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C.S. Goto - Eldar: Eldar Prophecy (2007, ISBN 1-84416-451-9) |
C.S. Goto - Necromunda: Salvation (2005, ISBN 1-84416-189-7) |
C.S. Goto - Others: Tears of Blood (Short Story) (Collected in Tales From the Dark Millennium (Anthology))Vindicare (Short Story) (Collected in Tales From the Dark Millennium (Anthology))Menshad Korum (Short Story) (Collected in Bringers of Death (Anthology))The Trial of the Mantis Warriors (Short Story) (Collected in Legends of the Space Marines (Anthology))The Tower (Short Story) (2006, collected in Let the Galaxy Burn (Anthology)) |
Cabal - Cabal: The Cabal was a secret organisation dedicated to the eradication of Chaos whose operatives were drawn from more than a thousand different intelligent xenos races, including the Aeldari and humanity. The Cabal claimed to have battled the forces of the "Primordial Annihilator" (Chaos) for a time longer than the existence of Mankind as a thinking species.The Cabal was a hidden organisation, covertly predicting the future and steering the intelligent races of the galaxy towards their ultimate goal of wiping Chaos from existence within the Empyrean. They are chiefly known for involving themselves in the Horus Heresy by using their foreknowledge of the Warmaster Horus' actions to seemingly suborn the Primarch Alpharius Omegon and his XX Legion of Space Marines, the Alpha Legion, to their cause before the Great Betrayal took place in the early 31st Millennium.The Cabal itself eventually came to be seen as a threat to the Aeldari species' ability to defeat Chaos as foreseen by its greatest Farseer, Eldrad Ulthran of Craftworld Ulthwe. To prevent the Cabal from carrying out its plans during the Heresy to see the Imperium of Man lose the war to Chaos, the Farseer and his agents arranged to eliminate much of the Cabal's leadership and its most important agents.By the middle of the 32nd Millennium AD, Ulthran would report that the Cabal had been destroyed. |
Cabal - Organisation and Abilities: The Cabal was a collection of disparate alien species not readily identifiable to Imperial authorities. They were known to include mechanical life-forms as well as those that are energy-based and non-corporeal. Other member species variously resembled insectoid, avian or reptilian creatures.One species definitively identified as having a member in the Cabal is the Craftworld Eldar. The Cabal is also known to have made use of a number of human agents, with at least one, John Grammaticus, active at the time of the Horus Heresy, although the individual in question appeared to act as more of a subordinate of the organisation's Inner Circle than an equal.The Cabal was a nomadic organisation that constantly travelled all over the galaxy. There is very little information about their starships or other modes of transport -- the only known Cabal starship type was a huge, hive city-sized flat disk that was capable of atmospheric operations, including planetary landings and take-offs. It had a stealth or cloaking mode that was undetectable using Imperial auspexes, and the ability to interrupt and jam all communications, both physical and psychic. This vessel also possessed the abiliy to unleash an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that could temporarily disable the systems of any other spacecraft in its vicinity.The Cabal was known to have "halting-sites" in particular star systems, on planets where they maintained a secret presence. These worlds had their topography altered to suit the needs of the Cabal, who constructed identical landing-zones on every world that interested them. Planets that the Cabal had used as a base of operations were therefore always identifiable if an observer knew how to look at the terrain.Two such worlds used by the Cabal were Nurth and Eolith, both of which had played host to the Cabal for a time. Apart from their advanced terraforming abilities, the Cabal possessed atmospheric alteration technology and the ability to extend or renew life, even in dead tissue. This was used to create functionally immortal individuals that were referred to as "Perpetuals."But the Cabal's most important ability was an enhanced form of psychic farseeing called the Acuity, through which they attempted to foresee the course of events across thousands of Terran years of galactic history. The Acuity is far more potent than the more limited and uncertain precognitive abilities available to Eldar Farseers and could be accessed while ship-borne.An "Inner Circle" of Cabal members existed that acted as its governing body and that controlled and shaped the Acuity. The only member positively identified by Imperial sources was a being named Gahet, a xenos from a race that was ancient before even the Eldar had come into existence, and who may have been related to the Old Ones, as John Grammaticus referred to him as one of the "Old Kind." |
Cabal - The Cabal and the Emperor: The Cabal knew something of the Emperor's true nature, and also knew that He was, like themselves, a primary foe of Chaos. It was even believed by high-ranking Cabal members that the Emperor could have been, in other circumstances, a member of their Inner Circle. However, unlike the Emperor after the Age of Strife who chose to act openly and aggressively against the Dark Gods, regardless of the moral consequences that would ensue from His launch of the Great Crusade, the Cabal always acted in a covert manner, never showing its hand unless absolutely necessary. |
Cabal - The Cabal and the Horus Heresy: Thanks to the Acuity and their advanced, almost god-like technological abilities, the Cabal was able to foresee the corruption of the Warmaster Horus and the advent of the terrible interstellar civil war that was the Horus Heresy. They claimed that unless proper action was taken, this could become a catastrophic event that could doom the galaxy and all of its intelligent races to the eternal servitude of Chaos. Using the Acuity the Cabal's Inner Circle eventually distilled all possible eventualities into two outcomes. |
Cabal - Outcome One: Victory for Horus: The Cabal believed that, after the Heresy, a scintilla of the honourable being that Horus once was would remain within the Warmaster, eating at him over what he had done and fuelling a self-destructive sense of self-hatred and loathing that would see Horus fall on his own subjects in an acceleration of the violence of the Heresy, creating civil strife amongst the Forces of Chaos that would culminate in the final extinction of Mankind.The end result of Horus' rebellion and conquest of the Imperium would be the total extermination of the human species within two or three generations. However, if humanity were to disappear from the galaxy, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos, whose own existence within the Empyrean depended upon the baser collective psychic emantions of humanity, would be extinguished with it. |
Cabal - Outcome Two: Victory for the Emperor: If the Imperium defeated Horus and his Traitor Legions, the Cabal foresaw the Emperor giving His life to kill Horus, but then becoming a howling, undead rictus trapped within the cybernetic life-support coffin of the Golden Throne, his soul fighting an endless but ultimately losing battle against the influence of the Chaos Gods as His power steadily waned across the millennia.The Cabal's Inner Circle believed that this path would lead to technological and cultural stagnation for the Imperium of Man, and this stagnation would ultimately conclude in irreversible decay. This decay would accelerate and enhance the human misery that contributed to the power of Chaos, allowing the Dark Gods to grow in power and spread their influence across the galaxy, until after ten or twenty thousand Terran years of increasing misery, the entire galaxy and all of its sentient species would be consumed by the unrelenting hunger of Chaos. |
Cabal - The Cabal and the Alpha Legion: Having studied the development of the human Primarchs over some solar decades, the Cabal was able to determine that the most important of them in the determination of galactic events were the "oldest" (Horus) and the "youngest" (Alpharius Omegon). They foresaw that the Chaos Gods would ignite a galactic-level civil war within the Imperium of Man by corrupting and using Horus, and claimed that what "Horus would do, Alpharius would undo."They also claimed that, while the outbreak of the Horus Heresy was inevitable and could not be altered, the Alpha Legion was perfectly placed to control and direct it to one of the two possible outcomes the Acuity had foreseen for humanity and the galaxy.The Cabal's Inner Circle tasked John Grammaticus, a human Perpetual agent of the Cabal, to arrange a meeting with the Alpha Legion's Primarch, which eventually took place on the planet Eolith about a standard year-and-a-half before the start of the Heresy at the Battle of Istvaan III. |
Cabal - The Decision: The Cabal, operating with its knowledge of the extreme long view through the power of the Acuity, sought to bring about Horus' victory by convincing Alpharius Omegon of the truth of their predictions. They asked the twin Primarchs to place themselves and the forces of the XX Legion under the banner of Horus and Chaos Undivided, despite their sworn loyalty to the Emperor, and do all they could to ensure the Warmaster's victory over the Emperor, thus sacrificing humanity to destroy the Chaos Gods once and for all.The Primarch of the Alpha Legion appears to have acceded to this request, believing that such a sacrifice is what the Emperor would have Himself wanted if He had been presented with a similar choice. As the Heresy ended with the victory of the Emperor's Loyalist forces and the second outcome foreseen by the Acuity, it appears that the Cabal's machinations failed and that, if they are to be believed, the galaxy is ultimately doomed to be consumed by Chaos not long after the end of the 41st Millennium. |
Cabal - The Raven Guard Mission: With the power of the Acuity, the Cabal was able to inform Alpharius Omegon that the Raven Guard was going to come into possession of a highly valuable secret asset of the Imperium that needed to be destroyed if Horus' rebellion was to prove successful. The Alpha Legion then made sure that some Raven Guard Astartes, including their Primarch Corax, survived the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V in order to obtain the asset: samples of the original, undifferentiated Primarch gene-stock engineered by the Emperor for the original Primarch Project, and related information about its use and function.The Alpha Legion had no intention of destroying the sample, and after stealing it from the Raven Guard they kept it for themselves for later use. They then unceremoniously eliminated the Cabal's representative who was supervising the mission. What the Alpha Legion chose to do with this extraordinary genetic material remains currently unknown to the Imperium. |
Cabal - Assassination Attempt on Vulkan: The Cabal continued its attempts to try and influence the outcome of the Heresy. It sent John Grammaticus equipped with Fulgurite to try and kill the Primarch Vulkan on the world of Macragge soon after the founding of Imperium Secundus.This was done in accordance with the Cabal's continued belief that a Chaos victory in the Heresy would eventually result in the destruction of humanity and thus severely weaken the emotions that fed the Chaos Gods. The death of Vulkan would materially contribute to the defeat of the Imperium.During a brief period when he was alone on Macragge, John was contacted by the Eldar Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Craftworld Ulthwe. Ulthran revealed to John that he opposed the Cabal's aims and that their belief that Horus's victory would usher in Chaos' ultimate demise was not set in stone. He believed that humanity was meant to be the firebreak againt which Chaos broke, and that without them the Eldar would eventually fall and the galaxy shortly afterwards. He offered Grammaticus a way to leave the Cabal and a chance to stop being a traitor to his own race, as Grammaticus had begun to consider himself.Grammaticus and his allies eventually interrupted the fight between Konrad Curze and Vulkan on Macragge with the intent of killing the Salamanders' Primarch as they had been ordered. But Grammaticus decided at the last moment to side with his own people and used the Fulgurite to heal Vulkan of the madness that had consumed him. This treatment left the Primarch in a death-like coma and reduced stole away Grammaticus' status as an immortal Perpetual and reduced him to an ordinary mortal whose next death would be final. |
Cabal - Fall of the Cabal: Eldrad Ulthran eventually came to view the Cabal itself as a threat to the galaxy. As he had told John Grammaticus, he believed that their chosen path of destroying Mankind to purge the galaxy of Chaos was little more than a hopeless ritual sacrifice of an entire species.Eldrad saw a new path to victory against Chaos beyond that foreseen by the Acuity, one that ultimately involved allying the Aeldari with the Imperium of Man in the millennia to come. To this end, he sought to aid the Loyalists in winning the Horus Heresy through actions such as helping Vulkan reach Terra.However the Cabal refused to relent in pursuing its chosen path, and Eldrad thus recruited the secretly Loyalist Word Bearers Astartes Barthusa Narek in a bid to eliminate the Cabal's members. Eldrad and Narek killed most of the Cabal's leadership and agents, including Gahet, Slau Dha, Cartur Umenedies, and Damon Prytanis.This seems to have drastically affected the Cabal's ability to function. By the middle centuries of the 32nd Millennium, Eldrad Ulthran would report that the Cabal no longer existed and that its chosen path to destroy Chaos had proven a failure. |
Cabal - Notable Members of the Cabal: Slau Dha - Slau Dha was an Eldar Autarch who served as a member of the Cabal's Inner Circle and offered John Grammaticus the chance to become an agent of the Cabal. Despite this, Slau Dha held humanity in low regard and commonly referred to them with the derisive term "mon-keigh" in the Eldar Lexicon. He was also one of the organizations most violent and militant members, but was extremely loyal to its cause. This loyalty made the Autarch sneak members of the Cabal into the Black Library, where they learned of the coming of the Horus Heresy. This knowledge allowed them to begin trying to shape the Imperium's impending civil war to their advantage. When Eldrad Ulthran began eliminating members of the Cabal over fears their plans would actually destroy the galaxy rather than save it from Chaos, Slau Dha was among the last of its members to be targeted. Eldrad and his agent Barthusa Narek infiltrated Slau Dha's palace on an unknown world, and ambused him when he was alone. Slau Dha condemned Eldrad as a traitor to the Eldar race before summoning a force of Harlequins. After a vicious battle, Slau Dha was slain, though Eldrad was wounded as well.Gahet - Gahet was a reptilian xenos and a powerful psyker who was a member of the Inner Circle of the Cabal and a member of a species whose origins predated even that of the Eldar. Gahet's species was known as the "Old Kind" and he may have been a Slann. A member of the inner circle of the Cabal, Gahet frequently acted as the organization's handler for its agent John Grammaticus. When Eldrad Ulthran decided to eliminate the Cabal in order to save humanity and find a new way to defeat Chaos in an alliance with Mankind, Gahet was one of the first members of the organisation he targeted for elimination. On an unknown world Eldrad attempted to reach Gahet, enduring a vicious psychic probe in the process as the alien tried to discover the Farseer's plan. However Gahet was stabbed from behind by the real Eldrad, with his previous target revealed to be Barthusa Narek. Gahet's dying body was then reduced to ash by Eldrad's telekinetic lightning.G'Lattro - G'Lattro was an unknown xenos who was a member of the Cabal's Inner Circle. An insectoid xenos, G'Lattro served as the Cabal's spokesperson and interpreter. He was the primary voice of the Cabal during their initial meeting with the Alpha Legion.John Grammaticus - Human psyker who served as a Perpetual, a being genetically engineered by the Cabal to possess the ability to reincarnate whenever death occurred, granting him functional immortality.Athithirtir - Athithirtir was a xenos and a Cabal representative to the Alpha Legion who informed the XX Legion that the Raven Guard was to come into possession of the undifferentiated Primarch gene-stock. He was slain after the Alpha Legion stole the genetic material from the Raven Guard.Damon Prytanis - Damon Prytanis is a human Perpetual, though this is not his true name as he had lived for so long he had forgotten it. Unlike his fellow human Cabal agent John Grammaticus, Damon held humanity in little regard and was known to remain loyal to the Cabal. He was even known to use the demeaning Eldar Lexicon expression mon-keigh for his fellow humans. Prytanis had been alive for untold lifetimes. Shortly after the ancient Battle of Iwo Jima in 945.M2, he was recruited by the Cabal and worked as an assassin throughout the rest of human history. Prytanis was later responsible for rescuing his fellow Perpetual Cyrene Valantion from Word Bearers custody and bringing her into the Cabal. He was forced to die and regenerate several times before Cyrene believed his story about the existence of Perpetuals. Later Damon accompanied Grammaticus to Macragge on his mission to kill Vulkan with Fulgurite. During the mission to kill Vulkan, Damon was badly mauled by the Night Lords Primarch Konrad Curze, though he used a flask holding a captured daemon to banish the Primarch into the Warp. Following the events on Macragge, Prytanis was charged to serve alongside the Eldar Slau Dha with looking after Grammaticus in a Cabal outpost. However this was infiltrated by Eldrad Ulthran and his assassin Barthusa Narek. The Ulthwe Farseer was determined to eliminate the Cabal due to his growing fears that their agenda would actually lead to the extinction of the Eldar if humanity was swallowed by Chaos. Prytanis was the latest target of their assassinations, but the human put up a vicious defence and summoned a team of mercenary guards. Eventually Eldrad and Narek were able to overwhelm Prytanis, and his neck was broken by the Word Bearers. As he was regenerating, Narek shot him with a shard of Fulgurite, finally killing the immortal assassin permanently.Cartur Umenedies - Cartur Umenedies was a Judge of the Adeptus Arbites during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy era. In truth, Umenedies was also an agent of the Cabal and was given functional immortality by the xenos organisation. However he was not a true Perpetual, and thus could be killed by conventional means despite his immortality and he would not reincarnate following death. During Eldrad Ulthran's campaign to destroy the Cabal, Cartur was among the first of its agents to be eliminated.Cyrene Valantion - Cyrene Valantion, known as the Blessed Lady by the Word Bearers Legion and the inhabitants of Colchis, was an early Confessor. She was the sole survivor of the destruction of the Word Bearer's "perfect city" of Monarchia on the world of Khur by the Ultramarines, losing her sight due to being exposed to the blinding light of Lance orbital bombardment when the Ultramarines razed the city. Thereafter she was venerated by many of those who followed the Word Bearers religious ideals, and was made a Confessor by Lorgar himself. Cyrene became very close and trusted friends to Argel Tal and Xaphen, who came to her with their troubles. One of the three Abyss-class Battleships was named in her honour as Blessed Lady. Cyrene was killed by the Legio Custodes for being in their way at the start of the Drop Site Massacre, and spent the next Terran year having her soul torn apart by daemons in the Warp. Later she was resurrected by Erebus as part of his scheme to better control Argel Tal. However she was apparently killed again during the Shadow Crusade when the starship Fidelitas Lex was heavily damaged. In truth she had reached an escape pod and met Cabal agents led by Damon Prytanis, who revealed that she had been transformed into a Perpetual following her resurrection. Prytanis asked her to come with them. |
Cadia - Cadia: Cadia, officially known as Cadia Prime, was a terrestrial, Earth-like planet originally classified as the Imperium of Man's most important Fortress World by the Administratum before its destruction and consumption by the Immaterium in 999.M41.It was the fourth world of the Cadian System, and its surface contained a wide variety of terrain types and ecosystems, including frozen tundras, temperate plains, wind-swept moors and the great native axel-tree forests.Cadia guarded the only known navigable route to and from the massive Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror, a passage called the Cadian Gate. The world's dangerous proximity to the Eye of Terror made it necessary for the people of Cadia to heavily fortify the planet.Cadia was always the first target of the Warmaster of Chaos Abaddon the Despoiler's Black Crusades. These were the massive assaults the forces of Chaos launched every few Terran centuries from the Eye of Terror in an attempt to break out of the Cadia Gate and invade the Imperium proper as they did during the Horus Heresy.Cadia's natural environment was much like Terra's millennia ago, with a large ocean that covered 70 percent of the planet's surface. The land mass of the world was divided between incredibly thick pine forests of axel-trees and vast glaciers. The planet was slightly cooler than most human-settled worlds but not to the point that it adversely affected growing conditions.Settled before the onset of the Age of Strife by a branch of Humanity that eventually fell to the worship of the Chaos Gods and played a major role in the ultimate corruption of the Space Marine Legions, Cadia was re-settled sometime in the early 32nd Millennium by Loyalist Humans of the Imperium.The world's landscape was dotted by strange black monoliths comprised of the arcane substance called blackstone that were of clear xenos origin, known as the Cadian Pylons. These devices were actually constructed by the Necrons millions of standard years ago to make the world immune to the psychic energies of the Old Ones, for it was the site of an ancient Necron military base during the War in Heaven. After the formation of the Eye of Terror at the end of the Age of Strife following the birth in the Warp of Slaanesh, the Cadian Pylons acted to hold the Warp rift in check and provide a navigable passage out into Imperial space from it called the Cadian Gate.The Cadian Pylons created the unusual area of realspace stability known as the Cadian Gate near the Eye of Terror that was unaffected by the constant Warp Storms that surround that Warp rift. Cadia's location directly adjacent to the dangerous Eye of Terror made it necessary for the people of Cadia to fortify the planet to an extent where almost the entire population lived in massive fortress-cities known locally as "kasrs."Thus Cadia had an odd mix of dense urban areas and vast open tundras and other natural landscapes unspoiled by the hand of Humanity.Unfortunately, disaster struck at the climax of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, with the aid of the Necron Lord Trazyn the Infinite, had finally learned to use the Cadian Pylons to close the Eye of Terror once and for all. But Abaddon the Despoiler, enraged by the continued defiance of Cadia's people, gave up on his personal attempt to bring the Fortress World's defenders low with the activation of the pylons.Instead, he sent the bulk of the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity, badly damaged by the assault of the Imperial Fists' star fortress Phalanx, crashing into the surface of Cadia like an artificial meteor.This monstrous kinetic strike wiped out most of Cadia's defenders, destroyed the network of Cadian Pylons and tectonically destabilised the world.As the Warp and its foul denizens claimed the remains of the Fortress World, Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed arranged an evacuation of the planet that saved 3 million of its citizens before the planet finally ripped itself apart -- though not before Creed himself mysteriously disappeared.The fall of Cadia represented a once-unimaginable triumph for the servants of the Dark Gods, and the Eye of Terror began to slowly expand without limit, opening Abaddon the Despoiler's coveted Crimson Path to Terra and creating the Great Rift that divided the Imperium in half.Yet among the few survivors of Cadia was a handful of Imperial heroes who had successfully escaped the destruction of the Fortress World with the aid of the newborn Aeldari faction known as the Ynnari. The combined forces fled through a Webway gate found on the ice moon of Klaisus in the Cadian System.Together, these Imperials -- the so-called Celestinian Crusade -- would forge an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic xenos that would offer a new hope for the servants of the Emperor in their fight against the waxing power of the Archenemy -- the resurrection of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman.In the wake of its destruction, the remains of Cadia in the Era Indomitus were resettled by the forces of Chaos. It has since become a Chaos stronghold at the heart of a burgeoning new Renegade empire close to the Eye of Terror terminus of the Great Rift.The survivors of the Fall of Cadia have largely taken up residence on the Industrial World of Chaeros in the neighboring Agripinaa System in the wake of the Battle of Faith's Anchorage. They have renamed their new homeworld "New Cadia." |
Cadia - Pre-Heresy: Some 40 standard years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Cadia was a world inhabited by a primitive race of violet-eyed humans who worshipped the four Chaos Gods, probably a remnant of Mankind that had turned to the Ruinous Powers during the hardships of the Age of Strife. Prompted by the so-called Pilgrimage of the Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers Legion to discover whether or not the Gods once worshipped by adherents of the Old Faith of the Word Bearers' homeworld of Colchis actually existed, Lorgar journeyed with his Word Bearers Legion's Chapter of the Serrated Sun to what was then the fringes of known Imperial space as part of the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade.At this time, Lorgar had not yet fallen to Chaos, though he had turned against the Emperor of Mankind as a deity no longer worthy of his worship after the Emperor and the Ultramarines had personally humiliated him and the entire Word Bearers Legion on the world of Khur 43 standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy. The Emperor had come to Khur personally with Malcador the Sigillite after ordering the Ultramarines to destroy the Khurian city of Monarchia, where the Emperor was worshipped as a god as a result of the teachings of the Word Bearers. He made His displeasure known to Lorgar about the Word Bearers spreading the religion of Emperor-worship to every world they brought into the Imperium, in direct contravention of the rationalist, atheist philosophy of the Imperial Truth.The Emperor forced the entire Legion to kneel against their will through the use of his psychic might and then explained that they were the only Astartes Legion to have failed his purpose on the Great Crusade. After this humiliation Lorgar, on the advice of his First Captain Kor Phaeron and the Word Bearers First Chaplain Erebus, decided to undertake a Pilgrimage to discover if the Gods worshipped by the ancient Old Faith of Colchis were real and worthy of the Word Bearers' faith and allegiance.The Word Bearers were also accompanied on this Pilgrimage by 5 members of the Adeptus Custodes who had been set by the Emperor to watch over everything the Word Bearers did to prevent them from falling back into error once more. The 1301st Expeditionary Fleet exited the Warp near the largest Warp Storm in the universe, later known as the Eye of Terror. The Fleet's Master of Astropaths advised Lorgar that unusual "voices" in the Warp were heard in the vicinity of the great Warp rift, voices that spoke directly to the Primarch as well, the voices of the Chaos entities within the Immaterium.The decision was made to hold orbit over Cadia and for the 1301st Fleet's elements to make planetfall on the unknown world, designated as 1301-12. The landing force was comprised of Imperial Army, Word Bearers, Adeptus Custodes and Legiones Cybernetica elements. The landing party, led by Lorgar, was greeted by a large number of barbaric human tribes, tribes described as "dressed in rags and wielding spears tipped by flint blades...yet they showed little fear." Most notable were the barbarians' purple eyes, which reflected the colour of the Eye of Terror itself in the spectrum of visible light. Despite the Custodian Vendatha's protests and request to execute the heathens, the Word Bearers approached the natives.A woman emerged from the crowd and addressed the Primarch directly, calling him Lorgar Aurelian and welcoming him to Cadia. This woman, the priestess Ingethel, would ultimately lead the Primarch down a path of spiritual enlightenment that actually marked the beginning of Lorgar's fall to heresy and Chaos. Later, Ingethel of Cadia would lead the 1301st Fleet's scout vessel Orfeo's Lament into the Eye of Terror and thus change the Word Bearers forever as they were exposed to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and slowly corrupted, the first of the Legiones Astartes to worship the Chaos Gods and become Traitors to the Emperor. The Cadians, primitive as they were, used a language which was akin to the Word Bearers' own Colchisan tongue. Many traditions of the Word Bearers were mirrored by the culture of ancient Cadia, leading Lorgar to believe that the original settlers of both his own homeworld of Colchis and Cadia shared a common heritage.Following the visits into the Eye of Terror, Lorgar ordered a cyclonic bombardment of the planet, wiping out the Cadians and leaving the planet abandoned, so none within the Imperium would know what had transpired there. |
Cadia - Post-Heresy: Following the Siege of Terra that ended the Horus Heresy with Horus's death and the interment of the Emperor of Mankind in the Golden Throne, the defeated Traitor Legions and their allied forces among the Imperial Army and the Dark Mechanicum fled from Terra. Some of the exhausted Loyalists rallied and gave chase, but most remained on Terra to consolidate their great victory over the forces of Chaos.Many of the surviving Traitors were put to the sword, but the majority of the Traitor Legions escaped into the great Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus, a region of space where reality and the insanity of Chaos collide as the raw psychic energy of the Immaterium pours into real space-time.Within the Eye of Terror, the Chaos Gods rule over uncounted numbers of planets, all warped to reflect their own dark aspects. It was there that the Traitor Legions found refuge, isolated from the rest of the galaxy by potent Warp Storms. Each of the planets within the Eye is a Daemon World, warped and twisted by the whims of the Ruinous Powers and the powerful Daemon Princes who rule over them in the Dark Gods' name.The Chaos Space Marines regrouped and nurtured their hatred of the Imperium, planning for the day when they would wreak a terrible vengeance on those who had defied them and their foul masters. Within the Eye time flows differently than in realspace.Those same Traitors who fought on Terra 10,000 standard years ago still fight today in the service of Chaos. They fight against each other to prove their supremacy and against the forces of the Imperium when the Warp Storms calm enough to allow them to emerge into Imperial space.The Imperial sectors surrounding the Eye of Terror were heavily militarised to resist these frequent invasions and none more so than Cadia, the Imperial Fortress World that stands at the very mouth of the only stable navigational route leading out of the Eye of Terror, the dreaded Cadian Gate.As a result of Abaddon the Despoiler's 1st Black Crusade in 781.M31, the planet's strategic location was deemed vital to the defence of the Imperium, and so, in the 32nd Millennium, Imperial colonists were despatched to resettle the world, becoming the ancestors of the present-day population of Cadians. Perhaps as a result of the Eye of Terror's proximity, this later population of Cadians also soon developed the unusual violet-coloured eyes that had marked the first human inhabitants of the planet.The early defences of the newly resettled Cadia proved to be woefully inadequate. Its major cities were extremely vulnerable to enemy assault as they had been constructed in the traditional High Terran style, with broad, ordered avenues. Following the 2nd Black Crusade in 597.M32, sweeping changes were carried out worldwide to improve the planet's overall defensive capabilities, and massive fortifications were constructed across the world until the planet's cities had been rebuilt into their current form.Cadia stands upon the only known reliable route out of the Eye of Terror and thus is one of the most strategically vital worlds in the entire Imperium of Man. There are other routes out of the Eye, but none are stable like the Cadian Gate and no military force of any true size can venture forth from the Eye without first passing through it. The exact reasons for the existence of this unusual region of stability is unknown, though many Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus believe it is due to the presence of the famous Cadian Pylons.These mysterious black monoliths, now known to have been created by the Necrons millions of standard years ago to hold back the psychic influence of the Warp that was so feared by their C'tan masters, dot the landscape of Cadia. Their origins remained mysterious to the Imperium until the time of the 13th Black Crusade.Cadia itself was a bleak, merciless and wind-blown planet, where only the strongest survived to adulthood and discipline was learned from the moment a babe took his or her first steps. Cold winds howled across wide, sundered plains where armies trained with live ammunition and every solar day not spent training was believed to be a day wasted. Every Cadian fortress-city, or "Kasr," was a massive citadel, with the streets and buildings fashioned with great tactical cunning by the finest military engineers and siege specialists of the Astra Militarum.Every Cadian was taught the skills of the warrior as soon as he or she could walk and Cadians were much sought after by commanders throughout the galaxy. Cadian military gear is considered top-rate and is used as the base standard for all Astra Militarum regiments. Such a world bred hardy and determined warriors and the Cadian Shock Trooper Regiments of the Astra Militarum have a well-deserved reputation for both honour and fighting spirit. From the earliest ages, Cadians were taught to field-strip a weapon with their eyes shut and tactical doctrine was memorised before basic literacy. |
Cadia - 13th Black Crusade and Fall of Cadia: In 999.M41, when Abaddon the Despoiler finally launched his 13th Black Crusade, the greatest Chaos assault on the Imperium since the Horus Heresy, the forces of Chaos managed to make landfall upon Cadia itself and occupy large swathes of the planet despite ferocious Imperial resistance.The campaign was kicked off by the unexpected betrayal of the Volscani Cataphracts of the Astra Militarum, whose regiments successfully assassinated the Cadian High Command, including the Lord Castellan, the Cadian planetary governor and leader of its armed forces.Led by the skilled strategist Ursarkar E. Creed, the colonel of the 8th Cadian Regiment who was suddenly vaulted to the position of Lord Castellan, the Imperial forces were able to contain the initial Chaos assault and hunt down most of the occupying forces after the defeat of the initial Chaos armada in orbit.Unfortunately, the Despoiler had barely begun to fight. He unleashed a massive second Chaos warfleet on the Cadian System and a ground assault that was led by one of his Chosen, Urkanthos, the Lord Purgator of the Black Legion.Urkanthos led a massive horde of Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Cultists and Daemons against Kasr Kraf, the Cadian fortress-city that represented the primary centre of Imperial resistance. When Urkanthos was slain in the wake of the Living Saint Celestine's arrival and Kasr Kraf was saved, she bought the Imperials enough time to move their defence to the Elysion Fields, the largest grouping of Cadian Pylons on the planet. It had become clear in the course of events that Abaddon's true reason for constantly assaulting Cadia through his Black Crusades had always been the destruction of these pylons.The Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, another recent arrival to the Fortress World, had been led to Cadia by the Harlequin Shadowseer Sylandri Veilwalker, and believed that he could decipher the true function of the pylons.With the aid of the Necron Lord Trazyn the Infinite, who had been present when the pylons were first constructed, Cawl proved capable of mastering the enigmatic xenos artefacts' internal systems deep in the catacombs beneath the pylon field. But this came just in time for Abaddon to launch his final ground assault against the Elysion Fields, as the Despoiler was determined to assuage his pride by personally ending the Imperial defence.Once Cawl successfully activated the pylon network and cut off the access of the assaulting Chaos forces to the Warp -- even the Eye of Terror began to shrink as it was struck by the pylons' anti-psychic emissions -- Abaddon abandoned his desire to crush Cadia's defenders personally.Finding a modicum of grudging respect within himself for the Imperials' valour, the Despoiler decided instead to unleash his horrific fail-safe plan. He launched the remaining bulk of the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity, badly damaged by the assault of the Imperial Fists' star fortress Phalanx, into the surface of Cadia like an artificial meteor.Cadia shuddered from that impact, as impossible forces jarred it loose of its age-old orbit. The survivors clinging to the ruined fortresses of the continent of Cadia Tertius barely had time to scream. Those beneath the vast impact site perished first, super-heated wind roaring in their ears before it seared flesh from bone, and reduced bone to scattered ash.The Blackstone Fortress' remnant struck, gouging a crater hundreds of miles in breadth. Mountains crumbled to dust. Seas vanished into plumes of scalding steam. Continental plates rumbled and groaned as they shifted beneath titanic forces not seen since Cadia first cooled from the star-stuff of the galactic void.The tremors spread, tidal waves and screaming particulate winds their heralds. Coastal bastions that had survived bombardment and siege drowned beneath the unnatural tide, ripped from their foundations and dragged beneath the squalling seas. The island of Ran Storn vanished entirely, its shell-ravaged landing fields drowned beneath the waves. A thousand miles inland on the continent of Cadia Secundus, the enduring spires of Kasr Vark at last fell, smashed apart by the waters of the Caducades Sea as the tidal shelves buckled.Forests that had been old when Humanity first settled Cadia burned away in the briefest of moments. Crustal platelets shattered and split, the furious life-blood of the world boiling forth. Long-dormant volcanoes flared to life along the Rossvar Mountains, pyroclastic flows consuming all in their path. The great killing fields of Tyrok, site of Creed's ascension to the rank of Lord Castellan, split asunder and vanished into magma-lit gloom, swallowed by the world's torment.At the Elysion Fields, half a world away from the impact site, they heard the roar of the winds, and saw the dark onrush of particulate clouds that blocked out the sun. The canny sought what cover they could amongst the pylons and ruined war machines. The slow-witted perished, torn apart by the vaporised bones of Cadia.The winds grew, hurling tanks across the pylon fields, crushing those who had sought shelter beneath them. The ancient pylons gave up their grasp on the bedrock, toppling like petrified trees. The pylon field's beam of dark light cast outwards into the void flickered as the monoliths fell. The retreat of the Immaterium faltered, and then slowly reversed as the Eye of Terror began to expand once more.The storm raged for solar minutes that seemed eternities, and then fell away into hurricane winds. They blew over a world forever altered. The continent of Cadia Tertius was gone, obliterated by fire and drowned beneath howling seas. The Krian Fault, bane of the continent of Cadia Tertius since the Age of Strife, had ruptured one last, fateful time, and the planetary crust split apart.The continent of Cadia Primus was half-drowned, its forested mountainsides now isolated islands scattered across a new ocean. Cadia Secundus lay wreathed in fire, its continental plates sinking as the pressure of their neighbours forced them steadily inwards. None of it mattered. Cadia was already dead.But even then, there was worse to come. As the aftershocks of impact rippled through the dying rock, more pylons shattered against the dust-strewn tundra -- not just at the Elysion Fields, but at the lesser sites of Kasarn, Trosk and Vorg. As the pylons fell, the nodal web stuttered, and then withered entirely. The dark light beam, Belisarius Cawl's dagger struck into the heart of the Eye of Terror, flickered once more, and died. A new sound pealed through the howling winds -- the dark laughter of gods too long denied their prize. The crimson maelstrom of the Eye of Terror pulsed anew, and reached out to embrace sundered Cadia.Save for the presence of the pylons, the Immaterium would have claimed Cadia long ago. The long-dead Necron artisans who had set the pylon fields in Cadia's living rock could not have foreseen the Eye of Terror's cataclysmic birth, could not have known the vital bulwark their works would become. But now, with the pylons' fall, the tendrils of the Warp laid their first loving caress upon Cadian realspace, and the daemons of the Dark Gods spilled forth.These were not the flickering manifestations so lately loosed upon the world, their presence in realspace under constant challenge by the pylons' power. These were the servants of the Ruinous Powers, hale and whole, fed by the raw stuff of Chaos. They first appeared amidst drowned Cadia Tertius, where the Blackstone Fortress' demise had torn a rent in reality's veil through the sheer loss of life. But as the Eye of Terror slipped its ancient bounds, the rifts multiplied, dragging the beleaguered world into the bowels of the Immaterium.The monstrous kinetic strike wiped out most of Cadia's remaining defenders, destroyed the network of Cadian Pylons and tectonically destabilised the world. As the Warp and its foul denizens claimed the remains of the Fortress World, Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed arranged an evacuation of the planet that saved 3 million of its citizens before the planet finally ripped itself apart -- though not before Creed himself mysteriously disappeared.The fall of Cadia represented a once-unimaginable triumph for the servants of the Dark Gods, and the Eye of Terror began to slowly expand without limit, opening Abaddon the Despoiler's coveted Crimson Path to Terra and creating the Great Rift that soon divided the Imperium in half.Yet among the few survivors of Cadia was a handful of Imperial heroes who had successfully escaped the destruction of the Fortress World with the aid of the newborn Aeldari faction known as the Ynnari. The combined forces fled through a Webway gate found on the ice moon of Klaisus in the Cadian System.Together, these Imperials -- the so-called Celestinian Crusade -- would forge an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic xenos that would offer a new hope for the servants of the Emperor in their fight against the waxing power of the Archenemy -- the resurrection of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman. |
Cadia - Aftermath: At the culmination of Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade, the Cicatrix Maledictum had all but consumed Cadia. With the great pylons toppled by Abaddon's conquering hordes and the colossal Warp Storm of the Eye of Terror no longer held at bay, the dread powers of Chaos ravaged the planet beyond recovery. And still the neighbouring worlds and star systems were defiant.Had Cadia not been famous for holding so long against the odds, it is likely the other planets in the system would have capitulated or given up almost immediately. No normal world could stand in the face of the horrendous, sanity-devouring armies that descended upon the Cadian Gate in such terrifying measure. However, the wider systems of Cadia, Belis Corona, and Agripinaa stood fast.Perhaps, just as a veteran can lead lesser men to deeds of great heroism, Cadia had inspired those worlds around it to defend every nation and city to the last bullet. Perhaps Cadia's surviving soldiery lent strength through their hunger for retribution. Perhaps those battered by the storm simply fought for survival. Whatever the reason, the defenders of the Cadian Gate resolved to uphold the virtues of its lost lynchpin world come what may.In the confusion of outright war, the hordes of Chaos began to turn upon themselves. Though they were ascendant, their ultimate conquest had yet to be clinched. Rival warlords, both mortal and daemonic, clashed over the spoils of victories not yet won. The Imperial defenders were quick to capitalise on each strategic misstep, for many were veterans of the wars upon Cadia, and they knew how to goad a fractious enemy into overextending its reach.From dissolution came destruction. Solar day by solar day the Imperial armies clawed back a semblance of control. Soon the war zone was in contention once more, the dread stranglehold of Chaos loosened by the sheer determination of the Astra Militarum and the vengeful fury of the Space Marines.Each new dawn was greeted by a scattering of ships from the Great Exodus, those fortunate souls who had braved the Empyrean tempests and lived to tell of it. Again and again the fighting escalated, the fires of war that had burned Cadia to cinders roaring to life anew upon the other worlds of the Cadian System, as well as those of the Belis Corona and Agripinaa Systems.The broken hulk of Cadia itself was resettled by the forces of Chaos following its partial destruction. It soon became a Chaos stronghold at the heart of a burgeoning new Renegade empire.Sometime after the Great Rift's creation, the Adeptus Custodes' Captain-General Trajann Valoris ordered a small, fast-moving force of Custodians to travel to the shattered hulk of Cadia. Details of their mission are suppressed, even amongst their comrades, but they were accompanied by a number of warriors drawn from the ranks of the Shadowkeepers. |
Cadia - Legacy of Cadia: Though their home planet was utterly sundered, the resolve of the Cadians has not been broken. Veteran survivors of the last battle for Cadia, along with regiments of their kin scattered throughout the galaxy, now fight even more doggedly against the Imperium's enemies.Whole generations of Cadian Shock Troops are born, raised and trained en route to war zones and soldiers from other worlds with the mettle to withstand Cadian training methods are inducted into their ranks. The mantra "Cadia stands," oft-repeated during the planet's final violent days, has gained purchase within the officer corps and amongst the platoons of the Shock Troops. For Cadia does indeed still stand, they assert, as long as a single Cadian soldier remains alive to fight.The grit and determination with which Cadia was so valiantly defended for all those millennia has long been lauded within the Astra Militarum. The professionalism of the world's soldiers remains influential, not only as inspiration to fuel lurid trench-line tales, but also through tactica penned by Cadian generals that are studied in regimental academies. Rare demobilised regiments of Cadians, granted rights of settlement on worlds they conquered for the Emperor, instill Cadia's legendary discipline into their new societies.Other Astra Militarum regiments model their recruitment and training practices on Cadian doctrine, or seek to equip their forces in the Cadian style. All are eager to emulate a world so heavily militarised that it was said its people were taught how to field-strip and shoot a lasgun before they could even read.Cadia's surviving sons and daughters refuse to allow the destruction of their homeworld to keep them from unleashing the Emperor's wrath on their foes. This dauntless spirit in the face of ceaseless enemies masks several darker sentiments amongst Cadian troops that continue to fight. Widespread hatred for Humanity's enemies has deepened to a zealous degree. Many Cadians see their homeworld's fall as a personal failure and fight all the harder to regain what they perceive as lost honour. Some of those who were not present for the planet's tragic end resent those who failed in its defence but survived, or else feel guilt for playing no part themselves. Others scorn the regiments of worlds they believe failed to aid Cadia in its darkest hour and oppose the use of soldiers from other worlds to be integrated into and expand existing Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, loathe to share the burden of loss with outsiders.In the view of many guardsmen, "the planet broke before the Guard did!" The sacrifice of Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed and those under his command only reinforced for many survivors the bloody-mindedness and hard-faced demanour of the Astra Militarum. The men and women of the regiments of lost Cadia will continue to wade into unremitting firestorms and battle through trenches choked with blood and mud. Alongside defeaning salvoes from armoured behemoths, they will advance into the teeth of enemy fire if that is where their orders lead them.They will do so, again and again, continuing to fight until the day every Traitor in thrall to the Dark Gods is defeated at last and their world avenged a thousand times over. |
Cadia - Geography: Cadia was known to have at least three major landmasses, the continents of Cadia Primus, Cadia Secundus and Cadia Tertius. As noted, these continents possessed a wide variety of biomes and ecosystems, stretching from arctic tundra in the far north to boreal forests of the coniferous, pine-like axel-trees and temperate plains in the milder latitudes.The Cadian Pylons tended to be clustered in large fields of many monoliths, including such regions as the Elysion Fields, which possessed the largest concentration of the xenos constructs, as well as at the lesser sites of Kasarn, Trosk and Vorg. |
Cadia - Cadian Pylons: In a galaxy replete with mysteries, the Cadian Pylons were amongst the most enduring. There were over five thousand such edifices scattered across the surface of Cadia before the fall, each one standing some five hundred yards above the surface, and reaching two hundred and fifty yards below. Reports differ, but it was understood that there could have been anywhere between two and three thousand more concealed below ground as the result of tectonic movement down the ages.Despite millennia of study, the Adeptus Mechanicus failed to discover the purpose of the pylons. Servitors sent within invariably ceased to function or suffered circuit overload; all attempts to breach the structures' gleaming surfaces met with failure. Any recovered data was fragmentary at best, and contradictory at worst. Even the identity of the pylons' creators was shrouded in mystery.Some amongst the Cult Mechanicus believed the spires to be the work of the Necrons, or their mortal antecedents the Necrontyr, but then there were those on Mars equally convinced that the pylons were constructed by the Old Ones for the sole purpose of destroying the Necrons and their former C'tan overlords.The one thing all investigators agreed upon was that the pylons were responsible for the stable Warp-corridor known as the Cadian Gate. Adepts conjectured that they emitted a becalming signal, taming the roiling energies of the Immaterium around the Cadian System.This mystery was finally solved during the 13th Black Crusade by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl with the aid of the Necron Lord Trazyn the Infinite, who had been present when the pylons were first constructed eons ago, proving those adepts who had long believed the pylons to be Necron creations correct.The pylon fields actually constituted a planet-wide nodal network of blackstone that could be used to produce an unknown anti-psychic energy field capable of repulsing eruptions of the Warp into realspace.It was this network which had indeed kept open the Cadian Gate for millennia, and the sudden failure of which allowed the Eye of Terror to begin to expand across the galaxy, providing an anchor point for the eventual development of the Great Rift that cut the Imperium in half after the end of the 13th Black Crusade. |
Cadia - Society and Economy: Cadia was the home of the Astra Militarum's Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, widely regarded as the best soldiers in the Imperium short of the transhuman Space Marines, as a result of their upbringing in Cadia's martial culture. Their leader was the indomitable Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed, the saviour of Cadia and a hero of the 13th Black Crusade. Since Cadia was the capital world of the Cadian Sector and was often raided by various alien civilisations like the Aeldari and Orks as well as the forces of Chaos, the planet was heavily fortified.All Cadians were required to serve at least a four-year-term in the planetary military, and the amount of military presence on the world led the civilian population to become focused on weapons production. 71.75% of the Cadian population was under arms, either in the highly-skilled and very well-equipped Cadian Planetary Defence Force that was known as the "Cadian Interior Guard" or in the numerous Imperial Guard regiments drawn from the planet's people.One out of every ten Cadians was recruited into the Interior Guard, regardless of ability or achievements, and as a result some of the most able human soldiers in the galaxy spent their entire Imperial military service on Cadia. The troops of the Interior Guard were amongst the most skilled fighting men in the Imperium, the equal of many other worlds' Imperial Guard regiments.Because of its closeness to the Eye of Terror and the constant risk of Chaos corruption this entailed, Cadia also maintained the "Cadian Internal Guard" for defence against Chaos Cult activities. A less well-known part of the Cadian military establishment, the Internal Guard consisted of Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus who had been permanently seconded to the Cadian military, and the Interior Guard made frequent use of Sanctioned Psykers to root out Heretics and mutants.Chaos Space Marines from the Eye of Terror made often launched raids onto the surface of Cadia and had to be hunted down. The bulk of the Cadian army was made up of the Astra Militarum's Shock Trooper Regiments, with the remainder composed of the Whiteshields (conscript soldiers recruited at the age of 14 standard years and trained to take a place in the Shock Trooper regiments) and the elite Kasrkin soldiers of the Ordo Tempestus. Cadian regiments are consistently on average the most well-disciplined and most effective in the entire Astra Militarum.Because of its heavy concentration on military matters, Cadia's global economy is dominated by the manufacture of various weapons systems and exports vast numbers of weapons to its neighbouring Imperial planets, while importing very little other than food. Many other worlds use Cadian equipment to arm their own Imperial Guard regiments, which explains how the Cadian Patterns of personal armour and infantry weapons have become the standard for the entire Astra Militarum.Cadia had a special and honoured place in the history of Mankind. Cadia stood upon the edge of the Eye of Terror within a narrow corridor of stable space called the Cadian Gate. This formed the one and only predictable passage between the Chaos-infested Daemon Worlds of the Eye of Terror and Terra.It seemed that although many Chaos fleets had ventured out of the Eye, very few Imperial fleets ventured in. No battle fleet of any size could rely upon other stable passages from the Eye of Terror and they were required to pass through the Cadian Gate.Cadia was therefore one of the most strategically important planets of the galaxy. On several occasions the forces of Chaos moved against Cadia and raging battles were fought in the depths of space. Such huge battles were rare, but the constant intrusion of Chaos raiding craft into Cadian space was commonplace throughout the period of the Long War.Before the later Imperial re-colonisation of the world in the 32nd Millennium, Cadia was the home of a lost fragment of Humanity that worshiped the four Chaos Gods, probably since the onset of the Age of Strife. This society was encountered by the then-still-Loyalist Word Bearers Legion 40 Terran years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, and the prevalence of violet eyes amongst the populace was seen as a mark of mutation caused by the proximity of the Eye of Terror, which also appears violet in the visible light spectrum.This civilisation was eventually wiped out by the Word Bearers Space Marine Legion in the late 30th Millennium at the conclusion of the Pilgrimage of Lorgar. Cadia was later resettled by Imperial Humans of all creeds and genetic stock. The Cadian people of the 41st Millennium were naturally tall and solidly built. The fact that this new line of Cadians of untainted Imperial stock also sported violet eyes lends credence to the theory that the proximity of the Eye of Terror caused this mutation in the original population.Cadian society in the 41st Millennium is more martial than civilian, mostly due to the disproportionate ratio of soldiers to citizens in its population. The birth rate and the military recruitment rate are synonymous. Most Cadian children learn to field-strip a Lasgun by the age of ten standard years, and many young Cadians served in the Astra Militarum as Whiteshields.Cadian society was so martial that camouflage patterns made their way into the everyday fashion of even the wealthy and successful. It was always very easy to determine who was an outsider or local on Cadia simply by what they wore.Being a constantly embattled world, Cadia suffered numerous casualties in the defence of the Cadian Gate and the Imperium. Cemetery space on the planet was at a premium so the local priests of the Imperial Cult routinely checked the grave markers of the honoured dead for legibility.When a section of a Cadian cemetery's grave markers were deemed illegible, those graves were exhumed and the bones were added to a communal pit. The Cadian belief was that once the names on a grave marker were illegible, the honours of those dead were forgotten.Long ago Cadian cities changed from a plan of broad avenues to one where the streets of its cities were arranged in zig-zag patterns meant to make any intruding enemies fight for every block. At the heart of each Cadian city was a fortress called a kasr in the local dialect of Low Gothic.The largest kasr as of 241.M41 was Kasr Derth. Cadia's earliest kasrs had been built in the High Terran Style, with the wide streets laid out on a grid system. Early in the 32nd Millennium, soon after the planet's resettlement, during the first of the Black Crusades, most of the Cadian kasrs were destroyed by the Chaos invasion.The broad, ordered avenues of the kasrs had proven impossible to hold or defend. Since then, the kasrs were rebuilt in elaborate geometric patterns, the streets juking back and forth like the teeth of a key.From the air, Kasr Derth looked like an intricate angular puzzle. Given the Cadians' mettle and their skills at urban warfare, a kasr could be held street by street, metre by metre, for solar months if not standard years. |
Cadia - Notable Imperial Navy Battlefleets: Many notable Imperial Navy battlefleets protected the surrounding systems of the Cadian Gate by constantly patrolling the space lanes around the Eye of Terror, always vigilant for Chaos raiders or another approaching Black Crusade.Battlefleet AgripinaaBattlefleet CadiaBattlefleet CalixisBattlefleet KoronusBattlefleet GothicBattlefleet Scarus |
Cadia - Notable Cadian Astra Militarum Regiments: Many notable Astra Militarum regiments have been drawn from Cadia, including:7th Cadian Regiment, "The Lucky Sevens"8th Cadian Regiment, "The Lord Castellan's Own" - The 8th Cadian was led personally by Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed during the 13th Black Crusade.39th Cadian Regiment,"Xenobane"69th Cadian Regiment, "The Fighting 69th"81st Cadian Armoured Regiment, "Rolling Thunder" - The 81st Cadian were also known as the "Gunheads". They fought on the Ork World of Golgatha where they were at first lead by Colonel Kochatkis Vinneman, and later by Lieutenant Gossefried van Droi.88th Cadian Regiment - The 88th Cadian Regiment fought for the retrieval of Commissar Yarrick's Baneblade super-heavy tank The Fortress of Arrogance on the Ork World of Golgatha. The regiment was lead by Colonel Edwyn Marrenburg.89th Cadian Armoured Regiment, "Steel Lords"98th Cadian Regiment, "The Fighting 98th" - The 98th Cadian Regiment fought for the retrieval of Commissar Yarrick's Baneblade super-heavy tank The Fortress of Arrogance on the Ork World of Golgotha. The regiment was lead by Colonel Tidor Stromm.110th Cadian Regiment, "Shadow Corps"122nd Cadian Regiment - Distinguished themselves in the Vogen Campaign203rd Cadian Regiment - The 203rd Cadian Regiment fought beside the 2nd Company of the Ultramarines Chapter that was commanded by Captain Titus during the Imperium's liberation of the Forge World of Graia during the events of Space Marine. The regiment's remaining forces were commanded by 2nd Lieutenant Mira.412th Cadian Regiment - Featured in the PC game Dawn of War: Winter Assault where they carried out the Imperial assault against the Chaos Space Marine and Ork forces of the Ice World of Lorn V417th Cadian Regiment, "Hellbringers"516th Cadian Regiment, "The Wildcats" |
Cadia - Imperial Order of Battle: The final battles of Cadia had prevented the disaster of the 13th Black Crusade from being total. Though Cadia itself was lost, the defence of Kasr Kraf held up Abaddon's final assault, and the mayhem that followed allowed a great number of Cadian troops and military assets to reach the Imperial evacuation zone and depart. |
Cadia - Defence of Kasr Trunch: Cadian Shock Troops - 127 RegimentsCadian Kasrkin - 65 RegimentsCadian Youth Corp - 12 RegimentsTithed Astra Militarum - 18 RegimentsSkitarii - 5 LegionsSiege Auxilia Corps - 528 BatteriesLegio Metalica - A Demi-legioAdepta Sororitas, Order of the Bloody Rose - 2 PreceptoriesAdeptus AstartesAngels of Absolution - 3 CompaniesBlack Consuls - 4 CompaniesVaried Astartes Chapters - 4 Companies |
Cadia - Kasr Trunch Counterattack: Black Consuls - 6 CompaniesWatchguards - 6 CompaniesVaried Astartes Chapters - 12 CompaniesOfficio Assassinorum - Classified |
Cadia - The Long Retreat: Cadian Shock Troops - 41 RegimentsCadian Kasrkin - 16 RegimentsZenonian Free Companies - 9 CompaniesTithed Astra Militarum - 12 RegimentsDhonovar Heavy Armour - 5 CompaniesLegio Cybernetica - 3 CohortsAdepta Sororitas, Order of the Ebon Chalice - 3 PreceptoriesHallicon Armoured - 5 RegimentsOrdo Reductor - A Demi-legioLegio Ignatum - Full Legion |
Cadia - High-Orbit Offensive: Adeptus AstartesNovamarines - 4 CompaniesReclaimers - 3 CompaniesExcoriators - 3 CompaniesCerulean Guard - 3 CompaniesIron Hands - 2 CompaniesVaried Astartes Chapters - 7 CompaniesNote: All the Adeptus Astartes assets were stripped from Mos Khazner's defence in an attempt to retake the orbital batteries. Their success allowed the Long Retreat. |
Cadia - The Lord Castellan's Last Stand: Cadian Shock Troops - 99 RegimentsCadian Kasrkin - 6 RegimentsBrazen Claws - 3 CompaniesBlack Consuls - 2 CompaniesCenturio Ordinatus - 4 OrdinatusLegio Gryphonicus - A Demi-legioFreeblades - UnknownSkitarii - 3 LegionsFort Drokz Penal Legions - 4 LegionsHouse Krast - 2 Knight HouseholdsLegion of the Damned - UnknownRelictors - 2 CompaniesHarlequin Masque of the Hidden Path - 9 TroupesVaried Astartes Chapters - 5 CompaniesNote: The Cadian Gate was guarded by the Astartes Praeses but also by elements of 21 other Chapters deployed across the Cadian Sector. |
Cadia - Forces of Chaos Order of Battle: Abaddon the Despoiler, the Chaos Lord of the Black Legion, led the final assault force against Cadia in person. With him came the legions of the hellish Eye of Terror, the manifold hosts of the Dark Gods amassed under a single banner. The cause that united them was not just the destruction of the Imperium, but the demise of the material realm itself. |
Cadia - Abaddon's Vanguard: Black Legion - Full Traitor LegionIron Warriors - Full Traitor LegionWorld Eaters - 5 WarbandsEmperor's Children - Hedonistic HostsNight Lords - 3 WarbandsDeath Guard - 3 Plague CompaniesAlpha Legion - UnknownWord Bearers - 5 CompaniesLegio Mortis - A Demi-legio |
Cadia - Red Legions: Khan'zhar the Red - Exalted Greater Daemon of KhorneBloodguard - 8 Greater Daemons of KhorneRedhost - 8 Daemonic LegionsFellblades - 8 Daemonic LegionsKaghrexx's Destroyers - 8 Daemonic LegionsKhârn the Betrayer - Legendary Chaos LordGorehands - 5 CompaniesBlood Engines (Traitoris Militarum) - Armour BattalionSkullcorps (Traitoris Militarum) - 18 RegimentsBloodemption - Chaos Cult |
Cadia - Plague Armies: Slogoth Poxbelly - Exalted Greater Daemon of NurgleDrub'sla Plaguehost - 7 Daemonic LegionsThree-Eyed Tolltakers - 7 Daemonic LegionsBlightwalkers - 7 Daemonic LegionsNurgling Tide - UncountableThe Tainted - 7 CompaniesThe Horned - Pestigor LegionThe Risen - Plague ZombiesOgryn Brutepox - 3 CompaniesThe Stigmatus Convent - Entire Chaos CultThe Viscous - Entire Chaos Cult |
Cadia - The Host Iridescent: M'katchnar - Exalted Greater Daemon of TzeentchTriumvirate of Arcanzarr - Daemon CovenScintillating Host - 9 Daemonic LegionsLegions of Shimmerlak - 9 Daemonic LegionsUnkbolt Conflock - 9 Tzaangor WarflocksThe Scourged - 4 CompaniesEagles Iridescent - 3 CompaniesKabal of Umbra - Entire Chaos Cult |
Cadia - The Decadent Horde: Sidroh the Sinuous - Exalted Greater Daemon of SlaaneshThe Writhing Host - 6 Daemonic LegionsThe Undulators - 6 Daemonic LegionsViolators - 5 WarbandsChildren of Torment - 3 WarbandsPain Armoured Brigade - 2 Sonic CompaniesThe Hedonastic - Entire Chaos CultTentacled Behemoth - Warp Monster |
Cadia - The Damned: As befits Abaddon's cruelty and meticulous planning, thirteen massive transports of combat-drugged mutants, wretches, Plague Zombies and Chaos Spawn were crash-landed into the ruined city of Kasr Kharkovan, ensuring that many of the final assaults were performed by the least storied of the Lost and the Damned among his armies. |
Cadian Gate - Cadian Gate: The Cadian Gate is an area of calm space leading into and out of the massive Warp rift called the Eye of Terror. It is located to the galactic southeast of the Eye in the Segmentum Obscurus, and is the only predictably stable way out of that maelstrom of Warp energy.It is therefore a site of frequent raids by the forces of Chaos seeking to break through the Imperial defences in the region so that they can invade the larger Imperium of Man.Several Black Crusades have emerged from the Cadian Gate, including the most recent campaign, the 13th Black Crusade, led by the Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler. This led to its continuous monitoring by the Imperium and the stationing of several forces of the Astra Militarum in the closest star system, the Cadian System.However, Abaddon succeeded in penetrating the Cadian Gate when Cadia itself was swallowed by the Warp following the successful conclusion of the 13th Black Crusade and the destruction of the world's Cadian Pylons after the Despoiler used the disabled Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity as a kinetic impactor.The Cadian Gate is not the only stable exit from the Eye as the Arx Gap offers another way to exit the Warp rift, although it is somewhat less reliable. It was from the Arx Gap that Abaddon began the Gothic War (the 12th Black Crusade) by raiding the research and monitoring station located there in 139.M41.The Arx Gap bypasses the powerful defences of the Cadian Gate, thus making it a more attractive location from which the forces of Chaos can stage their assaults on the Imperium, but it is more prone to Warp turbulence.Despite the loss of Cadia and the subsequent birth of the Cicatrix Maledictum or Great Rift, the Cadian Gate is still being defended by Cadian survivors and other Imperial forces in the Cadian System and on the nearby worlds of Belis Corona and Agripinaa.The tendency of the forces of Chaos to turn on themselves, combined with a loss of momentum after the fall of Cadia and the start of the Indomitus Crusade, has allowed the Imperial forces to stabilise the war zone and prevent further penetration of Imperial space to date by the Chaos fleets and armies that remain concentrated in the region. |
Cadian Gate - History: When the defeated Traitor forces collapsed with the death of Horus and fled in disarray from Terra, some Loyalist forces rallied and gave chase, but most remained on Terra to consolidate their great victory. Many rebels were put to the sword, but the majority of the Traitor Legions escaped to the realm of space known as the Eye of Terror, that region where reality and insanity collide and the raw energy of the Warp pours into realspace in a swirling maelstrom.There the Chaos Gods rule over uncounted planets, all warped to their own evil aspects, and this is where the Traitor Legions found refuge from their pursuers, isolated from the galaxy by powerful Warp Storms.Every world within the Eye of Terror is a Daemon World, warped and twisted by the whims of the Gods of Chaos and the Daemon Princes who rule them. The Traitor Legions regrouped and nurtured their hatred, planning for the day when they would wreak a terrible vengeance on those who had defied them.Within the Eye, time flows very differently than in realspace, sometimes faster, often slower. Those same Traitors who fought on Terra at the Siege of the Imperial Palace in the early 31st Millennium still fight in the service of the Ruinous Powers. They fight against each other to prove their supremacy, and against the forces of the Imperium when the Warp Storms calm long enough to allow them to rampage into Imperial space.The Imperial sectors surrounding the Eye of Terror are heavily militarised to resist these Chaos invasions when they come, and none more so than Cadia , the Fortress World that stands at the mouth of the one stable route leading from the Eye of Terror, the Cadian Gate.Twenty separate Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes were eventually founded to specifically aid in the defence of the worlds surrounding the Eye of Terror and the Cadian Gate and they are known as the Astartes Praeses. |
Cadian Gate - Aftermath of the Fall of Cadia: At the culmination of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade, the newborn Cicatrix Maledictum had all but consumed Cadia. With the great Cadian Pylons toppled by Abaddon's conquering hordes and the colossal Warp Storm of the Eye of Terror no longer held at bay, the dread powers of Chaos ravaged the planet beyond recovery. And still the neighbouring worlds and star systems were defiant.Had Cadia not been famous for holding so long against the odds, it is likely the other planets in the Cadian System would have capitulated or given up almost immediately. No normal world could stand in the face of the horrendous, sanity-devouring armies that descended upon the Cadian Gate in such terrifying measure. However, the wider star systems of Cadia, Belis Corona, and Agripinaa stood fast.Perhaps, just as a veteran can lead lesser men to deeds of great heroism, Cadia had inspired those worlds around it to defend every nation and city to the last bullet. Perhaps Cadia's surviving soldiery lent strength through their hunger for retribution. Perhaps those battered by the storm simply fought for survival. Whatever the reason, the defenders of the Cadian Gate resolved to uphold the virtues of its lost lynchpin world come what may.In the confusion of outright war, the hordes of Chaos began to turn upon themselves. Though they were ascendant, their ultimate conquest had yet to be clinched. Rival warlords, both mortal and daemonic, clashed over the spoils of victories not yet won.The Imperial defenders were quick to capitalise on each strategic misstep, for many were veterans of the wars upon Cadia, and they knew how to goad a fractious enemy into overextending its reach. From dissolution came destruction.Solar day by solar day the Imperial armies clawed back a semblance of control. Soon the war zone was in contention once more for the servants of the Emperor, the dread stranglehold of Chaos loosened by the sheer determination of the Astra Militarum and the vengeful fury of the Space Marines.Each new dawn was greeted by a scattering of ships from the Great Exodus of Cadia, those fortunate souls who had braved the Empyrean tempests and lived to tell of it. Again and again the fighting escalated, the fires of war that had burned Cadia to cinders roaring to life anew upon the other worlds of the Cadian System, as well as those of the Belis Corona and Agripinaa Systems. |
Cadian Gate - Notable Imperial Navy Battlefleets: Many notable Imperial Navy battlefleets protect the surrounding systems of the Cadian Gate by constant patrolling the space lanes around the Eye of Terror, constantly vigilant for Chaos raiders or another approaching Black Crusade.Battlefleet AgripinaaBattlefleet CadiaBattlefleet CoronusBattlefleet GothicBattlefleet Scarus |
Cadian Neo-917th - Cadian Neo-917th: The Cadian Neo-917th, originally designated the Cadian 917th, is an Astra Militarum regiment of the Cadian Shock Troops that was corrupted into a regiment of Brood Brothers and Genestealer hybrids in the Era Indomitus during its deployment on the conflict-ridden Forge World of Bheta-Decima by a Genestealer Cult known as the Cult of the Chittering Verse.After its corruption the regiment altered its name to the "Cadian Neo-917th" to represent its change of allegiance and purpose. Thereafter the regiment operated as a critical military asset for the cult's xenophile agenda. |
Cadian Neo-917th - Mission to Bheta Decima: The Cadian 917th Regiment was originally deployed to Bheta-Decima, a Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus located in the Nemesys Sector of the Segmentum Tempestus that was ravaged by conflict and xenos incursions. The space hulk Gallowdark had emerged in Bheta-Decima's system when the greedy ruling magi used a gigantic Graviton Cannon to pull the space hulk into their orbit in order to plunder it of its hidden technological riches.However, during the process of its capture, the Gallowdark broke apart, raining debris across Bheta-Decima and decimating its settlements. In the aftermath of the catastrophe anarchy and violence reigned across the Forge World, and the planet fell into a crime-ridden apocalypse dominated by the workings of the black market.It was into this situation that the Cadian 917th was deployed by Segmentum Tempestus High Command to quell the rising tides of Chaos Cultists, Aeldari Corsairs, and Ork Kommandoz that soon afflicted the world. However, a shadowy enemy lurked in the depths of the planet -- "the Seethe," a mysterious subterranean region that was home to the Genestealer Cult known as the Cult of the Chittering Verse.The regiment suffered heavy casualties during its time trying to quell the chaos rampant on Bheta-Decima, losing twelve out of the regiment's fifty-six companies in two standard years of deployment. However, they remained resilient, gaining a reputation for discipline and tenacity, particularly through the exploits of their pious 4th Company. |
Cadian Neo-917th - Genestealer Influence: As the multi-sided conflict on Bheta-Decima dragged on, the Cadian 917th Regiment lost troops in unexplainable ways. Ambushes by enemies with crude firearms, drownings in flooded chambers, and the gradual disappearance of entire squads to unknown causes were common. However, many of these vanished troopers would later return, infected by the Genestealer's genetic curse. Unknown to their comrades, these returned troops were now Brood Brothers, subservient to the Genestealer Patriarch of the Cult of the Chittering Verse. Over time, entire squads and even the company captain of the 4th Company became infected, leading to a shift in the regiment's operations.The cult's influence spread rapidly within the regiment. Local recruits drawn as replacements for the 917th, were themselves Genestealer hybrids, and soon filled the regiment's ranks under the orders of their corrupted leaders. Gradually, the 917th turned its efforts away from fighting external threats to Imperial order on Bheta-Decima and instead targeted the local Adeptus Arbites, Adeptus Mechanicus, and other Loyalist Imperial forces, branding them as traitors and obstacles to the cult's grand plan to welcome the Star-Children to their world.When the Genestealer uprising on Bheta-Decima finally began in earnest, the Cadian 917th fully embraced their new identity, renaming themselves the "Cadian Neo-917th." As the mailed fist of the Genestealer Cult, they brought their Cadian discipline and training to bear in the service of their new masters. The regiment's military prowess, once used to defend the Imperium, was now turned against it. |
Cadian Neo-917th - Need's Gaârd: The Genestealer Cult's activities on Bheta-Decima eventually succeeded in drawing the attention of a small splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan which was soon en route to the benighted Forge World, but its bio-ships were detected and engaged by the Farsail of Thryk Kindred of the Leagues of Votann's Trans-Hyperian Alliance league. The Kin sought to trap and harvest the splinter fleet, as the Kin had discovered they could render bio-ship matter into rare and exotic compounds.Kin scout vessels were deployed ahead of the Tyranids to identify the splinter fleet's prey worlds, but the Quicksilver-class Scout Ship Vektrônn's Eye was shot down over Bheta-Decima by the Genestealer Cultists of the Cult of the Chittering Verse. The Kin ship crashed into the central hold of the cult's Genestealer Patriarch that had been named the "Deeprealm." In a desperate panic to protect their Patriarch, the Chittering Verse has decended upon the wreckage of the Leagues of Votann ship and battled with its Kin, seeking to eradicate them.One of the Cadian Neo-917th Regiment's elite kill-team called the "Wardens of the Verse" was responsible for assaulting elements of these Kin forces. The acting commander was Jerran Krauss, who led the Wardens of the Verse alongside the Chittering Verse's cult magus.During the combat over the Deeprealm, Extrication Craft Thargr 7 carrying a unit of the Kin's Hernkyn Yaegirs called Need's Gaârd was shot down by enemy fire. The Kin's team leader Vynn Dreygr and his squad survived the crash but were forced to regroup as they sought to secure a Legacy Vault present in the Deeprealm, a critical artefact present on Bheta-Decima that they sought to secure and return to the Votann. A Legacy Vault is an advanced Leagues of Votann cogitator technology that allows the neural makeup of individual Kin who have been slain far from their holds to be secured and stored in order to one day be rejoined with their distant Ancestor Core. To recover these neural patterns is a primary task of the Kin's Hernkyn.The Kin kill-team fortified their position at the crash site while fending off repeated ambushes from infected Brood Brothers of the Cadian Neo-917th. The guidance of the cult's magus was pivotal in this first contact, as her psychic focus allowed Jerran Krauss to discover the Kin's movements after they unleashed a counteroffensive on the Brood Brothers as a distraction.As the Brood Brothers of the Wardens of the Verse launched coordinated attacks under the guidance of Krauss and the magus, the Kin retaliated fiercely but were ultimately forced to seek out a generatorium that could be used to power-up the damaged Legacy Vault so that the transfer of its precious data could begin. The Kin discovered their communications had been compromised by the cultists, leading to an ambush by the Brood Brothers at a generator site.The situation became dire when a Genestealer revealed itself, accompanied by more Brood Brothers and a powerful female Clamavus. Despite heavy losses, including the near-death of Vynn Dreygr, the Kin managed to fend off their attackers temporarily.In the end, the remaining members of Need's Gaârd held out at the generatorium site while Dreygyr made a solo journey back to the Vektronn's Eye for reinforcements, leaving his team to defend the Legacy Vault. The team was resigned to fight to the death, knowing that through the Legacy Vault, their knowledge and sacrifice would return to the Votann, ensuring that their legacy would endure even if their lives did not. |
Cadian Neo-917th - Wargear: The Brood Brothers of the Cadian Neo-917th Regiment are armed with a variety of Imperial weapons and equipment designed for ambush tactics and close-quarters combat. They typically don tattered and stained Astra Militarum uniforms, reflecting their subservience to the Cult of the Chittering Verse and their grim surroundings. The most common Brood Brothers utilise standard lasguns or autoguns, often equipped with bayonets for melee encounters.Specialised heavy weapons squads among the Brood Brothers are outfitted with devastating weapons like flamers, Meltaguns, and plasma guns, providing both area-denial capabilities and firepower with greater stopping-power. Specialists also fill the ranks, including snipers and medics to deal with any medicae needs of wounded troopers, as well as troops outfitted with a lethal but limited Gene-needler weapon for dire situations. Grenades of all types and varying sizes of combat knives can also be seen amongst the Brood Brothers.The leadership of the Cult of the Chittering Verse among the Cadian Neo-917th is represented by the Genestealer Cult's Brood Coven including the magus or in truly dire circumstances, the Genestealer Patriarch itself, who not only commands but also wields potent psychic powers that are channelled through the magus for leadership of the cult.The magus often carries an autogun along with a Force Stave, while the Patriarch is a fearsome presence, capable of mind-controlling enemy forces or simply ripping through even ceramite with ease using its cruel claws. Pairs of Genestealer Familiars can be sent in its stead to observe the conflict, acting as scouts for the Patriarch. |
Cadian Pylon - Cadian Pylon: A Cadian Pylon was one of several thousand massive pylon-shaped devices composed of blackstone and of unknown xenos origin erected millions of standard years ago in a complex network stretching across the surface of the Fortress World of Cadia. These pylons can also still be found on a number of other worlds close to the great Eye of Terror Warp rift in the Segmentum Obscurus.In a galaxy replete with mysteries, the Cadian Pylons were amongst the most enduring. There were over five thousand such edifices scattered across the surface of Cadia, each one standing some five hundred metres above the surface, and reaching two hundred and fifty metres below.Reports differed, but it was understood that there could have been anywhere between two and three thousand more concealed below ground as the result of tectonic movement down the ages.Despite millennia of study, the Adeptus Mechanicus long failed to discover the purpose of the pylons. servitors sent within invariably ceased to function or suffered circuit overload; all attempts to breach the structures' gleaming surfaces met with failure. Any recovered data was fragmentary at best, and contradictory at worst. Even the identity of the pylons' creators was shrouded in mystery.Some amongst the Cult Mechanicus believed the spires to be the work of the undying Necrons, or their mortal antecedents the Necrontyr, but then there were those on Mars equally convinced that the pylons were constructed by the Old Ones for the sole purpose of destroying the Necrons and their former C'tan overlords.The one thing all investigators agreed upon was that the pylons were responsible for the stable Warp-corridor known as the Cadian Gate. Adepts conjectured that they emitted a becalming signal, taming the roiling psychic energies of the Immaterium.In the wake of the events of the 13th Black Crusade and the destruction of Cadia, it is now known by the savants of the Imperium of Man and the Asuryani craftworlds that the pylons, constructed of the unique substance called noctilith, were erected over 65 million standard years ago by the Necrons during their ancient war with the Old Ones to serve as a defence against the psychic abilities of the Warp -- the Necrons' only real vulnerability.The pylons essentially acted as anti-psychic field emitters, restricting the activity of the Immaterium in proximity to them. |
Cadian Pylon - History: The mysterious pylons of Cadia stood for millions of standard years before the coming of Humanity to that remote world. But their ultimate purpose long remained a mystery though it was known the pylons served as emitters of an anti-psychic field.The tech-priests of the Imperium's Adeptus Mechanicus hypothesised that the pylons on Cadia exerted some affect over the Immaterium, rendering it calm and creating the unusual zone of space-temporal stability known as the Cadian Gate, that enables ships to travel through the only known navigable route in and out of the Eye of Terror into realspace.During the 13th Black Crusade, it became clear to Imperial savants that the pylons can be reduced to ruin by overloading their capability to hold the Empyrean at bay with massive amounts of Warp-spawned enemies, such as a massive incursion of Daemons into realspace at one time.When the first signs of the coming Black Crusade began, as Warp Storm Baphomael expanded and began to engulf the edges of the Cadian System, of the 5,180 known intact pylons, at least 1,292 began to emit a psycho-temporal resonance.During the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, Abaddon the Despoiler intended to overload the pylon network on Cadia itself to allow the Eye of Terror to envelop the worlds of the Imperium, making it possible for that Warp Storm to encompass the entirety of the galaxy.This outcome is known to the forces of Chaos as the Crimson Path, for without the Cadian Pylons even Terra itself ran the risk of being swept up in a rapidly expanding Eye of Terror.And this is exactly what happened at the climax of the 13th Black Crusade. As the Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, with the aid of the Necron Overlord Trazyn the Infinite, successfully activated the Cadian Pylon network's full anti-psychic capabilities to begin to actually close the Eye of Terror, Abaddon the Despoiler used the damaged bulk of the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity as an artificial asteroid, unleashing a kinetic strike on Cadia.The force of the massive xenos star fortress' impact with Cadia destroyed the fields of pylons across the planet, disrupting Cawl's attempt. The sudden failure of the pylon network allowed the Eye of Terror to begin to expand across the galaxy, swallowing up the mortally wounded world of Cadia even as tectonic stresses ripped it apart.The rapid expansion of the Eye of Terror provided an anchor point for the eventual development of the Great Rift that cut the Imperium in half after the end of the 13th Great Crusade and heralded the start of the Era Indomitus. |
Cadian Pylon - Structure: The Cadian Pylons are massive structures of smooth, black, noctilith stone, 500 metres high and 250 metres square. The upper facing of each pylon contains holes and other round orifices about the size of a human head. The wind moves through these holes and often produces an eerie, mournful sound. These tubes through the structures are not straight.Mechanicus tech-priests investigating the pylons attempted over the centuries to run servitor probes through them to map the structures but usually they did not return. There were 5,810 fully intact pylons on the surface of Cadia and over 2,000 others that were partially ruined or buried relics.No two of the pylons are identical in design largely because the strange tubes that ran through them each followed unique patterns that differed from pylon to pylon.Each one rose exactly 500 metres high and was sunk 250 metres below the planet's surface. The similar pylons on other worlds in the Cadian Sector near the Eye of Terror look identical to those once found on Cadia's surface.The Cadian Pylons tended to be clustered in large fields of many monoliths, including such regions of Cadia as the Elysion Fields, which possessed the largest concentration of the xenos constructs, as well as at the lesser sites of Kasarn, Trosk and Vorg. |
Cadian Pylon - Sources: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 19-20Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition)The 13th Black Crusade (Background Book), pp. 14-15Eisenhorn (Novel) by Dan AbnettThe Gathering Storm - Part One - Fall of Cadia (7th Edition), pp. 10, 68-88 |
Cadian Sector - Cadian Sector: The Cadian Sector of the Milky Way Galaxy is a sector of the Imperium of Man in the Segmentum Obscurus to the galactic north of Terra. The planet Cadia is the Imperium of Man's most important Fortress World as designated by the Administratum. It guards the only known navigable route, a passage called the Cadian Gate, to and from the massive Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror. The world's dangerous proximity to the Eye of Terror has made it necessary for the people of Cadia to heavily fortify the planet. The Cadian Sector is always the first target of the Chaos Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler's assaults and multiple Black Crusades, when the Forces of Chaos launch themselves from the Eye of Terror every few centuries in an attempt to break out and invade the Imperium proper as they did during the Horus Heresy. |
Cadian Sector - Pre-Heresy: Some 40 standard years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Cadia was a world inhabited by a primitive race of violet-eyed humans who worshipped the four Chaos Gods, probably a remnant of Mankind that had turned to the Ruinous Powers during the hardships of the Age of Strife. Prompted by the so-called Pilgrimage of the Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers Legion to discover whether or not the Gods once worshipped by adherents of the Old Faith of the Word Bearers' homeworld of Colchis actually existed, Lorgar journeyed with his Word Bearers Legion's Chapter of the Serrated Sun to what was then the fringes of known Imperial space as part of the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. At this time, Lorgar had not yet fallen to Chaos, though he had turned against the Emperor of Mankind as a deity no longer worthy of his worship after the Emperor and the Ultramarines Legion had personally humiliated him and the entire Word Bearers Legion on the world of Khur, 43 standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy.The Emperor had come to Khur personally with Malcador the Sigillite after ordering the Ultramarines to destroy the Khurian city of Monarchia where the Emperor was worshipped as a God as a result of the teachings of the Word Bearers. He made his displeasure known to Lorgar about the Word Bearers spreading the religion of Emperor-worship to every world they brought into the Imperium, in direct contravention of the rationalist, atheist philosophy of the Imperial Truth. The Emperor forced the entire Legion to kneel against their will through the use of his psychic might and then explained that they were the only Astartes Legion to have failed his purpose on the Great Crusade. After this humiliation Lorgar, on the advice of his First Captain Kor Phaeron and the Word Bearers First Chaplain Erebus, decided to undertake a Pilgrimage to discover if the Gods worshipped by the ancient Old Faith of Colchis were real and worthy of the Word Bearers' faith and allegiance, since clearly the Emperor was not.The Word Bearers were also accompanied on this Pilgrimage by 5 members of the Adeptus Custodes who had been set by the Emperor to watch over everything the Word Bearers did to prevent them from falling back into error once more. The 1301st Expeditionary Fleet exited the Warp near the largest Warp Storm in the universe, later known as the Eye of Terror. The Fleet's Master of Astropaths advised Lorgar that unusual "voices" in the Warp were heard in the vicinity of the great Warp rift, voices that spoke directly to the Primarch as well, the voices of the Chaos entities within the Immaterium.The decision was made to hold orbit over Cadia and for the 1301st Fleet's elements to make planetfall on the unknown world, designated as 1301-12. The landing force was comprised of Imperial Army, Word Bearers, Adeptus Custodes and Legiones Cybernetica elements. The landing party, led by Lorgar, was greeted by a large number of barbaric human tribes, people described as "dressed in rags and wielding spears tipped by flint blades...yet they showed little fear." Most notable were the barbarians' purple eyes, which reflected the colour of the Eye of Terror itself in the spectrum of visible light. Despite the Custodian Vendatha's protests and request to execute the heathens, the Word Bearers approached the natives. A woman emerged from the crowd and addressed the Primarch directly, calling him Lorgar Aurelian and welcoming him to Cadia. This woman, the priestess Ingethel, would ultimately lead the Primarch down a path of spiritual enlightenment that actually marked the beginning of Lorgar's fall to heresy and Chaos. Later, Ingethel of Cadia would lead the 1301st Fleet's scout vessel Orfeo's Lament into the Eye of Terror and thus change the Word Bearers forever as they were exposed to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and slowly corrupted, the first of the Legiones Astartes to worship the Chaos Gods and become Traitors to the Emperor. The Cadians, primitive as they were, used a language which was akin to the Word Bearers' own Colchisan tongue. Many traditions of the Word Bearers were mirrored by the culture of ancient Cadia, leading Lorgar to believe that the original settlers of both his own homeworld of Colchis and Cadia shared a common heritage. Following the visits into the Eye of Terror, Lorgar ordered a cyclonic bombardment of the planet, wiping out the Cadians and leaving the planet abandoned so none would know what had transpired. |
Cadian Sector - Post-Heresy: Following the Battle of Terra that ended the Horus Heresy with Horus' death and the internment of the Emperor of Mankind in the Golden Throne, the defeated Traitor Legions and their allied forces among the Imperial Army and the Dark Mechanicus fled from Terra. Some of the exhausted Loyalists rallied and gave chase, but most remained on Terra to consolidate their great victory over the Forces of Chaos. Many of the surviving Traitors were put to the sword, but the majority of the Traitor Legions escaped into the great Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus, a region of space where reality and the insanity of Chaos collide as the raw psychic energy of the Immaterium pours into real space-time.Within the Eye of Terror, the Chaos Gods rule over uncounted numbers of planets, all warped to reflect their own dark aspects. It was there that the Traitor Legions found refuge, isolated from the rest of the galaxy by potent Warp Storms. Each of the planets within the Eye is a Daemon World, warped and twisted by the whims of the Ruinous Powers and the powerful Daemon Princes who rule over them in the Dark Gods' name. The Chaos Space Marines regrouped and nurtured their hatred of the Imperium, planning for the day when they would wreak a terrible vengeance on those who had defied them and their foul masters. Within the Eye time flows differently than in realspace. Those same Traitors who fought on Terra 10,000 standard years ago still fight today in the service of Chaos. They fight against each other to prove their supremacy and against the forces of the Imperium when the Warp Storms calm enough to allow them to emerge into Imperial space.The Imperial sectors surrounding the Eye of Terror are heavily militarised to resist these frequent invasions and none more so than Cadia, the Imperial Fortress World that stands at the very mouth of the only stable navigational route leading out of the Eye of Terror, the dreaded Cadian Gate. The planet's strategic location meant that it would prove useful to the Imperium and in the 32nd Millennium Imperial colonists were dispatched to resettle the world, becoming the ancestors of the present-day population of Cadians. Perhaps as a result of the Eye of Terror's proximity, this later population of Cadians also soon developed the unusual violet-coloured eyes that had marked the first human inhabitants of the planet.Cadia stands upon the only known reliable route out of the Eye of Terror and thus is one of the most strategically vital worlds in the entire Imperium of Man. There are other routes out of the Eye, but none are stable like the Cadian Gate and no military force of any true size can venture forth from the Eye without first passing through it. The exact reasons for the existence of this unusual region of stability is unknown, though many Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus believe it is due to the presence of the famous Cadian Pylons. These mysterious black monoliths, now known to have been created by the Necrons millions of standard years ago to hold back the psychic influence of the Warp that was so feared by their C'tan masters, dot the landscape of Cadia and their origins remained mysterious until the time of the 13th Black Crusade.Cadia itself is a bleak, merciless and wind-blown planet, where only the strongest survive to adulthood and discipline is learned from the moment a babe takes his or her first steps. Cold winds howl across wide, sundered plains where armies train with live ammunition and every day not spent training is believed to be a day wasted. Every Cadian fortress-city, or "Kasr", is a great citadel, with the streets and buildings fashioned with great tactical cunning by the finest military engineers and siege specialists of the Imperial Guard. Every Cadian is taught the skills of the warrior as soon as they can walk and they are much sought after by commanders throughout the galaxy. Cadian military gear is considered top-rate and is used as the standard for all Imperial Guard Regiments. Such a world breeds hardy and determined warriors and the Cadian Regiments of the Imperial Guard have a well-deserved reputation for both honour and fighting spirit. From the earliest age, Cadians are taught to field-strip a weapon with their eyes shut and tactical doctrine is taught before basic literacy. One soldier in every ten is recruited into the Cadian Interior Guard, regardless of ability or achievements, and as a result some of the most able soldiers spend their entire Imperial military service on Cadia and the soldiers of the Cadian Planetary Defence Force are amongst the most skilled fighting men in the Imperium, the equal of many other worlds' Imperial Guard Regiments. |
Cadian Sector - 13th Black Crusade: In 999.M41, when Abaddon the Despoiler finally launched his 13th Black Crusade, the greatest Chaos assault on the Imperium since the Horus Heresy, the Forces of Chaos managed to make landfall upon Cadia itself and occupy large swathes of the planet despite ferocious Imperial resistance. Led by the Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed, the Imperial forces were ultimately able to contain the Chaos assault but they could not force the Traitor Legions to leave the planet. In the space above Cadia, the Imperial Navy proved victorious over the Chaos warfleet led by Abaddon while the Eldar provided a timely assist in facing off against a Blackstone Fortress inhabited by a sentient avatar of Slaanesh himself. At the end of that campaign, the Imperial Navy controlled the space over Cadia and thus prevented the Forces of Chaos from breaking out of the Cadian Gate, yet at the same time the Traitor Legions and their allies remained in control of a large amount of Cadian territory. They have dug in and erected elaborate defences that will prove very difficult for the Imperial forces to overcome. As a result, at the present time, a bloody stalemate reigns on the Imperium's most important Fortress World, though if the Forces of Chaos were ever able to seize the orbital space over Cadia, they might at last gain the advantage necessary to fully conquer the planet and overwhelm the remaining defences of the Cadian Gate. Should they do so, then the Imperium may face the greatest threat to its existence since the Horus Heresy, 10,000 years ago... |
Cadian Sector - Locations: Cadia (Fortress World) - Lynchpin Fortress World of the Cadian Sector. Cadia stands alone, a failing beacon of the Emperor's light flickering against the encroaching night, and the inevitable tide of Chaos that Abaddon will seek to unleash upon the Imperium of Man.Kasr Holn (Fortress World) - Besieged during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.Kasr Partox (Fortress World) - Besieged during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.Korolis (Industrial World) - Promethium weapons grade atomic materials produced here.Macharia (Militarised Hive World, Destroyed) - Macharia was a populated Imperial world in the Cadia System that was obliterated by Abaddon's dreaded warship known as the Planet Killer during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.Pervigilium (Space Marine Chapter Homeworld) - Pervigilium is the Chapter homeworld of the Angels of Vigilance, and is situated just outside the Cadian Gate.Prosan (Uninhabited World) - Hostile environment training ground for the Imperial Guard..Solar Macharius (Industrial World)St. Josmane's Hope (Prison World) - The first of the inner worlds of the Cadia System to fall, St. Josmane's Hope was destroyed by a specially selected Imperial strike-force composed of Adeptus Astartes from various Chapters, a Death Cult Assassin, five Tech-priests and additional support personnel, as well as some unnamed Inquisitors. They successfully overloaded the generatorium grid of the planet's main prison complex, which caused massive tectonic instability, and the inevitable destruction of the planet. None of the operatives of the Imperial strike force survived.Vigilatum (Naval Training World) - Besieged during the 13th Black Crusade. |
Cadian Sector - Notable Imperial Navy Battlefleets: Many notable Imperial Navy battlefleets protect the surrounding systems of the Cadian Sector by constant patrolling the space lanes around the Eye of Terror, constantly vigilant for Chaos raiders or another approaching Black Crusade.Battlefleet AgripinaaBattlefleet CadiaBattlefleet CoronusBattlefleet GothicBattlefleet Scarus |
Cadian Sector - Notable Cadian Imperial Guard Regiments: Many notable Imperial Guard Regiments have been drawn from Cadia, including:7th Cadian Regiment, "The Lucky Sevens"8th Cadian Regiment, "The Lord Castellan's Own" - The 8th Cadian was led personally by Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed during the 13th Black Crusade39th Cadian Regiment,"Xenobane"69th Cadian Regiment, "The Fighting 69th"81st Cadian Armoured Regiment, "Rolling Thunder"89th Cadian Armoured Regiment, "Steel Lords"110th Cadian Regiment, "Shadow Corps"122nd Cadian Regiment - Distinguished themselves in the Vogen Campaign412th Cadian Regiment - Featured in the PC game Dawn of War: Winter Assault where they carried out the Imperial assault against the Chaos Space Marine and Ork forces of the ice world of Lorn V417th Cadian Regiment, "Hellbringers"516th Cadian Regiment, "The Wildcats" |
Cadian Shock Troops - Cadian Shock Troops: The Cadian Shock Troops, also sometimes called Cadian Shock Troopers, are the highly disciplined Militarum Regimentum soldiers conscripted in large numbers from the Fortress World of Cadia for the Astra Militarum, which once stood sentinel as the preeminent bastion of the Imperium of Man in the fight against the Emperor's ancient Archenemy, Chaos. They are deployed in every segmentum of the Imperium and are particularly skilled at defending fortified positions against extreme assaults and in warfare against the forces of Chaos.From the famous Shock Troops of its infantry regiments to the dedicated crews of its armoured war engines and the gunners who man its artillery and heavy weapons, the discipline and highly-professional warriors of the Cadian Regimentum are lauded throughout the Imperium as born soldiers.Cadia was one world amongst many tens of thousands in the Imperium, and has an honoured and violent place in its history, for Cadia stood upon the edge of the Eye of Terror within the Segmentum Obscurus, in a narrow corridor of navigable space known as the Cadian Gate. As a result, for 10,000 standard years Cadia endured the constant assaults of the forces of Chaos from within the Eye and remained unbowed and unconquered until Abaddon the Despoiler unleashed his 13th Black Crusade. This history of unending threat from the Archenemy bred a world of warriors who are still known to possess unsurpassed discipline and skill, and whose Astra Militarum regiments stand as examples to the rest of the Imperial Guard and Mankind.Cadia is a by-word for stalwart defiance and righteous contempt on countless worlds, and for good reason. Sat within a narrow stable passageway known as the Cadian Gate into the heart of the Eye of Terror, the Cadian Sector stands as a bastion against the encroachment of the forces of Chaos, holding fast for millennia against the onslaught of Traitors, Heretics, and Daemons. Cadia was amongst the foremost Fortress Worlds in the Imperium, with every soul trained from childhood to defend their world, and all the Imperial worlds beyond, against the abominations that dwell within the colossal Warp Storm that dominated their skies.Barring a small minority composed of those unfit to serve as soldiers, every child on Cadia was expected to serve in the Cadian Youth Army, better known as the Whiteshields, from the age of fourteen standard years until their maturity, learning the combat skills and discipline regarded as essential. From these, many continued their service by joining the Interior Guard (the Cadian Planetary Defence Force) as adults, pledging their lives to the defence of Cadia, a force of hundreds, even thousands of regiment-strength units, and the equal of any comparably sized Imperial Guard force.Even those who did not remain in military service -- fulfilling some rear-echelon role essential to the upkeep of an immense defensive army -- were expected to maintain their skills and remain vigilant, stepping up to fight should the Interior Guard be overwhelmed. Indeed, such was the number of capable youth soldiers, Interior Guardsmen, reservists, and the sheer quantity of new recruits on Cadia every year, that many invasions were been defeated through attrition alone, the invading armies unable to match the hundreds of millions of Cadians.In addition to defending the Imperium from the horrors of the Eye of Terror, Cadia also provided a large tithe of troops to the Departmento Munitorum, and some of the most legendary regiments in the Imperium still hail from the lost Fortress World. These soldiers are selected at random, without fear that they might be rejected by the Departmento Munitorum -- a testament to the quality of the Cadian Interior Guard.The legendary status of these troops still sees Cadian regiments serving in warzones vast distances from Cadia. As such, the influence of Cadian regiments can be felt on worlds in every segmentum, influencing combat doctrine and logistics. Cadian Interior Guard forces employed standardised Departmento Munitorum equipment and vehicles, allowing them to seamlessly transfer into the service of the Astra Militarum, and there are only a few types of regiment that cannot be raised from Cadian forces.Cadians believe that discipline is the single most important factor in the operation of any army. While there are those who justifiably disagree with this position, it has nonetheless served the Cadians well for millennia, and countless Imperial victories can be attributed to the effort and determination of the sons and daughters of Cadia. Even with the loss of their homeworld after the Fall of Cadia, millions of Cadian troops, many now raised and trained in transit to war zones, remain a vital cog in the defence of the Imperium from its myriad foes.That there will be no more of their kind born on Cadia itself is not the death knell that many fear: the Cadian lineage continues in every new generation that comes of age as the fleetborne armies make their standard-years-long transitions through the Warp between war zones. Cadian tactics and dogma have spread to many other worlds and Cadian regiments are frequently reinforced with soldiers from other regiments. In these ways the lost Fortress World's culture survives, its huge armies now marshalled by Lord Castellan Ursula J. Creed.Every generation of Cadian soldiery still undergoes total military indoctrination. At the age of most other worlds' raw recruits, every Cadian already has had more than a solar decade's military experience; through constant drills and endurance trials, they train to be deadly shots in the bloody cacophony of war and proficient in hand-to-hand combat.They even receive a carefully monitored introduction to the perils of psyker-taint and mutation -- for such were once the risks of living on a world so near to the Eye of Terror -- and this grounding has proved more beneficial on the numerous other worlds now cursed with the Great Rift's caress in the Era Indomitus. This approach leaves Cadian soldiers mentally and spiritually fortified, with a grim accepatance of things that would send lesser Humans screaming in terror. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Regimental History: Cadia is the true definition of a Fortress World, its entire culture and infrastructure wholly dedicated to the raising and equipping of new Cadian Shock Troop regiments for service in the Astra Militarum, the defence of the Cadian Gate and the surrounding star systems.For thousands of standard years, the people of Cadia have known nought but war. Fighting always to hold back the infernal hosts of Chaos that pour from the Eye of Terror, they have evolved into a robust warrior culture. All Cadians -- no matter their age, gender or station -- must know how to fight, and be capable of facing with unwavering courage all the horrors that proliferate in the 41st Millennium.The birth and recruitment rates on Cadia were ever synonymous, with each generation undergoing total military indoctrination. By the age of five standard years most Cadians learned to strip and reassemble a Lasgun. By six, most were deadly shots, and before their seventh birthdays they received a no-nonsense introduction to the perils of psyker-taint and mutation.This approach leaves Cadian youths mentally and spiritually fortified, with a grim acceptance of things that would send lesser humans screaming in terror. By the age of sixteen all Cadians are adept in endurance training, weapons handling, hand-to-hand combat, and vehicular and chemical warfare drills, and are raring to prove themselves in the Cadian youth army. These so-called "Whiteshields" were comparable to the standard conscripts of many worlds, recognisable by the thick white stripe that runs front-to-back on their helms.The primary infantry regiments raised from amongst the Cadian population are designated as Cadian Shock Troop regiments by the Departmento Munitorum, and maintain a tactical mixture of different arms and equipment, supported by integrated artillery and heavy armour formations, but their true strength lies in the skill, discipline and courage of the Cadians themselves. The Cadian Shock Troops are believed by many to be without equal in the entirety of the Imperial Guard. Displaying enviable levels of discipline, excellent marksmanship, and a cynical gallows humour, Cadian foot soldiers hold true to the tenet that to do your best and give your life for the Emperor is the highest form of honour.The same unflinching loyalty and martial prowess are found amongst Cadia's armoured and artillery regiments. The endless load-fire-reload drills the gunners and tank crews of Cadia are taught to master make them nigh unstoppable on the battlefield, their guns capable of pounding even the most monstrous enemies to dust. Whether fielded independently or as mixed-arms battle groups, the regiments of Cadia are famed for their effectiveness and discipline, overlapping fields of precision fire obliterating any foe caught helplessly in their path.It is their ranks operating in perfect unison in the field that grant the Shock Troop regiments the needed tactical flexibility to react to changing combat needs on the battlefield and the numbers and sheer fortitude to grind an enemy into extinction through the application of overwhelming firepower or even sheer attrition. In addition to the rank-and-file Cadian regiments, numerous specialised formations and different troop types are integrated into their organisational structure, ranging from dedicated sapper units and combat engineers to the youthful, unblooded armies of Whiteshields and the elite "Kasrkin."In particular the Kasrkin, named after the Kasr fortress-cities of Cadia, are rated as amongst the most superior forces in the Astra Militarum and considered equal both in combat capability and quality of wargear with the Tempestus Scions raised from the orphans of the Schola Progenium who serve the Astra Militarum and the Inquisition alike.In addition to the Shock Trooper infantry regiments, Cadia also produces dedicated mechanised, artillery, reconnaissance and armoured regiments, many of which have had long and distinguished histories and, like the Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, have served across the entire breadth of the Imperium in innumerable warzones and Imperial Crusades.The success and glorious record of the Cadian regiments in the defence of the Imperium have been such that they have long been held up by the Adeptus Terra as the very epitome of the Imperial Guard. As a result, they have provided the template for others to imitate and there are regiments of the Astra Militarum raised on worlds as far apart as the Hive World of Brimlock and the holdfasts of the Coronus Nebula that seek to emulate the martial traditions and overall regimental structures of heroic and doomed Cadia.The regiments of Cadia are also very well-equipped and represent the highest standards of wargear and supply of any standing Imperial Guard Militarum Regimento formations. Their wargear issued to the rank and file complies unwaveringly with the edicts of the Departmento Munitorum concerning frontline combat operations and this procurement was carried out by manufactoria on Cadia itself as well as a large number of Forge Worlds and industrial facilities in the adjacent sectors that dedicated their output wholly to the service of the defence of the Cadian Gate.This wide network of production facilities also means that a considerable variety of weapon systems, patterns of vehicles and other heavy equipment can be found at the disposal of Cadian regiments in the field, and includes such standard designs as the Mars Pattern Leman Russ main battle tank to such rarities as the Destroyer Tank Hunter in certain more specialised Cadian units. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Spinward Front: Because of the sheer quantity of Cadian regiments produced, thousands of them are sent to warzones across the galaxy at any one time, with generals overseeing warzones across the Segmentum constantly requesting additional forces from the reserve, to fight alongside those mustered locally. However, the bureaucracy of the Departmento Munitorum, and the sheer quantity of warzones that exist in a region as large as the Segmentum Obscurus, mean that such requests are seldom approved.Still, the requests made by Lord Sector Marius Hax of the Calixis Sector for more Cadian regiments to prosecute the conflict in his sector's Spinward Front were agreed to. With the Calixis, Scarus, and Ixaniad Sectors already heavily taxed by supporting distant conflicts, notably the grand and costly Margin Crusade (which treasonous rumours suggest may have been diverted to another region of the galaxy altogether), the need for other forces to prosecute a war closer to home was acute.Due to this dearth of locally available forces, and some measure of distrust of locally-raised forces amongst Lord Hax's court on Scintilla, the bulk of the Spinward Front's forces are drawn from the Segmentum Obscurus reserve and other non-local sources, with a significant number of Cadian regiments amongst them, and a slow trickle of reinforcements from Cadia to replace some of those lost each Terran year.Cadian regiments of all kinds have served on most worlds in the Spinward Front, with Lord Marshal Ghanzorik employing a dozen regiments of Cadian infantry as part of the permanent defence force of Fort Drusus on Kalth. Dozens, perhaps even hundreds more serve on worlds across the Calixis Sector's Periphery Sub-sector, holding the line against Orks, Chaos raiders, Dark Eldar incursions, and rebels from the Severan Dominate. |
Cadian Shock Troops - The 13th Black Crusade and the Fall of Cadia: It was on Cadia itself, during the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler in 999.M41, that the legendary Cadian resolve was put to its most gruelling test. Long foreseen by mystics and strategists alike, the last onslaught from the Eye of Terror was like nothing Cadia had ever faced before. As Imperial battlefleets met the dread Chaos warships spewing forth from the Immaterium, the planet's already formidable defences were hastily reinforced. Regiments returned in droves from the distant war zones to bolster Cadia's standing garrison. They were joined by the mighty Adeptus Astartes, war engines of the Adeptus Mechanicus and gleaming ranks of the Adepta Sororitas.Millions perished in the opening assault, and as the first solar hours of battle turned into days, the slaughter showed no sign of abating. As they had been drilled to do, the Cadian Shock Troops fought to their last dying gasp. Thoughts of despair were quickly drowned out by the bellowed orders of Platoon Commanders, directing those in their charge to hold the line -- and hold they did. Every Cadian soldier had been trained from birth to sell their life willingly so that vile Chaos scum might pay for their trespasses in blood.On uncountable fronts the Cadians meted out as much punishment as they received -- obliterating waves of Chaos worshippers with creeping artillery barrages and dogged tank formations, and bringing down colossal daemonic beasts with sheer weight of las-fire. Despite their heroic defiance, Cadia -- which for ten standard millennia had stood as the bulwark against the denizens of the Warp -- was consumed by a cataclysmic firestorm when Abaddon sent his crippled Blackstone Fortress Pillars of Eternity crashing onto its surface. The planet was beyond saving, its defenders powerless against the hordes of Daemons surging forth to claim the once-defiant world.Though their home planet was utterly sundered, the resolve of the Cadians has not been not broken. Veteran survivors of the last battle for Cadia, along with regiments of their kinsmen scattered across war zones throughout the galaxy, now fight even more doggedly against the enemies of the Imperium. Whole generations of Shock Troopers are born, raised and trained en route to war zones, and soldiers from other worlds with the mettle to withstand Cadian training are inducted into their ranks. The mantra "Cadia Stands!" which was oft repeated during the planet's final violent days by the legendary Cadian commander Ursarker E. Creed, has gained purchase within the officer corps and amongst the platoons. For Cadia does indeed stand, as long as a single Cadian soldier continues to fight.In the wake of the Fall of Cadia, the remnants of the Imperial Navy's Battlefleet Cadia and the Cadian Shock Troops who managed to escape the destruction of their homeworld managed to make it through the roiling Warp to the Agripinaa System under the command of Admiral d'Armitage and General Maximus Octavian Grüber III. They discovered that system already under assault by multiple warbands of Chaos Space Marines, including one drawn from the Sons of Malice, who held a particularl grudge against Cadians for their role in the destruction of the Heretic Astartes homeworld of Scelus. The Cadian fleet had become divided while transiting the Warp, and the smaller portion of the fleet under the command of General Grüber was forced to make a final stand on the ice moon of Faith's Anchorage, unleashing the larger Battle of Faith's Anchorage. The conflict eventually resulted in an Imperial victory with the arrival of the other remaining portion of Battlefleet Cadia under the command of Admiral d'Armitage and reinforcements from the Space Wolves. In the wake of the battle, the Agripinna System was ultimately cleared of all Chaos forces.Chaeros was an Industrial World that was the seventh world of the Agripinaa System. It had been invaded by Abaddon the Despoiler's forces during the 13th Black Crusade. Imperial military forces that escaped the Fall of Cadia would later arrive in the Agripinaa System and clear it of the Chaos forces following the Battle of Faith's Anchorage. Once the system was cleansed of the presence of the servants of the Ruinous Powers, General Isaia Bendikt of the Cadian Shock Troops, who had also fought at Faith's Anchorage and to clear the wider system, declared Chaeros was to be renamed "New Cadia" and serve as the new home for all Cadian survivors. However, it is not known if the Imperium accepted his renaming of the world as official. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Legacy of Cadia: Though their home planet was utterly sundered, the resolve of the Cadians has not been broken. Veteran survivors of the last battle for Cadia, along with regiments of their kin scattered throughout the galaxy, now fight even more doggedly against the Imperium's enemies.Whole generations of Cadian Shock Troops are born, raised and trained en route to war zones and soldiers from other worlds with the mettle to withstand Cadian training methods are inducted into their ranks. The mantra "Cadia stands," oft-repeated during the planet's final violent days, has gained purchase within the officer corps and amongst the platoons of the Shock Troops. For Cadia does indeed still stand, they assert, as long as a single Cadian soldier remains alive to fight.The grit and determination with which Cadia was so valiantly defended for all those millennia has long been lauded within the Astra Militarum. The professionalism of the world's soldiers remains influential, not only as inspiration to fuel lurid trench-line tales, but also through tactica penned by Cadian generals that are studied in regimental academies. Rare demobilised regiments of Cadians, granted rights of settlement on worlds they conquered for the Emperor, instill Cadia's legendary discipline into their new societies.Other Astra Militarum regiments model their recruitment and training practices on Cadian doctrine, or seek to equip their forces in the Cadian style. All are eager to emulate a world so heavily militarised that it was said its people were taught how to field-strip and shoot a lasgun before they could even read.Cadia's surviving sons and daughters refuse to allow the destruction of their homeworld to keep them from unleashing the Emperor's wrath on their foes. This dauntless spirit in the face of ceaseless enemies masks several darker sentiments amongst Cadian troops that continue to fight. Widespread hatred for Humanity's enemies has deepened to a zealous degree. Many Cadians see their homeworld's fall as a personal failure and fight all the harder to regain what they perceive as lost honour. Some of those who were not present for the planet's tragic end resent those who failed in its defence but survived, or else feel guilt for playing no part themselves. Others scorn the regiments of worlds they believe failed to aid Cadia in its darkest hour and oppose the use of soldiers from other worlds to be integrated into and expand existing Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, loathe to share the burden of loss with outsiders.In the view of many guardsmen, "the planet broke before the Guard did!" The sacrifice of Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed and those under his command only reinforced for many survivors the bloody-mindedness and hard-faced demanour of the Astra Militarum. The men and women of the regiments of lost Cadia will continue to wade into unremitting firestorms and battle through trenches choked with blood and mud. Alongside defeaning salvoes from armoured behemoths, they will advance into the teeth of enemy fire if that is where their orders lead them.They will do so, again and again, continuing to fight until the day every Traitor in thrall to the Dark Gods is defeated at last and their world avenged a thousand times over. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Notable Campaigns: Black Legion Incursion (777.M41) - Spearheaded by the Black Legion, Chaos Space Marines exit the Warp at the Cadian Gate. Their advance into the Imperium is slowed by the actions of the Cadian Shock Troops. Imperial Fists Space Marine reinforcements arrive and help the Cadian Shock Troops drive the Traitors back into the Eye of Terror.Krandor System Uprising (795.M41) - An uprising in the Krandor System is put down by the Cadian 23rd Regiment.Saint Cyllia Massacre (863.M41) - The Cadian 423rd Regiment, led by the legedary tank ace Knight Commander Pask, rallies to engage rearguard elements of the Adamant Fury Traitor Titan Legio during the Saint Cyllia Masacre.Battle of Planus Steppes (883.M41) - The Cadian 423rd Regiment spearheads the largest armoured assault since the Battle of Tallarn. Over 8,000 tank companies and 35 super-heavy detachments are annihilated during the near-total destruction of a Renegade Titan Legion at Planus Steppes.Bren's World Offensive (935.M41) - The offensive on Bren's World falters when Imperial forces from over two-dozen worlds are unable to take the fortifications of Haven's Spire. The Cadian 12th Regiment leads the blitz that finally destroys the Spire following the destruction of several void-shield generators by elite Kasrkin units.Battle of Fortress Carcasson (937.M41) - The 9th Cadian Regiment devastates Hive Fleet Scarabus at the walls of Fortress Carcasson without loss of a single company.The Kieldar Rebellion (956.M41) - The Kieldar Rebellion is utterly crushed by the combined forces of the Cadian, Morax, Loriar, Elysia, Catachan, Aegis, Tallarn, Harkoni, Neocassan, Paragon, Vostroyan, Birmingham, Mordian, Jjojos, Pintax, Athanos, K'phrani, Rassiosan and Bannan Imperial Guard regiments.Reclamation of the Hollow Worlds (937.M41) - Inquisitor Pranix leads the Cadian 301st, the Tallarn 14th as well as five Great Companies of the Space Wolves Chapter in an attempt to reclaim the nine Hollow Worlds from the vile Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart and his traitorous Red Corsairs.Khai-Zhan Uprising (968.M41) - The planet of Khai-Zhan is plunged into rebellion and, led by the Night Lords Traitor Legion, rebels capture every major population centre before daybreak. Less than one-tenth of the Imperial Guard regiments sent to retake Khai-Zhan survive. However, in one of the most brutal urban conflicts in recent memory, the Cadian 122nd Regiment and their allies succeed in recapturing the capital city of Vogen. With the world's primary spaceport secured, the Imperium's forces overwhelm the remaining traitors within a month.Drussite Crusade (975-980.M41) - The young Ursarkar E. Creed and his Whiteshield squad are hurled into the five-year Drussite Crusade. By the time the Cadian army celebrates its victory in the blaze of the xenos-pyres, Creed has been promoted to the rank of Captain.Treconondal (980.M41) - The Chaos Lord Brule and his Renegades are destroyed on Treconondal by a combined force of the 8th Cadian Regiment and the Terrax Guard.Hrud Migration (983.M41) - A Hrud migration is halted due in no small part to the courageous efforts of the 7th Cadian Regiment, a campaign in which the tactical abilities of Ursarkar E. Creed proved instrumental.Damocles Gulf Crusade - The Damocles Gulf Crusade, also called the Damocles Crusade, was the first military conflict fought between the Imperium of Man and the rapidly expanding Tau Empire in the Lithesh Sector of the Ultima Segmentum in the galaxy's Eastern Fringes during the late 41st Millennium. The conflict essentially ended in a stalemate, as the Imperium was forced to conclude its military offensive early to deal with the encroaching Tyranid threat while the Tau sought to begin diplomatic negotiations with the Imperium to show humanity the benefits to be had by accepting the Greater Good. Members of the Tau Water Caste had established trade agreements with Imperial worlds on the frontier of the Tau Empire, near the Damocles Gulf region of the Ultima Segmentum in the galactic east, and exchanges of goods and technology were common. Alarmed by the threat of alien contamination, the Administratum readied a suitable response and almost a century later, the Damocles Crusade smashed into Tau space, destroying several outlying settlements and pushing deep into the Tau Empire. When the Imperial fleet reached the Tau Sept world of Dal'yth Prime, however, the Crusade ground to a bloody stalemate as the formidable numbers and high technology of the Tau and their Kroot allies thwarted every attempt to capture the world or its star system. Many months of terrible fighting ensued with nothing gained on either side. By late 742.M41 the Crusade's commanders eventually agreed to requests from the Tau Water Caste for peace talks. The negotiations were successful and the Imperial fleet withdrew from Tau space unmolested, primarily due to the impending approach of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth. Or, depending on the source, the Damocles Gulf Crusade was ended in 988.M41 due to the emergent threat of Hive Fleet Kraken.Raid on Aurnet (992.M41) - Ursarkar E. Creed, now the Colonel of the 8th Cadian Regiment, defeats a raid by the Eldar of Craftworld Ulthwé on the world of Aurnet.Excovar Campaign (997.M41) - The Cadian 122nd Armoured Regiment leads a counter-attack on Excovar against WAAAGH! Bigtoof. Current projections indicate that the Greenskins should be repelled by the end of the 42nd Millennium.Emrah Campaign (997.M41) - During the Imperial campaign on the world of Emrah, the mysterious Emrah battle-fortress is reactivated by forces unknown. Under Commander Chenkov's command, platoons of Valhallan Ice Warriors Guardsmen were ordered to draw enemy fire, to prevent the valued demolition crews attempting to breach the Emrah battle-fortress from being discovered. However, the 1st Army Group's wave is ultimately annihilated. Cadian Shock Trooper super-heavy detachments were recalled from the Vidar System to lead the second wave and engage the threat.Youth's End Campaign (997.M41) - Ursarkar E. Creed and his hand-picked "Mission Elite" break the stalemate upon the embattled world of Youth's End. Despite the fact that the remote but titanic cannon-fort Voice of Godhood has fallen to the insidious Emperor's Children outcast Fabius Bile and his vile minions, Creed and five Valkyrie gunships full of Cadia's finest launch a masterful assault and recapture the Godhood. They waste no time in reconsecrating the defiled megacannon and turning it upon the rearguard of the Chaos armies.Battle for the Tyrok Fields (2975.999.M41) - During the outset of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade, treachery struck at the heart of the Imperium's defences. As the defenders of the Cadian Gate mustered, the traitorous Imperial Guard regiments of the Volscani Cataphracts revealed their true allegiance to the Ruinous Powers. The Traitors slaughtered hundreds of loyal Guardsmen before any response could be coordinated. The intent of the Volscani's treason was revealed as they swarmed aboard the Leviathan command vehicle of the Governor Primus of Cadia and proceeded to slaughter him and much of the senior command of Cadia's armed forces. This included the commander-in-chief of the defenders of the Cadian Gate, who was killed in the brutal attack. At the darkest moment, then-Colonel Ursarkar E. Creed took control of the dire situation. Rallying his 8th Cadian Regiment, the bloodied defenders were quickly organised and ordered to advance upon the Traitors. The 8th Cadian led the charge into the ranks of the traitorous Volscani. Through Creed's actions, what might have been a grievous defeat for the Imperium, and a nefarious victory for the hordes of the Archenemy, was turned into a defining moment for the defenders of Cadia. The 8th Cadian Regiment would continue to be engaged in multiple battles across the world of Cadia throughout the course of the Despoiler's audacious assault, which ultimately resulted in a bloody stalemate for the Imperials and the forces of Chaos. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Regimental Homeworld: The entire population of Cadia is destined for a military life and the birth rate and the recruitment rate are essentially synonymous. Possessing a well-deserved reputation for being excellent shots, Cadian Shock Troopers are known for being highly disciplined and well-organised Imperial Guard soldiers. Cadian children are taught from a very young age how to field-strip, reassemble and shoot a Lasgun before they can even read or write. Cadians are also known for the manufacture of excellent military equipment for their regiments which are equipped with only the finest weapons.Cadian regiments traditionally march to war in uniforms with camouflage patterns in a manner most suited to the mixed terrain of the Cadian wilderness, though they will also don specialised gear for different environments, including frigid environment survival suits, desert environment survival suits, and even more advanced gear for combat operations in vacuum or toxic zones.The Cadian Shock Troop regiments have a special and honoured place in the history of Mankind as they long stood upon the edge of the Eye of Terror, serving as the Imperium's first line of defence against the encroachment of the forces of the Ruinous Powers. Due to its proximity to the Eye of Terror, the genome of the Cadian people deviated from the human baseline with a number of minor mutations, although the Cadians are still considered fully human by the Imperium. The most notable of these mutations is the Cadians' trademark violet irises, which provide any son or daughter of Cadia with a highly distinctive appearance. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Recruitment: Upon numerous occasions the forces of Chaos have moved against Cadia, for no battlefleet of any size can rely upon other stable passages from the Eye of Terror into Imperial space, but must first pass through the Cadian Gate. Therefore, Cadia is considered one of the most strategically important planets in the galaxy. Within the depths of space, many raging battles have been fought between the warfleets of Chaos and the great starships of the Imperial Navy. But the merciless Chaos forces do not limit their intrusions to the space lanes. Raids and planetary assaults upon populated worlds within the Cadian System are commonplace. Therefore, all Cadians are expected to train in the world's Planetary Defence Forces, and a large percentage of the population is eventually drafted into the Imperial Guard, where it is considered an honour to serve. This contrasts with other worlds where the tithe of soldiers to the Guard is often greatly resented.Even before their induction, all Cadians are expected to have first served some time in the Cadian Youth Army, joining one of the Conscript Platoons, better known as the "Whiteshields," who show no regimental, company or platoon markings until they have earned the right to do so after facing their first combat test upon the battlefield. These Conscript Platoons are usually distinguished by a white stripe running from the front to back on their helmets or by some other white device. Serving in one of the Cadian Youth Army's Whiteshield platoons is considered something of a rite of passage on Cadia and the troopers are eager to show their worth and prove themselves in the crucible of war.Cadian officers are well versed in the doctrines of the Tactica Imperium and are highly lauded for their implementation of both strategy and tactics. These officers exemplify the Cadian code of discipline and self-sacrifice that all Cadians aspire to. Cadian Shock Troop regiments have a higher proportion of Veteran (Imperial Guard)|Veteran Squads]] than most Imperial Guard units due to the unequalled combat experience of the general Cadian population.Formed from the survivors of the harshest warzones, these proven warriors may receive additional training and special armaments. Only the toughest survive the punishing training regime used by Cadian Shock Troop regiments to determine which troops should receive Veteran status, but to serve in the Cadian elite is considered a great honour. Each Cadian Shock Trooper is expected to act above and beyond the call of duty, and continue the long tradition of the Cadian Shock Troops as the finest soldiers ever to serve in the Imperial Guard. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Regimental Organisation: The sheer amount of personnel required to keep an Imperial Guard regiment in the field is staggering, and to organise such an effort requires thousands of dedicated Departmento Munitorum scriveners and notaries. In any active war zone with multiple regiments in the field there are hundreds of senior Imperial Guard commanders with thousands of supporting officers on their staffs. Indeed, for every fighting man there stands behind him a virtual army of bureaucrats and support personnel whose heroic efforts keep the Imperial war machine going.However, operational command of a Cadian Shock Troops regiment is held by a senior ranking Imperial Guard officer, usually a Colonel, who is most often a noble-born son of Cadia whose family has held command in the regiments of the Imperial Guard for many generations. In most war zones, there is no need to employ ranks above this level, though sometimes the Departmento Munitorum judges it necessary due to the scale of the conflict.For example, in the Chondarax Campaign of 342.M34, Imperial records speak of no less than eighteen officers of more senior rank than Colonel commanding different regiments, ranging from a Lord General Militant, to the Master of the Imperial Purse and Regulator of the Militant Ordos. Other ancient titles used in Cadian regiments, such as Scourge Imperialis and Reductor Mineralis, remain a mystery as to what role or purpose they served.The Regimental Commander leads from his Command Platoon and is accompanied by support squads equipped with specialised weapons, such as Missile Launchers and Mortars. They provide the Command Platoon with concentrated fire support and security for the commander himself. The Regimental Battle Standard is carried by a designated member of the Command Platoon and depicts the regimental insignia.In addition to the Cadian command element, the Regimental Commander may be accompanied by other officers of the Departmento Munitorum, such as Commissars. It is a sad fact of war that some despicable cowards renege on their debt to the Master of Mankind and flee the field of battle when the blood begins to flow. Though such occurrences are, thankfully, rare, it is the duty of the Imperial Commissars to ensure that the disease of cowardice does not pollute the command echelons or rank and file of the regiment.Commissars are some of the finest military officers in the galaxy and dispel the myth that the Departmento Munitorum is made up solely of rear-echelon clerks and notaries. Many will have been recruited from the Schola Progenium of the Adeptus Ministorum and may have served as Storm Troopers before their selection for duties as Commissars, so they are often no strangers to war. It is the tradition for Cadian regiments to have Commissars that were born of Cadian blood assigned to them, although sometimes the expediencies of war (or the spite of a non-Cadian superior officer) makes this impossible.As Guardsmen are well aware, the prime duty of the Commissar is to preserve the fighting spirit and loyalty to the regiment. If discipline is lax, the Commissar will step in to reinforce it. If the regiment's officers are incompetent or lack courage, the Commissar will remove them by the sternest measures, up to and including an immediate battlefield execution.There is no one in the regiment who lies beyond the unflinching gaze and lethal Bolt Pistol of a Commissar, not even the officers, so every soldier can be sure that the morale and fighting spirit of the regiment is safe in a Commissar's hands. Commissar Yarrick, while the most famous of Imperial Commissars, almost never had to resort to employing the ultimate sanction during the Second War for Armageddon, for his reputation alone was enough to stiffen the backs of even the most recalcitrant coward. However, Commissar Eyurban, while serving in the Yndolac Redbacks during the Assault on Hyrus Hive was known to have killed more of his regiment than the enemy.Serving below the Colonel of the regiment and the Commissar are the company commanders, usually officers of the rank of Captain with many Terran years of experience in leading troops into battle. A Guardsman is expected to follow the orders of his officers with alacrity and vigour at all times. Each Captain has his own command unit, usually a platoon, from where he leads his company.Each company is a formation that will generally range between one and four hundred men. Most of these companies will comprise two to six platoons of infantry, the backbone and workhorse of the Imperial Guard. Each platoon is also led by a command squad made up of a Lieutenant and his retinue of Veteran Guardsmen. The Lieutenant's platoon will comprise between two and six squads of Guardsmen. These sizes are not fixed and in times of war can change drastically, but they serve as examples of the flexibility inherent in the command structure of the Imperial Guard.Each infantry squad will contain ten men and these soldiers will have a variety of weapons available to them, ranging from heavy weapons such as Missile Launchers, Lascannons and Heavy Bolters, to more specialised and rare weaponry such as Plasma Guns or Meltaguns.An infantry regiment is often supplied with Chimera armoured personnel carriers, with many of these doughty, ever-reliable vehicles at its disposal. These tanks allow the regiment's commander the option of mounting a number of his infantry squads to provide Armoured Fist units for greater tactical flexibility. In addition, they are used to transport command squads that can make good use of the long-range Vox-casters that they carry as standard equipment.Imperial Guard companies are usually divided into three platoons, each platoon consisting of a command squad and three other squads, which may be either infantry squads or Armoured Fist squads or a combination of both. Each squad (if it does not already have one) may be given its own mechanised transport in the form of a Chimera. In addition, the platoon may include additional units, such as tanks, squads from other regiments -- including Abhuman regiments -- or extra squads from the original regiment.A platoon may include as many as three of these additional units, one for each of its squads. Each squads consists of ten Guardsman, one of whom will be a sergeant. These non-commissioned officers are the glue that binds the Imperial Guard and every soldier should take special note of his sergeant's words, for he will have seen a great deal of active combat.Where familial connections may secure an individual high office within other regiments, resulting in some officers lacking of combat experience, such does not happen within the Cadian regiments. Trained to fight before they can read and write, Cadian adults have already served the Emperor and their homeworld for many years before being recruited into the Imperial Guard.Each Guardsmen is armed with a standard issue Cadian short-barrelled Lasgun, manufactured to the highest specifications in one of the many manufactorum dotted across the surface of Cadia. Two Guardsmen may form a Heavy Weapons Crew, to allow the squad to engage either multiple targets or enemy armour with a high probability of success.To further specialise, a skilled Guardsman may be equipped with a weapon more advanced than a Lasgun, such as a Flamer, Meltagun or Plasma Gun. These weapons are rare and when Guardsmen trained to utilise them are killed, every effort should is made to retrieve the weapon intact. Even if the bearer is only wounded, the weapon's retrieval takes first priority. Failure to observe such protocols usually result in swift disciplinary action being taken by the regimental Commissars. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Wargear: A Cadian Shock Trooper, like all Imperial Guardsmen, is issued a Lasgun upon his conscription into the Guard and it is with this weapon that he is expected to become most proficient. In addition to his weapon, he is also issued with a great many other items of kit and he is expected to look after everything with which he is issued, for such items are considered the property of the Departmento Munitorum from the moment they are handed over to the Guardsman to the moment they are taken from his dead body.When an Imperial citizen joins the Imperial Guard, he makes a solemn commitment to honour the Emperor and His servants. This oath also extends to the kit he is issued with and improper care and maintenance or use of this kit is a punishable offence. A Cadian Shock Trooper understands this better, perhaps, than most of his contemporaries within the Imperial Guard, for they know all too well that not only must a Guardsman be able to kill the enemy, he must also be able to survive long enough to do so.He must be able to sleep, eat, dig trenches, survive poison gas and chemical attacks, administer field first aid, find his way to the battle and fight at the end of it all with weapons and armour that allow him to win it. A Cadian Shock Trooper takes his sacred oath to honour the Emperor very seriously, for to perish before honouring his debt to the Emperor is a crime and only those who have begun to repay that debt will have their names entered into the regimental roll of honour upon their death.Blessed by the Emperor with a multitude of different weapons with which to smite the enemies of the Imperium, it is every Guardsman's duty to become familiar with each and every one of them. Though certain troopers are singled out for particular duties on special weapons or as part of a Heavy Weapons Team, it behooves each Guardsman to familiarise himself with their duties, for combat attrition is certain to take its toll on every squad's members.Each Cadian Shock Trooper learns the duties and responsibilities of the trooper senior to him and teaches his own duties to the man below him in the chain of command. In this way, Cadian Shock Trooper infantry squads need never fear that the death of its squad members is reducing its combat effectiveness.Cadian regiments are well-equipped and represent some of the highest standards of wargear and supply of any standing Imperial Guard formation. Their issue to the rank-and-file complies unwaveringly to the edicts of the Departmento Munitorum for frontline combat operations, with procurement fulfilled by manufactora on Cadia itself as well as a number of Forge Worlds and industrial facilities in the attendant sectors feeding their output directly to serve the needs of the Cadian Gate's defence.This wide net of production also means that a considerable variety of weapon systems, patterns of vehicles and other heavy equipment can be found at the Cadian regiment's disposal, from standard designs such as the Mars Pattern Leman Russ Tank to relative rarities such as the Destroyer Tank Hunter in specialised units.What follows is a list of the most common items of wargear issued to the members of the Cadian Shock Troops regiments:M36 Kantrael Pattern Lasgun - The Lasgun (or Lasrifle) is the standard weapon of the Imperial Guard and the most popular weapon amongst a great many human military forces throughout the galaxy. It fires an explosive blast of coherent light with a similar penetrative effect to a bullet or small shell. Though not the most effective weapon in the galaxy, it is easy to manufacture and maintain, and very reliable even under the toughest battlefield environmental conditions. Though the Lasgun is the universal small arm of the Imperial Guard, there are many models, marks and patterns in service. Though Lasguns are manufactured throughout the Imperium, most Cadian Shock Trooper regiments prefer the Kantrael short-barrel M36 Pattern Lasrifle, a weapon known for its robustness and ability to survive even the most violent mistreatment. With the attachment of a bayonet, a Lasgun becomes a formidable close-combat weapon and every Shock Trooper is expected to train regularly in bayonet drill. As Cadia forms the first line of defence against potential Chaos incursions, the entire population of Cadia is destined for a military life. Every child of Cadia is taught to field strip, reassemble and shoot a Lasgun before they can read or write. Indeed, by the time a Cadian citizen is grown and inducted as a full Guardsman into the Cadian Shock Troops, they are already known to be excellent shots.4 Charge Packs - Charge Packs are powerful capacitor batteries used almost exclusively by Imperial laser weapons. The Charge Pack's size and make varies depending on the class of the weapon. In all cases, it provides shots equal to the weapon's full clip value and can be recharged when emptied.Autopistol - Small but effective, autopistols are a favourite amongst many military veterans as a supplement for their standard Lasgun. They have a faster rate of fire than many Laspistols and can put down most targets in a single burst of shells.2 Autopistol Cartridge Clips - These clips contain the metal-jacketed ballistic cartridges used by an autopistol.Combat Knife - A Combat Knife is a one-handed melee weapon, serving as the ubiquitous back-up weapon for warriors all across the Imperium, be they lowly hive scum or the elite soldiers of a Planetary Governor. Some, such as the infamous Catachan Fighting Knife, are designed for a specific purpose, whilst others are more generic in nature.2 Frag Grenades - Frag Grenades use a combustible charge and special fillers of shrapnel fragments which make them potent anti-personnel weapons. Imperial Frag Grenades are roughly the size of a clenched fist and covered with a heavily notched shell, both to increase the shrapnel produced and provide a more secure grip for throwing.2 Krak Grenades - Krak Grenades are crafted with powerful concentrated explosives designed to punch holes in armoured targets such as vehicles or bunkers. While stronger than Frag Grenades, Krak detonations do not produce a blast effect and their more focused explosion makes them less practical as anti-personnel weapons.Cadian Pattern Helmet - The standard Cadian Pattern (Aquila) Helmet provides excellent protection to the vulnerable cranial area. Injuries to this region of the body are invariably fatal and thus maximum effort is made to avoid such wounds. Where such injuries are unavoidable, the use of the Cadian Pattern Helmet offers the best protection from exploding shrapnel and fragmentation. Older helmets (utilising lost technology still sought for by the Adeptus Mechanicus) are blessed with good non-ballistic protective qualities that may be caused by concussive shockwaves from artillery or grenade explosions. Each helmet has an integrated outer-shell and suspension system to provide a stable, snug fit and has an adjustable standard two-point suspension system and a headband. The Cadian Tri-dome Helmet is a variant pattern helmet used when Cadian Shock Troops must fight on a world whose atmosphere or regions are inimical to the human respiratory tract. This pattern's visor lenses help to prevent glare and blindness from the elements. When fitted with a fully compatible Mark IX or Mark XIc Rebreather, it provides an excellent defence against most commonly-encountered toxic gases and pollutants as well as allowing the soldier to operate in airless environments for limited periods. It has also proven useful against biological plague weapons. Cadian Shock Trooper helmets bear a dedication Aquila, which declares the regiment's loyalty to the Imperium, and contains a short-range Vox link.Cadian Imperial Guard Uniform - As a heavily militarised world, Cadia's manufactora are able to mass produce and equip its Guardsmen quickly and efficiently. Typically, Cadian Shock Troops' uniforms are made from hard-wearing fabrics designed to resist hostile environments and prove hardy in the field, and are the result of centuries of tradition. The Cadian uniform consists of a thickly woven pair of trousers, sometimes fitted with pockets for Lasgun charge packs or personal rations. Over this, a sturdy tunic shirt and uniform jacket is worn in the regimental colours. Cadian regiments march to war in uniform patterns camouflaged in a manner most suited to the mixed terrain of the Cadian wilderness. Most regimental supply officers attempt to match the uniforms to the battlefield being fought upon, including whites for Ice Worlds, khaki for Desert Worlds and so on. The demands of the battlefield means most uniforms follow this pattern, though many regiments retain more traditional uniforms for ceremonial functions, dress occasions or for regimental officers attending formal events. A peaked cap is an optional uniform item for ranks above Sergeant to wear but this is generally replaced with a helmet when facing opponents known to utilise snipers. Other ranks in veteran regiments sometimes affect caps instead of helmets but this is frowned upon by both officers and Commissars.Flak Armour - The most common personal protection worn by Cadian regiments is Flak Armour. Cheap and easy to produce, Flak Armour comprises several layers of ablative thermoplast materials and impact absorbent carbifibres. In Cadian Shock Trooper uniforms, Flak Armour is woven directly into the layers of material that make up the overall uniform. For additional protection Carapace Armour is sometimes worn. Made up of large rigid plates of armaplas or Ceramite-moulded to fit the bearer, Carapace Armour provides better protection than standard Flak Armour, but is bulky and heavy and really only suited to units certain to be under the heaviest fire, such as assault units or those involved in urban operations. Kasrkin Grenadiers, the Cadian elite, are known to incorporate Carapace Armour as part of their standard kit. Imperial Guard officers often sport Carapace Armour breastplates of gold or silver, but Cadian officers disdain such ostentation, preferring to have their armour painted in the appropriate camouflage scheme as the rest of the regiment. In addition to such commonly available items, high-ranking officers may also be protected by energy fields, such as a Refractor Field or Conversion Field. Such advanced technology is never available to the ordinary Guardsman, but contains an anti-gravitic emitter that works by deflecting the energy of an incoming shot or converting its kinetic energy into some other form of energy that will not harm the target. Cadian regimental officers are known to wear a distinctive gorget used to protect their Refractor Field emitter circuitry which is incorporated directly into their Carapace Armour breastplate.Gas Mask - A simple breathing mask that covers the nose and mouth or entire face, these offer much better protection than filtration plugs.Micro-Bead - A micro-bead or comm-bead is a short range communication device worn in the ear, good for communication out to about one kilometre (depending on weather conditions and intervening terrain). Each fits discretely in the ear, with better crafted models nearly undetectable upon casual inspection.Poor Weather GearRucksackEntrenching ToolBasic ToolkitMess Kit & Water Canteen2 Solar Weeks' RationsBlanket & Sleep BagRechargeable Lamp-Pack - Sturdy and reliable, glow-globes illuminate many an Imperial paveway and cathedral. Most portable ones are roughly the size of a clenched fist and can shine strong, yellowish light a dozen or so metres in width, lasting roughly five hours before their power pack needs recharging or replacing.Grooming KitDog TagsImperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer - A standard-issue Imperial text that covers a vast variety of topics, this book is possessed by all members of the Imperial Guard as part of their standard-issue equipment. The Primer is a basic guide that details everything a Guardsman needs to know: principles and regulations of the Imperial Guard, issued arms, attire, apparatus, and equipment, basic battlefield policy and Imperial Guard organisation and structure, elementary battlefield medical instructions, and a detailed guide on the foes of the Imperium. No Guardsman should ever be found without possession of a copy of the Uplifting Primer for the punishment is severe. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Optional Wargear: Grenade Launcher - A common squad support weapon used amongst Cadian Shock Troops infantry squads is the Grenade Launcher, a weapon that launches a grenade a greater distance and with more accuracy than a Guardsman could throw it. Capable of a relatively high rate of fire, these Grenade Launchers are primarily designed for suppressive fire and to destroy light vehicles and buildings. The standard Cadian Pattern Grenade Launcher is a man-portable, drum-fed weapon that fires 40 millimetre grenades that more resemble smaller versions of the ammunition fired by Missile Launchers. A Grenade Launcher is capable of firing both Krak and Frag Grenades. The firer simply selects which he wishes to fire via a selection switch near the pistol grip handle. The Cadian Pattern Grenade Launcher can carry a load of 20 grenades and pivots forward to allow reloading. To aim the weapon, the trooper flips up a rear sight, which is notched for different ranges, and matches this up with the weapon's front quadrant sight. When preparing to pull the trigger, a trooper must first brace himself with a wide-legged stance, as the recoil from the Grenade Launcher is significant, comparable to that of a Bolter, and recoil injuries are a common occurrence amongst troopers unfamiliar with the weapon's power.Autocannons - A commonly favoured special weapon used by Cadian Shock Troop heavy support squads is the Autocannon. These automatic, self-loading cannons fire high velocity hails of solid shells a great distance. They are used to lay down a burst of suppressive fire to cover advancing troops, or strafe enemy-held positions. These weapons are considered ideally suited for attacking enemy vehicles and fortifications from long ranges. They lack the heavy punch of a Lascannon, but can fire more shots and are less prone to overheating, though the need to carry large amounts of ammunition is a distinct disadvantage. This heavy weapon is capable of eliminating heavily armoured infantry or light vehicles, and are employed by Cadian Shock Troops fire support teams due to their versatility. Though Autocannons are designed to be fired from a standard pattern bipod configuration, in extreme situations, it is not unknown for some of the stronger troopers to carry them into battle slung from suspensor harnesses -- though this "gung-ho" method of firing is unusual and is generally not encouraged. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Regimental Markings: Upon enlistment, Cadian Shock Trooper squads are issued a unique three-digit squad number. Command squads are issued a two-digit number with a central skull motif. Numbers beginning with one or two zeroes are normally reserved for Kasrkin squads or special veteran squads formed from survivors of other squads. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Cadian Frigid Environment Survival Suit: When the 6th Cadian Armoured Regiment was deployed on the frigid Ice World of Betalis III in 894.M41 to defeat an unexpected and unexplained attack by the forces of the Eldar Craftworld Mymeara, its troops were outfitted with the Frigid Environment Survival Suit, a variant of the standard Cadian kit that is intended for use by Cadian Shock Trooper regiments operating in extreme arctic conditions. This particular variant of the standard Cadian uniform is illustrated to the right with the photograph of Guardsman Yestr, and the components of his kit are further detailed below:Uniform - This Cadian guardsman is fully equipped with the Frigid Environment Survival Suit. The Guardsman's standard Cadian uniform has been adapted to fit the Frigid Environment Survival Pack's cables through which heated air is pumped into the suit, which forms a warm inner pocket. Unofficially known to most Imperial Guardsmen as a "hot-suit", similar technologies are used by Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator teams and Imperial colonists on frontier Ice Worlds. To retain the heat, the Guardsman's uniform includes an insulated lining of Betalis manufacture, using animal fur (most likely from Toryx skins imported from neighbouring star systems). The regiment's combat uniforms were issued in various arctic and tundra camouflage patterns as well as plain white, but the majority were as shown here, white armour over a tan and grey uniform. Given the regiment's rapid expansion, little standardisation was enforced by its cadre of officers. The Guardsman's boots remained standard issue combat boots, manufactured in the Betalis System, also insulated with a lining of Toryx fur. These boots also have detachable reinforced shin protection. The same pattern of boots are issued by the billions to Imperial Guardsmen across the galaxy and well-liked, as they are both strong and fully waterproof.Flak Armour - Over his uniform the Guardsman wears standard issue Flak Armour, consisting of a breastplate and shoulder pauldrons. These are constructed of an impact absorbent carbi-fibre layer under a simple shaped Plasteel plate. Each armour piece straps onto his fatigues and provides protection against impacts, but they are considered cumbersome, especially for Armoured Fist squads. The shoulder plates bear the Guardsman's squad identification number on the right plate and the regimental number on the left plate (not visible).Helmet - The Guardsman wears a standard issue Cadian tri-dome helmet and Mark XIc rebreather with its own oxygen supply and a polarised snow visor, which is vital on Betalis III to prevent sun glare and snow blindness. The air supply is required for any extended exposure to the Ice World's toxic atmosphere. The helmet bears a dedication Aquila, which declares the regiment's loyalty to the Imperium, and contains a short-range Vox link. Also commonly issued was an insulation-lined field cap, worn by some Guardsmen when they were not in immediate danger and especially favoured by sergeants and officers of the regiment.Frigid Environment Convector Pact - Operations in a dangerous freezing environment require additional preparation and wargear to be issued to Cadian Guardsmen. In order to fight in Betalis III's constant sub-zero temperatures, the Guardsman carries a Frigid Environment Convector Pack, that was originally manufactured on Betalis III for its Planetary Defence Forces. This heavy backpack has two functions: it supplies clean air to the rebreather through oxygen scrubbers and also includes a heating element and the pump required to supply the warm air into the Guardsman's uniform. The backpack is constructed in three parts. The centre contains the pumping mechanisms, diverter valves and emergency pressure release vent. The lower section contains the primary heat exchange coils, while the top is an emergency oxygen tank that serves as a back-up if the suit's oxygen scrubbers should fail. The pack has a regulator unit which is mounted on the breastplate so that it is easily accessible. Whilst bulky and uncomfortable, similar Convector Packs are used by Explorator teams and human colonists on many arctic Frontier Worlds and the technology is widespread across the Imperium.Lasgun - This Guardsman's principal weapon is the Kantrael Pattern Lasgun, with a 19 megathule capacity. A robust Lasrifle produced by the millions, this standard issue Lasgun has a power pack that is good for 50 shots before replacement is required. It fires single-shot or semi-automatic bursts and includes a bayonet lug to fit the standard issue Imperial Guard Combat Knife. The rifle is easily capable of operating in sub-zero temperatures and its excellent durability is one of the primary reasons it is issued to Imperial Guard regiments across the galaxy. As a secondary weapon, this Guardsman has obtained a pistol. While difficult to identify, it is most likely a Laspistol or an Autopistol. Although not regulation-issue, Guardsmen heading into combat often provide their own back-up weapons. He also has a Combat Knife/bayonet in a boot scabbard and a Frag Grenade on his belt.Field Gear - This Guardsman's webbing contains standard field gear for a Cadian Shock Trooper, including a field medi-kit, Lasgun maintenance kit, miniature stove and its concentrated fuel tablets, Convector Pack maintenance tools and replacement filters, an emergency shelter, high-protein ration packs, the rebreather unit's storage pouch and an entrenching tool. He also possesses an ammunition pouch for spare Lasgun power packs which are easily accessible on his belt. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Infantry Regiments: 3rd Cadian - Took part in the defence of the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade.7th Cadian, "The Lucky Sevens" - Involved in the Battle of Tyrok Fields on Cadia itself where were they were caught unawares by the Renegade Volscani Cataphracts regiments during the 13th Black Crusade. The main body of the Cadian 7th were mercilessly cut down before they could properly form a defence in response to the sudden assault. The regiment was rescued by the actions of the Cadian 8th , under the command of Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed. The 7th Cadians' Regimental Banner was carried forward by no fewer then 12 separate troopers during the course of the engagement.8th Cadian, "The Lord Castellan's Own" - This vaunted regiment was personally led by Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed during the 13th Black Crusade and was also once the Lord Castellan's own home in the Imperial Guard.9th Cadian - The 9th Cadian Regiment is known for taking part in the notable engagement known as the Battle of Fortress Carcasson, in which it helped to devastate the Tyranid forces of Hive Fleet Scarabus.15th Cadian "Kalliagh's Heroes" - When the Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion invaded the Mihok System in 361.M37, three worlds fell in quick succession to the Traitors' surprise assaults, but when the Traitor Marines, led by the Chaos Lord Orik the Vile, reached the moon of Mihok Secundus, two regiments of Cadians were waiting for them, the 15th Cadian ("Kalliagh's Heroes") and the 23rd Cadian ("Emperor's Hounds").23rd Cadian, "Emperor's Hounds" - When the Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion invaded the Mihok System in 361.M37, three worlds fell in quick succession to the Traitors' surprise assaults, but when the Traitor Marines, led by the Chaos Lord Orik the Vile, reached the moon of Mihok Secundus, two regiments of Cadians were waiting for them, the 15th Cadian ("Kalliagh's Heroes") and the 23rd Cadian ("Emperor's Hounds"). The 23rd Cadian was stationed in the Cobalt Valley where an extremely important stretch of road stretched for several hundred leagues in each direction. This was the sight of a major battle between the 23rd Cadian and the Alpha Legion. Though outmanned and outgunned, the "Emperor's Hounds" used their superior knowledge of the terrain and their limited armour elements to their advantage. After three weeks of valiant struggle, additional Imperial Guard regiments from Cadia, Gorin V and Linnerberg arrived in the Cobalt Valley and found a blasted wasteland. Nearly the entirety of the "Emperor's Hounds" had been killed, and over three quarters of those remaining were badly wounded. Their regimental commander, Colonel Lean, was awarded the Terran Laurel for his part in the battle and the 23rd Cadian's survivors were relieved from active service as a reward, allowed to accompany the Adeptus Mechanicus' Explorator fleets and colonise a new world. Such an honour is only usually bestowed on a regiment's men and officers after ten years of fighting, whilst this was Colonel Lean's first command.24th Cadian - The 24th Cadian took part in the notable campaign against the Orks on Jaegersweld where their headquarters was overrun. The 24th Cadian eventually redeemed their honour when they retook their headquarters' position from the Greenskins.39th Cadian, "Xenobane" - The 39th Cadian, known as the "Xenobane", campaigned alongside the elite 1st Company of the Dark Hands Space Marine Chapter during the Chinchare Hrud Infestation sometime during the 41st Millennium to exterminate the alien Hrud. They later took part in the Veldt Campaign, which also occurred sometime during the 41st Millennium.44th Cadian Heavy Infantry - The 44th Cadian Heavy Infantry was tasked to garrison the city of Dustrious on the world of Kalides Prime. The regiment was wiped out to the last trooper when Kalides Prime was assaulted by a force of Death Gurad commanded by the Lord of Contagion Gerloch.81st Cadian - The 81st Cadian recently suffered heavy losses on Heletine, as the regiment was the first Imperial continent to arrive on the beleaguered world. The Ecclesiarchy world of Heletine had come under assault from several warbands aligned to the Black Legion, chief amongst them the Children of Torment which saught to destroy Imperiale relics and thus weaken the populations faith. As a result, desertion and corruption amongst the Heletine militia has reached unprecedented proportions, Colonel Redgage of the Cadian 81st resulting in the installment of several dozen firing squads on a daily basis, even though officially none of the 81st was swayed into worship of the Chaos Gods. True heroism and sacrifices, the 81st Cadian successfully stalled the enemy advance until reiforcements could be brought in. Matters considerably evolved qith the arrival of a strikeforce of Space Marines of the Salamanders Chapter, led by the experienced Captain of 6th Company, Ur'zan Drakgaard in what would mark the beginning of the Protean War.85th Cadian, "Firedrakes" - Known as the "Firedrakes" because of their fiery red military fatigues, the 85th Cadian took part in the Gorsinian Lava Desert Campaign in the 39th Millennium.92nd Cadian - The 92nd Cadian Regiment was recently assigned the assets of the 781st Cadian Artillery to provide needed fire support for its infantry.99th Cadian Mechanised Infantry - None are entirely certain how many different incarnations of the Cadian 99th Shock Troops have existed across the millennia. The current incarnation of the 99th Cadian Mechanised Infantry was raised in the ninth century of the 41st Millennium, and were initially intended to join the Margin Crusade, but received orders to reinforce the Spinward Front instead. For all the Guardsmen's inexperience, they are nonetheless Cadians, and they have trained since they were children to fight for the Imperium. Colonel Dero Arkat, a thirty-year veteran of the Interior Guard assigned to lead the newly-raised regiment, has worked tirelessly to prepare his men for warfare, and appears to have succeeded thus far, operating as part of a series of rapid assaults against Chaos forces infesting the Periphery and worlds beyond.107th Cadian - The 107th Cadian is known to have taken part in the valiant defence of the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.108th Cadian, "Wyverns" - Took part in the Valerian Purges alongside the Howling Griffons Space Marine Chapter in the 41st Millennium.110th Cadian, "Shadow Corps" - Took part in the Purging of Shaboloth Night World in the 41st Millennium.122nd Cadian - The 122nd Cadian first distinguished themselves during the Winter Campaign on the world of Vintock III in the 40th Millennium. They also distinguished themselves during the hard-fought Battle of Vogen. In 968.M41, the Khai-Zan Uprising against the Imperium erupted on the Agri-World of Khai-Zan. Led by the Night Lords Chaos Space Marines, Traitor Planetary Defence Forces (PDF) and numerous Chaos Cultist uprisings, an attack was launched on a public holiday. With over half of the Khai-Zan PDF on leave, the Agri-World quickly found itself quickly beset on all sides by the forces of Chaos. The cultists utilised summoned daemons but, due to the world's distance from the Eye of Terror and the lack of devotion to the Chaos Gods from the Night Lords, the actual number of summonings proved very small. The Night Lords' Exalted Champion Gorsameth lead his troops in a clash against the men of the 122nd Cadian Shock Troopers, under the command of Captain Fane, who sought to defend the Imperial city of Vogen. The Night Lords' Chaos Sorcerer Asuramandos used foul Warp magicks to redirect and mis-deploy the Imperial defenders, causing them to be overrun in the ensuing battle. Fane as well as his entire company died in defence of an Adeptus Arbites Precinct House. The stranglehold of Chaos over the world was finally broken by the arrival of the Astartes of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Every Traitor present on the planet was ultimately wiped out.126th Cadian - Serving under the command of Lord Marshal Graf Harazahn of the Vostroyan Firstborn, the 126th Cadian Shock Troops valiantly defended the trenchworks surrounding Deimos Space Port during the Fall of Medusa V in 999.M41.180th Cadian, "Stalking Tigers" - Known as the "Stalking Tigers", the 180th Cadian took part in the Rassagar III Campaign during the defeat of WAAAGH! Craslash in the 41st Millennium.203rd Cadian - The 203rd Cadian deployed to the Forge World of Graia during the invasion of the Ork WAAAGH! Grimskull. The regiment suffered a large number of casualties, especially amongst its officer ranks, until overall command fell to Second Lieutenant Mira. With the help of the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter, the 203rd Cadian succeeded in the defence of the Forge World and its vital Titan manufactora against both Orks and and the invading forces of Chaos.266th Cadian - In 850.M41, the 266th Cadian Regiment, alongside Detachment D-99 of the Elysian Drop Troops and elements from the Red Scorpions Space Marine Chapter's 1st and 6th Companies, led by Commander Carab Culln, assisted Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Solomon Lok during an investigation and subsequent battle against the renegade Tyranids of the world of Beta Anphelion IV.331st Cadian - After the Sons of Malice Chapter of Astartes were declared Excommunicate Traitoris, the 331st Cadian was ordered to take part in the planet-wide campaign of genocide to wipe out the savage and barbaric tribes of the Renegade Chapter's homeworld of Scelus, in order to eradicate their Chaotic taint. It was revealed that the grisly tendencies that led to the Sons of Malice’s excommunication were found to be rooted in the barbaric religious practices of the feral population. The tradespeople of Scelus may have inadvertently become worshipers of the renegade Chaos God Malal.411th Cadian - Only recently raised, the 411th Cadian Regiment was ordered to take part in the Fall of Medusa V campaign in 999.M41. Under the command of Colonel Hagen von Frohlof, only the regiment's commander and a Second Lieutenant Hennessen, a veteran of the defence of the Cadian Gate during the recent 13th Black Crusade, had seen any combat. Soon after their arrival in the war zone, they were placed under the command of Grand Inquisitor Belerophus Hotha to aid him in his investigation of an unknown Tyranid Hive Fleet. During three months of continual fighting, the 411th suffered heavy casualties in pursuit of this goal. Colonel Frohlof noted in his personal log the suspicious behaviour of the war zone's supreme commander Lord Marshal Graf Harazahn, of the Vostroyan Firstborn, who had a tendency to supply the 411th only when the situation became strategically critical, and even then only at the last minute. The last orders received by the 411th Cadian were directed by Grand Inquisitor Hotha and their position in Combat Zone Hydra located deep in the ash wastes of Medusa V. The regiment was lost and considered destroyed by waves of oncoming Tyranids.412th Cadian - The 412th Cadian took part in the campaign on the Ice World of Lorn V in order to retrieve a long-lost Imperator-class Titan known as the Dominatus. The regiment was featured in the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War PC game expansion Winter Assault.417th Cadian, "Hellbringers" - The 417th Cadian Regiment were veterans of the Damocles Gulf Crusade but met their fate at the hands of an Ork WAAAGH! on Seperus Prime where the regiment was almost completely wiped out by the Greenskins.450th Cadian - The 450th Cadian Regiment took part in the Klestry Forest War in the 40th Millennium.473rd Cadian - The 473rd Cadian took part in the 13th Black Crusade in the valiant defence of the Cadian city of Kast Thravius from the pustulent Chaos Lord Typhus, the Herald of Nurgle.512th Cadian - The 512th Cadian Regiment was a part of the Cadian Orbital Defence Detail during the 41st Millennium.840th Cadian - The 840th Cadian Regiment fought valiantly against the forces of Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade, fighting alongside the vaunted 8th Cadian Regiment at the Battle of Tyrok Fields. Though they acquitted themselves well against the Archenemy, they were wiped out in the initial assault by the traitorous Volscani Cataphract regiments.917th Cadian - The Cadian 917th is a regiment of the Cadian Shock Troops that was corrupted during its deployment on the conflict-ridden Forge World of Bheta-Decima in the Era Indomitus by a Genestealer Cult known as the Cult of the Chittering Verse. After its corruption it changed its name to the "Cadian Neo-917th" to represent its change of allegiance and purpose. Thereafter the regiment operated as a critical military asset for the cult's xenophile agenda.1273rd Cadian, "Elysion Eagles" - The 1273rd Cadian Regiment was a Cadian mechanised infantry regiment that brought its troops to battle in Chimera armoured personnel carriers. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Armoured Regiments: 6th Cadian Armoured - The 6th Cadian Armoured Regiment was deployed to the Ice World of Betalis III in 894.M41 where it aided Imperial forces in successfully repelling an attack by the Eldar forces of Craftworld Mymeara.9th Cadian Armoured - The 9th Cadian Armoured Regiment fought in the valiant defence of their homeworld during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.17th Cadian Armoured - When the traitorous 15th Ocanan Infantry Regiment declared its allegiance to the Ruinous Powers it had little in the way of either heavy armour or artillery support and was unable to compete against the combined arms forces of the 17th Cadian Armoured and the 110th Elysian Drop Troops Regiments sent to eliminate them.23rd Cadian Armoured - The 23rd Armoured Cadian Regiment was known to possess at least one Banesword super-heavy tank known as Tyron's Doom.24th Cadian Armoured, "The Emperor's Hammer" - The 24th Armoured took part in the valiant defence of Kasr Gehr on their homeworld of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. Constituting nine companies, they were commanded by Colonel Polski. Each company was primarily composed of standard Mars Pattern Leman Russ Tanks and many of its variants. By the time Kasr Gehr fell, the 24th Cadian Armoured had been reduced to only three companies comprised of 30 Leman Russ Tanks, one heavy company which possessed a Baneblade super heavy tank and the command company which possessed Polski's Leman Russ command tank and Chimera. The severe losses the regiment suffered is a testimony to the intense fighting the 24th Cadian Armoured valiantly saw while standing against the forces of Chaos.31st Cadian Armoured - The 31st Armoured Cadian took part in the Imperial campaign on Levilnor IV.71st Cadian Armoured, "The Hellhounds" - Commanded by Colonel Anders, the 71st Cadian Armoured Regiment deployed to fight against the Tau on Baktar III.81st Cadian Armoured, "Rolling Thunder" - The 81st Cadian Armoured Regiment is a distinguished Imperial Guard regiment that fought as part of the 18th Army Group Exolon. During Operation Thunderstorm, over ninety-percent of the regiment's tanks were lost whilst fighting against the Orks on the world of Golgotha.88th Cadian Armoured - The 88th Cadian Armoured Regiment is a Cadian mechanised infantry regiment that saw action against Plague Zombies and a warband of the Death Guard Traitor Legion on the Shrine World of Kathur which was under the protection of the Cadian Shock Troopers.89th Cadian Armoured - The 89th Cadian Armoured Regiment is known to possess the famed Baneblade Steel Lord.98th Cadian Armoured - The 98th Cadian Armoured Regiment took part in the Imperial intervention in the infamous Luxor Uprising in 812-813.M41. They fought alongside the Novamarines Space Marine Chapter in putting down the rebellion of the world's workers that rose up against the cruel ruling Oligarchs. Their uprising was backed by the nefarious Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion, always eager to stir up an insidious rebellion against the Emperor's rule. The planet proved to be a lynch-pin of the Departmento Munitorum-dominated Helioret Sector which was vital to the wider supply of war materials to the northern Segmentum Ultima, which was why the rebellion had to be put down -- and why the Alpha Legion had sought to engender the uprising in the first place.101st Cadian Armoured - The 101st Cadian Armoured Regiment served during the Deucalion Crusade commanded by Warmaster Ryse. It participated under the command of General Isaia Bendikt in the 13th Black Crusade and the defence of Cadia before it fell. Later, the regiment served under General Bendikt during the Battle of Faith's Anchorage in the Agripinaa System following the Fall of Cadia.113th Cadian Armoured - The 113th Cadian Armoured Regiment is a Cadian mechanised infantry regiment stationed in the Cadian Gate. It contains Gryphonne IV Pattern Chimeras that are outfitted with Heavy Bolters.114th Cadian Armoured, "Blood and Thunder" - The 114th Cadian Armoured Regiment is commanded by one of Cadia's premier Tank Aces, Colonel "Snake" Stranski. Renowned for his particular use of aggressive armoured attacks and counter-attacks, the 114th Cadian Armoured earned the nickname "Blood and Thunder." In 998.M41, the 114th Cadian Armoured was assigned to the 4621st Imperial Army, XIth Corps during the Taros Campaign which, unfortunately, ended in failure for the Imperial forces. During the campaign, the "Blood and Thunder" was assigned to break through enemy lines to assist the beleaguered 23rd Elysian Drop Troops Regiment during Operation Comet. But the mission ended in failure, for when the 114th Armoured arrived at the Elysians' position, they were wiped out to a man. Colonel Stranski ordered a tactical withdrawal, in which the regiment withdrew in good order. But during their withdrawal, they were forced to abandon the majority of their Chimera armoured transports and march the rest of the way to their designated evacuation point for emergency pick up.142nd Cadian Armoured - The 142nd Cadian Armoured Regiment participated in the valiant defence of their home system during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Artillery Regiments: 781st Cadian Artillery - The 781st Cadian Artillery Regiment has been seconded to the 92nd Cadian infantry regiment to provide needed fire support. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Notable Cadian Shock Troopers: Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed – Lord Castellan Creed is the supreme commander of all Imperial military forces assigned to Cadia and also serves as the Imperial Commander and Imperial Planetary Governor of that crucial Fortress World. Creed is known to be a tactical genius who has saved his world from falling to the forces of Chaos time and again. Though he initially came from humble beginnings, Creed eventually rose meteorically through the ranks, eventually becoming the supreme commander of all of Cadia's military forces and the Colonel of the famed 8th Cadian, "The Lord Castellan's Own."Lord General Mohamar Antoninus deViers - Lord General deViers was the Supreme Commander of the 18th Army Group Exolon during its mission to the Ork-held world of Golgotha. This mission was designated as Operation Thunderstorm, an Expeditio Reclamatus to find and retrieve the wreckage of Commissar Yarrick's personal Baneblade, the Fortress of Arrogance. This Imperial operation was undertaken sometime during 998.M41, sometime before the Third War for Armageddon began. Commissar Yarrick and the Departmento Munitorum believed that this famous tank would be a monumental boost to morale for the Imperial forces defending Armageddon from the predations of WAAAGH! Ghazghkull. General deViers would succeed in his objective, but would sadly not survive it, as in his haste to adress and compliment his men from the top of the just reclaimed Fortress of Arrogance, he was cut in two by a slash of the dying Warboss' Power Klaw.General Sturnn - Commander of the 412th Cadian Regiment.Major General Gerard Bergen - Major General Bergen served as a part of the 18th Army Group Exolon during Operation Thunderstorm to reclaim the famous Baneblade the Fortress of Arrogance from the Ork-held world of Golgotha.Colonel Dero Arkat - Arkat is a thirty-year veteran of the Interior Guard who was assigned to lead the newly-raised 99th Cadian Mechanised Infantry Regiment. Arkat worked tirelessly to prepare his men for warfare, and appears to have succeeded thus far, operating as part of a series of rapid assaults against Chaos forces infesting the Periphery Sub-sector and worlds beyond.Colonel "Snake" Stranski - Stranski was the commander of the 114th Cadian Armoured Regiment and one of Cadia's premier Tank Aces.Warden-Colonel Parmenion Thade - Thade was one of the senior commanders of the 88th Cadian Armoured Regiment that assisted the Reclamation of the Imperial world of Kathur. Thade commanded part of the spearhead of Imperial forces assigned to retake the planet from the forces of Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.Knight Commander Pask - Knight Commander Pask is considered one of the Imperial Guard's most renowned tank aces. A hero of the Imperium of Man and a constant presence within the armoured regiments of the Cadian Shock Troops, Pask is one of the most skilled tank commanders ever to grace a Leman Russ Tank. He has commanded these behemoths through hundreds of campaigns, with his reputation continuing to grow with each victory. Over the decades Pask has commanded all variants of the Leman Russ and has mastered them all. He knows the capabilities and limits of each and every weapons system these mighty war machines can mount and it is a brave fool indeed who strays into his gun-sights.Second Lieutenant Mira - Lieutenant Mira assumed overall command of the 203rd Cadian Regiment after all of its senior officers were killed during the fighting on the Forge World of Graia against WAAAGH! Grimskull.Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell - Kell was Lord Castellan Creed's personal confidante and man-at-arms, and the bearer of the Regimental Standard of the 8th Cadian Regiment. Kell had come up through the ranks with his protege Creed.Sergeant Lukas Bastonne - Bastonne was one of the most highly regarded and capable non-commissioned officers within the ranks of the Cadian Shock Troops regiments of the Imperial Guard.Sergeant Oskar Andreas Wulfe - Wulfe was a Tank Commander of the 10th Company, 81st Cadian Armoured Regiment.Guardsman Drasquez - Whilst serving in the 91st Cadian Regiment, Guardsman Drasquez decimated an entire Genestealers brood that had infiltrated the rear echelons of the regiment's command platoon. He accomplished this feat by lifting the entire bipod arrangement off an Autocannon and marched towards the hideous xenos as he fired. Though later killed in battle, Drasquez was awarded the esteemed Honorifica Imperialis for his actions. |
Cadian Shock Troops - Sources: Battlezone: Cityfight, "Lords of the Night" by Pete Haines, pp. 33-48Cadian Blood (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenCadia Stands (Novel) by Justin D. Hill, Part 4, Chs. 2-8Codex: Armageddon (3rd Edition), pg. 32Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition), pp. 5-6, 12, 37-41Codex: Astra Militarum (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Regiments of Distinction - Cadian Shock Troops"Codex: Astra Militarum (8th Edition), pp. 18-19, 29Codex: Astra Militarum (9th Edition), pp. 12, 19Codex: Imperial Guard (2nd Edition), pp. 11-12, 38Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd, 2nd Codex), pp. 10-16, 19-20, 22-23, 26-32, 50-51Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pp. 14, 22-25, 27, 38Crusade (Novella) by Andy Clark, Chs. 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, EpilogueDawn of War: Tempest (Novel) by C.S. GotoDawn of War: Winter Assault (Game)Gunheads (Novel) by Steve LyonsImperial Armour Volume One, pp. 64, 71, 94, 102, 109, 115, 168, 180, 196, 259Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pg. 265Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pp. 138-139Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pp. 78-81Imperial Munitorum Manual, pp. 16-18, 71, 74Iron Hands (Novel) by Jonathan GreenLet the Galaxy Burn (Anthology), "Defixio" by Ben CounterOnly War: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 42-43Only War: Hammer of the Emperor (RPG), pg. 62Rebirth (Novel) by Nick KymeThirteenth Black Crusade (Background Book), pg. 91Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse, pg. 103Warhammer 40,000: Planetstrike, pg. 57Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (5th Edition), pg. 128Words of Blood (Anthology), "Defixio" by Ben CounterWhite Dwarf 124 (DE) "The Generals Project - Part One"White Dwarf 125 (DE) "The Generals Project - Part Two"White Dwarf 126 (DE) "The Generals Project - Part Three"White Dwarf 240 (US), "Glorious Battles of the Imperial Guard, Part 2 - The Defense of Cobalt Valley" by Gav Thorpe, pg. 94Third War for Armageddon Worldwide Campaign - Forces Disposition, Imperial Forces: Cadian Shock Troops |
Cadre - Cadre: A cadre, or kau'ui as it is known in the T'au Lexicon, is the basic organisational unit of the Fire Caste, the ground military forces of the T'au Empire, similar in size to an Astra Militarum company. Cadres are in turn made up of a variable number of units similar in size to squads known among the T'au as a "team" or la'rua.There are many types of T'au cadre, but by far the most common one is the versatile Hunter Cadre. It is a combined arms group, fielding Fire Warrior infantry, auxiliary alien infantry, battlesuits and anti-grav gunships together under the leadership of a T'au Commander. Most cadres are standing formations, although their exact structure includes some variation depending upon the strategic or tactical needs of their commander.There are many alternative kinds of cadre within the Fire Caste, with several more specialist formations optimised for specific battlefield roles. The Retaliation Cadre, for example, groups teams of battlesuits, particularly stealthsuits, into a single force ideal for rapid insertion drops and counter-assault. Meanwhile, the Infiltration Cadre is utilised for reconnaissance in force, its Pathfinders, Sniper Drone Teams and Piranhas engaging the foe with guerrilla tactics while calling down strikes on key strategic targets.A "contingent", or tio've, is a grouping of cadres, normally three to six in number and assembled to prosecute a specific battle or achieve a particular objective. Such large forces will always include at least one Ethereal, who is there to observe proceedings and offer guidance to the commander. The Ethereal's role is vital, for contingents represent the marshalled military might of the T'au Empire and must be wielded with care -- only the vast, star system-conquering units known as "coalitions" are larger and more powerful.Hunter Cadres are a standing formation, although their exact structure is variable, subject to change due to the tactical situation on the ground, the quarry they are hunting, the available reinforcements or a commander's favoured mode of attack. The core of most Hunter Cadres is its Fire Warriors and other auxiliary infantry such as Kroot Carnivores or Vespid Stingwings, but these can be supported in a number of ways. Pathfinders scout ahead and mark prospective targets, elite battlesuits provide hard-hitting strike teams, Sniper Drone Teams pick off the foe's greatest threats and Hammerhead gunships use their deadly armaments to blast enemy armour or break up massed infantry attacks.The doctrine of T'au battle tactics is all about the efficient coordination of different groups -- from the infantry to the battlesuits, the gunships to the aircraft, all must work as one to defeat the foe. A Hunter Cadre is fully integrated at the tactical level, so that all of its teams are considered to be part of the same fighting unit.There are a number of different cadres in addition to the hunter variety, although they tend to be smaller in size and more optimised for individual roles. There are Rapid Insertion Forces made exclusively of fast striking battlesuit teams, Infiltration Cadres of Pathfinders and Stealth Teams and Auxiliary Reserve Cadres, battle groups made entirely of allied alien warriors like the Kroot, Vespids and Gue'vesa.A particularly formidable group is the Armoured Interdiction Cadre, a force composed entirely of Hammerhead and Sky Ray gunships. Its heavy firepower is used to counter enemy tanks and is capable of toppling even the mightiest targets. During the Hive Fleet Gorgon invasion, Armoured Interdiction Cadres blunted the Tyranid Bio-Titan spearhead -- pitting "shoals" or squadrons of Hammerheads against towering Hierophants flanked by the tank-sized Hierodules. |
Cadre - Types of Cadres: Below is an example of a T'au Fire Caste Hunter Contigent which is a combined arms contingent making use of many different types of cadres. It is an exceelent example of the sheer tactical flexibility granted to the T'au by the Fire Caste's cadre system.Hunter Contingent The Hunter Contingent is designed to be the most versatile template by which large Fire Caste forces can be assembled. Such a formation exhibits the strategic balance to face any threat.CommandHunter Cadre Large forces, such as units of contingent size or larger, will always include at least one Ethereal who acts as the overall, strategic force commander.A Hunter Cadre is a combined arms group, fielding infantry, battlesuits and gunships together under a T'au Commander.Cadre TypesA contingent -- or tio've -- is a grouping of cadres, normally three to six in number and assembled to prosecute a specific battle or achieve a particular objective. Such large forces will always include at least one Ethereal, who is there to observe proceedings and offer guidance to the T'au Commander.Optimised Stealth CadreFire Support CadreAllied AuxiliariesXV25 Stealthsuit TeamsXV95 Ghostkeel BattlesuitFire Support Cadres are used to assault vulnerable points in enemy lines.2 XV88 Broadside Battlesuits1 XV104 Riptide BattlesuitKroot mercenaries, Vespid Stingwings, Gue'vesa unitsInfiltration CadreHeavy Retribution CadreAir Caste Support WingUtilised for reconnaissance in force, this Cadre's Pathfinders, Sniper Drone Teams and Piranha engage the foe with guerrilla tactics while calling down strikes on key strategic targets.Pathfinder TeamsStealthsuit TeamsSupported by Sniper DronesPiranhas (Reconnaissance)Used to annihilate the most stalwart of enemies.2 KV128 StormsurgesXV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit <a href="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/3f/TauAirCasteSigil.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200818075513" class="image"><img alt="TauAirCasteSigil" src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/3f/TauAirCasteSigil.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/110?cb=20200818075513" decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="110" height="85" class="thumbimage" data-image-name="TauAirCasteSigil.jpg" data-image-key="TauAirCasteSigil.jpg" data-relevant="1" data-src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/3f/TauAirCasteSigil.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/110?cb=20200818075513" /></a>Other Cadre TypesRanged Support CadrePiranha Firestream WingSkysweep Missile DefenceDrone Net VX1-0Riptide Wing |
Cadre Fireblade - Cadre Fireblade: A Cadre Fireblade, also simply called a Fireblade, and a shas'nel in the T'au Lexicon, is the most grizzled and seasoned T'au Fire Warrior of a Hunter Cadre, whose extraordinary skill at the Fire Warrior's art of battle leads them to eschew T'au Battlesuit technology and remain as a leader of the T'au Empire's infantry forces.Cadre Fireblades are excellent field leaders and their long experience at war has taught them exactly where to place shots to maximise damage, and fire with pinpoint accuracy. It is on the firing line that Cadre Fireblades really come into their own. There, they radiate a steadying calm, directing their Fire Warriors to maintain accurate fire no matter the circumstances, instilling each T'au trooper with the precision and efficiency that is the hallmark of thousands of Terran years of martial training.Whether breaking the impetus of an advancing horde of Greenskins or seeking to bring down the heavily armoured Space Marines of the Imperium, no one knows a Fire Warrior's strength better than a Cadre Fireblade. A Cadre Fireblade will always extol a focus upon what they believe to be the Tau's primary military strength -- overwhelming infantry firepower! Theirs is the ability to drive and direct Fire Warriors as they pour volley after volley of merciless pulse fire onto the target.Experts in the standard Fire Caste tactical doctrine as laid down in the Code of Fire, Cadre Fireblades will also instruct all warriors nearby to fight closely together, with each member of a team doing their utmost to protect not just their comrades, but also nearby teams in their cadre. All teams then provide mutual support on the battlefield when the enemy launches a major assault, helping to annihilate the foe with mutually reinforcing fields of overlapping firepower. |
Cadre Fireblade - Rank Progression: Cadre Fireblades were once Fire Warrior troopers like any other in the Hunter Cadre, and as they gained experience, they rose to become shas'ui -- Fire Caste veterans and squad leaders. Whereas most of these seasoned leaders eventually choose the great honour of donning a battlesuit, there are a few who instead prefer to remain amongst the infantry with the Fire Warriors. For some Fireblades, this is a practical realisation that the tactical versatility required by Crisis or Stealth Teams eludes them; for others, it is simply a preference to remain squarely situated with the heart of any T'au gunline.The military path that takes a T'au soldier to become a Cadre Fireblade means that they will never rise to the rank of shas'o -- they are limited to a level just beneath that of shas'el. Nor does the title carry with it the élan associated with those who pilot a battlesuit. Nonetheless, a Cadre Fireblade, or shas'nel in the T'au Lexicon, is a highly respected role -- not least because of their willingness to forgo prestige.The constant drilling and workman-like efficiency of a Cadre Fireblade is, to the T'au, a willing embrace of their most central societal philosophy, the Tau'va -- the Greater Good. |
Cadre Fireblade - Wargear: Cadre Fireblades are most commonly found armed with a Pulse Rifle as their primary weapon, along with an attached Marker Light designator.Cadre Fireblades carry Photon Grenades as standard weapons to help them in repelling attacking foes, and they are armoured in elaborately designed Fire Warrior Combat Armour.Cadre Fireblades will also often be found holding a Bonding Knife, symbolising the ritual of Ta'lissera that they have undergone to bond with the Fire Warriors of their cadre. Up to two T'au Drones, which can be Gun Drones, Shield Drones, or Marker Drones, are sometimes found accompanying Cadre Fireblades into combat. |
Caducades Sea - Caducades Sea: The Caducades Sea was a vast and tumultuous body of water that was located on the former Fortress World of Cadia.Its various islets were utilised by the Cadians in a ritual known as the "Month of Making," where pre-pubescent boys would be left naked to survive the harsh weather, one of the first steps in forging them into superlative soldiers.The region was also inhabited by a large seabird known as the Caducades sea eagle, the symbol of which was branded onto the necks of every Kasrkin, marking them out as members of the Cadian elite. |
Caedere Squad - Caedere Squad: The Caedere or "Butchers" were specialised shock assault units within the ranks of the World Eaters Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.They were formed from the most savage and bloodthirsty warriors in the XIIth Legion, all of whom had undergone prohibited psycho-surgery and now possessed the forbidden cortical implants known as the Butcher's Nails.But the Caedere had a distinct difference that set them apart from their berzerk brethren, for they were nearly uncontrollable away from the field of battle. |
Caedere Squad - History: Following the reunification with their lost Primarch Angron upon the world of Nuceria, the bloody-handed primarch enacted many changes within the structure of the XIIth Legion.Knowing how successful his own cortical implants were at boosting a warrior's prowess in battle, Angron ordered his Apothecarion to insert the Butcher's Nails implants within every Astartes of the World Eaters Legion to enhance their aggression and pain tolerance far beyond that which even the gene-engineered flesh of a member of the Space Marine Legions was capable.Initially, this posed difficulties, as Angron's implants were relics of a long-lost technology, little understood even by their makers, while removing them from Angron for close study would have proven fatal to the primarch.The Legion's Techmarines and Apothecaries attempted to duplicate the process using the primarch's own implants as templates to reverse-engineer the devices.Early attempts to duplicate these implants were far from successful, and resulted in high rates of mortality and irrecoverable homicidal frenzy on test recruits.However, as time progressed, a viable form of the cortical implant technology was replicated and steadily improved, although it was never fully stable or its effects constant between subjects, and entire newly-formed companies of World Eaters neophytes were implanted, as well as large numbers of existing World Eaters Astartes who volunteered for the dangerous operation.The majority of these Astartes were absorbed back into the XIIth Legion's line units, while those deemed perhaps too unstable for such tasks joined a growing number of near-berserker assault units known as Rampager Squads.The pain engine implanted in the skulls of these World Eaters forced them to enjoy killing above everything else. Even the comfort of brotherhood paled -- one of life's few remaining pleasures for the World Eaters outside of battle.Other World Eaters focused their desire for berserk slaughter into martial discipline, mastering a variety of macabre and savage weapons patterned from those used by Angron's fellow arena gladiators and found on the Feral Worlds from which the XII Legion primarily drew its recruits during the Great Crusade.Even within these units, those too far gone to be anything but restrained as savages between battles became known as the Caedereor the "Butchers," a frightening portent of what was soon to come for the entirety of the XIIth Legion.The pain engine in their skulls forced the "Butchers" to enjoy killing above everything else, and all the calm-voiced hypothesising about the whys and wherefores changed exactly nothing. The World Eaters, once known for their brotherhood, became known first and foremost for their savagery.Reports began filtering back of excessive civilian casualties caused by the XIIth Legion when they assaulted the foe in berserk mass assaults heedless of friend or foe, and Imperial Army forces pleading for assistance from other Legions when the World Eaters were the ones to answer their call.Planets surrendered rather than face the XIIth Legion in battle, but not all who surrendered were spared the war. The Nails dulled all other pleasures, until the heady bite of adrenaline was the only certain way to experience anything but the dimmest memory of emotion. The rewired minds of the "Butchers" allowed no other pleasure beyond battle.When their Primarch Angron became a Daemon Prince of Khorne and the World Eaters willingly fell into the bloody worship of their new patron god, the Caedere became the first Khornate Berzerkers, and were at the forefront of battle to accumulate skulls for Khorne's throne. |
Caedere Squad - Wargear: Power ArmourBolt PistolChainaxeFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades |
Caedere Squad - Optional Wargear: Heavy ChainswordCaedere Weapons - Based upon the ritual weapons of the cyber-augmetic gladiators of the savage world of Nuceria on which their bloody-handed Primarch was once cast, it was Angron himself who revived the use of the Caedere among his Legion's ranks. Brutal and difficult to master, the weapons of the Caedere remain largely the preserve of the Rampagers, the World Eaters who have responded the best to the addition of the cranial berserker implants which are a hallmark of the Legion, and its champions. The Caedere Weapons include the following:Meteor HammerExcoriator ChainaxeTwin Falx BladesBarb-hook LashJump Pack |
Caedere Squad - Optional Wargear (Rampager Champion Only): Artificer ArmourPlasma PistolPower Weapon (Any type)Lightning ClawPower Fist |
Caedere Squad - Dedicated Transport: A Caedere Squad consisting of ten Legionaries or fewer and not equipped with Jump Packs often used a Land Raider Phobos as a dedicated transport. |
Caedere Weapon - Caedere Weapon: A Caedere Weapon was one of four types of close combat weapon used by the Astartes of the World Eaters Legion during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy eras.Based upon the ritual weapons of the cyber-augmetic gladiators of the savage world of Nuceria upon which their bloody-handed primarch was cast to through the Warp, it was Angron himself who revived the use of the Caedere among his Legion's ranks.Brutal and difficult to master, the weapons of the Caedere remain largely the preserve of the Rampagers -- those World Eaters who responded best to the addition of the Butcher's Nails cranial implants which were a hallmark of the Legion and its champions. |
Caedere Weapon - Meteor Hammer: This ancient weapon consists at its most basic level of one heavy, spiked weight connected by a chain. It belongs to the broader classes of flail and chain weapons.The primary advantage for using a meteor hammer is its sheer speed. Using a meteor hammer involves swinging it around the body to build up considerable speed before releasing the meteor to strike at any angle.The large weighted head can be used offensively as well as defence, allowing its wielder to parry attacks or ensnaring an opponent's weapon to disarm them. When used by a skilled fighter, its speed, accuracy and unpredictability make it a difficult weapon to defend against.While being swung, a meteor hammer may be wrapped around its user's arms, legs, torso, neck or waist, before being unwrapped by a powerful jerk of the body to deliver a devastating and swift blow. A master is fully capable of striking, ensnaring or strangling from a distance. |
Caedere Weapon - Excoriator Chainaxe: Always a favoured weapon of the World Eaters, this variant chainaxe is an obscenely large double-handed chain weapon. Huge in size and weight, only the strongest warriors are able to brandish this weapon.The chassis houses a mounted chain assembly of ancient Nucerian design, making it a much more powerful pattern of chainaxe than the average pattern. In addition, the weapon draws upon the additional mechanical support provided by a Legionary's power armour to drive this massive chainaxe's bulk at greater speeds.Also, its longer haft is designed to be swung in wide swathes. Such is the power of this fearsome weapon that little can stand against it, and enemies fall apart like kindling when struck.The Excoriator Chainaxe is fully capable of bisecting even an armoured Space Marine in a single stroke of its gargantuan axe-head. It can also slice through walls and even damaged light armoured vehicles. |
Caedere Weapon - Twin Falx Blades: This deadly weapon takes the form of a medium-sized sword, whose curved blade is extremely sharp on the inside edge. A one-handed weapon, these blades are always wielded in pairs. The blades are sharpened only on the inside, making it devastatingly effective in close-quarters melee combat.The length of the falx allows it to be wielded with great force, the point piercing an enemy's helmet and the blade splitting shields. Wielded by a skilled warrior, it is said these formidable weapons are capable of splitting a shield in two at a single blow.Alternatively, these weapons are able to be used as a sort of hook, pulling away shields and cutting at vulnerable limbs, or striking the edge of a strong shield.The inward curving point is still able to pierce the armour or flesh of the target behind their shield, rendering even the most reinforced shields much less effective against a falx wielder. These blades are described as leaving large gaping wounds, incapacitating the majority of victims.The falx are most efficient when targetting the head, shoulders, legs and especially the right (sword) arm, which is generally exposed.The handguards of these swords work as a "knuckle duster" and is reinforced to take the force of a full-power straight punch to an unyielding target at close-quarters, without collapsing the guard on the hand of the user. It also is usually studded or "toothed" on the outside radius to enhance the effect of the blow. |
Caedere Weapon - Barb-Hook Lash: This ancient Nucerian gladiatoral weapon is very similar to the meteor hammer, falling into the broader classes of flail or chain weapons. This weapon consists of a large surmounted spear-like head with a pair of deadly barb-hooks, that curves towards the wielder, attached to a long chain.Using a barb-hook lash involves swinging it around the body to build up considerable speed before releasing the barb-hook to strike at any angle. The large spear-like head with its pair of backwards curved barb-hooks, could easily catch an opponent's armour or weapon.With a powerful jerk of the body, the wielder could dislodge portions of their enemy's armour or completely disarm them, leaving them weaponless and at their mercy. Utilised by a skilled warrior, this weapon could also be used to decapitate limbs or even impale an enemy, given sufficient speed and application of force. |
Caestus Assault Ram - Caestus Assault Ram: The Caestus Assault Ram is one of several types of assault rams used by the Imperium of Man. Assault rams are used for boarding actions during void battles and are capable of quickly placing boarding parties directly aboard enemy spacecraft.The Caestus Assault Ram is the most common assault ram used by the Adeptus Astartes, due to the craft's high speed and phenomenal durability, which makes it highly prized by many Space Marine Chapters.The Caestus Assault Ram is smaller than the Thunderhawk gunship but is larger than the Shark Assault Boat, allowing more Space Marines to be safely deployed into enemy vessels.The craft can safely transport up to 10 fully armoured Space Marines into combat, wearing either Power Armour, Artificer Armour, or Terminator Armour.The Caestus was originally designed for ship-to-ship boarding actions in the void of space, yet the revolutionary anti-gravitic technology discovered by the Technoarcheologist Arkhan Land enabled the craft to be fitted with high powered anti-gravitic plating, allowing it to be used in high-velocity orbital operations, as well as operate as a heavy battle skimmer once it reaches the ground and deploys it cargo of Space Marines.The Caestus is a common sight on-board the ships of fleet-based Chapters, who spend much of their time fighting against enemy starships, boarding Space Hulks, or attacking enemy void stations or asteroid bases. |
Caestus Assault Ram - History: This honoured war machine has been in service as a ship-to-ship boarding vessel since the dim and distant Great Crusade, one of many different patterns used by the fleets of the Adeptus Astartes and the Imperial Navy.As a result of the seminal discoveries made by the acclaimed machine-arcanist Arkhan Land in the lost vaults beneath the Martian wastes, the Caestus was fitted with an array of anti-gravitic projection nodes that allowed it to operate within the gravitational field of a planet or similar sized body.This adaptation turned the venerable design of the Caestus from a pure spacecraft limited to operations in the cold depths of the void in high velocity direct orbital attacks to one capable of operating as a battle skimmer in support of ground operations when called on to do so.This allowed the Caestus to assault the most formidable of fortifications on a planet's surface, making it a vital weapon in the arsenal of many Space Marine Legions. In the current late 41st Millennium the Caestus Assault Ram continues to prove its worth as a valuable component of many fleet-based Chapters. |
Caestus Assault Ram - Construction: The Caestus Assault Ram, like most other assault rams used in ship-to-ship boarding actions during void combat, was designed for one purpose: to cross the void of space between two voidships at extreme speed and collide directly with the enemy vessel. The ram would completely puncture through the enemy vessel's hull and burrow into its superstructure, where it would unleash its payload of Astartes warriors to wreak havoc inside of the enemy craft.These missions are highly dangerous, as a single hit from an enemy heavy starship weapon can completely destroy most small spacecraft, an outcome that would prove grievous for Astartes, as they will be unable to retrieve the precious gene-seed of the fallen.The Caestus is one of the most well-armoured assault rams in the Imperium, yet it sacrifices little of its speed. The craft's front, which will bear most of the enemy's fire, is heavily armoured and protected with a heavy superstructure that is buttressed by inertial recoil compensation systems.These systems include a near-unique Misericordia system that is designed to interlock with Space Marine Power Armour or Terminator Armour, protecting a full squad complement aboard from any impact short of those that would destroy the craft itself.These systems, combined with the craft's high speed and extremely durable armour allow the Caestus to deliver a full squad of Space Marines right into the bowels of an enemy starship without casualty.With its anti-gravitic capability, the craft is also capable of directly deploying Astartes into the heart of a battle and then lending heavy support as if it were a heavily-armoured skimmer. |
Caestus Assault Ram - Armament: The Caestus Assault Ram is equipped with a forward-firing heavy Melta Weapon known as a Magna-Melta.This weapon is used to weaken the hull armour of an enemy ship or fortification wall before the craft's armoured prow crashes through the weakened area, creating a breach through which its complement of Space Marines can immediately deploy and advance.When the Caestus is used as a heavy skimmer during ground combat this weapon is extremely effective at close-range against enemy tanks and bunkers. Many Space Marine Chapters also equip their Caestus Assault Rams with twin-linked Firefury Missile Launchers, one launcher on each of its stabiliser wings. These weapons fire all of their missiles at once, completely saturating the area with a massive amount of firepower, which allows the assault ram to touch down and deploy its cargo of Astartes before the enemy can retaliate.The Caestus Assault Ram can be upgraded with several enhancements, including Frag Assault Launchers and a Teleport Homer. When a Caestus Assault Ram is upgraded with a Teleport Homer the craft can allow additional forces to be teleported to its location, which can greatly speed up the process of taking over or destroying an enemy starship or teleporting Terminators into a breach created during a ground conflict.During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia, the Caestus Assault Ram could also be outfitted with an auxiliary drive system and a Machine Spirit, and armed with wing-mounted twin-linked Havoc Missile Launchers instead of the Firefury Missile Launchers found on the newer craft. |
Caestus Assault Ram - Unit Composition: 1 Caestus Assault Ram (41st Millennium Only)1 Legion Caestus Assault Ram (31st Millennium Only) |
Caestus Assault Ram - Wargear: A standard Caestus Assault Ram is armed and equipped with:Caestus Ram - The front prow of the Caestus is protected with heavy armour and augmented with field generators, allowing the vessel to purposely smash itself into vehicles, buildings and even starships and survive.Twin-linked Magna-MeltasTwo Firefury Missile BatteriesMachine Spirit (Artificial Intelligence) |
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