The Adeptus Custodes are towering champions clad in gleaming auramite who will protect the Emperor at any cost. With bodies and minds honed through ancient secrets of gene-alchemy and wielding individually crafted weapons of incredible potency, even a small band of these terrifying exemplars can carve a bloody path through hordes of foes. They fight side by side upon the battlefield with the cold-eyed witch seekers of the Sisters of Silence. Theirs is an eternal war, for the threats to the Master of Mankind are manifold and spread across the stars, but they wage it with breathtaking skill and ferocity, for to falter is to doom all of Humanity.

The ranks of the Astra Militarum feature countless regiments drawn from the planet of Cadia – or mustered in the gate world's fallen image. These born soldiers are held by many as the ideal Imperial troops – from freshly-conscripted cadets to seasoned Shock Troops and established Veterans, the regiments of Cadia fight through injury and hardship, laden with all the varied tools of war.

Born soldiers, the Shock Troops of Cadia are trained for military service from the moment they can hold a rifle. Long years of rigorous firing drills have forged them into expert sharpshooters, skilled in both dogged defence and storming assault. Cadian Shock Troops are held by many as the ideal Imperial soldiers – with countless regiments mustered in their image.

Cadian Castellans are strategic senior officers, often formally ranked as Captains or Colonels. These authoritative leaders of the Astra Militarum's forces bear a panoply of armaments and insignia that mark their high office, wielding their array of weapons as skilfully as they command the countless soldiers beneath them.

A Blade Champion is a living weapon in the Emperor’s hand. His role is to identify the greatest battlefield threat – be that a mighty leader, a host of killers, or a deadly war engine – then to employ his archeotech blades and specialised fighting styles to ensure their swift and absolute destruction.

More rolling fortress than vehicle, the Baneblade super heavy tank is possessed of overwhelming firepower. Wherever a Baneblade sees battle, it becomes the centre of the battle line, Imperial Guardsmen and even smaller tanks sheltering in its lee as its enormous primary cannon and numerous other guns hammer the foe into submission.

Rough Riders are potent cavalry troops fielded by the Astra Militarum – the most famous of which are recruited from the steppes of Attila. Their combat skill and sheer mobility makes these horsemasters a powerful force, whether spearheading an attack or outflanking the foe. When the moment comes to launch a charge, the Rough Riders plunge their hunting lances into the foe and detonate the deadly tips, lending an explosive impact to the assault.

The Valkyrie Assault Carrier is a twin-engine attack craft used for aerial insertions and drop missions. Screaming across a battlefield, a Valkyrie aircraft deploys its cargo into the fray, providing a deadly torrent of covering fire as the troopers within disembark.

The Sentinel is a one-man all-terrain bipedal vehicle, used by the Astra Militarum where mobile patrols must be mounted across rough terrain, or where firepower must be deployed rapidly in response to a threat.

The Hydra Flak Tank is equipped to blow aerial foes out of the sky. Armed with twin-lined Hydra autocannons and a predictive logic-spirit, few airborne foes could survive the howling onslaught of the Hydra’s firepower.

The Chimera is the Imperial Guard's most commonly used armoured troop carrier. These ubiquitous vehicles are extremely durable and practical, capable of mounting an array of support weapons and protecting embarked Infantry Squads from all but the most destructive of onslaughts.

Though much of an infantry regiment is made up of rank-and-file Guardsmen, those soldiers with an affinity for bulky and more complicated weaponry are often gathered together within a dedicated heavy weapons company.