I know how odd this question might sound, but do Guardsmen actually get leave? IE the ability to actually take leave and maybe even visit other worlds? The only reason I think about it at all is that it might be decent for some RP elements, either that or my thoughts about possibly importing some Dark Heresy elements into my Only war game.

Yes.

In order to restore combat readyness and mental stability soldiers do get leave. How far they can go while is a very different matter.

When you are in the IG you get Rest & Relaxation but only on that planet where you are posted.

So no visiting other planets and you are only "allowed" to visit places that have been "acknowledged" by Departmento Munitorium.

But there are always ways to visit some rougher places if you know where to look. But you are not allowed to be intoxicated, gotten into a fight or other things that can be seen as unmilitaristic.

You might get flogged in good day, executed on a bad day.

I completely agree with Lynata's interpretation, save this one thing:

[...]

... and a soldier in the Imperial Guard will never see their home again, barring exceptional circumstances such as a discharged veteran somehow managing to scrounge together enough money to buy passage on a civilian liner that actually connects whichever world he was last stationed on with the planet where the regiment was initially raised. [...]

I do not believe so. As far as I know, Imperial Guardsmen do have a tour of duty - likely lasting many years and likely differing from planet to planet, regiment to regiment. While the vast majority of off-planet operating Imperial Guardsmen will likely not see home again due to a variety of circumstances (death, being far too far away, time, settling down elsewhere, or just choice, etc), while the many worlds of the Imperium are disparate, many, many of them are also inexorably interconnected, and I do not see much of a problem with former veterans accompanying transports home as the regiment is set to be reinforced, or serving aboard transport vessels.

There's definitely no guaranteed transport "back home", and it might prove problematic if you end your career in the middle of a warzone - although I would consider that unlikely, since you resigning your commission or formally finishing your tour of duty would likely be flat-out denied while in-theater of operations.

It might take some time, years in many cases, but unless you're literally on the other side of the galaxy (a distinct possibility), I don't see why you wouldn't be able to return home. Especially planet-hopping between Hive Worlds and Agri-Worlds seems like a good idea to me, because the transports there would be - comparatively speaking - plentiful. Following pilgrimage routes or backtracking Departmento Munitorum supply routes might also be a good idea.

That's why I kept it as a possibility. I'm just not sure that, in most cases, they would have the necessary valuables to pay for the trip, and that's before we consider that there's probably a number of worlds (chiefly of the Feral or Feudal kind) that would likely not see a ship in decades. It'd probably be easier if you were trying to get back to a Hive, ofc, but even then you would have to arrange for multiple passages, and this might exceed the average veteran's budget ... provided the Imperium does even give him or her something as a reward for their service (I don't see them earning a wage, but I could see them getting a one-time payout at discharge).

In GW's write-up of the Guard (which is what I've subscribed to), regiments also don't get reinforced from home but only by regiments already in proximity - this has to do with all troops being raised as fixed regiments rather than receiving individual assignments, and with the effects of Warp travel (average response time for a newly raised IG regiment is 3 months) rendering potential supply routes from a regiment's homeworld impractical, just because what you send now won't reflect a unit's needs several months from the time the shipment gets underway.

So the Munitorum is preferring an "on-site" approach when it comes to logistics: merging two understrength regiments to get a full one, requisitioning food from the locals, having the nearest Forge World supply standardised charge packs and spare parts. That is why they've got the lasgun, and why local PDF vehicle variants are rarely recruited into the Guard. What this means for our veteran is that it'd be a huge coincidence if a Navy transport in orbit of his current whereabouts is planning to go back to his old homeworld rather than ... well, anywhere else it might be needed, really. With few exceptions (resource shipments to Hive and Forge Worlds), the Imperium operates on an "as needed" basis rather than planning ahead, which is why a planet may not be called upon to tithe men and/or women to the Guard for centuries, only to then suddenly have to raise 20 regiments at once because of Waaagh.

And then there's the sacrifice. A veteran of 10+ years of combat, who actually managed to survive that long, will have formed a strong bond with their comrades, whereas their family has become a distant memory. And since units that did survive this long are turned into armies of conquest, with allowance to settle on a world they capture, a returnee would also forego their colonial rights.

It's kind of like a Roman Legionary who, after having served 20 years in wars throughout Europe, would be granted a plot of land in Britannia, but for some reason he thinks it's a good idea to trek back to Italy by foot and ship. I'm sure soldiers like that existed, but I don't see this being common.

But as I said, matter of preferences - and for what it's worth, we seem to once again agree on the most bits!

That's why I kept it as a possibility. I'm just not sure that, in most cases, they would have the necessary valuables to pay for the trip, and that's before we consider that there's probably a number of worlds (chiefly of the Feral or Feudal kind) that would likely not see a ship in decades. It'd probably be easier if you were trying to get back to a Hive, ofc, but even then you would have to arrange for multiple passages, and this might exceed the average veteran's budget ... provided the Imperium does even give him or her something as a reward for their service (I don't see them earning a wage, but I could see them getting a one-time payout at discharge).

In GW's write-up of the Guard (which is what I've subscribed to), regiments also don't get reinforced from home but only by regiments already in proximity - this has to do with all troops being raised as fixed regiments rather than receiving individual assignments, and with the effects of Warp travel (average response time for a newly raised IG regiment is 3 months) rendering potential supply routes from a regiment's homeworld impractical, just because what you send now won't reflect a unit's needs several months from the time the shipment gets underway.

So the Munitorum is preferring an "on-site" approach when it comes to logistics: merging two understrength regiments to get a full one, requisitioning food from the locals, having the nearest Forge World supply standardised charge packs and spare parts. That is why they've got the lasgun, and why local PDF vehicle variants are rarely recruited into the Guard. What this means for our veteran is that it'd be a huge coincidence if a Navy transport in orbit of his current whereabouts is planning to go back to his old homeworld rather than ... well, anywhere else it might be needed, really. With few exceptions (resource shipments to Hive and Forge Worlds), the Imperium operates on an "as needed" basis rather than planning ahead, which is why a planet may not be called upon to tithe men and/or women to the Guard for centuries, only to then suddenly have to raise 20 regiments at once because of Waaagh.

And then there's the sacrifice. A veteran of 10+ years of combat, who actually managed to survive that long, will have formed a strong bond with their comrades, whereas their family has become a distant memory. And since units that did survive this long are turned into armies of conquest, with allowance to settle on a world they capture, a returnee would also forego their colonial rights.

It's kind of like a Roman Legionary who, after having served 20 years in wars throughout Europe, would be granted a plot of land in Britannia, but for some reason he thinks it's a good idea to trek back to Italy by foot and ship. I'm sure soldiers like that existed, but I don't see this being common.

But as I said, matter of preferences - and for what it's worth, we seem to once again agree on the most bits!

I like your read on this Lynata but to extend your Roman analogy: Generals and senior officers were often also members of the Imperial senate and thus Did in fact travel home after their tours of duty. They would return with their retinue and if lucky would receive a "Tribute" upon returning (A parade.) Given the Size of a Voidship in 40k I could easily see "where Guard honorably discharged" veterans being allowed to accompany such an officer back to "Civilized" Imperial space. Of course once the Officer reached their destination the Veterans would be on their own from that point! I also agree with you about the Nature of human bonding though. If a Regiment served long enough to be "retired" as a Conquest army, How many of them would actually want to return home? Many will actually have families and close bonds within their regiment and would not want to leave it. (I still talk to some of my old Navy buddies and that was twenty years ago!)

Lastly though; I have read books where a regiment is rotated to the Rear echelon somewhere for R&R. This would obviously be very much at the convenience of the Munitorium and the Lord Generals but still, It does happen. Individual off-world leave though would be extremely unlikely and undoubtedly involved someone VERY well connected way above the character if it happened at all! (Such as; Private Oreillus is the 5th son to to a Planetary governor who wishes him home to attend his first son's succession to his thrown!)

Depending on accumulated wealth from wages (...if any; i.e. depending on homeworld), it might maybe even be possible to secure transport for your family to the recently conquered planet in question, on which the guardsman have been granted homestead and residence (and, more than likely, a relatively prominent position within the colony, assuming that the surviving veterans are the core founding group and latecomers are simply colonists).

Maybe it's a bit idealised, but it just came to mind. I kinda like the idea of a guardsman having loved ones at home that he fights for, whether it's to support them with his wages earned in blood or to secure a homestead for his extended family on a clean colonial world, far away from the filthy underhive they live in now.

I'm actually kind of interested by this. I wonder if retirement is even possible in the Imperium. We are talking about an organization that cares not one iota for its soldiers. You are tithed to the Emperor, so you rather belong to the Guard, and your value is your combat ability, and likely how you die in that action. If you are a Veteran, still alive and kicking, there is certainly always another conflict where your experience could be invaluable, and further broadened. Letting you "retire" seems unnecessary, rather wasteful. Fire Caste warriors fight till they die, or teach. Judges in Judge Dredd serve till death, or much more rarely, old age, where in they return their gear, take a few things, and go off, into the Cursed Earth alone, to take the law to the lawless, so even then, they still serve, and it is a death sentence. R&R I accept; that's critical to your continued performance effectiveness, but if you can still serve, I don't think they'd cut you loose, to return to a distant homeland, or to stay on the world you're standing on. They might shoot you for insubordination, or willingly throw you in front of a tank, with 20 other folks, just hoping to slow its progress a titch; these don't seem the same folks who'd pat you on the shoulder for a job well done, and send you off to home.

As I recall from of the old Guard background, the best fate an Imperial Guard regiment can hope for is to be given settlement rights on a world they have conquered. It reminds me a little bit of the Dune universe, a consequence of interstellar warfare was the spread the genetic diversity of the human species... soldiers settling on new worlds, adding their genetics to the local gene pool.

When I introduced Only War to my players, who did not know the 40K background at all, they suggested that Guardsmen not going back to their homeworld made sense given the insular and rigid nature of the Imperium. Imperial governors wouldn't want Guardsmen returning to their homeworld with stories of other worlds, other cultures and other ways of doing things. They especially wouldn't want people who had seen the reality of the horrors... and wonders... of the galaxy coming home to spread stories which might be contrary to the Imperial propaganda. Better to send them on, at best to found new worlds at worst to die for the glory of the God-Emperor.

I like your read on this Lynata but to extend your Roman analogy: Generals and senior officers were often also members of the Imperial senate and thus Did in fact travel home after their tours of duty.

Fair point - I was only argueing on the basis of the common soldier. I suspect senior officers - who tend to come from the nobility of the regiment's homeworld - might (depending on proximity) have the connections and the wealth to secure passage back home without an inkling of the trouble the common trooper would have to go through. That being said, it is the officer class that is made the new nobles of a conquered world where the regiment settles ... that's even tougher to turn your back on!

If a Regiment served long enough to be "retired" as a Conquest army, How many of them would actually want to return home? Many will actually have families and close bonds within their regiment and would not want to leave it.

Wow, I totally forgot about possible families. An excellent addition! I recall reading (again, purely going by Codex fluff now) about children being sired during a campaign, and then accompanying the regiment in a wagon train until they're old enough to fight by the sides of their fathers (or mothers) themselves.

As for R&R, it just so happens that I've just watched " All Quiet On The Western Front " again (I really hope y'all seen it .. if not, it's about time ), and there the company was transferred into the (relatively) quiet hinterlands for a single day of rest before being sent back into the trenches. This is how I really could imagine the Imperial Guard to operate - combining the necessity of the troops being available for almost continuous combat with a minimum of recreation.

Of course, it's likely that a lot of units have their very own ways of "R&R" - with some not considering it at all (DKoK?), whereas others have sufficient fun looting and pillaging their way through the local villages and cities (esp. various Feral and Feudal World regiments) as they move about the lands...

Fire Caste warriors fight till they die, or teach.

Now that you mention it .. I do remember reading in the background for GW's Inquisitor game that many Drill Abbots of the Ecclesiarchy's Schola Progenium facilities are retired Guard veterans, passing on their experience to their youthful charges as they prepare them for service in the Emperor's armies.

"It is the task of the Drill Abbot to give specialised combat training to these children. Many are Imperial Guard veterans who have been ordained as Abbots, though a few are products of the Schola Progenium themselves. [...] To back up these close combat weapons, a Drill Abbot will normally have at least one gun, usually a heavy duty service pistol picked up whilst in the military. This can be complemented by numerous short swords, knives or mauls, or possibly an electro-baton which delivers a numbing shock and is usually employed to discipline wayward Progena. As veterans of real combat, many Drill Abbots sport prosthetic limbs and artificial organs, usually proudly displayed as trophies of honour rather than concealed beneath synskin or clothing."

And speaking of Inquisitor, it did have something about Guard veterans, too:

"Not all Veterans are wholly sane, or even wholly men any more. Many suffer from severe battle psychosis to the extent that they hunger for battle, while others are haunted, paranoid individuals who believe that somewhere out there is the bullet or las bolt destined for them. The more dubious Imperial Commanders do not think twice about subjecting their Guardsmen to atrocities which would be considered barbaric by many, such as forced addiction to certain combat drugs, or the implantation of adrenal and endochrinal glands that turn the Veteran into a frenzied killing machine. In the most horrendous instances, the Veteran may have undergone such traumas that they are completely unhinged and unsuitable for normal service - tales abound of platoons forced to eat their dead comrades or starve; of being isolated for years at a time under continuous shelling until they are half-blind and deaf; of seeing alien and Chaotic monstrosities so hideous that they defy sanity."

[edit] Man, if you combine the two quotes ... the Imperium's children really are in good hands, aren't they.

And speaking of Inquisitor, it did have something about Guard veterans, too:

"Not all Veterans are wholly sane, or even wholly men any more. Many suffer from severe battle psychosis to the extent that they hunger for battle, while others are haunted, paranoid individuals who believe that somewhere out there is the bullet or las bolt destined for them. The more dubious Imperial Commanders do not think twice about subjecting their Guardsmen to atrocities which would be considered barbaric by many, such as forced addiction to certain combat drugs, or the implantation of adrenal and endochrinal glands that turn the Veteran into a frenzied killing machine. In the most horrendous instances, the Veteran may have undergone such traumas that they are completely unhinged and unsuitable for normal service - tales abound of platoons forced to eat their dead comrades or starve; of being isolated for years at a time under continuous shelling until they are half-blind and deaf; of seeing alien and Chaotic monstrosities so hideous that they defy sanity."

[edit] Man, if you combine the two quotes ... the Imperium's children really are in good hands, aren't they.

This is why I hand out Insanity Points very freely in my games.

Now that you mention it .. I do remember reading in the background for GW's Inquisitor game that many Drill Abbots of the Ecclesiarchy's Schola Progenium facilities are retired Guard veterans, passing on their experience to their youthful charges as they prepare them for service in the Emperor's armies.

"It is the task of the Drill Abbot to give specialised combat training to these children. Many are Imperial Guard veterans who have been ordained as Abbots, though a few are products of the Schola Progenium themselves. [...] To back up these close combat weapons, a Drill Abbot will normally have at least one gun, usually a heavy duty service pistol picked up whilst in the military. This can be complemented by numerous short swords, knives or mauls, or possibly an electro-baton which delivers a numbing shock and is usually employed to discipline wayward Progena. As veterans of real combat, many Drill Abbots sport prosthetic limbs and artificial organs, usually proudly displayed as trophies of honour rather than concealed beneath synskin or clothing."

And speaking of Inquisitor, it did have something about Guard veterans, too:

"Not all Veterans are wholly sane, or even wholly men any more. Many suffer from severe battle psychosis to the extent that they hunger for battle, while others are haunted, paranoid individuals who believe that somewhere out there is the bullet or las bolt destined for them. The more dubious Imperial Commanders do not think twice about subjecting their Guardsmen to atrocities which would be considered barbaric by many, such as forced addiction to certain combat drugs, or the implantation of adrenal and endochrinal glands that turn the Veteran into a frenzied killing machine. In the most horrendous instances, the Veteran may have undergone such traumas that they are completely unhinged and unsuitable for normal service - tales abound of platoons forced to eat their dead comrades or starve; of being isolated for years at a time under continuous shelling until they are half-blind and deaf; of seeing alien and Chaotic monstrosities so hideous that they defy sanity."

[edit] Man, if you combine the two quotes ... the Imperium's children really are in good hands, aren't they.

And here I was wondering why Progena craduates (Commissars, Storm Troopers, Sisters of Battle, etc etc) are so caring and cheerfull persons.

They have been given the loving teaching of the Imperial's "Greatest" minds

Now that you mention it .. I do remember reading in the background for GW's Inquisitor game that many Drill Abbots of the Ecclesiarchy's Schola Progenium facilities are retired Guard veterans, passing on their experience to their youthful charges as they prepare them for service in the Emperor's armies.

Book of Martyrs, p. 68-69.

Alternate career rank, Guardsman 3+

This is an excellent thread. Our current group is the 81st Landrian, Drop Bears (yes...we're paratroopers) and our characters dream about the day we'll get to return home and be the big men in the hive, but we as players know it will likely never happen. Its an interesting roleplaying gimmick, one that motivates our characters.

Us actually knowing there is no going home gives a sad undertone to the game. Also that the guard doesn't give a flying crap about our troubles or the mates we've lost.

Great setting, just outstanding.

I just remembered something related to this though from a different direction, based on what I've read there are basically three ways Imperial Guard gets recruits:

1) The regiment periodically returns to the homeworld for reinforcements.

2) The homeworld periodically ships reinforcements to the unit in field.

3) The regiment recruits troops from the world they happen to be on at the time.

I am not sure if all regiments do the 1st and even if they do I think it was decades between trips to the home planet so certainly not every guardsman gets the chance to come back home on such a time, but that would be their best chance of return home. (I can also imagine some munitorium clerk telling an unlucky guardsman that he must leave with the regiment on another tour if he has even one day left in his 20 year term when the regiment leaves.) Just by the fact that a single tour lasts 20 years and one battle migh decimate the regiment means that they need a constant supply of fresh troops one way or another.

The third way I think is also rare, since the fluff specifically mentions that the planets pay part of their "taxes" with the guardsmen they supply to the Imperium so having other worlds supply their regiments would seem to be breaking the rules. Still I have read about such regiments at least in the White Dwarf magazine there was fluff describing such a method of reinforcing the regiment on field. (Propably not the only way they got reinforcements.)

Kind of making this up as I go, I sort of envisioned a tithe of pre-Guardsmen, being collected much like the Psyker tithe, and then flown to the Sector capitol (a much shorter trip). Once there, the "Imperial Guard trainers" (I don't have as easy a job coming up with a name as with the Scholastica Psykana, and Terra, since IG aren't trained in one place) mold them into the shape they'll take, Attillan Rough Riders, Cadian Shock Troops, Catachan Jungle Fighters, etc, and then these "trained" forces are sent out frequently, to whatever battle fronts are requesting backup.

Per most of the fluff I've read, the IG typically recruited from amongst a planets standing armies (PDF). They are loaded onto a transport and their IG training is conducted while enroute to their assignment. In most cases they are simply converted from whatever type of army they were to whatever the Munitorium deems they will become. Infantry will typically remain infantry and armour will typically be armour but their equipment and doctrines will be updated to IG standards. This means that a Light infantry unit will not change much a Feudal world's infantry will probably be taught to use Lasguns and wear flak armor.

From my understanding, sometimes it's as simple as

-Get pulled from your family into a pen, shipped up to a warp-faring transport, trained on las guns while in transit, fed a bunch of propaganda to give you courage, then die inside the first 20 seconds of the engagement.

Though sometimes, it's like this

-Sign up for regimental tithe, go to recruiter abbot, get specialist training (not the high class stuff but like medical or weapon specialist), train for nine months, go to combat zone, die in first 23 seconds of engagement

though mostly, planets tithe to the guard when called upon. Not every planet is giving up thousands of sons and daughters every year. Training is generally done on the way to the warfront, with a little more done on planetfall to familiarize with the environment (though not much...it's really just "see that? it's a tree, you don't know this because you're from a hive. See that? It's a rock, it's like a piece of scrap metal but less sharp."

One thing they actually don't do (regularly) is pull from the PDF (I'd like to know where you read that, Radwraith, I'm not familiar with that happening in canon). The PDF tend to be the planetary governor's handpicked types, the cream of the crop so to speak. He doesn't tithe those away to the IG. I mean, a battlegroup commander might make it really difficult for the governor to say no...but i've never heard it as a common practice.

Anyway, in regards to feudal and feral worlds, not all of them are given las guns. If they're really good at melee, they generally keep them as a melee-centric regiment. There are uses for guys like that in M41, trust me. Guys who are silent survivalists are highly prized on actions in thick environs. Though if we're talking infantry regulars, yeah, they're probably retrained to use lasguns.

Actually the fluff does state that the IG might be recruited from the PDF. Not all of it, there are regiments "recruited" from gangs in an hive or from warrior tribes on a feral world, but sometimes they are taken from the PDF.

I think somewhere it specifically says that sometimes PDF regiments stage battles (usually with training weapons, rarely with live ammo, because 40k world is like that) and the winners get to join the IG. I think it was in some fluff piece that went on about how the Munitorium insists that the Guard must get good quality troops, even if the Governor wanted to keep his best troops to himself he HAS TO make sure the IG get properly trained and equipped troops because if the Munitorium is not satisfied with the troops they might even change the governor.

And that is a big deal. The Imperium does not really care if the governor oppresses his subjects as long as they stay loyal (even if this has to be ensured by the Governors armed troops) but the Planetary Governor's main task is to ensure Imperium gets the tithe they request. And this includes supplying a specific amount of Imperial Guard regiments (wether infantry, armoured or whatever specialty is required.) of good enough quality. If they dump some tired, crippled, pressganged poor folk unfit for duty for example the Munitorium can and WILL "retire" the governor with extreme prejudice and replace him/her with someone who will do their job properly. (Heresy, treachery and other reasons to get rid of a Governor are up to the Inquisition but not paying the tithe, is something the Munitorium does not tolerate.)

Even the feudal worlds that send some tribesmen into the IG make sure those are the best warriors they have (and either they get a quick training to use lasguns, or are already useful enough with their own weapons to get the job done.)

One thing they actually don't do (regularly) is pull from the PDF (I'd like to know where you read that, Radwraith, I'm not familiar with that happening in canon). The PDF tend to be the planetary governor's handpicked types, the cream of the crop so to speak. He doesn't tithe those away to the IG. I mean, a battlegroup commander might make it really difficult for the governor to say no...but i've never heard it as a common practice.

I think in GW's own material, this has always been the case - with the Planetary Defence Force not so much being an elite force, but rather simply a catch-all term for any forces a planet keeps for defence . That being said, certainly any elite troops would be part of the PDF.

[edit] eldar'd

One thing they actually don't do (regularly) is pull from the PDF (I'd like to know where you read that, Radwraith, I'm not familiar with that happening in canon). The PDF tend to be the planetary governor's handpicked types, the cream of the crop so to speak. He doesn't tithe those away to the IG. I mean, a battlegroup commander might make it really difficult for the governor to say no...but i've never heard it as a common practice.

I think in GW's own material, this has always been the case - with the Planetary Defence Force not so much being an elite force, but rather simply a catch-all term for any forces a planet keeps for defence . That being said, certainly any elite troops would be part of the PDF.

"Every planetary Lord in the Imperium recruits, equips and maintains his own planetary defence forces. The number and types of troops vary tremendously from world to world. The forces of a multi-billion population hive world like Necromunda are vastly different from those of a sparsely populated forest world like Ryza. Regardless of the size of its armies, each world is obliged to make 10% of its total armed forces available for recruitment into the Imperial Guard in any year. [...] In practice, planetary Lords are often called upon to provide greater forces and more frequently, especially if the immediate danger is great. On the other hand, a planet which is far from any war zone may not be called upon to provide troops for many decades."

- 2E C:IG

"Every Imperial Commander in the Imperium, also known as a Planetary Lord or Imperial Governor, is responsible for the defence of their world. This is crucial as a planet may need to defend itself against the predations of a myriad of nefarious enemies for many months, or even years, before reinforcements arrive. To this end, they are duty-bound to recruit, equip, train and maintain a fighting force. On some planets this may take the form of an official military or a garrison force. On other worlds, the duty to defend their world may fall to dozens of separate armies, tribes or hive gangs, some of which may even be warring factions who unite to oppose an invading foe. In any case, these forces are unlikely to ever leave the confines of their home world.

However, as part of their annaul tithe, Imperial Governors are obliged to send no less than one tenth of their overall fighting force, and as much more as the Departmento Munitorum deem necessary, to fight the Emperor's wars throughout the galaxy. This is the most important aspect of the tribute, for it is these regiments that form the Imperial Guard. The exact number of regiments that are to be raised for the Imperial Guard will depend upon the individual world's tithe grade and its proximity to hostile warzones. [...] Should a tithe be of an unacceptable quality, the Imperial Governor's life is forfeit. For this reason, those soldiers selected for the Imperial Guard tend to be drawn from the elite of a planet's troops.

Methods of recruiting vary from world to world. On the Chaos-plagued world of Cadia, every man, woman and child is expected to serve in the Cadian Defence Force and, by extension, the Imperial Guard. On seething hive worlds such as Alcatran, it is common for entire generations to be drafted and sent to fight on distant worlds, the indentured gangs given the choice between volunteering or summary execution. On many planets, service in the Imperial Guard is seen as noble and brings much honour to the ruling houses. Many young hopefuls, especially on industrial worlds and factory planets, flock to the world's military forces in the hopes of being found worthy of the Imperial Guard - often the only chance of escape from their claustrophobic existence and endless work shifts. It is not unusual for the elite of a planet to compete for promotion to the Imperial Guard. On some of the more savage frontier worlds, these competitions can escalate into affairs that claim as many lives as a small war."

- 5E C:IG

"Every planet in the Imperium has a planetary defence force, and the Planetary Lord is obliged to provide a proportion of his total armed forces for recruitment into the Imperial Guard. Planetary defence forces are usually well equipped, as they may be the only defence the Planetary Lord has against a cult uprising or full scale invasion."

- http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1390008_The_complete_Storm_of_Vengeance_campaign_pack.pdf

"Armageddon is often called upon to raise regiments for major battles and campaigns all over the Armageddon sector. Regiments that fight off-world like this are called 'tithed regiments', after the process whereby each world in the Imperium is required to offer up at least 10% of the troops it raises and trains to the Departmento Munitorum for incorporation in the Imperial Guard.

Tithed regiments are supplemented by troops raised on other worlds that are not found on Armageddon, such as Ratlings or Ogryns, as well as certain types vehicles that are not manufactured on the planet. Many of these tithed regiments have been recalled to the planet during the Third Armageddon War, so a good proportion of Steel Legion regiments include troops not found on Armageddon itself.

This said, the bulk of the Steel Legion regiments fighting on Armageddon have never left the planet and are part of the Armageddon Planetary Defence Force. These regiments differ slightly from tithed regiments in the mix of units that they use, generally having no off-world auxilia or vehicles."

- http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1320005_6.0_Epic_Gaming.pdf

[edit] eldar'd

And now you know where I read it! Thanks Lynata! Additionally, If you read the Gaunt's ghost's series you would find that the Ghosts themselves were originally recruited from their world's PDF. Just sayin...

In a Ciaphas Cain novel it is also mentioned that a certain planet (The one where Cain was a teacher at the Schola Progenum, can't recall the name at the moment) has lost many of it's best PDF troops due to them being sent to Imperial Guard. Which causes trouble when they need to defend the world from an invasion.

... although the Cain novels usually aren't particularly known for sticking to Codex fluff - the one with the Schola being a good example, seeing as it did not practice gender separation, and the teachers, including a flirty Sororitas getting drunk whilst playing games of chance, certainly did not come across as if they'd practice a "puritan lifestyle".

Though I guess one of these books' primary purpose is poking fun at how 40k is portrayed in other sources, and offering up a brighter and somewhat less grimdarkdeadserious vision of the setting.

Which brings me to my usual disclaimer: There is no canon, the fluff is malleable, and any interpretation is a valid possibility. In case where contradictions arise, or one simply prefers a different idea, cherrypick what you like more! This also goes for the way how Guard regiments are recruited, what PDF actually means, and of course the subject of vacation / R&R.

I knew i could rely on you guys to sort me out. Thanks for the schooling.