Matewis: Uhm, lorewise or gamewise? I'm not as clued up about 40k's lore as I'd like to be, but from what I understand their soldiers are pretty weak individually, but they make up for that with their large numbers and powerful vehicles. What are those sayings? Something like "The imperial guard is the emperor's sledgehammer" and "The space marines are the emperor's scalpel"
In DoW1 the imperial guard were just as dangerous as the other factions, and had a pretty strong late game from what I can remember. Their infantry squads were the largest of any faction and they had very good vehicles. Their artillery in particular was devastating. And a properly defended Baneblade in a support role was always absolutely terrifying.
Elmofongo: Well if you are willing to watch nearly an hour long video watch some of Arch Warhammer's vids on Bretonnia both lore and gameplay and see how it compares to the Impeiral Guard.
Because that is how I see both factions.
The Imperial Guard is the more "Traditional" Modern Military Army right down to the standard green colors compared to the more Super Soldier like Space Marine.
Bretonnia to Warhammer Fantasy is the more "Traditional" Medieval British human army compared to the more Renissance Holy Roman Empire aesthetics of the "Empire"
Unfortunately I don't really know enough about the lore or tabletop to make anything more than a superficial comparison. Aesthetically at least it really does come across as you say (except perhaps that modern militaries don't have
commissars on the battlefield executing their own troops to 'improve' morale).
Warhammer lore is fascinating though, at least the little that I've read. I particularly like the history of Earth and the early days of the space marines. A favorite of mine is the Salamander's legendary
assault on the tempest galleries from a time before the emperor was the undisputed ruler of mankind. It's part of the reason why my starting army, had I gone into the tabletop (which I almost did), would've been the Salamanders.
