It is the Tidecasters who conjure the phantasmal sea that allows aelf and aquatic beast to move and breathe as if they were in their own natural environment.
The empyrically attuned minds of Primaris Psykers are steeled against the manifold dangers risked by unsanctioned wielders of the warp's power. These battle-trained psykers support the Astra Militarum's soldiers with eerie prognostication, wards against enemy witchcraft, and tempests of their own psychic might. Though rarely trusted by their peers, few generals would go to battle without a psyker's aid.
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.
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.
Commissars are ruthless officers embedded throughout the Astra Militarum, charged with maintaining the morale, discipline, and loyalty of their regiment. With the power to summarily execute any soldier found wanting in their duties, they are feared, brooding figures. A Commissar's devotion to the Imperium is without doubt, and they fight with fanatical bravery – inspiring the same fervour in those who fall under their watchful gaze.
The Soviets were visionaries in the development of airborne troops and tactics, first forming a brigade-sized airborne unit after successful trials in December 1932. More units followed and by June 1941 five Airborne Corps existed in the Soviet order of battle, undoubtedly the strongest airborne force in the world. However in the desperate fighting of the early campaign these formations were pressed into service as regular infantry and virtually consumed.
‘Popular regimentation’ or the ‘people’s militia’ (Narodnoe Opolcheniye or Opolchenie) is a Russian tradition dating back to the 16th century and a powerful part of the national heritage. In times of emergency, a militia was selected from volunteers to serve alongside the regular army and defend their homes.
In 1941 the Soviet Union’s fortified borders were manned by units of the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs). These units were almost entirely destroyed in the first weeks of the campaign. After this, NKVD troops were chiefly used for internal security, but could potentially fight on the frontline as they did at Stalingrad in 1942 and during the Crimean Offensive in 1944.
Shortages meant that Soviet formations were sparsely served when it came to transport and rear-echelon support. Pioneer detachments were a notable exception. Their expertise was too essential to do without: bridge-building, demolitions, fortification construction and minefield placement and clearance. These all required skills the conscripted masses did not have. Assault engineers were specialists tasked with liquidating enemy strongpoints during an advance and clearing obstacles to allow tank units to breakthrough. This was extremely dangerous work with a high casualty rate (even by Red Army standards) and assault engineer units were sometimes equipped with SN-42 body armour to give them a fighting chance.
The armies of the Soviet Union had many weapons at their disposal to counteract the threat of German armoured formations – from orthodox anti-tank rifles, oddball 'Molotov Cocktail’ throwers and the unconventional use of dogs as living anti-tank mines.
Like the soldiers they commanded, many Soviet officers were inexperienced and lacked training at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Stalin’s ruthless purge of officers of the Red Army in 1937 had denuded the organisation of leadership and left deep scars in the survivors’ minds.
Like the soldiers they commanded, many Soviet officers were inexperienced and lacked training at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Stalin’s ruthless purge of the officers of the Red Army in 1937 had denuded the organization of leadership and left deep scars in the survivors’ minds. Throughout the war, showing initiative was seen as a dangerous trait, and most Soviet officers would follow their orders to the letter even if they meant marching their men to certain death.