“The Tallarn 2nd Regiment has arrived in the Sculptor System to strengthen the Imperial response to the xeno incursions on Hegira and Dar Sai, imperial authorities announced today. This elite unit of desert fighters should prove a powerful asset in turning back the orks that plague the deserts of Hegira-—and free Imperial troops to bolster the defense of Dar Sai.“—Imperial Announcement, 3 101 736.M41.

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The Tallarn 2nd Regiment is an elite unit of desert fighters that is assigned to a strategic reserve of Imperial regiments on Belliose that is deployed as needed to meet any emerging threat to the Ultima Segmentum.

The regiment has specialized in mobile warfare and relies heavily on Chimeras, Sentinels, Valkyries, and even reptillian mounts. Its warriors prefer ambushes, outflanking maneuvers, and raids behind enemy lines to straightforward assaults, although when required to engage in toe-to-toe battle, the Tallarn are a stubborn foe.

Born of a stoic, tribal people, the warriors of the 2nd Tallarn are stern and aloof individuals, although they also are noted for their courtesy and loyalty to those they come to trust. Their stubborn retention of Tallarn customs—and their fierce defense of those customs when challenged by commissars and less open-minded officers—has forced senior commanders to keep the regiment separated from other guardsmen as much as possible.

Over the decades, the 2nd Tallarn has faced many of humanity’s greatest foes, but the unit’s repeated deployment to quell rebellions on Imperial worlds has left many of its warriors with a growing cynicism and resentment—both of Imperial corruption and the general wickedness of humanity. As a result, the Tallarn are increasingly motivated by regimental pride and fealty to the Emperor rather than by the authority of Imperial officials—an issue closely watched by the commissariat.

The unit was deployed to the Sculptor System in early 736.M41 to assist Imperial authorities deal with simultaneous xeno invasions by orks and Tau.

Notable Campaigns

RED DESERT CAMPAIGN (435.M41)—The 2nd Tallarn forms part of the Imperial Nyiri Expeditionary force to retake a mineral-rich mining world ruled by the Night Lords, a traitor legion of the Horus Heresy.

The regiment is part of the campaign codenamed “Operation Vengence” aimed at capturing and holding the largest water processing plant on the arid, brutally hot desert planet. The 2nd also takes part in the assault on the principal mining complex and are awarded a regimental citation for their actions.

RAID ON KORO-TAK ( 549.M41)—The regiment is diverted from the defence of the Toro Sector to the world of Koro-Tak, where it assists the Utramarines in a raid against an ork manufacturing base that is providing armaments to WAAAGH! Grakator.

SACKING OF TANAMI (673.M41)—A surprise assault by the Eldar of the Alaitoc Craftworld threatens to overwhelm Imperial forces during a raid on the desert world of Tanami. The Eldar retreat after a single squad of Leonitus’ Lizards—the 2nd’s  elite scouting squad riding reptilian mounts—emerges from the sand dunes and kills the warhost’s Autarch in an ambush.

THE KARAKUM CAMPAIGN (689.M41)—The world of Karakum is a unique desert—an ice world where there is no precipitation. Although a Vallhallan regiment originally is  ordered to the arctic world, orders are mistakenly sent to the 2nd Regiment, which is tasked with a grueling search-and-destroy mission against Ork Kommandoz in the planet’s polar mountain range. Fighting often is interrupted when temperatures plummet to -30 degrees.

Col. Fakhri Pasha is commander of the 2nd Tallarn Regiment and is respected for leading his troops from the front line. He has perfected the highly mobile tactics that have made the regiment an elite unit.

PACIFICATION OF CETI-TAURA (707.M41)—An oppressive and corrupt aristocracy fuels rebellion among the workers of this highly productive agricultural center in the Sagan Subsector.

Although rebel leaders claim their allegiance to the Emperor—and that their fight is only with the aristocracy—the Imperial response is brutal. Three Imperial Guard regiments, including the 2nd Tallarn, make landfall and engage in a pacification campaign that kills approximately one-fourth of the population.

At first, the aristocracy is jubilant at the rebels’ defeat—until the Administratum begins an investigation that leads to the execution of nearly 3,000 noblemen and the revocation of all aristocratic titles.

CONQUEST OF POLDERUX (722.M41)—A highly civilized race of peaceful avian xenos, who called themselves the Ky’tar, is discovered in a backwater sub-sector, and Gen. Aldos Polderux declares a campaign to bring the world into the Imperium. A company of the Knights of Altair join the 2nd Tallarn and the Catachan XCIV Regiment in a five-year campaign of genocide that leaves the Ky’tar one among many species now extinct in the galaxy. By right of conquest, Gen. Polderux is granted the governorship of the planet, which he names after himself.

SCULPTOR CAMPAIGN (736.M41)—The 2nd Tallarn is deployed to Hegira and Dar Sai, two moons in a backwater stellar system whose defenses are slowly losing ground to, respectively, ork and Tau invaders.

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Artwork, “Tallarn Raides-Desert Fox,” is courtesy of David Sondered. To see more of his artwork, click here.

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The Corvus Cluster is a hobby blog that chronicles our wargaming adventures in the fantastical, sci-fi Warhammer 40K universe of Games Workshop.