STARTING AN ASTRA MILITARUM ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: THE IMPERIAL GUARD HOLDS THE LINE
The Astra Militarum are the Imperial Guard: ordinary soldiers in flak armour, massed infantry, and tanks that answer back. This page covers the Cadian box to start with, the Sentinels and Leman Russ that follow, and the three centrepieces a Guard collection orbits.
Twenty Cadians before anything else
The current Astra Militarum Combat Patrol is the right opening move. Guard starters are built around Cadian Shock Troops, the lasgun-and-flak silhouette of the whole faction, with a command element and some support. Before you buy anything else, paint that first squad to completion. The Guard rewards a simple, repeatable scheme: base fatigues, armour, skin, metal, wash, done. If you can face painting twenty of them, you can face the regiment, and the finished force looks like an actual army rather than a squad of superheroes. That underdog character, humans standing between the galaxy and annihilation, is why people fall for them.
Sentinels and a Leman Russ
- A second box of Cadian Shock Troops, because infantry is the army's spine and one squad is a bodyguard rather than a line.
- Sentinels: quick to build, fun to paint, and something on legs to break up the sea of helmets.
- Your first Leman Russ. The classic battle tank of the setting, endlessly buildable, and the moment the army starts feeling like the Guard.
Recommended: Leman Russ Battle Tank
Baneblade, Rogal Dorn or Lord Solar
Every Guard collection eventually orbits a centrepiece, and you have three good options. The Baneblade is the famous one, a super-heavy tank the size of a paperback stack that builds into several variants and turns heads at any club night. Lord Solar Leontus, resplendent on his horse, is the character-shaped alternative and a painting showcase. The Rogal Dorn battle tank sits between them: bigger than a Russ, less of a commitment than a Baneblade.
Recommended: Lord Solar Leontus
Infantry and Russes in every edition
11th edition re-costed the Guard and boxed sets rotate, so read the current points before drafting a list, especially in an army fielding models by the dozen. Infantry and Russes have been the Guard's core in every edition; paint the classics and no rules update will strand you.
Artillery after infantry
- Artillery batteries before your infantry is painted. Unpainted guns win no wars.
- A second Baneblade. One god-tank is a centrepiece; two is a question of where you keep it.
- Every regiment's flavour of trooper at once. Pick Cadians, get good, then diversify.
- Kasrkin before you have earned them. Elite grey plastic is still grey plastic.
Munitorum paperwork
The Departmento Munitorum runs on paperwork. Every kit gets logged on arrival and marked boxed, built or finished. With an army this size that ledger is what separates a growing force from a growing guilt pile, and the finished column climbing is its own medal. The full unit catalogue and lore are on the Astra Militarum faction page under Data.