Is or was there a Russian background or planetary culture in the Warhammer 40K world? I know there was a "Russia" in Fantasy and I am interested in knowing if there is any Russian backgrounds in 40K cause a player wants to play a Russian bacground. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Lord Jolius, Master Scribe said:

Look for information on the Valhallan "Ice Warriors" Imperial Guard regiment. They've certainly got a bit of a "World War II Soviet Union" feel to them (and by a bit, I mean a lot). Some basic info can be found here and here .

Failing that, make something up - the 40k universe is vast, and if you want a world themed around a particular period in history, a particular nationality or something else entirely, feel free to create it if you can't find something to your satisfaction.

The Vostroyans are very Cossack-like too. The location of Vostroya seems to be pretty close to the Calixis sector, which is interesting.

Edit - Actually, it's hard to tell. All the maps I can find are different. Regardless, they're both in Segmentum Obscurus and close to the Halo Stars.

As N0 said, there's nothing stopping you from just making a world or, more realistically, a part of a world somewhere inspired by Russian culture, feel, or what ever else you'd like.

Heck, for that rout, Sepherus Secondus would make a great Victorian/Edwardian age Russia.

Actually, I tend to find ALL of the Imperium a little like Victorian Russia in character - powerful, decadent nobles, rebellious oppressed masses in some areas, an unworkable infrastructure, blind faith covering up for massive deficencies in society, some central control, but largely left to individual nobles / governors on the periphary, use of shock troops to maintain the status quo and harsh punishment meted out for trivial offences. I don't think Imperium authorities have used the knout on underlings, but certainly something that is its equivalent!

I agree with the comments on both Vostroyans and Valhallans - as well as the fact that Sephirus Secundus would work well in this setting, but then so would some of the other Calixian planets as well, given a little work.

*nods* Romans+Soviets+Nazis=Imperium of Man

In addition to those, there is a world mentioned in First and Only , or possibly Ghostmake r, I'll check and correct when I get the chance; something Pyrites. The description of the principle city there, and the accents used by the locals make me think Russia. In any case, that's somewhere in the Scarus sector, so relatively close (compared to Valhalla, at least).

Also, heading coreward by coreward-trailing, we come across the world of Stranivar, the moon of which (Lubiyanka, iirc) is one big hard-labour prison gulag, with the added twist that many of its' labourers/inmates are not actually Stranivarite criminals, but the children of previous inmates. Battlefleet Gothic is known to recruit there, but primarily in the form of slave-ratings, although there are Stranivarite petty and warrant officers (including pilots and flight crew, as well as naval armsmen), and many of the Battlefleet's traditions are stranivarite in origin. Even going purely by names and ignoring the chekist overtones to the imagery, it not only sounds rather russian, but gives the character a reason to be from there and in Calixis (naval crew, listed rather than pressed, transferred either with his ship, or across vessels until he wound up wherever your plot requires).

Alasseo: I think the regiment/world you're referring to is the Vitrians: who wore purple and reflective armor, had names which only begin with 'Z', and a strict 'bible' of inviolate combat doctrines, called the 'Byhata'.

I can see the association, because it seemed that they had heavy accents of some unique planetary dialect... I think a Vitrian could be played up really well as a 'Russian' themed character, given the addition of some custom fluff, and a good excuse for being in the Calixis sector.

Definitely wasn't the Vitrians. Thinking back, it was definitely in First and Only - 'twas the planet where Gaunt gets the vermilion-encrypted data for Fereyd, and Rawne, Feygor and Corbec nick a load of contraband from local gangsters.

If I remember correctly, the Vitrian accent was probably closer to an Afrikaans-flavoured Czech than a Russian one, but... meh, there'll be more than one accent per world, even in the monolithic imagery of 40k.