insert various exceptional scenarios, such as the good old "the commander's Valkyrie has been shot down, we're mounting a rescue op!"

But maybe that'd already be enough for you, considering that the players could fight alongside such a hero at least once?

Other than that, personally I don't think these characters would be suitable for frontline action -- with exception of Colonel Straken! It is important to keep in mind that all the Imperial Guard regiments follow different tactics and doctrines, and whilst many commanders wisely choose to lead from a bunker to protect the chain of command from breaking down thanks to an enemy grunt's lucky hit, some regiments are primitive or outright crazy courageous and death-defying enough to have their leaders fight as if they were Commissars, leading from the front. Straken is one such example, otherwise he would not have accomplished such badass feats as ambushing and strangling a CSM Lord (Codex Planetstrike).

Most of the time I'd rather focus on the "little heroes" of the Imperial Guard, meaning not the highly decorated walking Christmas trees you call generals and staff officers, but rather the NCOs and Lieutenants that make sure their orders are carried out.

For example, your players should totally meet Marbo at some point.

(that is, if you are playing in the appropriate timeframe rather then the default established in Dark Heresy)