Catachan Jungle Fighters - Regimental Organisation: The men and sometimes women who form the regiments of the Catachan Jungle Fighters are tough, resourceful and always uncompromising warriors. They excel at fast-moving, close-quarters fire fights, infiltration and sniper work.Every Catachan is a born survivor by definition and they have been hardened by life on their deadly homeworld to the very core of their beings. These courageous people have endured for millennia one of the most dangerous and perilous ordeals ever known to Mankind -- simply growing up alive on the planet of their birth.Catachan is classified as a Death World, and is perhaps the most notorious of all the known Death Worlds in Imperial space. Every native creature is a carnivore and every form of plant life is highly toxic. Catachan is a planet so inimical to Human life that every day there plays out as a struggle for survival. With such a hideously high mortality rate, only the toughest members of the Catachan population survive into adulthood. Half of the Catachan population dies before they can walk and another half again perish before they have seen ten standard years pass.There are no mineral or other strategic assets present on Catachan and its people offer only one true resource of value to the Imperium -- their superb skill as warriors. Catachan warriors readily accept the Imperial Guard's call to arms in the name of the Emperor and in exchange for this regular tithe of troops, their settlements receive much-needed supplies from the Imperium that would otherwise be impossible to obtain on a world with no industrial base.Common to all the soldiers of the Catachan regiments are their red bandanas, which are a symbol of the blood-oath that every warrior takes when he joins a regiment and a steel-alloy Combat Knife. A well-honed Catachan combat blade is not only a tool and weapon amongst these soldiers, but also a sign of status.On their homeworld, Catachans maintain strong tribal traditions and structures, and this carries over to the regiments drawn from the Death World. Where a Catachan tribe would elect a headman, a regiment will elect its own captains, sergeants and other ranking officers.Entire regiments may be drawn from small geographical areas. It is not uncommon for many squads to be made up of men related to each other. Cousin fights alongside cousin, brother alongside brother and quite often all serve under an uncle or, in rare circumstances, a grandfather. These close-knit structures have resulted in levels of trust and teamwork that are virtually unparalleled within the Imperial Guard.Catachans take great pride in the fact that their officers, all renowned jungle hunters and skilled warriors, share with their fighters every danger and hardship, just as is common amongst the Death World's jungle settlements. As a result, discipline in the Catachan regiments is maintained more through trust and respect than through the simple fact of rank.The Jungle Fighter regiments tend to be fiercely independent as a result and outsiders, particularly authoritative figures like Commissars, can have great difficulty earning the respect and deference of Catachan troops. Thus, Catachan regiments generally lack Imperial Commissars.Even these tough and uncompromising officers are unable to assert their authority over Catachan soldiers, who are notoriously disrespectful to any who have not shared the perils of their homeworld; in fact, Commissars are generally deeply resented by these troops, and it is not uncommon for Commissars assigned to Catachan regiments to be "fragged" by their own men. It is common for Ogryns, however, to fight in Catachan regiments.Catachans have a reputation for reckless bravery that borders on insanity. This is reflected in the dangers that they willingly throw themselves into and their preferred choice of weaponry. Flamers and demolition charges, armaments that can be as dangerous for the user as to its intended target, are commonplace amongst Catachan regiments and the specialists who wield them are well known for their claims that such weapons wouldn't dare to harm a Catachan!The Catachan regiments also boast some of the best snipers in the Imperial Guard. Catachan marksmen will take up their positions hours or even days before a battle in order to get a better vantage point.