18th Valhallan Regiment
GW canon
Category
Regiment
Description
Its commander, Kubrik Chenkov, is regarded as a stubborn, dour man who refuses to admit defeat and leads his troops from the front rather than from a bunker. Elaborate strategy is alien to him; he relies on sheer mass and treats human lives as the cheapest of all resources. In the Second Battle of the Trenk Ravine he marched soldiers across minefields to clear the way for the tanks, and his bolt pistol is said to have killed more cowards than enemies.
At Kotrax a single assault on the citadel cost him ten million dead, for which the Imperium decorated him instead of holding him to account. In the Goyan Valley he crushed the vanguard of Hive Fleet Jormungandr with around one million soldiers, the regiment suffering grievous losses. The losses are so enormous that in recent decades alone the 18th has had to be re-raised more than a dozen times — a bloodletting that Valhalla absorbs with ease thanks to its overcrowded cave cities. The regiment is known above all through its commander: Chenkov appeared as a special character in the Imperial Guard codex and as a Citadel miniature, which Games Workshop offered once more as a Made to Order model in 2020.
Arm of service
Line infantry
Additional Information
Homeworld
Valhalla (ice world in the Segmentum Ultima; overcrowded underground geothermal caverns in which military service is the only way out)
Nickname
“Tundra Wolves”; the Valhallans as a whole are called “Ice Warriors”. Other formations: 1212th “Cold Bloods”, 222nd (in uninterrupted service for some 10,000 years)
Specialisation
Light infantry, raised at a strength of more than 120,000 troops. Cold-weather, mountain and attritional warfare as well as anti-Ork warfare. Massed artillery preparation followed by infantry wave assaults; in defence, stoic holding of positions. Under Chenkov pure battles of attrition, in extreme cases driving soldiers forward across minefields
Principal equipment
Cold-adapted M36 lasgun, flak armour, insulated coat and helmet, frag/krak grenades, combat knife, respirator; a preference for flamers and mortars. Chimeras, Sentinels, Basilisk and Manticore artillery, Destroyer tank hunters, Leman Russ in numerous patterns as well as Baneblade and Shadowsword
Commanders
Commander Kubrik Chenkov. From other Valhallan formations: Lord High Commander Otto Ivan Gustavus, Lady General Jenit Sulla (597th), Colonel Rusk (442nd), Colonel Mostrue (12th Field Artillery)
Notable members
Kubrik Chenkov is regarded as a stubborn man who does not acknowledge defeat; he leads from the front and enforces discipline through fear — his bolt pistol is said to have killed more cowards than enemies. Because of its losses the 18th had to be re-raised more than a dozen times; for Kotrax Chenkov received the Merit of the High Lords
Battles and events
Siege of Kotrax (frontal assault on the citadel, ten million dead); Battle of the Goyan Valley (996.M41, around one million Guardsmen against the vanguard of Hive Fleet Jormungandr); Emrah campaign (997.M41); Ksatella (997.M41); Second Battle of the Trenk Ravine
Known from
Codex: Imperial Guard (5th edition), with Commander Chenkov as a special character; the Citadel metal miniature “Commander Chenkov”, last offered as Made to Order in 2020; Codex: Astra Militarum
Sources
Codex: Astra Militarum; Codex: Imperial Guard (5th ed.); Dakka Dakka; Lexicanum; Fandom
The pictures in this entry are fan art made for Anvil of War — not official depictions by Games Workshop. All famous regiments →