A Desert World is not an official Imperial planetological classification, but is a term in common usage among Imperial citizens for those planets whose environments are arid and barren across their entire surfaces. Since the term "Desert World" is not an official Imperial classification of the Administratum but simply a label used to describe the planet's predominant environmental feature, most Desert Worlds that have been settled by Mankind are officially classified as Civilised Worlds, Feral Worlds or even Death Worlds if the environmental conditions are hostile enough to human life. Desert Worlds often produce hardy peoples superbly adapted to combat in arid conditions and so become prime recruiting grounds for the Imperial Guard when it needs desert-adapted Regiments. Most Desert Worlds occurr naturally, but a few once possessed very different climates that were radically altered by events, such as the planet Tallarn, which had its planetary forests destroyed by the bombing campaign of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion.

Notable Desert WorldsEdit

SourcesEdit

• Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition)
• Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition)