The Catachan Imperial Guardsmen are a breed apart from the standard troopers of the Astra Militarum, hardened by their homeworld, Catachan, a death world where everything—plants, animals, even the very environment—exists to kill. On Catachan, the jungle is a living, breathing enemy, and survival is the ultimate test of endurance. Those who manage to make it to adulthood are already natural-born killers, expert survivalists, and masters of guerrilla warfare. As soldiers, they carry these brutal lessons into battle, wielding their iconic oversized blades, known as Catachan knives, with savage precision. Their biceps bulge with muscle, their faces are scarred from years of close combat, and their eyes reflect the cold, unyielding ferocity needed to survive not just their jungle home but the horrors of the galaxy.
In battle, Catachan Guardsmen are unparalleled jungle fighters, thriving in dense terrain where others would falter. They excel at ambushes, sabotage, and close-quarters combat, preferring to get up close and personal with their enemies, whether it’s cutting down a Tyranid warrior with a machete or planting explosives under an Ork battlewagon. Their disregard for formal tactics and open defiance of authority have earned them a reputation for being unruly and difficult to control, but when it comes to fighting in the most hostile environments, no regiment does it better. Catachans live for the thrill of the fight, knowing full well that they’ll either conquer their enemy or die trying, just like on their homeworld. And for them, that’s the only way they’d have it.