Kriegsmen really want to die in battle. So much so that a commissar’s job is often to keep them from charging into overwhelming enemy fire. It would take something extraordinary for one to choose life over death.
tl;dr: The hive world Krieg seceded from the Imperium. The only remaining loyalist faction, the 83rd regiment of the Imperial Guard, faced overwhelming odds with no hope for reinforcements. They nuked the entire planet’s surface, slowly eliminated the heretics, and returned the planet to the Imperium. The loyalist Death Korps of Krieg (or Kriegsmen) of M41 try to atone for letting the planet fall to heresy in the first place by fighting in the deadliest warzones to glorious deaths.
Kriegsmen really want to die in battle. So much so that a commissar’s job is often to keep them from charging into overwhelming enemy fire. It would take something extraordinary for one to choose life over death.
(edit) https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Death_Korps_of_Krieg
tl;dr: The hive world Krieg seceded from the Imperium. The only remaining loyalist faction, the 83rd regiment of the Imperial Guard, faced overwhelming odds with no hope for reinforcements. They nuked the entire planet’s surface, slowly eliminated the heretics, and returned the planet to the Imperium. The loyalist Death Korps of Krieg (or Kriegsmen) of M41 try to atone for letting the planet fall to heresy in the first place by fighting in the deadliest warzones to glorious deaths.
I see. Better suited for a plot point in a book, maybe.