Cadian Shock Troops

Where this topic stands

According to press coverage of the PC Gaming Show on 7 June 2026, Cadian Shock Troops were among the Astra Militarum units shown in gameplay footage — not confirmed by the publisher in any material we were able to open. On the tabletop they are the standard Imperial Guard infantry: a lasgun, a flak vest, and a ten-model squad. No statistic of any kind has been published for any unit in this game.

What the tabletop establishes

Cadian regiments are the default face of the Astra Militarum, and they carry a detail that most armies do not: the world that raised and trained them was destroyed. Cadia was a fortress planet whose entire population existed to hold one route out of the Eye of Terror, and the regiments serving elsewhere when it fell became soldiers from a place that no longer exists. That is background from Games Workshop, not from the game — but it is the reason this particular infantry unit carries more weight in the setting than an ordinary line unit usually does.

The standard infantry of the Imperial Guard, and the model most people picture when they think of the Astra Militarum: a lasgun, a flak vest, and a ten-model squad. Cadians come from the fortress world that no longer exists.

Tabletop identity, as established by Games Workshop. It says nothing about the video game.

What has actually been shown

There is nothing to say about how to use them, and saying otherwise would be an invention. What the press reported is that they appeared, alongside Kasrkin, Ogryns, tanks and walkers, in footage set on Armageddon. The same coverage states plainly that the developer has not yet explained how the squad-based play of the tabletop is merged with Total War. That admission matters more than any unit name in the list, and this is the unit where it bites hardest.

What to watch next

Here is the open question, and it is the structural one for the whole game. Total War formations and Warhammer 40,000 squads use different scales, with sizes that vary by unit and rules. Translating a Cadian squad into this game raises linked questions about recruitment cost, army size, morale and the consequences of losses; a model count alone does not settle them. One further detail is worth watching, and it has since been settled: press accounts described Guardsmen firing from cover, while Empire: Total War already provided a precedent for cover. Something has been rebuilt — the publisher’s own description of the game now states that impacts create new cover, and a narrated demonstration described cover as raising defence and lowering the chance of being hit. The sources reviewed do not quantify what that protection is worth for a Guardsman. The unit remains reported by the press; the publisher’s cover description does not confirm its roster entry or its numerical rules. Information correct as of 5 September 2026.