Commander Chenkov

Commander Chenkov is a Valhallan general whose doctrine holds that the Imperium has more men than the enemy has ammunition. His method is to commit regiments in succession, accepting heavy casualties in exchange for ground. He commits one regiment to take a trench and a second to hold it, then records the result as a victory because Valhalla can supply more troops.

The Departmento Munitorum, the Imperial logistical administration, regards this arithmetic favourably. The soldiers counted within it are afforded no opportunity to register dissent. Chenkov’s instruction to send more soldiers is not a figure of speech at his headquarters but a standing order.

He was raised on Valhalla in conditions of ice and attrition. Whereas other worlds produce commanders who rely on manoeuvre, Chenkov’s operations leave craters and casualty lists, yet the front still advances. The Astra Militarum (the Imperial Guard) retains him because the alternative would be to concede that it cannot always depend on tactical ingenuity.