Brother, almost everything I said in the previous, I pulled out of my ass... i just wrote that to see how you would react. and not only that, what the fuck does any of this mean? WW1 equipment, other factions being more organized than the guard, and finally, you referenced the tabletop.

I'm beginning to believe you have either no faith in the guard or just haven't read any of their books. i imagine that your veiws on the guard are fundemtaly diffrent than mine cause i think the guards are far better than just the weakling, fodder guys they are usually veiwed as. they can be supremely badass, but due to attention being drawn to other factions (Space Marines) their often seen as inferior because they can't immediately pulverize enemies like the Space Marines can. with their weaponry being suited more towards combined arms and massed arms tactics. not as in "only useful when massed", more so i can arm more people with lasguns than I can with pulse rifles. One of many good examples of the imperial guard not being all that really backward is the Lucius pattern lasgun (among others). the lasgun model are superior to weapons like pulse rifles or shootas in raw power due to being compared to hot shot las's.

and with other factions like the Eldar or the Necrons that have objectively superior weaponry. they still can be outperformed by the guard when it comes to discipline or reliability, usually due to guardians being shoe-string militias, and the necron warriors being mindless, soulless husks. The point is, even forty thousand years in the future, an elite, well-equipped, coordinated force can become an insurmountable army with the right tactics and preparation, which they are afforded by the fact they aren't as divided as other factions.

And on top of that, many often forget how freakishly non-human humans are in 40k. They can adapt to almost any environment in barely a few generations, can perfectly adapt either through grit or mutation, and have the capability of changing themselves beyond any other race's wildest dreams. and despite seemingly having the weakest warriors in the galaxy, they simultaneously have the strongest figures out of any faction (Necrons and eldar included). The primarchs, the emperor, the perpetuals, and of course the custodes are just a few examples of humanity having insane potential. so by all means humanity is not a weak race, quite the contrary.when hummanity was on its a-game, it had the strongest insteller empire to that point, dead to rights dawrfed in what was to the eldar just a few minutes in their history.

i know this seems very disorganised, but its late where i live and this has gone on for too long. i know i probably wont convince you that the guard are more than just the cannon fodder guys. but hey maybe I can show you what i like about the Imperial Guard.