Ogryn

The Ogryns are an abhuman strain of humanity, descended from colonists who settled remote, high-gravity worlds and were reshaped over generations into hulking, immensely strong giants. Towering over ordinary men and packed with dense muscle, an Ogryn can shrug off wounds that would fell a lesser soldier and crush a foe's skull in one massive fist. Their bodies are magnificent; their minds, however, are slow and childlike, capable of only the simplest reasoning.

The Imperium classifies Ogryns as a sanctioned abhuman strain, tolerated and even valued where so many mutants are put to the flame. They serve in vast numbers within the Astra Militarum, deployed as shock troops and living battering rams who wade into the thickest fighting with primitive ripper guns and cheerful ferocity. An Ogryn's loyalty to its officers is absolute and touchingly simple; it fights because its trusted leaders ask it to, and asks little in return.

Some Ogryns are surgically enhanced with crude cranial implants to serve as Bone 'eads, granting them just enough wit to lead their fellows. Guardsmen who fight alongside them speak with genuine affection of these gentle giants, for all their terrifying strength on the battlefield. In an Imperium that despises the impure, the Ogryns endure as a rare and useful exception: brutally effective, unfailingly devoted, and content to serve the Emperor as best their simple hearts allow.