So just because the Imperium is so "special" and got a shitton of , mostly worthless, codices, they need more than every other faction?
We're not talking about lore. If we are, sure. A Marine is far more accurate but Las weapons have no cause for recoil, las weapons are literally focused light. It is physically impossible for there to be difficulty in handling the weapon. In terms of playable Imperial Guard in Eternal Crusade, Las weapons are pinpoint as per fluff, there is no cause for recoil, spread or accuracy degradation of any kind and if Imperial Guard are ever added, this is something that should be highly emphasized. This would mean that skilled players could get headshots and take advantage of that 3x headshot multiplier, they'd very quickly turn deadly at range with good aim but would be very squishy in terms of melee & up close fighting. In regards to heavy weapons though, bear in mind that heavy weapons on space marine/chaos marine are braced on muscle while IG heavy weapons are braced on a tripod, should be practically no recoil at all. Cheaper specialist tools and melee options should also be a factor but they should lack any form of durability upgrades beyond one tier of armour and maybe a few bionic trinkets. The best tanks, the best heavy weapons by far but a lack of quality infantry with a high skill requirement to do well unless you select specialist kit, certainly a plausible faction.
If the game survives long enough, the first new faction is probably going to be Tau. The devs have said they're the most likely to be added first. Also, as others have said, it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever if IG fought against LSM. Thus, a faction imbalance would occur. The only way IG (or any other IoM factions) are going to get implemented would be through sub-faction mechanics/elite/hero classes. Same goes for (though to a lesser extent) CSM and any Daemon units.
Las weapons wouldn't have recoil, but the heat caused by the laser could cause the focusing crystal to expand enough to reduce accuracy with sustained fire. Also, you could reduce the headshot multiplier for particular weapons. And yes, they should have a focus on ranged combat over melee.
And I am pretty sure you are thinking this game will actually last that long if the devs do not fix the games obvious problems. At this point the devs can either do extreme amounts of work and polish the game up or just drop it. Bandai and Behavior do not have my trust. Not to derail the thread, but man I don't care about any factions or PAID DLC until the game is actually playable and fun. To get back to your topic, IG simply shouldn't be playable without a large commander function for AI troops or heroes of the empire like commissars or other officers (which is not canon or even plausible).
It's possible to care about multiple things at once, you know. Also, regarding "canon" when was the last time the Orks launched an attack on equal numbers of Astartes?
Imperial Guard? Hmmm... Dibs on a Baneblade! But it wouldn't FIT in the maps. *cries* Although I want artillery too. Whirlwinds and such would be all right, but give me a battery of Basilisks any day. Maybe a few air strikes? Drat, no flyers, mores the pity. 'Oh, yeah, that wall is LOTS of cover, lets bring the whole THING down!'
So then we should buff the SM to be unkillable and make every other faction die? Because lore and because thats the game? The focus isnt only on the Imperium, thats just the biased GW. If you want to focus on the Imperium, make a singleplayer game because noone will play against you.
The reason Orks are on par with Space Marines is because the entirety of the Ork faction doesn't want to be the designated XP farm faction for the movie marines. If they were to do the same with the Imperial Guard, then they'd have everyone complaining about how silly it is to have guardsmen tanking multiple bolts to the torso.
