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11 The Astra Militarum are one of four confirmed playable factions in Total War: Warhammer 40,000. They represent the vast standing armies of the Imperium of Man: billions of ordinary human soldiers supported by heavy weapons teams, artillery, and armoured columns. Where the Space Marines are defined by extraordinary individual capability, the Astra Militarum are defined by scale. They are humanity's answer to a galaxy of existential threats, and that answer is bodies, guns, and tanks in numbers too great to count.
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33 Playstyle
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55 The Astra Militarum are confirmed as the massed ranks of humanity's largest fighting force. They play closest to a traditional Total War army: large formations of infantry backed by heavy armoured vehicles and artillery. Individual Guardsmen are not superhuman, but they come in enormous numbers and are supported by powerful fire-support platforms that can devastate opponents at range. In contrast to the Space Marines, whose every casualty is significant, the Astra Militarum can sustain attrition better in terms of raw bodies while relying on armoured assets to punch through heavy opposition. This blend of massed infantry and armoured firepower gives the faction a distinctive combined-arms character, well suited to players who enjoy managing large battlefields and coordinating multiple unit types rather than micromanaging a handful of elite warriors.
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77 Combined-Arms Battle Doctrine
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99 The Astra Militarum field battle tanks and dedicated artillery alongside their infantry lines. Cover and fortified positions are especially important for Guardsmen because their soldiers are not individually durable, and pre-release materials specifically called out the Astra Militarum as one of the factions for whom cover discipline matters most. Show and Tell footage demonstrated a squad of Guardsmen garrisoning the upper floor of a building inside a cover zone, firing down on attackers from a position the enemy had to take or destroy.
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1111 Extended gameplay shown in July 2026 put this doctrine on screen. Cadian Shock Troops and Kasrkin held buildings and walls to gain the defensive and hit-avoidance benefits of cover, while Ogryns, who are poorly suited to hiding, pushed forward in the open to use their close-range strength. Scout Sentinels ranged ahead of the line, using their speed and long sight to screen the advance and open flanking routes. The footage reinforced that Guardsmen are fragile on their own and lean on cover, armour, and fire support to hold a position.
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1313 Confirmed Units
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1515 The June 2026 PC Gaming Show reveal showed the Astra Militarum fighting Orks on Armageddon and put much of the army on screen at once. The following units were shown or named in that footage:
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1717 UnitRoleCadian Shock TroopsCore line infantry; disciplined Guardsmen forming the bulk of the army.KasrkinElite Cadian veterans with heavier weapons and better equipment than standard Shock Troops.OgrynsHulking abhuman shock troops used as close-combat muscle; shown led by Commissars.SentinelsLight walkers that scout and provide mobile fire support.BanebladeSuper-heavy battle tank; one of the army's largest armoured units.
1818 Additional armour and support units appeared in the reveal footage but were not given a full breakdown. Coverage of the showcase also identified Leman Russ battle tanks, Rogal Dorn variants, and concept art for a Primaris Psyker as the army's psychic support. These have been shown but not yet detailed by Creative Assembly, so treat them as previewed rather than fully confirmed in their final form.
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2020 Weapons and Equipment Shown
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2222 Extended official gameplay has attached specific equipment to several Astra Militarum units.
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2424 UnitEquipment and NotesScout SentinelsFast walkers with a high visibility range, used to scout ahead and spot for the line. Their armament can be customised, with autocannons, heavy flamers and missile launchers among the options.KasrkinMixed squads carrying hot-shot lasguns alongside plasma weapons, which gives one unit answers to both medium and heavy targets. Built from several entity groups with different gear.Cadian Shock TroopsLine infantry armed with lasguns, dependent on cover to survive sustained fire.OgrynsClose-range specialists equipped with ripper guns. They gain little from cover and are used to push forward in the open.BanebladeSuper-heavy tank, slow but heavily armoured and carrying a large array of ranged weapons. It has been shown using sweeping fire to spread damage along a line.Valkyrie rocketsAir-delivered rocket strike whose approach angle the player selects, used to punish clustered targets.
25-Squads are built from more than one kind of soldier. A Guard unit can field ordinary troopers alongside a commissar and a vox operator, each with separate stats and loadouts, and attached sergeants or specialists shift what the squad is best at.
25+Squads are built from more than one kind of soldier. A Guard unit can field ordinary troopers alongside a Commissar and a Vox caster, each with separate stats and loadouts, and attached sergeants or specialists shift what the squad is best at. The development team has been explicit that a Commissar is never a lone model on the field: he is one entity inside a squad, and he can come through a battle burned, bleeding and shot while the squad around him holds.
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2727 Regimental Orders
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2929 The faction's army abilities are delivered as Regimental Orders. Rather than acting as free-floating battlefield powers, they reach only units standing near command elements and voxcasters, which ties the Astra Militarum's buffs to keeping its command structure intact and well forward. Airstrikes and orbital support are available alongside them. Psykers have been referenced as a source of unit abilities, though the implementation has not been detailed.
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31+The faction's reinforcement model is deliberately the plainest of the four. The development team describes the Guard as having fewer ways to insert troops directly into a fight than the other factions, so where Space Marines drop from orbit and Orks teleport in, the Astra Militarum answer is to throw wave after wave of soldiers at the battlefield until enough of them arrive to hold the line. Air support is the exception: a Valkyrie rocket strike can be angled onto a target without waiting for troops to walk into position.
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33+The designers summarise the faction as being both the cannon and the cannon fodder. Casualties are expected and priced in: a single loss is not the setback it is for an elite faction, and the campaign layer is built around funnelling replacements forward continuously rather than preserving any particular unit.
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3135 Commissar Yarrick
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33-Commissar Yarrick is a confirmed faction leader for the Astra Militarum. He was first teased in the Incoming Broadcast during the Warhammer Skulls 2026 showcase on 21 May 2026, voiced over a CRT broadcast, and the June 2026 PC Gaming Show reveal confirmed him as a leader of the Guard on Armageddon. Yarrick is a legendary aged commissar of the Imperial Guard, famous for defending Hades Hive against Orks during the war for Armageddon, where his long rivalry with the Ork warboss Ghazghkull began.
37+Commissar Yarrick is confirmed to appear in the game. He was first teased in the Incoming Broadcast during the Warhammer Skulls 2026 showcase on 21 May 2026, voiced over a CRT broadcast, and at the June 2026 PC Gaming Show a developer named him on camera as one of the larger-than-life characters who will be in the game. Creative Assembly has confirmed his presence without saying whether he leads the faction as a playable lord. Yarrick is a legendary aged commissar of the Imperial Guard, famous for defending Hades Hive against Orks during the war for Armageddon, where his long rivalry with the Ork warboss Ghazghkull began.
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3539 The Scale of the Imperium's Armies
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3741 The Astra Militarum draw recruits from worlds across the Imperium, tithed to provide regiments of soldiers for conflicts far from their home systems. This vast recruiting base is central to the faction's identity: the Imperium can always field more soldiers, even if those soldiers are outmatched individually. Their armies are defined by diversity in origin and unity in organisation, with regiments arriving from countless worlds each bringing their own equipment traditions and fighting styles, all folded into the broader Astra Militarum command structure.
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3943 Sub-Factions and Warlords
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4145 Beyond Yarrick, renowned Astra Militarum sub-factions and warlords are referenced as part of the faction system, but no specific regiment or other named character has been confirmed publicly as a playable lord. Details are expected to be shared throughout 2026.
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47+Creative Assembly has since confirmed that every launch faction ships with two playable sub-factions, so the Astra Militarum will have two at release. Neither has been named. Players can also build a custom Astra Militarum regiment of their own through the faction customisation system.
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4349 Army Customisation
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4551 Like all factions, the Astra Militarum support deep army customisation. Players can personalise colours, iconography, wargear, names, traits, and tactical abilities, building custom regiments within the visual and thematic identity of the Imperial Guard.