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Cadian Shock Troopers

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- Cadian Shock Troopers -
Homeworld: Cadia (formerly)
Regiment Name: Cadian Shock Troopers
Specialities: Discipline, Marksmanship
Cadian8thStandard.JPG


The Cadian Shock Troopers are Regiments of the Astra Militarum originally from the fortress world of Cadia before its destruction. Located at the edge of the Eye of Terror, Cadia formed the first line of defence against Chaos incursions, such as the Black Crusades. Because of this, Cadia was one of the most strategically important planets in the Galaxy, and the entire population was militarized to some degree.[4a]

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 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, 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.[14b]

The Cadians are widely regarded as some of the best troops in the Imperium, short of the Space Marines themselves.[1][2] Their reputation is so great that many other worlds base their own Imperial Guard regiments' equipment, force organization, and methods of war upon those used by the Cadians.[59]

Recruitment and training

Icon of the Cadian Shock Troops[56]

As a fortress world, the entire population of Cadia is under arms. Cadian children are taught to strip, assemble and shoot a Lasgun before they are taught how to write.[4a] As soon as they are of age, every Cadian teenager is inducted into the Youth Armies, organized into Whiteshield platoons and trained under grueling conditions at a castellum. When not in combat alongside the Shock Troopers these Youth Armies fight mock battles against each other in the Cadian wilderness. The best and most promising of these cadets are selected for special training, eventually joining the elite Kasrkin Storm Troopers.[5e]

Additionally, one out of every ten Cadian soldiers, regardless of their abilities or achievements, are inducted into the Cadian Interior Guard. For this reason many excellent soldiers serve their entire military service on Cadia, making the planet's defense forces one of the best military organizations in the entire Imperium.[5a]

Cadian Officer[13]

Cadian training emphasizes strength, stamina, marksmanship, self-sacrifice and above all discipline. Every challenge and exercise undertaken during basic training is performed in groups of squad-size or larger, with success possible only when the team operates effectively together.[4b] As such, Cadian regiments tend to have a higher number of veterans than other regiments and every Cadian soldier is considered a formidable marksman.[4a][5c] Cadian nobles are raised from birth to be officers and are trained in the dictates of the Tactica Imperium to become excellent tacticians and strategists.[4a][5c] For Cadians though the notion of allowing officer training to take place in the stuffy halls of academia is anathema to them, a waste of potential material in a region wracked by endless war. Instead those who show leadership abilities during their stint as a Whiteshield can be transferred to one of Cadia's renowned officer training corps and receive their education on the frontlines.[12a]

Since the destruction of Cadia in the 13th Black Crusade, the Cadian Shock Troops have now had to treat their remaining native-born soldiers as a precious commodity. Cadian High Command has been forced to turn to new methods to replace their losses and found new Regiments. To make up for shortfalls in manpower, many Cadian Regiments have been forced to draw recruits from native populations of planets upon which they have been deployed, from the remnants of other shattered Imperial Guard forces, and in the most extreme cases even from penal colonies. Whilst some Cadians look upon these newcomers with suspicion and disdain, the majority have welcomed them as new blood.[59] Those newcomers drawn from other, non-Cadian, regiments of the Guard are known as "Transplants".[60]

Equipment

Kantrael M36 Pattern Lasgun[3b]

As a heavily industrialized and militarized planet, Cadia is able to supply the Shock Troopers with the finest equipment available. Cadian equipment favours function, reliability, and ease of manufacture over appearance or mechanical complexity.[59]

Shock Trooper with Grenade Launcher[3d]

Cadian uniforms are camouflaged to suit the various terrains found in their homeworlds wilderness.[4a] The M36 Kantrael lasrifle, the stock lasgun of the Shock Troopers, is noted for its robustness compared to other lasgun marks.[4b] The standard Cadian Mark VIII tri-dome helmet [16] and mark XI re-breather allows Shock Troopers to withstand poison and gas attacks, as well as plague weapons, and permit limited operation within an airless environment.[3b] Officers are also noted for wearing a distinctive gorget used to contain refractor field generators.[3b] Cadian-pattern Grenade Launchers are the preferred squad support weapon of Cadian infantry,[3c] a twenty-round drum-fed weapon which fires 40mm Frag and Krak grenades with considerable recoil,[11c] while autocannons are favoured among heavy weapon squads.[3c] A short, twin-edged sabre known as a hanger is also known to be used.[15]

Sentinels, especially the Cadian-pattern Sentinel, as well as Hellhounds are used for a variety of roles, while Chimeras are the standard personnel carrier.[5c] For armour support the Cadians favour the Leman Russ Battle Tank and Demolisher variant, though they also make use of the Vanquisher, Conqueror, and Executioner.[9] More rare vehicles include the Destroyer Tank Hunter.[6a] Super-heavy vehicles include the Baneblade, Shadowsword Stormblade and Stormsword.[9][6b][6c][6d] Salamander Scout and Command vehicles are also used for reconnaissance,[7] while Basilisks, Griffons, Medusa Siege Tanks and Manticores provide artillery support.[7][6e][6f] Anti-aircraft duty is fulfilled by Hydra Flak Tanks and Manticore variants, while static weapon systems include the Tarantula[6g] and other Weapons Platforms. Support functions such as vehicle recovery or resupply are fulfilled by dedicated vehicles including the Trojan and Atlas.[9]

Organization

TO&E of the 114th Cadian (Mechanized)

The primary Cadian regiment, known as a Shock Trooper regiment, is a combined-arms force which integrates a mixture of arms and equipment, from artillery to heavy armour, although other more dedicated types of regiments exist as well, including armoured, artillery, mechanised and reconnaissance.[12b] Cadian regiments are organized around a core of companies, anywhere from two to thirty depending on a variety of factors when it was raised; for example the Cadian 91st, raised in response to the 13th Black Crusade, numbered ten companies and was considered a small Cadian unit,[11a] while the storied Cadian 8th numbered twenty-four.[3a][Note 1] Infantry companies, normally between one to four hundred men each, are led by a command squad and consists of between two to six platoons, as well as any additional support units attached to the company,[11] such as a squadron of Sentinels and a Sentry Gun battery.[8] Each platoon will be led by its own command squad and consist of between two to six squads.[11a]

Bigger formations are battle groups, consisting of six to nine regiments and army groups, themselves having at least six battle groups. These formations are replicated by numerous Guard regiments of the sectors surrounding Cadia, with notable exceptions being those from Finreht and Mordant. Ten army groups are deployed to every significant world, with capital worlds boasting as many as a hundred.[57]

Normal infantry squads are given a unique three-digit identifier, while command squads use a two-digit number with a central skull motif; special veteran or Kasrkin squads use a three-digit number beginning with one or two zeros.[3b] In some infantry regiments, the heavy weapons and infantry are segregated, in which case every fourth company is a dedicated Heavy Weapons Company,[9] while in others they are intermixed, such as one heavy weapons platoon per company or one heavy weapons squad per platoon.[7][8] Armoured companies are typically composed of three squadrons of three vehicles and a command vehicle.[9] Super-heavy tank companies are composed of four vehicles.[6i] However, the sizes of each unit is not fixed in place and can change drastically in times of war, a necessary feature inherit in the flexible command structure.[11a]

In addition to its core units, support formations can be attached to the regiment to give it additional capabilities: when the 114th Cadian Regiment deployed during the Taros Campaign, it included an artillery brigade, a Storm Trooper platoon, a Sentinel company and a Recon company.[7]

A Colonel typically commands a regiment, assisted by a command platoon and any other Departmento Munitorum officials including Commissars.[11] In addition to the normal headquarters staff the regiment can include other noncombat support units such as logistics, medical and signals companies.[7]

Culture and Tactics

Cadian Shock Troops are renowned across the Imperium for their discipline, reliability, and adaptability that has rendered them sought after by many commanders. Having been raised for battle, they see warfare as their natural state and their entire society revolves around military service. As they have been engaged in military deployment most of their lives and having served from end of the Imperium to the other, Cadians can draw upon an immense breadth of skills and are renowned for their tactical adaptability. This extends from close-quarters combat, to wars of attrition and trench warfare, to armored assaults, to static defensive warfare. The most gifted Cadian officers are able to utilize this accumulated knowledge to great effect, and many Cadian leaders have gone on to serve in high-ranking positions within the wider Imperial Guard.[59]

Cadians are fanatical in their devotion to the Imperium, and will throw themselves into enemy fire without hesitation.[59] Weakness of any type is spurned in Cadian society, refusal to serve is not accepted, and the people of Cadia see embracing hatred of the enemy as a necessary virtue in order to survive.[38a] Since the destruction of Cadia by the forces of Chaos, the Cadian Shock Troops have been engaged heavily in the remains of the Cadian Gate and Nachmund Gauntlet. They now seek to avenge their lost home, and in particular harbor a special hatred for the Black Legion.[59]

Noteworthy Engagements

Ursarkar E. Creed and the Cadian 8th at the Battle of Tyrok Fields.

Cadian regiments have been involved in many engagements, both on and off their homeworld. Since the destruction of Cadia, this has not ceased and indeed they fight the enemies of mankind with perhaps even a greater vigour than before, eager to avenge their fallen homeworld.[59]

Relics of the Cadian Shock Troopers

Cadian Regimental Standard [55]

Notable Cadian Shock Trooper Regiments

Cadian Shock Troopers in various garb[14b]
Main article: List of Cadian Trooper Regiments
Main article: List of Cadian Armoured Regiments

Notable Cadian Shock Troopers

Quotes

  • "Any Cadian who can't field-strip his own lasgun by age ten was born on the wrong planet." – Anonymous[4a]
  • "If it was a miracle then it was a Kantrael short-pattern nineteen-megathule Lasrifle miracle" — General Karnow following the 122nd Cadian's victory at Vogen[5c]

Images

  • Cadian Shock Troopers (1995)[25c]

  • Cadian Shock Troopers Squad (2003)[25c]

  • Cadian Shock Troopers Squad (2021)[24]

  • Cadian Shock Troopers Squad (2022)[50]

Trivia

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The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

Notes

  • Note 1: The source states that twelve Companies of the Cadian 8th (roughly 4,000 men) comprises roughly half of the regiment.[3a] This would put the regiment's full strength at about 24 companies and 8,000 Guardsmen.

See also

Sources

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