The REAL-WORLD Origins of ASTRA MILITARUM Regiments | Warhammer EASTER EGGS!

Warhammer is full of real world references, to mythology, history or literature, and the regiments of the Imperial Guard are no exception, drawing influence from across military history.
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Copyright: Unless noted in the video, all images © Games Workshop 1987-2022. Title music is 'Black Rainbows' by Karl Casey @White Bat Audio
#warhammer #beginner #imperialguard #astramilitarum #history #militaryhistory #cadian #catachan #valhallan #dkok #deathkorpsofkrieg #mordian #imperium #astartes #boardgames #tactica #letsplay #tabletopgaming #warhammer40k #warhammerworld #gamesworkshop #warhammer30k #horusheresy

[@ArbitorIan]

In before 5 million comments saying I got the button colour wrong on the 1879 Something Something uniform. I know what video this is!!

[@themaverick7514]

I'm just mad that you didn't work out Magnus the red came from the masque of the red death. You frustrated me too much

[@idontwanttopickone]

Honestly only annoyed about the bonkers way you choose to pronounce their name... Curtouchens? Koortuchens? Car-touchens? This kind of thing doesn't normally bug me, but in this case I have no idea how you got a 'ur' sound at the start of the word. I don't think I have ever heard anyone ever pronounce it like that. Cat-A-Chan not Curt-Ach-Anns. If you are not sure, you can shove almost any word into google translate and get it to pronounce it in a bunch of ways from different language perspectives. Although, saying that, if you set it to British English it makes a complete mess of it, so... 🤷‍♀ ...other than that, a great video as always! Keep up the good work!

[@redpill1984]

​@The Maverick the colour of the caps on the everything was wrong. unsubscribijg and reporting to the governent

[@phildman132]

@@idontwanttopickone British english has a habit of inserting the "uh" sound (also called schwa in phonetics, for some reason) into any vowel. It's a common characteristic of most british english accents, and is especially common in place names (see Birmingham, where americans pronounce the last sound like the word "ham", whereas british will pronounce it like "um")

[@idontwanttopickone]

@@phildman132 I am British and I grew up in North London with Yorkshire and Welsh grandparents, so I am very well aware of the weird nature of our pronunciations and other countries' weird pronunciations of things (I'm looking at you Americans with your hatred of the H in herb or should I say Uerb?). English is a very broken language! Thanks, French! Your Birmingham example isn't really great in this case as it happens with an m sound, so could be less of a replacement of an 'a' to a 'u', and more of a truncation of the word. As what you'll realise if you say it quickly in a bunch of different accents is that it becomes Birming'm - the um sound coming from the continued pronunciation of the m, not the addition of a letter. There are better examples of what you are trying to get at and I appreciate the help. Thank you. But, as we are all adults here, I think it's time we read things and (at least try to) pronounce them the way they are written. I think we can all safely say it's "cat" not "curt" and that is coming from someone who can't say many words with an a in without adding in a none existent r in there too ("barth" as in bath - thanks "posh" North London upbringing!). Unless I am missing something and huge swathes of the UK have pet Curts? If so, does it go the other way too? Do they close the Catains at night? 😉😜😅

[@Lamhfada1337]

I'm sorry Ian but while it at first seem the Valhallens are a reference to the red army, if you dig a little deeper you'll discover the true inspiration is in fact the 1993 movie Cool Runnings about the first Olympic team of Jamaican bobsleighers.

[@iapetusmccool]

You mentioned the original Greek origin of the word "Arcadian", but it was _also_ the name of a particular population of French Canadians, who were expelled by the British and eventually ended up in Louisiana, becoming the Cajuns. And while looking this up, I discovered that the French for Cajun is... _Cadien._

[@johngamba4823]

Not quite correct. You are thinking of ‘Acadian’ and not all of them were expelled. They were the French colonial subjects of Atlantic Canada and still make up a significant part of the population of New Brunswick

[@arnhempegasus]

@@johngamba4823 good correction. The difference being, if you pledged fealty to the Crown, you could stay in Canada. If you refused to sign an oath of allegiance to Britain, you got expelled.

[@niksatt4843]

Holy cow you did me a big learn

[@Lochtain]

From now on, "Cadia Stands!" is shouted in a broad Cajun accent.

[@iapetusmccool]

@@johngamba4823 ah, whoops. Still, the Cadian/Cadien similarity still stands.

[@Fielder5757]

Someone i met in the Army had tried to paint his Imperial Guards to match our Historic regimental colours. He did a good job all things considered and a minitures painted with DPM Camo print look really cool. (also, As tanks and fighting vehicles are basically mobile mum's basements lots of people in Armour platoons play warhammer)

[@KillerOrca]

Isnt there a picture from the Gulf War of someone playing in a dugout with bits of mechanical equipment representing minis?

[@Fielder5757]

@Killer Orca I know the one you mean. I used to a chess board and a D20 dice set in my daysack or webbing in case anyone wanted to play d&d or travel chess but everyone just called me a nerd and went back to talking about boobs lol.

[@vncntrgr]

@@Fielder5757 Ugh, why the urge to overspecialise? You can enjoy both, surely.

[@jack-a-lopium]

Slightly different hobby, but I remember when I first started playing the first Guild Wars video game, (usually at a time when the US was up and about, due to work) and all servers were awash with LOADS of US squaddies, lol. I understand that US and Canadian armed forces get a massive discount on Warframe, so I think a lot of military play Warframe as well! I ain't man enough to call 'em nerds, lol.

[@LukeHardiman65]

They don't have a model range, but Dan Abnett created a regiment based on the ANZAC's for the Gaunt's Ghosts novels - the Roane Deepers, they featured pretty heavily in Necropolis! Also to add, as much as Pandorax was hated, I quite like its depiction of the Catachan Jungle Fighters good mix of over the top Rambo combined with a stalwart regiment capable of holding the line in a straight up fight.

[@kevlonk]

I had no idea the Roane Deepers were based on the ANZAC! What about them signals as Australian/New Zealander, because I missed that reference.

[@Scuzzlebutt142]

Victoria Lamb Miniatures does a miniature series, "Van Diemen's World Devils" which is WW2 Papua New Guinea Campaign/Vietnam era ANZAC models, that are quite nice, which probably would work well for them.

[@LukeHardiman65]

@@kevlonk KZbin and notifications don't mix apparently! It was on Dan Abnett's blog a while ago that he had based them on the ANZAC's and the audiobook gave them a New Zealand/Australian accent. They're described as having a mustard drab uniform with netted helmets, are known for being rather laid back and care free but are very resourceful and are tenacious fighters.

[@alastaircollins1145]

@@LukeHardiman65 I suspect he'd been reading about the Rats of Tobruk before writing this

[@disregardthat]

@@Scuzzlebutt142 give them a Brodie helmet and you're in business

[@WashingtonSanchez]

Using ‘Sharpe’ as the inspiration for a 40K novel series… now that’s soldiering.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

FWIW, every British armoured vehicle since the Centurion - designed during WW2, but first seeing actual fighting in Korea - has had a Boiling Vessel inside as standard (a fair number of unarnmoured vehicles get them, too), because crews had a habit of getting out and making improvised petrol-burning cookers to brew up. It also has the advantage of allowing crews to heat tinned or bagged rations, especially useful when buttoned up for CBRN.

[@x3tc1]

And during Desert Storm that boiling vessel caused two Centurion AVREs to be lost.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Also given how popular tea is amongst the British, especially in the military, railway and medical professions , it is typically seen as a moral boost by many too. Particularly harrowing battle, put the kettle on, etc.

[@Retrosicotte]

@@x3tc1 Incorrect. The first was due to cooking in the vehicle (not from the BV). The second was due to a misfire on the Viper Anti-Minefield device.

[@loadeddice4696]

@@x3tc1 Worth it

[@sneedmando186]

You mean to make tea?!?

[@dallonrobbins5078]

Excellent, I like how you not only go into the historical references but how they are more closely related to media versions of history.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Not really surprising when you factor the time the writers of the early versions of the game were in and grew up in. War films and the classic tropes of science fiction would have been well known at the time, though dismissed by others (notably Brian ansell who was adamant that science fiction didn't sell, how history might be different if he had refused to let them proceed with their idea ar the time! ). Rick Priestley studied archaeology at University which where we get a lot of the core imperium influences from and others that followed were either history, military, movie or science fiction needs.

[@dallonrobbins5078]

@@bionicgeekgrrl good points. Funny how the culture of the time influenced its creation and continues to do so today. It seems ironic that such potent influences would be forgotten under the general populace despite the reality of their influence not changing.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

@@dallonrobbins5078 in the 80s, Nottingham had a lot of mining influence in the area. So those working at gw/citadel then would probably have a keen understanding of the politics of the time, especially in the mining parts of the country which were very heavily anti government of the day (thatcher between 79 and 92) and 40k has a number of anti government aspects to it when you look closer. Supposedly the tyranny of the imperium being an exaggerated allegory about the government of the UK at the time etc.

[@dallonrobbins5078]

@@bionicgeekgrrl cool insight, too bad alot of people don't see the imperium as it is, tyrannical and definitely not the only option

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

@@dallonrobbins5078 sadly people tend to see what they want to see, and it is by no means unique to 40k sadly.

[@happyharibo1330]

Got to say you are thus far the only person out there who anylses and deconstructs the external cultural/popcultural references rather than just regurgitating the lore in a silly voice like it's all Oh-soooo serious and real.......Your blend of intelligence, playfulness, insight, humour and knowlege of both the lore and the real world/historical/cultural references is refreshing.

[@TheLordCypher1st]

In my experience, the windmill people tend to gravitate towards krieg far more often than Armageddon

[@archietvernev2598]

To be fair, back in the day armaggedon steel legion used to be based soley on germany ww2. But nowadays, GW realised they screwed up so they made steel legion a mix of different countries instead of one.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Yeah they Embody more WW2 Western Front than just Germany also mind you after Germany Used Storm Tactics (which side note isn't a WW2 Invention but a WW1 invention), every other nation in the war adopted it in their own way, ​for example the Soviets adopted Deep Battle Tactics which is their Version of Blizkrieg.@@archietvernev2598

[@lousy7580]

Really enjoying this series, I'm impressed you're releasing these at such a quick clip. I really love this meta contextualization of the models over standard lore recaps - it's so interesting to see the "art history" of 40K, and as far as I know you're the only one doing this in this way.

[@jayarnold1579]

I always thought the original metal Cadians were reminiscent of WWII German Fallschirmjaeger. Meanwhile Steel Legion remind me more of WWII US infantry in great coats. Many of the original models being painted in olive drab helmets and khaki great coats lends themselves to this interpretation. Of course, I can see your point of view as well. Either way, the metal Cadians are among my favorite SciFi infantry models ever.

[@Richiemouse]

I don't know how you manage to communicate such a large amount of info, so clearly, in such a short space of time! Brilliant

[@PoolNoodleGundam]

Worth noting that the Catachan-Australian connection, if intentional, is a reference to the fact that Australia fought in that war

[@DunCannon]

More than just a token force as well, people were being conscripted!

[@vadersjester]

The Catachan homeplanet also really reminded me of Deathworld by Harry Harrison, with its deadly flora and fauna wanting to wipe out the humans on the planet.

[@keios]

It is expliocitly called a Deathworld in the fluff, so less an oblique reference and more another example of the early GW writers just copying things they thought were cool.

[@andreykuzmin4355]

Deathworld cycle was my favorite sci-fi read as a child. Jason DinAlt ftw.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

I think the idea of astropaths may have been half inched IIRC from the Stainless Steel Rat books (which also has a brief reference to ‘Imperial space marines’.) Good god I’m a dork haha

[@archercolin6339]

@@andreykuzmin4355 Jason dinAlt meets Jim diGritz?

[@andreykuzmin4355]

@@archercolin6339 not to my knowledge, no.

[@bentilbury2002]

If Cadians were Canadian: "Oh, did our planet get in the way of your space fortress? Sorry!".

[@ArbitorIan]

EXACTLY. 'We're the pinnacle of the Imperial Guard, we're WAY better than you. Are you feeling ok?'

[@Wesson42]

WW1 Canadians were some of the most ruthless and brutal soldiers on any front and became incredibly effective at breaking through no man’s land which is a feat among itself, Canadians also had some of the most effective infantry divisions in WW2 outpacing both the Americans and British in France and Germany

[@walkwithme6103]

You can always tell when it was a long day at the office and the Games Workshop guys just mailed it in. "Oh, yeah, these horsemen guys are from the planet, um, Atilla. Yeah. Time to call it a day."

[@milocoyle555]

the steel legion uniforms have always reminded me of the Fallschirmjäger.

[@AdamBusbin]

Great video, thanks :) You should do a video on all the music references/influences. I found one the other day in a Cain book where Rush's song "The Body Electric" was a holy hymn of the Mechanicum.

[@qsywastooshort7451]

Commissars take a lot from Napoleonic era uniforms probably because 1st Republic France was the first country to attach political officers to its troops. They often wore big tricolor sashes

[@BlastedRodent]

I’d never seen the Vostroyans before but now I really want them revitalized, at least for Kill Team. Those are some dazzling designs.

[@jonrollason5709]

Battle Brothers Tabletop has a video on his conversions of them I think.

[@jonrollason5709]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKCxkqxrhrWNhsk

[@thomasdupuy116]

I enjoy pretty much all your work but this very meta look at Warhammer lore is my favorite type of content you do. Awesome work, keep it up!

[@arcuscotangens]

Hey Ian, I really like your stuff! In particular, I love that you go into the real-world development history of 40k. I know you've done stuff like this for certain aspects of the lore already, but I would really love a comprehensive overview of how the lore changed over time. I don't mean what happened in the story over time, but how the way GW told the story changed and what parts of the story were changed / elaborated on.

[@north7500]

I ran a Valhallan army for the longest time, Always used to set up a heavy weapons squad of heavy bolters in the rear next to my commissar

[@danh945]

WD109 was my first one, and I had a kit of plastic RT guard, following that colour scheme. Just enough for a platoon, I had a command squad, 3 infantry squads, and 2 heavy weapon squads. Used these right up until the late 2000's when I accidentally left them in the boot of my car which had just died. I sold the car to one of the scrap collector companies and forgot that they were in there. Gone. Still heartbroken. Sorry Spiders, I miss you.

[@hrzhrz1]

You have to invite Peachy to talk about the ventrillian nobles!

[@Rosgakori]

I've never really cared for modern Imperial Guard aesthetic or the models, but the 90s models are excellent and a ton of fun to paint.

[@niksatt4843]

So I should look for some eh? I'm new to Warhammer like a few months new.

[@Perkustin]

Yeah literally all the Tallarn and Valhallan models need is their somewhat ropey hand-sculpted weapons swapped out imo. By the same token all the meltas and plasmas look fine and wouldn't really need it.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

They look more harmonised, which is true of most western modern armies and probably is a influence. Though the reality is more likely that they just couldn't justify the investment in plastic of more than 1 possibly two regiments, hence why there are a few unit models but no full armies for the others. Some of the regiments will probably never be revived in the modern era as times and sensibilities have changed, and some have some very questionable iconography as Ian pointed out. However, some of the others may get upgrade sprues if the cadian one is the start of more to come.

[@Nikto434]

In a way, the necromundan spiders have their own models now, in the form of characters in Necromunda (who could've guessed?!), particularly the House Greim Jaegerkin and The Deserter. Also, the mercenary Vorgen Gunner Mortz (who doesn't have his own model yet) is clearly rocking a rogue trader-era uniform in his character portrait.

[@DPryce]

The new Cadians definitely have more of a historical look to them. They're basically WW2 GIs in space with laser garands and tommy guns. Even the Rogal Dorn looks like a blend of WW2 tanks like the Pershing and Matilda.

[@Retrosicotte]

The Dorn is based on the early war French tanks more than anything really. The hull is LITERALLY a scaled up Somua-type look.

[@withsobersenses9199]

Such a great insight into the historical/images-of-history pastiche method of Warhammer and how easy it is to create meaningful imagery by mashing stuff together.

[@johanbjorkman7999]

Love the video. A note on the Valhallans: they are 100% ww2 Soviet winter army themed but also, in norse mythology only those killed in battle came to the Gods home of Valhall. People that died of other causes came to Hel instead. So for a regiment full of Guardsmen willingly sacrificing themselves in battle "Valhallans" is a pretty suitable name. EDIT: And the reason the Gods need all those soldiers i Valhall is they are gonna be the army fighting the Giants when Ragnarök (the cataclysmic end of the world war) comes. And if you consider the Great Crusade humanitys "Ragnarök" it's an even more fitting name for the regiment

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Yeah some of those controversial units definitely see why they're so massively hyped in the last few year especially the Legion and Kreig. Very informative video. Keep up the good work.

[@utubenoobie01]

"Orks Sah... Faaasands of 'em" "Fire at will Sergeant" "Very good Sah"

[@tickkid]

I'm so glad I picked your videos to start my path into 40k. You are so good at this. Thank you!

[@archercolin6339]

Excellent video, thanks. Another influence on the Tallarns - especially in the artwork - would seem to be the Fremen of Dune, who after the first novel became religious fanatics. I always wonder if the Catachans - and indeed Death Worlds in general - are based partly on the Pyrrans, from Harry Harrisons Deathworld trilogy. The Praetorians always seem to me to have a bit of a Steampunk vibe, very suggestive of the Space 1889 RPG setting.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Certainly heavy dune references throughout 40k.

[@iapetusmccool]

@@bionicgeekgrrl when I read Dune, pretty much every page I was thinking either "as so this is where 40k got that idea" or "so this is where Star Wars got that idea".

[@davidcook73]

Another wonderfully in-depth video, Ian - thank you for all your hard work!

[@dannyg3179]

15:54 Krieg was not originally a Steel Legion scheme as parroted by many people around the internet. Yes, the first models were repainted steel legion models, but Krieg existed in the lore since the first version of the third edition codex as you can see in your video at 1:41, published in 1999, compared to the steel legion repaint shown in the Armageddon Codex published in 2000.

[@grahamjones7422]

Absolutely loved this vid. Been looking for a video breaking down the Astra Militarum and the origins of the army's for the last few days, then boom this pops up for me

[@Chivs12]

Excellent video Ian. The ones covering the references to real world elements and how the game has evolved over 35ish years are the best that you do.

[@rabidstavros77]

Great work linking all the complex history of these regiments back to their origins, especially going into the blast from the past classic 80s and 90s pieces. I feel like I got to know a lot of those through the Citadel Combat Cards at the time.

[@2SSSR2]

Elysians are also a mix, partially late WWII paratroopers and partially French post-WWII paratroopers. One just have to look at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and compare it to every lore story about Elysians to see the similarity.

[@mikemaresca4999]

Your videos are the best. Binge watching to the point where the retro 80s synthwave music is stuck in my head.

[@andychap6283]

Loving the lore videos you’ve been releasing lately

[@danganderton9922]

Love this style of video. Great work Ian!

[@alexhamilton6188]

Excellent review. Love that you gave the much forgotten Arcadians and Spiders a shout. I was today years old in seeimg that BUF symbol on the Steel Legion! 😬

[@jamesmaas7244]

Great video. Thanks for the future history lesson.

[@jamessymon7892]

RE the commissars shooting troopers I really like the example Hark gives in His Last Command where he orders a tank crew back and they continue fleeing. Wilder questions this and Hark points out they've ignored his rank and plasma pistol, they'd be useless even if they recreated their machine and shooting them wouldn't improve anything either

[@adapax77]

Thanks for the shout out to the Mordian Iron Guard 😁 working on my regiment at the moment for 40k, 100% agree with you on the Landwehr element being dominant over the USMC hints and not just because that's the way my paint job is leaning 😄 great job as always Ian

[@bmathieu5340]

Hi, regarding the Elysian troopers, another reference to the French military is their name itself: Elysian seems to be a clear reference to the Palais de l'Elysee (palace of the Elysian) wich is the residence of the french presidency and thus the main place of power in the country. A bit like naming a troop of tea drinkers sporting bowler hats the "Buckhinghammers" would kinda point us to the bleak and obviously mechanicus ruled island north of France...

[@dmcc5110]

Elysian is more of a reference to the latin meaning probably - "In classical mythology, Elysium, or the Elysian fields, was the home of the blessed after death, the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the pure." The French Champs Elysées is just named after the Elysian Fields, although that's not to rule it out as an influence entirely.

[@RupertWalkerUK]

Superb as always Ian

[@FunkBastid]

I’ve only heard people attribute Starship Troopers as an influence on the Cadian’s design in regards to the plastic kit redesign which came out after the movie.

[@FunkBastid]

“Oh, and if someone likes the Armageddon Steel Legion they’re probably a nazi.” Cool. Aight. Thanks. 🤦‍♂️

[@FunkBastid]

@@Mr_Waffle. that’s clearly what he was implying, and I don’t have a steel legion army. I wouldn’t be labelling myself as that, even if I did though. That would be my interpretation of his label: big distinction. I just think it’s a crappy thing to say in a video that’s aimed at people getting into the hobby. Someone seeing a steel legion army for the first time is likely to assume, “oh this person’s a nazi.” without any other evidence than the army he collects.

[@DJRockford83]

The Perry brothers influence is strong in the 90s

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Great compilation of all the diverse regiments of the Imperial Guard.

[@TitusCastiglione1503]

I’ve always been partial to Dave Taylor’s 33rd Genswick Rifles; they rocked that “medieval feudal levy meets WW1 British Army” vibe. Shame they never got official models; I always thought they fit the IG’s fluff much better than the more futuristic Cadians.

[@florentarlandis1209]

Great video mate! Hopefully one day you'll make another one about the other regiments, those referenced in the lore. Perhaps GW never released models for them but sometimes you can find third party manufacturers that did a great job (ex: Victoria miniatures withe the Chem Dogs)

[@scelonferdi]

I guess you could've also mentioned the grendish 82nd who got models as Traitor Guardsmen in Blackstone Fortress and Kill Team: Moroch. BTW, personal favorite: Ventrillan Nobles. If you go to war to so in stile and with a full tea set!

[@blackjack5908]

I went with a heavier French Poilu vibe for my Krieg boys. Bulk of the infantry being Les Grognards from Wargames Atlantic, painted in as close to horizon blue as I can get. Cakes in generous amounts of mud and blood of course

[@ronokoftherainlords4184]

Notice how all these regiments are shaped by their home worlds. This is one of the many themes carried over from Dune.

[@mouthpaintingminis]

Great stuff Ian, very informative and entertaining!

[@PatS152]

Thanks for the video. Love the historical references in Warhammer

[@jmaccsarmiesofmiddleearth]

Amazing video man. Top quality.

[@Gauldame]

Oh god the earliest 40k memory I have is seeing what looked like a combination of British redcoats, Arab camel riders with space blasters, WWI tanks and artillery on a gaming table fighting these neon green monsters driving Mad Max cars with blocky guns and swords. Just squinting and going "how long did that take to make?"

[@georger9842]

absolutely loved this and your primarch video ian! more please!

[@tlrtrn]

loving this series. keep 'em coming!

[@TheKsalad]

As a collector of Steel Legion I gotta say their tactics aren't really panzer grenadier-y and more like Cold War era Soviet Motorized. Although I will admit their insignia is tough one to argue against, I just paint it all a solid color, if I can't see it at table's length away it may as well not be there, right?

[@hosomi1833]

I also wouldn't be surprised if the catachans being Australian is most likely a reference to the australian jungle fighters from ww2

[@nekrataali]

That subtle Perry Minis ad telling you to just buy lasguns and build non-GW guardsmen.... 😂

[@ArbitorIan]

I mean, it's their fault we've got all these not-20th-century guard ranges anyway!

[@SuperFunkmachine]

Then why don't they do a medieval knights or barbarian horde themed guardsmen? If you want anything other then 20th-century turned space solider your out of luck.

[@Th0rodin]

Super interesting analysis. I am not too big on the imperial guard. But this gives me a lot more appreciation for their designs.

[@ger5956]

Excellent work as always dude 😁❤️👍🏻

[@Armageddon2077]

Hey Ian, When I first collected Warhammer 40k during second edition - I eventually settled on a Blood Angel Army (with a Sister of Battle detachment as my allotment for allies) I did originally consider buying Tyranids or Eldar though, because of how otherworldly they looked. I'd really appreciate a break down of the differences between different Tyranid hive fleets and Eldar craftworlds from you at some point, as I've always been curious what I may have missed out on, and you always explain things so eloquently

[@turutas]

Amazing video!

[@73ebb]

Another fantastic video.

[@jack-a-lopium]

Awesome idea for a video!

[@re1v3r]

@Ian. I love 💕💕💕 these historical type video!!!

[@greybeardgamer2067]

I have a soft spot for the Steel Legion "Darth Vader" commander.

[@xthetenth]

I think it's worth mentioning that German Feldgendarmerie were even more field execution oriented than Soviet Commissars, and the styling of commissar cuirasses includes a gorget like the distinctive uniform item of Feldgendarmerie.

[@pkkriz8610]

Just to start, love the video. Was looking at making Death Korps in late 90s before Armageddon campaign came out. Minor correction, in the 2e Codex, there is a drawing and a little blurb for the Death Korps of Krieg (even an image of Krieg Rough Riders) but there was no Steel Legion. First I recall Steel Legion was the release for the Armageddon campaign, and were setup to be like Cadians as a stand-in for a bunch of worlds where they need gas masks, including Krieg (and introduced new fluff about masks being painted like skulls). They got released in metal about the same time as Catachan were already in plastic but they still were still getting ready to bring the plastic Cadians out

[@eichler721]

Love your deep dives on the iconic Regiments and armies of 40K.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Warhammer and later Warhammer 40k was written by history and sci-fi nerds, so plundering inspiration from history is going to happen. I half remember Orcs Drift was used as an inspiration of a Warhammer campaign as well, as well as Macbeth (Macdeath).

[@Mr_Waffle.]

Great video, the variety of the IG (or at least how varied it used to be) is one of the things I love about them the most. I guess it's a shame that everything is plastic now, and plastic moulds cost a fortune to create upfront, so it's rarer to get other designs. I'll kitbash my own Maccabian Janissaries and Indigan Praefects one day... one day...

[@scotty7671]

Great video Ian thanks

[@totallynotraging]

So interesting that our steel legion readings are so different. Mine was more that it was based on how mechanised infantry in a nuclear/chemical battlefield based on MOPP suited soldiers might be, I never got German stuff at all just generic NATO CBRN.

[@archietvernev2598]

Same, I always thought they were a blend of different countries instead of just Germany. (soviet and american tactics, british gas mask and trenchcoat, german boots and helmet)

[@geofff.3343]

I will never be just get over how quaint nuclear apocalypse feels in the universe of 40K and this confirms that I thought the Death Korps were an early piece of 40K lore.

[@AlexJP88]

I really enjoyed and found this video really interesting.

[@AlexJP88]

I really really enjoyed listening to you taking about The REAL-WORLD Origins of ASTRA MILITARUM Regiments. I found all this fascinating and interesting. Can you do other videos of other armies of the 40K if they are based on real world references or mythology, history or literatur?

[@OlaftheFlashy]

Cadia name might come from the 21 year long siege of Candia (modern day Heraklion Crete) between 1648 to 1669. This was second longest siege in world history after the siege of Ceuta.

[@dudeboydudeboy-zj8kd]

i heard that rick preistley (one the designers for 40k) cites tolkien, lovecraft, dune, paradise lost, 2000 a.d., forbidden planet, moorcock's runestaff, elric and eternal champion. a video discussion about these would be interesting.

[@DerOrk]

I allways wonder if theres a bit of Autria-Hungary in the Kriegers aswell. The Krieg general's helmet has a very distinct look that reminds me of that of the Austrian cavalry, and the way he wears his coat draped over the shoulders in perticular was a thing associated with the KuK Dragoner / Austrian Dragoon up until WW1. ( Though obv guys like Creed did similar things allready )

[@gokbay3057]

Well, the helmet does seem like the widespread Cuirassier helmet that British, French, Russians etc. all had. They had their distinctions of course but they are all pretty similar.

[@kingfield99]

I played back the late 80's when the Imperial Army plastic box-set came out and I remember White Dwarf pushing it quite hard. There was a short story about an army legion being raised on a hive world where the uniforms accidentally got dyed brown instead of grey and that how I painted my guys up in reference to this. They still always got battered by my mates space marines though, fun times.

[@illhob]

Harry Harrison's Deathworld is a obvious big influence on the Catachans. 90% of the characters in the book are 80s action movie heros. Also Bill the Galactic Hero is worth looking into too

[@cashcleaner]

When I was first exposed to Warhammer in the early 90s, I was with the Royal Canadian Army Cadets and immediately thought they were based off modern Canadian infantry. At the time, our combat uniforms were of a very basic olive green variety and I would argue there were only slight aesthetic difference between them and what the Cadian metal figures had. The only real stand-out difference was the touch of yellow on their camouflage pattern. And yes, the “Shock Troop” name also seemed like a reference, as well.

[@user-eb5zq7ri5c]

Dkk พวกนี้มันจะมีนิสัยออกแนวไปทางกองทัพญี่ปุ่นด้วยนะ คือแนวคิด บูชาตัวบุคคลแบบสุดโต่งหรือ ชาตินิยมสุดโต่งอ่ะคือพวกนี้พร้อมบุกชาร์จไปเลยโดยไม่สนหาอะไรเลย ถึงประตูข้างหน้ามันจะเป็นข้าศึกมันจะเป็นห่าอะไรก็ช่างที่มีพละกำลังมากมันก็ไม่สนแม้แต่การโดนพวกเดียวกันยิงกันเองเพราะการใช้ปืนใหญ่หรือการสนับสนุนทางอากาศแบบกลมมันก็ไม่เว้นคือนิสัยคือกองทัพญี่ปุ่นในสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 2 ดีๆเลยแต่เครื่องแบบกับวิธีการรบก็คือww1

[@bobbler42]

Re tea in tanks: no expert on Soviet armour, but British tanks have all specced a “boiling vessel” (bv) since at least WW2. Unless t34 was fitted with a samovar (which, given by war’s end they were being sent out without turret baskets and seats seems unlikely) I reckon that’s on the Brits.

[@vincespeedmk223]

Sly was a popular 80s nickname for Sylvester Stallone. Hence Marbo.

[@srdies5289]

Very cool video! I was curious about what would you say about ogryns =D

[@Raig228]

I was always under the impression that the name of Cadia was a reference to the siege of Candia, one of the longest, if not the longest, sieges in history.

[@ArbitorIan]

When the Cadians were invented, the planet wasn't 'permanently under siege'. The fluff is more 'this is an important world, and the Shock Troops constantly have to stop ships and dig out chaos forces who landed in secret'. No permanent siege, no Kasrs, no 'everything dedicated to the military'.

[@Raig228]

@@ArbitorIan I'm not certain if there are any earlier references, since my collection only extends back so far, but I think the 2nd Ed. Imperial Guard Codex is where Cadia is fleshed out. I would appreciate further information if that is not the case. In the codex, it introduces Cadia as "... one of the strategically important planets of the galaxy, and its *defense* [emphasis mine] is vital to the survival of the Imperium." It mentions, as you describe, an army expert at destroying those who attempt to stealthily intrude and undermine the planet's defenses. It describes the Cadian Gate, the reliable corridor out of the Eye of Terror, that Cadia guards from an ever-present threat. It does describe "As all Cadians must train in the defense forces..." I don't think there needs to be references to Kasrs, or other specific details that come later, for the name of Cadia to be based on a siege. I would argue that being Eye of Terror adjacent is a danger like a constant siege. The codex does describe a defensive place in a a tenuous position against a threat that is always present. While I don't know for certain that Cadia is named for Candia without some specific quotes from designers, it still seems very possible.

[@joenewkirk6136]

We dont deserve Arbitor Ian. Incredible video

[@kylewilliams3031]

The Tallarn Desert Raiders also probably have some Fremen influence in them because of GW’s love for Dune.

[@dekai7992]

When the Vostroyans were released alongside Planetary Invasions, I got really tempted to start Guard. Such good models. The price tag was what kept me from taking the plunge. Still love them to this day, though, and am very sad that the models are now rather hard to come by.

[@johnhutton8927]

I read part of a Catachan Novel and they are incredibly interesting. Favorite quote: 'Every World Has it's Rules and there is only one way to learn them.'