Greetings, everyone,
We continue our exploration of the Astra Militarum regiments featured in the Steel and Tracks article. Here, you’ll discover the full history of the Cadian 122nd, an iconic regiment inspired by the Vogen campaign and developed through our own narrative work.
Cadians are recruited at the age of fourteen years old in the Fortress World of Cadia located near the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus. Because of its location and industry experience the forces of Chaos constantly raid the planet. This perpetual war forced the authorities of the Cadian Gate to provide, in large quantities, a disciplined military strength: to do this, every child born on Cadia must serve in the Imperial Guard, in the White Shield. In addition to being affiliated with the defense of the Cadian Gate, Cadia has an obligation to provide a consistent tithe at Departemento Munitorum. it pays these tithes with soldiers, they are randomly selected to serve the Imperium.
This is why it is not unusual to see Cadian regiments renowned throughout the galaxy. These 10,000 years of fighting against the horrors of Chaos have allowed the people of Cadia to acquire a natural discipline, rarely matched, which is invaluable to the Imperium in such regiments of the Imperial Guard. Moreover, many officers, famous for their value and their bravery, participated in the raising of many regiments throughout the Imperium. This martial culture Cadia led to the creation of prestigious units like white shields, mainly composed of the newest members of Guardsmen, or the legendary Kasrkins, consisting of elite Cadians and receiving additional training, compared to basic choc troops. Most heros of the Imperium are born into Cadian regiments and no one can question their blind faith in the Emperor.
Equipment :
Due to the location and industry of Cadia in the Segmentum Obscurus, regiments are perfectly equipped, this either in terms of infantry or vehicles. These powerful production lines outfit and accessorise the Cadians. This Cadian equipment has become the standard equipment of many other regiments of the sector for reasons of cost and quality. Each soldier receives a laser rifle Kantrael type with four magazines, a combat knife which can be used as a bayonet, two fragmentation grenades and an antitank grenade. The manufactures of Cadia are able to mass produce outfits based on a wear resistant fabric. Each soldier is equipped with a solid body armor comprising several layers of thermoplastic and carbofibre. According to the dangers of the combat zone in which the regiment will be deployed, the regiment may have equipment for hostile environment such as gas masks and camouflage uniforms.
Cadian 122nd Regiment :
This regiment has long since left Cadia ground and has been traveling the galaxy since the beginning of the 41st millennium. They specialized in urban warfare after many successful campaigns. The Cadians who compose the regiment have gradually discarded the principles they learnt during their initial training and have thus abandoned units of the white shields preferring to mix new recruits into veteran units so that they learn faster in combat with their glorious predecessors. Their armour sports a camouflage that suits their operating theaters and many guardsmen within the regiment have abandoned their legendary lasgun in favor of a MK7 shotgun. The regiment uses a fleet of Leman Russ tanks to cover the advance of the infantry, the 122nd Cadian is particularly adept at using the Hellhound and do so as soon as the opportunity presents itself. The Malcador Infernus is unfortunately a little too vulnerable in urban fighting but the regiment uses it cut off enemy units. Although specializing in confined environment, the regiment has artillery pieces such as the Basilisk and the Medusa to pound the combat zones and weaken the enemy before the assault. These tanks are often deployed at the beginning of the fight and then put into a secured area when the conflict evolves. The recruitment system, meanwhile, depends on where the regiment is positioned at the end of a conflict. Generally as soon as possible it will enroll new recruits from training camps of Cadia, but sometimes distance and time do not allow the use of this solution, in which case the regiment renews its workforce on the conflict zone itself, drawing in among people faithful to the Emperor.
Notable Campaigns :
Campaign of Vintock III [944.M40]:
In a campaign to conquer new worlds in the name of the Emperor, the 122nd regiment was deployed alongside the Iron Knights Chapter on Vintock III, ice world north of Segmentum Obscurus. This world until now independent from imperial authority was a major importer of precious minerals taken from the glaciers of the world. This lucrative trade had allowed local rulers to enrich themselves and build opulent colonies. Imperium has no control over the raw material and so the planet is free of taxes, Adeptus Administratum wanted to submit it to a tithe in order to cover it in the imperial sphere. Its governors refused. The result was a bloody seven-year war that ended with the arrest and execution for high treason of three planetary governors. Following this victory the 122nd regiment was assigned to stay on Vintock III for a period of five years to ensure a smooth transition period and suppress any revolts of the population.
The Drask Incident [869 . M41]:
The 122nd Regiment deployed 200 veterans over Drask feudal world following an incident which should not appear in the imperial archives. A group of pirates called “Pirates of Black Lily infiltrated the bastion of the planetary capital. With this infiltration, their group took over the planetary defense control system and put an ultimatum to the Imperium: delivery, within 48 hours, of five vortex missiles or the planetary defenses in their possession would be fired at a convoy of fuel in orbit coming from the neighbouring world Lunaphage. 200 Uncompromising veterans launched an offensive against the breakaway group. That resulted in a brief but violent firefight. Despite an attack led smoothly and at lightning speed, a missile was nevertheless sent into orbit and caused a chain explosion that destroyed two-thirds of the convoy. At the end of the scuffle, 75 veterans were killed and 37 were contaminated by unknown xenos weapons that hackers had obtained on the intergalactic black market. At the price of such heavy losses, the threat of “Pirates of the Black Lily” was finally extinguished.
The Khai-Zan Uprising [968.M41]:
Khai-Zan is an Agri-world whose population has been submitted to raids by Night Lords and who have revolted against the Emperor. The uprising led to a general chaos and worship on behalf of the dark gods have thrived in many places of Khai-Zan. Worse still, some of these cults invoked the gods of Chaos in anticipation of a demonic invasion. The atheism of the Night Lords and the far distance of the Eye of Terror, led these invocations to a fiasco, making them unsustainable in the long term. Confusion sown on the planet led to an advantage for the 122nd Cadian who hastened to establish a bridgehead in order to initiate the fight against the Night Lords. Despite efforts by the Cadians to transport several companies to the battlefield, many troops were scattered from their original destination. These landing errors had resulted in significant casualties. After suffering heavy fire from the forces of Chaos, the Cadians carried out a strategic retreat to the city of Vogen, triggering a guerrilla war in the midst of the ruins of the city. The company of Captain Fane was destroyed after forming a final resistance on the steps of the Peace Palace. His sacrifice provided a valuable time to the Imperial forces, giving rise to a timed assault of the Imperial Fists chapter and to the full deployment of the 122nd Cadian. The Imperial assault crushed the forces of Chaos and the world of Khai-Zan reoriented itself towards the light of the Emperor.
Campaign of Vogen (994.M41) :
During the final phases of the Resurgent Macharian Crusade, the fortified hive city of Vogen, located on the strategically vital world of Tarsis Ultra, became a primary target for the forces of Chaos. Perched atop a network of critical industrial spires, the fall of the city threatened to open a direct logistical corridor to the Manufactoria of the planet’s southern hemisphere. When Vogen was overwhelmed by a vast insurrection—engineered by Chaos cults and supported by renegades of the Blood Pact and detachments of the Dark Mechanicum—the 122nd Cadian was urgently deployed to reinforce the collapsing Planetary Defence Forces. Stationed in the Administratum Hall sector, a maze of narrow streets, collapsed sub-levels, and half-ruined admin-towers, the 122nd established a tenacious defence. For seventy-two consecutive days, its troops held their ground against relentless assaults, often outnumbered three to one and frequently cut off from all supply lines. In this desperate situation, Colonel Ervan Dravik ordered the systematic use of demolition charges to seal off key arterial routes, turning the entire district into a lethal trap. The enemy became bogged down in a maze of fire, rubble, and crossfire, while the Cadians held every junction at the cost of severe casualties. One of the most iconic moments of the campaign was the defence of the communications dome of Spire 443, a critical relay hub for orbital coordination. A single squad from the 122nd, led by Sergeant Karm Volnus, held the dome for nine days without relief, encircled and running low on ammunition, before being rescued by Imperial Knights of House Krast. At the operation’s end, only three guardsmen were found alive, barricaded in the upper levels. Their bloodstained, bullet-ridden banner was returned to Cadia and laid to rest in the Crypts of Honour of the Imperial Guard—forever a symbol of sacrifice and unyielding resolve.
Personnage notable :
Banes, now recognized and praised by his superiors, started of as an altar boy in the service of the Imperium. Born into a poor family of nine children, on the borders of the hive city of Cadia, he fled his home at the age of thirteen, escaping compulsory recruitment imposed on Cadia until the age of nineteen years old, and learnt the harsh laws of the street. In a punch operation conducted by the Adeptus Arbites against organized gangs, Banes was arrested and charged with theft, violence and attempted murder on Arbites officer. His crimes are considered minor in the circumstances and the Cadia prisons proving overcrowded, Banes was conscripted into the Imperial Guard in the 122nd Cadian. He realized then that he loved war and discovered unsuspected talents in the practice of this art. Despite his past as a marginal and his lack of training, he was soon after appointed sergeant distinguished in several operations.
He realized then that he loved war and discovered unsuspected talents in the practice of this art. Despite his past as a marginal and his lack of training, he was soon after appointed sergeant distinguished in several operations. Although his fighting techniques differ from those dictated by the Tactica Imperialis, he led his squad of veterans in the heart of the ruins, using his homemade incendiary grenades to dislodge the enemies of the Emperor hiding in buildings, and then dropped heaves, firing on the disoriented survivors. Yet his actions are sometimes strongly criticized by commissars, Banes always strives to fulfil its mission and senior officers of the regiment leave him to act as he pleases, because in their hearts they know it is better to have Banes in their camp.
Général Alexander Menx, Commandant du 122ème régiment Cadien: Fils d’une puissante famille noble de Cadia, Alexander Menx dut à son haut lignage d’être intégré aux cadets officiers et de diriger dès ses 15 ans un peloton à la tête duquel, durant six mois, il affronta maintes fois les forces démoniaques du Chaos. L’expérience acquise lors de ces heurts violents et répétitifs le convainquit de l’importance vitale des ordres et des systèmes de communication.
Becoming Junior Officer, Alexander Menx specialized in the use of radio transmission devices and taught himself the particular language inherent to such devices. Affected to the new recruits of the Cadian 122nd departing for the Agri world of Khain-Zan, he quickly figured out that efficient communication could have avoided the loss of the first assault wave sent to the planet. Menx learned a lesson from this error of appreciation. Once on the field, he commanded six infantry platoons, distributing his orders with analytical ability, analyzing the radio comms of the guards he personally formed in each squad and elaborating his strategic progression by studying Imperial Fists strikes. This tactic spared many human lives and the young colonel’s superiors appreciated his innate gifts for communication and management. During this operation, Menx was wounded in the face by a bolt splinter. Although disfigured and suffering greatly, he continued to fight among his men until full and final victory.
After the death of his predecessor, Alexander Menx received the title of General. After his nomination, he established a chain of communication and command so that the Cadian 122nd might become an example on the battlefield. Today, Alexander Menx is a veteran officer very close to his men. He is always careful to install his HQ close to combat, dispensing courage to his men and assuring the continuous fluidity of transmissions.
General Alexander Menx chose to split his Regiment in two to better serve the Imperium. Half is currently engaged by his side near the Cadian Gate and repels, bitterly and furiously the troops of Abaddon the Despoiler that flow from the Eye of Terror. The other Half, experienced in urban warfare, has been sent to Praetoria to organize communication relays between imperial forces engaged against Waaagh Skull’Krusha. Alexander Menx knows more than anyone that this tactical choice may seem risky since part of his regiment is deprived of High Command. However, he fully trusts the officers he designated to represent him.
At 58 years old, Alexander Menx is the image of the heroes Cadia produces for the Imperium. Currently tied down in his struggle against Chaos forces, Menx does not know if he will see his regiment unified once more. Indeed, he is a great age for an Imperial Guardsman and he is convinced his engagement near the Eye of Terror will be the ultimate fight he will lead in the name of the Emperor.
That concludes our feature on the 122nd Cadian. We hope you enjoyed this article, and we’ll see you again very soon for the history of the 331st Tallarn Regiment.
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